Something has always bugged me and I can’t think of another place to ask it so…
Being a mage takes a lot of dedication and intelligence. So being a dwarf who drinks how do you balance the typical dwarf characteristics with a mages characteristics?
I don’t think there’s much of a dichotomy here. Dwarves generally like to drink, sure, but your average Dwarf most likely knows moderation. Beyond that their people are seemingly great craftsmen; implying that, despite a general love of booze, they have the focus needed to pursue difficult tasks. If anything many of their common traits are well suited towards arcane study. They can be observant, composed and even a bit stubborn; all beneficial traits in their own way.
In addition to all that I’d imagine Dwarves would have a higher tolerance for alcohol compared to other species. And even Mages are likely to drink every once and a while.
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The trick with dwarves is that their performance actually gets worse when they’re sober. It’s constantly referenced that a sober dwarf is a dwarf not at their best. So, I imagine there’s some quirk to their metabolism wherein, unlike most species, alcohol functions more like a performance-enhancing drug than an addictive poison.
Now, that probably doesn’t mean a beer is going to make a Dwarven Mage suddenly an arcane dynamo of power… but it does mean they’ll be operating on all cylinders, and won’t be struggling to recall which spell did the thing that turned a person into a penguin. It’s still beer, though, so, I wouldn’t be surprised if they slurred a spell here or there, and got a chicken instead of a sheep, or blasted the rock wall behind their target.
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What you both have said makes perfect sense. Thank you, I’ve been trying to figure out how to balance this character as I always use quite a bit of alcohol in my RP as a dwarf. Both points are helpful to figuring out how to pull this one together. Been really bugging me the past few weeks, felt like something was off with this character, thank you again.
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From ample personal experience, I can assure you alcohol does not impede technical (or in this case, arcane) skill. When I was in school, I knew plenty of STEM majors whose hobbies were to get drunk then start arguing about thermodynamics. “Nerd” isn’t something that you turn off.
Actually, I’d argue there’s an optimal level of intoxication, wherein you’re relaxed enough to let ideas flow without being so sloppy as to be unable to work.
https://xkcd.com/323/
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This may be difficult to process, but not every dwarf needs to be a rolling down drunk with a bad Scottish accent.
And for that matter, even the Kirin Tor have a designated pub crawl night once a month.
Minor Glyph: Alemental.
Requires Dwarf
Effect: Turns your water elemental into a alemental from Mist’s of Pandaria.
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Fixed it for you.
Could very well be either, actually.
If youve ever read Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss theres a character who I think fits the Dichotomy that you are feeling.
His Name is Elodin, He is was a prodigy in the world of magic, but due to a troubled past he has turned into a bit of a bum. That doesnt lessen his power, but it comes out more erratically. A mage who drinks doesnt become less powerful, They become unpredictable. If you want to play a Mage who is a drunk in your head cannon, go for it. No reason you cant.
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