Gnomes

Gnomes are known everywhere as excellent technicians, alchemists, and inventors. There would be in demand for their skills, if most gnomes weren't known for being malevolent tricksters borderlining pyschotic sadists. After the death of their god, Garl Glittergold, at the hands of the Kobolds they turned to his Dark Brother. They seek vengeance against those that caused the death of their god, as well as those that stood idly by.

Personality
Gnomes adore inflicting pain, torture, and death. Members of this race have a sick sense of humor, and while they love puns, jokes, and games, they relish tricks—the more intricate the better. They apply the same dedication to more practical arts, such as engineering, as they do to their twisted jokes. Gnomes are inquisitive. They love to find things out by personal experience. At times they’re even reckless. Their intense desire to harm makes them skilled engineers, since they are always trying new ways to kill people. Sometimes a gnome pulls a prank just to see how the people involved will react.

Physical Description
Gnomes stand about 3 to 3-1/2 feet tall and weigh 40 to 45 pounds. Their skin ranges from dark tan to woody brown, their hair is fair, and their eyes can be any shade of blue. Gnome males prefer short, carefully trimmed goatees. Gnomes generally wear leather or earth tones, and they decorate their clothes with intricate stitching or fine jewelry. Gnomes reach adulthood at about age 40, and they live about 350 years, though some can live almost 500 years.

Relations
Gnomes get along best with Dwarves, who share their their curiosity about mechanical devices, and their hatred of goblins and giants. That being said, most races do not enjoy their presence. Gnomes hate Kobolds with a passion, and after the Cataclysmic God War they pushed to the slavery of Kobolds as punishment. They also hate Orcs, as Gruumsh aided the Kobold God in the war.

Religion
The chief gnome god was Garl Glittergold, the Watchful Protector. His clerics taught that gnomes are to cherish and support their communities. Pranks are seen as ways to lighten spirits and to keep gnomes humble, not as ways for pranksters to triumph over those they trick. Then, Garl was violently murdered and his head mounted on a pike for his followers to see before his realm collapsed in on itself. Afterwards, the Gnomes turned to Garl's Dark Brother, Gelf Darkhearth. Through his guidance, the Gnomes began to seek vengeance against their enemies. Some Gnomes believe that each life they take will bring them closer to getting Garl back.

Language
The Gnome language, which uses the Dwarven script, is renowned for its technical treatises and its catalogs of knowledge about the natural world. Human herbalists, naturalists, and engineers commonly learn Gnome in order to read the best books on their topics of study.

Names
Gnomes once loved names, and most had half a dozen or so. As a gnome grew up, his mother would give him a name, his father would give him a name, his clan elder would give him a name, his aunts and uncles would give him names, and he would gain nicknames from just about anyone. Gnome names were typically variants on the names of ancestors or distant relatives, though some were purely new inventions. When dealing with humans and others who were rather “stuffy” about names, a gnome learned to act as if he has no more than three names: a personal name, a clan name, and a nickname. When deciding which of his several names to use among humans, a gnome generally chose the one that was the most fun to say. Gnome clan names are combinations of common Gnome words, and gnomes almost always translate them into Common when in human lands (or into Elven when in elven lands, and so on). After the death of Garl, the lightheartedness behind their names dissipated. They kept the silly names but not the fun behind them. It is unwise to insult a gnome's name.


 * Male Names: Boddynock, Dimble, Fonkin, Gimble, Glim, Gerbo, Jebeddo, Namfoodle, Roondar, Seebo, Zook.


 * Female Names: Bimpnottin, Caramip, Duvamil, Ellywick, Ellyjobell, Loopmottin, Mardnab, Roywyn, Shamil, Waywocket.


 * Clan Names: Beren, Daergel, Folkor, Garrick, Nackle, Murnig, Ningel, Raulnor, Scheppen, Turen.


 * Nicknames: Aleslosh, Ashhearth, Badger, Cloak, Doublelock, Filchbatter, Fnipper, Oneshoe, Sparklegem, Stumbleduck.

Adventurers
Gnomes are impulsive. They tend not to think twice about the twisted pranks they pull, or how their actions might affect the recipients. They may take up adventuring to inflict pain on as many of their enemies as possible. Depending on his relations to his home clan, an adventuring gnome may be seen as a vagabond or even something of a traitor (for abandoning clan responsibilities).

Racial Traits

 * +2 Constitution, –2 Strength: Like dwarves, gnomes are tough, but they are small and therefore not as strong as larger humanoids.


 * Small: As a Small creature, a gnome gains a +1 size bonus to Armor Class, a +1 size bonus on attack rolls, and a +4 size bonus on Hide checks, but he uses smaller weapons than humans use, and his lifting and carrying limits are three-quarters of those of a Medium character.


 * Gnome base land speed is 20 feet.


 * Low-light Vision: A gnome can see twice as far as a human in starlight, moonlight, torchlight, and similar conditions of poor illumination. He retains the ability to distinguish color and detail under these conditions.


 * Weapon Familiarity: Gnomes may treat gnome hooked hammers as martial weapons rather than exotic weapons.


 * +2 racial bonus on saving throws against illusions: Gnomes are innately familiar with illusions of all kinds.


 * Add +1 to the Difficulty Class for all saving throws against illusion spells cast by gnomes. Their innate familiarity with these effects make their illusions more difficult to see through. This adjustment stacks with those from similar effects, such as the Spell Focus feat.


 * +1 racial bonus on attack rolls against kobolds and goblinoids (including goblins, hobgoblins , and bugbears ): Gnomes battle these creatures frequently and practice special techniques for fighting them.


 * +4 dodge bonus to Armor Class against monsters of the giant type (such as ogres, trolls, and hill giants): This bonus represents special training that gnomes undergo, during which they learn tricks that previous generations developed in their battles with giants. Any time a creature loses its Dexterity bonus (if any) to Armor Class, such as when it’s caught flat-footed, it loses its dodge bonus, too. The Monster Manual has information on which creatures are of the giant type.


 * +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.


 * Automatic Languages: Common and Gnome. Bonus Languages: Draconic, Dwarven, Elven, Giant, Goblin, and Orc. Gnomes deal more with elves and dwarves than elves and dwarves deal with one another, and they learn the languages of their enemies(kobolds, giants, goblins, and orcs) as well. In addition, a gnome can use speak with a burrowing mammal (a badger, fox, rabbit, or the like, see below). This ability is innate to gnomes. See the speak with animals spell description.


 * 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.


 * Favored Class: Bard. A multiclass gnome’s bard class does not count when determining whether he takes an experience point penalty.

Notable Gnomes

 * N/A