[Race] Gnomes [Archive] - Wizards Community

[Race] Gnomes [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Leaves
07-22-03, 04:58 AM Enough pondering this, and time for some action! (IE, sorry it took me so long to get this thread posted up...)

Elves in D&D settings have been split between different roles: that of nature-spirits (tree-huggers) and that of wizards, artists, and masters-of-all-things-civilized. Since elves in this world have very strong ties with nature, we need someone else to fill the role of the guiding light of civilization, the ones who build the fantastical cities with the thousand-foot towers and arches and stuff. Enter, the gnome! Gnomes have had an identity crisis, too, so it will be nice to give them some direction.

Background: Since ancient times gnomes have had a love of learning, discovery, and knowledge. The giant libraries in the gnomish homeland are legendary, and said to contain most of the knowledge of the universe. It was the gnomes who first mastered wizardry, the art of recording magic so that it could be written in books, taught and learned, rather than coming from innate talent. In more recent times, the gnomish ethos has come to include a miserly attitude towards gnomish knowledge, an attitude that non-gnomes would only misuse the hard-earned gnomish knowledge.
Religion: The chief gnomish deity is Golnomar, a god of knowledge of harmony, who created the gnomes and sent them out with the commandment to learn all they could about the world. Under Golnomar are powers for every possible division of knowledge known collectively as The Swans, some of whom are little more than powerful angels, some of whom are gods in their own right (including Teth, the god of the sea and sailing, worshipped by the Mariner Gnomes) Urugai, an elven deity, is also commonly worshipped as the god of law and of keeping knowledge out of the wrong hands.
Appearance: Gnomes are small folk, averaging 3 to 3 1/2 feet tall. They have a somewhat stocky build. Their skin is tan or brown; their eyes are bright blue.

There are two common sub-races of gnomes: burrow gnomes and mariner gnomes. The difference between the two is not so much genetic as it is cultural. Children of mariner gnome families are sometimes fostered to burrow gnome households or vis versa, and in that case they have the traits of whatever kind they grew up with.

Burrow Gnomes This name could be changed

Burrow gnomes consider themselves the foundation of the race. The burrow gnomes lead a settled lifestyle, either in towns or in a few huge cities in the center of gnome lands. Unlike human cities, gnome cities practically disappear into the landscape, since the ideal of balance, including living in balance with nature, is second only to the thirst for knowledge in gnomes. Therefore, gnomish cities are always very green places, and usually a significant proportion of the city is underground so as to leave space for orchards and gardens.

Traits:
–2 Str +2 Con Gnomes are naturally hardy and tough, but they are weaker than other races because they are small.
Small
Base Speed: 20 ft.
Low-light vision: gnomes see twice as far as humans in low-light conditions.
+2 racial bonus to saving throws against illusions.
+4 dodge bonus versus giants.
+2 racial bonus to listen checks: gnomes have keen ears.
+2 racial bonus to alchemy checks: gnomes have sensitive noses that can help them monitor chemical processes.
Bonus skill points: Burrow gnomes have an extensive formal education system. At first level, all burrow gnomes get 4 bonus skill points that can only be applied to any craft, knowledge, or profession skill.
Spell-like abilities: Burrow gnomes can cast the spells Prestidigitation, Ghost Sound, and Dancing Lights each once per day.
Speak with Animals (burrowing mammals) (Sl): Once per day, mariner gnomes can use Speak with Animals to speak with a burrowing mammal (badger, fox, rabbit, etc.) for 1 minute.
Secret-keeping (Su): Due to their cultural traditions, gnomes are especially good at keeping secrets. They receive a +4 bonus to bluff checks to avoid revealing a secret, and they receive a +2 bonus to saving throws to resist telling a secret when under the influence of a spell.
Favored Class: Wizard

Mariner Gnomes

It should come as no surprise to anyone who knows the discovery-loving gnomes that once the gnomes first set out in an outrigger canoe upon the open sea, they never considered going back to the farm. Mariner gnomes have established a rich tradition of sailing, shipbuilding, and trade. Mariner gnomes inhabit a string of costal ports and the decks of ships across the sea.

Traits:
-2 Str +2 Con Gnomes are naturally hardy and tough, but they are weaker than other races because they are small.
Small
Base Speed: 20 ft.
Low-light vision: gnomes see twice as far as humans in low-light conditions.
+2 racial bonus to saving throws against illusions.
+4 racial bonus to swim checks: Mariner gnomes learn how to swim early.
+2 racial bonus on balance checks: because they are accustomed to life on a rolling deck.
+2 racial bonus to listen checks: gnomes have keen ears.
+2 racial bonus to alchemy checks: gnomes have sensitive noses that can help them monitor chemical processes.
Any bonus language: Mariner gnomes trade all over the world, so they can learn any non-secret language as a bonus language.
Spell-like abilities: Mariner gnomes can cast the spells Prestidigitation, Ghost Sound, and Dancing Lights each once per day.
Speak with Animals (seals) (Sl): Once per day, mariner gnomes can use Speak with Animals to speak with a seal for 1 minute.
Secret-keeping (Su): Due to their cultural traditions, gnomes are especially good at keeping secrets. They receive a +4 bonus to bluff checks to avoid revealing a secret, and they receive a +2 bonus to saving throws to resist telling a secret when under the influence of a spell.
Favored Class: Bard

.

I am also considering ideas for tundra gnomes, gnomes who live in the far north.

A lot of the ideas here are strait from basic D&D gnomes. (Regular D&D gnomes here for comparison) (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/rs/20030527a)
nick012000
07-22-03, 06:12 AM what about the gnomes that drive forward technological innovation, and have a tendency to cause things to explode during experiments. they have a high birth rate to make up for the high death rate.
Bandido
07-22-03, 09:51 AM I really like these gnomes. The sub-races are good, and well-balanced, and I like the bonus to keeping secrets - it explains why gnomes have stayed so far ahead of the game with their technology and/or magic. I was wondering; wouldn't it make sense for the Mariner gnomes to have a bonus to Use Rope checks?

As for technological gnomes, if the mariner gnomes are world-leaders in sailing, they'd have to be pretty technologically advanced - sextants and things aren't easy to make. If one of the subraces is going to be very technologically advanced, I don't think it would be a good idea to make that the tundra gnomes; short mechanical-toy makers in the middle of the arctic - it just seems wrong. Santa's gnomes. :twitch:
Leaves
07-22-03, 02:04 PM I second the :twitch: Santa's gnomes, indeed.

I could see the "gnomes that drive forward technological innovation, and have a tendency to cause things to explode during experiments" in either sub-race, but more as a common profession. A whole race of inventor gnomes is typically just comic relief (A la Dragonlance). The crazy inventer gnome has so much slapstick quality, that I don't like the idea of having a whole race of them, only isolated individuals.

Well, isolated, but fairly common individuals.

I think Bandido's idea that inventors would fit in with the mariner gnomes is great. I can see that any mariner gnome port city would have an "Inventors' Guild", the larger ones with a whole guild complex filled with steam engines, chemisty equipment, forges and pulleys and magical constructs... and yes, the occasional explosion.

Oooo, wouldn't that be fun to draw...

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Leaves 07-22-03, 04:58 AM	Enough pondering this, and time for some action! (IE, sorry it took me so long to get this thread posted up...) Elves in D&D settings have been split between different roles: that of nature-spirits (tree-huggers) and that of wizards, artists, and masters-of-all-things-civilized. Since elves in this world have very strong ties with nature, we need someone else to fill the role of the guiding light of civilization, the ones who build the fantastical cities with the thousand-foot towers and arches and stuff. Enter, the gnome! Gnomes have had an identity crisis, too, so it will be nice to give them some direction. Background: Since ancient times gnomes have had a love of learning, discovery, and knowledge. The giant libraries in the gnomish homeland are legendary, and said to contain most of the knowledge of the universe. It was the gnomes who first mastered wizardry, the art of recording magic so that it could be written in books, taught and learned, rather than coming from innate talent. In more recent times, the gnomish ethos has come to include a miserly attitude towards gnomish knowledge, an attitude that non-gnomes would only misuse the hard-earned gnomish knowledge. Religion: The chief gnomish deity is Golnomar, a god of knowledge of harmony, who created the gnomes and sent them out with the commandment to learn all they could about the world. Under Golnomar are powers for every possible division of knowledge known collectively as The Swans, some of whom are little more than powerful angels, some of whom are gods in their own right (including Teth, the god of the sea and sailing, worshipped by the Mariner Gnomes) Urugai, an elven deity, is also commonly worshipped as the god of law and of keeping knowledge out of the wrong hands. Appearance: Gnomes are small folk, averaging 3 to 3 1/2 feet tall. They have a somewhat stocky build. Their skin is tan or brown; their eyes are bright blue. There are two common sub-races of gnomes: burrow gnomes and mariner gnomes. The difference between the two is not so much genetic as it is cultural. Children of mariner gnome families are sometimes fostered to burrow gnome households or vis versa, and in that case they have the traits of whatever kind they grew up with. Burrow Gnomes This name could be changed Burrow gnomes consider themselves the foundation of the race. The burrow gnomes lead a settled lifestyle, either in towns or in a few huge cities in the center of gnome lands. Unlike human cities, gnome cities practically disappear into the landscape, since the ideal of balance, including living in balance with nature, is second only to the thirst for knowledge in gnomes. Therefore, gnomish cities are always very green places, and usually a significant proportion of the city is underground so as to leave space for orchards and gardens. Traits: –2 Str +2 Con Gnomes are naturally hardy and tough, but they are weaker than other races because they are small. Small Base Speed: 20 ft. Low-light vision: gnomes see twice as far as humans in low-light conditions. +2 racial bonus to saving throws against illusions. +4 dodge bonus versus giants. +2 racial bonus to listen checks: gnomes have keen ears. +2 racial bonus to alchemy checks: gnomes have sensitive noses that can help them monitor chemical processes. Bonus skill points: Burrow gnomes have an extensive formal education system. At first level, all burrow gnomes get 4 bonus skill points that can only be applied to any craft, knowledge, or profession skill. Spell-like abilities: Burrow gnomes can cast the spells Prestidigitation, Ghost Sound, and Dancing Lights each once per day. Speak with Animals (burrowing mammals) (Sl): Once per day, mariner gnomes can use Speak with Animals to speak with a burrowing mammal (badger, fox, rabbit, etc.) for 1 minute. Secret-keeping (Su): Due to their cultural traditions, gnomes are especially good at keeping secrets. They receive a +4 bonus to bluff checks to avoid revealing a secret, and they receive a +2 bonus to saving throws to resist telling a secret when under the influence of a spell. Favored Class: Wizard Mariner Gnomes It should come as no surprise to anyone who knows the discovery-loving gnomes that once the gnomes first set out in an outrigger canoe upon the open sea, they never considered going back to the farm. Mariner gnomes have established a rich tradition of sailing, shipbuilding, and trade. Mariner gnomes inhabit a string of costal ports and the decks of ships across the sea. Traits: -2 Str +2 Con Gnomes are naturally hardy and tough, but they are weaker than other races because they are small. Small Base Speed: 20 ft. Low-light vision: gnomes see twice as far as humans in low-light conditions. +2 racial bonus to saving throws against illusions. +4 racial bonus to swim checks: Mariner gnomes learn how to swim early. +2 racial bonus on balance checks: because they are accustomed to life on a rolling deck. +2 racial bonus to listen checks: gnomes have keen ears. +2 racial bonus to alchemy checks: gnomes have sensitive noses that can help them monitor chemical processes. Any bonus language: Mariner gnomes trade all over the world, so they can learn any non-secret language as a bonus language. Spell-like abilities: Mariner gnomes can cast the spells Prestidigitation, Ghost Sound, and Dancing Lights each once per day. Speak with Animals (seals) (Sl): Once per day, mariner gnomes can use Speak with Animals to speak with a seal for 1 minute. Secret-keeping (Su): Due to their cultural traditions, gnomes are especially good at keeping secrets. They receive a +4 bonus to bluff checks to avoid revealing a secret, and they receive a +2 bonus to saving throws to resist telling a secret when under the influence of a spell. Favored Class: Bard . I am also considering ideas for tundra gnomes, gnomes who live in the far north. A lot of the ideas here are strait from basic D&D gnomes. (Regular D&D gnomes here for comparison) (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/rs/20030527a)
nick012000 07-22-03, 06:12 AM	what about the gnomes that drive forward technological innovation, and have a tendency to cause things to explode during experiments. they have a high birth rate to make up for the high death rate.
Bandido 07-22-03, 09:51 AM	I really like these gnomes. The sub-races are good, and well-balanced, and I like the bonus to keeping secrets - it explains why gnomes have stayed so far ahead of the game with their technology and/or magic. I was wondering; wouldn't it make sense for the Mariner gnomes to have a bonus to Use Rope checks? As for technological gnomes, if the mariner gnomes are world-leaders in sailing, they'd have to be pretty technologically advanced - sextants and things aren't easy to make. If one of the subraces is going to be very technologically advanced, I don't think it would be a good idea to make that the tundra gnomes; short mechanical-toy makers in the middle of the arctic - it just seems wrong. Santa's gnomes. :twitch:
Leaves 07-22-03, 02:04 PM	I second the :twitch: Santa's gnomes, indeed. I could see the "gnomes that drive forward technological innovation, and have a tendency to cause things to explode during experiments" in either sub-race, but more as a common profession. A whole race of inventor gnomes is typically just comic relief (A la Dragonlance). The crazy inventer gnome has so much slapstick quality, that I don't like the idea of having a whole race of them, only isolated individuals. Well, isolated, but fairly common individuals. I think Bandido's idea that inventors would fit in with the mariner gnomes is great. I can see that any mariner gnome port city would have an "Inventors' Guild", the larger ones with a whole guild complex filled with steam engines, chemisty equipment, forges and pulleys and magical constructs... and yes, the occasional explosion. Oooo, wouldn't that be fun to draw...