THE EVOLUTION OF THE GNOME IN DUNGEONS & DRAGONS
1974 - The gnome makes his first appearance in the original edition of D&D.
1975 - The gnome shows up in the Blackmoor supplement.
1977 - The gnome makes his first appearance in the Monster Manual. Gnomes are described (and illustrated) as smaller 'cousins of the dwarves', complete with beards and armor. They can see in the dark, they are described as 'resistant to poison and magic' and they are miners who live in clans. In short, they have nothing in common with the modern day gnome.
1978 - Gnomes appear in the first Player's Handbook as a playable race. They are just as described in the Monster Manual and they can take Illusionist as a class.
1980 - Gnomes get their own god, Garl Glittergold, in the Deities and Demigods cyclopedia.
1982 - Gnomes are detailed exhaustively (including their drinking habits!) by Roger Moore in Dragon Magazine #61. Moore describes gnomes as differing from dwarves in that they also enjoy the above-ground world. Gnomes are also associated with jokes and trickery, although confusingly they are also said to be usually aligned with Lawful Good. Moore also hints at an interest in crafts, which will shortly become an important feature of this race!
1987 - Gnomes appear in Dragonlance Adventures substantially reworked as 'Tinker Gnomes', a brown, clever race which are the ancestors of both dwarves and kender. This seems to be the first appearance of the tradition of gnomes having long names.
1989 - The second edition of AD&D is released, and the PHB contains gnomes, closely based on Roger E. Moore's version. Various monster manuals introduce several gnomish sub-races.
1993 - The Complete Book of Gnomes is so complete that it also contains halflings. The two races are described as sharing a diminutive size, and affinity for larger races and the ability to 'disappear into the woodwork' when threatened. This book treats gnomes as more 'fey' than the dwarves (who are still their cousins) as they enjoy a good stroll above ground in the moonlight.
2000 - D&D 3rd Edition changes the gnome's favored class from illusionist to bard and opens up spellcasting to all races. The PHB says that 'gnomes are welcome everywhere as technicians, alchemists and inventors', implying that the 'tinker gnome' archetype has taken preference.
2008 - D&D Fourth Edition is released, but gnomes appear only in the Monster Manual. They will have to wait for the second PHB for their playable race write-up.
2009 - The PHB2 contains gnomes, as promised. They are now definitively associated with the Feywild, a major component of 4e lore. They are a race of magical tricksters, and their ability to turn magically invisible is now explicit. They appear to have lost their beards.
2014 - Gnomes will appear in 5e... but what form will they take?
