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

[gamerprinter]

While I have nothing against gnomes, as well as no particular need/want for dwarves or halflings, thus gnomes don't overlap other diminuitive races domains - I generally don't use all the standard races of the game (I never play standard D&D worlds).

That said, for folklore purposes, gnomes never existed in folklore. Gnomes first came into conception by Alchemists to describe the Earth Element. Gnomes = earth, Salamanders = fire, Sylphs = air and Neriads = water. These were representations of the elements, and not borrowed folklore concepts brought into alchemy. There were no folklore beliefs in gnomes as some kind of fey beings ever in human historical beliefs. With the found and exposed alchemical tomes in existence, the gnome was discovered in them, and then entered the literary world. Gnomes have been considered as fey like beings only during the late 19th century forward. Compared to most fantasy monsters that are based on folklore, gnomes are an anomaly.

Really though, I have several diminuitive races in my various worlds, but generally there are no dwarves, elves, half-elves, nor halflings in any D&D/PF game I play, so if I used gnomes (which I don't) they wouldn't be stepping on another races niche.

 

[Ryujin]

Not necessarily; sometimes you all win.

Rather ironically, generally when no single person tries to 'win'.

 

[Cadence]

First Gnome (of two) that I ever played filled the niche of being a vaguely effective missile weapon when hurled by the drow with gauntlets of ogre power (the gnome-flinger maneuver). That was over 25 years ago and I remember nothing else about him except that it wasn't an underdark game.

Second started in an underdark game. He filled the niche of sneaky illusionist who could put up really inflammatory anti-drow graffiti. He also created a flaming-shadow-magic armor spell (he had a whole series of increasingly improved spells planned - Mapple's Mighty something or other armor spells). I remember that he almost wanted to switch over to something like a paladin -- but he became profoundly disappointed in that campaign world's divine-cosmology, even though (iirc) it got him resurrected once. That one was almost 20 years ago, and so not many other details there either.

I suppose the halfling could fill the role of flingee, but the drow might find them even more distasteful to touch than the gnome. The gnome seems to be pretty good for sneaky illusionist in ways that the halfling and dwarf wouldn't.

 

[Manbearcat]

I'm not sure what they're good for. I've GMed an outrageous number of hours, for an outrageous number of players on various systems. Sum total of gnomes played in all that time with all of those players: 1. Ridiculous number of Elves and Humans. Half-elves and Dwarves come in next at a fairly decent clip. Couple stray Half-Orcs and Halflings here and there. 3 players who strictly liked to play "monstrous" PCs; Tieflings, Half-Dragons, Satyrs, Githzerais, Minotaurs, Muls, Thri-Kreen.

Only 1 sad little gnome. From what I recall, he was good for dying without fanfare.

 

[Herobizkit]

In my 25 years of playing D&D, in all the groups I've run and played with, there were a sum total of three gnomes I call.

One was made by me as an 1e NPC gnome Illusionist/Thief who also happened to roll well on the Psionics chart. Never saw play.

One of my 1e players would make a Svirfneblin any time of the other players made a Drow. This happened a lot, but both players kept re-making the same characters over and over, so that still counts as one in my book.

One was made by a friend of mine in 2e. I don't even remember what his class was, but I do know he loved the Arquebus and terrorized a village with the moniker "The Masked Halfling". It's possible that this character also had a Hat of Disguise... and may not have been a gnome at all. :3

 

[Grandvizier]

Gnomes Get Much More Interesting when you realise they arent nice

Gnomes in my world were feared by most other radces. The magic of illusion combined with a p3nchant for laying traps,and a total lack of care for any race that isn,t a gnome makes them dangerius. Dwarves are brash and relatively predictable, halflings do everything fornfun. Gnmes are unpredictable clever little sods that do whats best for gnmes wuth no real thought of the consequence for ithers. The laws of the gnomes relate to gnomes, no one lse.

 

[Dungeoneer]

Gnomes in my world were feared by most other radces. The magic of illusion combined with a p3nchant for laying traps,and a total lack of care for any race that isn,t a gnome makes them dangerius. Dwarves are brash and relatively predictable, halflings do everything fornfun. Gnmes are unpredictable clever little sods that do whats best for gnmes wuth no real thought of the consequence for ithers. The laws of the gnomes relate to gnomes, no one lse.

This may be my new favorite post ever.

 

[Holy Bovine]

Don't like gnomes and they are banned from any and all games I DM.


Oddly I have never, ever had a player want to play one.

 

[FireLance]

In one of my homebrew campaign worlds, gnomes were aligned with the element/concept of shadow, in line with their affinity for illusion magic. Based on this, I decided that gnomes would be guerrilla-ninja-assassins.

 

[Olfan]

Sad to see all this gnome hate. I love me some gnomes and have seen them in play many times. Dragonborn however, ugh, talk about a Mary Sue race. I've banned those guys from anything ever.