RPG Evolution: Solving the Gnome Problem

I previously mentioned how I’ve never quite solved adding a halfling culture to my campaign. But I’ve got gnomes all figured out, and it starts with the Guilds of Florence.

Picture courtesy of Pixabay.​

What the Heck is a Gnome?​

TVTropes sums up the challenge with strictly defining gnomes in the entry "Our Gnomes Are Weirder":

In the greater modern pop consciousness, gnomes are pretty well-defined. Specifically, garden gnomes: tiny (anywhere from two or three inches to a yard high), long white beard, jolly demeanor, and a big pointy (or maybe floppy) red hat. Often seen shilling for vacation deals. The problem becomes greater in Dungeons & Dragons and other role-playing games, where they share conceptual space with at least two other "short" races, dwarves and halflings. As a result, gnomes tended to go unnoticed and forgotten in D&D settings; in fact, they were explicitly referred to as "the Forgotten People" in Forgotten Realms.

A Short History of the Gnome​

The word gnome comes from the Renaissance Latin "gnomus," which was coined by Swiss alchemist Paracelsus. He uses the term to reference one of four elemental, specifically as earth-dwelling beings eighteen inches high and very taciturn:

Paracelsus, a Swiss alchemist, philosopher, physician, botanist, astrologer, general occultist, and the credited founder of toxicology, derived the term gnome from the Latin gēnomos, which itself was from the Greek γη-νομος, that literally means “earth-dweller"...Paracelsus classified gnomes as small, humanoid earth elementals, whom he described as two spans high, very reluctant to interact with humans, and able to move through solid earth as easily as humans move through air. Paracelsus also considered gnomes the most important of the diminutive spirits, which is high praise from a noted alchemist and founder of toxicology.

Gnomes were later used in poetry in the 18th century:

...presented as small, celestial creatures which were prudish women in their past-lives that now spend all of eternity looking out for other prudish women. (Now that’s juicy.) The 19th century saw gnomes come alive by authors who presented them in fairy tales, albeit used mostly synonymously with goblins. Finally, in the late 1800s the gnome started to get his due. Famed poet William Cullen Bryant contrasted gnomes to elves. They were later used to satirize materialism, likened as subterranean creatures that guarded treasures of gold buried within mountains.

In J.R.R. Tolkien's Arda​

Although gnomes weren't a part of the Fellowship, they did indeed exist in Tolkien's Middle-Earth. The term was used briefly in The Book of Lost Tales to describe the races of elves that would become the Noldor. "Gnomus" has a lot in common with the "gnosis" which is why the term was used to reference the elves, Noldo meaning "The Wise" in Quenya.

Because gnomes were traditionally identified with many of the characteristics of dwarves, they are often confused with them: short, underground dwellers. Similar to the confusion between "goblin" and "orc" (between The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings).

For that reason Tolkien dropped the term, concerned that the similarities would confuse readers. However other folkloric names would persist, although Tolkien eventually segregated Elves" and "Dwarves" (he did replace "Goblin" with "Orcs" after the publication of The Hobbit).

In Dungeons & Dragons​

In Dungeons & Dragons, Gnomes first appear in Chainmail, grouped with dwarves. They appear as monsters in Blackmoor as living in "air-enclosed cities on the bottom connected to the surface by tunnels." Gnomes didn't appear as a playable race until the advent of Advanced Dungeons and Dragons:

Later on I added gnomes to D&D to broaden the choices for non-human PCs, as I did in AD&D. This was done because a number of players, myself included, were tired of having so many dwarves, elves, and halflings in the group of adventurers.

Gygax went on to explain that he created gnomes to fill a gap between Halflings and dwarves – specifically a demihuman spellcasting alternative to elves. He cited the gnome illusionist as being the primary role for gnomes. Gnomes changed over time in D&D, with technology assigned to gnomes as part of what makes them unique. TVTropes explains:

That began to change with the Dragonlance setting and the tinker gnomes of Mount Nevermind: descendants of humans cursed by the god of the forge for being petty and small-minded, the minoi shunned magic in favor of the sciences, particularly engineering... and were completely incapable of approaching these rationally, compelled to make everything they built as complicated and Goldbergian as possible, and valuing failure above success because you couldn't learn anything new once you'd got it right. Tinker gnomes were played for pure comedy, and proved fairly popular. Since then, engineering prowess has become a recurring trait for gnomes in various universes. Some of them are as inept as the original tinker gnomes, but other versions are actually much more competent.

Gnomes Today​

The association with technology has become most prevalent in World of Warcraft:

Gnomes in World of Warcraft (and, briefly, in Warcraft II) are heavily based on Dragonlance tinker gnomes; they have advanced technology all the way up to nuclear reactors in a world where most other races are still fiddling with steam engines (not that it really matters that much, 'cause Rock Beats Laser whenever needed).

I ended up positioning my gnome culture as originally winkies, transplants from Oz who were forced into servitude by larger humanoids to churn out their inventions. Now free, they are highly suspicious of anyone larger than them, and use their clockworks to act as go-betweens with the outside world. Their highly capitalistic culture is based on a rigid guild hierarchy inspired by Florentine guilds in which each guild’s specialty is a point of family pride and social status. They liberally use mercenaries, known as condottiere, to do their bidding, pitting them against each other in games known as calcio. It’s also an excuse to run gameshow style competitions for player characters and adds some justification for the inclusion of the artificer class.

With a few tweaks, my gnomes became bureaucratic, capitalistic, slightly paranoid, and constantly scheming to push their art to extremes in the hopes they can climb their social ladder (e.g., the Bakers Guild creates bread golems and build gingerbread houses, the Metalworkers Guild makes powered armor, the Tinkers Guild makes firearms, etc.). It's worked well for my current adventure and my player is enjoying playing her gnome artificer.

Your Turn: How have you fit gnome culture into your campaign world?

 

[Mecheon]

It's better to just make them a subset of halflings and be done with it.

But down that path lies the Halfling thread. Because while we’ll debate the two races, they have their own niche. Gnomes are way more “elf but short” than halfling

Anywho, I’m a big gnome fan so they tend to show up more. Mind, my world started as a Neverwinter Nights module I experimented with, and that inspiration has stuck with it since. Hence why gnomes have airships, because that was an easily available piece of custom content. And then I just used the snivneblin house tiles recoloured for other tilesets, as they looked really tree-y in that one “elven city” tileset that was a redone Underdark except trees. And then someone made proper gnome houses

Meanwhile Halflings got some hobbit holes that date back super early and I just slapped down in a rough fashion

 

[Retreater]

Interesting. I've seen gnome rogues, a gnome fighter once, gnome illusionist, gnome rangers, gnome clerics... Why limit yourself that way?

Look at the art and presentation - even in this thread. If it's a short ancestry and they're either fiddling with gears or talking to a squirrel, then they're a gnome. Any other short race can be depicted as fighters, clerics, rogues, bards, etc. But all we ever see of gnomes is a very specific and limited application - one of which isn't even a part of the core D&D experience (the tinkerer).

 

[Lojaan]

I'm my world gnomes and goblins are the same thing. They are small fey creatures that are dominated by an emotion which depends on whether they are aligned to the summer or winter courts. Those aligned to winter are dominated by fear and are known as goblins. Those aligned to summer are dominated by the opposite of fear - curiosity - and are known as gnomes. This does not make either of them good or evil by default, but it does colour their outlook, influence their behaviour, and even affect their appearance. I make it so that no two gnomes or goblins look alike (think the goblins in the movie Labyrinth).

Gnomes are great! You just gotta go weird with them.

 

[J.Quondam]

The only campaign of mine where gnomes were significant in any way was in 3e. Those gnomes could neatly fit the "tinker" stereotype, but the setting had a fair bit of room for them to inhabit other roles like mages, scholars, assassins, soldiers, blackguards, pirates and sailors, inquisitors, rogues, merchants, and so forth. The weakest link to a particular class was probably to clerics.

Spoiler

Gnomes were an offshoot of elves, subjugated for generations by the hobgoblin empire and forced into mines and laboratories in support of their captors' expansionist aims. The gnomes revolted and eventually overthrew the empire when they conquered the massive capital city, Uum Cuprum. A period of brutal extermination followed, with the goal of the complete genocide of the hobgoblins and the eradication of "The Cancer," the revolutionaries' name for groups of "collaborators", an accusation which grew to include those gnomes who disagreed with the genocide.

After the violence of the rebellion and subsequent infighting drew to a close, the gnomes set to work reshaping the ruins of the hobgoblin empire to their own ends. Except for a few key resource-rich holdings, most of the old empire's outlying territories were abandoned, left to be fought over by their former occupants. Neighboring kingdoms received wave after wave of tireless gnome delegations to stabilize diplomatic relations and trade. These efforts were boosted as the gnomes enhanced the old empire's shipping lanes with a vast network of causeways connecting the gnome capital to trading hubs on the coastline of the surrounding sea. The capital city itself was rechristened Copperknock City.* Practically overnight it became the gleaming magitechnical wonder of the world during the era of gnomish hegemony.

Within their own lands, the gnomes soon established a technocratic police state. This tamped down political dissent and simplified regulation of trade in a wide variety of alchemicals and magetech, monopolies the gnomes were loathe to give up. Despite their reputation for paranoia and a sometimes too-quick trigger finger on their weird weapons of war, the gnomes were generally regarded by their neighbors as a benevolently neutral power, and one to remain friendly with at all costs.

The gnomes of Copperknock City were the last major civilization to rise and fall, not long before the fading of the City of Silver Cathedrals at the center of the world. When the spirit goblins and their spidery allies breached the dikes surrounding the gnome capital, their hegemony vanished in a matter of hours. From that day forward, the rest of world began its fitful collapse into eons of barbarism, never to recover.

* The ruins of Copperknock City lie in what humans today refer to as "Copernicus Crater" on the Earth's moon.

 

[Oofta]

On a related note to what I wrote above, the reason gnomes tend to be noted sages is because of their long lifespan and insatiable curiosity. Along with a good-natured competitive nature making them want to know more obscure information than their fellows, you never know what fascinating discoveries and connections you might uncover.

On the origin of gnomes, both gnomes and goblins originate from feywild ancestral goblinoids. Fey goblins are akin to goblins of Harry Potter and mythology, practical jokers and tricksters but not with malevolent intent even if the end results can cause harm. When these goblinoids left the feywild some decided to lean into the dark side of practical jokes as they were seduced by Maglubiyet. Others followed Garl Glittergold and embraced laughter and happiness.

 

[R_Chance]

I vaguely recall some fantasy setting where "gnolls" were half gnome and half troll. Either that, or I shouldn't eat leftover pizza.

Original D&D, Monsters and Treasure, page 8. The Gnolls in my game are still this.

 

[Ancalagon]

Original D&D, Monsters and Treasure, page 8. The Gnolls in my game are still this.

all these years of @James Gasik blaming a poor innocent pizza!

 

[James Gasik]

all these years of @James Gasik blaming a poor innocent pizza!

I'm not sure it was THAT innocent...

 

[Oncewasbenji]

I used gnomes as a nation where science went too far and they became a fascist culture for a while, using their technology to attack and conquer. When they failed and their nation collapsed, they now live in the junkyard ruins of their failure, surrounded by the now sentient warforged.

 

[Horwath]

I used gnomes as a nation where science went too far and they became a fascist culture for a while, using their technology to attack and conquer. When they failed and their nation collapsed, they now live in the junkyard ruins of their failure, surrounded by the now sentient warforged.

is the name for the warforged hive mind Skynet?