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Gnome (5e, reinterpreted)

Here for my player’s reference as, gnomes in my world are more like invader Zim than the traditional D&D gnomes.  Kwalish, for example, is a mainstay in my campaign and one of the reasons my PCs love him as a patron is because of how outlandish he is.  They even have their own custom class – the Invader.


Gnomes

Slight, sly tricksters of the Feywild who excel at avoiding notice

In the Feywild, the best way for a small creature to survive is to be overlooked. While suffering in servitude to the fomorian tyrants of the Feydark, gnomes learned to hide, to mislead, and to deflect—and by these means, to survive. The same talents sustain them still, allowing them to prosper in a world filled with creatures much larger and far more dangerous than they are. Gnomes are tricksters and tinkerers personified and are likely to bend their genius towards impractical but funny, artifacts that overly complicate a simple task (they love Rube Goldberg-type contraptions).

Physical Qualities

Gnomes are smaller even than halflings, rarely exceeding 4 feet in height. Apart from their size, they resemble elves or eladrin, with pointed ears and chiselled facial features such as high cheekbones and sharp jaws. They have a more wild look than eladrin do, though, particularly in the hair that sprouts from their heads in random directions. Some male gnomes sprout tufts of hair from their chins, but they otherwise lack body hair.

Gnome skin tone ranges from a ruddy tan through woody brown to rocky grey. Their hair can be virtually any colour, from stark white to blond and various shades of brown to autumnal orange or green. Their eyes are glittering black orbs.

Gnomes are as long-lived as eladrin, living over 300 years, but they show more of the effects of age. A gnome over the age of 100 has grey or white hair and skin that shows the wrinkled and weathered lines of a century of laughter, but even the oldest gnome retains the strength and agility of youth.

Playing a Gnome

In quiet forests of the Feywild and remote woodlands in the world, gnomes live out of sight and mostly beneath the notice of larger races. Gnomes dwell in homes dug among the roots of trees, easily overlooked and cleverly concealed by camouflage and illusion. They are fond of the burrowing mammals that share their habitat, such as badgers, foxes, and rabbits, and have a sense of kinship with these small animals that share their forests.

Unobtrusiveness is a virtue among gnomes. They grow up on games of stealth and silence, in which the winner is the last to be discovered. An adult gnome who draws attention in a crowd is considered dangerously rude. Gnome folk heroes are not mighty warriors, but tricksters who slip out of captivity, play great pranks without being detected or sneak past magical guardians. They deflect both aggression and attention with humour, and they guard their thoughts with friendly laughter.

Gnomes also value a quick mind and the ability to come up with a clever solution to any problem. They appreciate witty conversation, especially rapid-fire repartee. They are inventive and resourceful, although they have little interest in or aptitude for the kind of technology found in human cities. They have an innate talent for magic and a love of illusion, music, poetry, and story.

Eager to see what the world has to offer and willing to be awed by its wonders, gnomes greet the world with open curiosity. Gnomes who are drawn to adventure are most often driven by curiosity and wanderlust above any desire for wealth or glory.

Gnomes were once enslaved by the fomorian rulers of the Feydark, the subterranean caverns of the Feywild. They regard their former masters with more fear than hatred, and they feel some degree of sympathy for the fey that still toil under fomorian lashes—particularly the spriggans, which some say are corrupted gnomes. Gnomes are not fond of goblins or kobolds, but in typical gnome fashion, they avoid creatures they dislike rather than crusading against them. They are fond of eladrin and other friendly fey, and gnomes who travel the world have good relations with elves and halflings.

Gnome Characteristics: Affable, clever, crafty, curious, funny, guarded, inconspicuous, inventive, secretive, sly, tricky

Gnome Names: Gnomes have incredibly long names by human standards, as they tend to combine the names of at least 3 of their ancestors on both sides of their family lines. However, they do abbreviate it for their non-gnome friends. For example, Ergormacdroniskar may be abbreviated to Ergo.

  • (Abbreviated) Male Names: Alston, Alvyn, Brocc, Eldon, Frug, Kellen, Ku, Nim, Orryn, Pock, Sindri, Warryn, Wrenn
  • (Abbreviated) Female Names: Breena, Carlin, Donella, Ella, Lilli, Lorilla, Nissa, Nyx, Oda, Orla, Roswyn, Tana, Zanna

 

Racial Traits

Ability Scores (Max)

You have a maximum of 20 Intelligence, 20 Charisma, 16 Strength and 18 in all other attributes.  You can not exceed these maximums without the use of magic.

Age

Gnomes mature at the same rate humans do, and most are expected to settle down into an adult life by around age 40. They can live 350 to almost 500 years.

Size

Gnomes are between 3´4˝ and 3´8˝ feet tall and average about 40 pounds. Your size is Small.

Speed

Your base walking speed is 25 feet. 

Infravision

Accustomed to life underground, you have superior vision in dark and dim conditions. You can see heat fluctuations which helps you navigate the underworld and the perpetual twilight of the faydark.

Languages

You can speak, read, and write Common and Gnomish. The Gnomish language, which uses the Dwarvish script, is renowned for its technical treatises and its catalogs of knowledge about the natural world.  You may also speak with burrowing animals (badgers for example).

Gnome Proficiency Bonus

You are proficient in Arcana (you like gadgets and have a natural affinity for them), and Stealth (your are naturally unobtrusive, fading into the background easily).  If your class provides these proficiencies, you gain double proficiency. 

Alignment

Gnomes tend to be chaotic.

Trickster’s Cunning

You have advantage on all Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma saving throws against magic.

Fey Origin

Your ancestors were native to the Feywild, so you are considered a fey creature for the purpose of effects that relate to creature origin. 

Master Trickster

Once per short rest, you can use the wizard cantrip prestidigitation as a bonus action.

Tunnel Rat

Gnomes may be small, but they are fierce. They have advantage when fighting kobolds and goblins – their racial enemies and giants have disadvantage on attacks to hit gnomes as they are trained to be adept skirmishers when fighting “biggens”.

Posted in 5e, Adventurer's Vault, Races, The Ninth World

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