Gnome

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Gnome

Say, do you really need all these gears in this Astrolabe?

Origins

Of all the intelligent races, there is a small subset that are Civilized, that have the Spark.

Of the Gracious Races, those that bear the Spark of Civility, there are some that are widely known to be The Old Ones. Elves, of course, are the oldest race, or so they claim. Dwarves, rightly so, also make strong claims to the position of First Race. Humans could care less how old their species is, but there is evidence that they are as old or older than any of the other races, and perhaps far older. Halflings, well, nobody is really certain about much of Halfling history, they might be Old Ones or they might not, they have a way of blending in.

And then there are the Gnomes.

Gnomes do not blend in. Gnomes, despite their tiny stature, swagger through history like conquerors. The oldest tales are full of Gnomes doing things, making things, and generally Being Important, despite the fact they have never really conquered much of anything. But Gnomes have personality that is far out of scale with their diminutive bodies.

As a result, the age and origin of Gnomes is easily the best known of all the Old races.

When the First Gods were making the universe, at the very beginning of the Dawn Times, it turned out that the job was a lot messier and slower then even the gods had realized. Most of the Gods, being deifically awesome, simply worked their way through the hard spots. However, some of the Gods found all that detail work tedious, and so, they decided to create a race of mortals to handle all that messy, complicated stuff. They created a race of curious, creative, detail-oriented, obsessive-compulsive tinkerers, to finish the job of creating All Reality.

Those first Gnomes are the ancestors of all Gnomes.

Culture

Gnomes were made by the Gods to finish the universe. In a Gnome's mind, whether they are aware of it or not, that job is still very much active. To a Gnome, the world isn't...quite...right, and it needs to be fixed, maybe just a little bit, or maybe a lot, depending on the foibles of the Gnome in question. Some Gnomes express this itch as a wanderlust, becoming nomadic tinkers. Others become millers and bakers, creating the most amazing confections you've ever seen. Others go out adventuring, tinkering and working to get the whole world's wildlife tweaked to just the right setup.

As a result of all this energy, Gnomish culture is remarkably fragmented. Almost every Gnome has made their own clothes and equipment, has designed and built several houses with varying success, indeed, has invented their own personal culture. The only truly unifying aspect of Gnomish culture is that they are all making things, for good and for ill, and they are all remarkably cheerful about it, even if their private obsession is the creation of the most horrible torture devices you can imagine.

On top of this fractured nature, Gnomes tend to move around a lot, especially if they like making things that might disturb the neighbors. Every time you meet a Gnome, expect it to be a totally different Gnome, although the 'quiet, introspective bookworm' Gnomes are pretty darn rare.

Growing Up Gnome

Gnomish personal lives are quite prosaic, given their reputation for wild and crazy antics. A Gnome man and woman marry, children arise in the usual way, and Gnomes tend to follow, loosely, the whole father/mother/children model. Gnomes are often nomadic, and when they are not nomadic they tend to be living with other races in loose enclaves, widely scattered among a larger native population. It does not take many Gnomes to reach the tolerance limit for most populations. Gnomes are fairly rare, although their incredible talents and shameless antics make them seem more prevalent than they really are.

It is not unheard of for a few Gnomes to settle down together and form a hamlet or village on their own, and such Gnomish strongholds are amazing sights to behold. When they are living together, with no other races to temper their nature, Gnomes tend to take a lot of space, with each Gnome family having an expansive patch of ground, several houses, many barns and sheds and outbuildings and workshops, and dozens if not hundreds of old projects and devices sitting around in various stages of neglect. A gnomish settlement can seem like a cross between a junkyard and a ghost town, until somebody gets a new idea and tries something out.

Gnomes are long-lived, and reach maturity slowly. Gnome families tend to follow the Dwarven model and have many children, spread widely apart in age. Gnomes can send their children to school with other races children, notably Humans and Dwarves, and Gnome children easily keep up with their peers in their studies. Sadly, all Gnomes are born with a certain...spark. Gnomes make things, and the things that Gnomes make, while they may seem ramshackle and silly, work. It can be a real problem keeping a Gnome child's attention on history when all she really wants to do is race outside and finish building her flower-planting automaton, that plants seeds at any desired range and depth with a magical arbalest....

Economy

Gnomes are creators, and as a result their impact on the economy is vastly larger than their fairly small numbers would indicate. Gnomes make things the way other races breathe: Easily, constantly, and without even thinking about it. It's that lack of thought which keeps Gnomes rare, as a lot of them wind up spectacularly dead when they realize their new Sunshine Maker (so you can grow plants in basements) also produces all the heat of sunlight as well.... In addition, while wise rulers understand that an enclave of Gnomes is a tremendous boon to the community, their actual neighbors are rarely on good terms with any Gnome, ever.

Gnomes have a tendency to pick up baubles and doodads over the course of their lives, largely on the basis of the object appealing to them, rather than for its potential sale value. As a result, a gnome's individual wealth is almost completely random -- that doodad they picked up from that swamp hag might be priceless, or they may go through life with only a vast collection of worthless baubles. Gnomes rarely care about their wealth as measured by its trade value. To them, materialism is centered on framing their experiences and inspiring memories of times past.

That is not to say that there are no wealthy gnomes. Some gnomes decide to excel at business and trade, and often become astonishingly wealthy as a result. However, it is only the rarest of gnome who would begin such an endeavor with the desire to be rich. Wealth is just a side effect of their mastery of their trade.

Customs

Gnomes are not much for formalities, like social customs and the like. Gnomes will go along with whatever holidays and general trends they pick up from their host culture, if they have one, although their adherence to such matters is a bit iffy.

Now, that is not to say that Gnomes do not have any customs at all. Indeed, they have a few very strong ones. Probably the biggest Gnome custom is, you do not touch another Gnomes toys without asking first. This is a big thing among Gnomes, and breaking this rule will get you ostracized. Messing with another Gnomes vision and creations is a big no-no. Not to mention, it can be quite hazardous to your health, since if you break the other Gnome's device, then they are going to be realllly mad at you.

Another major Gnome custom is the idea of the Tinker's Walk. At some point in their lives, even the most settled down and sedentary of Gnomes is expected to go out and see the world. Gnomes aren't sure why they have this urge, but sages and ciphers have deduced that it is probably a leftover from their Deific creation. Gnomes need to go out on 'inspection tours' to see if there's anything in the world that needs to be completed. In the modern age, of course, the world is quite well finished, but Gnomes still have the urge to wander, at least once in their lives.

Lifespan and Burial

Gnomes have a definite childhood, and it is a very long one indeed, since Gnomes only reach physical and mental maturity at age forty. Gnomes have a very long adulthood, often over a century or more, experience a fairly normal middle-age period for a couple of decades, and then have a long period of senescence at the end of their lives. To the uninitiated, it can seem as if all Gnomes are either children or wizened crones, since a Gnomes' adult stature is quite childlike in the eyes of most other races. Treating a full grown Gnome like a child rarely makes a Gnome angry, since a Gnomes empathy and understanding for another persons viewpoint is limited at the best of times.

Gnomes live somewhere between 150 and 250 years, unless she meets an end through accident or misadventure. In many ways, a Gnome's lifespan is directly connected to how interested in life she is at any given moment. A life that the gnome finds fulfilling or engaging will probably be a long life indeed, while a Gnome who achieves her goals too easily, or fails to set her life on an endeavor that will drive her will probably die before she reaches middle age.

Gnomish burial is highly individualized, as often the gnome will choose her preferred method of interment prior to death. Many Gnomes make outrageous requests for the treatment of their remains, hoping to squeeze out one last grand experience. However, few people are so loyal to their dead comrade as to feed her corpse to a dragon, or encase her in molten gold.

Relations with Others

Gnomes are quite rare. They have never been common, and they tend to have children slowly, and to be frank, a lot of gnomes die in accidents and misadventure. Many of the more pugnacious races, such as half-orcs, nagdyr, and gata, dislike Gnomes intensely, and will react with violence at the drop of a hat. Or, an ether-powered alchemical wall-press. If Gnomes make it to adulthood, around the age of forty, they generally manage enough self-control to keep their more flamboyant adventures away from hostile eyes.

Gnomes prefer to live with Dwarves, above all others. Dwarves have very sturdy houses, and lots of tasty fungi and brews to use as ingredients. Dwarves also tolerate a Gnomes more erratic flights of fancy well, being long-lived enough to recognize that no matter how crazy a Gnomes contraptions might be, they often turn out useful sooner or later. Aside from Dwarves, Gnomes frequently live with Humans, although they have to be more careful and spread out thinner in human society. Humans tolerate Gnomish tinkering pretty well, but if you push them too far Humans will form a lynch mob in the space of two heartbeats, and no gnome wants that.

Gnomes are tolerated by most other races, although they will not willingly cohabitate permanently with any other races beside Dwarves and Humans. As mentioned, half-orcs, nagdyr, and gata dislike Gnomes intensely. Half-Orcs, with their brutal culture of status and gaunts, hate Gnomish frivolity. Nagdyr hate the fact that gnomish inventions work. Nothing a nagdyr tries ever seems to come easy, and it drives the nagdyr to distraction how easily the gnomes get everything to come out their way. And gata have herds and pets in abundance, and Gnomes see all that as a wonderful supply of raw materials to work with. Gata hate Gnomes with a deep distaste that can flash to white-hot rage in an instant over any perceived slight to their animals. All of those races keep well apart.

Starting Height and Weight

Gender	Base Height	Height Modifier	Weight	Weight Modifier
Male	3 ft. 0 in.	+2d4 in. (3 ft. 2 in. - 3 ft. 8 in.)	35 lbs.	+(2d4 lbs.) (37 - 43 lbs.)
Female	2 ft. 10 in.	+2d4 in. (3 ft. 0 in. - 3 ft. 6 in.)	30 lbs.	+(2d4 lbs.) (32 - 38 lbs.)

Starting Ages

Adulthood	Intuitive	Self-Taught	Trained
40 years	+4d6 years (44 - 64 years)	+6d6 years (46 - 76 years)	+9d6 years (49 - 94 years)

PC's

Gnomes have no class or alignment restrictions.

Standard Racial Traits

All Gnomes have the following Standard Racial Advantages:

• Attributes: Gnomes choose from one of the following ability score bonus sets when creating their character. No ability score may ever be modified above a 20 or below a 7.
  • +2 to two different stats, -2 to one stat
  • +2 to one stat, +1 to three different stats, -2 to one stat
  • +4 to one stat, -2 to two different stats

• Size: Gnomes are Small creatures and thus gain a +1 size bonus to their AC, a +1 size bonus on attack rolls, a –1 penalty to their Combat Maneuver Bonus and Combat Maneuver Defense, and a +4 size bonus on Stealth checks.

• Type: Gnomes have the Humanoid type, with the Gnome subtype.

• Base Speed: Gnomes have a base speed of 20 feet.

• Languages: Gnomes begin play speaking Common, Gnome, and Sylvan. Gnomes with high Intelligence scores can choose from the following: Draconic, Dwarven, Elven, Giant, Goblin, and Orc. See the Linguistics skill page for more information about these languages.

• Low-Light Vision (Ex): Gnomes can see twice as far as humans in conditions of dim light.

• Creative (Ex): Gnomes gain the Creator feat for free.

Major Racial Traits

Choose one of the following Major Racial Traits:

• Darkvision (Ex): Gnomes with this racial trait gain Standard Darkvision with a range of 60 feet. This is in addition to the Low-Light Vision that all Gnomes get. At level 20, this becomes Superior Darkvision with a range of 120 feet.

• Pyromaniac (Su): Gnomes with this racial trait are treated as one level higher when casting spells with the fire descriptor, using granted powers of the Fire domain, using the bloodline powers of the fire elemental bloodline, and determining the damage of alchemist bombs that deal fire damage (this ability does not give gnomes early access to level-based powers; it only affects the powers they could use without this ability). At 12th level, Gnomes are treated as two levels higher for these spells, and at 25th level, they are treated as three levels higher.

• Gift of Tongues (Ex): Gnomes with this racial trait choose either the Diplomacy skill or the Linguistics skill, and may add half their character level as a racial bonus to that skill (round down, minimum 1). At 10th level, they may add half their character level as a racial bonus to the other skill (round down). Both skills become class skills for the Gnome at 1st level.

• Eternal Hope (Su): Gnomes rarely lose hope and are always confident that even hopeless situations will work out. Once per day, a Gnome with this racial trait, after rolling a 1 on a d20, may reroll the 1 as a free action and use the second result. At 10th level, this trait may be used up to twice per day. At 20th, it may be used 3 times per day, and at 30th level it can be used 4 times per day. In addition, the Gnome receives a +2 racial bonus on saving throws against fear and despair effects.

• Hyperactive (Ex): Gnomes with this racial trait have a base land speed of 30 feet, instead of only 20 feet. In addition, the Gnome gains a +2 racial bonus to initiative, which improves to +3 at 10th, +4 at 20th and +5 at 30th.

Minor Racial Traits

Choose one of the following Minor Racial Traits:

• Pursuit of Knowledge (Ex): A Gnome with this racial trait can choose a Knowledge skill. This skill becomes a class skill for her. and she receives a +2 racial bonus to the skill. This bonus increases to +4 if she has 10 or more ranks in the skill, +6 if she has 20 or more ranks in the skill, and +8 if she has 30 or more ranks in the skill.

• Keen Senses (Ex): Gnomes receive a +2 racial bonus on Perception checks. This bonus increases to +3 if she has 10 or more ranks in the skill, +4 if she has 20 or more ranks in the skill, and +5 if she has 30 or more ranks in the skill.

• Always Prepared (Ex): Gnomes with this racial trait can either prepare 2 additional Bombs per day (Alchemist), or gain 2 additional uses of Channel Divinity per day (Cleric), or 2 additional Lay on Hands and 2 Mercies (Paladin), or 2 additional Inspirations (Warlord). If multiclassing is allowed, this trait only provides one of the listed benefits, chosen at character creation.

• Explorer (Ex): Many gnomes are obsessed with seeing as many unknown corners of the world as possible, rather than perfecting some specific talent or vocation. These gnomes may put ranks into the Naturalism skill even if it is not normally available to their class, and add a +2 racial bonus to their checks. This bonus increases to +3 if they have 10 or more ranks in the skill, +4 if they have 20 or more ranks in the skill, and +5 if they have 30 or more ranks in the skill. This racial trait does not make Naturalism a class skill, however.

• Not Compensating (Ex): Gnomes with this racial trait can use sized-medium weapons without a size or handiness penalty.