How do you like your gnomes best?

[Vocenoctum]

I could take the orcs, with their -2 in each mental stats and +4 in Strength, and give them a background, identity, and flavor of wise, smart and charismatic pacifists; and it wouldn't tick.

The mechanics shouldn't be contrary to the flavor, it should support it. I don't see how the mechanics support a tinker flavor for gnomes. Tinkers have no reason to see through illusions and no need to talk to bunnies.

While I agree, I'd also point out that Elves have no real racial traits that make them wise and eldritch beings. Aside from favored class, nothing stat-wise makes an elf a better wizard than a human, and the human's bonus feat is probably more useful.

Earlier editions made gnomes toughness part of offsetting the strength penalty of small size, rather than a con bonus. +2 Int -2 wis was great, but fear of Magical Aptitude drove such thoughts away.

 

[Vocenoctum]

That's mechanical. I'm talking about background, identity, and flavor. Elves are the knowledgeable elder race. Dwarves are stonecutters, workers under the mountain. Halflings...well, that sorta depends on which take on halflings you like.

Go ahead, say it, Halflings are drug peddling stoners with a permenant case of the munchies!

And granted, each race may vary depending on your setting. Point is, when I think of most races, I have a picture of what they're like in a D&D setting. I don't quite get that same vibe with gnomes.

Am I missing something here?

Gnomes are the examplar for inspiration and craftsmanship. Whether weaving an illusion, polishing a gem, perfecting a new song, or tinkering on something, they embody the idea of inspiration. Dwarves are miners and grandiouse builders, counter to nature in most cases. Gnomes have nothing in common with dwarves.

Whatever the case, I prefer tinkers. If you guys don't, that's cool. There's room for more than one point of view on gnomes.

I've liked tinkers, both in the Dragonlance mad scientist way and also in the useful, Gond inspired way. I can see PHB gnomes inventing fireworks for instance, and in my homebrew world they did. (Which incidentally started the war that cracked the world...)

Gnomes are not classical gnomes as such, and they don't fit in a tolkien niche. Halflings and Dwarves do easily, but I'd still make the case that elves are realistically nothing like the tolkien ideal. If anything, elves should be rewritten so they either match the (high ECL) version of the immortal master sorcerer, or justify it in some way.

For halflings, they don't seem to impact the world much. Elves & Dwarves seem more tradition bound and focused on doing things the same as has always been. Humans and gnomes tend to be more inventive.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

As masters of magic and knowledge, living in tune with nature, and pursuing strange philosophic researchs in their search for wisdom.

That is, to me, how a race with innate spell-like abilities, the ability to talk to (some) animals, a predisposition for illusion magic and alchemy, but physically weak (small, -2 Str) would behave.

This is almost exactly how we're playing them in my Midwood campaign and in the Ptolus game run by the same group, with a touch of EverQuest gnome flavor as well.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

Deep-fried, doused in ketchup.

- Klauth

 

[Herremann the Wise]

My own preference for gnomes is very different to how they have been presented in D&D.

I much prefer the idea of a smaller (size between tiny and small) "garden gnome" who tends to stick purely with their own kind. They're not really versed in the way of magic (although occasionally there may be some surprising exceptions), nor are they capable of truly defending themselves against a hostile world. However, they have a connection with the natural world that's kind of special. Most creatures of the forest will not attack them and some will actively defend their strange underground homes (normally built directly under a tree). They are peaceful creatures with some pretty strange ideas and customs but on the whole, they are mostly irrelevant to the larger world around them. In some ways, this is similar to tolkienesque hobbits but on a smaller and much more reclusive scale.

Best Regards
Herremann the Wise

 

[WarlockLord]

Keep up the good gnome recipes!

Gnomes In Beer.

Ingredients:
3 gnomes
A 6-pack of cheap beer.

Roast the gnomes in the beer. For best taste, add 1 tsp each of cinnamon, curry, and paprika. Serve with carrots.