Why are there Mage sprites and paperdolls for Dwarves and Half Orcs?

Grinkles

While playing with my character's appearance using the CTRL+6 and CTRL+7 console commands, I noticed that there are apparently fully functional sprites and paperdolls that the console calls "MAGE MALE DWARF," "MAGE FEMALE DWARF," "MAGE MALE HALF ORC," and "MAGE FEMALE HALF ORC."

Dwarf Mage:


Half Orc Mage:


Why do these exist if neither Dwarves nor Half Orcs can be any kind of Mage? Are these used for NPCs? Are they a holdover from some unfinished plan to expand these races' class options? Perhaps they were intended for unfinished companions that would've had "illegal" race/class combos? Maybe the explanation is simple and I'm not seeing it for some reason. For the record, Halflings don't have any corresponding Mage sprites/paperdolls.

The sprites appear to be identical to the Gnome Mage (for the Dwarves) and Human Mage (for the Half-Orc), but the paperdolls seem to be unique. (Part of me seems to remember the male Dwarf Mage paperdoll was how the male Gnome Mage paperdoll looked in the original "unenhanced" Baldur's Gate, but my memory is fuzzy.) Here are some comparison shots just to showcase Half Orc vs. Human and Dwarf vs. Gnome, since the differences are somewhat subtle:

lunar

For completeness's sake, I think. Duergar mages in bg2 uses dwarven mage animations but as you noticed too, they are the same as gnomes in the game world, only differing in paperdolls.

I can't remember if in the original bg2 we had dwarven and half orc mage paperdolls. I really don't think so. Original half orc paperdolls are super different, they look rather brutish and animalistic. I can not imagine a mage paperdoll with this style as I attached here a screenshot for Dorn. 1pp half orcs are just stockier, fat humans.

I guess 1pp mod creater designed those extra paperdolls while doing her mod just because. And since ee adopts 1pp, there you go.

Ygramul

This is awesome!

Now I must run a Dwarf Runemage (will invent later what that could possibly be).

Or better yet a Dwarven Defender/Runemage multiclass with ++++ in Staves.

Or perhaps a Half Orc Dwarven Defender/Wizzard Luggage Master.
(Are there sprites for a Luggage familiar?)

Lord_Tansheron

Ygramul said:

(Are there sprites for a Luggage familiar?)

More important question: is a Luggage a type of Modron?

Tresset

Too bad there isn't a halfling mage model.

CoM_Solaufein

Dwarven mages, what next dwarven monks?

Jarrakul

I don't know, but if I had to hazard a guess, it's probably because the current paperdolls were originally put together by modders, and modders like to have options. And of course, since they existed anyway, there was no particular reason for Beamdog not to put them in the game, even if nothing in the unmodded game uses them.

simples

Lord_Tansheron said:

More important question: is a Luggage a type of Modron?

nah, i reckon it's a mimic with legs

Grum

CoM_Solaufein said:

Dwarven mages, what next dwarven monks?

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zui_quan

This would be the dwarven monk.

[Deleted User]

Thought: There is a Dwarf (Mironda) and a Half-Orc (Reginald) Wild Mage in Neera's refuge in BG2EE. The decision to create these paper dolls might stem from that in some way.

Lord_Tansheron

Interestingly, neither uses the sprites in question ¬_¬

Tresset

Kaigen said:

Thought: There is a Dwarf (Mironda) and a Half-Orc (Reginald) Wild Mage in Neera's refuge in BG2EE. The decision to create these paper dolls might stem from that in some way.

I rather doubt it. The source art is lost and I think that means that Beamdog can't create new sprites. Or at least that was the case a long time ago...

CoM_Solaufein

The dwarf mage paperdoll will fit my Clawhammer dwarves perfectly in my Undying 3.0 mod.