| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Gnomes can have the same concerns and motivations as members of other races, but just as often they are driven by passions and desires that non-gnomes see as eccentric at best, and nonsensical at worst. A gnome may risk his life to taste the food at a giant's table, to reach the bottom of a pit just because it would be the lowest place he's ever been, or to tell jokes to a dragon—and to the gnome those goals are as worthy as researching a new spell, gaining vast wealth, or putting down a powerful evil force. While such apparently fickle and impulsive acts are not universal among gnomes, they are common enough for the race as a whole to have earned a reputation for being impetuous and at least a little mad.
Combined with their diminutive sizes, vibrant coloration, and lack of concern for the opinions of others, these attitudes have caused gnomes to be widely regarded by the other races as alien and strange. Gnomes, in turn, are often amazed how alike other common, civilized races are. It seems stranger to a gnome that humans and elves share so many similarities than that the gnomes do not. Indeed, gnomes often confound their allies by treating everyone who is not a gnome as part of a single, vast non-gnome collective race.
...
Gnomes have difficulty interacting with the other races, on both emotional and physical levels. In many ways the very fact other races see gnomes as odd is itself the thing gnomes find most odd about other races, and this leads to a strong lack of common ground upon which understanding and relationships can be built. When two gnomes encounter one another, they generally assume some mutually beneficial arrangement can be reached, no matter how different their beliefs and traditions may be. Even if this turns out not to be the case, the gnomes continue to look for commonalities in their dealings with each other. The inability or unwillingness of members of other races to make the same effort when dealing with gnomes is both frustrating and confusing to most gnomes.
In many ways, it is gnomes' strong connection to a wide range of apparently unconnected ideas that makes it difficult for other races to build relationships with them. Gnome humor, for example, is often focused on physical pranks, nonsensical rhyming nicknames, and efforts to convince others of outrageous lies that strain all credibility. Gnomes find such efforts hysterically funny, but their pranks often come across as malicious or senseless to other races, while gnomes in turn tend to think of the taller races as dull and lumbering giants.
This just doesn't strike me as a race with a CHA bonus. I also like the idea of creating a bit more of a difference between gnomes and halflings. With their love of tinkering in mind as well as their fey connections, here is an idea for my modified gnome:
Ability Scores: Gnomes get a -2 STR, +2 CON and +2 INT. Gnomes are very intelligent and inquisitive, and are surprisingly hardy, but they are physically weaker than most other species.
Fey Connections Their connection to the fey world grants gnomes a +2 to all Diplomacy checks involving fey creatures and a +2 to any Handle Animal checks.
Everything else remains unchanged. Thoughts?
That actually makes a lot more sense to me. Charisma is obviously the 'social' statistic. If gnomes are 'alien and strange' then it makes sense that they would not have an overall CHA bonus. Good work!
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
If I were changing their base stats to fit my conception of a gnome...
+2 Intelligence, +2 Charisma, -2 Wisdom
On the Charisma front, I have no problem with the idea of them being High CHA...they get along smashingly with each other, far better than any two random humans are likely to. The last paragraph in the description definitely reads like high CHA mixed with low WIS to me.
Just my 2cp though. Reducing the general personality characteristics of an entire race into three numbers is an exercise in subjectivity, at its finest. :)
A +2 to two different mental stats raises the RP of a race. More than anything though, this makes me want to play a gnome again.
A +2 to two different mental stats raises the RP of a race. More than anything though, this makes me want to play a gnome again.
But...but...you mean my homebrew gnomes aren't RAW? I'm crushed. ;)
Ogres like their gnomes raw.
And crushed, I assume. Savages.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Wait, was this thread not about baking gnomes using cream and sugar? Now I'M crushed.
Actually, ogres prefer their gnomes with some fava beans & a nice chianti... thipthipthipthipthip (they're much more refined than people suspect).
I wasn't so worried about the race's RP cost, since it's pretty low to begin with. I was just trying to model the stats to better fit the description above. Both of the skill point bonuses are more situational in nature, so I didn't feel they would unbalance things.
My issue with the +2 CHA is that it doesn't only affect gnomes. Rather, it influences how they interact with everyone else, which isn't supported by the description given. That was the whole point of the homebrew.
One way to resolve the idea that gnomes get along better with their own kind would be to rule that gnomes count as fey creatures for purposes of the Diplomacy bonus:
Fey Connections Their connection to the fey world grants gnomes a +2 to all Diplomacy checks involving fey-related creatures (including other gnomes) and a +2 to any Handle Animal checks.
Man, for a second I thought someone was homebrewing breakfeast gnomes or something. As long as it aint underpants gnomes...
Breakfast gnomes can crack open like an eggs and they go nicely on toast. With a Profession (cook) check DC 15 you get a +2 circumstance bonus to well balanced diet checks for the day.
:) Not that the cooking gnome jokes aren't fun, but any other thoughts on the modifications?
| 2 people marked this as a favorite. |
Aside from the racial feature I just mentioned? D&D folklore has always talked about "the magic of the elves", and to a certain extend gnomes as well, but it has never been well represented. The PF elves still only have a tiny boost to spell casting abilities, but with the gnome's spell like abilities I think that is reasonably represented.
I can completely see your point about the fluff text and ability score mods not being cohesive. But if you think of charisma as being your force of personality, which is not the same as being able to make yourself understood, then it can make sense. The gnome leaves a strong impression, but being obscure is a matter of role-playing.
Earlier edition gnomes sported an intelligence modifier, so there is that, and I think the charisma bonus came from 3rd editions want for the gnome to fit neatly into the bard class. (still not sure why. half-elves make more sense to me) Honestly I think an intelligence bonus is fine, but don't think charisma is necessarily wrong.
