Do you want gnomes in the first phb?

[GAAAHHH]

Yes. Gnomes should stay.

 

[Brennin Magalus]

Gnomes are a staple fantasy race. They should stay.

I disagree. D&D needs to be less of a hodge-podge and more coherent. Getting rid of gnomes is a step in the right direction.

 

[Brennin Magalus]

One of the original inspirations for D&D, Poul Anderson's "Three Hearts & Three Lions", had Hugi, the forest dwarf (really, a gnome), as one of the protagonists. I think gnomes have a part in D&D.

Hey, I am all for subsuming gnomes into dwarves.

 

[psionotic]

Isn't there some D&D setting where gnomes are the children of dwarves and halflings? Or dwarves and humans or something? Weird.

I'm good with gnomes in or out. Only one person in the many many 3.x home campaigns that we've played has run one.

I'm fine with tiefling as a core race, but I'd hope then that Aasimar would be available, too.

 

[Selvarin]

Gnomes should be brought in more as true cousins of the dwarves. Very little in D&D highlights that.

And with that being said, gnomes can go either way in the 4ePHB. With the bard class likely being left for a future supplement book (possibly even as a PrC, hopefully), they can go back to being known for other forms of rascally mischief. (Sure hope the favored class thing goes out the window though. I never used it except as a guideline.)

 

[Korgoth]

I'm not sure what gnomes really do as a PC race. They seem like "dwarf lite" to me... they're not as robust, not as good at underground stuff, and not cool enough to live under mountains (instead, they live under hills, just like halflings). So we've got something less beefy and minerly than a dwarf, less fat and rustic than a hobbit, less threatening than goblins or kobolds, but not particularly "more" of anything.

All of which is fine for a "monster manual" race. Like, OK, this is where the gnomes live and they need help because ghouls are eating them or whatnot. But great gnomish heroes? Never heard of them. We do have a bunch of mighty elves and dwarves, and even a few halflings who aren't a total embarrassment on the adventure. Gnomes just seem like quaint little dudes who are distinguished from goblins or kobolds by the fact that they probably don't start all conversations by biting you on the leg.

 

[Lurks-no-More]

Isn't there some D&D setting where gnomes are the children of dwarves and halflings? Or dwarves and humans or something? Weird.

Not that I know of. I once considered making them elf-dwarf hybrids: they enjoy forests but live underground, are interested in magic, and kind of look like dwarves with elf build.