why do folks hate gnomes?

[alsih2o]

people act as if dwarves and halfings have existed for centuries and gnomes were invented as a merchandising ploy for a stars wars prequel. what is up?

con bonuses, a strong sense of a seperate community, skill bonuses, illusion resistance, cantrips. they seem like a munchkins dream, and a "character players" dream as well.

despite what seems to me to be a wealth of story building opportunities they ahve to be the single most banned race.

to heck with "i just hate them" why? did a lot of gamers get scare by gnomes as little kids?

(edit: mind you, i am not strict gnomophile, but i don't understand all the hatred)

 

[BiggusGeekus@Work]

Gnomes killed my dog.

 

[arwink]

I don't hate them, but I did at one point. Dragonlance really killed gnomes for me, and I don't think the race ever recovered from that. I never really enjoy the psuedo-dwarven technical gadgeteer archetype that got adopted.

Personally I prefer my gnomes more reclusive, forrest dwelling and fey. Fortunately, getting this is as simple as changing the flavor text and telling people it's so

 

[alsih2o]

read the first 3 paragraphs of the gnome description, tell me it isn't eerily familiar....almost like they were talking about gamers..

could there be some self-loathing going on here?

 

[Darkness]

I never could "get into" gnomes, and I've tried hard to. And there's something about them that just irks me...

Further, there are always people who insist on making their gnomes be some of those horrid tinker-types that Dragonlance unleashed on the world. These've got to be about as bad as kenders...

PS - BTW, three "gnome threads" at once is a bit much. I think I'll merge/close at least one as soon as I've figured out the best way of going about it...

 

[alsih2o]

PS - BTW, three "gnome threads" at once is a bit much. I think I'll merge/close at least one as soon as I've figured out the best way of going about it...

i didn't see the others when i started this one, my apologies for "stuffing" the board

 

[megamania]

Hate gnomes?......just add a bit of seasoning salt.

In 3e when I look at Gnomes I see Kenders (sort-of) which I can't stand. Once played with a guy whom I think WAS a Kender. Danmed irritating.

 

[el-remmen]

Personally, I love gnomes - though I hate the 3E version (just as I hate 3E halflings).

I have made them a central element of my "Out of the Frying Pan" Campaign - and readers of my story hour can attest to the fact that I did a pretty good job of describing gnomish culture (as I see it in the Aquerra setting) and making them distinct from the other "little" PC races.

 

[Darkness]

i didn't see the others when i started this one, my apologies for "stuffing" the board

No problem.

And I guess we'll see soon whether all three threads will even stay on page 1...

 

[BiggusGeekus@Work]

Serious answer:

I don't see the role that gnomes occupy.

Are they magically inclined, like elves?
Are they mechanically inclined, like dwarves?
Are they short & happy, like halflings?

When I think of the other core races I see a place for them. Gnomes seem like an add-on. Of course, I can easily get creative and give them a non-core background (e.g. ditch the illusions and make them tinkers, or ditch the gearhead mentality and make them more like sprites, or do something wacky like make them death loving necromancers). But then they aren't "core" gnomes and most discussions about gnomes are in the context of the core rules. When we take them out of that context -- a good thing to my mind -- we're talking about something else. Which is fine, but it isn't really "gnomes", its "Sunderd Lands gnomes" or "Dragonlance gnomes" or whatever.

My two cents.