Why the concept of dwarves wizards is so underused in most fantasy systems/settings...

Why the concept of dwarves wizards is so underused in most fantasy systems/settings? In mythology they were always portrayed as magical creatures yet in the tabletop rpgs they are almost exclusively Gimli-clones warriors with scottish accent. Magic also can fit nicely with their typical image as crafters that lives underground, their wizards would tend to be artificers, geomants, transumutation masters or alchemists. Seriously most of players and GMs are okay with dwarves clerics yet somehow dwarves wizards are a problem.

In my setting dwarven wizards are less common then other races, but tend to be powerful due to their long lives, secluded habitats, and powerful variants of magic.

>Deep in the earth, the dwarven wizards etch the runes of old
>And doing so they turn the hidden wheels that drive the world
>With awful rites they speak to ancient things
>And forge many a true enchanted rings

Because modern depictions of Dwarves usually have them focused on machinery and industry. This runs counter to the popular notion of magic as being more spiritual and inscrutable, and therefore incompatible with machinery.

>1.
Tolkien didn't have those.
>2.
Well in DnD and similar systems you can certainly make a dwarf wizard. Though they aren't that suited to that role and I guess people that play dwarves are mostly not drawn to that class.
>3.
In Warhammer Fantasy dwarves can use the winds of magic, but it fucks them up in the long run and turns them into stone.
The point I'm trying to make with these is that these three are very influential settings and systems, that play a big role in how dwarves are seen by the majority.
>4.
Those wizard roles you mentioned seem to have been taken by the gnomes. Dirty gnomes.

really depends on the depiction of them, magic is very scarce in the likes of LotR and the ones like gimli are mountain dwarfs and are quite common but it just depends where you look. but I see your point as a lot of systems I've seen sometimes just have dwarfs as a non-magical race or at least they are really uncommon

Because D&D 1E had race-class restrictions, and the human centipede of standard medieval fantasy thinks that's good enough.

Tolkien had dwarves be just as 'wizardly' as any other non-divine race, if not moreso when compared to non-elves.

Most 'magic' in middle earth is simply skill in a craft to a point where it exceeds that which should be possible. Dwarves are superb jewelers, masons, architects, smiths, miners etc etc etc

I'm aware of that, but it's the same with elf "wizards". They aren't how we understand wizards in this context today, probably don't even think what they are doing is supposed to be magic. Like Galadriel once explained.

There have been exceptions. In the Planescape setting, the Factol of the Fraternity of Order (long story short- one of the most politically powerful people in the multiverse, kind of a big deal) is a dwarf wizard.

Mostly it comes down to dwarves being culturally pigeonholed into the "drunk viking scotsman with an axe" archetype, with their society not being depicted beyond miners and smiths.

Personally, I think the smithing warrior race dwarves and the technomagical mad scientist race of gnomes should just be combined into a more broad spectrum of a society that runs between the two. Called dwarves.

To the best of my knowledge, the only DnD-style 'magic users' in middle earth were Ainur, and while obviously most modern wizards are direct homages to the Istari, even they operated mostly within the 'epic craft' style of magic.

90% of the wizard shit Gandalf The Grey does is actually just pyrotechnics because that nig is crazy good at fireworks, Saruman is charismatic and does machines and Rad is a furry and so on

I dont even think this is related at this point, I just love talking about tolkien.

Because most fantasy authors are hacks devoid of creativity that just ruminate whatever came before it.

They'd Dwarf everyone else.

Because any two-bit dwarven historian could kick enough human ass that it wouldn't be fair if Dwarves could get powers from books as well. They like to play fair with the other races as long as money isn't on the line.

>Tolkien didn't have those.
Tolkien dwarves still had some magical traits like talking with birds and so on.
>Well in DnD and similar systems you can certainly make a dwarf wizard. Though they aren't that suited to that role and I guess people that play dwarves are mostly not drawn to that class.
In earlier editions wizard dwarves were not an option. In later ones they actually would fit the role nicely.
>Those wizard roles you mentioned seem to have been taken by the gnomes. Dirty gnomes.
Gnomes are more like illusionists, tricksters and inventors. There is easily a place for both races to be wizards.

This is actually one thing Warcraft has done something kinda neat with.

The Dark Irons are all in on magic, to the point of having Warlocks and Shadow Priests in their ranks. Meanwhile, the Wildhammers are big on Shamans due to being the most "outdoorsy" of the three clans, but also because storm and earth control is a good thing to have when you live in particularly stormy hills.

D&D doesn't incentivize you to play wizard dwarves like other races that have INT boosts

You know, I haven't seen many dwarf druids either. Considering the bond they have to stone and mountain, you'd think they would be a bit more common, despite the usual "dwarf = warrior and/or merchant and/or inventor" schtick the race has going on.

Dude, if tthere was a "casual magic" people in Tolkien it was the dwarves. Remember the enchanted toys in Dale? Those dudes put out magic on such a regular basis that they sold that shit out in markets.

Granted, we don't see great "enchanters" in third age's dwarves, but even for elves, we basically just have Galadriel doing some divination and rely on her ring. We don't see dwarves enchanting doors, creating magical music instruments or forging epic weapons like Narsil or using mithril, nor we see them building Moria (not explicitly magic, but pretty much thinkable as such)... but then we don't see elves do much better than snazzy ropes, don't we? It's all what they made in the past. At least dwarves STILL make those toys, we can assume.

A king he was on carven throne
In many-pillared halls of stone
With golden roof and silver floor,
And runes of power upon the door.
The light of sun and star and moon
In shining lamps of crystal hewn
Undimmed by cloud or shade of night
There shone for ever fair and bright.

Don't tell me this doesn't sound like magic on par of Lorien's protection spells.

>Tolkien didn't have those

Do we have some kind of misunderstanding what OP means with wizard? He didn't say they aren't magical.

I always wanted to do a dwarf druid myself. A badass mountaineer that could topple the biggest challenges with his determination, preparation and a liberal use of booze. Still pretty ferocious against whoever might spoil the mountains and the aura of sacredness he perceives there and make others perceive.
Hell, might even have a hate/love relationships with his people if dwarves are too much "protoindustrial" as they often are.

Pic related.

I imagine Narvi as a much as a wizard as Galadriel is a... whatever magic user you think she could be in DND terms, you get my point.
Now you could argue that DND doesn't really let you make any character with its classes and that to some extent is true, but for Aragorn and Bilbo as well - and I don't think Strider isn't anymore one of the characters we think of when we think "ranger" for this reason.

>you get my point
No, not really. I don't see them using vancian magic, waving sticks around, throwing fireballs. I know this is kinda superficial cliché, but I also think this is what OP was asking for.

Nor Gandalf. He still is the archetype.

OP talks about mythology, even.

It got those from OD&D, and they made sense in OD&D.