P Diddy Nackle, the OG's page

Only if that Ranger's first name is Mike.

And then there was the time when WE were running a carnival-based interactive, and the 3 Nackles playing had everyone convinced they were part of the adventure due to their...um, exuberance?

(Seriously, you don't run into many players running around with their character's weasel familiar sticking out of their pants. That's probably a good thing.)

This is a timely discussion for me, since my spouse and I are considering building "gnomish special forces, aerial division" characters that ride around on rocs, and are insanely curious and cheerful.

I think we will have to name them Nackles in your honor, Pappy!

Hmm

We'll allow it, but on one condition. The rocs must be dyed in the garish bright colors of parrots. And the pilots must wear WWI caps and goggles. Also you must name the squadron JG1 (Just Gnomes 1).

roll4initiative wrote:

Would you allow me to create a gnome PC with the Nackle name to carry on the tradition?

I'll second this request.

My gnome only has 1 XP of GM credit so far.

I'm in Sacramento.

While I appreciate your asking (and am utterly humbled and honored), my permission is completely irrelevant. By all means, create the characters and enjoy! And if those characters happen to be gnomes, and just happen to be a bit on the quirky, exotic, or eccentric side, and their family name just happens to be Nackle, more power to you!

Carry on, cousins! And don't forget to spill a little ale for dear old Poppy. Surviving 3 wives and fathering a multi-global clan makes a gnome thirsty.

One of us is never a problem. It's when you have to run a table of 5+token that things get challenging. BTW, a few of our "originals" are from central Illinois, so it's possible you'll encounter them. If you're lucky. Those folks are true gems!

Hi Folks!!! Parcival Diddimus Nackle, Esquire here (P. Diddy for short)! I got word through the proverbial grapevine that our little (see what I did there?) clan was a point of discussion. Me being the gregarious sort, I thought I might pop in and offer the official, voluminous-in-a-nutshell, direct-from-the-gnomie's-mouth history of Poppy Nackle, The SpectacNackular Circus and Menagerie, and the endearing mob of gnomes they spawned.

Way back when, whilst everyone who was anyone was playing on a world known as Oerth, some of us "role" centered folks sparked on the ingenious idea of creating a table full of gnomes. This was in response to too many boring encounters with those annoying "roll" minded power-gamer min-maxer types. Now, me personally, I don't mind crafting characters leaning to the effective side of the stat block, and I certainly don't want to look up my cute and tiny nose at folks who like to sit table knowing they won't be a burden on their fellow players (cause its nearly impossible for us short folk to look down on anyone, don't ya know).

However, after attending various conventions with folks wearing T-shirts sporting slogans like, "We don't play with: Guys playing girls, girls playing guys, people who use silly voices, hand puppets, or BARDS" (seriously, that last bit was the camel-back breaker. The nerve!), a few of us wanted to respond. And what better way to respond, we thought, than by creating an entire table full of gnomes, all descended from the same traveling circus, and all harboring marginally effective skill-sets. Yes, we could fight our way out of a paper bag, but usually just barely.

So, these original 5 Nackles (a name taken from the 3.5 Players Handbook entry for Gnomish surnames) and (5 because we wanted to leave room for a token tallie round-ear serious type), allocated points and bought starting equipment. I was the bard. To inspire my comrades I spouted limericks. I eventually found a long-lost brother, Fiodore (Fiddy) Nackle, who had taken the time honored art of playing the spoons to rouse his troupe to greater heights. Sadly, Fiddy got shot (by a dastardly needlefolk), and his career was cut short. A few other OGs (original Gnomes) were Pikka and Dilly, the twins (a male fighter and a female rogue, though neither was sure who was named who cause they were always referred to by Ma as "Pikka-Dilly"), Krackle, the sorcerer searching for a blue dragon cause he could ONLY cast lightning bolt (even if it looked a lot like Magic Missle, Burning Hands, Charm Person, etc.), Adams, the cleric of Nerull, Lil' Nicky, Pikka-Dilly's little sister (who had a raging ongoing romance with a burly human male city guardsman named Denzel), and a couple of others. Hey, a dozen is a couple, right?

Fast forward to the end of Living Greyhawk. I retired, as did the rest of the clan, and then the Edition We Shall Not Name came along, and with it, some horrendous attempt at Living Campaigning in the Realms. I was judging at a con in Memphis (many miles and a couple of states away from the original birthplace. A young player at my table was playing a gnome wizard. He was sitting next to me. The game was going fine, battle ensued, and the young lad cast a timely spell that had a substantial and negative effect on the bad guys. I was figuring damage and had my head down. Out of the corner of my eye I see the boy make a small move. The rest of the table start to chuckle (I had played with several of them before). I looked up and to my left at the youngster. He had placed a hand-written table card facing me. I read it: It said, "You've just been Nackled."

I completely lost it. My wife (player of Pikka. Or Dilly, Hell, I forget) looked at the kid (who by now was feeling a bit uncomfortable) and said, "Hey, do you know who this is?" The boy shook his head nervously. I kindly explained that I had made the first Nackle (that we knew of) and that he had just brought everything full circle. Our group had actually printed up cards featuring a reclining, saucy garden gnome, to give to DMs when we had completely gone off the rails. The card contained a brief text explaining to the poor gamemaster that he/she could kick back, enjoy the show, and we would shortly refocus and get back to the module.

Incidentally, while we shared many zany antics and uproarious adventure, never once did we fail to resolve the quest, solve the mystery, or defeat the baddie of the hour. At one GenCon we even had the judge thank us profusely. "I swear, all weekend I've been dealing with power gamers and whiners. You guys are a breath of fresh air. I totally needed this!"

If you've read this far, I thank you for your time. For those of you who are experiencing what I can only attribute to the very un-Nackle-like shenanigans of the black-sheep northern branch of the clan (I swear, we really don't know them at all!), I heartily and sincerely apologize. You have our permission to visit upon them the most dire and horrible deaths to be found at any tier. Barring that, tell them that Poppy said to "knock that crap off!" If they're true Nackles, they'll listen.