Gnominomicon

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Gnominomicon

Lord Bodacious 09 Oct 2009 22:22

In the wake of the Bugbear Blood Bath, Eric made an off-handed comment about playing one of the gnomes, which has unfortunatly got me a-thinkin. As it is friday and I'm TOTALLY procrastinating away my employer's time, I've been fiddling about with the idea… Since this is a good a place to keep notes as any….

Seems like most of the efforts out there basically just resize the dwarf. Makes sense given the monster entry in the basic book:

http://dndborderlands.blogspot.com/2009/04/house-rules-gnome-class.html

http://web.fisher.cx/robert/rpg/dnd-bx/rc-gnomes.html

http://www.dragonsfoot.org/forums/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=4149&start=0&st=0&sk=t&sd=a (i like this one best)

That being said, these are a little boring. Gnomes are fun little fellows, these entries just don't have much joy in them. How to make the gnome more fun?

- Pointy had optional, curly-toed shoes mandatory
- I like con/dex requirement - seems appropriate for a nimble mini-dwarf. int/con or con/dex might also be appropriate given their con bonus in later iterations.

The prime requisites for a gnome character are dexterity and constitution. If a gnome has a score of 13 or greater in both constitution and Dexterity, the character will gain a 5% bonus on earned experience points. If the gnome’s constitutionand Dexterity are each over 13 and either of those statistics are over 16, they gain 10% to earned experience.

RESTRICTIONS: Gnomes use 6-sided dice to determine their hit points. They may advance to a maximum of 10th level of experience. Gnomes may use any type of armor and may use shields. They may use any type of weapon of small size, as well as short bows and crossbows. A gnome character must have a minimum dexterity, and constitution of 9.

SPECIAL ABILITIES: Gnomes are hardy creatures and save as do dwarves of the same level. Gnomes often live underground, and have infravision (heat-sensing sight) which allows them to see up to 60 feet in the dark. . All gnomes speak their own language, Common, and the languages of Kobolds, Goblins, and Dwarves.

- seems like they should get at least one UNIQUE ability, rather than just stealing stuff from other races/classes:
- speaking with burrowing animals?
- chance to speak with any natural animal (2 out of 6)
- improve reaction roll when dealing with animals?
- ability to cast non-damaging magic user spells, progression as cleric (channeling "illusionist" legacy)

Re: Gnominomicon

James_Nostack 10 Oct 2009 03:11

Lord B.,

In Moldvay, Dwarves are pretty much Fighters, Elves are pretty much Fighter/Magic-Users, and Halfings are Fighter/Thieves. I'd make Gnomes Thief/Illusionists.

Personally I'd give them d4 HD, Thief Attack bonuses, and Thief Armor/Weapons. I'd give them four Thief skills, and Magic-User spell advancement but using a very limited set of spells:

===1st Level===

• Detect Magic
• Floating Disk
• Hold Portal
• Read Magic
• Read Languages
• Ventriloquism

===2nd Level===

• Detect Evil
• Invisibility
• Knock
• Phantasmal Force
• Web
• Wizard Lock

===3rd Level===

• Clairvoyance
• Dispel Magic
• Haste
• Hold Person
• Invisibility 10' Radius
• Water Breathing

===4th Level===

• Confusion
• Dimension Door
• Growth of Plants
• Hallucinatory Terrain
• Polymorph Self
• Wizard Eye

Re: Gnominomicon

Quendalon 10 Oct 2009 04:28

James' approach is spot-on, with a few clarifications/modifications:

• Infravision equal to a dwarf or elf.
• Move Silently, Hide in Shadows, Hear Noise and one more thief ability of the player's choice.
• A different spell list, adding AD&D Illusionist spells as appropriate.
• Level advancement as an elf.

Re: Gnominomicon

James_Nostack 10 Oct 2009 13:12

I'd agree on the Infravision and in speaking Dwarf, Kobold, and Burrowing Mammal (if we're going for medieval folklore woodland Gnome rather than mid-80's "inventor gnome," which I think would be a fun class but hard to stat).

For Thief Skills, I'd include Pickpocket (Gnomes are tricksy), Hide (Gnomes are stealthy but not as stealthy as a Halfling), Trapfinder (a nod to the tinkerer interpretation), Codebreaker at 4th level (Gnomes love puzzles). For the fourth ability it's probably a toss-up between Lockpick (which seems to over-emphasize the tinker side) and Hear Noise (all demi-humans have an elevated chance to hear noise; I'm not sure Gnomes are especially good at that). I guess I'd give the little guys Lockpick, just to be more useful, and leave the base demi-human hear noise chance of 33%.

I'd cap advancement at 8th level. No particular reason other than they do it for Halflings too, who aren't especially heroic types. I'm not sure about using the Elf XP table which is the hardest in the game, as Gnomes can't use the best armor, their Thief skills are truncated (it's not clear they can backstab), and they have "crummy" spells. I'd probably use the Magic-User XP table. Sure, you're doing more than a Magic-User can, but a Halfling does more than a Fighter can albeit without the best weapons—a Gnome does more than a M-U can but without the best spells.

Re: custom spell lists, there's precedent for it in late-stage BECMI (the Druid from the Companion set, various classes from the Gazetteers), but it doesn't feel very B/X to me. Also, if one gives a specialty list to the Gnome, one should do that for the Elf too - possibly blending in enchantment/charm, illusion, and druid magic. Personally I think you can create a somewhat mischievous leader/controller just from trimming down the M-U list, though maybe a few of my choices should be swapped around.

I'd play one those bastards in a heartbeat.

Re: Gnominomicon

Lord Bodacious 10 Oct 2009 19:44

I tend to agree - d4 hp in leather armor for 4000xp would make it VERY hard to see level 2 (although this would explain the dearth of gnomish adventurers). The thief's squishiness is offset by a really aggressive leveling curve, the wizard by it's great power in the end game. If balancing becomes a issue, I'd be more inclined to strip or tone down abilities than toughen up the leveling curve, simply to keep the class playable.

Might be interesting to roll thief skills from the list similar to MU spell acquisition at first level, alternately the player could just pick four. None of the thief skills seem wildly out of keeping with gnomish lore and this might enhance the capricious quality of the wee folk.

I'd also suggest weapon choice be as halfling, rather than thief (assuming we're using the original b/x which allows thieves to use any weapon). Seems like polearms, longswords and big axes should be forbidden to little gnomes.

Do gnomes use magic books? Assuming a truncated MU list, one could imagine spell prep a la cleric (knowing all available spells per level) - giving gnomes more a 'magical creature' feel.

Seems like the prime requisites for a gnome character are dexterity and intelligence . A gnome character must have a minimum dexterity and intelligence of 9. If a gnome has a score of 13 or greater in intelligence or dexterity, the character will gain a 5% bonus on earned experience points. If the gnome’s intelligence AND Dexterity are both over 13 they gain 10% to earned experience.

Seems relatively balanced - also the relative scarcity of gnomes should be an issue in selecting the class. I'd definitely gnome it up if the dice permit.

Last edited on 10 Oct 2009 19:48 by Lord Bodacious Show more

Re: Gnominomicon

Quendalon 10 Oct 2009 21:21

I think you guys are overestimating the significance of the trimmed-down spell list. No magic-user will have access to all spells, so unless you cut away all of the most potent magic-user spells from the gnome's list (like phantasmal force, web and haste), the restriction is mostly irrelevant. And aside from that restriction, when you compare the gnome to the magic-user, the gnome is all upside. It's a magic-user with light armor, better weapons, limited thief abilities and infravision. Who wouldn't want to play that instead of a magic-user? Especially as you're both more useful and more survivable in general than a magic-user; you can stand at the back of the party and plink away with your shortbow when you've used your spell for the day, or hide in shadows (which the elf can't do) and scout around with infravision (which the thief can't do).

The options as I see it are as follows:

1) An even more restricted spell list than the one James proposed, using the magic-user advancement table.
2) Slower access to spells than a magic-user, using the magic-user advancement table
3) The full ability package as proposed, requiring more XP to advance than on the magic-user advancement table.

Whether option #3 would use the elf advancement table or something between magic-user and elf would depend on how many funky abilities you're piling on. Note that between you, you've proposed an awful lot of abilities! Infravision, thieving, speaking with animals, access to all spells on the list like a cleric…

My recommendation is a condensed ability list, a revised spell list and adding 20% to the costs on the magic-user advancement table (just as the dwarf adds 20% to the costs on the fighter advancement table; this will be significantly cheaper than elf advancement, but higher than wizard advancement). I'll post a revised proposal here shortly.

Re: Gnominomicon

Lord Bodacious 10 Oct 2009 23:47

All true. Taking all of these pieces certainly unbalances the class.

Agreed that Clerical style spell access unbalances, but I think restricting that list much further might make the class a bit dry. I think using the cleric's spell progression would certainly mitigate this (by nature gnomes don't control their innate magic, it only emerges with experience?)

MU +20% seems fair, looking forward to your thoughts on the ability list.

Re: Gnominomicon

Sternum 11 Oct 2009 00:50

I downloaded this PDF years ago after reading about it in Richard Tongue's fanzine, OD&Dities. The author deconstructed the aspects of each class (hit die, spell ability, thief skills, etc.) along with the experience tables, and made a very nice class construction system for Red Box. It might be of some help in building the perfect gnome.

Re: Gnominomicon

Quendalon 11 Oct 2009 00:57

GNOMES

Gnomes are diminutive demi-humans akin to dwarves and halflings, with the former's affinity for the earth and the latter's joie de vivre. Though most shy away from humans, they are gregarious among their own kind and prone to tricks and games. Their curiosity often gets the better of them, leading them from their safe woodland burrows to a life of adventure.

The prime requisites for a gnome are Intelligence and Dexterity. A gnome character whose Intelligence or Dexterity score is 13 or higher will receive a 5% bonus to earned experience. Gnomes whose Intelligence and Dexterity scores are 13 or greater will receive a bonus of 10% to earned experience.

RESTRICTIONS: Gnomes use four-sided dice (d4) to determine their hit points. They may advance to a maximum of 8th level of experience. Gnomes may use any type of weapon that has been "cut down" to their size. Thus, they cannot use a two-handed sword or long bow, but may use a sword or short bow. They may wear nothing more protective than leather armor, and cannot use a shield. Gnomes must have a minimum score of 9 in Dexterity.

SPECIAL ABILITIES: Gnomes live in underground caves and burrows, and have infravision (heat-sensing sight) which allows them to see 60 feet in the dark. A gnome's deft fingers allow the use of the thief skills of open locks, find or remove traps and pick pockets. In addition, their innate magic grants them limited spell use (see MAGIC, below). All gnomes speak Common, Dwarvish, Gnomish, and the languages of goblins and kobolds.

MAGIC: Gnomish magic is innate. Gnomes do not need spell books, nor do they prepare spells as do clerics, elves and magic-users. Instead, a gnome knows a number of spells of each level equal to the number of spells he may cast per day, and he may cast each spell he knows once per day. A gnome may cast a number of spells per day equal to a wizard one level lower. When a gnome gains a level, he rolls randomly to see what new spell(s) he discovers. The DM is encouraged to adjust the spell selection as desired; for example, the DM in a Holmes Blue Book or AD&D game might replace the darkness spell with dancing lights.

Exempli gratia: Twiggledim is a second level gnome. He casts spells as a first level magic user, and so he knows a single spell, randomly rolled: hold portal. Upon reaching third level, he can cast two spells per day instead of one, so he rolls on the list of first level spells to obtain a new spell. He rolls a four: light! Now he can cast hold portal once per day and light once per day.

First Level Spells:
1) Darkness
2) Detect Magic
3) Hold Portal
4) Light
5) Ventriloquism
6) Player chooses any first level spell on this list

Second Level Spells:
1) Detect Invisible
2) Invisibility
3) Knock
4) Mirror Image
5) Speak with Animals (from the cleric spell list)
6) Player chooses any second level spell on this list

Third Level Spells:
1) Fly
2) Growth of Animal (from the cleric spell list)
3) Invisibility 10' radius
4) Phantasmal Force
5) Water Breathing
6) Player chooses any third level spell on this list

Fourth Level Spells:
1) Confusion
2) Dimension Door
3) Growth of Plants
4) Hallucinatory Terrain
5) Massmorph
6) Player chooses any fourth level spell on this list

SAVING THROWS: As thieves.

ATTACK PROGRESSION: As thieves.

ADVANCEMENT: As per the magic-user advancement table.

Last edited on 26 Mar 2010 18:05 by Quendalon Show more

Re: Gnominomicon

Lord Bodacious 14 Oct 2009 21:49

Really diggin this class - lots of flavor and functionality. Viable at level one and increasingly fun as the character progresses.

Seems like our next challenge is what to do with the goblin… :)

Last edited on 26 Mar 2010 16:38 by Lord Bodacious Show more

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