My gnomes are more gnomish than your gnomes!

[ForceUser]

Ah, gnomes. I used to hate them. Over the years since 3E debuted, though, they've grown on me like a fungus. The 3E gnome always seemed a little off, and the 3.5 version never quite did it for me. I saw where they were going thematically, taking the gnome back to its roots as a fey-like creature of mischief, but the garden gnomes never interested me as much as the tinker gnomes of Dragonlance. But those little guys are more a charicature of gnomish inventiveness than an actual playable race in my mind. They're just too silly. Then came Eberron, and with it came gnomes more to my liking culturally: learned, artful, sly, inventive. Still, these guys were using the wrong stats, and I absolutely can't stand having bard as the gnomes' favored class, not when I view them more as tinkers and inventors. Luckily, Eberron also brought with it the artificer class, which in my reckoning is the perfect class for gnomes. So taking one part Dragonlance tinker gnome with two parts Eberron gnome, I dropped some leftover abilities that made no sense in my homebrew - such as a hatred of giants and humanoids - and crafted a gnomish race more to my liking. Have a look.

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GNOMES
Gnomes harbor a thirst for knowledge that can only be described as lust. They believe that every piece of information, no matter how trivial, may someday have value. Combined with a meticulous discipline, this love of knowledge makes gnomes superb librarians, accountants, bards, artificers, and alchemists, but this attitude has a sinister side as well. The same talents that make an accomplished bard can produce a skilled spy, and gnome society is filled with webs of intrigue and blackmail that often pass completely unnoticed by human eyes. The gnomes have no history of empire-building, but their talents for diplomacy and espionage have allowed them to maintain their independence throughout the history of Eriador. In addition to their skill as alchemists, gnomes have mastered the art of elemental binding, which they use to power the ships and other vessels they construct in the dry docks and shipyards of Yoppletop.

The gnomes’ homeland is the craggy island chain of Yoppletop, in the frozen North Sea off the coast of Eriador. Known for its stores of knowledge and its schools of learning, Yoppletop is also a significant trading power on the northern seas. The gnomes of Yoppletop are expert shipwrights, and the volcanic caves deep under their islands hold fine gem mines.

GNOME RACIAL TRAITS
• +2 Constitution, -2 Strength. Gnomes are hale, but they are small and therefore not as strong as larger humanoids.
• Small: As Small creatures, gnomes gain a +1 size bonus to AC, a +1 size bonus on attack rolls, and a +4 size bonus on Sneak checks, but they use smaller weapons than humans use, and their lifting and carrying limits are three-quarters of those of a Medium character. As Small creatures, they also suffer a -4 size penalty to grapple checks.
• Gnome base land speed is 20 feet.
• Low-Light Vision: A gnome can see twice as far as a normal human in starlight, moonlight, torchlight, and similar conditions of poor illumination. He retains the ability to distinguish color and detail under these conditions.
• Guild Affiliation: At character creation, the gnome character selects a Guild with which he is affiliated. Since there are innumerable guilds, they are technically broken into three major categories: Craft Guilds (bowyer, blacksmithing, leatherworking, and the like), Technical Guilds (architecture, chemistry, engineering, scriveners, and others), and Sage Guilds (botany, biology, education, mathematics, philosophy, and so on). If the gnome selects a Craft Guild, he gains a +2 racial bonus on all Craft checks. Technically inclined gnomes gain a +2 racial bonus on all Profession checks. Sage gnomes receive a +2 racial bonus on all Knowledge checks.
• Weapon Familiarity: A gnome may treat gnome hooked hammers (see page 118 of the Player’s Handbook) as martial weapons rather than exotic weapons.
• Artful Dodger: A gnome gains a +1 dodge bonus to AC against any foe that is at least two size categories larger than him. Gnomes are taught from an early age how to avoid the wrath of larger folk.
• +2 racial bonus on Listen checks: Gnomes have keen ears.
• +2 racial bonus on Craft (alchemy) checks: A gnome’s sensitive nose allows him to monitor alchemical processes by smell.
• Favored Class: Artificer. A multiclass gnome’s artificer class does not count when determining whether he takes an experience point penalty for multiclassing (see XP for multiclass characters, page 60 of the Player’s Handbook).

 

[aurance]

Seems a bit weak compared to the standard gnome.

Basically gains:

* +2 to all Craft OR Knowledge OR Profession.
* +1 AC vs 2 sizes larger.

and loses:

* +2 racial bonus on saving throws against illusions.
* Add +1 to the Difficulty Class for all saving throws against illusion spells cast by gnomes.
* +1 racial bonus on attack rolls against kobolds and goblinoids.
* +4 dodge bonus to Armor Class against monsters of the giant type.
* Spell-Like Abilities: 1/day—speak with animals (burrowing mammal only, duration 1 minute). A gnome with a Charisma score of at least 10 also has the following spell-like abilities: 1/day—dancing lights, ghost sound, prestidigitation. Caster level 1st; save DC 10 + gnome’s Cha modifier + spell level.

while everything else is the same. I'm not sure that's quite equal.

 

[ForceUser]

It's a tough thing to judge. A gnome bard or wizard, for instance, would gain a great advantage from a +2 to all knowledge checks, enough to easily balance out what's lost from the standard gnome. A gnome fighter or paladin, not so much. I had been considering bumped artful dodger up to a +2 bonus. Other than that, I'm not sure what else to give them that fits thematically and isn't a skill bonus of some sort. Perhaps they could keep their bonus to saves against illusions if rationalized a different way - to wit, it's due to their learned minds and internal discipline that they gain this bonus, instead of due to an inherent affinity for illusion magic.

I will think on this.

 

[The Grackle]

If your gnomes are machinists and alchemists, you should consider giving them an INT bonus instead of a CON bonus.



Oh, and welcome to the gnome-side.

 

[ForceUser]

Yes, but I don't want them to favor arcane spellcasting. If I give them a +2 INT, they'll become the powergamer's choice for wizard. I considered an INT bonus but discarded it for that reason. I also considered a DEX bonus, but with changelings and goblins already in my homebrew, I figured the Dexterity-based races were already well-represented.

And thanks.

 

[aurance]

It's a tough thing to judge. A gnome bard or wizard, for instance, would gain a great advantage from a +2 to all knowledge checks, enough to easily balance out what's lost from the standard gnome. A gnome fighter or paladin, not so much. I had been considering bumped artful dodger up to a +2 bonus. Other than that, I'm not sure what else to give them that fits thematically and isn't a skill bonus of some sort. Perhaps they could keep their bonus to saves against illusions if rationalized a different way - to wit, it's due to their learned minds and internal discipline that they gain this bonus, instead of due to an inherent affinity for illusion magic.

I will think on this.

I'm not sure of the advantage - I think most learned character types still only take 1 craft, profession or knowledge and max it out. That bonus helps less the more focused you are.

Still I think your gnome is great. Nice flavor and very distinctive. Mechanics are good; it's just that maybe they could benefit from 1 or 2 additional minor abilities, and/or increasing the artful dodger as you suggest.

 

[ForceUser]

I'm not sure of the advantage - I think most learned character types still only take 1 craft, profession or knowledge and max it out. That bonus helps less the more focused you are.

Still I think your gnome is great. Nice flavor and very distinctive. Mechanics are good; it's just that maybe they could benefit from 1 or 2 additional minor abilities, and/or increasing the artful dodger as you suggest.

Thanks. I will definitely tinker with it.

I think the guild bonus can be potentially huge. Imagine a gnome wizard in a sage guild with a 16 Int at 1st level. He's got 20 skill points. He puts 1 point each into Knowledge (arcana), Knowledge (dungeoneering), Knowledge (the planes), Knowledge (religion), and Knowledge (nobility & royalty). Each skill is now at +6 (1 rank +2 guild bonus +3 Int bonus)! That's a pretty potent way to spread your points around, much more effective than simply maxing a single knowledge skill. Bards, with three times the skill points of wizards, have even more incentive to simply activate every knowledge skill on the list.

 

[ForceUser]

I'm leaning toward the following modifications:

· Artful Dodger: A gnome gains a +2 dodge bonus to AC against any foe that is at least two size categories larger than him. Gnomes are taught from an early age how to avoid the wrath of larger folk.
· Child of Garl: Starting at 1st level, gnomes gain an additional action point every level (although non-player character gnomes do not normally gain an action point progression, they do gain this single action point every level. Any action points not spent at a non-player character’s previous level are lost.) Garl Glittergold, progenitor deity of gnomes, bestows this special blessing upon his children.

Also, I have removed the +2 Craft (alchemy) racial bonus, as craft bonuses are covered already in the Guild Affiliation racial trait.

Thoughts?

 

[Arkhandus]

Still too weak. As it stands, your version of the gnome isn't really good at anything except being an Artificer, at which they are only slightly better than a human (due to their Guild Affiliation alone, which is to say, not much better), and is no better than a human when it comes to spellcasting or whatnot, while being horribly weak as any sort of warrior. Personally I say they deserve a +2 Intelligence increase alongside their +2 Constitution. Or give them an extra feat like Humans get, and something else too, like a +3 racial bonus on Reflex saves and/or Initiative checks, due to quick thinking and response, or +3 on Will saves or something. Boost Artful dodger to a +2 or +3 bonus, as +1 is nothing against the massive attack bonuses that Large and bigger creatures tend to have with their 20/30/40+ Strength and 2/4/10+ hit dice.

Comparison: Human gets +1 feat, +1 skill point per level (quadruple at 1st-level), favored class: any, medium size, 30 foot base speed. Your gnome gets +2 Con / -2 Str (overall kinda weak, maybe 1 feat equivalent or so in weakness), favored class: artificer, +2 on a few skills (makes up for ability score weakness and lack of human bonus feat perhaps; these skills aren't going to be taken or used hardly at all except by wizards/bards/artificers), low-light vision (makes up for less flexible favored class perhaps), base speed 20 feet (1 or 2 feats worth of weakness), and small-size (which is itself practically a -1 ECL adjustment, according to Savage Species, and according to common sense; small size incurs many penalties despite the minor advantages of +4 Hide, +1 attack, and +1 AC, penalties which are more likely to get the character killed than the +4H+1ATK+1AC is likely to ever save them). Your gnome has nothing to compensate the lack of a human's extra skill points and general versatility, nor to offset the gnome's smaller size.

Size small reduces their unarmed strike damage, reduces their carrying capacities, and incurs a -4 penalty in many situations (grappling, tripping, etc.) that an adventurer is likely to run into once in a while. In my playing and DMing experiences the size modifiers on grappling and such have often been significant, even though grappling and disarming doesn't happen much, it can kill or save a character when it does come up.

 

[ForceUser]

I understand your point, but I'm not so concerned with a tot-for-tat comparison of gnomes to humans. Several PHB races fall short of the human watermark, yet they are still fun to play (particularly half-orcs). That said, I agree that something is still missing. I've added the following to the above sum of abilities, and I'm fairly satisified with the end picture it presents of the gnomish people in my homebrew.

· Educated: Knowledge and Speak Language are always class skills for gnomes. All gnomes matriculate through an education system from a very young age.

I wanted a gnomish race that was unique and interesting and didn't emulate any of the other races I allow. In particular, some of your suggestions, Arkhandus, would mimic what faen and dwarves can do, and I want those abilities to remain unique. By allowing all gnomes Knowledge as a class skill, I create an environment wherein even the fighter or paladin might take a sage guild and activate a couple of knowledge skills. I like the idea of gnomish melee types being more learned than their non-gnome counterparts. Sure, it won't help them kill stuff any better (most of the time), but it will allow interesting characters to roleplay. That is my priority.

I have also reworked artful dodger. I had a clever idea that I like better than the flat +2 bonus. Opinions, please.

The revised list, then:

GNOME RACIAL TRAITS
· +2 Constitution, -2 Strength. Gnomes are hale, but they are small and therefore not as strong as larger humanoids.
· Small: As Small creatures, gnomes gain a +1 size bonus to AC, a +1 size bonus on attack rolls, and a +4 size bonus on Sneak checks, but they use smaller weapons than humans use, and their lifting and carrying limits are three-quarters of those of a Medium character. As Small creatures, they also suffer a -4 size penalty to grapple checks.
· Gnome base land speed is 20 feet.
· Low-Light Vision: A gnome can see twice as far as a normal human in starlight, moonlight, torchlight, and similar conditions of poor illumination. He retains the ability to distinguish color and detail under these conditions.
· Educated: Knowledge and Speak Language are always class skills for gnomes. All gnomes matriculate through an education system from a very young age.
· Guild Affiliation: At character creation, the gnome character selects a Guild with which he is affiliated. Since there are innumerable guilds, they are technically broken into three major categories: Craft Guilds (bowyer, blacksmithing, leatherworking, and the like), Technical Guilds (architecture, chemistry, engineering, scriveners, and others), and Sage Guilds (botany, biology, education, mathematics, philosophy, and so on). If the gnome selects a Craft Guild, he gains a +2 racial bonus on all Craft checks. Technically inclined gnomes gain a +2 racial bonus on all Profession checks. Sage gnomes receive a +2 racial bonus on all Knowledge checks.
· Weapon Familiarity: A gnome may treat gnome hooked hammers (see page 118 of the Player’s Handbook) as martial weapons rather than exotic weapons.
· Artful Dodger: A gnome gains a dodge bonus to AC against any foe that is at least one size category larger than him. The bonus is equal to the number of categories the foe is larger than the gnome’s current size. Thus, a gnome would gain a +3 dodge bonus to AC against a behir (a Huge creature) and a +1 dodge bonus to AC verses an orc (a Medium creature). Gnomes are taught from an early age how to avoid the wrath of larger folk.
· +2 racial bonus on Listen checks: Gnomes have keen ears.
· Child of Garl: Starting at 1st level, gnomes gain an additional action point every level (although non-player character gnomes do not normally gain an action point progression, they do gain this single action point every level. Any action points not spent at a non-player character’s previous level are lost.) Garl Glittergold, progenitor deity of gnomes, bestows this special blessing upon his children.
· Favored Class: Artificer. A multiclass gnome’s artificer class does not count when determining whether he takes an experience point penalty for multiclassing (see XP for multiclass characters, page 60 of the Player’s Handbook).