Orius
Unrepentant DM Supremacist
My gnomes fall somewhere in between the DL tinker gnomes and standard D&D gnomes.
Like the tinker gnomes, they like to overinvent things, but they're not incompetant, their inventions do work. Most races don't like gnome tech because they don't understand it, and because gnomes like to pull pranks, they don't trust it much either. The best gnome tech is invariably adopted by the dwarves, given that the two races have extensive trading relations. The dwarves however, tend to simpify the stuff, cutting out a lot of bells and whistles because of their more austere nature, and use the actual working mechanisms.
Gnomes have a strange sense of order. Gnome quarters/neighboorhoods/enclaves in human cities tend to be horribly confusing to the humans. Even though they only take up a few city blocks, any human going in there will tend to lose his sense of direction and get lost, usually at least three or four times in an hour. You can find all sorts of wonderful inventions, gems and toys in the gnome quarter, but you'd better have a lot of time to kill.
Gnomes like to make things; they work out of an enjoyment of creating thinks and using their skills. They dislike a lot of menial labor, preferring crafts and labors of love. This is the reason they invent so much. But they aren't lazy. A gnome will gladly spend several days without sleep to work on an invention or polishing a gem, because of the enjoyment of the task. Gnomes spend a lot of time making things because of the fulfilment they get out of the creative process, where human rush and botch things, dwarves take a long time out of extreme prefectionism, and elves take forever because they tend to be slackers. Gnomes have a work ethic, but for them they don't believe in work for the sake of work like a dwarf; for a gnome, work must be challenging and fulfilling. Gnomes place a lot of value on intelligence and creativity, and so they hold hobbies, games, sports in high activity, because they feel they help to keep the mind sharp.
Gnomes like to pull pranks, but their sense of creativity applies here as well. They hate crass pranks, like putting a tack on someone's seat, a setting bucket full of water poised to spill when someone opens a door, or jamming copper pieces in doorframes. Any half-orc can do as much, and excessively. For a gnome, pranks must be creative and original; it's extremly bad form to pull the same trick twice. Again, the reason is to keep the mind sharp. Gnomes play pranks on each other so often, that they have to be original. While they find it occasionally fun to pull a prank on a humorless human or dwarf, it's not good if you always trick them, because it's too easy. Pulling pranks on gnomes is the only way to challenge the mind, and a cleric of Garl Glittergold won't hesitate to scold a gnome who likes to single out dwarves and humans.
Sadly though, their love of pranks leads to the most common form of gnomish mental illness, paranoia. Humans run the gamut of insanity, but they're the only standard PC race that develops megalomania. Dwarves tend toward depression, halfings towards kleptomania, and elves toward all sorts of manic or neurotic behaviors. But sometimes a gnome will become so obsessed with who might be pulling a prank on him that he becomes suspsicious of all gnomes, wondering which one will pull a prank on him next. And because gnomes have such fertile imaginations, this paranoia exhibits itsef in all sorts of strange and fevered delusions. In the worst case, the gnome can no longer function in society, not being able to work on his crafts, because he's too busy watching his neighbours and family to find out what they're planning to do to him. Eventually, he has to be cared for by his loved ones, which can be a chore, because he doesn't trust them -- after all they might have doctored that cheese with something to make his face turn blue!
That brings us to gnomish dietary preferences. Dwarves are well known for heavy flavorless food and strong ale, and hating to try new foods. That is almost the opposite of gnomes. Gnomes love rich flavor in their meals, and varied flavors. Just as they dislike the uniform blandness of dwarf "cuisine", they don't like foods that are very spicy or sweet, when the spiciness or sweetness overpowers everything else. Instead, they like many different flavors that can be tasted in a meal, and they like to eat different foods every day. A gnome might have a favored dish that they prefer to eat on their birthdays or special occasions, but they would never make a regular habit of it. A gnome never goes into a tavern and orders "the usual", for a gnome, there is no "usual." They like cheeses and fine pastries, the use of flavorful spices, and they also enjoy sampling the cooking of exotic human cultures. Gnomes are favored as cooks in human lands, second only to halflings, again thir love of pranks makes them not entirely trusted, but they are prized nonetheless, because their cooking is far more palatable than the boiled cabbage, ham and turnips found all too often on the human table. Gnomes do not like very strong drinks, for drunkeness can dull the wits and minds. Where dwarves drink to excess because they have few forms of recreation, human and half-orcs out of a lack of self-control, and elves out of their slacker hedonism, gnome frown upon drunkeness, and any gnome that gets highly inebriated can expect all sorts of pranks, usually loud ones, from his fellows. That isn't to say gnomes are teetotalers, though. Gnome liquor tends to be flavorful with a sparkling taste from the alchohol, to a gnome, the alchohol should compliment the drink, rather than overpower it. Gnomes are known mostly for rich, flavorful wines, brandies, cordials, and occasionally, mild whiskey.
Like the tinker gnomes, they like to overinvent things, but they're not incompetant, their inventions do work. Most races don't like gnome tech because they don't understand it, and because gnomes like to pull pranks, they don't trust it much either. The best gnome tech is invariably adopted by the dwarves, given that the two races have extensive trading relations. The dwarves however, tend to simpify the stuff, cutting out a lot of bells and whistles because of their more austere nature, and use the actual working mechanisms.
Gnomes have a strange sense of order. Gnome quarters/neighboorhoods/enclaves in human cities tend to be horribly confusing to the humans. Even though they only take up a few city blocks, any human going in there will tend to lose his sense of direction and get lost, usually at least three or four times in an hour. You can find all sorts of wonderful inventions, gems and toys in the gnome quarter, but you'd better have a lot of time to kill.
Gnomes like to make things; they work out of an enjoyment of creating thinks and using their skills. They dislike a lot of menial labor, preferring crafts and labors of love. This is the reason they invent so much. But they aren't lazy. A gnome will gladly spend several days without sleep to work on an invention or polishing a gem, because of the enjoyment of the task. Gnomes spend a lot of time making things because of the fulfilment they get out of the creative process, where human rush and botch things, dwarves take a long time out of extreme prefectionism, and elves take forever because they tend to be slackers. Gnomes have a work ethic, but for them they don't believe in work for the sake of work like a dwarf; for a gnome, work must be challenging and fulfilling. Gnomes place a lot of value on intelligence and creativity, and so they hold hobbies, games, sports in high activity, because they feel they help to keep the mind sharp.
Gnomes like to pull pranks, but their sense of creativity applies here as well. They hate crass pranks, like putting a tack on someone's seat, a setting bucket full of water poised to spill when someone opens a door, or jamming copper pieces in doorframes. Any half-orc can do as much, and excessively. For a gnome, pranks must be creative and original; it's extremly bad form to pull the same trick twice. Again, the reason is to keep the mind sharp. Gnomes play pranks on each other so often, that they have to be original. While they find it occasionally fun to pull a prank on a humorless human or dwarf, it's not good if you always trick them, because it's too easy. Pulling pranks on gnomes is the only way to challenge the mind, and a cleric of Garl Glittergold won't hesitate to scold a gnome who likes to single out dwarves and humans.
Sadly though, their love of pranks leads to the most common form of gnomish mental illness, paranoia. Humans run the gamut of insanity, but they're the only standard PC race that develops megalomania. Dwarves tend toward depression, halfings towards kleptomania, and elves toward all sorts of manic or neurotic behaviors. But sometimes a gnome will become so obsessed with who might be pulling a prank on him that he becomes suspsicious of all gnomes, wondering which one will pull a prank on him next. And because gnomes have such fertile imaginations, this paranoia exhibits itsef in all sorts of strange and fevered delusions. In the worst case, the gnome can no longer function in society, not being able to work on his crafts, because he's too busy watching his neighbours and family to find out what they're planning to do to him. Eventually, he has to be cared for by his loved ones, which can be a chore, because he doesn't trust them -- after all they might have doctored that cheese with something to make his face turn blue!
That brings us to gnomish dietary preferences. Dwarves are well known for heavy flavorless food and strong ale, and hating to try new foods. That is almost the opposite of gnomes. Gnomes love rich flavor in their meals, and varied flavors. Just as they dislike the uniform blandness of dwarf "cuisine", they don't like foods that are very spicy or sweet, when the spiciness or sweetness overpowers everything else. Instead, they like many different flavors that can be tasted in a meal, and they like to eat different foods every day. A gnome might have a favored dish that they prefer to eat on their birthdays or special occasions, but they would never make a regular habit of it. A gnome never goes into a tavern and orders "the usual", for a gnome, there is no "usual." They like cheeses and fine pastries, the use of flavorful spices, and they also enjoy sampling the cooking of exotic human cultures. Gnomes are favored as cooks in human lands, second only to halflings, again thir love of pranks makes them not entirely trusted, but they are prized nonetheless, because their cooking is far more palatable than the boiled cabbage, ham and turnips found all too often on the human table. Gnomes do not like very strong drinks, for drunkeness can dull the wits and minds. Where dwarves drink to excess because they have few forms of recreation, human and half-orcs out of a lack of self-control, and elves out of their slacker hedonism, gnome frown upon drunkeness, and any gnome that gets highly inebriated can expect all sorts of pranks, usually loud ones, from his fellows. That isn't to say gnomes are teetotalers, though. Gnome liquor tends to be flavorful with a sparkling taste from the alchohol, to a gnome, the alchohol should compliment the drink, rather than overpower it. Gnomes are known mostly for rich, flavorful wines, brandies, cordials, and occasionally, mild whiskey.
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