Honestly, how often have you used gnomes?

[Vigwyn the Unruly]

I have played a gnome. I think they have excellent, whimsical flavor. Of course, there is also the flipside of the menacing, conniving gnome...

And how can you say they have no place in fantasy!??

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

And how can you say they have no place in fantasy!??

If you don't like elves, it's a campaign choice and a matter of personal preference.

If you don't like dwarves, it's a campaign choice and a matter of personal preference.

If you don't like half-elves, it's a campaign choice and a matter of personal preference.

If you don't like half-orcs, it's a campaign choice and a matter of personal preference.

If you don't like halflings, it's a campaign choice and a matter of personal preference.

If you don't like gnomes, clearly WotC should remove them from the PHB.

 

[Jackelope King]

In my first campaign settings, gnomish tinkerers had a small desert kingdom. They also invented an airship near the end of the game, and offered it to the PCs as a reward for their (much earlier) adventure that saved the city from a drow invasion. The name of the ship? The Misgnomer.

A friend of mine also played a pretty darn cool gnomish bard (3.0... take THAT, Gimble!). She and my elven fighter/rogue made a fantastic team, including the time that we managed to liberate and entire stock of slaves from a group of slavers and steal their own boat right out from under their noses in their fortress. The gnome pretended to be a demonic summoner, conjuring up an impressive major image of a balor (giving my elf and the other player's pseudodragon a chance to sneak away and free the slaves... if not for the bard, we would've been toast).

The same friend also came up with a very interesting setting where the metaplot dealt primarily with a war between the two great powers: a gnomish empire and the goblin empire. I think the gnomish cavalry had riding dogs (quoth the Belkster, "A fierce canine, barely domesticated, more wolf than dog. Imagine me riding on the back of such a powerful beast, its sharp teeth bared in a predatory snarl. The smell of blood will drive it into a frenzy as it attacks foes in a whirlwind of fangs and claws!")

And it doesn't help that I consider this picture to be one of my favorite pieces of art from 3.5e.

So yeah, gnomes will be missed, even if I can understand why they got dropped.

 

[Doug McCrae]

We don't need two short arse races. One is enough.

There's a gnome PC in my current game. The player is doing a good job with his 3-foot tall source of evil necromantic might posturing schtick. But I figure he could do the exact same with a halfling.

 

[GAAAHHH]

Yes, I have played gnome characters. My longest running character in 2nd edition was a gnome (Ralard Coppertongue - Gnome Thief/Illusionist 7/7). I think gnomes have a lot to define them as a race, and I think they have as much a place in fantasy games as elves.

 

[zoroaster100]

Gnomes are an important part of the campaign setting for the Shackled City adventure path which we just played through for the past year and a half. Two of the key NPCs for the campaign were gnomes (including the one that ran the magic store in the city from which the PCs got many of their magic). One of the players ran a gnome character for the entire campaign.

 

[Arkhandus]

Bah.

I've used gnomes plenty. Heck, next week the party in my Bo9S campaign will be ambushed by a gnome swordsage and a gnome ninja/swordsage (and their human swordsage ally, though he hardly counts, being lower level).

Gnomes are one of the most advanced and productive races in my Rhunaria homebrew; the most active in crafting magic items and the most developed in arcane magic (though fairly good with divine magic too, but strictly of the philosophical sort; they dismissed religion as a primitive crutch that held everyone else back and clouded their judgment). They're the most magically-potent standard race in my Aurelia homebrew. Even in my earlier modified-Rokugan campaign, gnomes were one of the most significant non-human races around (though only numerous in the Dragon, Unicorn, and Phoenix lands, having entered Rokugan through tunnels along the northern mountains). They were one of the few non-humans to adopt Rokugani samurai and shugenja aspects, integrating reasonably well with the humans (along with elves).

I've played as many gnomes as I've played humans, over the course of both 2nd Edition and 3rd Edition. More than I've played any other race in D&D so far.

 

[helium3]

Feel free to disagree with my assessment.

I disagree. I think gnomes are great.

Btw, I'm glad you gave me permission to disagree with you. I wasn't going to dare have a subjective opinion that was different from yours until I saw that it was OK. Is it all right if I have other subjective opinions that disagree with yours in the future? Should I send you a PM to get permission every time or can you give me a framework that helps me to know when it is and is not allowed? Thanx.

 

[Mighty Veil]

. Looks like in 4E, the halflings will be the sailors.

Maybe they heard people say they wanted hobbits not kenders. Unfortunately the designers must like kenders. So as a sign, they took the "adventurous" Buckland hobbits (they live by a river), and added it into the kender.

I don't find myself ever playing a gnome. I offered them in my campaign... I offered a homebrew version, basing them off another folklores version of the gnome. I don't like 3e's version of the hobbit-gnome. I remember EGG saying he based his gnome off of a "forest" dwarf from one book and must of from another dealing with illusions. Maybe if he had focus the gnome more as a forest gnome, with ranger being their choice, I might of gone for them. I didn't like 1e ones too come to think of it.

 

[Ahglock]

We don't need two short arse races. One is enough.

There's a gnome PC in my current game. The player is doing a good job with his 3-foot tall source of evil necromantic might posturing schtick. But I figure he could do the exact same with a halfling.

But 6 normal sized races is great.