Gnome Accents?

[TheLogman]

So, it's fairly well established that Dwarves talk with a sort of Scottish accent at times.

I have a pair of gnome twins coming up in a game I'm running that I'd like to have a sort of playful, fun attitude to them, but I feel like they need some sort of accent to set them apart as the kind of guys they are.

Ideas? I kinda imagine an Irish accent or something, something fairly unrefined and European?

[World Eater]

Well, first off, I'm pretty sure dwarves speak like british gentlemenne.

[Ashram]

As a joke, my group always play gnomes with nasally voices.

[AslanCross]

As a joke, my group always play gnomes with nasally voices.

Of course, Gnomes depicted in CRPGs just have to have nasal voices. Jan Jansen in BG2, and Grobnar in NWN2 are the examples I really remember.

Jan was awesome for having a unique bazooka crossbow, though.

[Lord of Syntax]

All of my Gnomes speak in thick Swiss accents.

[holywhippet]

Grobnar didn't sounds especially nasal: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jEmWJmdZkHU

[Raging Gene Ray]

In my Eberron campaign, gnomes and most of the inhabitants of the Zilargo area talk with Jersey/Brooklyn accents.

[TheLogman]

In my Eberron campaign, gnomes and most of the inhabitants of the Zilargo area talk with Jersey/Brooklyn accents.

I like the idea of a Jersey/Brooklyn twin thing. I might roll with that.

[Cealocanth]

Gnomes tend to talk playfully and free-willed, like a fairy.

"Hiya! That Hummingbirdy sure can fly speedy quick!"

Only, since gnomes actually have some cares in life, they tend to talk like a mix between fairies and humans.

"Hi! How's it going! That Hummingbird over there sure can fly faster than a twisted fizzle don'tcha think?"

As far as voice tone? Deffinetely a high pitched child-like voice, but throw a little nasal in there to make sure they're not mistaken with human children.

[El Dorado]

Aussie accent is my first choice. British and Swiss would be awesome.

[Prodan]

I've always imagined Irish accents myself.

[Xallace]

All my gnomes speak in fractured English and thick Italian accents.
They also sport thick mustaches.
Many of them are plumbers.
They're not particularly adept at finding princesses.

[Toliudar]

I've had excellent success with the North American version of a Norwegian accent, a la the movie Fargo. Sped up as fast as you as a player can think.

[Piedmon_Sama]

Gnomes IMC are basically Antebellum to Late Victorian Yankees, with a steampunk tech level while everyone else ranges from the Dark Ages to the Baroque period. I play online so I can't do voices, sadly, but I imagine them sounding like Daniel Plainview (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KwkP7Gnp7ek) (Daniel Day-Lewis in that scene), or possibly like William F. Buckley (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nYymnxoQnf8) if they're more educated. Also, Comedy is a very important aspect of their culture, so a lot of them affect cheeky Groucho Marx (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PUXdrS2N4nM)-esque intonations. I'd love to work on my impressions of them, especially the "comedy" voice, just to make a gnome villain even more sinister. >_>

[Mando Knight]

Depends. If they're supposed to be silly gnomes rather than tinkering-with-junk gnomes, then nasal and excited wor (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4UqFPujRZWo)ks. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5KqjOGdOMtA)

[Ravens_cry]

Aussie accent is my first choice. British and Swiss would be awesome.
I had a halfling with an Aussie accent, but that was because he was a Kobold Hunta'. :smalltongue:
DM pulled tried to pull Tuckers Kobolds on us.:smallbiggrin:

[LibraryOgre]

I tend to run gnomes as New York Jews. Watch a lot of Brighton Beach Memoirs and Woody Allen movies.

[Malificus]

All my gnomes are Italian.

[Shademan]

nynorsk.
tho' that only works if you're talking norwegian i the first place

[Hendel]

Boi 'okey! This yurr whole talkn be oanly furr ee gnomespake. Arr, wot we'm be a-spaken abowt, zurrs an' marms? Em gnomes spaken notin speshul... Hurr hurr! Oi knows et! Us'ns spake likem er molecritters!

[Eldan]

All of my Gnomes speak in thick Swiss accents.

All my characters do, regardless of race. Because I always talk with a swiss accent :smalltongue:

[Hendel]

All my characters do, regardless of race. Because I always talk with a swiss accent :smalltongue:

Nice!

We Americans get tired of our boring accents and always want to emulate someone else.

[Simba]

Everyone knows gnomes are from Zürich, right? So they need a swiss accept to go with that.

[hamishspence]

What about a Yoda accent for gnomes?

[Piedmon_Sama]

They get enough hate already, why make it worse for them? :C

[Ravens_cry]

What about a Yoda accent for gnomes?
Hmmm. . .too wise and sage that be. Maybe gnome elder better fit it would, but youngling tinker fey? Not fit so well it would.
But this my opinion is.

[Ormur]

I picture them with Dutch accents.

[Amphetryon]

German gnomes FTW.

[hamishspence]

Hmmm. . .too wise and sage that be. Maybe gnome elder better fit it would, but youngling tinker fey? Not fit so well it would.
But this my opinion is.

I was thinking more Yoda at his most playful in ESB, before he starts teaching Luke. Still, his more gnomic phrases :smallbiggrin: might suit a more wise and elderly gnome.

[Mr White]

I picture them with Dutch accents.

To be honest David the gnome is Dutch so you might be right.

[ArcanistSupreme]

I had a halfling with an Aussie accent, but that was because he was a Kobold Hunta'. :smalltongue:
DM pulled tried to pull Tuckers Kobolds on us.:smallbiggrin:

I think elves with Aussie accents are way funny. But that might also be because the elf in question is also a hunter of sorts and the Druid has a crocodile for an animal companion.

[Emmerask]

Irish accent what else? :smallbiggrin:

[Scarey Nerd]

Gnomes can have no other accent than Irish, just as Dwarves may speak only in thick scottish accents.

[aivanther]

Slavic accents. Normal gnomes speak like Russians, Whisper Gnomes speak like Ukranians, and Chaos Gnomes speak like Poles.

[Jera]

Alot of my games are in Krynn so the gnomes speak as quickly as possible with as many run on words as possible. I throw in some l337 just for fun when it makes the words faster.

Whilst playing a gnome I actually got someone to ask me my name, I went of for about 4 minutes before I ran out of ideas for a genealogy... so I had to stop after only 83 generations. :smalleek:

[AtwasAwamps]

To be honest David the gnome is Dutch so you might be right.

COMPLETELY OFF-TOPIC: I loved that show when I was growing up. My girlfriend discovered this and as a sweet, thoughtful gift, bought me the original hardcover illustrative book about gnomish culture and such from the the original creator of David the Gnome. I flipped through it, happily and smiling and praising her awesomeness as a girlfriend until I got to the page about gnomes growing up.

Topless gnome females are terrifying in the David the Gnome universe. My mind is still scarred.

COMPLETELY ON-TOPIC: I use an eastern European accent and double-time my speech speed.

[Telonius]

I usually have their accents be either Munchkin or Oompa Loompa.

[TroubleBrewing]

The gnome language is meant to be a humorous (albeit slightly racist) take on Arabic, as it is just Common, spoken backwards very quickly.

I'm not sure I like the idea of an Irish gnome, however. It lends itself too easily to leprechaun humor, which is cheap at best. :smalltongue:

However, Gnomes using Molespeech? A+, sir. You are a gentleman of taste and distinction.

[ApeofLight]

Defiantly like a fairy or sprite voice would work. Would probably be like a not as thick dwarven accent, mix in some elven accent, and speed it up by about twice the normal speed.

So, probably just a nasaly voice that talks quickly. Almost childlike.

[Ravens_cry]

Irish accent what else? :smallbiggrin:
*looks around thread*
Quite a bit actually.

[Ormagoden]

They (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZN5PoW7_kdA), obviously (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q9jE33s51yY&feature=channel) sound (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VEH3u2Qz4fc&feature=related) like (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cL_qGMfbtAk&feature=channel) this (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_ety9JGwRI&feature=channel).

[TheThan]

I think they should have Italian accents, they need to wear pin-striped suits and run the Gnomish Mafia. Can you just imagine the hilarity when the PCs meet Don Twiddlethumbs.

The intimidation tactics would be great, someone wakes up next to the severed head of a unicorn...not to mention they have to break into gnomish sporadically in their speak and also talk with their hands.

[Darakonis]

Huh... Three people have mentioned an Italian accent for gnomes. Out of curiosity, may I ask why? Do people equate Italians with gnomes?

The reason I find it peculiar (as well as some of the other accents mentioned here, such as Brooklyn) is because Italian is not an accent common to the traditional medieval fantasy setting.

I think we all agree that dwarves have Scottish accents. I imagine halflings with Irish accents (Leprechaun reference unintentional, honestly) and elves with British accents (I know there are a ton of British accents, but I don't know how to describe the one I have in mind. Obviously not cockney.) I've been stumped with the gnome accent, myself. Maybe cockney?

Peace,
-Darakonis

[JohnnyCancer]

I was once the token Jew in a group that enjoyed being offensive for laughs, so in my honor Gnomes sprinkled in a lot of Yiddish words when they spoke and generally played off a number of Jewish stereotypes (negative and otherwise). A friend played one of those fancy Gnome shadow-whatsis and he did his best to sound like Morrissey. In my homebrew, Gnomes sound like old radio announcers or maybe Teddy Roosevelt.

[Hzurr]

I think elves with Aussie accents are way funny. But that might also be because the elf in question is also a hunter of sorts and the Druid has a crocodile for an animal companion.

See, it should be the Drow that have Australian accents, since they're from Down Under.


In general, my thought are
Elves/Eladrin - "Posh British"
Halflings - Cockney
Humans - American
Dwarves - Scottish
Goliaths - Russian
Gnomes - New York Yiddish
Half-Orcs - German(?)

(An Alternate is that all elves have a French accent, since Elven = French)

[Optimator]

I always pictured them with no accent or with an Irish accent.

[Icewraith]

Our group doesn't tend to use the short folk, cause players don't seem to do the characters justice unless they've had multiple cups of coffee or a red bull.

Granted, those particular characterizations have been towards the "inquisitive and hyper" spectrum of PCs anyways, so...

[TheLogman]

Huh... Three people have mentioned an Italian accent for gnomes. Out of curiosity, may I ask why? Do people equate Italians with gnomes?

The reason I find it peculiar (as well as some of the other accents mentioned here, such as Brooklyn) is because Italian is not an accent common to the traditional medieval fantasy setting.

I think we all agree that dwarves have Scottish accents. I imagine halflings with Irish accents (Leprechaun reference unintentional, honestly) and elves with British accents (I know there are a ton of British accents, but I don't know how to describe the one I have in mind. Obviously not cockney.) I've been stumped with the gnome accent, myself. Maybe cockney?

Peace,
-Darakonis

Actually, after talking to some RL friends, I decided to make the gnome characters have Cockney accents, since they were basically the stereotypical Trouble-causing Cockey Twins from the city.

The high ranking gnomes will probably have a different sort of accent. Italian is an interesting, since it should be one that gives an idea of culture and a higher position.

[prufock]

I like my gnome's accents the same way I like them cooked - Cajun. My gnomes all sound like Gambit.

[Swooper]

Gnomes - New York Yiddish
This. I don't play in English and I can't do a yiddish accent myself, but that's what it sounds like in my head. :smallbiggrin:

[JohnnyCancer]

You could give them Pennsylvanian accents, seeing as how they have dealings with burrowing creatures. Punxsutawney sounds like a Gnomish name doesn't it?

[Quincunx]

As a bonus for New York/New Jersey/Pennsylvania gnomes, the natural speech rhythm there is very fast. You're gonna gatherspeed jus'tryin'akeepupwi'd'it.

prufrock: XCrawl gnomes?

[Ravens_cry]

See, it should be the Drow that have Australian accents, since they're from Down Under.


In general, my thought are
Elves/Eladrin - "Posh British"
Halflings - Cockney
Humans - American
Dwarves - Scottish
Goliaths - Russian
Gnomes - New York Yiddish
Half-Orcs - German(?)

(An Alternate is that all elves have a French accent, since Elven = French)
I did Half-Orcs as German. Well, a gruff, guttural tone that others described as German anywho.
Humans, depending on where they are from and what kind of character they are can have any range of accent.

[prufock]

prufrock: XCrawl gnomes?

I just had to google XCrawl, so I can't say for sure. Never played it.

[LibraryOgre]

See, it should be the Drow that have Australian accents, since they're from Down Under.

In general, my thought are
Elves/Eladrin - "Posh British"


To make the primary even more appropriate, consider that Drow are exiled surface world elves. Heck, make Elves a more rural British, to Eladrin's BBC voice, and you've got yourself a stereotype!

[Telonius]

You could give them Pennsylvanian accents, seeing as how they have dealings with burrowing creatures. Punxsutawney sounds like a Gnomish name doesn't it?

Never thought of that. It'd have to be Pittsburghese, though, not just regular Pennsylvanian. A city with that many bridges has to be of Gnomish design. Though Steelers and Pirates suggest more Halfling or Kender influence than Gnome...

[Darcy]

I think of gnomes as having kind of North English accents, with names like Boddynock, Namfoodle and Ellywick. Very Hiberno-Saxon. Alternatively they could have Maritime accents, ie Nova Scotia or Newfoundland.

[Gorbash]

Accent of Londo Mollari from B5 seems suitable for a gnome.