D&D 4E Rich Baker on Gnomes in 4E

[Sitara]

Hmm, mine iwll either be a human warlock, a tiefling warlock or a tiefling paladin of tiamat!!

For Bael Turath!!


(death to all gnomes!)

 

[SPECTRE666]

Cliched before 4E is even released.

- Brimstone Blackheart, or Draco Steeltalon.
-Now if only I knew what the Racial mods are going to be in 4E?

 

[Voss]

- Brimstone Blackheart, or Draco Steeltalon.
-Now if only I knew what the Racial mods are going to be in 4E?

You realize those are going to be names for D&D mini figures, right?

 

[JohnSnow]

I should probably point out that Rich seems to have been responding to the following post...

1) This may sound like a broken record, but is that to say gnomes aren't getting anything rules-wise for PC use other than what's in MM? In other words, will any and all FR-specific racial feats etc. in the (initial) 4E Realms be only geared toward the major PC races, or is there at least the odd bone thrown in for the margin folk as well?

2) Also concerning margin races, would it be far off to expect rare subraces like avariels and aquatic elves to be presented as "add-ons" to standard elves, in a similar manner to how dragonborn can supposedly "buy" wings as a racial feat?

3) Finally, are there any plans to tie saurials to FR dragonborn?

So Rich's "marginal races" was in reference to avariels and the like. He wasn't calling gnomes "marginal."

 

[GAAAHHH]

First character: Gnome Illusionist. I may have to wait a while.

 

[Abstraction]

Why, WOTC, why? When I spent so much time homebrewing the perfect gnomes and giving them a place of importance in my campaign? Maybe they'll all turn into tieflings overnight...like the two Darrens.

 

[Voss]

Actually, that first point ties gnomes to 'margin folk' pretty well.

 

[Incenjucar]

They will, however, be in the MM1, so this is mostly just a lack of support and flavor information.

 

[Sitara]

Agreed with Voss. Both the poster and baker seem to agree upon gnomes being marginal and not a major race.

Anyhow, I don't uynderstand why people who have gnomes in their setting (homebrew or otherwise) are worried. Seriously, do you stat out everyone in your settings? Wow, that could take a while. And if some player wants to play a gnome, gee then make up some stats using the core races as guidelines. Its not hard at all.

 

[I'm A Banana]

Actually, that first point ties gnomes to 'margin folk' pretty well.

Not especially. The original question grouped gnomes, avariel, and sea elves as 'margin races,' and I think we can all agree that these creatures actually vary pretty wildly in terms of how marginal they are. Gnomes are pretty common. Avariel are quite rare. Sea Elves perhaps less so than Avariel, but more so than Gnomes unless you're playing an aquatic campaign.

Most likely, we have three independent thoughts in response to three specific questions.

Are gnomes going to get something for PC play other than what's in the MM? Yes, they'll have a racial write-up next year.

How do you guys plan on doing rare races, like the avariel or the seal elves? Don't hold your breath, you won't get much. There might be more stuff online.

Are you going to tie saurials to dragonborn at all in FR? No, these are distinct entities.

This matches what they've said about gnomes ("they'll have a write-up, just not right away"), makes sense in the light of what would see publication (did we see a racial write-up anywhere in 3e for avariel? Or sea elves?), and makes sense in light of what the role of the dragonborn are (they aren't dinosaur-people).

Otherwise, the post would be basically contradicting itself, saying both "gnomes are marginal and marginal races won't see much support," and "gnomes are getting a full write-up in '09"

My money is on gnomes getting a write-up with the Illusionist class, and then not seeing anything for Avariel or Sea Elves (or other semi-obscure subraces) unless we get some sort of aquatic setting or elf-focused setting (more elf-focused than FR), which at least isn't in the immediate plans.