So I'm considering starting as a level 1 cleric with Life Domain - almost entirely for heavy armor proficiency / shield / the niceties of the healy spells they get. However, I then plan on fully investing into wizard. The idea being there are no penalties for wearing heavy armor as long as you are proficient when spell casting.
This is where my issue begins, this doesn't feel intended - almost a blind spot in the rules. Table is fine with it, but I have torn feelings. How do you all feel about 'min-max' and grabbing heavy armor / niceties at the cost of an early level? I'm struggling because it feels like it's subverting the 'feels' of DnD.
So I'm considering starting as a level 1 cleric with Life Domain - almost entirely for heavy armor proficiency / shield / the niceties of the healy spells they get. However, I then plan on fully investing into wizard. The idea being there are no penalties for wearing heavy armor as long as you are proficient when spell casting.
This is where my issue begins, this doesn't feel intended - almost a blind spot in the rules. Table is fine with it, but I have torn feelings. How do you all feel about 'min-max' and grabbing heavy armor / niceties at the cost of an early level? I'm struggling because it feels like it's subverting the 'feels' of DnD.
I wouldn't allow it as the DM without a good backstory reason. I would let you be an artificer, since it's far easier to justify that from a mechanic and roleplaying sense.
It's intentional in that it's not up to the rules to tell the DM what classes and multiclasses they allow, it's up to the DM to say that. From a backstory place, how does this person who has probably been a part of the Church all their lives then decide you know what, screw it I'm a Wizard now. If they aren't part of a church but a deity imposed their powers on them, what will that deity do when they decide not to represent them in the way they thought?
If I'm going to run with it and multiclass the cleric I've got a few stories in mind.
A) I'm an older gnome that's been trying at being a cleric, but generally just suck at it - have been interested in the history of religion more than invested into the healing / caring for the masses kind of deal. Eventually someone pulls me aside and insinuates that I may want to try something else out. So after a 100 years of being a pretty subpar cleric, I'm going to set out on the road and try at becoming a wizard. So my intro story arc would be to find someone willing to train me.
B) We're in a relatively godless / magic deprived era, but magic and the gods have slowly begun to return. I'm a younger cleric, that was in the order for a very brief period time (a few years at most). It's revealed that the order was worshipping a false / fake God like a cult or something -OR- it turns out the God we were worshipping was secretly a fiend or something of that ilk. So disillusioned to religion, I've decided to chase life as an agnostic wizard (possibly with some arc involving my history with a false deity / fiend).
If you're struggling with the notion because it doesn't feel right, lean into it and fashion an in-character narrative. Personally I don't have an issue with it, but I'm pretty easygoing when it comes to reflavouring and flipping concepts in general. I'd say this is a personal problem, so you should probably look for a personal solution.
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Want to start playing but don't have anyone to play with? You can try these options: [link].
If I'm going to run with it and multiclass the cleric I've got a few stories in mind.
A) I'm an older gnome that's been trying at being a cleric, but generally just suck at it - have been interested in the history of religion more than invested into the healing / caring for the masses kind of deal. Eventually someone pulls me aside and insinuates that I may want to try something else out. So after a 100 years of being a pretty subpar cleric, I'm going to set out on the road and try at becoming a wizard. So my intro story arc would be to find someone willing to train me.
B) We're in a relatively godless / magic deprived era, but magic and the gods have slowly begun to return. I'm a younger cleric, that was in the order for a very brief period time (a few years at most). It's revealed that the order was worshipping a false / fake God like a cult or something -OR- it turns out the God we were worshipping was secretly a fiend or something of that ilk. So disillusioned to religion, I've decided to chase life as an agnostic wizard (possibly with some arc involving my history with a false deity / fiend).
A is fine mechanically. B, so would you stop praying every day to that fiend? Would you be willing to give up your channel divinities and cleric spell slots?
Personally, when it comes to wizards in armor I don't see the problem here in terms of flavor or lore etc. Wizards don't typically have proficiency in armor. That is to say, they are not trained to fight and cast spells etc while wearing armor. And so wearing the armor they are not trained in causes problems.
A cleric with armor proficiency then multiclassing into wizard would be fine, because they have that training in armor from their cleric days. It's not the wizards inherently cannot use armor but more that they typically do not, but your character's differing background would be an exception.
You can play into this with the writing etc if you don't feel comfortable, but I really don't see any issue here. It doesn't feel like you're bending rules or cheating or anything to me IMO and as long as your character's story explains the cleric and wizard thing it should be good.
A. "dipping" a level to get proficiencies or some other spells is a known and valid mechanical option in D&D. It's up to the DM to allow multiclassing or put any limits on it. It sounds like your DM is accomodating but putting it on you to "explain it." As long as your DM is fine with your intention, there's literally nothing for you to worry about.
B. I mean the running from an order seems to work fine - though keeping your divine magic from a false god seems odd, you may want to discover a better god with the domain in their portfolio. Wizarding could simply be you found arcane magic to be your true vocation, so perhaps you still see yourself a serving some divine god, but you do so through wizardry (a god of magic would be an obvious one here).
Or you belong to a the Wizardly Brotherhood of Robust Badass Spellcasters who Do Pullups and Never Skip Leg Day So As to Never Slouch from a Fight When We Run Out of Slots. The name there explains it all. You could reflavor the Divine magic as arcane secrets of life or what have you. The Wizardly Brotherhood of stuff I'm not going to type again would clearly do more work in the study of vitality than your average Wizardly order.
Gotcha. Yeah, the DM is totally fine with it - he himself loves to min max so he was overjoyed when I suggested it. I just feel weird about it, because it feels unnatural. I'll just have to find a backstory / reason going forward for myself.
A player in the campaign I run made his first level in fighter, then has taken 5 levels in wizard. His backstory is that he was a soldier in the army but his men died in some sort of magical catastrophe. He then hooked up with a necromancer and was granted long life as a dhampir. He plays him more similarly to a fighter and only casts certain spells that he feels fits with his role playing. He also had to sacrifice that first level so his magic abilities are not as advanced nor did he get the cool fighter stuff after first level. It works mechanically and his role playing is very good. So it worked for my table.
There are disadvantages to multiclassing. You will always be a level behind in your wizard progression so you wont be able to cast fireball until level 6 and so on. Unless you invest in strength you migth have issues with encumberance and (unless you are a dwarf) your movement speed will be limited wearing heavy armor. It aso becomes quite MAD with you needing 13 in WIS, possible a high strength score as well as Int and Con.
It is entirely up to you (and the DM but he seems fine about it) but if you are uncomfortable with it I would say play a character you are more comfortable with.
If you want to up your AC you can do it through race if you are more comfortable with that. Tortles have an AC of 17. Mountain Dwarves have proficiency in medium armor. (AC 17 with half plate) Lizardfolk have an AC of 13+Dex. If you have got at least light armor proficiency the feat moderately armored allows use of shields getting you an AC pretty close to heavy. If you have a dex of 14 (which you are likely to want anyway for saves and initiative) half plate +shiled gives an AC of 19 compared to full plate and shield's 20.
As Spidecloned said an artificer might be a more "natural" multiclass (a boffin who tinkers with magic and magic items / mechanical devices) and mechanically it is less MAD. You don't get heavy armor (unless you take 3 levels and take armorer) but medium + shields is pretty solid. You also get cure wounds. While Artificers are half casters unlike paladins and rangers they round up so a single level dip in artificer does not reduce your spell slots. Where artificers are better than clerics for a wizard dip (other than not needing wisdom) is they get proficiency in con saves. so you will be less likely to lose concentration on those spells you really want to stay.
So I'm considering starting as a level 1 cleric with Life Domain - almost entirely for heavy armor proficiency / shield / the niceties of the healy spells they get. However, I then plan on fully investing into wizard. The idea being there are no penalties for wearing heavy armor as long as you are proficient when spell casting.
This is where my issue begins, this doesn't feel intended - almost a blind spot in the rules. Table is fine with it, but I have torn feelings. How do you all feel about 'min-max' and grabbing heavy armor / niceties at the cost of an early level? I'm struggling because it feels like it's subverting the 'feels' of DnD.
Personally I don't hold the classes to be sacred in any way. I think of them as mostly out of character mechanics. In character you happen to be a practitioner of a blended sort of magic. You are not a Cleric or a Wizard in character, you are a person who has access to divine magic and has learned some other ways to access magic as well.
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Canto alla vita alla sua bellezza ad ogni sua ferita ogni sua carezza!
I sing to life and to its tragic beauty To pain and to strife, but all that dances through me The rise and the fall, I've lived through it all!
Some of it is how you take lore. To be a cleric a diety has to bestow it on you, where becomeing a wizard takes lots of study.
Having said that after a few weeks of adventuring a rookie wizard can become the most powerful mage on the planet. Which makes one wonder while the world isn't ful of 20th level characters that have learned everythink that can be learned in their specialisation ut for some reason cane not extend their expertise to even slightly different areas. (Like a 20th level divination wizard learning arcane deflection which can be done by journemen war wizards)
There are plenty of ways you can build a backstory around a multiclass, when a diety bestows magical powers to a mortal there is no reson why they must give them greater powers, an a character who receives such a gift cpuld then persue other routes. That spark of divine power could make a character persue magical powers from other means and therefore study arcana. However some people are not comfortable with a a character with a limited amount of divine power goes out with some other adventures after a couple of days killing a few Kobalds a maybe saving a friends life when he is gravely wounded he suddenly has discovered how to practice arcane magic. The same could be said for the levelling process generally but there is at least some logic with a diety giving more powerful spells ot a cleric who has proven his worth or a wizard developing his skills while using them in the heat of battle.
Every mountain dwarf wizard has medium armor proficiency, so I don't see how it really subverts anything
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Active characters:
Carric Aquissar, elven wannabe artist in his deconstructionist period (Archfey warlock) Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric) Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator obsessed with that one unsolved murder (Assassin rogue) Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
Every mountain dwarf wizard has medium armor proficiency, so I don't see how it really subverts anything
Sure, but that's a racial thing.
Even though I said no, the reality is I just want the player to justify it from a roleplay perspective. Even if that justification is somewhat weak? It should exist unless it's a table where roleplay doesn't matter, it's all mechanics and dungeon crawling and slaying monsters. If it's that kind of table? Who cares, screw it and have fun.
Gotcha. Yeah, the DM is totally fine with it - he himself loves to min max so he was overjoyed when I suggested it. I just feel weird about it, because it feels unnatural. I'll just have to find a backstory / reason going forward for myself.
Thanks!
This is the perfect kind of response to it too. Obviously from a mechanics standpoint, DM doesn't care but the person still wanted to have a story reason for it. That kind of shit is great. Sounds like the start of a fun game at that table. Enjoy it.
Every mountain dwarf wizard has medium armor proficiency, so I don't see how it really subverts anything
Sure, but that's a racial thing.
So?
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Active characters:
Carric Aquissar, elven wannabe artist in his deconstructionist period (Archfey warlock) Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric) Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator obsessed with that one unsolved murder (Assassin rogue) Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
If I'm going to run with it and multiclass the cleric I've got a few stories in mind.
A) I'm an older gnome that's been trying at being a cleric, but generally just suck at it - have been interested in the history of religion more than invested into the healing / caring for the masses kind of deal. Eventually someone pulls me aside and insinuates that I may want to try something else out. So after a 100 years of being a pretty subpar cleric, I'm going to set out on the road and try at becoming a wizard. So my intro story arc would be to find someone willing to train me.
B) We're in a relatively godless / magic deprived era, but magic and the gods have slowly begun to return. I'm a younger cleric, that was in the order for a very brief period time (a few years at most). It's revealed that the order was worshipping a false / fake God like a cult or something -OR- it turns out the God we were worshipping was secretly a fiend or something of that ilk. So disillusioned to religion, I've decided to chase life as an agnostic wizard (possibly with some arc involving my history with a false deity / fiend).
This stuff is fine and honestly I don't care if you reflavor the cleric stuff completely just to be part of your wizard studies.
But what they *don't* explain is why you're walking around in full plate, which is the main thing you're trying to justify here. Wizards don't really do that, and if it was just a matter off learning then why wouldn't they?
You're not just a wizard that used to be a cleric. You're a wizard that's walking around *still dressed like a cleric*. Why is that? I'd focus more on that, and put in a little more effort than "cause it's safer."
Every mountain dwarf wizard has medium armor proficiency, so I don't see how it really subverts anything
Sure, but that's a racial thing.
So?
"I'm a dwarf" says a lot. We often lean heavily on this kind of shorthand without realizing it, but a dwarf wizard in armor doesn't raise eyebrows because we all know the relationship between dwarves and armor and our brains just make the connection. You don't need to work as hard to justify something that's supported by decades of game lore.
Every mountain dwarf wizard has medium armor proficiency, so I don't see how it really subverts anything
Sure, but that's a racial thing.
So?
"I'm a dwarf" says a lot. We often lean heavily on this kind of shorthand without realizing it, but a dwarf wizard in armor doesn't raise eyebrows because we all know the relationship between dwarves and armor and our brains just make the connection. You don't need to work as hard to justify something that's supported by decades of game lore.
Choose Mystra or Selune as your Deity. Both have an arcane/magical bent to them.
Have the Goddess speak to you in a vision or dream that your talents are needed in another area. Transition to magic while still in the grace of your Goddess. Little conflict in the multiclass. Be a champion of the Goddess to all as the correct path. Lean into the role in character.
At a certain point, enough exceptions exist that there's nothing really left to subvert.
A wizard -- i.e., someone casting arcane spells as opposed to divine ones -- in serious armor raises eyebrows, but not when it's a dwarf. Or a githyanki, for that matter. Or an eldritch knight. College of swords bard, if you want to stretch the definition of "wizard" a little further. Elven chain can be worn even if you aren't proficient in medium armor. There's probably other scenarios I'm not thinking of off the top of my head.
Do I think the character's backstory should provide an explanation? Sure, but I think every backstory should provide an explanation for the things a character can do. I just don't think "I'm a wizard... but in chain mail!" deserves special consideration or scrutiny.
Carric Aquissar, elven wannabe artist in his deconstructionist period (Archfey warlock) Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric) Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator obsessed with that one unsolved murder (Assassin rogue) Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
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So I'm considering starting as a level 1 cleric with Life Domain - almost entirely for heavy armor proficiency / shield / the niceties of the healy spells they get. However, I then plan on fully investing into wizard. The idea being there are no penalties for wearing heavy armor as long as you are proficient when spell casting.
This is where my issue begins, this doesn't feel intended - almost a blind spot in the rules. Table is fine with it, but I have torn feelings. How do you all feel about 'min-max' and grabbing heavy armor / niceties at the cost of an early level? I'm struggling because it feels like it's subverting the 'feels' of DnD.
I wouldn't allow it as the DM without a good backstory reason. I would let you be an artificer, since it's far easier to justify that from a mechanic and roleplaying sense.
It's intentional in that it's not up to the rules to tell the DM what classes and multiclasses they allow, it's up to the DM to say that. From a backstory place, how does this person who has probably been a part of the Church all their lives then decide you know what, screw it I'm a Wizard now. If they aren't part of a church but a deity imposed their powers on them, what will that deity do when they decide not to represent them in the way they thought?
If I'm going to run with it and multiclass the cleric I've got a few stories in mind.
A) I'm an older gnome that's been trying at being a cleric, but generally just suck at it - have been interested in the history of religion more than invested into the healing / caring for the masses kind of deal. Eventually someone pulls me aside and insinuates that I may want to try something else out. So after a 100 years of being a pretty subpar cleric, I'm going to set out on the road and try at becoming a wizard. So my intro story arc would be to find someone willing to train me.
B) We're in a relatively godless / magic deprived era, but magic and the gods have slowly begun to return. I'm a younger cleric, that was in the order for a very brief period time (a few years at most). It's revealed that the order was worshipping a false / fake God like a cult or something -OR- it turns out the God we were worshipping was secretly a fiend or something of that ilk. So disillusioned to religion, I've decided to chase life as an agnostic wizard (possibly with some arc involving my history with a false deity / fiend).
If you're struggling with the notion because it doesn't feel right, lean into it and fashion an in-character narrative. Personally I don't have an issue with it, but I'm pretty easygoing when it comes to reflavouring and flipping concepts in general. I'd say this is a personal problem, so you should probably look for a personal solution.
Want to start playing but don't have anyone to play with? You can try these options: [link].
A is fine mechanically. B, so would you stop praying every day to that fiend? Would you be willing to give up your channel divinities and cleric spell slots?
Personally, when it comes to wizards in armor I don't see the problem here in terms of flavor or lore etc. Wizards don't typically have proficiency in armor. That is to say, they are not trained to fight and cast spells etc while wearing armor. And so wearing the armor they are not trained in causes problems.
A cleric with armor proficiency then multiclassing into wizard would be fine, because they have that training in armor from their cleric days. It's not the wizards inherently cannot use armor but more that they typically do not, but your character's differing background would be an exception.
You can play into this with the writing etc if you don't feel comfortable, but I really don't see any issue here. It doesn't feel like you're bending rules or cheating or anything to me IMO and as long as your character's story explains the cleric and wizard thing it should be good.
A. "dipping" a level to get proficiencies or some other spells is a known and valid mechanical option in D&D. It's up to the DM to allow multiclassing or put any limits on it. It sounds like your DM is accomodating but putting it on you to "explain it." As long as your DM is fine with your intention, there's literally nothing for you to worry about.
B. I mean the running from an order seems to work fine - though keeping your divine magic from a false god seems odd, you may want to discover a better god with the domain in their portfolio. Wizarding could simply be you found arcane magic to be your true vocation, so perhaps you still see yourself a serving some divine god, but you do so through wizardry (a god of magic would be an obvious one here).
Or you belong to a the Wizardly Brotherhood of Robust Badass Spellcasters who Do Pullups and Never Skip Leg Day So As to Never Slouch from a Fight When We Run Out of Slots. The name there explains it all. You could reflavor the Divine magic as arcane secrets of life or what have you. The Wizardly Brotherhood of stuff I'm not going to type again would clearly do more work in the study of vitality than your average Wizardly order.
Jander Sunstar is the thinking person's Drizzt, fight me.
Gotcha. Yeah, the DM is totally fine with it - he himself loves to min max so he was overjoyed when I suggested it. I just feel weird about it, because it feels unnatural. I'll just have to find a backstory / reason going forward for myself.
Thanks!
A player in the campaign I run made his first level in fighter, then has taken 5 levels in wizard. His backstory is that he was a soldier in the army but his men died in some sort of magical catastrophe. He then hooked up with a necromancer and was granted long life as a dhampir. He plays him more similarly to a fighter and only casts certain spells that he feels fits with his role playing. He also had to sacrifice that first level so his magic abilities are not as advanced nor did he get the cool fighter stuff after first level. It works mechanically and his role playing is very good. So it worked for my table.
There are disadvantages to multiclassing. You will always be a level behind in your wizard progression so you wont be able to cast fireball until level 6 and so on. Unless you invest in strength you migth have issues with encumberance and (unless you are a dwarf) your movement speed will be limited wearing heavy armor. It aso becomes quite MAD with you needing 13 in WIS, possible a high strength score as well as Int and Con.
It is entirely up to you (and the DM but he seems fine about it) but if you are uncomfortable with it I would say play a character you are more comfortable with.
If you want to up your AC you can do it through race if you are more comfortable with that. Tortles have an AC of 17. Mountain Dwarves have proficiency in medium armor. (AC 17 with half plate) Lizardfolk have an AC of 13+Dex. If you have got at least light armor proficiency the feat moderately armored allows use of shields getting you an AC pretty close to heavy. If you have a dex of 14 (which you are likely to want anyway for saves and initiative) half plate +shiled gives an AC of 19 compared to full plate and shield's 20.
As Spidecloned said an artificer might be a more "natural" multiclass (a boffin who tinkers with magic and magic items / mechanical devices) and mechanically it is less MAD. You don't get heavy armor (unless you take 3 levels and take armorer) but medium + shields is pretty solid. You also get cure wounds. While Artificers are half casters unlike paladins and rangers they round up so a single level dip in artificer does not reduce your spell slots. Where artificers are better than clerics for a wizard dip (other than not needing wisdom) is they get proficiency in con saves. so you will be less likely to lose concentration on those spells you really want to stay.
Personally I don't hold the classes to be sacred in any way. I think of them as mostly out of character mechanics. In character you happen to be a practitioner of a blended sort of magic. You are not a Cleric or a Wizard in character, you are a person who has access to divine magic and has learned some other ways to access magic as well.
Canto alla vita
alla sua bellezza
ad ogni sua ferita
ogni sua carezza!
I sing to life and to its tragic beauty
To pain and to strife, but all that dances through me
The rise and the fall, I've lived through it all!
Some of it is how you take lore. To be a cleric a diety has to bestow it on you, where becomeing a wizard takes lots of study.
Having said that after a few weeks of adventuring a rookie wizard can become the most powerful mage on the planet. Which makes one wonder while the world isn't ful of 20th level characters that have learned everythink that can be learned in their specialisation ut for some reason cane not extend their expertise to even slightly different areas. (Like a 20th level divination wizard learning arcane deflection which can be done by journemen war wizards)
There are plenty of ways you can build a backstory around a multiclass, when a diety bestows magical powers to a mortal there is no reson why they must give them greater powers, an a character who receives such a gift cpuld then persue other routes. That spark of divine power could make a character persue magical powers from other means and therefore study arcana. However some people are not comfortable with a a character with a limited amount of divine power goes out with some other adventures after a couple of days killing a few Kobalds a maybe saving a friends life when he is gravely wounded he suddenly has discovered how to practice arcane magic. The same could be said for the levelling process generally but there is at least some logic with a diety giving more powerful spells ot a cleric who has proven his worth or a wizard developing his skills while using them in the heat of battle.
Every mountain dwarf wizard has medium armor proficiency, so I don't see how it really subverts anything
Active characters:
Carric Aquissar, elven wannabe artist in his deconstructionist period (Archfey warlock)
Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric)
Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator obsessed with that one unsolved murder (Assassin rogue)
Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
Sure, but that's a racial thing.
Even though I said no, the reality is I just want the player to justify it from a roleplay perspective. Even if that justification is somewhat weak? It should exist unless it's a table where roleplay doesn't matter, it's all mechanics and dungeon crawling and slaying monsters. If it's that kind of table? Who cares, screw it and have fun.
This is the perfect kind of response to it too. Obviously from a mechanics standpoint, DM doesn't care but the person still wanted to have a story reason for it. That kind of shit is great. Sounds like the start of a fun game at that table. Enjoy it.
So?
Active characters:
Carric Aquissar, elven wannabe artist in his deconstructionist period (Archfey warlock)
Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric)
Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator obsessed with that one unsolved murder (Assassin rogue)
Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)
This stuff is fine and honestly I don't care if you reflavor the cleric stuff completely just to be part of your wizard studies.
But what they *don't* explain is why you're walking around in full plate, which is the main thing you're trying to justify here. Wizards don't really do that, and if it was just a matter off learning then why wouldn't they?
You're not just a wizard that used to be a cleric. You're a wizard that's walking around *still dressed like a cleric*. Why is that? I'd focus more on that, and put in a little more effort than "cause it's safer."
My homebrew subclasses (full list here)
(Artificer) Swordmage | Glasswright | (Barbarian) Path of the Savage Embrace
(Bard) College of Dance | (Fighter) Warlord | Cannoneer
(Monk) Way of the Elements | (Ranger) Blade Dancer
(Rogue) DaggerMaster | Inquisitor | (Sorcerer) Riftwalker | Spellfist
(Warlock) The Swarm
"I'm a dwarf" says a lot. We often lean heavily on this kind of shorthand without realizing it, but a dwarf wizard in armor doesn't raise eyebrows because we all know the relationship between dwarves and armor and our brains just make the connection. You don't need to work as hard to justify something that's supported by decades of game lore.
My homebrew subclasses (full list here)
(Artificer) Swordmage | Glasswright | (Barbarian) Path of the Savage Embrace
(Bard) College of Dance | (Fighter) Warlord | Cannoneer
(Monk) Way of the Elements | (Ranger) Blade Dancer
(Rogue) DaggerMaster | Inquisitor | (Sorcerer) Riftwalker | Spellfist
(Warlock) The Swarm
It's even a trope: https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/OurDwarvesAreAllTheSame
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
Choose Mystra or Selune as your Deity. Both have an arcane/magical bent to them.
Have the Goddess speak to you in a vision or dream that your talents are needed in another area. Transition to magic while still in the grace of your Goddess. Little conflict in the multiclass. Be a champion of the Goddess to all as the correct path. Lean into the role in character.
At a certain point, enough exceptions exist that there's nothing really left to subvert.
A wizard -- i.e., someone casting arcane spells as opposed to divine ones -- in serious armor raises eyebrows, but not when it's a dwarf. Or a githyanki, for that matter. Or an eldritch knight. College of swords bard, if you want to stretch the definition of "wizard" a little further. Elven chain can be worn even if you aren't proficient in medium armor. There's probably other scenarios I'm not thinking of off the top of my head.
Do I think the character's backstory should provide an explanation? Sure, but I think every backstory should provide an explanation for the things a character can do. I just don't think "I'm a wizard... but in chain mail!" deserves special consideration or scrutiny.
Active characters:
Carric Aquissar, elven wannabe artist in his deconstructionist period (Archfey warlock)
Lan Kidogo, mapach archaeologist and treasure hunter (Knowledge cleric)
Mardan Ferres, elven private investigator obsessed with that one unsolved murder (Assassin rogue)
Xhekhetiel, halfling survivor of a Betrayer Gods cult (Runechild sorcerer/fighter)