Races of Theril: The Gnome

Gnomes

The second born of the smallfolk, Gnomes are ingenious creatures who love to learn and discover. Loving new sensations and new creations. Like the other smallfolk, the history kept by the tallfolk includes minimal references to their activity.

Created for Curiousity

Though Gnomes and Halflings were created at a similar time, and are of similar stature, their creation was utterly different. Gnomes were made from the earth, particularly out of alchemical minerals such as sulfurous and phosphorous ores. Gnomes have rounded and knobbly features, much like their creator Charlim. Standing between 4 and 4-1/2 feet when fully grown, and have a tendency towards a fuller, rounded figure, weighing 40 to 50 pounds. Gnomes have skin colour ranges from vibrant yellows, oranges and pastille blues and purples, with hair of all bright or pastille colours. Gnomes tainted by Malignance always have sickly green skin and lanky black hair. Gnomish males grow facial hair but rarely on the chin, they tend to not shape their hair purposely, but they naturally grow their facial hair in interesting patterns.

Befuddled and Befuddling

The gnomes share several traits with their creator, but none more noticeable than Charlims brilliance but utter absent-mindedness. Other races find it difficult to follow Gnomish logic as it features so many lateral leaps that it's difficult to call it logic at all. Gnomes are easily distracted; often working on several projects at any one time, bouncing between them in a way that makes non-gnomes surprised that gnomes can get anything done. If it weren't for their close ties with the Halfling communities, gnomes may not have ever gotten anything done. They have a general lack of foresight despite their amazing insight, and thus are ill suited for running a community. The Halflings took a gamble by integrating Gnomes into their communities and much like any other risk made by Halflings this one payed of, with gnomes supplying devices and concoctions to better their communities.

Fascination with Sensations

Gnomes poses ears, eyes and noses in larger proportion than other races, but their minds are ill equipped to handle this empowered senses, making them about as useful as those of other humanoids. The way Gnomes perceive is utterly unique amongst humanoids though, with no sense standing in isolation. Each sense bleeds into the other; sounds invoking colours, tastes, smells, sensations of touch; sights invoking sounds, tastes, smells, sensations of touch and so on. This crossing of the senses lead Gnomes to having both peculiar and particular tastes, often subject to their environments, in a way unique to each Gnome. As a result Gnomish food is often flavour neutral with varied texture, but served with a variety of potent flavourings so each Gnome can adjust the taste of their meal to the rest of the ambiance.

Curious to a Fault

Charlim fixed a lust for novelty in the soul of all Gnomes. Never is a Gnome satisfied with their body of knowledge, contempt with their design or set in their way. At the same time they are not ones for teaching or learning. Most Gnomes go through their lives testing and experimenting, but more or less covering ground that has already been explored by their predecessors. Due to their lack of note taking and general forgetfulness a gnome will often be stumped when asked to explain their own creations a year or so after they have built them, leading to the joy of rediscovering their own work if they ever need to replicate it in the future.

Master Illusionists

When Mysth revealed magic to the races, Gnomes became fascinated with illusion magic. It's power to deceive the senses clearly aiding gnomes to create new experiences or make environments match their current pallets. So prolific was illusionary magic that a charms to produce minor illusions still remains readily available in Gnomish communities.

Always a New Friend

In general Gnomes are incredibly welcoming and friendly with strangers. This learnt behaviour is a byproduct of the great difficulty Gnomes have remembering others, particularly those who lack exaggerated features, such as most non-gnomes. The process of learning a person is long and arduous for the person being learned that is, as it is quite unpleasant to be confused for a stranger.  Gnomes consider people that they recognise as incredibly good friends, and will maintain close friendships until regular interactions cease. After an extended period of time without interacting with a friend, it’s likely the Gnome will forget them entirely.

A Life of Learning

A young Gnomes curiosity is not yet fully matured, it takes sometime for them to grasp the ideals of creativity and curiosity. For the first 30 years of their lives their curiosity grows slowly, it is during these years that their memories are strongest. They form much of their impressions during these years, but over the rest of their lives these impressions are often degraded, replaced by the much more fluid outlooks of an adult gnome. Gnomish names are rarely permanent, most gnomes are incredibly forgetful of names, thus in their communities they hold little weight. Their names are often more akin to nicknames of other peoples, either being self assigned or assigned by others. Most gnomes tend to live to see their second century, over which time they would expect to see several generations of their halfling kin come and go.

The Reverence of the Sublime

Gnomish communities lack the rigour for communal worship, though this does not prevent them from being religious folk. Most gnomes hold some reverence for the brothers Charlim and Omnis for their creation and manifold blessings. Other then that each individual gnomes faith evolves through their personal journey. The desire for new experiences and a desire to experience the sublime often driving gnomes to attempt to find their god of personal worship.

Spirit of Studiousness

Despite, or perhaps due to, their incessant curiosity and unending fascination, Gnomish souls grant the gift of supreme insight into their surroundings. Blessed to be able to make great leaps of logic, or perceive the truth of the reality around them. Sadly, what would be seen as a great idea to another is often  simply discarded by the mind of a gnome.

Superfluous Speech

Gnomes adopted the halfling tongue for their own, but not without modification. The combined languages of halflings and gnomes is collectively known as Smallish. THe gnomish influence is easy to find; often far too long for practical uses, it their words describe things of equal complexity, as it is often their inventions that carry gnomish words. Gnomish words that enter into common use often quickly get shortened.

Communes of Confusion

Though they have little care for it, there are some broad classifications of the types of gnomish communities that appear on the continent of Theris. These distinctions tend not to arise from Gnomish actions, instead being caused by the communities interactions with their Halfling kin.

The Isolated Sevant. On the continent, the smallfolk communities are dominated by dalefolk. They tend to leave in agricultural communities that are incapable of supporting more than one or two gnomish families. As such these gnomes are quite halfling like in their tastes, and further are more prone to reinvention. After all, the dalefolk are far more interested in getting duplicates of items then an endless stream of novel inventions. This intellectual stagnancy also leads to a personal one, these isolated rural gnomes are prone to shunning the idea of moving about.

The Guild Gnome. As many halfing communities have been absorbed into human cities, so to are the gnomes that lived with them. There they tend to attract each other into what can loosely be described as guilds. With the youngest of adult gnomes being assigned the drear duty of teaching children and outsiders the basics of gnomish brilliance as well as such dull things as leading the guild, allowing the elders to be free from monotony and together achieve new heights in creativity.

The Bedazzled Isles. The isles formally known as the Craig Islands had long been thought as incapable of sustaining societies. This was until those gnomes who had lived with the eternal traveling riverfolk decided to break from them and settled there.  Through what is surely pure luck the gnomes not only survived but thrived; forming a loosely governed state with a myriad of valuable exports. The riverfolk who regulalrly traded with the gnomes named their community the Bedazzled Isles, as they shone with fanciful lights that could be seen even from far off. Visitors to the isles would describe it as always like a festival.

The Lepers Rock. Not all islands in the cluster were created equal though, and those that lived on the southernmost Craig Island became corrupted by the Malign. No halflings or any other race visits the island to inject structure, and so it has fallen to almost complete anarchy. Luckily the festering gnomes that live here are far too disorganised and isolated to pose a real threat to the other isle, but if they were the only known Gnomish state would surely collapse.

Gnomes

Ability Score Increase. Your Intelligence score increases by 2.

Age. Gnomes mature at a similar rate to humans, but are not expected to be independent until the age of 40. They can live past their third century, but rarely reach their fourth.

Alignment. Gnomes are too absent minded for order and destruction, and tend towards individuality not by choice but by lack of concern.

Size. Standing between 3 and 4 feet tall and weigh 40 pounds on average, gnomes tend to have a more rounded build. Your size is small.

Speed. Your base walking speed is 25 feet.

Darkvision. Accustomed to dimly lit boroughs, you have superior vision in dark and dim conditions. You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can’t discern colour in darkness, only shades of grey.

Gnomish Cunning. You have advantage on all Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma saving throws against magic.

Gnome Illusionist. You know the Minor Illusion cantrip. Intelligence is your spellcasting ability for it.

Language. You can speak, read, and write Common and Smallfolk.

Brewer Gnome

Brewer gnomes tend towards being yellow and orange and have a fascination and affinity with alchemical mixtures. They’re pallets are even stranger than their bluer kin, tending to be enhanced by potent esters which they produce to infuse food with taste. Travelers would often note that if a blue gnome offered you food or a yellow gnome offered you drink you’d be fine, but if it’s the other way round respectfully decline.

Ability Score Increase. Your Wisdom score increases by 1.

Alchemy Lore. Whenever you make an Intelligence (History) related to potions or alchemical objects, you can add twice your proficiency bonus, instead of your normal proficiency bonus you normally apply.

Brew. You are proficient with artisan's tools (alchemist's tools). Using those tools, you can spend 1 hour and 10 gp worth of materials to brew a non-magical potion. These potions spoil after a tenday. You can have up to five such potions. When you create a potion, choose one of the following options:

Sticky Ichor: This brew is a viscous green fluid with a swampy aroma that when exposed to air expands. As an action you can splash this potion onto a creature within 5 feet of you, make a ranged touch attack against a creature, treating the potion as an improvised weapon. If hit the target is restrained by the fluid until they pass a DC 15 strength saving throw, or a minute passes and potion becomes ineffective.

Sleeping Fumes: This brew is a thin clear liquid with a faint floral fragrance, that quickly evaporates when exposed to air.  As an action you can splash this potion onto a creature within 5 feet of you, make a ranged touch attack against a creature, treating the potion as an improvised weapon. Or can be administered more subtly be soaking a cloth in the potion and placing it over the creatures mouth which counts as a grapple check. If hit the target falls unconscious for 10 minutes, or until the creature takes damage or someone spends an action to slap or shake the creature. Undead, Constructs, and other creatures that do not sleep are immune to this effect.

Billowing Fluid: This brew is a murky white fluid that when exposed to air or water rapidly becomes a cloud of chalky fog. As an action you may pour out this potion creating a 10 foot radius sphere of fog (or 20 foot radius if poured directly onto water). The sphere spreads around corners, and it's area is heavily obscured. It lasts for 1 minute or until a wind of moderate to great speed (at least 10 miles per hour) disperses it.

Glowing Gel: This brew is faintly glowing clear yellow fluid that glows brightly when exposed to air. As an action you can apply this potion to any solid surface or object, which then sheds bright yellow light in a 20 foot radius. This effect lasts for 10 minutes or until the surface or object is washed with water.

Tinker Gnome

Tending towards the blues and purples, the tinker gnomes have a fascination with Omnis’ gifts. Building contraptions that enchant and amaze, it is perhaps for their love of invention that the gnomes weathered the loss of magic quite well. Many tinkerers even producing devices able to simulate the effects of some spells.

Ability Score Increase. Your Constitution score increases by 1.

Artificer Lore. Whenever you make an Intelligence (History) related to magic items or technological devices, you can add twice your proficiency bonus, instead of your normal proficiency bonus you normally apply.

Tinker: You have proficiency with artisan’s tools (tinker’s tools). Using those tools, you can spend 1 hour and 10 gp worth of materials to construct a Tiny clockwork device (AC 5, 1 hp). The device ceases to function after 24 hours (unless you spend 1 hour repairing it to keep the device functioning), or when you use your action to dismantle it; at that time, you can reclaim the materials used to create it. You can have up to three such devices active at a time. When you create a device, choose one of the following options:

Clockwork Toy: This toy is a clockwork animal, monster, or person, such as a frog, mouse, bird, dragon, or soldier. When placed on the ground, the toy moves 5 feet across the ground on each of your turns in a random direction. It makes noises as appropriate to the creature it represents.

Fire Starter: The device produces a miniature flame, which you can use to light a candle, torch, or campfire. Using the device requires your action.

Music Box: When opened, this music box plays a single song at a moderate volume. The box stops playing when it reaches the song’s end or when it is closed.

Fester Gnome

Touched by the malign, fester gnomes take a slick green colouration, their skin mired by pots and bumps. They always seem to shine as their skin is coated by a thick oil which is highly poisonous. Still in love with alchemical creations, the festering gnomes turn both their new and old skill to the production of a myriad of powerful poisons.

Ability Score Increase. Your Charisma score increases by 1.

Poisonous. Anything that attacks you with an unarmed strike, natural attack, touch attack, or otherwise touches you must succeed a Constitution save with a DC equal to 8 + your Constitution bonus + your proficiency bonus. On a failed save they suffer the poisoned effect. Undead, Constructs or any other creature immune to poisons unaffected by this ability. You can spend an hour gathering the toxins off your skin to produce one vial of Common Poison, which loses its potency after 24 hours. You can only use this ability once per short rest. You are immune to the poison produced by Fester Gnomes, and resistant to Poison Damage.

Toxins Expert. You have proficiency with artisan’s tools (tinker’s tools). Whenever you make an Intelligence (History) related to poisonous materials or other toxic substances, you can add twice your proficiency bonus, instead of your normal proficiency bonus you normally apply.

Malign Power. You know the Acid Splash cantrip. Charisma is your spellcasting ability for it.

Malignant. When making  Charisma (Deception), Charisma (Persuasion) or Charisma (Performance) checks against creatures without this trait you do not add your proficiency bonus.