Str:-1 Dex:-- Con:-- Int:+2 Wis:-2 Cha:+1 Luc:--
Favoured Classes: Mage, Bard
 
  Jovial, optimistic and deeply passionate, gnomes have adapted extremely well to the modern world of Therya. Like halflings, they blend seamlessly into human societies, and unlike the more xenophobic (and thus receeding) elven and dwarven peoples, gnomes have achieved great success as a race, and their population in continually growing. Their services as craftsmen, engineers, entertainers and scholars are always being sought out by human settlements and communities, and their reputation for honesty and solid craftsmanship often makes them seem more trustworthy than the opportunistic halflings.
   Gnomes are social beings, as extroverted, liberal and expressive as their cousins, the dwarves, are stoic and reserved. Their easygoing candor makes them a welcome addition to most social circles, and their penchant for pranks and practical jokes is generally benevolent in cast. Gnomes do not have the strong ties of clan and honour that bind dwarves (though they are fiercely loyal to the much-revered king of their race), and treat friendship as the highest bond one can possess.
   Gnomes have an inherent love of process, of the hows and whys of any kind of system -- mechanical, social or even cosmological. Gnomish religion depicts the universe as a massive blueprint, sacred not only for its beauty but for the focused intent of its design and the complex interdependancy of all its subsystems. While ancient gnomish society was theorically a monarchy, in practice it has historically been more of a republic, a vast bureaucracy which intertwines the complex castes and clans of gnome society. Just as halflings seem inherently drawn to the merchant houses of Therya, so are gnomes involved with government and civic management, finding work as various sorts of civil servants more frequently than in any other niche. (This has led to a friendly, but still competitive, rivalry between the two demihuman races in the business world.) The typical gnome adventurer does what she does not for money, power, glory, moral altruism or even excitement, but in order to reveal the process of the world, to understand how diverse and seemingly unrelated factors come together to form a coherant and ordered tapestry.

 GNOME RACIAL SKILLS
   Gnomes are especially adept at mechanics, chemistry and engineering. As such, they receive Alchemy, Craft, Handle Device, Mining and Use Magic Device as racial skills. While not every gnome can craft illusions, those that take up magecraft benefit from an innate aptitude for it, having a +4 racial bonus to Illusioncraft.

 GNOME RACIAL TRAITS
   * +2 Intelligence -- Gnomes are clever and innovative creatures, taking naturally to the study of mechanics, maths, magecraft and other abstract fields of study. They enjoy puzzles, wordcraft and intellectual pursuits.
   * -2 Wisdom -- Conversely, gnomes can often be foolhardy, oblivious, blinded by idealism or generally unworldly. They are at heart frivolous and whimsical creatures, and sometimes have trouble staying focused on the situation at hand or applying basic common sense to something that can be addressed (and overcomplicated) by more systematic methodologies.
   * Small -- Gnomes are considered to be Small creatures, which gives them certain mechanical advantages and weaknesses. They cannot wield Large weapons and must used two hands to wield a Medium weapon, they have a 10% penalty to hit points and their carrying capacity is 3/4ths that of a Medium-size creature. However, they receive a +1 size bonus to DC and to all attack rolls, and their smaller stature lets them navigate tunnels that a human could never fit into.
   * Racial Weapons -- The same mechanical aptitude that makes gnomes adept at devices and crafts makes them indirectly well-suited to the use of crossbows. While gnomes are not specifically accurate with such weapons, their agile hands and knowledge of gears and tension allows them to reload crossbow with alacrity. They begin with the Rapid Reload feat at first level, and gnome warriors and rangers are automatically proficient with the cranquin.
   In addition, gnomes who are proficient with the Long Blades weapon group are also considered proficient with the use of the mercurial broadsword, which is an exotic weapon for any other race.
   * Illusioncraft -- Gnomes have a strong inborn magical gift: the power of illusion. Gnome characters gain certain spell-like abilities as they advance in level to represent this. At 1st level, they may use ventrilloquism at will. At 3rd level, they gain mirror image; at 7th, displacement.
   This ability also grants gnomes a +2 bonus to saving throws versus illusions, and a +4 racial bonus to the Illusioncraft skill.
   * Arcane Trickery -- Gnomes lack the everyday willpower and determination of Elves or Dwarves, but their crafty minds are well suited to lateral thinking, especially on a mystical level. Three times per day, they may discern a way to slip a spell past a foe's defenses, finding a metaphysical chink in their armour and increasing the save DC of the spell in question by +8.
   * Burrow Kinship -- Gnomes have a certain kinship with burrowing mammals: rabbits, foxes, badgers and so forth. The can communicate with these creatures empathically, and are often able to befriend them or receive aid from them. Essentially, this is a limited form of the Animal Empathy skill, and uses the gnome's character level in lieu of a skill rating.
   * Stonework Sense -- Though not the equal of the dwarves, gnomes still have an exceptional aptitude for mining and stonecraft. They can sense the same things dwarves can, but their sense functions identically to that of a dwarf of twice their level.
   In addition, gnomes are familiar with all manner of gems, and receive a +5 racial bonus to all checks made to identify gemstones, which they covet highly.
   * Kobold Slayer -- Gnomes have fought the kobolds for many centuries, and their perpetual cheer is dampened by the fact that just about every gnome has lost someone to a kobold ambush or prank at one time or another. Gnomes have studied kobolds in great detail, and receive the favoured enemy bonuses against them in melee.
   * Freedom of Movement -- Gnomes are inherently immune to all magical effects that paralyze them, entangle them, petrify them, or otherwise slow or limit their movement. This is said to be a special sign of favour from the goddess Essiah.
   * Scent -- Like orcs, gnomes have a highly developed sense of smell, and can track enemies by smell and locate them when they are within 20 feet (2 squares).   * Starting Equipment -- Gnomes start with a gnomish backpack, a brass lantern, food rations, two random wands, a crossbow (a cranquin for warriors and rangers, otherwise an arbalest) and bolts if they are proficient with such, and a pickaxe. Gnomes proficient with long blades and with a Strength of 15 or higher also begin with a mercurial broadsword.

 GNOME SUBRACES (Unimplemented)
   Rock gnomes' inherent magic is tied more to stone than to illusion; they speak with it as if it were a living force in and of itself. They tend to live in isolated mountain settlements, have developed a shamantic religion around the worship of their Lords of the Earth and are responsible for building the strange stone circles that focus mana, scattered across isolated locales across Theyra's surface.
   Forest gnomes are sylvan creatures, possession an affinity toward things faerie without having fallen into Queen Maeve's thrall. They have an inherent kinship and empathy with forest creatures.
   Deep gnomes have been altered somewhat by having lived so long in the depths of the Underdark. They have no affinity for illusions, and they were not around to receive Essiah's blessing, but they have highly diverse innate spell-like abilities, and like many Underdark creatures are also highly resistant to magic.
   Craft gnomes are the newest gnome subrace, driven by a desire to advance their technological understanding as a race an a great affinity for devices of all kinds. These gnomes are more common in human cities than in the more sheltered gnome communities, where they are regarded as potentially dangerous.
   Spirit gnomes are physically the smallest of the gnome subraces, and also the rarest. They are well known as scholars, keepers of secrets, detectives and antiquarians; perhaps the greatest of their secrets is the origin of their subrace itself. They have an affinity for psionics and stealth, sharp senses and a lifespan far above that of normal gnomes.