Dwarf Wizard, how to play him?

[Driddle]

Charismatic manipulator. Enjoys bending people to his will. Or playing the babes. He's 'All That' and then some.

Bard. Somewhere in the family tree, there was a gnomish romance. He inherited certain bardish tendencies ... and a sense of humor.

Know-it-all diviner. Not a powerfully offensive mage, instead he prefers to be the guy people come to for information.

Not so much a wizard, really, as a tough magic-dabbler. Sure, he's got a few spells, but a guy that sturdy (maximize hit points) was always more likely to pick up an axe or hammer to back up his buddies.

A so-called "dark" dwarf. Necromatic interests, but not in a bad way. Has always been interested in studying family ancestry and things beyond the Veil.

Fire. Heh heh. Fire. Burn! Heh heh heh.

 

[CrusaderX]

Play him like The Beast from the X-Men comics and cartoons - a character who is rough and brutal on the outside, yet highly sophisticated on the inside. Play up the high intelligence that a wizard has, and make the character a lover of all sorts of lore, from literature and history, to arcane studies and spellbooks.

 

[Jeremy Ackerman-Yost]

Just sort of percolating a few ideas I've heard here...

A master Dwarven magical craftsman. Kind of plays up the "arcane formula" aspect of D&D wizardry. He can "see" the magical structure in things. i.e. he could look at a sword and just sort of see where to "hang" magic onto it. Give him lots of ranks in Alchemy and have him fiddle with various substances and how they could enhance his magic creations. (Maybe the DM and you could cook up some power component ideas for magic items)

If he were trying to identify the magical properties of say, an axe someone had found, he would look at, weigh it in one hand, pull out a hair and run it along the edge, taste the metal, all while mumbling under his breath: "little bit o' sulfur in there, seems like fire to me..." And if he were thinking about how to enhance an existing item, he would say things like, "Could hook a nice dazing effect on there... might need some pixie dust..." And so on.

 

[Ricochet]

I've played a dwarven illusionist for almost 1½ years now, currently he is level 9.

The world is Greyhawk, and in ancient times dwarven sages and wizards were the leaders of the dwarven people, before a great cataclysm buried many of the dwarven towns, and shattered the dwarven people into multiple settlements.

My characters goal in life, is to unite the dwarven people yet again, under the ancient banner of magic, which in generations since the collapse have been almost forgotten.

Other dwarves in the world growl and complain about wizards, but gradually we are discovering more about the race and their wizardly ways of the past.

It's pretty exciting, and being an illusionist just adds more spice to the mix of my character being a really unique dwarf. Also, I have a high charisma for a dwarf (12) and use bluff, diplomacy and the like a lot, often combined with illusions. Since he is True Neutral, he will do whatever is neccesary to unite his people, often deceiving them in the process.

Also, he is very much into earth, and even has an earth elemental familiar/cohort (taken with improved familiar as well as leadership feat, and made into a working, balanced force with the GM). His best skills are Craft(Stonemason) and Knowledge History (Dwarves).

I guess I rambled a bit there, but my point is, being a dwarven wizard in a world where that is extremely unusual can be very fun and at the same time very serious and "deep", as long as the GM and the other players are also in the mood for a good story. Overall, it's been good fun!

 

[JesterPoet]

Thanks to everyone who has helped so far, and thanks in advance to all who help after this. All of this info is really helpful!

 

[Painfully]

Well, I kind of had this whole secret dwarven clan idea going for a bit when I developed my dwarven wizard.

A clan that lived in very tall mountains and worshiped a god of the sky (not Moradin?) had learned their magic by studying the stars. But something terrible happened long ago, and it caused the other clans to shun the wizards so much that any acknowledgement of their existence was struck out of historical records--although there might be some blemish marks left behind for the curious historian to ponder on. Meanwhile, the clan of wizards became isolationists, and didn't come out of their mountain for about 1,000 years.

But, the young are always eager and curious to explore. So, after 1,000 years it was decided to hold a lottery for those who wished to explore outside the mountains, and their mission was to return 100 years later to share what they have learned of the outside world, and especially of magic. Guess who won the lotto?

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The cool part is that anybody from this particular mountain clan would be seen as somehow different, even among dwarves. They might have a slight accent in speech, a different skintone, perhaps be a little shorter, and alcohol would be a new experience for them, as they live in the high mountains (think Himalayas) perhaps even above the clouds. I would recommend the endurance feat as a prerequisite, but it's really for flavor.

The clan I envisioned is actually about half wizards, and half clerics. Divination could be a strong source for their historical ties with the other clans. Perhaps they divined some terrible calamity, or misread a prophecy that caused them to be outcast from dwarven society.

I use comets as omens, and meteorites as sources of "raw souls" from the anvil of Moradin himself. Those meteorites are precious because they can be forged to become sentient weapons that model themselves after the one who handles them the most.

The clans ability to divine the sky is what lets them determine where meteorites might fall. And I once used an NPC cleric to lead a party of PCs to one such meteorite. Of course, that's when they meet the half-fiend/duergar that got a hot tip from a lich beholder to go get them rocks. But that's a whole other story.

This whole clan story leaves open the option of taking the mystic theurgist PrC too, which was one of my intentions.

 

[Thornir Alekeg]

Practical, no-nonsense kind of wizard. Does not have a lot of flash to his spells, no showy hand gestures and "dire, intimidating doom-laden" verbal components.

Spells chosen based on what they can do. A tendency to get spells that relate to metal and stone, create something tangible.

As in most campaigns Dwarven Wizards are the exception, make him contradictory. Outwardly gruff and brusque with people, yet introspective and thoughtful when he doesn't realize he's being watched. Maybe have him be slightly embarrased by his ability, hesitant at times to use it, but yearning to learn more.

 

[Tom]

Well, I'm looking for some ideas from you creative types...

I created a Dwarf Wizard for the game I'm currently in (1st level) and was originally going to go with the earth-based theme (basically an arcane druid). However, someone else decided to make a druid, so I think that takes some of the fun out of it.

Anyone have ideas for directions I can take this wizard and his personality that will be fun? I think I'm going to make him a conjurer, but I guess I could change that too, if it came to it.

Just looking to do something a little different, but low on ideas.

I made a dwarvin fighter/wizard that kicks rear. Once he casts shield, blink, improved invis, stoneskin, etc. he becomes nearly un-hitable compared to the rest of the party. He does suffer as far as feats, but all you really need is weapon focus and weapon specialization (plus enlarge, bull's strength, etc. to boost to-hit & damage). Also, he uses a mithral shirt to get good armor at only a 10% spell failure rate.

 

[Driddle]

I made a dwarvin fighter/wizard that kicks rear. Once he casts shield, blink, improved invis, stoneskin, etc. he becomes nearly un-hitable compared to the rest of the party. He does suffer as far as feats, but all you really need is weapon focus and weapon specialization (plus enlarge, bull's strength, etc. to boost to-hit & damage). Also, he uses a mithral shirt to get good armor at only a 10% spell failure rate.

Ooooh! Sounds like a really interesting person. Lots of fun to talk to during down-time between dead monsters, eh?

 

[Beard in the Sky]

It depend on how "freaked out" Dwarves are by that sort of thing in your campaign. I was one of the guys who always wondered exactly how Dwarves made all of those magical weapons without magic users. I would give him a decent strength and con if you can, maybe even a level or two of fighter if you can spare it and make him in many ways like a dwarf in personality. I certainly would emphasize that he still likes to crack goblins over the head with his staff.