Rich Baker confirms new look of Gnomes

[Cadfan]

I feel like I should be kind of mad that just when they took gnomes out of the PHB, they made them cool.

 

[Remathilis]

Actually, its a blessing.

1.) Small, kinda scary, slightly badass.
2.) Removed the negative "absent minded professor" motif, add the "fey trickster" motif.
3.) Divorce them from the need of a large backstory/empire/civilization
4.) Put them in the Monster Manual, where all the "cool" races live (like kobolds, drow, etc)

I predict we'll see MORE gnome PCs thanks to their removal from the PHB and their new "taboo/monster status". Look what it did for drow!

(And they have lairs! and minions! What's not to love now?)

 

[Mad Mac]

Actually, its a blessing.

I agree. Becoming a monster, especially a 4th edition monster, means the gnome gets to be remade as a (somewhat) menacing opponent with a lair, minions, unique combat powers, no need to fit seamlessly into human society...a well designed gnome monster could end up (ironically) making the gnome really cool to play.

I mean heck, we don't even know what kind of monster role the gnome will have. Mastermind? Lurker?

 

[Hypersmurf]

So I didn't want to Google up a badger for a free 30-minute picture and did it from memory.

Here you go.

-Hyp.

 

[JohnSnow]

I agree. Becoming a monster, especially a 4th edition monster, means the gnome gets to be remade as a (somewhat) menacing opponent with a lair, minions, unique combat powers, no need to fit seamlessly into human society...a well designed gnome monster could end up (ironically) making the gnome really cool to play.

I mean heck, we don't even know what kind of monster role the gnome will have. Mastermind? Lurker?

Based on one of the playtests that was reported, I'm going to go with gnome druids as masterminds. Standard gnome is probably a lurker.

I think one of the problems I've always had with gnomes is that they're cooler as monsters than as PCs. It's what I like to call "the Klingon problem." Klingons were much cooler when they were menacing. The fey trickster gnomes, like the ones Whiz described in his great essay, are much cooler, and work much better as opponents than as allies.

I agree with all that's been said. They seem to have managed to find a niche for gnomes by taking them out of the PHB. And if they found a better niche for tieflings by putting them in the PHB, I think we might have one of the most ironically good things about 4e.

 

[Gloombunny]

So I took 30 minutes to whip up a portrayal of the 4e gnome:

Might give everyone a better basis for analysis than the cartoony version.

Oh, that is nice.

I'm not sure if I like that as a look for gnomes, specifically, but it's an awesome picture.

 

[Cthulhudrew]

My initial response was "Gag! Not the Troll Doll look!"

But I must admit, seeing Klaus' gnome, I'm not that disgusted. And as Whizbang pointed out, throw a beard on the older version (maybe even a short beard, to distinguish it from ye old bearded dwarf) and it doesn't look awful.

 

[pawsplay]

In Eberron the gnomes play a important role, they have a nation called Zilargo and there is even a gnome dragonmarked house (House Sivis). With all this changes, especially the apparency one, what is going to happen with them? I think that we will see a Eberron specific gnome at the races section of the new ECS, do you agree?

A small moon will fall on Zilargo, and tiefling ninjas will go back in time and erase their greatest leaders from history.

 

[exile]

I think the cartoon was pretty darn funny. However, I like the look of the gnome more in the drawing than in the cartoon. I can actually see myself playing a gnome.

Chad

 

[Shroomy]

I really dig the gnome's new look. I think it is definitely better than the thinner, crazier-looking dwarves that have been their dominant depiction. I don't think their revised look will have all that much impact on Eberron's gnomes.