G nome

Sk i n n y a n d f l a x e n - h a ir e d , h is s k in

walnut brown and his eyes a startling

turquoise, Burgell stood half as tall asAeron
climb up on a stool to look out the peephole. Like most hab-
itations in Oeble, that particular tenement had been built
for humans, and smaller residents coped with the resulting
awkwardness as best they could.
But at least the relative largeness of the apartment gave
Burgell room to pack in all his gnome-sized gear. The front
room was his workshop, and it contained a bewildering
miscellany of tools: hammers, chisels, saws, lockpicks, fair hair has a tendency to stick out in every direction,
as if expressing the gnom e’s insatiable interest in
tinted lenses, jeweler's loupes, and jars of powdered and
everything around.
shredded ingredients for casting spells. A fat gray cat, the A g n om e’s person ality is writ large in his or her
mage’s familiar, lay curled atop a grimoire. It opened its appearance. A m ale g n om e’s beard, in contrast to
eyes, gave Aeron a disdainfulyellow stare, then appeared his w ild hair, is kept carefully trim m ed but often
styled into cu riou s forks or neat points. A g n om e’s
to go back to sleep.
clothing, though usually m ade in m od est earth tones,
—R ich a r d L ee Byers, The Black Bouquet is elaborately d ecorated w ith em broidery, em bossin g,
or gleam ing jew els.
A constant hum o f busy activity p ervades the w arren s
and n eigh b orh ood s w h ere g n om es form their close- D elig h ted D ed icatio n
knit com m u n ities. L ou der sou n d s punctuate the hum:
A s far as g n om es are con cern ed , bein g alive is a
a cru n ch o f grinding gears here, a m inor explosion
w onderfu l thing, and they sq u eeze every o u n ce o f
there, a yelp o f su rprise or triumph, and esp ecially
enjoym ent out o f their three to five centuries o f life.
bursts o f laughter. G n om es take delight in life, enjoying
H um ans m ight w on d er about getting bored over the
every m om ent o f invention, exploration, investigation,
co u rse o f such a long life, and elves take plenty o f time
creation, and play.
to savor the beauties o f the w orld in their long years, but
g n om es seem to w orry that even w ith all that tim e, they
V ib r a n t E xpr essio n
ca n ’t get in en ough o f the things they w ant to do and see.
A g n om e’s en ergy and enthusiasm for living shines G n om es sp eak as if they ca n ’t get the thoughts
th rough every inch o f his or her tiny body. G n om es out o f their heads fast enough. Even as they offer
average slightly over 3 feet tall and w eigh 40 to 45 ideas and opin ion s on a range o f subjects, they still
pou nd s. T heir tan or brow n faces are usually adorn ed m anage to listen carefully to others, adding the
w ith broad sm iles (beneath their p rod ig iou s n oses), appropriate exclam ations o f su rprise and appreciation
and their bright eyes shine with excitement. Their along the way.

T h ough g n om es love jo k e s o f all kinds, particularly
puns and pranks, th ey’re ju st as dedicated to the m ore
seriou s tasks they undertake. M any g n om es are skilled
engineers, alchem ists, tinkers, and inventors. T h ey ’re
w illing to m ake m istakes and laugh at them selves in
the p r o ce s s o f perfectin g w hat they do, taking bold
(som etim es foolhardy) risks and dream in g large.
B rig h t B urrow s
G n om es m ake their h om es in hilly, w o o d e d lands. They
live underground but get m ore fresh air than dw arves
do, enjoying the natural, living w orld on the surface
w henever they can. T h eir h om es are w ell hidden by
both clever construction and sim ple illusions. W elcom e
visitors are quickly u sh ered into the bright, w arm
bu rrow s. T h ose w h o are not w elcom e are unlikely to
find the bu rrow s in the first place.
G n om es w h o settle in hum an lands are com m on ly
gem cutters, engineers, sages, or tinkers. S o m e hum an
fam ilies retain gnom e tutors, en su ring that their pupils
enjoy a m ix o f seriou s learning and delighted enjoym ent.
A gnom e m ight tutor several generations o f a single
hum an fam ily over the cou rse o f his or her long life.
G nome Names
G n om es love nam es, and m ost have h alf a d ozen or so.
A gnom e's mother, father, clan elder, aunts, and uncles
each give the gnom e a nam e, and various nick n am es
from ju st about everyone else m ight or m ight not stick
over time. G n om e n am es are typically variants on the
n am es o f an cestors or distant relatives, though som e
are purely n ew inventions. W h en dealing w ith hum ans
and others w h o are “stuffy” about nam es, a gnom e
learns to use no m ore than three nam es: a personal
nam e, a clan nam e, and a nicknam e, ch oosin g the on e in
each category that’s the m ost fun to say.
D eep G no m es
A third subrace o f gnomes, the deep gnomes (or svirfneblin),
live in small communities scattered in the Underdark. Unlike
the duergar and the drow, svirfneblin are as good as their
surface cousins. However, their humor and enthusiasm
are dampened by their oppressive environment, and their
inventive expertise is directed mostly toward stonework.
Male Nam es: Alston, Alvyn, B odd yn ock, B rocc, Burgell,
D im ble, Eldon, Erky, Fonkin, Frug, G erbo, G im ble,
Glim, Jebeddo, K ellen, N am foodle, Orryn, R oondar,
S ee b o , Sindri, W arryn, W renn, Z o o k
Female Names: B im pnottin, Breena, Caram ip, Carlin,
D onella, Duvam il, Ella, Ellyjobell, Ellyw ick, Lilli,
L oopm ottin, Lorilla, M ardnab, N issa, Nyx, Oda, Orla,
R oyw yn , Sham il, Tana, W ayw ocket, Zanna
Clan Names: Beren, D aergel, Folkor, G arrick, Nackle,
M urnig, Ningel, Raulnor, S ch ep p en , Tim bers, Turen
Nicknames: A leslosh, Ashhearth, Badger, Cloak,
D oublelock, Filchbatter, Fnipper, Ku, Nim , O neshoe,
P ock , Sparklegem , Stum bleduck
Seein g th e W orld
C urious and im pulsive, g n om es m ight take up
adventuring as a w ay to see the w orld or for the love
o f exploring. A s lovers o f gem s and other fine items,
som e g n om es take to adventuring as a quick, if
dangerous, path to wealth. R egardless o f w hat spurs
them to adventure, g n om es w h o adopt this w ay o f life
eke as m uch enjoym ent out o f it as they d o out o f any
other activity they undertake, som etim es to the great
annoyance o f their adventuring com pan ion s.
G n o m e T r aits
Y our gnom e character has certain characteristics in
co m m o n with all other gnom es.
Ability Score Increase. Your Intelligence sco re
in creases by 2.
Age. G n om es m ature at the sam e rate hum ans do, and
m ost are expected to settle dow n into an adult life by
around age 40. Th ey ca n live 35 0 to alm ost 5 0 0 years.
Alignment. G n om es are m ost often g ood. T h ose w ho
tend tow ard law are sages, engineers, researchers,
sch olars, investigators, or inventors. T h o se w h o tend
tow ard ch a os are m instrels, tricksters, w anderers,
or fanciful jew elers. G n om es are good-hearted, and
 A lw ays A p p r e c ia t iv e Ability Score Increase. Your Constitution sco re
It’s rare for a gnome to be hostile or malicious unless he in creases by 1.
or she has suffered a grievous injury. Gnomes know that Artificer’s Lore. W h enever you m ake an Intelligence
most races don’t share their sense o f humor, but they enjoy (H istory) ch eck related to m agic item s, alchem ical
anyone's company just as they enjoy everything else they set objects, or tech n ological devices, you can add tw ice your
out to do. proficiency bonus, instead o f any p roficiency bon u s you
n orm ally apply.
even the tricksters am ong them are m ore playful Tinker. You have proficiency with artisan’s tools
than vicious. (tinker’s tools). U sing th ose tools, you can spend 1
Size. G n om es are betw een 3 and 4 feet tall and hour and 10 gp w orth o f m aterials to con stru ct a Tiny
average about 4 0 pou nds. Your size is Sm all. clock w ork device (AC 5, 1 hp). T h e device c e a se s
Speed. Your base w alkin g sp eed is 25 feet. to function after 24 h ours (unless you spend 1 hour
Darkvision. A ccu stom ed to life underground, you have repairing it to keep the device functioning), or w hen
su perior vision in dark and dim condition s. You can you use your action to dism antle it; at that tim e, you can
see in dim light w ithin 60 feet o f you as if it w ere bright reclaim the m aterials u sed to create it. You can have up
light, and in darkn ess as if it w ere dim light. You can't to three such devices active at a time.
discern color in darkness, only sh ad es o f gray. W h en you create a device, c h o o s e on e o f the
Gnome Cunning. You have advantage on all follow in g options:
Intelligence, W isdom , and C harism a saving throw s
Clockwork Toy. T h is toy is a clock w ork anim al, monster,
against m agic.
or person , such as a frog, m ou se, bird, dragon, or
Languages. You can speak, read, and w rite C om m on
soldier. W h en placed on the ground, the toy m oves
and G nom ish. T h e G nom ish language, w hich u ses the
5 feet a cro ss the ground on each o f your turns in a
D w arvish script, is ren ow n ed for its technical treatises
random direction. It m akes n oises as appropriate
and its catalogs o f k n ow led ge about the natural world.
to the creature it represents.
Subrace. Tw o su braces o f g n om es are found am ong
Fire Starter. The device p rod u ces a m iniature
the w orlds o f D & D : forest g n om es and rock gnom es.
flame, w hich you can use to light a candle,
C h oose one o f these subraces.
torch, or cam pfire. U sing the device
Forest G nome requ ires your action.
A s a forest gnom e, you have a natural knack for illusion Music Box. W h en open ed, this m u sic box
and inherent qu ick n ess and stealth. In the w orlds of plays a single son g at a m oderate volum e.
D&D, forest g n om es are rare and secretive. Th ey gather The b ox stops playing w hen it
in hidden com m u n ities in sylvan forests, usin g illusions reach es the s o n g ’s end or
and trickery to co n ce a l them selves from threats or w hen it is closed.
to m ask their esca p e should they be detected. Forest
g n om es tend to be friendly with other good-spirited
w ood la n d folk, and they regard elves and g o o d fey as
their m ost im portant allies. T h ese g n om es also befriend
sm all forest anim als and rely on them for inform ation
about threats that might prow l their lands.
Ability Score Increase. Your D exterity s co re
in creases by 1.
Natural Illusionist. You k n ow the minor illusion
cantrip. Intelligence is your spellcastin g ability for it.
Speak with Small Beasts. T h rou gh sou n d s and
gestures, you can com m u n icate sim ple ideas w ith Sm all
or sm aller beasts. Forest g n om es love anim als and often
keep squirrels, badgers, rabbits, m oles, w ood p eck ers,
and other creatures as beloved pets.

Rock G nome
A s a rock gnom e, you have a natural inventiveness and
h ardin ess beyon d that o f other g n om es. M ost gn om es
in the w orld s o f D & D are rock gnom es, including the
tinker g n om es o f the D ragon lance setting.