TINKER GNOMES

Gnomes are the tinkers and inventors of Krynn. Fast thinking and fast speaking, their minds are forever fixed on cogs, gears, wheels, bells, whistles, and steam-powered engines. Despite the dangers inherent in their work, gnomes (sometimes called "tinker" gnomes) adore technology and continue throughout the ages to pursue and perfect their inventions.
Personality: Inventive, skillful, and enthusiastic, gnomes are devoted to making life easier through technology, though their complex inventions usually have the exact opposite effect. Science is a gnome's life, so much so that every gnome chooses a special Life Quest upon reaching adulthood. More important than family ties, the Life Quest defines the gnome. The Life Quest is always related to furthering knowledge or developing technology.
The goal is specific and usually out of reach. It is not uncommon for Life Quests to be handed down from one generation to the next multiple times before it is achieved. Successful completion of a Life Quest ensures the gnome, and any forebear working on the same quest, a place in the afterlife with Reorx. Only one gnome was ever able to complete three separate Life Quests in his own lifetime, and he was deemed a mad gnome (see below) and cast out of Mount Nevermind for making everyone else look bad.
The gnome dedication to knowledge and invention leaves them sadly lacking in the social graces, at least when it concerns other races. Gnomes are always eager to discuss projects and compare notes, and in their hurry to explain what they mean, they often forget to be polite. Gnomes do care for other people's feelings, but they're typically focused on another matter entirely by the time it occurs to them that they were rude. The worse thing in the world (at least in the minds of other races) is a gnome apology. Believing that action speaks louder than words, a gnome making an apology will build an invention specifically for the injured party. All too often, this invention ends up hurting more than the person's feelings.
A gnome proverb goes: "Small, simple machines are made by small, simple minds." Gnomes appreciate the value of style and flash. Bigger must be better. The more bells, whistles, and steam engines attached to a project, the better the likelihood of its success. Never build something with only one lever or button, when ten or twenty ensure a safety margin for error. Redundancy is a factor that must be taken into account. Above all, embrace failure. One never knows when a mistake with one project may provide an intriguing lead for a completely new project. An invention that is too simple and works too well, stymies inventiveness and must be discouraged.
Physical Description: Both male and female gnomes average 3 feet in height, weighing about 45-50 pounds. Gnomes have brown skin that is the hue of polished teak, curly or straight white hair, blue or violet eyes, and strong, even, white teeth. Males grow soft and extremely curly beards and mustaches. Short and stocky, gnomes are very nimble, with quick, dexterous hands. Gnomes are much too busy to worry about how they look, and throw on any garment that happens to come to hand, as long as it has a great many pockets, each of which is stuffed filled with tools, notepads, and strange devices.
Gnome voices possess a similar quality in range and pitch as human voices, though gnomes have a more nasal, aspirated sound. Gnomes speak rapidly and with surprising intensity, running their words together into continuous sentences in the desperate need to express their thoughts before the thoughts are lost. Nongnomes have difficulty keeping up and must often request that the gnome speak slowly and more clearly. Since gnomes are capable of speaking and listening simultaneously, they believe those unable to do so to be a bit dimwitted. Only when frightened, startled or unhappy will a gnome's sentences be abrupt and to the point (always a sure sign that a gnome is depressed).
Relations: In areas where gnomes have settled, they are typically not well liked. Besides poor social skills, the gnome reliance upon strange technology alienates other races in Ansalon. The elves, in particular, find gnome devices to be distasteful, while the gnomes feel the same about elven reliance upon magic (seen to be anti-machine and therefore highly suspect). Kender adore gnomes, who are sure to have the most interesting gadgets, but gnomes are extremely distrustful of kender, who are always flipping switches and touching things they're not supposed to. Dwarves and gnomes get along well, particularly since both races prefer dwelling underground. Both dwarves and gnomes value their privacy, so they keep out of each other's way. Typically, gnomes prefer to be left to their own devices - literally. They do not like outsiders messing with their projects, and they don't interfere with outsiders, unless dealing with outsiders furthers the Life Quest. Those rare gnomes who choose a Life Quest involving other races (such as a gnome whose Life Quest involves the study a dragon's internal combustion system or a gnome trying to discover a biological reason for kender fearlessness) tend to be more outgoing and personable.
Alignment: Although they consider themselves above such antiquated concepts of "good" and "evil," the studious (some would say fanatical) nature of gnomes gives them a strong lawful bent. Gnomes embrace the philosophy that knowledge is neither good nor evil. Evil gnomes are as rare as evil kender, and end up either being catapulted (sometimes literally) out of gnome society or leaving on their own accord to focus their energies entirely upon their studies.
Gnome Lands: The largest settlement of gnomes is found in Mount Nevermind, an extinct volcano on Sancrist Island. The population of the settlement boasted more than 65,000 gnomes during the War of Souls. Thousands of years old, the settlement in Mount Nevermind is one of the oldest settlements in Krynn, and is the most highly developed gnome city. The largest community of gnomes outside Mount Nevermind numbers only 1,000 inhabitants, with gnome communities averaging between 200-400 citizens. Each of these settlements is found in mountainous or hilly regions, and built in networks of caverns created by the gnomes. These communities are self-sustaining, and other nearby inhabitants usually have no idea that a gnome community is in the vicinity until a gnome experiment goes awry. Even then, the resulting explosion may be explained away as a minor earthquake or tremor.
Religion: The major deity in gnome religion is Reorx. Since religious services rarely require steam power, gnome priests are very rare. Gnomes respect Reorx, but show their devotion through the creation of their devices rather than through traditional worship. A few gnomes revere the goddess of industry, Shinare, whose followers pray for smooth-running machines. It is not uncommon for gnomes to mutter a prayer to both deities just before pulling the lever or pushing the button to start their newest inventions. Gnomes believe that the two deities give their blessing to only unique and the most inventive machines, which is why gnomes keep building bigger and "better" devices.
Language: The gnome language is based on the Common tongue, sprinkled liberally with highly technical phrases and jargon that other races do not comprehend. Spoken very rapidly, Gnome utilizes a lot of catch phrases, acronyms, and scientific terminology, creating an entirely new language that few on Krynn are able to fully understand. When around nongnomes, a gnome must often be reminded to speak slowly and succinctly.
Names: Gnomes have three different names. The first is the gnome's given name, which traces the gnome's family tree clear back to the creation of the first gnome by Reorx. Understandably, this name can be extremely long and unwieldy to speak in every day usage, so the gnome adopts a second, shortened name that is composed of highlights from the gnome's family tree. This name may take only about thirty minutes to speak, rather than a few days. Other races who deal with gnomes give a gnome a third name, composed of the first few syllables of the gnome's real name. Gnomes find these "nicknames" to be extremely undignified, but mark it down as the inability of other races to think on the same level as they do.
Male Gnome Names (Abbreviated): Aerodym, Conundrum, Crasher, Gnimish, Gnosh, Kaboom, Nervos, Sinker, Spanner, Wedge.
Female Gnome Names (Abbreviated): Bally, Cinder, Folly, Gnira, Grenda, Hydrola, Mystie, Pepper, Sealan, Widge.
Guilds: Aerodynamics, Appliances, Architecture, Chemistry, Communication, Hydraulics, Hydrodynamics, Kinetics, Thermodynamics, Transportation.
Adventurers: Because of their dedication to their projects, gnomes tend to be homebodies, rarely leaving the place they were born. Gnomes who deal with the occasional subterranean threat uncovered during expansion of gnome tunnels (as members of the Committee for the Slaying of Beasts and Monsters) are passable fighters, while others pick up a knack for "acquiring" supplies needed for experiments (Committee for the Acquisition and Requisitioning of Goods and Supplies).
A very few gnomes whose Life Quests have led them to study magical items to better replicate the effects through technology take up the arcane arts, from mysticism and sorcery to the high magic of the Wizards of High Sorcery. No gnome has taken the Test of High Sorcery (perhaps miffed by the fact that the use of generators is not permitted), thus all gnome wizards are renegades. Gnome priests are almost as rare as gnome wizards. Study of the Life Sciences now lies completely with the Medical Guild (an offshoot of the Agricultural Guild).

TINKER GNOME RACIAL TRAITS
+2 Dexterity, +2 Intelligence, -2 Strength, -2 Wisdom. Small and skilled with their hands, gnomes tend to be more agile but less physically strong than larger races. With their keen inventiveness, gnomes are extremely intelligent, but they often put the quest for knowledge ahead of any consequences that may come from their Life Quest.
Small: As Small creatures, gnomes gain a +1 size bonus to Armor Class, a +1 size bonus on attack rolls, and a +4 size bonus on Hide checks, but they must use smaller weapons than humans use, and their lifting and carrying limits are three-quarters of those of Medium characters.
Gnome base land speed is 20 feet.
+2 racial bonus on Craft (alchemy) checks. Gnomes have a keen sense of smell that helps them in identifying noxious substances.
Guild Affiliation: At character creation, the gnome character selects a Guild with which he is affiliated. Since there are innumerable guilds, they are technically broken into three major categories: Craft Guilds (bowyer, blacksmithing, leatherworking, and the like), Technical Guilds (architecture, chemistry, engineering, scriveners, and others), and Sage Guilds (botany, biology, education, mathematics, philosophy, and so on). If the gnome selects a Craft Guild, the gnome gains a +2 racial bonus on all Craft checks. Technically inclined gnomes gain a +2 racial bonus on all Profession checks. Sage gnomes receive a +2 racial bonus on all Knowledge checks.

+2 racial bonus on Will saves. A gnome is constantly involved in pursuits of a Life Quest. The gnome may appear to be constantly distracted from day-to-day matters, it's because the gnome is caught up in thinking, dreaming, or planning the Life Quest. Because of this, it is difficult to sway a gnome from a chosen path.

Automatic Languages: Common and Gnome. Bonus Languages: Dwarven, Ergot, Ogre, and Solamnic. Though they rarely leave Mount Nevermind, gnomes pick up the languages of the others who occupy the same island.

Favored Class: Special. A gnome's first class (the class he takes as a 1st-level character) is his favored class. Gnomes tend to explore any path to its conclusion and are not easily sidetracked once they have chosen a course. Gnomes in different guilds learn different abilities almost from birth. Some are trained to deal with outside threats, becoming members of the Guild of Defense and Martial Sciences, while others determined to quantify magic as a pure science are members of the Guild of Magical Sciences, including so-called mysticism and sorcery. Such gnomes are technically renegades, though as long as they stay inside Mount Nevermind and do not inflict their magic on the world at large, the members of the Orders of High Sorcery do not believe it worth their while to pursue these magician-gnomes.


 Character Name  :                          Height :
 Character Race  :                          Weight :
 Alignment       :                          Eyes   :
 Deity           :                          Hair   :
 Total Level     :                          Size   :
                                            Speed  :

  Character Class Information

 Level  1 Class :                         Max HP *:       FC Bonus:
 Level  2 Class :                         HP Roll*:       FC Bonus:
 Level  3 Class :                         HP Roll*:       FC Bonus:
   *HP without con modifiers.

 Favored Class  :

  Ability Scores

 Strength     : 00 (+0)     00 point buy + 0 racial + 0 level + 0 misc
 Dexterity    : 00 (+0)     00 point buy + 0 racial + 0 level + 0 misc
 Constitution : 00 (+0)     00 point buy + 0 racial + 0 level + 0 misc
 Intelligence : 00 (+0)     00 point buy + 0 racial + 0 level + 0 misc
 Wisdom       : 00 (+0)     00 point buy + 0 racial + 0 level + 0 misc
 Charisma     : 00 (+0)     00 point buy + 0 racial + 0 level + 0 misc

 Maximum Load  : 000 lbs.
 Lift Overhead : 000 lbs.   (equal to Maximum Load)
 Lift          : 000 lbs.   (equal to Maximum Load x2)
 Drag or Push  : 000 lbs.   (equal to Maximum Load x5)

  Combat Statistics

 Hit Points        : 00
 Base Attack (BAB) : +0
 Initiative        : +0     0 Dex + 0 misc

 Base Melee        : +0     0 BAB + 0 Str + 0 misc
 Base Ranged       : +0     0 BAB + 0 Dex + 0 misc

 Combat Maneuver   : +0          0 BAB + 0 Str + 0 misc          <- CMB
 Maneuver Defense  : 10     10 + 0 BAB + 0 Str + 0 Dex + 0 misc  <- CMD

 Armor Class       : 10     10 base + 0 armor + 0 shield + 0 Dex + 0 misc
 Touch AC          : 10     10 base                      + 0 Dex + 0 misc
 Flat-Footed AC    : 10     10 base + 0 armor + 0 shield         + 0 misc

  Saving Throws

 Fortitude  : +0    0 base + 0 Con + 0 misc
 Reflex     : +0    0 base + 0 Dex + 0 misc
 Will       : +0    0 base + 0 Wis + 0 misc

 Conditional Bonuses and Penalties :

  Racial Abilities and Features


  Class Abilities and Features


  Skills and Languages

 Class skills with at least 1 skill rank in them gain a +3 "class" bonus.
 [c] denotes a class skill.
 ^ denotes a skill that cannot be used untrained.

 [ ] Acrobatics         : +00    0 ranks + 0 Dex + 3 class + 0 misc - 0 armor
 [ ] Appraise           : +00    0 ranks + 0 Int + 3 class + 0 misc
 [ ] Bluff              : +00    0 ranks + 0 Cha + 3 class + 0 misc
 [ ] Climb              : +00    0 ranks + 0 Str + 3 class + 0 misc - 0 armor
 [ ] Craft:             : +00    0 ranks + 0 Int + 3 class + 0 misc
 [ ] Diplomacy          : +00    0 ranks + 0 Cha + 3 class + 0 misc
 [ ] Disable Device ^   : +00    0 ranks + 0 Dex + 3 class + 0 misc - 0 armor
 [ ] Disguise           : +00    0 ranks + 0 Cha + 3 class + 0 misc
 [ ] Escape Artist      : +00    0 ranks + 0 Dex + 3 class + 0 misc - 0 armor
 [ ] Fly                : +00    0 ranks + 0 Dex + 0 class + 0 misc - 0 armor
 [ ] Handle Animal ^    : +00    0 ranks + 0 Cha + 0 class + 0 misc
 [ ] Heal               : +00    0 ranks + 0 Wis + 0 class + 0 misc
 [ ] Intimidate         : +00    0 ranks + 0 Cha + 3 class + 0 misc
 [ ] Know: Arcana ^     : +00    0 ranks + 0 Int + 0 class + 0 misc
 [ ] Know: Dungeon ^    : +00    0 ranks + 0 Int + 0 class + 0 misc
 [ ] Know: Engineer ^   : +00    0 ranks + 0 Int + 0 class + 0 misc
 [ ] Know: Geography ^  : +00    0 ranks + 0 Int + 0 class + 0 misc
 [ ] Know: History ^    : +00    0 ranks + 0 Int + 0 class + 0 misc
 [ ] Know: Local ^      : +00    0 ranks + 0 Int + 3 class + 0 misc
 [ ] Know: Nature ^     : +00    0 ranks + 0 Int + 3 class + 0 misc
 [ ] Know: Planes ^     : +00    0 ranks + 0 Int + 0 class + 0 misc
 [ ] Know: Religion ^   : +00    0 ranks + 0 Int + 0 class + 0 misc
 [ ] Linguistics ^      : +00    0 ranks + 0 Int + 3 class + 0 misc
 [ ] Perception         : +00    0 ranks + 0 Wis + 3 class + 0 misc
 [ ] Perform:           : +00    0 ranks + 0 Cha + 3 class + 0 misc
 [ ] Profession: ^      : +00    0 ranks + 0 Wis + 3 class + 0 misc
 [ ] Ride               : +00    0 ranks + 0 Dex + 0 class + 0 misc - 0 armor
 [ ] Sense Motive       : +00    0 ranks + 0 Wis + 3 class + 0 misc
 [ ] Sleight of Hand ^  : +00    0 ranks + 0 Dex + 3 class + 0 misc - 0 armor
 [ ] Spellcraft ^       : +00    0 ranks + 0 Int + 0 class + 0 misc
 [ ] Stealth            : +00    0 ranks + 0 Dex + 3 class + 0 misc - 0 armor
 [ ] Survival           : +00    0 ranks + 0 Wis + 0 class + 0 misc
 [ ] Swim               : +00    0 ranks + 0 Str + 3 class + 0 misc - 0 armor
 [ ] Use Magic Device ^ : +00    0 ranks + 0 Cha + 3 class + 0 misc

 Languages : Common, sylvan

  Traits and Feats

 Level 1 Feat :

 Trait #1 :
 Trait #2 :

  Money and Equipment

 Armor     :
 Belt      :
 Body      :
 Chest     :
 Eyes      :
 Feet      :
 Hands     :
 Head      :
 Headband  :
 Neck      :
 Ring #1   :
 Ring #2   :
 Shield    :
 Shoulders :
 Wrists    :

 Weapon    :
 Weapon    :

 Other Equipment :

 Money : 0 GP

  Magic

 Level 0     0 spells per day    0 bonus    DC 10 (10 + level + 0 ability)
    Known/Prepared:

 Level 1     0 spells per day    0 bonus    DC 11 (10 + level + 0 ability)
    Known/Prepared:

 Level 2     0 spells per day    0 bonus    DC 12 (10 + level + 0 ability)
    Known/Prepared:

  Spellbook

 Level 0 :
 Level 1 :
 Level 2 :
This message was last edited by the GM at 09:50, Sat 16 Mar.