Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Cheezus 01-14-04, 06:04 AM	Personality: Gnomes adore animals, beautiful gems, and jokes of all kinds. Members of this race have great sense of humor, and while they love puns, jokes, and games, they also relish tricks-the more intricate the better. They apply the same dedication to more practical arts, such as engineering, as they do to their pranks. (Quoted from the PHB) This text, as well as the Races of Faerun entry on rock gnomes, paints a picture of gnomes as fun-loving, easygoing creatures with no cares and a prank for every occasion. However, I want my particular character to be a serious gnome. A gnome that cannot be taken lightly. My question is as follows- What does a serious gnome act like? And also- What can cause a gnome to be serious as opposed to his light-hearted race? And possibly- Why would a gnome abandon his kind's Good ways and avert to a more neutral path?
ieattrollsforbreakfast 01-14-04, 10:33 AM	Hmm...perhaps he was victim to a trick that got a bit out of hand and ended up hurting him (physically or mentally) somehow. Perhaps a fellow gnome thought it would be funny to start a little fire in his home just to scare him, but it gets out of control and ends up burning his house and all his work down. I know that would stop me liking little tricks. Thats off the top of my head though, there are probably better tricks that could go wrong.
Tzor 01-14-04, 10:56 AM	I'm not sure it follows from the flavor text that a gnome cannot per se have a desire to be taken seriously. "They apply the same dedication to more practical arts, such as engineering, as they do to their pranks." Even gnomes cannot do two things at once. So a gnome is currently dedicating himself to a "more practical art," is not at the time time devoting any time to pranks (at that time) because this would require both to get only half dedication, rather than full dedication. It's one thing to have a sense of humor, but even those with a sense of humor hate to not be taken seriously when they are being serious. Especially if they are currently dedicated to a serious matter! Other gnomes probably can tell when a gnome is so dedicated and probably leave him alone for the duration, although after the gnome's task is done he can expect something to happen to him within 6 seconds of the completion of the serious task. Others tend to be more confused with this aspect of the gnome. Gnomes expect to be taken seriously when they are serious and they can be quite terse to those who do not understand, because this interferes with his current task.