Oh Yeah.. Gnomes...

[Scribble]

And that's the way they want it. As true masters of illusion, gnomes are the unseen masters of reality. Who can tell what is real and what is reality with a gnome around? Gnomes stay on the sidelines and make sure no one notices them until the time is right...and then they strike!

Wake up Gneo...

 

[Umbran]

No... Elves... BLASPHEMY!

Well, that's not entirely accurate. There are elves, but they are not what you'd call a "going concern" in the socio-ecological tapestry of the world right now.

You see, when I was making up the campaign, none of the players wanted to be an elf. Or a gnome. So, I had to decide what to do with each. Gnomes, being often overlooked, seemed a more interesting way to fill the niche.

Also, by putting a different critter there, I sort of invite the question of where the heck the elves went, which is a major point in the mostly-forgotten history that currently drives events in the world...

 

[Gold Roger]

I like my gnomes as the "forgotten folk". They are rarely noticed, no big players and little is really known about them. That's of course the way they like it to be. If no one knows of them no one bothers them. Occasionally a individual gnome takes a bigger role and people go "Yeah, that powerfull guy, I heard he's a gnome. What's up with those gnomes anyway. Don't hear to much of them, do we?"

The other aspect of gnomes is that of the likable trickster and that's the way individual gnomes will come up most of the time.

 

[Ridley's Cohort]

I find thinking of gnomes as ought-to-be-fey and playing up their innate magical abilities and different way of looking at the world helps. But yes, the default size of shorties in 3E does sometimes get a bit jarring.

I think you hit the nail on the head there regarding their proper flavor. "Short fey", "dowdy robust fey", or "fey dwarf" seem like very promising concepts but somehow they do not quite get translated into a flavorful PC race. Minor illusions and Bard as favored class are interesting ideas but neither really works out to much in play.

 

[shilsen]

I like their flavor in Eberron, but then again I like just about every core race as redone in Eberron. In the role of machiavellian tricksters, they're the scariest race in the world.

 

[blargney the second]

Keith Baker remembered them.

 

[Tuzenbach]

Gnomes make great sex slaves.

 

[el-remmen]

After humans, gnomes are the most populous of the PC races in Aquerra.

They figured prominently in my "Out of the Frying Pan" campaign (see sig) and you can read about them here.

 

[LordAshram]

Gnomes make great sex slaves.

I bet the tinkergnomes make some great devices, too.

(ow, my eyes, just got a visual I didn't need. Now I'm blind...damnit!)

 

[Lanefan]

Personally, I've never been a huge fan of Gnomes. I see 'em as smaller than Hobbits, distantly related to Dwarves (though tell that to any Dwarf and you'll get an axe upside the head), and as the stereotypical tinkerers and sometime-adventurers...fine, but nothing spectacular. I almost nuked 'em when I designed Riveria, but concluded that it'd be more work re-doing all the tables to take them out than it would be to just keep 'em, so they stayed.

And what happens? Gnomes become *the* most successful PC race in the campaign, by any standard, and by a lot. No real idea why, other than random chance, but I couldn't get rid of them now if I tried!

Lanefan