1001 Gnome Inventions [Archive] - Wizards Community

1001 Gnome Inventions [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
CustosTheFluffy
12-10-07, 08:35 PM So I'm looking for anything that has had a gnomish hand in it's creation. Trying to get some ideas but so far all I really have are locomotion ideas ranging from a steam wagon and air ship to a heavy crossbow and fly wheel powered go-kart.
AtsuiShoto
12-10-07, 09:56 PM I have an 8-shot semi-automatic crossbow I statted up. It's not as psychotically over-powered as you'd think, though.

How about a cart powered by a leaf-spring pulling a rope coiled about the axle?
ScorpiusRisk
12-11-07, 06:48 PM In my campaign I have gnomish under ground railroad. In hidden locations in major cities is an underground stations. You get in a cart without any horses in a room somewhere. The driver Plane Shifts the cart and summons ethereal mounts. The carts drive between the cities ignoring the normal barriers and traffic.
VanGrue
12-12-07, 02:22 AM Years and years ago one of my friends was obsessed with being a Gnomish inventor, and crafted a giant turtle-shaped death-tank. It was the most epic thing ever.
Tema69
12-12-07, 05:21 PM Two of the PCs in my game are gnomes, and have loads of ranks in various craft/knowledge skills.
One of them has built a 20 shot, semi automatic crossbow with the ability to autofire (as per the d20 Modern rules).
The other one has a grenade launcher built with a high tension spring coiled up in a tube beneath his musket. He fires alchemist's fire and stuff like that.
He also has fireworks/rockets (see the Wick Weaver in my sig).
I also include Zeppelins and Gyrocopters in my game.
The gnomes plan to build a fortified iron wagon and make it steam-powered. They have already built the thing, and added a rocket turret on top, but it is still pulled by horses.
Gnome Crossbow sights from AEG are simple yet cool too. And all the halfling stuff from UEG I & II could just as well be gnomish : rollerskates, springboots, etc. etc... And there's always stuff like flamethrowers, primitive gattling guns, chainsaws...
Tema69
12-12-07, 07:08 PM Btw. Have a look here : http://forums.gleemax.com/showthread.php?p=14568661#post14568661
for some steampunk devices that easily could be (and probably are) built by gnomes.
mathew99
12-12-07, 07:34 PM Gnome + Human = Dwarf
That was a big whoops.
Tema69
12-13-07, 10:17 AM Gnome + Human = Dwarf
That was a big whoops.
Huh?
Toran_A_Sunder
12-13-07, 11:30 AM I had a gnome inventor character. He was an Artificer/Wizard/Effigy master (from complete arcane).

Some of his inventing accomplishments included the following:

A hand crossbow attached to the forearm that fired upon flexing a certain muscle.

A set of bolts for his light crossbow with glass tips that screwed into a vial secreted in a compartment hollowed out of the wooden bolt. The vial would contain alchemical substances, and upon contact the bolt (and glass) would shatter, doing damage as well as inflicting the substance on the target

The All-Seeing-Eyes. A head band with an attachments of various lenses that the wearer can drop down over his eye. Each lense was enchanted with certain spells so that the user benefited from various effects with each different lense: Detect Evil, Detect poison, detect magic, read magic, see invisibility, discern lies, etc. It started out with like one or two lenses but would be upgraded with more and more lenses as the game went on.

And the piece de la resistance: an effigy of a a red dragon with a compartment hallowed out of his head for the gnome to ride in as he guided the effigy in flight. He also fashioned 4 enormous, 8 foot wands of magic missle and attached them to the underside of the wings of the dragon, and through a certain item in the "cockpit" was able to fire them at targets. Yes...I made a fighter jet :D
ObscureInfo
12-13-07, 11:21 PM How much tech are you going to allow in the game? (Or if you are the gnome, how much tech is your DM going to allow? )

What about paddle-boats? anyone small or medium size can sit the chair use the rudder and paddle his way up or down stream. It is neat, kind of cool, and low-tech. much faster and easier to use than a row boat.

Collapsable ladders? Three sections, locks into place, small enough to carry on back. Anyone can climb a ladder.

For low-tech inventions, think waterwheels, windmills, and springs and counterweights.

For mid-tech, you can add steampunk and steam engines and such things. (Big machines to do little jobs)

And of course, high-tech means small, micro-sized complex machines to do multiple functions.

When trying to come up with inventions, I always work backwards. What do we have that can be replicated by DnD tech (medieval era)? What sort of things did Thomas Edison create? Or Ben Franklin? I firmly believe that's what Keith did with Eberron. He saw a mag-lev train and saw how magic could duplicate the technology. He saw telephones and saw how sending stones could replace them.

Here are some ideas for you to flesh out
Trash compactor
Indoor plumbing
Running water
Hot water
Hideabed
Central Air/Central Heat
Doorbell
Chainsaw (Auto-Axe) (unreliable as a weapon, useful only for tree cutting)
Auto-sweep Broom

And for some reason, I really like the idea of a wagon ship. (A wagon with a sail, powered by wind power, including the spell gust of wind, if you have to) I saw a cartoon like that once, and it stuck in my head.
celestialkin
12-13-07, 11:40 PM And the piece de la resistance: an effigy of a a red dragon with a compartment hallowed out of his head for the gnome to ride in as he guided the effigy in flight. He also fashioned 4 enormous, 8 foot wands of magic missle and attached them to the underside of the wings of the dragon, and through a certain item in the "cockpit" was able to fire them at targets. Yes...I made a fighter jet :D

Oh god. That is both hysterical and amazing.

I envy people with such intelligence and creativity. I couldn't come up with such a thing myself.
JulesCARV
12-14-07, 12:00 AM A map projection such that any straight line drawn along the map is a great circle around the spherical body from which the map is projected.
Chain_The_Warforged
12-15-07, 07:41 PM Something possibly gnomish that I just posted on another thread:

The Steam Gun: An atempt to create a unique and balanced firearm. NOTE: the Steam Gun has multiple firing modes.

Single Shot
Damage: 1d12
Critical: 18-20/x2
Range: 120
Clip: 8 shot
The single-shot firing mode launches an aerodynaic metal dart at a target using an alchemical compound. Note that Single-shot and Sniper use the same clip.

Sniper
Damage: 2d6
Critical: 16-20/x4
Range: 500
Clip: 8 shot
Special: The sniper mode cannot be used on targets closer than 30 ft. away. It fires at a -10 unless a move action is taken to sight a target. It uses the same clip as the single-shot mode.

Autofire
Damage: 1d10
Critical 19-20/x2
Range: 10x10 cube or 30 ft. cone
Clip: 30 shot
The autofire setting uses a seperate ammo source from the single shot or sniper. It uses 10 rounds to autofire at one of the target areas. Each creature must make a DC 15 + attacker's ranged bonus or suffer the damage. (I think that is the autofire rule from D20 modern.)

Burst
Damage: 3d4
Critical: 17-20/x3
Range: 30
Clip: 30 shot
Burst fire uses the same ammo source as autofire. It fires a burst of five rounds at a single creature. This results in the weapon "jumping", giving the attack roll a -2 on creatures farther than 30 ft. away.

The Steamgun is treated as masterwork. It is a two-handed weapon, and can switch between firing modes as a free action. This allows any character that can make multiple attacks to use whichever firing modes in any order that he wishes.

Physicaly, the Steam Gun resembles a long brass tube with a bullpup clip, and a smaller foward attachment quite a bit like a submachine gun. There a sight similar to a telescope mounted on a rail at the top, as well as an iron sight for regular fire.

Weight: 40 lb
Cost: 12,000 gp
Tema69
12-16-07, 09:07 AM Hey Chain,
Would you mind posting that gun here : http://forums.gleemax.com/showthread.php?t=966012 ? It's really cool, and we're making an 'Item Compendium'.
I have a few suggestions regarding the modes: maybe the sniper mode should be a separate and larger weapon, as most sniper rifles differ from normal "assault" weapons. Have a look at the d20 Modern rules for fire modes and firearms. Would you mind if I have a try at my version of this weapon? I'd post it in the Item Compendium and credit you for the idea, of course.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
CustosTheFluffy 12-10-07, 08:35 PM	So I'm looking for anything that has had a gnomish hand in it's creation. Trying to get some ideas but so far all I really have are locomotion ideas ranging from a steam wagon and air ship to a heavy crossbow and fly wheel powered go-kart.
AtsuiShoto 12-10-07, 09:56 PM	I have an 8-shot semi-automatic crossbow I statted up. It's not as psychotically over-powered as you'd think, though. How about a cart powered by a leaf-spring pulling a rope coiled about the axle?
ScorpiusRisk 12-11-07, 06:48 PM	In my campaign I have gnomish under ground railroad. In hidden locations in major cities is an underground stations. You get in a cart without any horses in a room somewhere. The driver Plane Shifts the cart and summons ethereal mounts. The carts drive between the cities ignoring the normal barriers and traffic.
VanGrue 12-12-07, 02:22 AM	Years and years ago one of my friends was obsessed with being a Gnomish inventor, and crafted a giant turtle-shaped death-tank. It was the most epic thing ever.
Tema69 12-12-07, 05:21 PM	Two of the PCs in my game are gnomes, and have loads of ranks in various craft/knowledge skills. One of them has built a 20 shot, semi automatic crossbow with the ability to autofire (as per the d20 Modern rules). The other one has a grenade launcher built with a high tension spring coiled up in a tube beneath his musket. He fires alchemist's fire and stuff like that. He also has fireworks/rockets (see the Wick Weaver in my sig). I also include Zeppelins and Gyrocopters in my game. The gnomes plan to build a fortified iron wagon and make it steam-powered. They have already built the thing, and added a rocket turret on top, but it is still pulled by horses. Gnome Crossbow sights from AEG are simple yet cool too. And all the halfling stuff from UEG I & II could just as well be gnomish : rollerskates, springboots, etc. etc... And there's always stuff like flamethrowers, primitive gattling guns, chainsaws...
Tema69 12-12-07, 07:08 PM	Btw. Have a look here : http://forums.gleemax.com/showthread.php?p=14568661#post14568661 for some steampunk devices that easily could be (and probably are) built by gnomes.
mathew99 12-12-07, 07:34 PM	Gnome + Human = Dwarf That was a big whoops.
Tema69 12-13-07, 10:17 AM	Gnome + Human = Dwarf That was a big whoops. Huh?
Toran_A_Sunder 12-13-07, 11:30 AM	I had a gnome inventor character. He was an Artificer/Wizard/Effigy master (from complete arcane). Some of his inventing accomplishments included the following: A hand crossbow attached to the forearm that fired upon flexing a certain muscle. A set of bolts for his light crossbow with glass tips that screwed into a vial secreted in a compartment hollowed out of the wooden bolt. The vial would contain alchemical substances, and upon contact the bolt (and glass) would shatter, doing damage as well as inflicting the substance on the target The All-Seeing-Eyes. A head band with an attachments of various lenses that the wearer can drop down over his eye. Each lense was enchanted with certain spells so that the user benefited from various effects with each different lense: Detect Evil, Detect poison, detect magic, read magic, see invisibility, discern lies, etc. It started out with like one or two lenses but would be upgraded with more and more lenses as the game went on. And the piece de la resistance: an effigy of a a red dragon with a compartment hallowed out of his head for the gnome to ride in as he guided the effigy in flight. He also fashioned 4 enormous, 8 foot wands of magic missle and attached them to the underside of the wings of the dragon, and through a certain item in the "cockpit" was able to fire them at targets. Yes...I made a fighter jet :D
ObscureInfo 12-13-07, 11:21 PM	How much tech are you going to allow in the game? (Or if you are the gnome, how much tech is your DM going to allow? ) What about paddle-boats? anyone small or medium size can sit the chair use the rudder and paddle his way up or down stream. It is neat, kind of cool, and low-tech. much faster and easier to use than a row boat. Collapsable ladders? Three sections, locks into place, small enough to carry on back. Anyone can climb a ladder. For low-tech inventions, think waterwheels, windmills, and springs and counterweights. For mid-tech, you can add steampunk and steam engines and such things. (Big machines to do little jobs) And of course, high-tech means small, micro-sized complex machines to do multiple functions. When trying to come up with inventions, I always work backwards. What do we have that can be replicated by DnD tech (medieval era)? What sort of things did Thomas Edison create? Or Ben Franklin? I firmly believe that's what Keith did with Eberron. He saw a mag-lev train and saw how magic could duplicate the technology. He saw telephones and saw how sending stones could replace them. Here are some ideas for you to flesh out Trash compactor Indoor plumbing Running water Hot water Hideabed Central Air/Central Heat Doorbell Chainsaw (Auto-Axe) (unreliable as a weapon, useful only for tree cutting) Auto-sweep Broom And for some reason, I really like the idea of a wagon ship. (A wagon with a sail, powered by wind power, including the spell gust of wind, if you have to) I saw a cartoon like that once, and it stuck in my head.
celestialkin 12-13-07, 11:40 PM	And the piece de la resistance: an effigy of a a red dragon with a compartment hallowed out of his head for the gnome to ride in as he guided the effigy in flight. He also fashioned 4 enormous, 8 foot wands of magic missle and attached them to the underside of the wings of the dragon, and through a certain item in the "cockpit" was able to fire them at targets. Yes...I made a fighter jet :D Oh god. That is both hysterical and amazing. I envy people with such intelligence and creativity. I couldn't come up with such a thing myself.
JulesCARV 12-14-07, 12:00 AM	A map projection such that any straight line drawn along the map is a great circle around the spherical body from which the map is projected.
Chain_The_Warforged 12-15-07, 07:41 PM	Something possibly gnomish that I just posted on another thread: The Steam Gun: An atempt to create a unique and balanced firearm. NOTE: the Steam Gun has multiple firing modes. Single Shot Damage: 1d12 Critical: 18-20/x2 Range: 120 Clip: 8 shot The single-shot firing mode launches an aerodynaic metal dart at a target using an alchemical compound. Note that Single-shot and Sniper use the same clip. Sniper Damage: 2d6 Critical: 16-20/x4 Range: 500 Clip: 8 shot Special: The sniper mode cannot be used on targets closer than 30 ft. away. It fires at a -10 unless a move action is taken to sight a target. It uses the same clip as the single-shot mode. Autofire Damage: 1d10 Critical 19-20/x2 Range: 10x10 cube or 30 ft. cone Clip: 30 shot The autofire setting uses a seperate ammo source from the single shot or sniper. It uses 10 rounds to autofire at one of the target areas. Each creature must make a DC 15 + attacker's ranged bonus or suffer the damage. (I think that is the autofire rule from D20 modern.) Burst Damage: 3d4 Critical: 17-20/x3 Range: 30 Clip: 30 shot Burst fire uses the same ammo source as autofire. It fires a burst of five rounds at a single creature. This results in the weapon "jumping", giving the attack roll a -2 on creatures farther than 30 ft. away. The Steamgun is treated as masterwork. It is a two-handed weapon, and can switch between firing modes as a free action. This allows any character that can make multiple attacks to use whichever firing modes in any order that he wishes. Physicaly, the Steam Gun resembles a long brass tube with a bullpup clip, and a smaller foward attachment quite a bit like a submachine gun. There a sight similar to a telescope mounted on a rail at the top, as well as an iron sight for regular fire. Weight: 40 lb Cost: 12,000 gp
Tema69 12-16-07, 09:07 AM	Hey Chain, Would you mind posting that gun here : http://forums.gleemax.com/showthread.php?t=966012 ? It's really cool, and we're making an 'Item Compendium'. I have a few suggestions regarding the modes: maybe the sniper mode should be a separate and larger weapon, as most sniper rifles differ from normal "assault" weapons. Have a look at the d20 Modern rules for fire modes and firearms. Would you mind if I have a try at my version of this weapon? I'd post it in the Item Compendium and credit you for the idea, of course.