Dwarves and Gnomes are NOT to be used for comedic effect

[Krug]

From the WotC FR Novel contest guidelines:
http://www.enworld.org/modules.php?...=article&sid=1574&mode=thread&order=0&thold=0

So you got that? Now someone tell Peter Jackson...

 

[Umbran]

Note that this isn't so much because they are against it, as that it's been done before - Ivan and Pikel Bouldershoulder from the "Cleric Quintet".

Doo-dad!

 

[krunchyfrogg]

Seriously! As a lover of dwarves, I was only minorly ticked with Gimli's treatment in FotR, but it got downright silly at points in tTT.


As for the comedic thing, unless you're Terry Brooks, I think Gnomes were meant to be funny sidekicks.

 

[Kamard]

They should be against it. I want a jolly, rotund, laughing elf as a sidekick.

"From what I've seen of you humans over the last five hundred years, I can ONLY laugh!"

 

[Jeremy Ackerman-Yost]

I'm with you on Dwarves, but c'mon, not even Gnomes can take Gnomes seriously.

 

[demiurge1138]

I, too, am sick of this trend. I can find no real justification in it.
In a campaign I'm playing in (lord knows why), the guy playing the halfling always punctuates his comments with "And I'm short! Hahaha!" At least he's being tounge-in-cheek, but this is one DnD stereotype I wouldn't mind losing.

Demiurge out.

 

[Trellian]

If you play a dwarf or a halfling or a gnome in my campaigns, you are always the end of jokes. Things like "the dwarf's food is stuck in his beard" was a common joke. Then we saw the D&D movie, and guess what... the dwarf did get the food stuck in his beard!

 

[BiggusGeekus]

This is just more proof that Gnomes have taken over WotC.

 

[Voadam]

They should be against it. I want a jolly, rotund, laughing elf as a sidekick.

"From what I've seen of you humans over the last five hundred years, I can ONLY laugh!"

"And since you've been a good little fighter, here's that +2 keen scimitar you've been wanting all year. What? You didn't leave out any cookies? Back goes the scimitar and here's some coal. Ho, ho, ho, you unappreciative naughty hackmaster!"

 

[Tyler Do'Urden]

I'm with you on Dwarves, but c'mon, not even Gnomes can take Gnomes seriously.

Am I the only guy here who has ever played serious Gnomish characters?

Perhaps I should start a pro-gnomish group... Why Gnomes Are Awsome Dudes, or WhyG AAwD (pronounced Wig Out)

There are a number of approaches to take for a serious gnome-

- Treat them as creepy fey beings known to kidnap human children and take them into their underground burrows. Gnomes suddenly get a lot more respect (if a lot more hatred).

- Play up their magical abilities. Trickery, stealth, and treachery are this insular race's approach to dealing with the big folk (other than Elves and Dwarves). Humans might be afraid of the power of gnomes to mislead, beguile, and decieve with their illusion magics.

- Totally spin the concept. I created a "desert gnome" variant once- it had the same powers of the original, but rather than being a pseudo-dwarf with a big nose, it was a kind of lesser genie, complete with bald head, horns, and pointed teeth. This subrace (jinn) were known as wandering dealers in magical items and services that were well known for driving a hard bargain and having no compunctions about taking your first born or best camel if you didn't hold up your end of the deal. They were divided into four elemental cults lead by druid/sorcerers and lived in remote, hidden oasis where they crafted arcane and clockwork devices in secret.

Gnomes are, potentially, a lot more than comic relief...