Gnomes, munchkins, drizzt-clones, nymphomanic lesbian elven bladesigners, kleptomanic kenders - everything rubs someone the wrong way. That doesn't make them boring, or wrong, it just means they have different tastes.
What's with the Gnome Hate?
- Thread starter Sylrae
- Start date
Gnomes, munchkins, drizzt-clones, nymphomanic lesbian elven bladesigners, kleptomanic kenders - everything rubs someone the wrong way. That doesn't make them boring, or wrong, it just means they have different tastes.
Hussar
Legend
I rarely saw gnome hate.
To hate something requires that you have to register it on your awareness radar.
The only person I've ever played with who cared in the slightest about gnomes was myself. And, heck, we were two years into a Scarred Lands campaign before anyone noticed that there were no gnomes.
In my last campaign, people played short arsed charismatic KOBOLD BARDS instead of trying out a gnome. When I asked about it, the basic reaction was, "Gnome? Oh yeah, there's a race in the PHB yeah? Hrm ... naw, I'll stick with my character."
To hate something requires that you have to register it on your awareness radar.
The only person I've ever played with who cared in the slightest about gnomes was myself. And, heck, we were two years into a Scarred Lands campaign before anyone noticed that there were no gnomes.
In my last campaign, people played short arsed charismatic KOBOLD BARDS instead of trying out a gnome. When I asked about it, the basic reaction was, "Gnome? Oh yeah, there's a race in the PHB yeah? Hrm ... naw, I'll stick with my character."
Psion
Adventurer
Yes, yes I can. Or at least, I tried. I speculated as to the "why's" about the general indifference and disdain for gnomes as the topic of one of last week's blog posts. Check it out:
http://www.enworld.org/forum/blog.php?b=253
Nightchilde-2
First Post
Eberron gnomes are full of win and awesome. The one time I actually saw a player pull out a gnome PC was in Eberron and the character was a right vicious little secret stilling bastich.
Other gnomes...eh...not so exciting. And I rank tinker gnomes right up there with kender.
The Companions of the Dead were some pretty interesting and tough gnomish hombres.
(Psi)SeveredHead
Adventurer
I think a lot of people don't like them. The only gnomes I personally hate are tinker gnomes, as I think they wreck setting flavor, which is more damaging than just not being serious.
Gnomes don't have a cool or distinct niche. They seem like they're just a blend between dwarf and elf. I don't consider "short and magical" to be a distinct niche, either, which seemed the only reason behind gnomes in 2e. (IIRC, halflings couldn't be wizards, and of course, neither could dwarves.)
Since 3.x and 4e let anyone be wizards, even that last niche is gone.
It doesn't help that there were no gnomes in Tolkien. There's not a whole lot of racial fluff in the various PHs, but anyone who has read Lord of the Rings has a decent idea of how to play humans, elves, dwarves and "hobbitses".
There is one exception: Eberron. And even the ECS didn't make gnomes cool. Unless you read the first gnome Dragonshard, gnomes just came off as only slightly creepy. (They should reprint that Dragonshard, word-for-word, in the 4e ECS.)
I think people pick flavor over mechanics when choosing a race. I've played a gnome PC precisely once, and that was explicitly to be a mage with +2 Con. You couldn't tell my character was a gnome if he didn't tell you.
People did!
I think halflings were more often considered interested, and more often played, then gnomes in most groups.
Anyone can be a bard. Even a short bard. There's nothing wrong with a halfling bard. And of course, bards are already seen as unserious, which is pretty bad considering that gnomes are also often viewed as unserious.
In 5e, I suspect some of the new 4e races will be exiled to the MM. Maybe they'll come up with a distinct niche for gnomes by then, but I doubt it.
All gnomes must die.
Why do you not see this?
I bet you're short. And ugly. Like a gnome.
Doug McCrae
Legend
In all my time playing D&D, I've seen a total of two* gnome PCs. In my first session of 4e, there were two dragonborn.
Virtually no one wants to play gnomes. In 30 years, the creators of D&D haven't found a worthwhile niche for them. Elves got fey covered, halflings got shorty covered. Tinker gnomes are too videogame-y and don't really have a place in the default D&D world which is tech free. When something hasn't worked for 30 years, it's time to give up on the concept.
*Of those two, the first was the worst and most immature player I've ever gamed with. The trickster gnome was actually quite a good fit for his personality. The second time was a good character, a necromancer. The player riffed off the comedy value of evil eldritch power in a tiny body. But he could've done the exact same with a halfling.
Virtually no one wants to play gnomes. In 30 years, the creators of D&D haven't found a worthwhile niche for them. Elves got fey covered, halflings got shorty covered. Tinker gnomes are too videogame-y and don't really have a place in the default D&D world which is tech free. When something hasn't worked for 30 years, it's time to give up on the concept.
*Of those two, the first was the worst and most immature player I've ever gamed with. The trickster gnome was actually quite a good fit for his personality. The second time was a good character, a necromancer. The player riffed off the comedy value of evil eldritch power in a tiny body. But he could've done the exact same with a halfling.
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