Oh Yeah.. Gnomes...

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Honestly, when making a new campaign setting, even if it's just fleshing out an unexplored area of an existing game world, I would start with NO races and only put in what you want. The notion that any race is required is why so many settings, including homebrews, suck so much. Every flavor mingled together every time gives you tasteless mush.

If you can't think of a way to use gnomes or halflings, don't include them. But do the same for elves, dwarves and orcs, who typically get the most stale LotR tropes for personalities and cultures and that's it.

 

[Lanefan]

Honestly, when making a new campaign setting, even if it's just fleshing out an unexplored area of an existing game world, I would start with NO races and only put in what you want. The notion that any race is required is why so many settings, including homebrews, suck so much. Every flavor mingled together every time gives you tasteless mush.

If you can't think of a way to use gnomes or halflings, don't include them. But do the same for elves, dwarves and orcs, who typically get the most stale LotR tropes for personalities and cultures and that's it.

However, as I was designing for something intended to last for ages (and somehow, it has), I was trying to err on the side of inclusion. As it was, I started out with no Monks as they just didn't fit (modified 1e FR-based with no Oriental style culture within reach); years of lobbying by the players ended with me contriving a way to bring (vastly redesigned) Monks into the campaign. Same would've happened with Gnomes...

Lanefan

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

We actually were posting at close to the same time. I didn't intend that to come off as an attack on your campaign.

It was just me over-enthusiastically pushing my worldbuilding point of view.

 

[GAAAHHH]

My favorite races:
Gnomes - Eberron
Dwarfs (dwarves) - Warhammer
Elves - Tolkien
Halflings - Dark Sun

Really I prefer gnomes as masters of illusion and misdirection. I never cared for the gnomes as masters of technology (or even tinker gnomes). And gnome bards? That's just what they want you to think.

 

[Gold Roger]

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!)

One of the PC's in the "spoiled nobles in a dungeoncrawl" I currently DM is a gnomish gigolo...

 

[Nyaricus]

There have been several good ways to portray Gnomes.

Eberroni, despite the fact I don't really care for it, has some amazing fluff regarding gnomes, IMO. Secret police keeping everyone in line? That's pretty sweet!

Forgotten Realms Has the Svifneblin, Rock and Forest varieties, and doesn't really do much to switch 'em up. The coolest bit of gnome-lore are the... well, here's the text, "At present the worst such group is the Blood Screamers, a band of savage gnome dire weremoles led by a gnome vampire called Blood-Curdling Scream (CE male rock gnome vampire illusionist 9). This group supposedly lairs in a warren of tunnels dug by giant ants...." Not their typical representation, but I love this plot hook

DragonLance had the silly tinker gnomes. The best part about this was the "mad" gnomes whose inventions actually worked. that was funny, but I still don't think these are a great representation of gnomes.

By core, gnomes are bland, and IMO, they need some major change-ups in regards to favoured class. Rock Gnomes need Beguiler or Illusionist. Period. Forest Gnomes get druid, obviously. Deep Gnomes should prolly get illusionist or Beguiler too.

But, despite Eberroni's great fluff, I prefer to bring the gnomes back to their roots as a earth-flavoured fey creature. They are not a playable race in my Ascension campaign setting, but another one of the fey-folk, fairies, etc that inhabit my world. That's their niche, and they will even sometimes hang around dwarves in their tunnels helping them out, but it's not like they are a core race or anything IMC.

Personally, though I like Forest gnomes out of core the best. They fit the fey archetype and actually bring a divine-magic class into the fray as a favoured class for one of the core races.

Also, one last note on gnomes, rock gnomes in particular: I am really dissapointed that they got rid of the +2 Int, -2 Wis from AD&D. Personally, I think this got rid of a lot of potential flavour for gnomes, which is dissapointing.

 

[Aaron L]

No gnomes on Alterra.

 

[Slobber Monster]

I still haven't quite worked out what normal gnomish folk are like in my campaign, but I do have a major cabal of gnomish wizards who specialize in demon summoning and nasty destructive ray spells (Enervation, Disintegrate). The more powerful ones use Permanency to make themselves perpetually tiny with Reduce Person. There's just something about the image of tiny little gnomes flying around throwing out horrific rays of destruction that tickles me.

 

[Scribble]

Honestly, when making a new campaign setting, even if it's just fleshing out an unexplored area of an existing game world, I would start with NO races and only put in what you want. The notion that any race is required is why so many settings, including homebrews, suck so much. Every flavor mingled together every time gives you tasteless mush.

If you can't think of a way to use gnomes or halflings, don't include them. But do the same for elves, dwarves and orcs, who typically get the most stale LotR tropes for personalities and cultures and that's it.

Well... I don't particularily have any hatred of gnomes... I just thought it was funny that Gnomes to me, are so forgettable...

 

[painandgreed]

Do Gnomes figure prominently in any of your campaign worlds?

No, not really. They exist, but much like most races of the fey (and many other intelligent races in a monster book), they are out of sight and out of mind. For the most part, they live with the elves, being a servant race in their eyes. Outside of it, they maintain occational small communities (much like halflings) but are rare, and if in a human city, would probably be mistaken for a beardless dwarf.

I've been playing D&D since 1980, and have yet to see anybody make anything other than a 1E gnome illusionist, and I could count the number of those I'e seen on my hands. Losing their status as illusionists critically wounded the gnome IMHO, and Tinker Gnomes (as well as anything else dealing with DL) was reason enough for many to try and forget they ever existed.