I'm sure pretty much everyone remembers the "No Gnomes!" videos and other similar advertisements that WotC used when it was rolling 4e out the door. Somehow "No Gnomes!" was supposed to be a selling point.
How did the little buggers get such a bad rap?
In AD&D, the were the only non-elf (or non-half-elf) race to get access to arcane magic, although they did it as illusionists.
In the realm of OSR retroclones, halflings might get slighted, but they aren't overlooked like gnomes are:
Swords & Wizardry - Gnome free
Labyrinth Lord - I believe they make their appearance in the Advanced Edition Characters book
LotFP Weird Fantasy - Just be happy halflings made the cut and don't ask about the gnomes. They're probably being corrupted as I write this.
ACKS - Halflings were omitted on purpose. Gnomes weren't even thought about enough to be purposefully mitted - the were just left out.
Is it just because they were one of the last races (certainly the last race that wasn't a hal breed) that was added to the adventuring mix that they suffer this oversight? Is it because they are some ill defined quasi cousins of dwarves? Is it the curse of the Garden Gnomes that keep them down? Did the Tinker Gnomes of Krynn use up the last of the goodwill that was aimed in the Gnome's direction?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Tenkar's Tavern is supported by various affiliate programs, including Amazon, RPGNow,
and Humble Bundle as well as Patreon. Your patronage is appreciated and helps keep the
lights on and the taps flowing. Your Humble Bartender, Tenkar
Blogs of Inspiration & Erudition
-
-
Kickstart Your Weekend: Horror and Sci-Fi! - A nice mix today. Let's get to it. *Frightshow Classics* [image: Frightshow Classics] https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/frightshowclassics/frightshow...8 hours ago
-
Friday Fantasy: Asterion - It is difficult to describe what *Asterion* is without being as direct as its author is. So not to beat about the bush, *Asterion* is a sex dungeon. *Ast...8 hours ago
-
Dark Sun Campaign Setting (Expanded and Revised Edition) (1995) - From the back of the box: A decade has passed since the Age of Heroes began. The city of Tyr has broken free of tyranny, though turmoil still holds the w...16 hours ago
-
Deeper & Deeper Into The Station From Hell - The Red Room's Orbital Decay & Night Owl Workshop's Colonial Troopers - Session Report - Tonight's DM Paul's Colonial Troopers/Orbital Decay campaign and tonight's game picks right up where we were in last week's session. Our scientist Pu ar ...22 hours ago
-
More thoughts on Only Heroes Get to Resist - I've never implemented this rule, but I keep thinking about running a game that would use it: Only Heroes Get to Resist I have a few more thoughts on it, ...1 day ago
-
QuarHammer - I stumbled, addled, into my local semi-rural game store in search of off-brand Contrast paint to finish up Ionus Cryptborn, and while wandering around, I ...1 day ago
-
More (Mostly Pointless) Messing About - I thought I would try an experiment: I re-scaled one of Bergman's 1:100 Char B-I (bis) models to 1:200 and printed it on my Mars Pro. It's the yellow ...1 day ago
-
-
grodog's Founders & Legends and GaryCon XVI Convention Reports - 14-25 March 2024 - Part 3 - GaryCon XVI – Thank YOUs and SwagContinued from *Part 1 – Arrival through Founders & Legends and Interregnum Tuesday* and from *Part 2 - GaryCon XVI – 20-2...1 day ago
-
Stonehell: Dipping their toes in the sewer - Session 227 was played on 9/24/23 Morgana, Magic User (Rob) Blotto, Goblin Fighter (Lanse) Koltic, Cleric 7 (NPC) Aroon, Fighter 5 (NPC) Jameth, Fighter 5...1 day ago
-
AD&D ability tests, streamlined - As I've mentioned in my Hyperborea review (check it pout!), I really liked how the game tries to streamline AD&D ability checks: This is a simpler versi...1 day ago
-
On preparing adventures for the Ghostbusters RPG - With my mind on a lot of things lately related to West End Games' classic RPG *Ghostbusters*, I was thinking of putting together a blog entry offering so...1 day ago
-
d100 Wasteland Weirdos - Possibly some Charginspire leaked onto our new album. Sampler short https://youtube.com/shorts/Yj7jn40iomM?si=dflfJ10EdYYJqMYr My Gunderholfen solo play...2 days ago
-
Standoff at Sandfell Sea Fort - By MalrexThe Merciless MerchantsOSR/1e/2eLevels 4-7 Eerie lights? Strange noises? Ships are sailing blind into the rough shores of the Bay of Saurvorn. Why...2 days ago
-
A World in a Magazine - Four years ago, I wrote about my history with miniature games and getting back into them during the lockdown. Summer 1995 saw me seduced by the world of ...2 days ago
-
Living Rooms, Beyond the Living Room, and The Open Form Broadside - Living rooms set to liven up your RPG adventures, and a broadside journal set to stimulate those little grey cells... Rob Kuntz's latest releases! *Livin...4 days ago
-
Return to the Known Lands – Session #43 – Beware of Strangers with Magic Swords, Pt. 2 - PCs: - Frakus (Dw FM 3) - Osan (Elf F/MU 4/2) - Omes (Half FM) - Arro (MU 3) NPCs: - Marnes (CL 4) - Burdar (Dw FM 1) -...5 days ago
-
New Printable Scenery Campaign: Ramshackle & Ruin - [image: New Printable Scenery Campaign: Ramshackle & Ruin] I don't know how many of my peeps here are into 3d printing, but I'm always collecting the STL ...1 week ago
-
Play as Sculpture, Play as Prism - Watching my eldest child and friends engaging in imaginative play, I'm often struck by the fact that what seems to excite them is deciding who gets to be...1 week ago
-
OSR: Mirrors, Cubes, Rods, Staves, and the Deck of Motley Things - I've written another 10 pages of the Treasure Overhaul (title pending), a condensed magic item compendium for old-school games. Unlike the first two prev...1 week ago
-
Session #12 & Adventure Sites Compilation - Firstly, I wanted to let everybody know that Adventure Sites I by Coldlight Press is now available as a free download on DriveThruRPG. It includes my own...2 weeks ago
-
The Evolution of Gaming, or Why My Thoughts on Gaming have Changed Drastically Over Time - I have been thinking about this for quite a long time and though I am not an eloquent man, I thought I should put these random and chaotic thoughts down in...2 weeks ago
-
The Release of How to Make a Fantasy Sandbox and the Isle of Pyade - The Release With the successful conclusion and fulfillment of my Kickstarter, I am releasing How to Make a Fantasy Sandbox and The Isle of Pyade to the publ...2 weeks ago
-
Clerics of the Flanaess, Part 2 - Sorry it took so long to get to the next article in this series, but here we are! This continues the details of specialty clerics for the World of Greyhawk...2 weeks ago
-
On the Sector Turn - It's very simple. There are many important things cybertechtronically enhanced secret agents need to do: Buy illegal tanks with railguns. "Convince" the...3 weeks ago
-
Arsenic & Old Lace (a Review)... - The free-kriegsspiel revolution (or FKR; sometimes free-kriegsspiel roleplay) has been getting a lot of attention lately, which seems inevitable given re...3 weeks ago
-
The Light Dawns - THIS!!! Yes, a thousand times, this! Back in the day, I referred to this as “neo-classicalgaming,” which is to say, the sorts of games that came ou...3 weeks ago
-
Improvised Awful Lights Missions - Asking about The Awful Lights, a commenter asks: *I'd love to hear about how this is run - with the Handler determining mission location and objectives ...3 weeks ago
-
Jim Ward's Adventure in Gygax's Wonderland - Last weekend at GaryCon, many of us raised a glass to the memory of Jim Ward, who passed away just days before the convention. Ward was very helpful to m...3 weeks ago
-
It’s Tolkien Reading Day - I recently started rereading *The Silmarillion*. I had last read it over two decades ago. I liked it then but I’m really enjoying it this time! Despite b...4 weeks ago
-
Osr anchorites? - It's been a long time since I listened to any osr podcasts. Anchor was a lot of fun. I'm not sure if the community is still going? I deleted the app ...5 weeks ago
-
Chaos War Dogs - Welcome back to the Vault! My gaming partner and I had a fun day at the Meme Team doubles last weekend, placing mid-table results wise. My eye is now lo...5 weeks ago
-
ShadowDark Magic Items - The next campaign I run will use the ShadowDark RPG. I'm not sure when that'll be (I'm hoping a little later this year), but ShadowDark is my choice. I'v...1 month ago
-
Xandering, Jaquaysing, or Arneson-ing the Dungeon? - Yet another gamer firestorm arose shortly after the passing of Janelle Jaquays when it was noted that Justin Alexander had changed a rather well known p...2 months ago
-
GLOG Class: Bioweapon - I got this idea from mad gods on bear blog. Crab Evo from Kagaku Sentai Dynaman A thousand soldiers were slain. Too many to be tragic--this is just a fact...2 months ago
-
The Economy Engine, v0.2 - I made a thing. For D&D 3rd edition, so it might not be that interesting to a lot of people. But I made it and I think it’s cool. The 3rd edition Dungeon M...2 months ago
-
*'s in SpaaaaaAaaaace - A lot of SF (including a certain 2D6 RPG grandaddy) deal with ancient aliens taking humans from Earth and dropping them, fleas and all, on one or more w...3 months ago
-
[MODULE] The Webs of Past and Present & Cloister of the Frog-God (NOW AVAILABLE!) - Can you have enough frog-themed modules? I am pleased to announce the publication of two adventure modules, *The Webs of Past and Present *and *Cloister of...3 months ago
-
What Else Have I Got in Me? - Brechewold's been done for a little while. Still incredibly pumped to have this labor of love out in the company of LotFP's marvelously creative body of ...3 months ago
-
Housekeeping 2024 - Coactus Illustration © Heather Gwinn. A gift she gave me in 2013 for an edition of Miscreated Creatures which I hope exists someday. Coloring by me. I am a...3 months ago
-
Last move - to self-hosting! - As my vote regarding Substack in the “marketplace of ideas”, I’m moving to self-hosting. I’m now at (and hopefully staying for a long time at) Blog: ht...3 months ago
-
Sex-Crazed Falling Stars, Free Weather Magic, and Adventures: News of the Hill Cantons - *Grandma Gaya, the Rav-Witch of High Kezmarok*, seeks the stout of limb and humble of mind in the *obtaining of fallen stars* from an upcoming prophesied ...3 months ago
-
Time Rolls On - Today is December 31, 2023, in the mid-afternoon. In less than ten hours it will be 2024. 2023 2023 was a good year. But all years are good years. Both goo...3 months ago
-
Play Report: Skull Mountain - At the end of the last Skull Mountain session the PCs had retreated to safety at Owen's redoubt, met with visiting elves, and recovered from injuries ...5 months ago
-
-
Moving On... - So, my D&D 5e experiment has blown up the lab in a puff of green smoke leaving my face blackened like Wile E. Coyote after a failed roadrunner Acme trap...10 months ago
-
How to Keep Megadungeons Fresh - People often consider megadungeons boring. Not because the play style is boring, but because they are in the same locale for a majority of the campaign. If...11 months ago
-
ODIOUS UPLANDS and COMPLETELY UNFATHOMABLE DCC AT LAST - NOW AVAILABLE in PDF and Print on Demand:ODIOUS UPLANDS and COMPLETELY UNFATHOMABLE (DCC)CLICK HERE TO BUY NOW! SO YOU SURVIVED OPERATION UNFATHOMABLE? Od...1 year ago
-
The Blade Itself - I just finished listening to the audiobook of The Blade Itself, volume one in Joe Abercrombie’s The First Law trilogy. This was my first exposure to his wo...1 year ago
-
Master Treasure Seeker: A Dungeon23 MegaDungeon - Introduction - Sean McCoy, author of Mothership, posted an article on his substack titled Dungeon23 and it's taken the indie RPG scene by storm. So, I'm throwing my hat...1 year ago
-
Genteel Magistrate at FenCon XVIII - Victorious author Mike Stewart will be a guest at FenCon XVIII this weekend at the Sheraton DFW Airport hotel, 4440 W. John Carpenter Freeway, Irving, TX, ...1 year ago
-
Osamu Tezuka (1928 - 1989) - [image: Osamu Tezuka - Shonen Magazine Cover, 1970]Shonen Magazine Cover, 1970 [image: Osamu Tezuka - Shonen Magazine Cover Illustration 1970]Shonen Maga...1 year ago
-
Helvéczia: Journal de Campagne, 3 - We resumed play this past week, joining the company still within the farmstead where those that remain of the seven knaves are restrained or incapacitate...1 year ago
-
This is an Important Game Mechanic - *"That's the GM's Regional Map from my AOWG. And it's a damned good regional map. It's not a good map for a Simple Homebrew Campaign. It does some s$&...1 year ago
-
Clean Your Room - Looking back at my little blog here. That last post… wow, I was having fun playing WOW Classic! That was August of 1999 and I was having a blast… it was ...2 years ago
-
-
My RPG Zine Trilogy is on Kickstarter! - I can't believe I didn't post about it here! The Dead are Coming, Screams Amongst the Stars and Running Out of Time are on *Kickstarter right now!* Thes...3 years ago
-
Maximum HP 004, one week to go - Just one week to go for Maximum HP issue #004, the undead. We are pushing through stretch goals and wracking up contributions for the best issue yet. We...3 years ago
-
Steve Jackson Interview - James Maliszewski recently did an interview with Steve Jackson over on his Grognardia blog. Steve chats about the beginnings of The Fantasy Trip and upcomi...3 years ago
-
The Hero’s Journey 2nd Edition, Campbellian roleplaying at its best! - (this review done using the reviewers own purchased copy) I have been a James Michael Spahn fan since he wrote his Swords & Wizardry Companion. His writing...3 years ago
-
Undermountain Map Origins - As documented on the Ruins of Undermountain sales page, "TSR didn't actually use Ed Greenwood's original maps," at least not in their entirety. This post d...3 years ago
-
WB:FMAG Total Print Sales - Hello Folks, The last time I did a quick sales report was in September 2018. I pulled reports from Amazon, Lulu and DrivethruRPG from October to current fo...4 years ago
-
The Minotaur for Old-School Essentials - *Minotaur* *Requirements:* Minimum STR 9, Minimum CON 9 *Prime Requisite:* STR and CON *Hit Dice:* 1d10 *Maximum Level:* 8 *Armor:* Leather, including shield...4 years ago
-
WIZARDS OF POHJOLA - Init +0 Melee Atk • sword or dagger +1 (1d5 or 1d3) Ranged Atk • hot iron sparks +3 (1d4+2 to two targets within 20' but not closer than 5') AC 14 HD 12d...4 years ago
-
The Withered Crag custom print version for sale again - Just re-enabled the direct sales button for the custom print (classic style detached cover) version of F4 The Withered Crag, and also for F3 Many Gates of...4 years ago
-
Dungeons & Dragonmead Fall Schedule - *As you know, I run public classic Dungeons & Dragons games at **The Loaded Die**/Metro Detroit Game Night's Board Game Nigh at **Dragonmead**, in Warren...4 years ago
-
-
D&D Sling Damage vs. Large Targets - In many early editions of D&D, weapons were assigned two damage values: one for small/medium targets (i.e. man-sized) and one for large targets (giants and...4 years ago
-
James A. Smith, Jr. Memorial Video - A beloved father, devoted friend, and D&D Dungeon Master extraordinaire. We miss you! To view video, click here Memorial Video Note - The original video...5 years ago
-
Let's Talk About Pacing! - The idea, I think, is that the RPG is ultimately about the long game. Even rolling back to the early days of Basic & Expert, the goal of the player was...5 years ago
-
Profane and Profound Prep Part 2 - This is part 2 of my work to edit my magic items for a DMsGuild release, along with adding cursed items along the way. Here is part 1. Bone of a Saint 8000...5 years ago
-
SHORT BREAK. - I'm going to take a break for a week or so and will start up again in the New Year. Thanks for reading and we'll start with Level 6 when I get back.5 years ago
-
Iain Lovecraft, 3D Sculptor - Nope, it's got nothing to do with Cthulhu. I just did a video conversation with Iain Lovecraft, who designs 3D miniatures and terrain. If you're not doi...5 years ago
-
New website! - Slowly but surely, all the content here will make its way — in updated form! — to my new website: timbannock.com. For fairly obvious reasons, that site wil...5 years ago
-
Please Update Your Link! - If you're seeing this, it means your link to the Greyhawk Grognard blog is out of date. Please update your link to www.greyhawkgrognard.com (RSS feed is h...5 years ago
-
Mord Mar - Session 6 - We weren't able to play Mord Mar last week, due to a family funeral. This week we played on Monday for the first time, due to kids returning to school and ...5 years ago
-
A Small, Quiet Plea - There has been a great deal of discussing political agendas, social grievances, and personal attacks within the little corner of gaming that is my hobby....5 years ago
-
Don’t Sleep It’s Broken - Expanding/editing my comments from What Makes Something Broken G+ thread: “Broken”, for me, is anything that makes normal character choices, tactics, or ro...6 years ago
-
Swords & Wizardry Light-Themed Birthday Party - Last month, my wife and I helped our oldest to celebrate his birthday in style. Ever since 2013, we have hosted a themed birthday party for our now-15-ye...6 years ago
I've always hated Gnomes. I've always seen them as not different enough from Dwarves.
ReplyDeleteWhence did D&D get gnomes anyway? I can't recall any fantasy world with dward-sized gnoes. They're usually much smaller -- and hence less fit as player characters.
Don't be silly! It's the 'G' in Gnome. It's silent. Silent and sinister. How can anyone be comfortable around a species with a silent 'G' at the beginning of their name?
ReplyDeleteIt's also why no one trusts anyone named Hugh...
I've got a new gnome type slated for my Creature Compendium - it's a gnome with abilities beyond illusionist, with some inherent illusionist abilities (not as spells, but as "powers") and true arcane spellcasting ability, like traditional MUs.
ReplyDeleteIt's in the list of creatures in my post from yesterday - http://savevsdragon.blogspot.com/2012/08/160-new-oebx1e-monsters.html - look for "Gyrax (Gray Gnome)". And you should see the image I've drawn... it looks like EGG as a gnome! (I might finish it up for next week's Monster of the Week post.)
For the longest time I have had 3 rules when starting a new fantasy campaign:
ReplyDelete1) No attacking each-you can argue and roleplay all you want but once you attack each other the campaign is over. (Nothing kills campaigns faster than pvp.)
2) Must play the same gender as yourself. (Nothing breaks immersion faster than looking at the player and forgetting they are playing an opposite gender.)
3) No gnomes. (They serve no function race-wise and are silly.)
I have since relaxed on rule #3.
I've said it before many times, and now I say it again: F GNOMES! Stupidest race ever. I've hated them since I started playing D&D over 20 years ago.
ReplyDelete@Drance - tell us how you really feel ;)
ReplyDeleteIn 0/1/2 the main rationale for non humans was the JRRT connection. Elves, dwarves, half-orcs, etc. but no gnomes. Only non Tolkien race in the PHB1, and so kind of a third wheel. This is why ACKS feels it has to explain leaving out halflings but not gnomes,I'd say.
ReplyDelete@SAROE - good point.
ReplyDeleteHuh, i'm in the minority here: i love gnomes and about half of all my PCs where gnomes (including 1 svirfneblin).
ReplyDeleteWhat i liked about them was, that they were somewhat crazy and usually get away with it. Pull that level that sends down a comrade into a pit and when he is back up again, use your doggy-gaze and everything is allright...At least, that was the case in our group. Don't know why, but my gnome PCs were ALLWAYS forgiven (especially by the motherly priestess) *ha*
Gnomes are far and away my favorite demihuman race - they're one of only two demihumans to make the cut for my swashbuckling & sorcery campaign brainstorming.
ReplyDeleteThe problem, at least in 1e AD&D, is describing gnomes as 'cousins' to dwarves. Look at what gnomes can do which dwarves can't - cast illusions, talk to burrowing animals. Gnomes are more akin to brownies and leprechauns than they are dwarves. They are the largest and toughest of the wee folk.
A gnomish player character should always have illusionist as one of his classes, and she should be organizing every squirrel, gopher, and badger into a forest mafia.
I've always enjoyed gnome characters and make sure to include at least one in all the tourney adventures I create.
ReplyDeleteAll I can say for my part is that Majestic Wilderlands includes Gnomes.
ReplyDelete@Rob, if my next campaign is powered by the S&W Complete rules, as I suspect it will be, I'll need to dig out my copy of Majestic Wilderlands :)
ReplyDeleteI've always liked what Pathfinder did with Gnomes. They are immortal but are subject to a condition called the "bleaching" wherein they fade in both color and eventually in life force unless they, well, behave like Gnomes.
ReplyDelete"While gnomes are still immortal, they now require regular wondrous or vivid experiences to sustain themselves otherwise they begin to fade, their entire body losing all its colour. The condition is eventually fatal."
Wondrous and vivid experiences. Sounds like a good excuse to run some very fun and unique characters!
Thankfully, the new HackMaster has two different types of gnomes that you can play.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteFor what it's worth, I believe there's a "Gnome Trickster" class in the ACKs Players Companion.
ReplyDeleteJust came by to follow up what Ludanto said... the gnome makes a triumphant BX style reappearance as the Gnome Trickster in the ACKS companion...
ReplyDeleteI've often thought of nixing Dwarves and Halflings in favor of gnomes. The trick is making them utterly distinct from elves, rather than just the elvish halfling/dwarf/thing.
ReplyDeleteFWIW, it is generally held that gnomes come from the same source as Paladins and Trolls... "Three Hearts and Three Lions". I believe the character is named "Hugi", but it's been a few years since I read it.
ReplyDeleteI'm generally a fan of gnomes, far moreso than halflings. Halflings are short humans. There's really no place that you have halflings that don't work just fine substituting bucolic humans. I do agree, however, that they tend to suffer from diffusion... no one is quite sure what to make of them, so everyone makes of them different things.
My gnomes tend to be social and detail oriented. They like to talk things out with people, including people that most others wouldn't think of as people. When pressed, they fight hard, but they're usually prefer to talk about it, and deflect anger with jokes. If they have a besetting sin, it's a tendency to lose sight of big pictures, in favor of minutiae... humans may lose sight of the forest for the trees, but gnomes will lose sight of the forest for this one interesting rock. This is somewhat a side-effect of their long lives... while elves tend to let decades breeze by, letting events flow past them, gnomes get interested in mastering something... not even necessarily a skill, but simply a single object or device.
They build, but not Krynnishly... they're not physically strong, so they use devices to multiply their strength.
If you want players to play gnomes-you have to make them 'cool'.
ReplyDeleteSo marry the gnomes to your torture theme for D&D.
Want someone to talk? Let the gnome have him alone in a locked room for ten minutes.
"No, no! Not the gnomes! Anything but the gnomes! GNOOOoooo....!!!!"
Halflings, of course, are the pyromaniacs-so fire is covered.
"The trick is making them utterly distinct from elves, rather than just the elvish halfling/dwarf/thing."
ReplyDeleteThat actually gives me an interesting idea that could integrate both halflings and gnomes into a single setting - set up a mirror of the elf/human dynamic. Or, rather, have gnomes be to elves as halflings are to humans. Hmm . . .
Gnomes have never really had a clear and cohesive identity of their own like the other races do. They generally step on the conceptual toes of either dwarves or halflings. There's just not enough room for three different races of little people.
ReplyDelete@Saroe - Funny you should say that; pyromaniac halflings are a recurring theme in our games...
ReplyDeleteDWarf sized Gnomes are from the Sword of Shanara stories, aren't they?
ReplyDeletegnomes and dwarves are also interchangeable in a lot of mythology where dwarves aren't portrayed as comical norse-scotts in viking drag.
Do we really need dwarves, gnomes, and halflings in every D&D world? Nope.
Late to the party, but I just read this post.
ReplyDeleteI've included gnomes in my game world but nixed the halflings for feeling that they are too similar, so I agree with others on that point.
Gnomes occupy a strong political presence in the campaign as keepers of magic lore (wizarding). I wanted to go back to the gnome as meaning wise one and/or earth-dweller and get as far away from the Krynn gnomes as possible. They ruined it for a lot of people, I think.
Gnomes are also set up as a foil to goblins in the world. Goblins as chaotic wild magical creatures with as much variation as possible, and gnomes as pretty rigid and lawful society.
The Midgard campaign setting from Open Design is going to have some wicked gnomes.