How are GNOMES ?

[Wolf72]

I tend to think of gnomes in different ways:

1. as a prankster/illusionists/storytellers
2. as craftsmen
3. as tinkers (DL, or from warcraft)
4. as fey-kin (forest gnomes)

they all don't need to live in the same place (tinkers would be world specific or maybe an urban type)

 

[riprock]

I tend to think of gnomes in different ways:

1. as a prankster/illusionists/storytellers
2. as craftsmen
3. as tinkers (DL, or from warcraft)
4. as fey-kin (forest gnomes)

they all don't need to live in the same place (tinkers would be world specific or maybe an urban type)

I really dig folklore, and old-school D&D has a lot of folklore, often seen through a "light fantasy" sense of whimsy alternating with a "dark fantasy" sense of danger. (Basically, it's like John Bellairs' Face in the Frost.)

I tend to think of gnome-as-illusionist as the best image of a gnome.

If you read European folklore, you find a lot of miners complaining that they went underground and the earth-spirits, who are mischievous, played tricks on them.

D&D dwarves and elves don't follow folklore as closely as illusion-working spirits of the earth.

Illusionist gnomes could be very "Midsummer Night's Dream," but IMHO the tinker/inventor theme doesn't fit well with that.

 

[Drowbane]

Corn on the Kob?

Heh, kobolds vs. gnomes is a big theme of my campaign. And so far, it's Kobolds-1, Gnomes-0, with a big 500-year-old ruin of the previous gnome colony, that was totally wiped out.

The gnome cleric/rogue in my campaign has some very foolish ideas that gnomes and kobolds can make peace. It's going to be a bumpy ride for him.

And oh yes, there will be babies stolen and eaten. Yes, there will ...

Perhaps you should do a thread calling for some Gnomish Recipes!

 

[Drowbane]

And if think other wise:

That pic is perfect for my 3.0 Halfling Barbarian!

 

[Zander]

I suspect that Col Pladoh's original inspiration for gnomes came mainly from the gnome books by Huygen & Poortvliet and by the character Hugi in Poul Anderson's influential Three Hearts and Three Lions (even though the character is called a "dwarf", he has a great deal in common with 1E gnomes).

I too have been influenced by those sources as well as Paracelsus' original concept and think of gnomes as nature-loving, forest- or burrows-dwelling, lore/secret knowledge-keeping, magical, somewhat mischievous but well meaning fey-like beings. They're short, have big noses and most have white hair. Males grow beards of various lengths and usually but not always moustaches as well.

In D&D terms, I think gnomes should have both illusionist and druid as favoured classes. They should also be lore-keepers but I don't see them as entertainers/bards. On the contrary, they like to keep secrets and keep to themselves. They're not showy.

IMO the idea of gnomes as tinkerers doesn't fit the race at all. Technology and industry are in many ways anathema to magic and nature. Tinkerers are, if anything, the polar opposites of gnomes.