D&D General what is the unifying theme of gnomes?

[LordEntrails]

Since they have no central identity, new ones get slapped onto them.

How is that different than elves? Desert, sea, moon, ...

 

[Crimson Longinus]

Sure, part of the problem is that the gnomes don't have strong literary archetype to draw on, but they're not alone in that among D&D races. And I don't dislike gnomes, but I still feel they're rather unnecessary. But then again, I feel that way about at least half the D&D races. I really think D&D races would be more interesting if there were fewer of them, so that there wouldn't be so much thematic overlap and vagueness, and on the other hand the species wouldn't need to be sillily narrowly flanderised to remain unique. Like for example if you removed gnomes and made their Disneyish foresty animal friend subspecies to be a type of halfling and gave the mad-scientist tinkerer thing to dwarves so that they could sometimes be something else than just shortish drunken axe-wielding Scottish Vikings, then I feel both halflings and dwarves would be improved, yet the thematic concepts of the gnomes would be preserved.

 

[Hexmage-EN]

I got into D&D just as both Pathfinder and 4E were starting up, and since both Pathfinder and 4E went the route of gnomes being related to fey I've always had that as my conception for them (and therefore don't particularly care for rock gnomes, which are generally portrayed as more inventive dwarves). It also frequently results in me being confused as to why people think halfings and gnomes are interchangeable until I remember that Pathfinder and 4E's fey take is an outlier.

For whatever reason I have no strong feelings about halflings whatsoever while gnomes are among my favorite D&D races.

 

[Weiley31]

I always liked the 4E lore for Gnomes and pretty much use that for my 5E games. Granted, that probably would mean that technically you'd have to homebrew it that they count as Fey since 4E Gnomes come from the Feywild. Pretty much the Forest Gnomes would be the typical 4E Gnomes who escaped from the Feywild, while the Rock Gnomes are those who, upon escaping from the Feywild, found themselves in Gond, and then learned their Tinkering ways there.

 

[Steampunkette]

How is that different than elves? Desert, sea, moon, ...

They don't erase the base archetypal elf. It's just -another- kind of elf.

Meanwhile 4e made -all- Gnomes into Fey, and 5e brought them back to Humanoid.

The baseline "Gnome" gets changed because there's no real consensus or idea of what it is at its core.

Sort of like Ranger.

 

[Mind of tempest]

In my campaign I divide between forest gnomes and rock/tinker gnomes. Forest gnomes are kind and curious nature loving folk. You can walk through a forest gnome community and not even realize it between how they blend in to nature and their knack for illusion magic. They're quite inventive so be careful, they also like to play good natured practical jokes and pranks.

Rock/tinker gnomes are unabashedly stolen from WOW, as inventors of overly complicated devices that they keep trying to perfect. The more complex the invention, the more perfect it is. I've described one of the largest rock gnome cities as being akin to Las Vegas with contraptions and everyone trying to outcompete each other with crazy inventions.

On a related note, both goblins and gnomes are descended from feywild goblinkin that long ago came to my world. The feywild goblinkin are mischievous pranksters and when they left the feywild some followed the light hearted harmless pranks of Garl Glittergold's pantheon and became gnomes. Others followed the cruel, intentionally hurtful ways of Maglubiyet.

So I've given them identities over time that may not match very closely with established lore.

but what is the gnomeness they share the key things that makes something a gnome

Their creator, Theophrastus "Paracelsus" von Hohenheim, designated them as beings of elemental earth.

Within D&D they've settled into the space of folkloric little people / mythic trickster that Elves and Dwarves can't occupy, because they glom too closely to Tolkienesque tropes.

interesting

Goblins I’ll give you, but Tucker’s not withstanding, were kobolds ever not cute?

since when have kobolds been cute they are horrible dog-like dragon servitors I suppose they could be worse they could be halflings.

Symbiotic fungal growth!

Dwarf are small Goliath?

possibly goliath could use some more lore and connections to the world and both are orderly to the point of madness

They don't erase the base archetypal elf. It's just -another- kind of elf.

Meanwhile 4e made -all- Gnomes into Fey, and 5e brought them back to Humanoid.

The baseline "Gnome" gets changed because there's no real consensus or idea of what it is at its core.

Sort of like Ranger.

fair point.
.

 

[Tonguez]

And while we're at it, I want to play an elf as a Marsh-wiggle.
View attachment 252677

Puddleglum would make a good model for Firbolg without the cow-noses

 

[Charlaquin]

since when have kobolds been cute

they are (…) dog-like

Answered your own question there.

 

[Tonguez]

Answered your own question there.

Not Cute

 

[Mind of tempest]

Answered your own question there.

I am failing to see the appeal, I just worry about breaking them by accident dogs that is.