Campaign Design - Race: Gnomes

Gnomes
(adapted from the Player's Handbook and Races of Destiny)

Gnomes are a race that literally inscribed with the power of magic. No one knows when it was done, but all accounts agree that at some point in the past, the alvar took the gnomish race and infused them with magical power, so that all are now born with luminous runes of power in their very flesh. Because of this, gnomes have become the masters of arcane knowledge. While the alvar have a natural affinity for magic, gnomes gravitate towards the scholarly study of the art, and as a result have come to dominate arcane educational centers, and the practice of alchemy.

Personality: Gnomes are inquisitive. They love to find things out by personal experience. At times they are even reckless. Their curiosity makes them natural scholars, arcanists, and engineers, but their racial tendencies also makes them natural explorers, bards, and investigators. While they are devoted to their studious pursuits, they also have a great sense of humor and love puns, jokes, games, and pranks. Gnomes are contemplative and tend to be somewhat cautious, choosing to study a situation and develop a plan before acting. They tend to create detailed plans for even the most mundane activities, and many are fond of charts, diagrams, and schematics, often making ludicrously overcomplicated plans and devices to accomplish relatively mundane tasks or to carry out practical jokes.

Physical Description: Gnomes stand about three to three and a half feet tall and generally weigh 40 to 45 pounds. Their skin runs from a deep reddish tan to a woody brown. All gnomes are bald, but males grow facial hair, with most sporting well-groomed beards. Gnomes are primarily an urban race, found in cities and towns. Gnomes, even the poor ones, favor the most expensive and well-made clothing they can find, with fine embroidery. long robes and cape, and multiple layers. Gnomes also have a fondness for gems and other fine jewelry.

The most striking physical features of gnomes are the luminous symbols that adorn their bald heads, markings that allow them to tap the arcane power that has been imbued into the race. Most gnomes are proud of their heritage, wearing their luminous markings with pride, but some are resentful of the idea that their ancestors were modified to make the race what it is today.

Relations: Gnomes generally get along well with most other races. Gnomes and halflings tend to be especially friendly, leading scholars in some quarters to speculate that the original stock that the alvar drew gnomes from may have actually been a group of halflings. Others dismiss this as nonsense and attribute the affinity between the two races as being the result of their shared need to stand against the "big folk" that surround them. Gnomes and ironborn are very close as well, for the obvious reason that all known ironborn were created by and in the service of the gnome-dominated Collegium.

Gnomish relations with other races are generally decent, as gnomes have established a racial reputation as being mostly even handed and fair minded, a reputation heavily influenced by the policies established by the Collegium in Enselm.

Alignment: Gnomes are most often good. Those who tend towards law are sages, engineers, researchers, scholars, investigators, or consultants. Those who tend towards chaos are minstrels, tricksters, wanderers, or artists. Gnomes are usually good-hearted, and even the tricksters among them are more playful than spiteful. Evil gnomes are rare, but they are usually terrifying.

Gnomish Lands: The city of Enselm is the heart of gnome culture and influence. Although gnomes can be found throughout the three worlds, usually engaged in some sort of scholarly, arcane, or mercantile pursuit, the largest concentration of gnomes is found in and around the cross-world city of Enselm.

Religion: Gnomes are generally more interested in arcane learning than the worship of divine power, however most hold Caire in high regard as the patron of their race, and many have a soft spot for Brid as well. Most gnomes also honor Füllar and Woda, due to the interest those deities have in arcane knowledge. Evil gnomes are prone to worship Ishi and Kivutar.

Language: Gnomes speak Enslaic, which has become synonymous with "Gnomish" in the minds of many people. Most gnomes also speak Rhadynnic or Sorglish. Given Enselm's position spanning the three worlds, and the natural gnomish inclination towards scholarship, many of the best linguists and linguistic scholars in the worlds are gnomes.

Names: Gnomish names are almost always Enslaic in form, although some gnomes have been known to adopt Zwersprache names in the Hartzstadt style.

• Ability Scores: +2 Constitution, +2 Intelligence, -2 Strength, -2 Wisdom


• Size: Small. As Small creatures, gnomes gain a +1 size bonus to AC, a +1 size bonus to attack rolls, and a +4 size bonus on Hide checks, but use smaller weapons, and their lifting and carrying limits are three-quarters of those of a Medium character.


• Movement: Gnomes have a base speed of 20 feet.


• Luminous Sigils (Su): The sigils that decorate a gnome’s head glow softly, providing illumination equal to that of a candle. Gnomes can make their sigil disappear by concentrating for a moment (as a standard action), but they don't receive the sigil's benefits and can't use any special abilities granted by gnomish words while they're doused. Restoring the sigils to visibility is a free action. Luminous sigils are insubstantial and disappear into any matter they touch. A gnome's sigil remains present and in effect even when a gnome takes another form, unless they would lose their supernatural abilities as a result of the form change.


• Glyphic Resonance (Ex): Gnomes are the physical embodiment of magical language, so they interact strangely with symbol-based spells. This group includes all spells whose names contain the word glyph, rune, sigil, or symbol. When a gnome encounters such magic, one of two things happens: either the gnome's resonance overpowers the spell, or the foreign magic corrupts the mystical language that defines the gnome. Gnomes have a -4 racial penalty on saving throws against these effects if their level is less than the caster level of the spell. If a gnome’s level equals or exceeds the spell's caster level, she is immune to the effect.


• Power Sigils (Su): In addition to the array of dimly glowing luminous sigils that decorate their head, a 1^st level gnome has a single brightly glowing power sigil that grants them certain bonuses. A power sigil can be discerned from other sigils surrounding a gnome with a DC 10 Spot check and identified with the DC 15 Knowledge (Arcana) check. For every new level of spells beyond 1^st that the gnome can cast in different spell casting class, a gnome gains another different power sigil and the bonus granted by each power sigil increases to +2. Depending on the combination of power sigils they choose, a gnome gains one or more extra special abilities. The benefit of each power sigil is given below, along with the Common translation of each sigil's name.


• Ra (Vigor) +1 bonus on Strength checks and Strength-based skill checks.


• Cui (Life) +1 bonus on Wisdom checks, Constitution checks, and Wisdom- or Constitution-based skill checks.


• Gû (Magic) +1 bonus to caster level for all spells and spell-like abilities (up to a maximum value equal to the gnome's character level).


• Nau (Mind) +1 bonus on Intelligence checks and Intelligence-based skill checks.


• Cel (Grace) +1 bonus on Dexterity checks and Dexterity-based skill checks.


• Mân (Soul) +1 bonus on Charisma checks and Charisma-based skill checks.


• Gnomish Words (Su): Each combination of two power sigil's names makes an gnomish word of great power and grants extra abilities to a character that possesses the two power sigils. The benefits of each word are:


• Ragû: (vigor-magic) A gnome can use their Strength score to determine the bonus spells they gain for a high ability score instead of the normal ability score used by their class to determine this feature. If they have more than one spell casting class, they may use their Strength score in place of any or all of the ability score used by their classes for this purpose.


• Racui: (vigor-life) Twice per day the gnome can spend a turn or rebuke attempt as a swift action to gain a bonus to weapon damage rolls equal to their Wisdom bonus. This effect lasts until the beginning of their next turn, and it applies only to weapons with which they have selected the Weapon Focus feat.


• Racel: (vigor-grace) When the gnome deals damage to a target with a sneak attack or a critical hit, they gain a +2 dodge bonus to their AC against that target until the beginning of their next turn.


• Cuigû: (life-magic) The gnome can spend a turn undead attempt as a swift action to add 1d8 points to the damage healed by any cure spell they cast before the end of the next turn, or a rebuke undead attempt as a swift action to add 1d8 points to the damage dealt by any inflict spell they cast before the end of their next turn. They may use this ability twice per day.


• Cuimân: (life-soul) Twice per day the gnome can expend a spell slot (but not a slot holding a prepared spell) as a swift action to gain a bonus equal to the spell's level on turning checks, turning damage rolls, and on attack and damage rolls when making a smite attack. This effect lasts until the beginning of the gnome's next turn.


• Naura: (mind-vigor) During the time when the gnome prepares spells, they can choose to leave up to two spell slots unfilled to gain the ability to cast any other prepared spell (or spells) of the same level as if it had been prepared with the Still Spell feat. This effect lasts until the next time the gnome prepares spells. They cannot fill the vacant spell slot (or slots) until the next time they prepare spells.


• Naucui: (mind-life) Twice per day the gnome can spend one or more turn or rebuke undead attempts as a swift action to add a metamagic effect to a spell they are casting with no effect on the spell's casting time or effective level. They must have the metamagic feat whose effect they want to apply. The gnome must expend a number of turn or rebuke attempts equal to the normal level adjustment of the metamagic feat. If they choose to apply the Heighten Spell effect, it costs one turn attempt per level that they heighten the spell, up to a maximum of 9^th level.


• Naugû: (mind-magic) During the time when the gnome prepares spells, they can choose to leave up to two spell slots unfilled to add +1 to the save DCs of all her other spells of that level (including spells from different classes). If they leave two spell slots unfilled, they must be at different spell levels. This effect lasts until the next time the gnome prepares spells. They cannot fill the vacant spell slot or slots until the next time they prepare spells.


• Celcui: (grace-life) Twice per day the gnome can expend a spell slot (but not a slot holding a prepared spell) as a swift action to gain an insight bonus equal to their Wisdom bonus on Reflex saves and their Dexterity bonus on caster level checks to overcome spell resistance. This effect lasts for 1 minute per spell level of the spell slot expended.


• Celgû: (grace-magic) The gnome can use their Dexterity score to determine the bonus spells they gain for a high ability score instead of the normal ability score used by their class to determine this feature. If they have more than one spell casting class, they may use their Dexterity score in place of any or all of the ability scores used by their classes for this purpose.


• Celnau: (grace-mind) During the time when the gnome prepares spells, they can choose to leave a 1^st- or 2^nd-level spell slot unfilled to add an insight bonus equal to the spell slot's level on attack rolls when making an unarmed strike or a sneak attack. This effect lasts until the next time a gnome prepares spells. They cannot fill the vacant spell slot until the next time they prepare spells.


• Mânra: (soul-vigor) Twice per day, a gnome can expend a spell slot (but not a slot holding a prepared spell) as a swift action to gain an insight bonus equal to the spell's level to AC and on weapon damage rolls. This effect lasts until the beginning of the gnome's next turn and the damage bonus applies only to weapons with which they have selected the Weapon Focus feat.


• Mangû: (soul-magic) Twice per day the gnome can expend a spell slot (but not a slot holding a prepared spell) as an immediate action to gain an insight bonus equal to the spell's level on the next saving throw they make before the start of their next turn.


• Mânnau: (soul-mind) Twice per day, the gnome can use a spell slot (but not a slot holding a prepared spell) to spontaneously cast any of their prepared spells of the same spell level. The spell is cast using the caster level at which it is prepared.


• Mâncel: (soul-grace) The gnome can expend a spell slot (but not a prepared spell) as a swift action to add 1d6 per spell level to their unarmed strike damage rolls and their sneak attack damage rolls. This effect lasts until the beginning of their next turn, and they may use it twice per day.


• Educated Insight: +2 racial bonus on skill checks for any one Knowledge skill (chosen at character creation). Education and learning are important in gnome culture.


• Nose for Alchemy: +2 bonus on Craft: Alchemy checks.


• Arcane Intuition: Use Magic Device is always a class skill for gnomes; they have an inborn ability to understand and wield magical items.


• Automatic Languages: Enslaic and either Rhadynnic or Sorglish.


• Favored class: Wizard.


• Favored class: Apprentice.


• Exclusive class: Arcane Engineer (from Path of Magic).

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