The bearded lady.

[Tricky]

This question is actually about BG1, but I since I use Tutu I figure it's best served on the SoA forum. Anyways, I created a gnome. Gnomes! Though I selected a female character it is using the male sprite for an illusionist.

Is that normal? I mean, gnomes are admittedly more than a little strange. I wouldn't put cross dressing past them, but to actually grow a beard..

What's the word on this? Is it a bug or is there something altogether otherworldly at work?

[VonDondu]

Female dwarves have beards, and so do some female gnomes. (In traditional lore, I think it depends on where they come from). It's part of their allure. Korgan, for example, doesn't think a woman looks right unless she has one. (Or am I thinking of Gimli from Lord of the Rings?)

[Tricky]

The paperdoll, or whatever that thing is called that you use to select your colors, looks perfectly female though.

[wise grimwald]

In Icewindale this is actually explained, at least as far as dwarves are concerned. The problem I have with the game is that you have to bring in customised bit-maps in order to give the character a beard, as there are no bearded portraits in the female section. You get similar anomalies with characters (mages in general) having beards, but the portrait when they talk to you doesn't. It would have been good if the artists who did the portraits had used the characters in the game as models. A very minor gripe, but I do like consistancy. Again in both SoA and Tutu, the belt causes a sex-change, but you can't change the portrait to be of the correct gender.

[Tricky]

Oh well.. I despise gnomes anyway. Always stealing my underpants.

[Elessar]

Originally Posted by VonDondu

Female dwarves have beards, and so do some female gnomes. (In traditional lore, I think it depends on where they come from). It's part of their allure. Korgan, for example, doesn't think a woman looks right unless she has one. (Or am I thinking of Gimli from Lord of the Rings?)

i believe it is Thibbledorf Pwent who keeps insisting Cattie-Brie grow a beard to "look like a woman". But, I usually play a good party and havent had Korgan around much, so I dont know if Korgan mentions anything on the same lines...

[Klorox]

Originally Posted by tricky

oh Well.. I Despise Gnomes Anyway. Always Stealing My Underpants.

:d :d :d

Edit: Why aren't my big grin smilies working? I type them with a capital "D", but they come out lowercase.

Weird, eh? Trying other smilies:

[Galuf the Dwarf]

Originally Posted by Elessar

i believe it is Thibbledorf Pwent who keeps insisting Cattie-Brie grow a beard to "look like a woman". But, I usually play a good party and havent had Korgan around much, so I dont know if Korgan mentions anything on the same lines...

Confirmed as far as Pwent is concerned, that coming from the R.A. Salvatore novel The Legacy. In addition, there's a character from a few later Salvatore novels dealing with Drizzt Do'Urden; a female dwarf cleric named Stumpet Rakingclaw that has a beard.

Unfortunately, I can neither confirm nor deny the claims about Korgan.

Edit: Recent D&D and Forgotten Realms written materials (3rd edition and onward) seem to eliminate beards from practically all of its illustrations involving female dwarves. One of the prime examples of bearded female dwarves I've seen are the illustrations of the female dwarven deities from the 2nd Edition Forgotten Realms source book Demihuman Deities. Otherwise, from what I've seen, I have NOT seen any post-2nd Edition material that shows naturally bearded female dwarves. Gnomes, I cannot swear to naturally bearded females at all.