Honestly, how often have you used gnomes?

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Fingledorp Winglestamp, Gnomish Freelance Chartered Accountant, once approached a PC party and offered to manage their finances, invest their treasure as capital, and acquire interests in businesses that would help them in their adventures - for a modest stipend, of course.

I may be stealing this NPC.

 

[Mark Chance]

Umm. Actually, several quite reasonable, mechanical objections have been made.

1: Being small and burrowing isn't enough to support a full race, and overlaps with halflings and dwarfs.
2: Illusion magic isn't enough to support a race.
3: "Likes to be bards" isn't enough to support a race.
4: "Natural artificers" IS enough to support a race, but you'd need a whole new power source and character class to put artifice-ing into the PHB.

And every single one -- no matter how arguably reasonable -- is really just an opinion. Every "mechanical objection" could be countered by altering the mechanics rather than merely deleting the gnome. For example, consider number 2. Is that really an objection against gnomes or more of an objection against the perceived limitations of illusion magic?

Again, I maintain, at base the only reason to exclude gnomes is because they were chosen for exclusion.

 

[Wolfspider]

Someone asked a question, I answered it.

Oh! You misunderstood me.

The "Dear lord" was in response to my realization that I have been playing D&D for 27 years, not the question. I didn't mean to disparage you in any way.

Sorry.

 

[Simia Saturnalia]

I may be stealing this NPC.

You're welcome to him, good sir.

 

[Mallus]

When I'm running the game, never.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

You're welcome to him, good sir.

I'm planning on sticking the H series of 4E modules my group will be running as a trial run in Ptolus. A freelance gnome accountant -- "Honestly, sir, what would make you think that gnomes would be adventurers? It is to laugh, sir!" -- would be great to have show up when they return to the Keep on the Shadowfell to recharge between expeditions.

 

[Ifurita'sFan]

Looking back on it, do you really think it was necessary to be this rude to someone you don't know over the literary background to a DnD race?

I'll agree with that and let me add an apology to the original poster for being rude.

That said, I stand by my argument that the statement that Gnomes have no place in a fantasy world just doesn't track. Gnomes are, and have been a part of our shared and combined western fantasy heritage for centuries. They most certainly have a place in fantasy worlds... right alongside elves, and the rest.

They just aren't going to be in the PHB, which is fine since the PHB is including races that highlight the advantages of each class in the PHB, more or less, and, as you point out, since at least 3ed there hasn't been a distinctly Gnomish role.

There hasn't been a distinctly Gnomish role because they (Hasbro and WotC) chose not to allow them one... not because it couldn't exist.

Tieflings and Dragon born would likewise have not had a role if they hadn't been given one... neither one in fact really inspire me to believe they fit with the character classes they are archityped for. And the fact that they're now going to be canon races is mind boggling since neither of these "races" have any role in western mythology (or any other mythology for that matter).

The problem here is that using 3rd edition's choice (to eliminate a distinctly Gnomish role by virtue of nerfing what were previously their defining abilities) to justify how 4th edition should be... Well... that means that 3rd edition is wrong by extension...because it didn't use 2nd edition's outlook on gnomes (If you use one editions view to justify views in a later edition, then you must use even earlier editions to justify or condemn later editions as well)

I like them for Barbarians and Thieves, myself, but that doesn't really fit with the literature.
We know they're taking some time to tinker with Illusion and so that it works really well with the new system.
When that's done I have a good amount of faith that we will in fact see a full write up of gnomes with all the racial feats the PHB races normally get, and that both the Gnome and the Bard and/or Illusionist class they highlight will be all the better for the wait.

Barbarians and Thieves...

Thieves I can understand... thats a given.

Barbarians though? That's just too cool to pass up commenting on. There's some real role playing gold in that one I can feel it.
"I am Comer the Barbarian Gnome... *flex flex* After many moons as a chartered accountant I heard the call of my wild heart and embraced my inner rage."

As to the rest... I'm not holding my breath on Gnomes finding their way back into the game if they are excluded like this. One of the lead developers is Rich Baker... after Birthright I think scepticism of his work is justified.

 

[werk]

I use gnomes but never use halflings, and my gnomes are more the greasey tribal bastards from Terry Brooks rather than tinkers...my gnomes are very much like darksun halflings, only meaner and more xenophobic, lol.

 

[Keldryn]

I have no problem with Gnomes, but in 21 years of playing (A)D&D, I've seen a grand total of one Gnome PC, and that was about 16 years ago.

 

[sunrisekid]

I'm not unhappy to see gnomes leave the PHB simply because I have never felt a desire to play one; maybe they don't quite fit in with my own vision of heroic adventurers. I simply can't take them seriously as protagonist heroes. Nor have I ever perceived them as having any kind of iconic epresentation (refer to other people's posts re: identity-crisis). It likely boils down to my own narrow expectation: some posts describe various (to my ears) munchkinized characters that have been cooked up and they sound absurd. But, hey, that's just me.

As a DM I've used gnomes a couple of times in comic-support roles to great affect. I like how gnomes are represented in Dragonlance (ie, clockwork tinkerers); and several posts indicate the real-world European myths that surround them, which is kind of neat.

On the other hand it would be pretty easy to roll a gnome PC using info pulled from the upcoming Monster Manual (which presumably will have an entry). I've heard of people do this with older editions when there weren't supplemental books on alternative races.

Of course, a 4E Races text will eventually be published and presumably will carry all manner of poular alternative races (gnomes, half-orcs, drow, aquatic/arctic variants, etc).