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[new race] D'Nulm - 1/2 gnome, 1/2 dwarf

kingpaul

First Post
At the dawn of time, the gods created their people, and there was relative harmony. As the years progressed, the dwarves and gnomes developed a working relationship, and began to settle together. Out of this contact, their grew many loving relationships; but alas, dwarves and gnomes could not reproduce. They called out to their gods to help them. Thus did Nyntok, gnome goddess of fertility, and Tyrna, dwarf goddess of love, stretch forth their hands to allow their people to have children. Thus were the D’Nulm (The Gift of Love) born.

Begin OGC

The D’Nulm are a greatly loved race, and tend to be slightly spoiled by their sires. However, they, as a race, have a sense that they don’t belong in this world. They have been told the legend of why they were created, but they feel lost in the communities of dwarves and gnomes. While they share traits of both parents, they feel that they don’t truly belong to either.

The D’Nulm began to wander from their communities, trying to seek a place where they could belong. In their wanderings, they found that most races enjoy art, and accept the artists. Seeing this, the D’Nulm began in earnest to master the arts, in all of their form and splendor.

Personality: D’Nulm are almost never found alone. Because of their sense of not belonging, they are deathly afraid of being left alone. Most D’Nulm player characters have at least one level of Expert, which represents their training in creating. Most races welcome the D’Nulm, as they have gained a reputation of being master craftsmen.

Physical Description: Male D’Nulm typically stand from 3’9” to 4’6” and weigh between 100 and 165 pounds. Females tend to be slightly smaller in both height and weight to the males. D’Nulm hair color tends to be of the darker hues; gray, black and brown being the most common. Eye color ranges from light brown to almost black. Most male D’Nulm have beards. Those few who do shave, must do so at least twice a day, because their facial hair grows rapidly. Females also grow facial hair, although at a very slow rate. Because of this, almost all female D’Nulm are clean-shaven, and it is the rare few who sport beards.

Relations: The D’Nulm are on best terms with dwarves and gnomes. Humans treat D’Nulm craftsmen with great respect, and most noble houses employ at least one D’Nulm Expert. The other races treat the D’Nulm as they would treat dwarves or gnomes.

Alignment: D’Nulm lean to the good alignments, as they typically are involved in creating art and beauty. Communities primarily made up of D’Nulm tend to be neutral good.

D’Nulm Lands: D’Nulm tend to settle with dwarves and/or gnomes, but they are known to create settlements of their own. Another predominant place to find D’Nulm is in noble human houses, as they are, typically, the master craftsmen and artisans the human lords and ladies employ.

Religion: The chief deity of the D’Nulm is the Master of Crafts. Otherwise, they worship freely among the dwarven and gnomish pantheons.

Names: Currently, D’Nulm take names of either their dwarven or gnomish ancestors. Typical names can be found in the PHB for both dwarves and gnomes.

Adventurers: When D’Nulm do adventure, their primary goal is to practice their art to different people then they typically have access to in their villages. These adventurers, when they finally do settle down, tend to do so in larger communities that see many different people over the course of time.

D’Nulm
D’Nulm are a combination of both Dwarves and Gnomes.
  • +2 CON, -2 WIS. Like their ancestors, D’Nulm are a doughty people, but they are not sure of how they fit in the world.
  • Medium size
  • D’Nulm base speed is 20’
  • Darkvision: D’Nulm can see in the dark up to 30’. Darkvision is black and white only, but it is otherwise like normal sight, and D’Nulm can function just fine in no light at all.
  • Low-light vision: D’Nulm can see one and one-half times as far as a human in starlight, moonlight, torchlight, and similar conditions of poor illumination. They retain the ability to distinguish color and detail under these conditions.
  • +1 racial attack bonus against goblinoids
  • +4 racial dodge bonus against giants
  • +2 racial bonus on Craft and Perform checks. D’Nulm, in trying to find their place, have become artisans and musicians, gaining a sense of belonging through their artistic expression.
  • Automatic Languages: Common, Dwarven and Gnome
  • Bonus Languages: Draconic, Elven, Giant, Goblin, Orc, Terran and Undercommon
  • Favored class: Bard. D’Nulm tend to combine the militant nature of their dwarven ancestors with the arcane of the gnomes. This combination expresses itself best in the Bard.

Height and Weight:
Male
  • Base height: 3'7"
  • Height modifier: +2d4
  • Base weight: 95
  • Weight modifier: 2d4
Female
  • Base height: 3'5"
  • Height modifier: +2d4
  • Base weight: 70
  • Weight modifier: 2d4

Section 15 addition
D'Nulm Copyright 2001 Paul W. King
 

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I'd choose either Low Light Vision or Darkvision. Having both at non-standard strengths seems a bit odd.
It seems too much the same as Dwarves, though that seems to be the point. Why would you choose this race except if you wanted to play a Dwarven Bard and didn't want the dwarven Cha penalty?

PS. Gnome/Dwarf crossbreeds were originally in the Dragonlance setting, where they became known as Gully Dwarves, and are really silly and stupid.

Geoff.
 

+2 Con is not balanced by -2 Wis. And I wouldn't give them the dwarf combat bonuses since those arise from growing up in dwarven communities and circumstances, where as these creatures are transitory.
 

I like the concept. I agree with Geoff that you should go with either Darkvision or Low Light. Mixing both just adds hassle. I also agree with uv23 in that the combat bonuses seem out of place for this race.

On the flip side, I think the +2 Con vs. -2 Wis is fine. The benefits of this class are slightly favorable attribute mods, enhanced vision (I'd prefer Darkvision), couple extra languages, and skill bonuses. The downside is reduced movement. Seems pretty fair to me.

One other small thing I might suggest with the +2 bonus to craft and perform skill. That's extremely broad. Perhaps you could change it to +2 racial bonus to any two specific Craft or Perform skills of the player's choice, chosen at character creation. This would be more representative of each member of the community focusing on a couple specific artistic endeavors.

Good job!
 

Rybaer said:
One other small thing I might suggest with the +2 bonus to craft and perform skill. That's extremely broad. Perhaps you could change it to +2 racial bonus to any two specific Craft or Perform skills of the player's choice, chosen at character creation. This would be more representative of each member of the community focusing on a couple specific artistic endeavors.

I agree with everything you said. However, Perform is one skill, there are no subskills. Still, I agree, a +2 bonus to any two Craft skills, or to one Craft skill and Perform is definitely a good idea.
 

LightPhoenix said:


I agree with everything you said. However, Perform is one skill, there are no subskills. Still, I agree, a +2 bonus to any two Craft skills, or to one Craft skill and Perform is definitely a good idea.


Oops, meant to clarify that. Each time you take a rank in Perform, you pick one medium or instrument. This +2 bonus would only apply to one specified instrument or performance medium. Or, alternatively, just a +2 to Perform in general (which would be mechanically easier to implement).
 

uv23 said:
+2 Con is not balanced by -2 Wis. And I wouldn't give them the dwarf combat bonuses since those arise from growing up in dwarven communities and circumstances, where as these creatures are transitory.
Both dwarves and gnomes get the +1 attack on goblinoids (dwarves also get orcs, gnomes get kobolds). Also, both get the +4 dodge bonus to AC against giants. I interpreted these as inherited traits, and kept them.
 

Rybaer said:
One other small thing I might suggest with the +2 bonus to craft and perform skill. That's extremely broad. Perhaps you could change it to +2 racial bonus to any two specific Craft or Perform skills of the player's choice, chosen at character creation. This would be more representative of each member of the community focusing on a couple specific artistic endeavors.
I hadn't thought of that. You're right, +2 on all of that would be a bit to much. I like the idea of choosing any two, and only at character creation...thanks.
 

Geoff Watson said:
I'd choose either Low Light Vision or Darkvision. Having both at non-standard strengths seems a bit odd.
I wanted to portray the genetics from both sires, but at a weaker state, since the D'Nulm are not a pure breed of either.
Geoff Watson said:
PS. Gnome/Dwarf crossbreeds were originally in the Dragonlance setting, where they became known as Gully Dwarves, and are really silly and stupid.
I didn't realize that the Gully Dwarves were a cross-breed. I've read a couple DL books, and they are rather silly and stupid.
 


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