Gnomes

Industrious, intelligent, and good-natured, gnomes have few enemies. They are not a numerous race, and for many centuries, gnomes have survived and thrived by keeping a low profile. Avoiding the notice of larger folk obsessed with empires and mighty magic, the gnomes have quietly spread across Auxis in tiny settlements and hidden villages that often go completely unnoticed by their neighbors.

Description

Gnomes were small humanoids known for their eccentric sense of humour, inquisitiveness, and engineering prowess. Having had few overt influences on the world's history but many small and unseen ones, gnomes were often overlooked by the powers that be, despite their craftiness and affinity for illusion magic. Gnomes were present in nearly every human city and most caravan-stop villages where other cultures and non-human races were at least tolerated.
There are three distinct sorts of gnomes living on Toril: deep gnomes, forest gnomes, and rock gnomes. They all share a slight stature (gnomes are little more than half the size of a grown human), innate magical gifts, and a great love for gems. The furtive deep gnomes, also known as svirfneblin, make their homes in the depths of the Underdark. The diminutive—even for gnomes—forest gnomes are even more shy and retiring than the svirfneblin. Rock gnomes are the most outgoing and numerous of the three kindreds. Their inquisitive nature draws them out of their well-hidden villages and clanholds to explore the wider world.
Throughout Auxis, the gnomes play the role of intermediary between other races or peoples. Few count the gnomes as their friends, but even fewer consider the gnomes their enemies. Although gnomes have not escaped the great cataclysms and upheavals of the past, few gnomes have ever become embroiled in war, remaining neutral in such things. Some say this is because gnomes are cowards, afraid to become involved with the violent affairs of the larger people. In fact, gnomes can show bravery and physical resolve that would put larger folk to shame, but they are careful to pick their fights. They remain neutral because wars are usually fought over goals about which the gnomes care little, such as rights of commerce and settlement, or the drive to achieve and wield power in the world at large.

Abilities

Gnomes were a naturally intelligent and creative race, with a charm about them unusual for other humanoids. Gnomes also had a strong affinity for all things magical. In particular they had a natural grasp of the arcane, and were talented illusionists. Gnomes also had a natural affinity with stealth, and combined with their illusory magic were adept thieves and tricksters. That being said, most gnomes were naturally good-aligned, so often their thievery was targeted at corrupt local barons and warlords.

General Information

Size

Small

Type

Humanoid

Average Lifespan

Usually up to 300 years

Homeland

Auxis, The Feywilds

Languages

Common, Gnomish

Deities

Lords of the Golden Hills

Subraces

Rock Gnomes
Forest Gnomes
Deep Gnomes

Appearance

Average Height

3 - 4ft

Average Weight

40-45lb

Distinctions

Small, keen mind, bright personality, magically gifted

Racial History

In the gnome myths, the gods of the gnome pantheon were born as gems or rich veins of ore in the very heart of the world, then exposed by the natural erosion of underground waters. In this sense, the gnome gods are as old as the world itself, having always been a part of it. Gnome folklore holds that the first gnomes were born in turn from gems discovered by Garl Glittergold, the leader of the gnome pantheon. The Watchful Protector discovered a sealed cavern studded with countless gems embedded in veins of valuable ore. When Garl polished the gems and breathed on them, the jewels opened like blossoms to release the first gnomes. Before leading them into the world, Garl told his newfound people a joke, bringing them laughter and a spirit of mischief. Those gnomes born of diamonds chose to dwell beneath the land and became the rock gnomes. Those born of emeralds chose to dwell amid the great trees and became the forest gnomes. Those born of rubies wandered deep into the heart of the earth and became the deep gnomes.
Unfortunately, little is known of the ancient history of the gnomes other than their own myths. Peoples such as dwarves, elves, and humans have raised sprawling empires and fought great wars with legions of steel-clad soldiers and terrible, land-devastating magic, but the gnomes have never done anything of the sort. Nor have the gnomes ever collected in one homeland or fought each other, as the halflings did. The racial history of the gnomes is not a grand, sweeping tapestry, but instead a hundred subtle threads woven here and there in the tapestry of all Auxis, no two of them touching another. It is the history of hundreds of hidden villages, clans, and holds, few of them ever caught up in the great and tragic events of the lands in which they lie concealed.
The gnomes are sometimes referred to as the Forgotten Folk, an apt description. Few gnomes have ever graced (or troubled) the counsels and concerns of the mighty, and even the gnomes themselves have little sense of what might have befallen their folk in the past centuries. As far as they know, they have always been in Auxis, and have always lived in secret places and hidden holds—and they expect to remain much the same in the future.

Gnome Society

Culture

Like other races, gnomish culture varied based on region and ethnicity, but a few characteristics were common to most gnomes. Among virtually all gnomes, great value was placed on one's ability to avoid trouble and stay out of the way of others. Children's games often involved elements of stealth and, among adults, drawing attention to one's self was considered a breach of etiquette. Most gnomes tried to remain inconspicuous and quietly left the scene of a fight. The few legends of gnomish heroes were not of powerful warriors but of subtle tricksters, who sneaked past or tricked their opponents rather than vanquishing them in combat. This in part came from the long-standing issue gnomes had faced, namely their miniscule size compared to larger predators or enemies such as the fomorians of the Feywild, whom few gnomes could hope to stand toe to toe with in a fair fight.
Gnomes had an intricate society based on their love of all kinds of arts, pranks, and their long lives. Gnomes loved indulgence, and they made most celebrations on a grand scale. All gnomes had to take up some form of art, whether music, painting, cooking, building, or any other form that was considered creative by the time they came of age. When living among other races, particularly humans, in an urban environment, gnomes were often shopkeepers or worked as everyday blacksmiths (leaving the fancy armour and weaponsmithing to the dwarves). They also worked with brass, bronze, tin, and pewter, casting and etching practical household items. Other occupations included gemcutters, mechanics, sages, or teachers, the last in particular being a highly valued profession by human employers, who knew that a single gnome could tutor multiple generations.

Lairs

Gnomes typically lived in small villages of gnomes typically lived in earthen burrows and dug-out homes akin to those used by badgers, foxes, or rabbits. As such they were fond of these small animals, feeling a sense of natural kinship with them. And much like these animals, gnomes had an aversion to danger that made them naturally inclined to hide away if able. Thus many gnomish homes were carefully hidden by magic or other methods.
Generally speaking, though, gnomes enjoyed the fresh air a good deal more than other subterranean races such as dwarves or drow and rarely burrowed very deep, spending a great deal of time on the surface. Gnomish homes or communities were generally well-hidden, making it difficult for unwelcome visitors to find them. Within, gnomish houses were warm and comfortable, akin to the burrows of small mammals.
Gnomes were found widely throughout the world, though rarely in large numbers. Small communities were most commonly found in The Northern Wildlands, western Edea and in the jungles of south Xedaris. Other gnomes, notably the svirfneblin or deep gnomes, were found in the Underdark and were even more secretive than other gnomes, maintaining their distance from other races except for dwarves, with whom they were careful to maintain polite relationships for the purpose of protection.

Interracial Relations

Gnomes, in general, were a reclusive people who'd rather stay out of others' affairs. Though some races interpreted this as cowardice, it's more the case that gnomes simply had nothing at stake in the conflicts between most other races and after centuries of being ignored or stomped on, were not particularly eager to fight someone else's fight. In fact, generally speaking, gnomes were a very courageous and good-hearted race, who frequently used their neutrality as a way to negotiate disputes. Of all the races in Auxis, it's fair to say that gnomes had the fewest enemies, although they had very few friends as well.
Gnomes rarely intentionally invoked ire in any group, but at times circumstances made conflict with other races unavoidable. In the Feywild, gnomes were particularly wary of the fomorians that sometimes enslaved them, regarding them with fear and caution. In the Prime Material Plane, gnomes were most often at odds with goblins and kobolds, who shared their underground homes and often war with them for territory or wealth. In these cases, gnomes were rarely the aggressors, owing to their tendency to avoid trouble rather than cause it.
Gnomes were on fairly good terms with other fey, being particularly fond of eladrin, though they also shared good relations with elves. Gnomes also had sympathy for the fey commonly enslaved by fomorians, feeling empathy for creatures that shared the fate many of their forbears had suffered. Gnomes also got along well enough with halflings.
Among those gnomes who lived in the caverns of the Prime, dwarves were often counted as friends, due in part to the two races' physical and cultural similarities. Additionally, dwarves and gnomes both counted goblins and giants as enemies and could often be found working together against them. Gnomes were generally suspicious of other races, however.

Rock Gnomes

Rock gnomes are the gnomes that most people are familiar with, so much so that when someone says “a gnome,” he or she is almost always speaking of a rock gnome. Unlike their reclusive cousins, the deep gnomes and the forest gnomes, the rock gnomes are an inquisitive and loquacious people. They are renowned throughout Faerûn as technicians, alchemists, and inventors, as well as illusionists of the highest order. They do not care much for living in larger cities, where their talents are in high demand, and prefer the rolling hills of the countryside. But anywhere they find themselves, they display an amazing zest for life and all the pleasures it holds.
Rock gnomes are far friendlier and more outgoing than the other gnome kindreds. They are well known for their love of jokes and pranks, as well as their fondness for finely made things. As with all gnomes, they adore gems of all kinds, but rock gnomes have a particular passion for the purity and perfection of the diamond. Rock gnomes average between 3 and 3 1/2 feet tall, and weigh between 40 and 45 pounds. Their skin comes in many different shades of brown, but is unaffected by exposure to the sun. The hair of young gnomes can vary greatly in color, but in adulthood they all tend toward gray or white. The males wear their beards neatly trimmed.
From a rock gnome’s point of view, life is meant to be enjoyed in all its facets: work, play, and otherwise. Again, it’s the process that’s important, not the goal, even if those goals—like, say, finely cut gems—do end up being valuable on their own. This shows in just about everything a rock gnome does, from making a meal to working a mine to playing a practical joke. The care they put into their actions always shines through. Young rock gnomes have carefree childhoods. During their adolescence, rock gnomes are expected to learn the basics of a useful trade and to master the basics of self-defense. They are encouraged to dabble in all sorts of pastimes until they find something that perfectly fits their temperaments. They come of age at 40, an occasion for the largest party of their lives. From there, the average life expectancy is about 350 years, although some have been known to reach 500 years in age.

Rock Gnome Society

Rock gnome life is filled with long days of work that stretch on for days at a time, punctuated by jubilant celebrations in which these hard-driven workers finally get to blow off some steam. This is the kind of life that most gnomes prize, and they feel blessed by the gods that they are mostly able to manage it.
Once a gnome reaches adulthood, she is expected to take up a career and work at it tirelessly to become the best at it that she can be. Some gnomes switch vocations later in life—some do it several times, in fact—but this is relatively rare. The vast majority of gnomes find something they like to do and then stick with it for as long as they can. Even on the job, though, gnomes are usually friendly and funloving people. They are constantly telling jokes throughout their days, many of which leave their coworkers in stitches. Practical jokes are fine too, as long as they don’t disrupt the work environment too much. Every gnome loves a good prank, but they all insist on getting their jobs done too.
Many gnomes work as miners. While they may not be as aggressive at it as dwarves, they’re actually much better at getting the most possible out of a vein of ore. Others practice stonecutting or gemwork. Their metalworkers prefer to work with softer metals—gold, silver, and so on—although they do a fine job with harder materials like steel too. They also make excellent woodworkers and carpenters.
Gnome cooking is not much of a draw to outsiders. It tends to be bland and overcooked or overcooked and over-salted; reliable gnome-friends claim to have tasted some that was bland and oversalted, though no one knows quite how the gnome cooks managed this. Their (salty) bread is unleavened. All gnomes are very fond of rock candy, and some eat rock salt with equal relish. Gnomes do, however, make excellent brewers and vintners. Many of them are talented musicians as well. These two facts contribute greatly to the reputation of gnomes as wonderful party guests and even better hosts.
Most rock gnome settlements are small. It’s rare to find one with more than five hundred adults in a widely scattered area. However, these communities are usually found clustered close together, usually within a few days’ travel of each other. Rock gnome burrows are usually small but tidy. Any married couples have rooms to themselves, but the children usually share a single room. Each burrow usually connects to those of the same clan by tunnel, meaning that many gnomes rarely if ever have to leave their small burrows to meet friends or family. This is one reason why their communities can go unnoticed by the larger peoples for so long.
When travelling or adventuring, gnomes appear both singly and in small groups. These groups are usually composed of a number of close friends or family members or both.

Magic and Religion

Gnomes usually follow a magical craft which allows them to express their creative and crafty lifestyles. They mostly follow the line of wizards, artificers, alchemists and enchanters. Like all gnome wizards, rock gnomes prefer illusions to any other school of magic. They like to use their illusions in clever ways to fool or misdirect foes or to entertain friends.
Rock gnomes typically possessed a nonchalant reverence of their chosen deity, bringing up the name of their god in any form of conversation as if they were referring to a friend. Rock gnomes rarely went to church and had no particularly great amount of zeal towards the worship of their pantheon of gods. In typical gnomish manner, the gnomish gods required no particularly impressive display of faith, being more interested in following their own admittedly mundane agendas.

Forest Gnomes

by Lukasz Jaskolski

Forest gnomes are among the least commonly seen gnomes on Toril, far shier than even their deep gnome cousins. Small and reclusive, forest gnomes are so unknown to most non-gnomes that they have repeatedly been "discovered" by wandering outsiders who happen into their villages. Timid to an extreme, forest gnomes almost never leave their hidden homes.
Compared with other gnomes, forest gnomes are even more diminutive than is typical of the stunted race, rarely growing taller than 2½ feet in height or weighing in over 30 lbs. Typically, males are slightly larger than females, at the most by four inches or five pounds. Unlike other gnomes, forest gnomes generally grow their hair long and free, feeling neither the need nor desire to shave or trim their hair substantially, though males often do take careful care of their beards, trimming them to a fine point or curling them into hornlike spikes. Forest gnome skin is an earthy color and looks, in many ways, like wood, although it is not particularly tough. Forest gnome hair is brown or black, though it grays with age, sometimes to a pure white. Like other gnomes, forest gnomes generally live for centuries, although their life expectancy is a bit longer than is the case for either rock or deep gnomes; 400 is the average life expectancy of a forest gnome.
Forest gnomes differ from the more common rock gnomes and deep gnomes in a number of ways. Forest gnomes, like halflings, are adept at obscuring their presence and slipping into places unseen, particularly when in the familiar terrain of their forest homes. Like deep gnomes, forest gnomes rarely leave their remote homes. As a general rule, forest gnomes lack the curiosity that is typical of most gnomes and will only leave their homelands under intense pressure, such as a threat that they alone cannot overcome. For the most part, forest gnomes prefer to stick to what they know, caring for the wood around them.

Forest Gnome Society

Forest gnomes live in an extreme state of primitivism, though their lives are generally comfortable and idyllic. Forest gnomes are largely hunter-gatherers, harvesting their food from wild fruits, nuts, and berries, and supplementing their diet with a little meat. Forest gnome villages are usually composed of less than a hundred members, who are often all a part of an extended family. Forest gnome homes are generally small, reclusive, and so well-hidden that a human might well walk within a few feet of a gnome home and not even realise it. Part of this is because of the unique manner in which forest gnomes construct their homes, which are typically located within trees.
Forest gnomes spend the majority of their day tending to the forest and gathering food to feed the rest of the village, although a few, like their kin, search underground for gems in a manner unusual for most hunter-gatherers. Forest gnome children who are too young to contribute are generally allowed to do as they like, although they are prevented from wandering far from their protective parents. These children learn how to behave primarily by example, watching their elders, acquiring a reverence for the forest and appreciation for their society gradually. Forest gnomes are generally organised in a loose gerontocracy, with the eldest member of the community serving an advisory role to the rest of the community, who generally only make decisions by consensus. Outside of their homes, this ethic carries on, though gnomes rarely gather in groups of more than two or three beyond their secluded villages.
Forest gnomes only rarely become adventurers, usually due to some kind of threat to their home or other need that requires them to leave their reclusive hovels. Most gnomes are instead craftsmen or experts of various kinds. Those who do leave take on a variety of different roles. The forest gnome love of music makes many excellent, if somewhat shy, bards. Other forest gnomes become clerics or druids, who often play important roles in forest gnome society upon their returns. Very few forest gnomes would consider themselves proper warriors and forest gnome fighters are next to unheard of. On the other hand, many forest gnomes are well-suited for the life of a rogue, given their small size and stealthy natures. Some forest gnomes also show a propensity for the arcane arts and become, like so many of their kin, illusionists. Because of their historical conflict with those races, forest gnomes often have defensive training against kobolds, orcs, goblinoids, and reptilian humanoids, which serves adventurers well in their travels.

Magic and Religion

Like most gnomes, forest gnomes prefer the use of illusion to other schools of magic, which they embrace as a way to protect them from harm. Frequently, forest gnome illusionists use their talents in concert with the more naturalistic camouflage that is a part of forest gnome architecture to hide their homes from outsiders. When forest gnomes are forced to deal with outsiders, they often delegate illusionists, who will conjure an image of the intruders' own race as a form of communication that distances the gnomes from their potential attackers.
Unlike other gnome peoples, forest gnomes also have a strong tradition of divine and primal magic. Clerics are well-respected among forest gnomes and typically offer their healing powers to help animals who've been injured by hunters or traps. Druids are also respected among forest gnomes, though forest gnomes are so shy that they rarely join larger druidic circles. Those that do, however, find their extroversion is well-rewarded, with the addition power gained from such association helping to protect their forest homes.
Forest gnomes have a stronger sense of faith than any other gnome subrace, although it is often very different from that of the typical gnome, incorporating into it animistic traditions and a reverence for the natural world. Priests are often communal leaders, who help to keep distant villages in touch. When large numbers of forest gnomes gather priests of various types are usually there to bless the meeting.
Of all the gods, forest gnomes feel the closest to Baervan Wildwanderer, who is often associated with the wild places where forest gnomes reside. According to forest gnome tradition, Baervan has personally entrusted the care of the wilderness to his followers, a burden the forest gnomes are happy to accept, and clerics of the god often serve as caretakers of the forest.

Deep Gnomes

The deep gnomes are closest thing the gnome family has to “black sheep.” Many surface dwellers count the deep gnomes along with their evil neighbors, the drow and the duergar, believing them to be little more than dark reflections of the friendly rock gnomes with whom they are more familiar. In fact, the svirfneblin are just as good-hearted as their sunnier kin. However, after centuries of dealing with the everyday perils of living in the Underdark, they have become understandably distrustful of all outsiders.
Compared to their better-known kin, the rock gnomes, the deep gnomes are as gray and lifeless as the subterranean caverns in which they choose to make their homes. They keep to themselves out of fear of outsiders—a fear born from numerous poor experiences with such people. To a deep gnome, the only people you can trust are other deep gnomes from your village, and preferably from your family. All others are best avoided.
With strangers, most deep gnomes are sullen, reserved, and suspicious, almost to a fault. However, when they are alone with their own kind, they are friendly and respectful to each other. Few people from outside a svirfneblin community have ever seen this more pleasant side of the deep gnomes. For their part, the deep gnomes would be horrified to find themselves observed by outsiders, and they find such a person staring at them—or even looking directly at them—quite rude.
Deep gnomes are gnarled and callused folk, with little fat at all on their wiry bodies. Their skin is the colour of the rocks among which they live, almost as if they sprang directly from the stones themselves. They have dark gray eyes, tending toward black. Their hair is of a similar colour, although it’s only seen on the woman, as the men are entirely bald and beardless. Like their lives, svirfneblin are also short and hard. They stand between 3 and 3 1/2 feet tall on average. They are thinner than their surface cousins, but they weigh just as much— about 40 to 45 pounds—due to the density of their muscles. They are little more than wiry sinews and rocklike bones.

Deep Gnome Society

While most gnomes have little use for history, tending to prefer living in the moment, deep gnomes are the worst of the lot. They do not have a formal calendar or any way to tell the turning of the days. Living far from the light of the sun, the very idea of night or day is foreign to them. Deep gnome culture was largely defined by the environment in which they lived. Deep gnome settlements were usually centered in a single large cavern, surrounded by an interlocking set of tunnels and other caverns into which the city spread. These settlements were often large villages or small towns, with a population of around a thousand gnomes. Typically cut off from all outside contact, even from other deep gnome settlements, many inhabitants never ventured out of their havens, instead crowding together for protection. Population density was extremely high as most families shared a single, small room for their living space, with children living with their parents until they themselves married and had children.
Deep gnomes rarely wandered far beyond their hidden cities, but when they did, it was usually as bold prospectors, youthful illusionists, or exploring warriors. These bold souls shared a deep curiosity that allowed them to overcome their hard-bred caution and shyness, although other motives such as economic drive or a desire to seek aid to fight a threat the deep gnomes could not conquer on their own might also play into their departure. Deep gnomes who became adventurers most frequently were fighters, rangers, rogues, or wizards (particularly illusionists). Although deep gnomes were well suited to the arcane arts like other gnomes, they were also fit to becoming rangers or rogues, adapted as they were to hiding and navigating the labyrinthine caverns of the Underdark.

Magic and Religion

Like other gnomes, deep gnomes preferred the use of illusion to other schools of magic. However, while this was simply a cultural preference among rock gnomes, it was a method of survival for deep gnomes. In addition to knowing the relatively simple invisibility spell, most gnome illusionists were familiar with a great wealth of ancient and forgotten lore recovered from the ruins scattered about the Underdark. Deep gnomes rarely understood this knowledge fully, but that hardly mattered, and they were willing to use it in any way they could. Deep gnome wizards who were not illusionists were frequently diviners, using their spells to locate and find materials essential to survival.
Like their surface cousins, deep gnomes worshiped the gnome pantheon. Although deep gnomes were not particularly devout, clerics and other religious figures served an important role in svirfneblin society as guardians of the public morale, keeping spirits up in spite of hardships. Unlike other gnomes, deep gnomes did not feel a particularly strong bond to Garl Glittergold, who some felt had abandoned them for the less serious rock gnomes and forest gnomes. Deep gnomes felt closer by far to Segojan Earthcaller, particularly by deep gnomes who kept pets, were rangers, or who otherwise worked with domesticated animals.