A gniche for gnomes?

[kenjib]

Hello there. I like gnomes in a more traditional fae vein. They are reclusive folk living closely in tune with nature, often living in small caves/burrows (preferably hidden, such as in the roots of trees) deep in the forest. They mostly hide from the big folk and do not wish to be interfered with. They have relations with other fae and other dwellers in the forest. They are masters of magical alchemy, holding a great deal of hermetic lore and secrets that they guard with the greatest care. They keep their small villages well hidden from outsiders, both through use of the natural terrain and through magical misdirection.

Do you remember Round Tom and Screwball from Legend? I consider them to be gnomes. The difference between them and elves are that elves are high culture, refined, and don't have the same primal, low level connection to the fae world that gnomes do. Gnomes are also more isolated, meek, and secretive as opposed to the pride and power of the elves.

I think this is closer to what the gnome was intended in 1e, and if you look at the racial characterstics even for 3e it really fits this idea much better than the tinkerer type: fights well against creatures considered evil fae in folklore (goblins and kobolds), low light vision for lurking in the forest at night without torches/lanterns that would make them stick out, they are highly skilled in alchemy and magical lore, they are alert (having heightened senses) and specialize in the magic of misdirection, and they have a close connection to burrowing animals.

The only thing that doesn't really mesh well is the bonus against giants. However, with tinker gnomes, the majority of those racial traits don't really have much justification at all, again including the same bonus against giants.

 

[Schmoe]

Thank you, kenjib, for echoing my feelings exactly. Gnomes are much more akin to brownies and fae than any of the other races. Mischievous, reclusive, good-natured - gnomes belong to fairy tales, not to Jordan or Tolkien or Eddings. They are the sprites of the earth, keepers of secret lore.

Steam engines? Pfeh.

Mushroom rings, gnarled stumps, and crystal caverns, I tell you! That's what gnomes are.

IMHO, of course.

 

[BigFreekinGoblinoid]

A Gniche for Gnomes

"Hello, I'm Gary Gnome, and this is the Gnews!"

sorry -couldn't resist

 

[mhensley]

In my campaign, the gnomes occupy the place of the Swiss. They're pretty much neutral with respect to the wars that are devestating the continent, and they make good watches.

Hmmm.... The Gnomes of Zurich. That has a nice ring to it.

 

[Emiricol]

In my campaign, Gnomes have Sorcerer as favored class, and <I>for the most part</I> are the only Sorcerers around (besides the Elves who are utterly isolationist and control half the world)

The Gnomes also are fond of Paladins, and are constantly sending hordes of Paladins and their retinues to various troublespots on Crusades (usually bailing out the neighboring Human realm in exchange for land hehe)

But yeah, they are pretty much just in the background. I don't believe I've *ever* had a player take a Gnome PC...

 

[ColonelHardisson]

What I've never figured out is a way to describe them in my campaign without referring to another race - it's always "they're like X, but are more/less Y." It'd be nice if they had an identity of their own.

 

[Tsyr]

What I've never figured out is a way to describe them in my campaign without referring to another race - it's always "they're like X, but are more/less Y." It'd be nice if they had an identity of their own.

How about (and this is using the gnome = fey version of gnomes, which is more or less what I use)

Gnomes a short, moderatly built fey race with a generaly good -if chaotic- outlook on life. They have innate fey magic of their own, and tend to be reclusive, though they are on decent terms with most good or neutral aligned races.

 

[Benben]

They are the sprites of the earth, keepers of secret lore.

Huzzah! Down with techno-gnomes.

Gnomes in my campaign are deeply religious, but still touched with magic. They are the people the party goes to when they need an answer to a question.

 

[der_kluge]

In our last game, I played a gnome cleric/illusionist, and got him to level 9/3. He was an awesome character.

Speaking in a broader sense, I love gnomes. And please, please, please, don't equate gnomes to Dragonlance Tinker Gnomes. Good lord. DL did more to singlehandedly destroy the concept of gnome than just about anything before. Tinkering as well.

If you like gnomes, and like tinkering, please be sure to check out Bluffside. We included a new race called Steam Gnome which is an underground variety of gnome, but they are very serious, and hard-working. Furthermore, we just uploaded a free enhancement to Bluffside (need password access) on tinkering rules that anyone can use.

At GenCon '99 WoTC held a session to talk about what kinds of things people wanted to see in a new edition, and one of the questions they asked was whether gnomes were considered a sacred cow or not. So, WoTC almost pulled the plug on them. Fortunately, half the room shouted "Don't take away gnomes!"

 

[Skarp Hedin]

In my campaign, the gnomes are a hill-dwelling race. They live to the west of the elven woods, and few humans have ever seen one.

They're sheep-herding pastoralists, primarily. Country folk, in the most rarefied sense. They're pretty religious, but keep it very private. Like some other have mentioned, they're fond of mushroom circles and hidden grottos and the like. Pleasant folks, but not the sort to leave the cantons.

Until fairly recently, they were a subject people to the elves. The elves granted them autonomy because the gnomes never caused any problems, unlike the humans. When the elf kingdom was forced to abandon rulership outside the forest, they decided to dump rulership over the gnomes as well, just to cut the potential hassle.

Now, some may say that gnomes in my campaign occupy part of the hobbit/halfling niche. This may be so, but since halflings are all but extinct and have no freedom or land of their own, there's no niche competition.