What's with the Gnome Hate?

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

Jahira and Jan would like a word with you.

Cheers, -- N

I'd like a word with them too, because I have no clue who they are.

One fantasy race I see very little of is the idea of the elder human race, from Atlantis or Avalon or whatever, a member of a lost advanced utopian culture with an intellect far ahead of his peers. It's pretty common in fantasy, but, other than EverQuest's Erudites, pretty rare in gaming.

It's just too easy to turn that into code for racism. Fantasy is too politically correct to have Numenoreans nowadays.

 

[Alaric_Argent]

I once played a elf rogue raised by gnomes in a short-lived campaign--gem knowledge (appraisal/cutting/jewelry craft) was part of the schtick, as well as having a whole slew of names that could be selected from to meet the demands of the occasion (I think "Cab" --bestowed by an uncle for doing the job of polishing cabachons--was my personal favourite). Heavy on the trickster, of course. I can't claim my acting skills were quite up to the challenge, but the campaign ended early for unrelated reasons.

That said, I'm also partial to the mechanical expertise aspect of gnomes. Think catapault and ballista design, possibly some dabbling in architecture or other engineering. No need to introduce gunpowder or nukes. I also got a few laughs from the entry on gnomes in the Book of Erotic Fantasy.

So, I guess I'm a vote in favour of gnomes.

 

[Storm-Bringer]

Seen it before, but they were called "Halflings" back then.

(Seriously, "speak with burrowing mammals" does not a trader make.)

Cheers, -- N

That is why you drop that and give them a bonus to Diplomacy.

 

[lutecius]

One fantasy race I see very little of is the idea of the elder human race, from Atlantis or Avalon or whatever, a member of a lost advanced utopian culture with an intellect far ahead of his peers. It's pretty common in fantasy, but, other than EverQuest's Erudites, pretty rare in gaming.

I think that's what dnd races stand for, or at least that's how i understand them.

for example:
- the Sidhe or Tuatha De Danann (and other races preceding the Celts in the Book of Conquests) have a lot in common with Tolkien's elves.
- the duergar and alfar of Norse mythology are sometimes interpreted as the spirits of long dead people. Some authors think the myth of short people living underground arose from the remains of pre-germanic people whose bodies were hunched or sometimes chopped to fit in burial mounds (many dwarf names were actually related to death and corpses)
More generally, shorter pre-indoeuropean people like the Sami were considered by the Norse like a separate, magically gifted race.
- According to Hesiod, the men of the Golden Age died out and were reborn as daimones living in caves.

All these lost "human" civilisations and antediluvian "ages of man" in fantasy litterature have the same mythological sources as the ancient dwarven and elven empires in tolkien and dnd. dnd just added some pointy ears.

 

[Trench]

*sigh* Did no one read the unified theory of gnomes?

Did anyone see The Prestige? Remember the twist for the Christian Bale character?

That's what a gnome is. They live the lie. Every second of their lives.

But again, that's just our games. Gnomes are huge, major portions for us.

 

[The Grumpy Celt]

Did anyone see The Prestige? Remember the twist for the Christian Bale character?

I agree. When I said they needed an edge, this is the kind of thing I was talking about. They are presented as too simple and passive. Passive is not the same thing as good. Passive is mostly dull.

 

[Trench]

I agree. When I said they needed an edge, this is the kind of thing I was talking about. They are presented as too simple and passive. Passive is not the same thing as good. Passive is mostly dull.

Yep. Tricksters aren't just people lighting matchsticks between someone's toes. Tricksters are also the bumbling idiot who just happen to stumble into the lamp that tips over the flame onto the important war plans. They get charmed by the villain, and then while doing his bidding, always manages to mess up the orders somehow and wash the lich's phylacterum in acid. And no one suspects the idiot, because he's always been an idiot. That glimmer you see in his eye? Just a trick of the light.

Live the lie. You're a gnome? What's your story? Forest gnome well versed in the art of hunting? He always makes situations worse because he doesn't understand money or strange city customs. Yet somehow he manages to lead the big heroes to the thieve's guild to get back the kidnap victim. They save the day and they say how lucky it was Dimfaddle got into an argument with that fence so loudly that the bodyguard peeked out the back to make sure things were okay and the fighter recognized him as the assassin from last night. Yes. Such a coincidence...

 

[Hussar]

It's kinda funny that everyone points fingers at WOTC for the lack of gnome love. What 3rd party publisher did anything with gnomes either?

Yes, I'm 110% sure that some people love gnomes. But, unfortunately, too few.

 

[The Grumpy Celt]

But, unfortunately, too few.

That is becuase for 10 years TSR and then WotC presented the gnomes as weak, small, passive and the white-bread of the player races. Had, at some point during those 10 years and who knows how many books, gnomes been made interesting by TSR and WotC, then there would be fans of the little guys.

 

[The Little Raven]

That is becuase for 10 years TSR and then WotC presented the gnomes as weak, small, passive and the white-bread of the player races. Had, at some point during those 10 years and who knows how many books, gnomes been made interesting by TSR and WotC, then there would be fans of the little guys.

It was longer than ten years. It was almost 30 years, and the gnome passed through the hand of multiple design and development teams. If gnomes weren't that popular from their initial concept, then that says something about the concept.