Rich Baker confirms new look of Gnomes

[mhensley]

Hmm... me thinks wotc dropped the ball on this. They made halflings look like crap but kept them as a pc race, but made gnomes fun and removed them. I think I'll have to replace halflings with gnomes in my campaign now. Or maybe I'll just replace both of them with kobolds.

 

[Horacio]

Wow, Klaus, you have made me want to insert gnomes in my games for the first time in years !

 

[The_Gneech]

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.

Wait ... so ... gnomes are halflings with some kind of skin-discoloring syndrome?

So who are the little guys with hay-bale beards and pointy hats now? Kobolds?

-The Gneech

PS: Not trying to pick on you, Klaus. You're awesome. I just wish that some of these changes reflected myth and tradition, rather than just gamers stewing in their own juices.

 

[mhensley]

Wait ... so ... gnomes are halflings with some kind of skin-discoloring syndrome?

So who are the little guys with hay-bale beards and pointy hats now? Kobolds?

-The Gneech

PS: Not trying to pick on you, Klaus. You're awesome. I just wish that some of these changes reflected myth and tradition, rather than just gamers stewing in their own juices.

Ironically, kobolds are not small lizard-people in mythology, yet nobody complains about that.

 

[The_Gneech]

Ironically, kobolds are not small lizard-people in mythology, yet nobody complains about that.

Unlike gnomes (and dwarves, elves, dragons, etc.), I've never encountered kobolds outside of D&D or its derivatives ... could you provide more info?

-The Gneech

 

[Lorthanoth]

I like it - I have always hated gnomes in every edition. But this one - I like.

 

[mhensley]

Unlike gnomes (and dwarves, elves, dragons, etc.), I've never encountered kobolds outside of D&D or its derivatives ... could you provide more info?

-The Gneech

In mythology, kobolds are very similar to gnomes or brownies.

The most common version, Heinzelmännchen, is similar to Robin Goodfellow and brownies: as household elves of ambivalent nature, they sometimes perform domestic chores, but play malicious tricks if not appeased (Hinzelmann is a particular example).

Kobold is often used in German to translate the word 'Leprechaun', a type of Irish fairy goblin.

Another type of kobold, more similar to the gnome, haunts mines and other underground places.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kobold

 

[Pbartender]

Perhaps think about it this way:

4E Elves and Eladrin are to Elves by Tolkien what 4E Gnomes are to Elves by the Brothers Grimm and other Germanic folklore.

That I can deal with.

 

[Simia Saturnalia]

I like it - I have always hated gnomes in every edition. But this one - I like.

My thoughts exactly.

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

In mythology, kobolds are very similar to gnomes or brownies.



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kobold

For a visual representation:

Okay, that are the Mainzelmännchen...