Anger Issues for a Gnome/Tiny Character. Ideas?

[Dimcair]

I decided to go for a Gnome Barbarian (5e, but doesn't matter here).
I am brainstorming anger issues for him that make him go into rage.... getting a bit stuck and thought it may be fun to ask for your ideas!

Bonus points when it is something that one can organically pull off during all sorts of situation where combat/physical challenges erupt.


Please go wild, nothing is off the table, except the Gnome because he is too short to reach it!

[Heavenblade]

Something about a general feeling of being hopeless/useless in front of tough situations?

Gnomes are small and in many settings become the footstall of larger races. A character who was oppressed, told he cannot do things becuse hw is too physically weak, might not only strive to become the peak physical example of his kind, but be really passionate/angry about it.


That could go out during two types of moment - when he sees oppression, mostly something that relates to him/his race/family - this is more of a thing for important moments, character building ones.

A side effect of that built up rage is that whenever he is told he cannot do something, he might feel a need to prove he can. He is probably going to be sensitive about racial stereotypes regarding physical weakness, and take big risks just to prove that he CAN take themz that he (and by extent his race) are not too small, too weak, or too fragile for the world.


And it will probably come out as bursts of anger when someone implies he cannot do something, that he is not good enough, or when gnomish racial stereotypes are being brought up.

[Spore]

0) The small folk are generally pretty sly and non-confronting. People have told him/her to take the easy way, to be opportunistic, to be smart. He does not like being subtle. He loves to be blunt. He chooses the conditions of surrender vs. an enemy. If they are not met, no if's and's or but's, they get their behind handed to them.

1) "Short" jokes: Do you think you're fun to someone who heard these types of jokes for potentially 100+ years? Start being angry and tell tall people jokes. One punchline for every axe swing.

2) More serious: Whenever he sees someone getting pushed around, his vision simply goes red, and he is the tiny version of the Doom Slayer. (May require neutral alignment).

3) People threatening younger people: Just because he is sized like a human child does not mean he can't feel in a patronizing way about the younger group members. Pulling a fight with the 20-something wizard gal? Trying to kill the 16 year old warlock? You're gonna get your shins rearranged.

[Psyren]

Isn't the whole point of being a Barbarian that they don't need a reason to fly into a rage? That's what makes them truly scary.

Napoleon Complex is the lowest-hanging fruit here as stated.

[Phhase]

I had an idea for a gnome character you can steal if you want. It piggybacks off of the Napoleon Syndrome thing.
1. He's insecure about his size and get mad about it easily.
2. He wears a clockwork exo-suit that makes him taller, appearing much like an armored human (with a head that's a little smaller than it ought to be). Think Lord Farquaad on his horse from the first Shrek movie.

If you think it's cool, it's easily achievable by mixing in a few levels of Armorer Artificer, and the DM's blessing to make you effectively Medium while in the armor. For extra humor, make him either make fun of other people for being short (eviler) or be viciously defensive of short people (gooder). Triple bonus points if you are able to conceal the fact that you are a gnome in embiggenment armor.

[Jay R]

I strongly urge you to read TheWee Free Men by Terry Pratchett, or any of the Discworld books that feature the Nac Mac Feegle, or pictsies.

They are six inches tall, covered in blue tattoos, and bloody furious at, well, pretty much everything.

[RNightstalker]

Whenever he's confused for a halfling

[Ason]

I saw a Twitter thread recently (https://twitter.com/justice_arman/status/1256823580706430976) that was a giant list of other emotions you could reflavor barbarian rage as. Maybe you can get some inspiration from that!

[Telwar]

The condition of someone's shoes?

[Dienekes]

I saw a Twitter thread recently (https://twitter.com/justice_arman/status/1256823580706430976) that was a giant list of other emotions you could reflavor barbarian rage as. Maybe you can get some inspiration from that!

Amusingly that second one about being excited and jumping around is closer to how the sagas describe berserk rages than just getting angry ever did.

Anyway, you could play on gnomish things. If you’re doing the tinker style gnome maybe it’s because how terrible this person disrespects fine craftsmanship and ingenuity. And why do all these damn tall folk not take adequate care of their mechanisms? That makes Gnorman the Gnome angry!

Wait they’re using their illusions to do that? That’s not what innate magic is for! Must kill them all!

[Elvensilver]

A gnome is probably pretty used to being the smallest guy around, flying of the handle for size issues seems improbable. Maybe he is cleanly, maybe he really tries to promote peace and whenever someone attacks anyone, he reasons first, yells second, and finally pulls of their head. Maybe he has self-esteem issues-not height induced-and gets angry after he dropped his guard and was hit, didn't see the ambush or couldn't connect with an attack. Or he is a religious fanatic, or just a fan of a sports team and his teammates can insult his object of fanatism to drive him mad.

[Personification]

I would suggest being treated as or mistaken for a child as the trigger for Cognagn the Barbariagn.

[TeChameleon]

Could keep it very simple, too- rather than just a size issue, maybe his reaction to short jokes is to the joke part, not the short part- i.e. he's actually very dignified and feels he's being disrespected. Or (and this one could be fun) he's an incredible snob and hates being touched by his 'inferiors' (i.e. basically everyone he's ever likely to encounter).

[King of Nowhere]

if you want inspiration for a small-sized angry berserk, just look at belkar

[Liquor Box]

Maybe he's generally been overlooked because he's just a little fellow. As such he gets enraged when people ignore him (including in fights).

[Segev]

3) People threatening younger people: Just because he is sized like a human child does not mean he can't feel in a patronizing way about the younger group members. Pulling a fight with the 20-something wizard gal? Trying to kill the 16 year old warlock? You're gonna get your shins rearranged.

I particularly like this one. Play up his age relative to human and half-human PCs. They're kids to him, and while he thinks they're precocious and he respects them, he also feels protective and can't help be a little patronizing, like you would be to a genius 5-year-old wizard who might be able to tell you advanced arcane lore and reason out super-hard puzzles, but looks so CUTE doing it and still needs to be tucked in to bed to make sure he gets plenty of sleep.

[Spore]

I particularly like this one. Play up his age relative to human and half-human PCs. They're kids to him, and while he thinks they're precocious and he respects them, he also feels protective and can't help be a little patronizing, like you would be to a genius 5-year-old wizard who might be able to tell you advanced arcane lore and reason out super-hard puzzles, but looks so CUTE doing it and still needs to be tucked in to bed to make sure he gets plenty of sleep.

Kinda derailing but I think the thread is done anyway. You just added to my "mom cleric" idea. Several settings have a god of family and/or house and home, and this might just be the touch it needs to go from "refluffing a buffer" to actually believable character. :smallwink: