Revision as of 12:15, 30 January 2015

Gnomes.

These aren't your dad's gnomes.

Gnomes

"Greetings! Don't worry about an introduction, I already know your name."

Quiet, reserved, and studious - these are the traits most exemplified by the race known as the gnomes. A short-statured race, they have mostly kept to themselves through the history of the world, occasionally venturing out into the world when something new surfaces (though as an old gnome saying goes, there is nothing new under the moons). In particular, technology intrigues them, as it often finds ways to present something new despite gnomes' insistence that most things have been done or tried before; this led to a division in their race, during the time of the Ronkan Empire, though that rift has since been repaired.

Gnomes have a natural affinity for memory, and are well-known for their logic puzzles and similar mental exercises they use to keep their wits sharp. They will often share their latest exercise with fresh acquaintances, to better understand how they think and to determine their mental fortitude. Due to this particular trait, some races envision gnomes as enigmatic tricksters and pranksters, though this is far from the truth.

Personality: Gnomes tend towards a studious nature, acquiring habits and traits that often rarely reflect their very active mental life. Most gnomes maintain a leisurely pace, and tend to be overly patient and tolerable of setbacks: most spend such moments of downtime dealing with some puzzling thought or working through a problem. Though they may not show it, they make the most of every waking moment.

Physical Description: Gnomes are relatively short, their average being around three feet tall, and weighing about forty pounds. Their skin is often fair to ruddy, and hair and eye coloration both tend towards the darker end of the spectrum.

Gnome Culture

The following is a rough overview of some of the highlights of gnome culture.

• Information is Power: For gnomes, knowledge is a measure of both power and currency. While they truck in the standard coinage and paper currencies used by other cultures, amongst themselves, gnomes trade information amongst each other. Gnomes in foreign lands often set themselves up as information brokers, historians, and detectives, leveraging their natural tendency towards the Blue to their advantage.
• Two:
• Three:

Gnomes Are Responsible For...

...the flying city of Urilaulri, and its conceptual descendants, the Urilaulri space stations. While other races devised flight, it was the gnomes who took the concept and scaled it up significantly.

...information storage methods. Prior to gnomes and their significant investigation into the nature of the Blue, most cultures and regions used animal skins or various other physical medium for recording information. Gnomes, with their devising of the akashic stones, made these methods almost universally obsolete.

...three.

Gnome Racial Traits (d20)

• -2 Strength, +2 Intelligence. Gnomes are not physically impressive, but their minds and memories are expansive.
• Small. +1 bonus to Armor Class, +1 bonus on attack rolls, +4 bonus on Hide checks, -4 penalty on grapple checks, lifting and carrying limits ¾ those of Medium characters.
• A gnome’s base land speed is 20 feet.
• Gnomes have low-light vision, with a base multiplier of x2.
• +2 racial bonus on saving throws against illusions or similar deceptions: gnomes tend to over-analyze their surroundings, but this trait comes in handy when determining reality from fiction.
• Well-Learned: Gnomes gain a +2 racial bonus to any Knowledge skill in which they have ranks. Gnome society encourages a broad education, and gnomes have a tendency to remember almost any stray bit of knowledge they come across.
• Delve Into Blue (Bl): Gnomes can use the akashic delve into blue ability, with a bonus equal to one-half character level + Intelligence modifier. If the gnome has akashic levels, he instead can use delve into blue with a bonus equal to his akashic level + one-half his total levels in other classes + his Intelligence modifier.
• Loresight (Me): Gnomes can use the object loresight, creature loresight, and location loresight memes at-will, with no memory invested. A gnome who uses these innate abilities can only learn a number of facts about their targets up to his Intelligence modifier. If a gnome takes a level in akashic, he automatically learns these memes, but can only invest memory in them if they are chosen as active memes (in which case the restriction on facts learned is also lifted).
• Multitrack Mind (Ex): When a gnome must spend an action to concentrate on an action, such as maintaining a spell effect, the action required is reduced by one step (so if the action normally requires a standard, the gnome can use a move). A gnome can maintain concentration on a number of actions that require free actions equal to his Intelligence modifier, minimum 1.
• Automatic Languages: One Common language, one Trade language, Lynaen. Bonus Languages: Any.
• Favored Class: Choose one - akashic, inventor.