Oh Yeah.. Gnomes...

[Olgar Shiverstone]

Bah ... we gno gneed gno stinkin' gnomes!

Gnomes are just froo-froo dwarves, short elves, or halflings with pointed beards. I find them redundant to the other three demi-human races. And don't get me started on Tinker Gnomes (or worse -- kender).

Now, if they were size-Tiny Fey creatures who lived under mushrooms and wore little pointed red hats (or alternately had blue skin and went around shirtless) there might be a place for them ...

 

[Zander]

I like Gnomes, but they are much more illusionists or forest creatures in my approach rather than the tinker gnomes who I dislike nearly as much as Kender.

Hello, Dave

As noted here, I'm in total agreement with you on this.

I wonder if there are any correlates of the way various gamers think of gnomes. For example, do Europeans and North Americans think of gnomes differently? Is it related to age with older gamers favouring a more traditional (1E) gnome while newer gamers prefer mechanically-minded/tinker gnomes?

 

[Hussar]

ROTF. I had forgotten about This Zorgonia about gnomes.

 

[the Jester]

I love me some good large-schnozzed gnomish action. In my campaign, one of the central former pc/npcs is a gnome (god-king Malford). Many different areas have gnomish populations, there is one area that is a Gnomish Semi-Autonomous Region, one place even has a special tax on gnomes...

Gnomes are cool, but have been consistently dissed by writers who lump them together with halflings.

 

[Driddle]

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!

Nicely put.

I used to be all about the gnomes waaaaaay back in high school. Gnome illusionists, gnome thieves. Sometimes a multi-classed gnome fighter, just to mix it up.

I miss those gnomes.

 

[Wik]

I'm amazed no one's mentioned anything about the gnomes from DAWNFORGE. Not only do they gain the fey creature type as they progress, but they have the tendency to phase in and out of the material plane due to their connection to the fairy realm (or something like that; can't remember exactly). While all the races in dawnforge were pretty powerful (I love DF races, even if they're not exactly "balanced"), there was something special about the gnomes, what with their ability to cast illusions, go invisible, and such. Plus, the idea of a race of what are basically pacifists is kinda neat.

I've played a few gnomes, and I'm alright with the race (though I prefer halfling). I generally find that people play gnomes if they're a "Class clown" type player - they're a great race for getting laughs at the table. And, despite what some people might think, that's a perfectly valid game explanation for a race - the game exists to have fun, after all.

A lot of the features of the gnome are used for comedic effect, which is why I think Dragonlance gnomes are repeatedly mentioned here - the designers knew what the strengths of the gnome were, and played upon them.

My own times playing a gnome pretty much reinforce this. In 2e, I played a gnomish fighter who specialized in the heavy crossbow (a weapon he had "modified" rather heavily). Problem was, he was very shortsighted, thanks to years poring over his blueprints for his crosssbow design. In combat, I'd ready actions against bushes ("the second that green blur over there moves, I'm blasting it!"). It wasn't a very serious campaign, and the group loved the character, even if I really didn't do a whole lot (I was also the assistant DM, so I didn't want to steal the spotlight).

My brother played a gnomish hexblade a year or so ago that was pretty damn creepy, and I think he got that effect because people take one look at gnomes and think "likable and good" - so that when his evil character came across, he was REALLY playing against type. (I got a similar effect when I played a halfling druid with a temper).

So, yeah, they're an alright race, although in my experience, they're often the first race that gets written out of a campaign world.