Gnomes need more physical differentiation?

[Kan Himaa]

This is kind of a funny problem to have, but one thing I noticed a lot is that halflings and gnomes end up having a lot of the same character portraits. Even though they are supposed to be physically distinct in lore, when someone tries to draw the two a gnome usually ends up looking like a halfling who has a cyberpunk or rainbow dash colored hair, or the gnome can look like an older halfling.

In the interest of differentiating them more from the DnD gnomes, maybe having them get more satyr-like or fey-like features would help them out? Having horns or some other clearly visible physical sign of difference would probably make them stand out more as a choice.

[moosher12]

Gnomes always have EXTREMELY long eyelashes, while halflings have normal eyelashes. Even Keenspark gnomes, the most normal of gnomes, have unnaturally long eyelashes, as is the case of Jubilost.

Gnomes also have pointed ears, while halfling ears are human-like.

Halflings rarely wear shoes, and have furry feet.

The problem here sounds like more of a problem of commissioned artists not being given enough information by their commissioners.

I guess I'm practiced, but I've never had trouble mistaking a halfling for a gnome in official art.

[qwerty3werty]

Gnome also comes in what would be unnatural shade of hair for other common ancestries. Green, Pink, Blue, etc.

[moosher12]

qwerty3werty wrote:

Gnome also comes in what would be unnatural shade of hair for other common ancestries. Green, Pink, Blue, etc.

Most gnomes. Keenspark gnomes are an exception to that rule.

[Soapbox]

Also, I believe Gnomes are much shorter than Halflings. I think Halflings come up to about waist-high on a typical Human while Gnomes only come up about knee-high, right?

[Quentin Coldwater]

Also, I think gnomes have different hair texture. the iconic Druid, Lini, has grass-like hair, though maybe that's just the artist's style.

I also get the feeling their skin colour tends to be a lot more vibrant compared to halflings. Good Gnome art really shows how alien gnomes are compared to humans/halflings.

[Ravingdork]

Soapbox wrote:

Also, I believe Gnomes are much shorter than Halflings. I think Halflings come up to about waist-high on a typical Human while Gnomes only come up about knee-high, right?

Coming up to the human knee would make a creature Tiny, rather than Small.

Gnomes are about 3 feet tall whereas halflings top out at 3 feet in 2nd Edition.

According to the 1st Edition Pathfinder rules, though, halflings ranged from 2'8" to 3'4" and 27 lb. to 38 lb. Gnomes, on the other hand, ranged from 3'0" to 3'8" and 32 lb. to 43 lb.

[Errenor]

Soapbox wrote:

Also, I believe Gnomes are much shorter than Halflings. I think Halflings come up to about waist-high on a typical Human while Gnomes only come up about knee-high, right?

No, they are about the same size.

[Finoan]

Errenor wrote:

Soapbox wrote:

Also, I believe Gnomes are much shorter than Halflings. I think Halflings come up to about waist-high on a typical Human while Gnomes only come up about knee-high, right?

No, they are about the same size.

Gnomes are actually slightly taller.

Halfling: Physical Description wrote:

They rarely grow to be more than 3 feet in height.

Gnome: Physical Description wrote:

Most gnomes stand just over 3 feet in height

[Errenor]

Finoan wrote:

Errenor wrote:

Soapbox wrote:

Also, I believe Gnomes are much shorter than Halflings. I think Halflings come up to about waist-high on a typical Human while Gnomes only come up about knee-high, right?

No, they are about the same size.

Gnomes are actually slightly taller.

Halfling: Physical Description wrote:

They rarely grow to be more than 3 feet in height.

Gnome: Physical Description wrote:

Most gnomes stand just over 3 feet in height

Thus "about the same".

Though that gnomes are a bit higher on average is interesting.

[Maya Coleman]

Kan Himaa wrote:

This is kind of a funny problem to have, but one thing I noticed a lot is that halflings and gnomes end up having a lot of the same character portraits. Even though they are supposed to be physically distinct in lore, when someone tries to draw the two a gnome usually ends up looking like a halfling who has a cyberpunk or rainbow dash colored hair, or the gnome can look like an older halfling.

In the interest of differentiating them more from the DnD gnomes, maybe having them get more satyr-like or fey-like features would help them out? Having horns or some other clearly visible physical sign of difference would probably make them stand out more as a choice.

this is honestly a really valid catch. as a player myself, and with a gnome as my first character ever, i did find gnomes being put into boxes as far as physical description. the things i wanted to do with my character were even seen as "ungnomish" according to my GM? all i wanted was auburn skin and grey hair... definitely gonna bring this to the team to make sure we keep them looking more varied in the books!

[Bluemagetim]

No furry feat on my haflings it would make wearing shoes very uncomfortable.

[Tactical Drongo]

halflings are short humans
gnomes are short half-fey elves

if you keep it in mind like that, theres plenty of difference already

[Bluemagetim]

Lini makes Gnomes look cool and powerful.
She looks nothing like what I imagined Gnomes to be in the past and I like that about the character.

As far as haflings go though I dont care for the hobbit look.

Just wanted to say though these are just my personal preferences. I have no problem with the actual art for halflings. I draw them differently when i do character art for my players in my games is all.

[Finoan]

Tactical Drongo wrote:

halflings are short humans

gnomes are short half-fey elves

if you keep it in mind like that, theres plenty of difference already

That's another good point to mention.

Halflings and Gnomes look about the same to approximately the same extent that Humans, Elves, and Dwarves look approximately the same.

[Castilliano]

I always thought Gnomes were comparable to the lil', lighter version of Dwarves: Wine instead of ale, fine jewelry vs. mining gems, gizmos instead of forging, both kinda stocky & hearty & w/ opposite Charisma shifts. Then Golarion went and emphasized the fey aspects, lessening it for Elves. And they used to look much different in art, but became more humanized, which yeah, made them look like older Halflings.

So yeah, I'd like to see changes, whether backward into their long-nosed, ruddy-faced, stocky builds or forward to vibrant fey motifs, or hybrid of both maybe in different contexts, as long as they become visually distinct for more than their size, garb, and occasional Bleaching.

(And I'd attributed Lini's looks to her druidic vibes.)

ETA: Bleaching implies loss of color, so yeah, maybe they should be more colorful, so that one thinks "pixie-blooded" (however chunky).

[pH unbalanced]

Castilliano wrote:

I always thought Gnomes were comparable to the lil', lighter version of Dwarves: Wine instead of ale, fine jewelry vs. mining gems, gizmos instead of forging, both kinda stocky & hearty & w/ opposite Charisma shifts. Then Golarion went and emphasized the fey aspects, lessening it for Elves. And they used to look much different in art, but became more humanized, which yeah, made them look like older Halflings.

So yeah, I'd like to see changes, whether backward into their long-nosed, ruddy-faced, stocky builds or forward to vibrant fey motifs, or hybrid of both maybe in different contexts, as long as they become visually distinct for more than their size, garb, and occasional Bleaching.

(And I'd attributed Lini's looks to her druidic vibes.)

ETA: Bleaching implies loss of color, so yeah, maybe they should be more colorful, so that one thinks "pixie-blooded" (however chunky).

That's the D&D gnome tradition (going back to AD&D) not the Pathfinder gnome tradition.

[Ravingdork]

I imagine gnomes as being more likely to have round, bulbous noses over long thin noses. I, too, think of them as having pointed ears and being rather fey-like.

I grew up with David the Gnome, so that has likely influenced my mental image somewhat.

[moosher12]

Maya C. wrote:

Kan Himaa wrote:

This is kind of a funny problem to have, but one thing I noticed a lot is that halflings and gnomes end up having a lot of the same character portraits. Even though they are supposed to be physically distinct in lore, when someone tries to draw the two a gnome usually ends up looking like a halfling who has a cyberpunk or rainbow dash colored hair, or the gnome can look like an older halfling.

In the interest of differentiating them more from the DnD gnomes, maybe having them get more satyr-like or fey-like features would help them out? Having horns or some other clearly visible physical sign of difference would probably make them stand out more as a choice.

this is honestly a really valid catch. as a player myself, and with a gnome as my first character ever, i did find gnomes being put into boxes as far as physical description. the things i wanted to do with my character were even seen as "ungnomish" according to my GM? all i wanted was auburn skin and grey hair... definitely gonna bring this to the team to make sure we keep them looking more varied in the books!

Think the problem there was your GM did not know about Keenspark Gnomes. Perfectly acceptable look for them, as such gnomes are already in the game. But those are only mentioned in the Character Guide expansion book. It probably would have been easier to recognize if they were in the Player Core, or represented as a specific heritage, rather then a thematic pseudo heritage that encompasses multiple heritages.

Your gnome would not look much different from the Iconic Summoner from Pathfinder 1E, Balazar.

[Dragonchess Player]

Ravingdork wrote:

I imagine gnomes as being more likely to have round, bulbous noses over long thin noses. I, too, think of them as having pointed ears and being rather fey-like.

Pathfinder gnomes, per the lore, are more fey (faerie) in nature. IMO, they should have an "elfin"/fox-like look (triangular face, fine features) and more mobile, exaggerated expressions (bordering on or crossing over into creepy/manic). In line with the old-school (un-sanitized) faeries.

Halflings should probably be the ones with bulbous noses and more blunt (and possibly slightly coarse) facial features. They don't have to be the chubby stereotype from Tolkien, but they should probably have a somewhat sturdier build than gnomes.

In fairness to the artists, many of them probably aren't thoroughly familiar with the quirks of Pathfinder lore. In many cases, they probably just draw a "short, child-like humanoid" and differentiate with only a couple details; sort of like how Larry Elmore (IIRC) used to draw dwarves, gnomes, and halflings almost exactly the same way apart from facial hair.

[Grolloc]

pH unbalanced wrote:

Castilliano wrote:

I always thought Gnomes were comparable to the lil', lighter version of Dwarves: Wine instead of ale, fine jewelry vs. mining gems, gizmos instead of forging, both kinda stocky & hearty & w/ opposite Charisma shifts. Then Golarion went and emphasized the fey aspects, lessening it for Elves. And they used to look much different in art, but became more humanized, which yeah, made them look like older Halflings.

So yeah, I'd like to see changes, whether backward into their long-nosed, ruddy-faced, stocky builds or forward to vibrant fey motifs, or hybrid of both maybe in different contexts, as long as they become visually distinct for more than their size, garb, and occasional Bleaching.

(And I'd attributed Lini's looks to her druidic vibes.)

ETA: Bleaching implies loss of color, so yeah, maybe they should be more colorful, so that one thinks "pixie-blooded" (however chunky).

That's the D&D gnome tradition (going back to AD&D) not the Pathfinder gnome tradition.

Pathfinder Gnomes are the reason I gave up being a Forgotten Realms geek and moved to Golarion. D&D gnomes are pointless dwarf do-overs, but when I found out PF Gnomes were excitement OR DIE fey, I was hooked!

Why yes, I did love Kender.... Why do you ask?

[BotBrain]

Pathfinder gnomes honestly completely sold me on gnomes as a fantasy trope. I can't put my finger on it but I really like pathfinders gnomes, and I agree. they should be more obviously fey-like. Maybe a greater emphasis on pointed ears and wild hairstyles.

[Hilary Moon Murphy]

Gnomes!

Half my Pathfinder 2e characters are gnomes. I am so sold on them! I will say that gnomes vary so much in coloration (especially gnomes with various gnomish and versatile heritages) that I think that you could have gnomes with any coloration that you want.

I simply adore Pathfinder and Starfinder's gnomes. I adore that they seek out danger to avoid bleaching. I love their obsessions and crazy colorations and weird ancestry feats.

Maya, tell your GM that your coloration is perfectly fine on a gnome. Gnomes have all the skin tones humans do and more. The gray hair is unusual for a non-bleached gnome, but I'm imagining that yours has tiny sparkles in it.

Hmm

[lemeres]

Finoan wrote:

Tactical Drongo wrote:

halflings are short humans

gnomes are short half-fey elves

if you keep it in mind like that, theres plenty of difference already

That's another good point to mention.

Halflings and Gnomes look about the same to approximately the same extent that Humans, Elves, and Dwarves look approximately the same.

As someone that plays weirdo races- Yeah, they ARE the same. Spock halloween costume level.

Give me big meaty tails*

*This comment has been sponsored by CALF (the Council for the Advancement of Lizard Folk)

[qwerty3werty]

Bluemagetim wrote:

No furry feat on my haflings it would make wearing shoes very uncomfortable.

That's why they dont lol

[qwerty3werty]

lemeres wrote:

Finoan wrote:

Tactical Drongo wrote:

halflings are short humans

gnomes are short half-fey elves

if you keep it in mind like that, theres plenty of difference already

That's another good point to mention.

Halflings and Gnomes look about the same to approximately the same extent that Humans, Elves, and Dwarves look approximately the same.

As someone that plays weirdo races- Yeah, they ARE the same. Spock halloween costume level.

Give me big meaty tails*

*This comment has been sponsored by CALF (the Council for the Advancement of Lizard Folk)

Talk big, yet still pick bipedal humanoid body plans.

* This comment is sponsored by barathu

[Castilliano]

My image of Gnomes comes mostly from Gnomes, that coffee table book from around 50 years ago which portrayed them much like brownies, or tinier versions of garden gnomes for that matter with the same conical hat an all, living a rabbit-like lifestyle in burrows. Shannara helped too.

I wonder how much del Toro's gnomes have influenced the younger generation, i.e. Gnome Chompsky? "Whaddya' mean they don't have a bite attack? They're tiny shark people."

[Ravingdork]

Seems gnomes have evolved over the years.

GNOMES OF GOLARION, p.3 - Size & Shape wrote:

Gnomes are among the smallest of the so-called “civilized” races, with a slighter physique than halflings or dwarves, though near both in height. While somewhat taller than the average halfling, a gnome is rarely as heavy. Gnomes vary widely in skin and hair tone, yet such coloration has nothing to do with ethnicity, and even gnome twins can have wildly different appearances from each other and the rest of their family. The entire concept of ethnicity fascinates and amuses gnomes, especially when it becomes a source of racial tension. National allegiance or religious differences make slightly more sense to them, but f ighting and dying over skin color strikes most gnomes as unbelievably silly. As a result, gnomes have little interest in researching their varying colorations, resulting in many conf licting theories: some posit that gnomes’ hair color depends on the alignment of the stars at their birth, or the emotions felt by their parents during and immediately after pregnancy. Still others believe that a gnome’s coloration subtly hints at his destiny, often providing clues to who the gnome will become (which are inevitably only identif iable in hindsight). Gnome hair and skin is brightest during childhood, when everything is new and simply living is an experience of unparalleled novelty. A slight muting of skin and hair color is one of the first signs of adulthood, though few non-gnomes can identify this change. Variation in coloration of skin and hair apparently has only one limit: that no gnome except a bleachling can be perfectly white, and even those who appear to have white hair or skin upon first glance inevitably have slight traces of coloration at follicular roots or within skin wrinkles and cuticles.

Hilary Moon Murphy wrote:

I adore that they seek out danger to avoid bleaching. I love their obsessions and crazy colorations and weird ancestry feats.

I love that...

GNOMES OF GOLARION, p.3 - Opening Paragraph wrote:

One minute they’re laughing with childlike glee over the shape of a particular cloud or displaying their vast collection of insect heads, and the next they’re singing a happy tune while wallowing shoulder-deep in the intestines of a slain enemy.

[Elfteiroh]

All the "of Golarion" ancestry books of the D&D and PF1 era are... pretty much outdated. "Elves" specifically need to be completely ignored cause it was written by someone that thought they were the same as D&D elves, talking of trance and stuff, when it's not something Pathfinder ever had.

[Maya Coleman]

Tactical Drongo wrote:

halflings are short humans

gnomes are short half-fey elves

if you keep it in mind like that, theres plenty of difference already

This is how I see it too!! Yes, yes, yes!

[Kan Himaa]

BotBrain wrote:

Pathfinder gnomes honestly completely sold me on gnomes as a fantasy trope. I can't put my finger on it but I really like pathfinders gnomes, and I agree. they should be more obviously fey-like. Maybe a greater emphasis on pointed ears and wild hairstyles.

That's because the DnD gnomes and dwarves are both cut from the same cloth. The original gnomes in folklore are humanoid spirits that live in the earth and have a relationship to the natural elements of the world. Their most common depiction is an elderly man with a conical hat and fuzzy white beard.

The Tolkien dwarves are a twist on the gnomes where they basically became these stout and strong beings living in the earth that are hardy workers.

Snow White and the seven dwarves has so many direct callback to the folklore gnomes in the form of the seven dwarves it is kind of on the nose.

DnD ended up having gnomes become this intermediary between dwarves, elves, and halflings. (Also the halflings happen to live inside hills, so they also are somewhat related to the folklore gnomes).

Pathfinder 2e gnomes basically have nothing to do with the folklore gnomes outside of being magical creatures. They're more loosely related to Seelie Court fairies from scottish folklore but do carry over some of the classic gnome with burrowing animals. Gnomes don't live underground themselves in PF2e and need to constantly be doing something adventurous or slinging a good story to keep themselves alive. This tends to jive more with fairies that childishly go around playing games.

[Scarablob]

Yeah, I never really understood why in DnD gnome were a "core race" like the human, elves, dwarves and halfling. They seemed to only exist to be "halfling, but magical", as if since halfling were stereotyped into being only rogues and bards, they had to have this other small race that made good wizard, druid and cleric. But making your halfling a full magic user was still perfectly viable, just a bit subpar compared to races with int or wis bonus, so I didn't get why the gnome had to be here.

Pathfinder really gave them an identity that make them feel like an actually worthwhile addition to the lineup, and not like just an overgrown halfling subtype.

EDIT : I just posted this so I feel a bit silly to immediately edit it, but now that I though about it some more, the original inclusion of the gnome in the "core" lineup in dnd probably had something to do with the race/class limitation of the second edition. I remember that only very few classes were open to halfling in the OG baldur gates, so I guess that in that system "halfling but open to magical class" really was something necessary. And if that's the case, I guess that the edition just grandfathered gnome in the core lineup even if they didn't really had a strong reason to exist once that limtation was removed.

[Dragonchess Player]

Kan Himaa wrote:

The Tolkien dwarves are a twist on the gnomes where they basically became these stout and strong beings living in the earth that are hardy workers.

Not quite.

Tolkien's dwarves were not based on earth-spirit gnomes/goblins/kobolds (a lot of overlap) from (IIRC) Celtic/Gaul/Germanic folklore. Tolkien based his dwarves mainly on Norse myth, with some "borrowing" from the Twelve Tribes of Israel (changed to the Seven Dwarven Kindred).

[Kan Himaa]

Dragonchess Player wrote:

Kan Himaa wrote:

The Tolkien dwarves are a twist on the gnomes where they basically became these stout and strong beings living in the earth that are hardy workers.

Not quite.

Tolkien's dwarves were not based on earth-spirit gnomes/goblins/kobolds (a lot of overlap) from (IIRC) Celtic/Gaul/Germanic folklore. Tolkien based his dwarves mainly on Norse myth, with some "borrowing" from the Twelve Tribes of Israel (changed to the Seven Dwarven Kindred).

Ah, that actually makes more sense.

[Dragonchess Player]

Scarablob wrote:

Yeah, I never really understood why in DnD gnome were a "core race" like the human, elves, dwarves and halfling. They seemed to only exist to be "halfling, but magical", as if since halfling were stereotyped into being only rogues and bards, they had to have this other small race that made good wizard, druid and cleric. But making your halfling a full magic user was still perfectly viable, just a bit subpar compared to races with int or wis bonus, so I didn't get why the gnome had to be here.

Pathfinder really gave them an identity that make them feel like an actually worthwhile addition to the lineup, and not like just an overgrown halfling subtype.

EDIT : I just posted this so I feel a bit silly to immediately edit it, but now that I though about it some more, the original inclusion of the gnome in the "core" lineup in dnd probably had something to do with the race/class limitation of the second edition. I remember that only very few classes were open to halfling in the OG baldur gates, so I guess that in that system "halfling but open to magical class" really was something necessary. And if that's the case, I guess that the edition just grandfathered gnome in the core lineup even if they didn't really had a strong reason to exist once that limtation was removed.

You have to go back to AD&D first edition, really. The race/class limitations in the AD&D 1st Ed Player's Handbook:

Gnome- Cleric (NPCs only), fighter, illusionist (a separate "sub-class" instead of a "school specialist" magic-user in AD&D 1st Ed), thief, and assassin (a "sub-class" of thief);
Halfling- Druid (NPC only), fighter, and thief.

The AD&D 1st Ed Unearthed Arcana expanded things a bit, allowing gnome PC clerics as well as halfling PC clerics and druids. Unearthed Arcana also allowed for PC deep gnomes, with ties to the Elemental Plane of Earth (closer to some gnomes in folklore).

Essentially, AD&D gnomes were originally more aligned with being illusionists/tricksters and halflings were more aligned with farming/nature or being thieves.

[Pirate Rob]

Scarablob wrote:

Yeah, I never really understood why in DnD gnome were a "core race"

D&D 4e agreed with you and dropped gnome from the core lineup.

[Hilary Moon Murphy]

Pirate Rob wrote:

Scarablob wrote:

Yeah, I never really understood why in DnD gnome were a "core race"

D&D 4e agreed with you and dropped gnome from the core lineup.

...and faced a storm of protest, for gnome fans are as mighty in spirit as they are small in stature.

[Karys]

Pirate Rob wrote:

Scarablob wrote:

Yeah, I never really understood why in DnD gnome were a "core race"

D&D 4e agreed with you and dropped gnome from the core lineup.

I'm starting to understand why 4e was so unpopular. /j

[Bluemagetim]

Fey Gnomes are a big step up from lawn Gnomes or skinny Dwarves conceptually.

[Justnobodyfqwl]

I think Pathfinder Gnomes are heads above (sorry) the others. It's a very simple and intuitive hook that can be played a lot of ways, and naturally lends itself towards adventuring.

My favorite gnome i've ever played brought her needless complication and labyrinthine gnome-logic....to the Kafka-style magic bureaucracy of the city-state she works for. She's the reason the magic DMV takes so long, sorry everyone.

[Scarablob]

Yeah, I think the "hook" was the issue for me at least. I know that some peoples liked gnomes and played them in dnd, but I had trouble getting what the gnome "hook" was supposed to be appart from "slightly more whimsical halfling". Pathfinder tying them more to the feys, and giving them a very different lifecycle and outlook on life when compared to the other core ancestry meanwhile really made them standout on their own, and made me consider actually playing one instead of defaulting to halfling for all my smallfolk needs.

Now that I'm actually taking time to think about them, I guess that "gnome are whimsical while halfling are more grounded" have always been how they've been defined (or at least, in the editions I touched), but I still think that the dnd version lacked something to trully set them appart.

[PossibleCabbage]

I've always liked gnomes, but never saw any use for halflings. I suspect this might be a Coke vs. Pepsi thing.

[Scarablob]

The coke vs pepsi comparison quite aptly describe how I felt about the gnome/halfling, because to me they seemed so close in flavor that if you like one over the other, you have basically no reason to ever try the other. I didn't have such issue with the dwarves or elves for exemple, despite prefering halfling over them, there were still elves/dwarves character concept that I though about that didn't really fited halfling.

[Aristophanes]

Pirate Rob wrote:

Scarablob wrote:

Yeah, I never really understood why in DnD gnome were a "core race"

D&D 4e agreed with you and dropped gnome from the core lineup.

4E Gnome: "I'm a monster! RRAWRR."

[BotBrain]

Aristophanes wrote:

Pirate Rob wrote:

Scarablob wrote:

Yeah, I never really understood why in DnD gnome were a "core race"

D&D 4e agreed with you and dropped gnome from the core lineup.

4E Gnome: "I'm a monster! RRAWRR."

Aww... aren't you a cute little fella

OW! OW! My shins!

[keftiu]

Forever missing how 4e's Gnomes had the same sort of spooky eyes that Golarion's elves do. That, their sharp teeth, and their lore as creatures who had to escape being oppressed and underfoot in the Feywild really gave them a clear identity in a way I don't think I've ever fully seen since.

[Scarablob]

Back on the actual subject of this thread, I think the issue with physically differentiating gnomes and halfling better might be solved not by changing the gnomes, but the halfling instead.

Right now, from what I can see by scouring every pathfinder halfling picture I can get my hand on, they are represented sometime with adult human proportion but smaller, and sometime with a disproportionally large head compared to their body (like, a head almost as large as their entire body). Gnomes meanwhile, always have a that big head, and the picture of characters that seems ambiguous on wether they are halfling or gnome all have that big head. So to me, the simplest "fix" for that issue would be to decide that "small head halfling" is the canonical way they look in golarion.

Now, while I say "simplest", I do get that each artist have their own vision of what each ancestry looks like, which is probably what created this "small head vs big head halfling" discrepancy in the first place. So even if it's the simplest choice on paper, it might not be the easiest to implement (as shown by the fact that even today, elves with "human" eyes show up in pathfinder books every now and again, despite the monocolor eye being their canon look since the launch of pathfinder).

[Bluemagetim]

Some Gnome pages.

Player Core pgs 50, 53, and lini on 122, 126, 129 or anywhere she is drawn look good.
But
The Gnome on page 100 of divine mysteries… that guy has crossed into bobble head territory.

If the lost omens guide is ever redone
I personally like the feychild (also PC 53) and keenspark art, not really the rest of the gnomes there.

[Scarablob]

Speaking of the lost Omen world guide, the character at page 130 really show the issue quite clearly. I assume it's a gnome since she have a very big head and wear shoes, but it could very well be a halfling since some of them are shown to have just as large a head, and clothes (or the lack of them) shouldn't be the sole "tell" of an ancestry. In the grand scheme of things it's a rather small issue, but I'd like if it was made a bit clearer.

Altho to be perfectly honest, my "fix" of simply making sure that halfling heads are kept smaller than the gnome's isn't solely about this. It's also because while I think that the big head "fit" the gnome, with their more cartoonish feature (bigger eye, the color and flow of their hair and eyebrows...), I find that it often just look weird on the halflings. It's not always the case, but often enough that I think their head should be a bit smaller as a baseline. I get that the big head is an easy way of indicating that "this is a small character" when they are just alone on the page and without any point of comparison, but I can't help but think that there must be a more elegant way to do it.

[Bluemagetim]

Scarablob wrote:

Speaking of the lost Omen world guide, the character at page 130 really show the issue quite clearly. I assume it's a gnome since she have a very big head and wear shoes, but it could very well be a halfling since some of them are shown to have just as large a head, and clothes (or the lack of them) shouldn't be the sole "tell" of an ancestry. In the grand scheme of things it's a rather small issue, but I'd like if it was made a bit clearer.

Altho to be perfectly honest, my "fix" of simply making sure that halfling heads are kept smaller than the gnome's isn't solely about this. It's also because while I think that the big head "fit" the gnome, with their more cartoonish feature (bigger eye, the color and flow of their hair and eyebrows...), I find that it often just look weird on the halflings. It's not always the case, but often enough that I think their head should be a bit smaller as a baseline. I get that the big head is an easy way of indicating that "this is a small character" when they are just alone on the page and without any point of comparison, but I can't help but think that there must be a more elegant way to do it.

I actually really like that art on 130 of the world guide. For me they shouldnt really be distinguishable when wearing head gear like that. I like the idea that small society has a few ancestries that couldnt be easily differentiated in a crowd with a little effort covering key features. Kinda another reason the furrfeet bother me.

Given the halfling depictions elswhere in the books that character has to be a Gnome. You mentioned the feet wearing shoes, but also the body shape looks more like it does on other Gnome art.
I mean Paizo should go with the image they have in mind to depict these ancestries how they envision them, its their vision after all. I will keep drawing them the way i envision them for my own games.
The way I like to draw them, If you didnt have reference objects in the art you wouldnt be able to tell they were 3 feet tall.
If a human is shrunk to hafling size they can pass as halflings for example.