Homebrew gnome subrace

[oreofox]

Looking for some constructive criticism on a bit of homebrew.

I have been working on a homebrew setting since 2003, and am in the process of converting things into 5th edition D&D. One such thing is a subrace of the gnome. After so many years of the old illusionist trickster gnome who wants to be a fey, and that image being the first one to pop into someone's head when they hear the word "gnome" (maybe second only to a lawn gnome), I decided to go a different route for the gnomes of my world.

I got rid of the forest gnome subrace, and replaced it with a more war-like militarily minded subrace (think something along the lines of how the Spartans were portrayed in the 300 movie). Everything remains the same as the gnome base race in the PHB, with the subrace getting only 2 things, so far: +1 Str as well as proficiency with light armor, and not suffering disadvantage when wielding a heavy weapon.

I haven't playtested this, as I haven't run anything in my homebrew setting since 2005 and 3rd edition, so I don't know if this is weak, just fine, or too strong. I can't really tell when something is too much for this new edition, as I haven't done much with it until recently when I started up Princes of the Apocalypse.

Any sort of constructive criticism is welcome, as I wish to get this right.

 

[steeldragons]

Spartan society gnomes. Sounds cool.

Well, first thing that jumps out, how are you justifying a small race not having disadvantage with a heavy weapon? It sounds unbalanced...and pun could be intended. The image of a gnome running around with a maul or two-handed sword (both of which are probably longer than the gnome's entire height) is...kinda silly.

Next question/thought/comment, why not a medium armor proficiency also? Mountain dwarves get heavy.

See no issue with the ability bump. That's fairly standard for all subraces. But I would try to come up with something besides gnomes reunning around with heavy weapons. Other than the optics problem, it does smack a bit of overpowered/powergame-encouraging.

 

[Nellisir]

I can't speak to the balance issues, but Gygax's World of Greyhawk had a considerable number of gnomish pikemen. I always got the impression that they were fairly militant, and don't have a problem seeing them in phalanxes or similar organized military formations.

 

[oreofox]

Mountain dwarves get light and medium, and +2 Str. The removal of disadvantage from heavy weapons was to reflect their more military culture, focusing on warfare. Though, in my setting, they live right alongside the rock gnomes.

I tried to compare them to the dwarves, and more specifically, the mountain dwarves. +1 Str, instead of +2; Light armor and removal of disadvantage instead of light + medium armor. Giving them the same thing as the mountain dwarves, with a lower Str boost, didn't seem like it would be worth it. So I decided to go with what I did. I couldn't really think of anything else to reflect their military-centered culture, without being just a small-sized copy-paste of the mountain dwarf.

 

[steeldragons]

hmm. Yeah. I see what you mean.

I don't know what to tell you. Are pikes heavy weapons in 5e? I could easily see a phalanx with spears...you know, gnome-sized spears. Spears aren't heavy, right?

Maybe, +1 Str., the Light armor prof...and if you want that militarized flavor, give them something like the hobgoblin's racial ability, I forget what it is...hang on..."Martial Advantage." That's it!

They get extra damage hitting with "a weapon attack" [any weapon], as long as they have an ally "who is not incapacitated" adjacent to the target. Now, maybe not "7 (2d6) hp" of damage like the hob's get. But, maybe,...4 [2d4]?

Just an idea. BUt, like I said, heavy weapons just is wonky/starts to shatter immersion...to me.

EDIT: That's "once per turn" by the way. So if they get more than 1 attack per round, the Martial Advantage extra damage is only on 1 target.

 

[oreofox]

In my Pathfinder write-up, I gave them dealing damage as if they were Medium sized, instead of Small sized, since Small weapons dealt less; the half-orc's Ferocity ability; and the ratfolk's Swarming ability, plus all the non-illusion-based abilities of the base Pathfinder gnome. Since the weapon damage difference isn't a thing in 5th, I took that out. I basically turned half-orcs into full orcs, so giving gnomes the Ferocity (Relentless Endurance) ability could work, but I am kinda trying to not give more than one race the same racial ability. Swarming basically allowed the gnome to be considered flanking a creature so long as there was another gnome standing in the same space. The "martial advantage" could work, but feels like Sneak Attack that doesn't scale upward.

I do agree that gnomes carrying greatswords and mauls would be a bit wonky, but it was the only thing that sprang to mind to represent their military focus. And pikes are "heavy, reach, two-handed" weapons.

 

[steeldragons]

Well,the fact that it doesn't scale up is the point of it being a racial ability, not a class feature. It's something gnomes [of this society/subrace] have been trained/know how to do. That's it. It doesn't "get better."

Spears being reach and versatile should suffice, shouldn't it? Spartans weren't using pikes...and when Gary Gygax was writing up Greyhawk "heavy weapons", as a category, wasn't really a thing. So "Gnomes with pikes? Sure! They know how to make 'em their size/so they can use 'em."

Another direction or limitation you could use instead, if the martial thing is too much, might be if you want them to be these spear-toting phalanx hoplite-style warrior troops, make the extra damage apply if they are using a spear or short sword [or whatever the common troop's one-handed melee weapon of the culture is] only...when having an ally adjacent.

I dunno. Just throwin' stuff out there.

 

[Twiggly the Gnome]

The key attribute for gnomes is Intelligence, so I'd give a martial sub-race something that reinforces "fighting smart". Perhaps a non-magical version of the True Strike cantrip that represents an innate knack for finding an opponent's weakness. You could call it "Strike the Heel".

 

[the Jester]

Huh. Balance-wise it looks okay, but honestly, there's some cognitive dissonance there for me. +1 Str for a small race? No disadvantage on heavy weapons? Both rub me the wrong way.