Gnomes! (HUH) What are they good for? Absolutely nothing!

[Moorcrys]

I would argue that halflings have just as big of a problem. They've changed more than gnomes over several editions. Ok so they're hobbits. No? Oh they're like talkative inquisitive 'acquirers' like kender. No? Oh they're wandering gypsies. No? Oh they're river folk? Where the hell did that come from? No?

I've always gotten that gnomes are the best mix between the elves and the dwarves. And able to get along with both. Hardy and magical. Lovers of mining, gems, and also the green. Oh, and a little devious when crossed. No more ridiculous than a race that refuses to wear shoes so that foot hair is their most distinguishing feature . ;-)

 

[Yora]

Gnomes, in my opinion, are suppose to represent mortal's connection to the mystical, and nature.

Now, I could be wrong, and if I am, tell me, but Gnomes are free-spirited, and are the only race who don't let fear stop them from experiencing new things, and at the end of the day, basically any and all other races will care what there neighboring nations, and races think of them, gnomes do not. To use a quote as an example...

My "interpretation", if you want to call it that, of gnomes is as a race of Earth-druids. They are a shamanistic society led by druids, living in extended families sharing large underground homes with direct access to the surface. They are not an Underdark race, but rather stick to hills and forests, with mountain settlements being mostly mining opperations.
Their specialized trades are mining and metalworking similar to dwarves, since they are the race most used to underground constructions. (Apart from goblins, but that's a whole new issue.) But in addition, they also have strong traditions of herbalism and alchemy, which I think is an appropriate equivalent for mechanical engineering in a low-tech setting.
Generally they are honest and well meaning, but they are well aware of their physical weakness and rely heavily on stealth and deception when their survival is on the line. If possible in any way, they will never fight on battlefields not chosen by them and use mostly ambushes and retreat before the enemy can organize and properly fight back. If needed, they will retreat or surrender to fight another day, when conditions are more in their favor.

This kind of gets in the niche of halflings, but I don't have any of those either.

 

[JRRNeiklot]

Gnomes have sucked since 2nd edition. The 1e gnome kicks ass. No ability score penalties, great save bonuses, speak with burrowing mammals, great ac against virtually every humanoid larger than an orc, and they are the only race capable of being a multiclass illusionist. If UA is used, a cleric/illusionist is a very nasty combination. They can also (if a fighter or thief or multiclass thereof) use a long sword one handed. Later editions nerfed a very cool race imo. Post 1e, the gnome has too many mechanical deficiencies to make it worth playing, regardless of the flavor involved.

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

Gnomes. Let's talk about gnomes. I don't get the appeal.

First of all, what niche are they supposed to fill? They live underground and they make stuff, like dwarves. But I guess they're thinner? And more annoying? Or maybe they're just halflings that live underground. Regardless, they don't seem to have a well-defined place in the small races ecosystem.

Is there some fantasy literature tradition they are supposed to reference? If there is I'm not familiar with it. When someone says 'gnome', I think of this guy:

Don't get me wrong, I have players that like to play gnomes. Interestingly they almost always play gnome rogues. That may be just for mechanical reasons. Although to me halfling is a perfectly good alternative.

Why do people like to play gnomes? And how did a lawn ornament get to be a core race in D&D?!?

They're the only race I have considered banning at my table. Somehow I feel like having gnomes in the game automatically makes the whole game sillier. Anyone else feel this way?

I didn't like gnomes until Eberron. Both 4e and Pathfinder also took steps to make them "worthwhile" and serious.

They weren't in Lord of the Rings, which meant TSR and WotC had to invent hooks for them, which they were very slow in doing. They became a weird mishmash between dwarves and elves with a collection of abilities with no unifying theme (close to nature and good at illusions and good at machinery and like to prank people). FR gnomes seemed like nothing but a joke, unless R. A. Salvatore was writing about a minor character. Dragonlance gnomes seemed like a joke, period.

Currently they're close to nature, but are still distinct from elves/eladrin (in 4e and Pathfinder). The Eberron version wasn't really fey in 3.5 but they didn't lose anything going into 4e.

I doubt anyone at TSR or WotC was thinking "lawn gnomes" but probably "small spellcaster". Starting in 3e even that niche was worn away.

 

[Minigiant]

To me, gnomes felt like the middleclass of the nonhuman world. More importantly the elven world. I like them as originally mixed in elven society as the underclass. The elves did the noble and military ends of the society while the gnome did the other stuff. Then when the elves split up, the gnomes split into rock and forest and sat on the outskirts of the elven subrace they were closer in mind to.

Although in my own setting, the gnomes rule the Land of the Fey. The elves got kicked out because of their aloofness to fey matters and their obsession with their civil war and orc hatred.

Overall gnomes feel like the "take action" magical race. Elves talk and think about things too long. Dwarves are stubborn and slow to trust. You don't need years of friendship or binding contracts to get gnomes to do something. I tend to encourage dwarf and elf players to act more stereotypical and stubborn and don't do this to gnomes. Well, gnome. I only DMed 1 gnome and played with 1 gnome.

 

[Remathilis]

Gnomes are interesting until they become player characters.

Gnomes SHOULD be a shy, reclusive race of miners and crafter who (unlike dwarves) use strange magic to hide from those bigger than them and are wary of humans. They craft strange magical items, brew odd potions (which sometimes have unintended side-effects), play mischievous tricks (that only they find funny) and are expert jewelers and gemcrafters. Above all, they should be aloof, reclusive, alien. Not quite an ally of humans like elves or dwarves, but no friend of evil.

That kinda got lost when they became a PHB race, and thus familiar. Then they become illusion-casting dwarves.

 

[GX.Sigma]

I think the mischievous trickster gnomes are D&D's version of the traditional elves, and the tinkering rock gnomes are D&D's version of the traditional dwarfs. D&D's Elves and Dwarves are closer to the "epic" versions (seen in Tolkien's work) which have become standard in high fantasy.

According to Tolkien's mythology, the non-human races "diminished" after the time of the Ring, eventually becoming like the diminutive creatures from folklore. So maybe a forest gnome is just a really really old Elf. Actually, D&D elves were originally shorter than humans, so maybe they were already a little bit diminished...

I suppose the same could be said for goblins (diminished versions of hobgoblins) and maybe kobolds (diminished versions of lizardfolk)? Maybe even gibberlings (diminished versions of orcs)? There's a campaign idea in here somewhere...

 

[Dungeoneer]

@Dungeoneer What's the difference between a gnome and your momma? Yeah, I don't know either

YOUR mother was a kender! And your grandfather smelt of elderberries!

I had two players run gnomes in a large party; one played a trickster type bard and the other a mad scientist with a crossbow artificer. And those two archetypes capture the gist of the D&D gnome distinct from dwarves and hobbits well enough. What more do you want?

See, to me 'trickster bard' and 'mad scientists' are character types. They're not an entire race.

Are ALL gnomes trickster bards and mad scientists? Because that would make for one doomed race.

I feel like I could envision what a dwarven town or a halfling village would look like. But a group of gnomes living together? No idea. I have no sense of them as a society.

When I pick up a setting book and turn to the short sidebar on gnomes, I never see anything about their everyday lives or their history. Do gnomes revere an ancient hero gnome? Did the gnome army march out to join the great war? How many lands does the gnomish emperor rule?

When was the last time a party stumbled upon an ancient ruin only to discover it must have been constructed by gnomes? I'll bet it doesn't happen often!

Other races get a back story, a history, a description of their culture. And then it's, "Oh! and there's gnomes. They're quirky and wacky! Hooray!"

 

[JRRNeiklot]

Where did this "trickster" crap come from anyway? I don't remember that before 3e, though I barely played 2nd edition.

 

[Dungeoneer]

I would argue that halflings have just as big of a problem. They've changed more than gnomes over several editions. Ok so they're hobbits. No? Oh they're like talkative inquisitive 'acquirers' like kender. No? Oh they're wandering gypsies. No? Oh they're river folk? Where the hell did that come from? No?

Eh, all of those except the wandering gypsies are already in Tolkien. Bilbo Baggins was a fast-talking burglar, Smeagol was one of the river folk. I think 'halfling' stretches far enough to cover all those definitions. Which is why it's a legitimate race.

Gnomes have sucked since 2nd edition. The 1e gnome kicks ass. No ability score penalties, great save bonuses, speak with burrowing mammals, great ac against virtually every humanoid larger than an orc, and they are the only race capable of being a multiclass illusionist. If UA is used, a cleric/illusionist is a very nasty combination. They can also (if a fighter or thief or multiclass thereof) use a long sword one handed. Later editions nerfed a very cool race imo. Post 1e, the gnome has too many mechanical deficiencies to make it worth playing, regardless of the flavor involved.

That's interesting, I did not know that. Although I'm trying to visualize exactly how a gnome would use a long sword one-handed. Were they much larger in 1e?!?

Although in my own setting, the gnomes rule the Land of the Fey. The elves got kicked out because of their aloofness to fey matters and their obsession with their civil war and orc hatred.

Hey at least you HAVE a back-story for your gnomes!