An idea occured to me about how to potentially introduce dwarven mages in a future DA game.
Dwarves cant cast magic. But, what with the enchanting skills of sandal and the ideas of dagna, maybe dwarves could utilise runes and enchantments as their magic.
You said it yourself, Dwarves are mildly immune to magic, and are unable to cast spells. Thus the idea of labling a Dwarf a mage is about as pointless as naming the Dog one.
It's established canon that due to living under ground all these years has overexposed Dwarves to raw lyrium, causing some immunity and the inability to touch the fade, thus removing any chance of that "Dwarven Mage". Sandal might come close, but then Sandal is half elf (or so I've heard), and even then he's more like a Tranquil then an out-and-out magic user. As well, yes they can work with Lyrium for runes and enchantments, but for most it's very dangerous work that takes years and years of study to perfect.
Now a Runemaster could very well be a thing a Dwarf could be, at some point in the future of the dragon age series -- Dwarves who've carved lyrium into their very skin, akin to Fenris, that can be activated at will to give combat strength, but even that has been said to be lethal, not to mention the only person to ever have it done was an elf (who are naturally more attuned with magic) and the person who managed to pull it off is dead.
All in all it doesn't really fit with the story we've been given, and honestly I kind of adore the idea that Dwarves just aren't meant to do magic.
From a pure-gameplay perspective (vs. lore/setting), though, it's a shame that only one race is locked out of a class. OTOH, they get magic resistance. Personally, I think the tradeoff should be higher (i.e. Moar Magic resistance), and it might be in DA:I.
Of course, as I keep noting, the class/race restriction thing only becomes more complex (or worth arguing about), when you have more races and classes.
I have watched, over time, WoW lessen class/race restrictions over time (among its 13 races and 11 classes), and there is of course a faction of the player base that demands "let us play everything!" but it still hasn't happened yet. Still no pandaren death knights, or forsaken paladins. And yes, the lore keeps shifting, as the new opportunities opened up. Tauren paladins. Now that was really interesting.
If we're going to speculate on ways it can be, then just combine the fade tear with "the magic comes back."
All you need to do is imply they used to have it long long ago and the fade tear allowed them to re-establish the connection. Or heck, make the Inquisitor unique in that a fade tear dropping on his head gave him the connection.
I don't like the idea of Dwarves casting magic at all. It's part of their race that makes them unique.
I don't really like play as Dwarf never played Dwarf. So don't really care Dwarf having magic on the other hand it can be nice plot giving Dawrf magic. we already have one Dwarf mage well he just half dwarf but still. And in Thedas all have magic just not all have enough mana to use it. Temlars use lyrium to do magic.
where did you get information that Sandal is half elf?
I don't really like play as Dwarf never played Dwarf. So don't really care Dwarf having magic on the other hand it can be nice plot giving Dawrf magic. we already have one Dwarf mage well he just half dwarf but still. And in Thedas all have magic just not all have enough mana to use it. Temlars use lyrium to do magic.
its not about mana its about connection to the fade, unless you want to make every dwarf ingest red lyrium to become behemont, so he could use it too
That'd mean they'd need a totally different fighting system than the normal mages, right? Also not sure enchantment works like that.
An idea occured to me about how to potentially introduce dwarven mages in a future DA game.
Dwarves cant cast magic. But, what with the enchanting skills of sandal and the ideas of dagna, maybe dwarves could utilise runes and enchantments as their magic.
Then I demand one with a height complex named Edward Elric and have him voiced by Vic Mignogna.
I'm pretty sure it was stated at one of the PAX panels that dwarves will continue to be locked out of mage class. I personally prefer this as well, because it's an interesting part of the lore. But it would be neat if, like CybAnt1 said, they got a bonus to magic resistance because of it.
They've had magic resistance ever since DA:O. It's just been low, around 10%. So low, most people never noticed it (they're only shrugging off 1 out of every 10 spells).
They could boost that to around 25%. Maybe even 50%. Now they get something for the tradeoff. Of course, do they just make it for hostile magic, or would they have a chance of shrugging off healing and buffs as well? Then it becomes a double-edged sword ... don't think they'll do it, though.
where did you get information that Sandal is half elf?
its not about mana its about connection to the fade, unless you want to make every dwarf ingest red lyrium to become behemont, so he could use it too
Sandal is half elf hinted in DA2 legacy DLC by Carta members dialog.
I always asumed mana and connection to the fade is same think. The stronger connection the more mana you have. And we see dwarfs entering fade but all entrance was forced.
Man. Whoever made this really needs a hug. Or a slap. Such a desperately hopeful headcanon.
If they're immune to magic like everyone says in DAO, they should have 100% magic resistance, not 10%. That never made any sense to me.
Could dwarves have the ability to use magic bred back into them, though? Say, through several generations of breeding into pure human bloodlines? For example:
Male Dwarf + Female Human = Particularly Tall Dwarf
100% Dwarf 100% Human = 50% Dwarf 50% Human, still unable to use magic
Male Particularly Tall Dwarf + Female Human = Particularly Tall Dwarf
50% Dwarf/50%Human 100% Human = 25% Dwarf 75% Human, still unable to use magic
If they're immune to magic like everyone says in DAO, they should have 100% magic resistance, not 10%. That never made any sense to me.
They seem to be mostly magic-insensitive, not totally immune. After all, they can receive the benefits of magic spells (like healing or buffs), and apparently, despite early interpretations of lore, enter the Fade. (They just don't do so normally when dreaming.) Plus, both Varric and Bartrand were affected by red lyrium.
So I do agree they should have higher magic resistance than 10%, though not total.
Could dwarves have the ability to use magic bred back into them, though? Say, through several generations of breeding into pure human bloodlines? For example:
[...]
Assuming Thedosian (sans Elven) genetics follows the laws of Mendelian inheritance, how many times would this happen before the particularly tall dwarf was able to dream and utilize magic (assuming he lives his entire life on the surface, away from the lyrium-laced walls of Orzammar/the Deep Roads)?
No way to know, really. Maybe half-dwarves look as human as half-elves because human characteristics tend to override non-human ones, and the 1st generation offspring of a dwarf and human could have normal human levels of magic ability. Or maybe even a 1% dwarven heritage means you get standard dwarven magic resistance -- sort of a one-drop rule. I don't think we can assume Mendelian inheritance; it doesn't work that way with elves, why would it work that way with dwarves? It may only work within a race, rather than between two races, in Thedas.
But a programme of deliberate eugenics would be pretty disturbing, and interesting, in story terms. Not beyond the realm of possibility; maybe something instituted by Behlen, if you crowned him, as more dwarves experience surface life? Harrowmont would be harder to retcon; he's not about to let people live on the surface and still consider themselves part of the caste-system, but he might consider it if it gave dwarves the advantages of magic without having to rely on non-dwarves. Although Dwarven society seems to get along very well without magic ...
And I'm not sure you'd see results in the time-frame of the games. Only a generation, tops, has passed since the blight.
Could dwarves have the ability to use magic bred back into them, though? Say, through several generations of breeding into pure human bloodlines? For example:
Male Dwarf + Female Human = Particularly Tall Dwarf
100% Dwarf 100% Human = 50% Dwarf 50% Human, still unable to use magic
Male Particularly Tall Dwarf + Female Human = Particularly Tall Dwarf
50% Dwarf/50%Human 100% Human = 25% Dwarf 75% Human, still unable to use magic
Assuming Thedosian (sans Elven) genetics follows the laws of Mendelian inheritance, how many times would this happen before the particularly tall dwarf was able to dream and utilize magic (assuming he lives his entire life on the surface, away from the lyrium-laced walls of Orzammar/the Deep Roads)?
Haven't we been told genetics isn't a viable thing in thedas, when people were asking about why human always trumps elf?
Haven't we been told genetics isn't a viable thing in thedas, when people were asking about why human always trumps elf?
It's safe to assume that Elves do not follow the same laws of genetics, but the G-man said that the result of an exceptionally rare pairing of human and dwarf would just look like a taller dwarf. IIRC, this implies that some form of Mendelian genetics in which at least some of the characteristics of both parents are exhibited in the offspring.
Come to think of it most of my unanswered questions regarding Thedas have to do with elven, dwarven, and human biology. It's pretty frustrating 
I seem to come up with another unanswered question every day.
I am sitting on the idea that we are gonna get Dwarf and Qunari mages solely because of whatever happens to the Inquisitor when the Veil first tears.
But a programme of deliberate eugenics would be pretty disturbing, and interesting, in story terms. Not beyond the realm of possibility; maybe something instituted by Behlen, if you crowned him, as more dwarves experience surface life? Harrowmont would be harder to retcon; he's not about to let people live on the surface and still consider themselves part of the caste-system, but he might consider it if it gave dwarves the advantages of magic without having to rely on non-dwarves. Although Dwarven society seems to get along very well without magic ...
More likely than you would think, considering that the Qunari are said to practice selective breeding heavily (also interesting in the fact that, while the Qunari may be the only ones aware of this, the laws of genetics still exist at some level at least for kossith).
I don't know if you could breed dwarves with humans enough to make the entire species capable of magic. I think by that point, they wouldn't really be considered dwarves anymore.
More likely than you would think, considering that the Qunari are said to practice selective breeding heavily (also interesting in the fact that, while the Qunari may be the only ones aware of this, the laws of genetics still exist at some level at least for kossith).
Maybe they work within a race, but not between races, then? Interesting to ponder.
Guest_Act of Velour_*
Please don't retcon Dwarf lore for the sake of Dwarf Mages. Please.
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