New Gnomish Favoured Class?

[Nyaricus]

So, you are in charge of WotC, and are going to decide the new gnomish favoured class - what's it gonna be? Gnomes are, perhaps only besides elves, the most skewed in reagrds of favoured classes over the editions and with the different sub-races/cultures. SO, what's it going to be?

 

[Nyaricus]

The poll is up

Oh, and for my two coppers: Beguiler FTW!!

 

[Haloq Jakar]

I feel sorceror is the best choice using only PHB classes as a base. 1st of all some race needs to have it as a base and if you claim gnomes have a magical nature it fits the bill better than bard. To be honest if you really use LoTR as your guide hobbits/halflings would be better suited as bards since all they do is sing and dance and eat.

 

[JustKim]

I'm fond of their original favored class, illusionist. It's not in the poll.

Beguiler is close, but it's the same feeling I had with elves and duskblade. Yes, duskblades are warrior-mages and elves are iconic warrior-mages, but duskblade is a distinct class with a lot of things that don't fit a certain race. In particular, the duskblade spell list doesn't fit elves and the beguiler class features don't fit gnomes.

 

[Herobizkit]

All Gnomes should be Artificers... let's face it, they're CALLED Santa's Elves, but we all know they're really GNOMES.

 

[Nyaricus]

who chose thug, btw? Just curious as to your reasoning

Herobizkit, preach it, brother

 

[blargney the second]

Warlock. Gnomes need to be more sinister.

 

[MarkB]

I considered Artificer, but I prefer the trickster-gnome archetype to the tinker-gnome archetype, so it had to be Beguiler. IMO they're more-or-less a perfect fit in both spells and class features.

If I choose Artificer as favoured class for any race, it'll be for humans.

 

[Aus_Snow]

Totemist.

No, wait. . . bear with me here.

Firstly, this:

Gnomes need to be more sinister.

. . . is exactly right, IMO.

Secondly, they have to go way out of the realms of the sad hokey little illusionist wannabes on the one hand, or the elf/halfling halfbreed cutesy artificer types on the other. Again, IMO.

Something fresh, distinct, exotic.

That's why I went for Totemist in the end. I can really see them in a different light that way, with that stuff tied into their culture on a fundamental level.


[btw, I *strongly* dislike Gnomes as represented in the core rules, and in every setting for D&D I've come across. . . except Dark Sun ]

 

[demiurge1138]

Beguiler fits gnomes quite well. It's the closest to a seperate illusionist core class, which is quite nice. Besides which, my favorite gnomes are the charming-but-sinister Illuminati gnomes of Eberron, which beguiler fits to a T.

Artificer is a close second, if only due to the tenacity of the tinker archetype.

Demiurge out.