D&D General what is the unifying theme of gnomes?

[Benjamin Olson]

Gnomes are just non-Tolkien elves.

Yep. Gnomes exist to fulfill the weird, funky little folkloric and fairytale elf role that went unfulfilled when D&D got the elegant, pretty Tolkien elves as its elves.

They also get all the spare folkloric traits of dwarves after D&D's Tolkien-derived dwarves got what they did.

Basically Gnomes are a grab bag from the remnant folkloric attributes for fey peoples that Tolkien didn't use.

 

[Mind of tempest]

A dive through the history of gnomes, with a Gygax quote and other things.

On Tieflings and Gnomes

In which I talk about dissociative design of races. And how to not design a gnome.

dungeonantology.com

interesting, I think I have figured out what I dislike about tieflings they force me to have to having to deal with extra plane monsters that I have always disliked and outcaste has never really been a role I enjoyed playing, I prefer something that has connections to something bigger with a real place in the world other than being stepped on a lot.

Yep. Gnomes exist to fulfill the weird, funky little folkloric and fairytale elf role that went unfulfilled when D&D got the elegant, pretty Tolkien elves as its elves.

They also get all the spare folkloric traits of dwarves after D&D's Tolkien-derived dwarves got what they did.

Basically Gnomes are a grab bag from the remnant folkloric attributes for fey peoples that Tolkien didn't use.

I will need to think on this some more as I have debated trying to build better gnomes with a real place in the world.

 

[Charlaquin]

View attachment 252684
Not Cute

I think It’s pretty cute

 

[Mecheon]

Like for example if you removed gnomes and made their Disneyish foresty animal friend subspecies to be a type of halfling and gave the mad-scientist tinkerer thing to dwarves so that they could sometimes be something else than just shortish drunken axe-wielding Scottish Vikings, then I feel both halflings and dwarves would be improved, yet the thematic concepts of the gnomes would be preserved.

See, I've always been of the opinion Halflings are the easier one to ditch on that behalf, especially because the vast majority of the halfling subraces are barely different. Except the one which psionically talks to elves which, honestly, is basically an inbuilt gnome trait to begin with

The mechanically focused gnome is such a well known archetype in this day and age that it goes beyond the D&D space and has gained its own life

 

[Shades of Eternity]

Thoughts about Gnomes

I like Gnomes. I like the concept of a diminutive race with a beard and a silly hat that has magical abilities. It has a pedigree greater...

breadthofpopsanity.blogspot.com

I already did my analysis of Gnomes and well here they are.

 

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

I have something I need to get off my chest. It's a piece of information about myself that is particularly difficult to share on this board. I am deeply ashamed of this part of myself.

I like Gnomes. They're actually one of my favorite player races. They're in the top 3; just behind Warforged, just above Changelings.

Maybe it's that I haven't played any of the previous editions and was mostly introduced to them through Mordenkainen's Tome of Foes, or maybe it's just that some of their quirks are particularly relatable to me (having both ADHD and ASD). Or maybe my liking them is just objective badwrongfun and I should hide this part of my D&D-identity even more than I already do.

As others have said, Gnomes (like most other D&D races, if you're being honest) don't really have a single unifying theme, and haven't had one in decades. They're more of a mish-mash of ideas taken from folklore versions of Elves and Dwarves and similar creatures (brownies, hobs, nisse/tomte, some types of Trolls, etc), as well as a few modern additions to make them more unique (Tinker Gnomes from Dragonlance and World of Warcraft). They're Santa's Elves, Snow White's Dwarves, and mad scientists/inventors that constantly invent new types of explosives entirely by accident.

In D&D, races almost never have "unifying themes". They have grab-bags of ideas taken from pop culture and (typically European) folklore assembled into confusing amalgamations with taped-on lore that changes every edition (and sometimes in the middle of one).

In 5e, most of their broad themes are "quirky short people that look more human than Goblins but less than Halflings and have obsessions with either animals, tinkering, or gems/elemental earth". This is different from what it was in every previous edition, and is probably different from how they will be in the next edition.

 

[Levistus's_Leviathan]

WotC and most other brands and writers try and differentiate gnomes by making them tinkers or fey or bankers (which has antisemitic roots) or whatever other role they can create that is as far from "Hobbit" as they can manage. Eberron made them Teachers, for example, tutors for the wealthy and powerful and...

What are the rest of the gnomes doing while some tiny portion acts as teachers? Same thing as everyone else. Only in the "Small People" Ghetto where halflings, gnomes, and sometimes goblins hung out. And the Keith went "Let's get crazy with halflings instead!" and made them into dino-riders instead of hobbits. Well. Almost. He turned around and made Ghallanda and made them hospitable hobbits, too.

Did you miss the part of Eberron's Gnomes where they have the not-so-secret police that controls most of Zilargo and also have a monopoly on most of the communication and major newspapers in Khorvaire? Sure, Eberron's Halflings ride Dinosaurs, which is cool and all, but the Gnomes are over there in Korranberg publishing whatever propaganda the Trust tells them to write while also deciding who gets to use their magic cell service.

 

[Bill Zebub]

BBQ sauce.

 

[Hexmage-EN]

...maybe it's just that some of their quirks are particularly relatable to me (having both ADHD and ASD).

I kind of wanted to say this earlier myself but was afraid it would come across wrong. Still, I think it's true for me, too, even though of course not all gnomes are roleplayed this way.

 

[Vaalingrade]

Part of the problem gnomes have is that they've historically been the nail from which D&D hangs a lot of jokes.

They're scientists, but at best only for baubles and toys and at worst, they make things that fail catastrophically.

They're nature lovers, but only to talk to small, furry animals.= and Disney Princess their way through everything.

They're magic, but only illusions, which the game rarely takes as serious magic.

Ultimately, they're halflings with bolt-ons that make them less serious. I'm a guy that absolutely refuses to take this game seriously, and even I think the game does gnomes pretty dirty in terms of what rasions detre they've been given.

If I was inclined to not just fold them into halflings, I would lean far into the magic thing; give them back thier folkloric origin stolen from them when they were also kobolds and make them earth elementals. Give them earthglide, natural DR, and a builder/make society.