Gnomes are underappreciated. Fantasy needs more gnomes in the fields where they excel (illusionists, artificers and bards). I can't believe halflings are more popular than based gnomes.
Gnomes make great wizards
>>92698190in my setting I removed elves, dwarves, and halflings, and I embraced gnomes completely. it just makes sense considering how much more classic and folklore they are. Tolkien ruined fantasy. or rather, unimaginative band wagoners have.
>>92698208Petty dwarves were probably based on gnomes, though they got cucked in the lore
>>92698208Please tell me. I'm planning to try this.
>>92698190>*nomesNo thanks, total *nome death
>>92698190Gnomes are revolting, greedy little bankers who desire the destruction/enslavement of other races, they're uniform villains in my games. Gnomish blood magic is the most vile kind of magic, involving child sacrifice and maleficia, but since they control the gold supply and influence the realm nobody dares to investigate. Except the noble PCs of course.
>>92698190I like gnomes with the funny hats and very sparse lore, I would very much like them as a Race-As-Class. However I absolutely despise the inventor Gnome, and don't think they really fit as any of the Race+Class.
>>92698190I use gnomes as earth & woodland spirits. Sometimes they take physical form but mostly they just chill unless their territory is threatened.
Gnomes in my mind are just miniature wizards. Small, but extremely potent. None of that beardless DnD shit either. All gnomes are old men with pointy hats.
Halflings and Gnomes really dont need to exist as strictly different races unless gnomes are 4 inch tall little spirits and not a playable race.
Halflings are just lil people. They’re found everywhere, they’re very peaceful, they’ll do some adventurin’ if they really got to. Other than that they just chill, smoke, eat, and party. Gnomes are totally different. They’re entirely antisocial, never vouching to mingle with other races unless utterly forced. They will stay hidden in thick forests or deep caves, laughing, bickering, tinkering and exploding as long as their loved ones and way of life remains unthreatened. They are inherently magical, endlessly brash and inventive, and very rarely brave. Most are total cowards, putting any idea or contraption they can muster between them and their problems.Physically? No, they’re not much different. This is where people get twisted. Yeah, halflings are lil people with big feet. Gnomes are lil people with big beards. Why is this a problem for you? Elves are just humans with pointy ears, literally. And before you go “uuoooogghh but lifespan and magic”, go ahead and just apply that to gnomes, and now you have explained to yourself exactly how gnomes differ from halflings.
>>92705874Pretty cool take. How do dwarves fit into that though?
>>92698190D&D rot killed the idea of gnomes in most fantasyfags minds. If you ask your average fantasy fan to describe a gnome, they'll describe the uninteresting D&D version of a halfling but with an affinity for steampunkery and weird hands. Your concept of a gnome has been eroded in the public's mind.
>>92705698I see why people say that, but I don't want gnomes to be batty eccentric halflings, that's moving in the wrong direction. They should be weird fey creatures who are actively trying to act like humanoids, then they can enjoy and appreciate homey things and enjoy the company of halflings, but their core basic nature is strange and hard to fathom.
>>92702205>>92702262Hey hey people. Based posts.Look at the main god of the gnomish pantheon and tell me these two posters are wrong.
Giggles and wit are my more ablutionThe kobolds are headed for final solution
No. Gnomes are spooks, I don't deal with that shit, it's bad garden joojoo. Damn little creeps walking around the grass all night, dealing with meth and fairies, next day you'll find their work on your doorstep. Never more, never go innawoods.
>>92698190Gnomes are hippie alchemists with zero morality equivalent to crazed scientists in my setting (and RPG). They are extremely xenophobic and the equivalent of eco-terrorists against other factions.
What's the difference between a regular gnome and a halfling that's a wizard?
Gnomes make excellent garden ornaments, don't you think? Although a bit retro these days, and hardly tasteful.>>92702205>NomesPerhaps they live in the cold, frozen wastes... an Alaska-like country?>>92702262>bankersRobert Asprin made a joke about this in the first of his "Myth" books, taking a swipe at the Swiss banking system while he was at it. In that universe, gnomes come from Zoorik.>>92705874So basically halflings are hippies and gnomes are autists?
>>92705874luv this, never thought of elves -> humans = gnomes -> halflings>>92706540'Nomes' could be creatures of onomancy
>>92705698That's like saying humans and elves don't need to exist as separate races unless elves are two feet tall and bake cookies in trees
gnomes are gay
My gnomes are just petty dorfs, they aren't part of the main dwarf cultures, they get they own or basically copy the strongest (normally human) one around and live in little enclaves, they tend to be better "shamans" than normal dwarfs tough.
>>92698190I prefer gnomes to halflings, since halflings more or less fill a similar niche as humans, except short. I use gnomes as the magic-focused race (humans are jack of all trades, dwarves are tough and strong, elves are best rangers and druids, gnomes are best wizards).
>>92706736Elves and dwarves are also obviously gay.Are halflings the only "standard fantasy race" that isn't gay?
>>92706516Halflings aren't strongly associated with magic. Casual settings allow you to pick any class but strictly speaking halflings are associated with stealth above all else (+ cooking and maybe bard skills).
>>92698205>>92705978>>92706035none of these pictures have gnomes on them. Real gnomes are 15cm tall, pointy hat wearing little men who live jolly lives in nature, and I hate Warcraft and D&D for ruining them
>>92708093Races must be balanced in terms of gameplay. The lower limit for any functional race is about halfling size. Any race that is shorter than this cannot conceivably be powerful enough so as to be relevant. Races exist in the context of other races and in interacting with the world. The concept of naturalistic hermit gnomes might be appealing to some, but it's not tenable to anyone wishing for a legitimate race that functions as part of a party or an army.D&D definitely ruined gnomes, but this is because they gave them pointy ears for absolutely no reason when it should be obvious to everyone that they are closely related to dwarves. Pic related is peak gnome aesthetics, here displayed with high-quality non-slop AI art. Behold the illusionist, artificer and bard.
>>92708093>little menthey can be girly girls too, they're not faggots like dwarves
>>92698208Tolkien actually wanted to use gnomes but felt he couldn't shake off the cartoony garden ornament view of them. I wonder if he could or not
>>92705934Dwarves don’t “fit in” to anything at all. They’re entirely unconcerned with the lives of halflings and gnomes, considering the former lazy bums and the latter reckless spazoids, if they even believe in gnomes at all. There’s little to no contact between dwarves and the others two.
gnomes come in 3 flavours1.TRVE2.JEW3.MMO
>>92698190>Gnomes are underappreciated. Fantasy needs more gnomes--I agree, gnomes are great when they aren't the awful disassociative D&D gnomes enjoyed only by retards.>--in fields where they excel (illusionists, artificers, and bards)Ah you're one of the retards in question.>>92706540The phrase actually comes from 1950s England, when politicians railed against the "Gnomes of Zurich" undercutting England financially, because the Swiss bankers are secretive and scheming and live in mountains.
>>92708257Wow, terrible AI art AND terrible takes in one! Though not that surprising, they do tend to go together.Gnomes are best served as a Non-PC race. No one bitches that angels and demons and giants aren't playable, and demands they be undercut and wholly neutered for the sake of being a useful PC race. Just so for the little men of the woods.
>>92708257>gnome party>gnome armystupid ideas. You don't need to have a million varieties for everything.
>>92718957>>92719298Physically gnomes are just bearded halflings. Thus relegating them as NPCs makes no sense. They also have a unique combination of magical talent and technical skill, which justifies their presence from the mechanics perspective (perhaps even moreso than halflings).Gnomebros...our day will come.
>>92713104I didn't know that, but I'm sure you could. You just write them differently. He transformed elves and dwarves in his works. I think Orcs are the most bastardize in his fiction. Nobody remembers Orcs are supposed to be pig-like now, they think they're green monster elves.
>>92718957>No one bitches that angels and demons and giants aren't playable, and demands they be undercut and wholly neutered for the sake of being a useful PC raceThere is a lite version of all three of those things though.
>>92708257D&D has half-races, and all of them can mate. Them having pointy ears would happen eventually.
>>92698190If gnomes are taller than a foot they lose their appeal. They shouldn't be playable characters at all, but rather tiny forest communities or random helpful workers.
>>92720358You're talking about D&D gnomes, which are unrepentant ass and not worthy of the name. We're talking about actual gnomes. They are not the same. You can have your wacky bearded halflings and keep them, you'll fit right in inside the communal WotC dumpster.>>92721326So if you want a ""lite gnome"" play a halfling. Humble rural smallfolk, but not little toadstool men. >>92713104Half-correct. Tolkien wanted to refer to one branch of Elvendom (which would later be called the Noldor) as "Gnomes", and in so far as this he wanted to 'use' gnomes, but they would have been as much his original invention as the Noldor themselves were. It was mostly the name and the connotation thereof that he eventually tired of trying to fight.>>92724072Entirely correct.
i feel like the only people who like gnomes are world of warcraft fans.
>>92698190My favorite character is my arcane trickster gnome. He unfortunately has memory problems, but he is pure of heart and he would never steal for bad, only to play games (and then give back items). He may forget your name, but the feelings of friendship will always remain and he will follow you even if he doesn't
>>92729572...Know why" thank you broken phone, sorry for the double response
>>92698190They're appreciated exactly the right amount
>>92698190>>92698205In 5e I actually really think a gnome barbarian is cool.>Gnome Cunning. You have advantage on all Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma saves against magic.>Rock Gnome Ability Score Increase. Your Constitution score increases by 1.>Hit Dice: 1d12 per barbarian level>Saving Throws: Strength, Constitution>Rage: You have advantage on Strength checks and Strength saving throws.>Danger Sense: At 2nd level, you gain an uncanny sense of when things nearby aren't as they should be, giving you an edge when you dodge away from danger. You have advantage on Dexterity saving throws against effects that you can see, such as traps and spells. So you have basically every save covered, plus Gnomes get Darkvision to help with Danger Sense.
>>92698208>Gnomes>Classic and folkloreGnomes stem from Renaissance era mythology. They're technically Early Modern, though the concept existed in other forms in the past. Dwarves and Elves are more classical than gnomes. And something to consider: the Portuguese translation, and I'm assuming also the Spanish version of the Hobbit, translated it as "Gnomo."The fact you had to remove every other race that impedes on the same archetype in order to make gnomes work as a viable alternative speaks volume to how ineffective they are as a race.
>>92731694I fucking hate Elves and Orcs and Dwarves, and them being Tolkienized every time they arrive. How people always describe their races as some form of Elf or Orc or Dwarf. sick of that shit, they're GONE.
>>92707901So Halfling and Gnome are actually classes and not races?
>>92728158>>92713104He wanted it to be "gnome" as in "gnostic/knower", right? Is that where the vernacular word "gnome" comes from?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garden_hermitwat
>>92718856>3.MMOTinker gnomes are garbage but Dragonlance did them before WoW did.
>>92731184Epic for the win!
>>92698190Gnomes are fucking awful and I want to punt every last one of those rancid fuckers into the sun.
>>92734516Dragonlance gnomes are comically obsessive, which can lead them to be tinkers, but Warcraft gnomes IIRC are just tinkers. You aren't wrong, I only mention this because I think there's some Dragonlance DNA in Pathfinder gnomes, where they're all fey-minded autists, but not necessarily machine autists.
>>92731694Orcs and Elves and Dwarves are "gnomo"
>>92734594Gnomo hoe, no homo.
>>92698208humans gnomes orcs should be only playable races
>>92734764At that point you might as well do something bigger than orcs. Gnome smallness should have enough drawbacks to counterbalance all their advantages, and the troll/ogre should be dumb and limited enough to compensate for their size and strength, then humans can have no features and be balanced as such.
gnomes are a meme race, not fitting any fantasy They are juet magic dwarfs with halfling vibe of animal talking and nature
>>92734937>animal talking and natureIn what setting is this a halfling vibe? Hobbits are self-important british bumpkins. Hin are noble gypsies living out of wagons. Midgard halflings are scheming little butlers who manipulate their bigger masters. Golarion halflings IIRC are somewhere in the middle.If you're talking about non-D&D fantasy then gnomes are way cooler and more iconic than halflings, I just think we should nod to halflings when dealing in Tolkien-derived stories and should thus frame gnomes in contrast to that, but even in D&D there are subraces for elf-like halflings and dwarf-like halflings.
>>92734764>humanslel, they're gone toogiants and gnomes are in
>>92734561Not sure why my post elicited trolling, so let me simply reply with a NO U.
>>92698190No. I ban gnomes from my games as Matt Colville strongly recommends. There is no reason to play one when halflings and dwarves exist.
>>92708257GOOD MORNING SIR
Gnomes peaked in AD&D 1e. They weren't cringe then.
>>92737302How were they different?
>>92737302Why?
Larry Correia is the only one who has gotten Gnomes right.
Gnomes are Fey that will attach themselves too a property and must be appeased unless it cause mischieft. lives in the country where Gnomes are from
>>92743917This, but I prefer to think of them making homes in the wild where they're hard to find, if you have a gnome on your property he's probably mad, because last he looked his house-tree was in the middle of the woods and now it's in the middle of a field. Garden gnomes are always pissed because they're stranded in gardens.
>>92743917this, but Gremlins (Imps)
>>92698190I played a gnome once. Was ok, should have been halfling.
