D&D 5E Is a dwarf wizard still "playing against type"?

[steeldragons]

I wasn't asking why dwarf wizards are/were considered against type, I was asking, after 15 years of being a viable class, if we've moved on.

In that case, the answer is, "Nope."

 

[TrippyHippy]

There weren’t any Dwarf Wizards as characters in Lord of the Rings or The Hobbit, so people assume that such a combination would be against type. Yet, the Wizards in Middle Earth are technically not human either, so on that basis, Human Wizards are against type too.

My view is that Dwarves make very good Wizards, and if we were to allow our perception of Dwarven culture to diversify a little it would be no bad thing. Think of the Runes…..

 

[Rune]

As long as D&D is originated by Gary GYgax and based heavily off of LotR, Dwarf Wizard will be "against type."

I think it would be more accurate to say that D&D was partially inspired by a casual reading of Lord of the Rings.

 

[Reynard]

I think it would be more accurate to say that D&D was partially inspired by a casual reading of Lord of the Rings.

Or even that Gygax, who was an avowed fan of heroic fantasy and really did not care for Tolkien, capitulated to players that were LotR fans with less than rigorous Tolkienesque races.

 

[Kwalish Kid]

I think it the reasoning in Basic/BECM was two-fold.

1. simulation of LOTR. The above quote from Fellowship aside. Dwarves are skilled craftsmen and hearty warriors : leading to the Dwarves=Gimli trope.

and 2. A balancing check against the "Elves are magic-users/have spells." So we made Dwarves, not only not magic-users, but highly resistant to magic...by way of saying why, in their multitude of battles and wars with Elfkind, they weren't just steamrollered with spells.

So then AD&D-and on just continued to carry this forward. Til the "everybody can do everything is core" of 3e.

...and yes, it's still a thing. As long as D&D is originated by Gary GYgax and based heavily off of LotR, Dwarf Wizard will be "against type." You whipper-snappers have another 30-40-some years 'fore those of us who started on Basic or 1e are all dead. So after that, you can make/claim the tropes whatever you want them to be. hahaha

There are two small problems with this argument.

First, we have Gygax' denial of the influence of LOTR on D&D. I suspect that we can all just put that aside.

Dwarves as PCs predate Basic D&D. However, the text of the early D&D does support the idea above of the proposed role of dwarves.

 

[KirayaTiDrekan]

I abandoned that tired old "tradition' the moment 3E came out. Wizards are an integral part of dwarven culture in my campaigns, crafting magic weapons and armor for their communities. I like to challenge tropes and traditions, though, and find ways to tear them down. If there isn't a good reason for it being there other than "its tradition" it goes out the window.

 

[Shasarak]

The best Dwarven Wizards that I have read about in novels are the Dwarven "Druids" from the Terry Brooks series.

But I guess they could be considered to be closer to DnD Sorcerers.

 

[Ed_Laprade]

It's never been against type for anyone playing a Norse dwarf wizard.

Quite so. it was the Dwarves who made Thor's hammer, Odin's spear, and pretty much every other magic item for the Norse gods.

 

[exile]

In my mind, it's still against type, but that's okay. I played a scrawny, hairless, female dwarven wizard in 4E. I loved her and her little fire lizard familiar.

 

[GMforPowergamers]

I have had dwarven wizards in my D&D since the third campaign I ran in 2e, we had long ago gotten rid of level limits and let any one multi or duil class (even both, my 1st time playing my now best friend started as a human thief, then duil classed into fighter/mage) One of our new players asked if he could be Dwarven rune smith... witch in his mind was a Paliden/Wizard, and I said AOK...

By the time 3e came around 4ish years later no body I know blinked at "Any race can be any class"