4e- Even gnomes can be sexy

[Asbestos]

See, now, I like 4e but... well, check this previewed image of the gnome race from the PHB2



...

Edit: Is she wearing a thong and chaps?

[mikeejimbo]

You say this like it's a bad thing!

[Archpaladin Zousha]

Aw, they took away part of their whimsical aspect! That's what made them such a blast to play!

[Teron]

They look like shorter elves. I am underwhelmed.

[Nohwl]

that picture has done nothing to change how much i hate gnomes.

[Xefas]

Aw, they took away part of their whimsical aspect! That's what made them such a blast to play!

I don't think you should necessarily jump to conclusions so quickly.

This is a picture of two gnomes who are presumably adventurers. They're probably gruff and serious because their job, which amounts to "go into lair of hideous monsters and ridiculously contrived traps and puzzles, and hope your teammates don't murder you once you find the treasure that may or may not be at the bottom of the dungeon" does not have a very high survival rate. The next door they open could very well have 45 Explosive Runes and a dispel magic trap attached to it, so one can't afford to be very whimsical.

Just like not all humans take after the two humans pictured in the PHB, I assume gnomes are rather diverse, and the average gnome is probably very whimsical, having been brought back to their fey roots in 4ed.

[Fishy]

Is she wearing a thong and chaps?

Nope. That's not her skin, it's the same metal as her shoulders, bracers and the tops of her boots. She's wearing some kind of... hip armor. And a bronze corset?

[Townopolis]

I find it odd that the male gnome, who is a bard (check the lute neck sticking up over his shoulder) is wearing what appears to be chainmail armor. I find this odd because, assuming they keep their stats, gnome bards would usually be virtue of cunning and have 16+ intelligence, giving them equal defense and superior mobility in hide armor.

OCD nitpicking aside, gnomes were always awesome. I'm a bit lukewarm on making them sexy though, as it might end up diluting some of their awesomeness.

Kind of hope they replace reactive stealth. It's cool and all, but hard to utilize with any of the classes gnomes are otherwise optimized for.

[ghost_warlock]

4e? I take it you never saw that picture of the female gnome in Paizo's (3e-ish) Pathfinder Player's Handbook. RAWR!

I find it odd that the male gnome, who is a bard (check the lute neck sticking up over his shoulder) is wearing what appears to be chainmail armor. I find this odd because, assuming they keep their stats, gnome bards would usually be virtue of cunning and have 16+ intelligence, giving them equal defense and superior mobility in hide armor.

Because 4e definitely has Perform (lute) as a skill only available to bards. Perish the thought of a fighter (or a member of any other class) learning to play a musical instrument...

[KKL]

that picture has done nothing to change how much i hate gnomes.

I'm in the same boat as this guy.

[Cybren]

This is a picture of two gnomes who are presumably adventurers. They're probably gruff and serious because their job, which amounts to "go into lair of hideous monsters and ridiculously contrived traps and puzzles, and hope your teammates don't murder you once you find the treasure that may or may not be at the bottom of the dungeon" does not have a very high survival rate. The next door they open could very well have 45 Explosive Runes and a dispel magic trap attached to it, so one can't afford to be very whimsical.

Yes everyone is super serial there's no room for happy people in dungeons! But seriously, I think there's plenty of precedent for "upbeat heroes" in the various source materials.

4e? I take it you never saw that picture of the female gnome in Paizo's (3e-ish) Pathfinder Player's Handbook. RAWR!



Because 4e definitely has Perform (lute) as a skill only available to bards. Perish the thought of a fighter (or a member of any other class) learning to play a musical instrument...

And toting it around? Certainly the artist made sure to show the lute to tell us something about the character.

[Nerd-o-rama]

Maybe he's a bard, but poorly optimized?

[Starshade]

Well, that look as small elves, could have been worse, but i think the gnomes was way too little distinctive or remarkable, so maybe this is for the better.

[Myou]

They look like shorter elves. I am underwhelmed.

This.

That gnome guy is hot, but that's what elves and half-elves are for.




My god that female is skanky....

[hewhosaysfish]

The female seems to be remarkably confused by the dagger she's holding, like she's not sure what is or what it's for.

[Lappy9000]

Well, that look as small elves, could have been worse, but i think the gnomes was way too little distinctive or remarkable, so maybe this is for the better.

...so making them look like small elves makes them more distinctive?

[LibraryOgre]

Well, that look as small elves, could have been worse, but i think the gnomes was way too little distinctive or remarkable, so maybe this is for the better.

Gnomes were distinctive in 1st and 2nd edition. Physically, they resembled slender dwarves, with smaller beards, darker skin (tending towards shades of brown), lighter hair (tending towards blondes and whites), and light eyes (though dark eyes weren't terribly uncommon). They also had impressively-sized noses, of which they were quite proud.

As of 3e, the gnose got down-sized, the skin color ran the gamut, and they became "short elves with beards" in the artwork.

Of course, this is the edition that shaved all the dwarven women, so I'm not surprised.

[Panda-s1]

Because 4e definitely has Perform (lute) as a skill only available to bards. Perish the thought of a fighter (or a member of any other class) learning to play a musical instrument...

Yeah, 'cause you totally need a skill to play an instrument in D&D. Perish the thought of a character knowing how to play an instrument 'cause the player said so.

*ponders whether or not mentioning 4e bards don't need to play an instrument to use their spells will make the poster flip*

*also contemplates reminding him that 3.x (or Pathfinder) fighters don't have perform as a class skill*

[Ellisthion]

But... 3.5 already had the perfect gnome!

[Tengu_temp]

Yeah, 'cause you totally need a skill to play an instrument in D&D. Perish the thought of a character knowing how to play an instrument 'cause the player said so.

*ponders whether or not mentioning 4e bards don't need to play an instrument to use their spells will make the poster flip*

*also contemplates reminding him that 3.x (or Pathfinder) fighters don't have perform as a class skill*

Your sarcasm detector is broken.

[Ravens_cry]

I always thought the female gnome in D&D 3.5 was pretty.

[Asbestos]

But... 3.5 already had the perfect gnome!

Yeah, he is a good gnome, but he really just seems like a short dude with pointy ears about to impale his hand.

I like the pitch black eye quality of the new gnome, makes them seem more alien, more fantastical than David the Gnome could ever be. The old gnomes would sell you beets and pick your pocket. The new gnomes seem like they'd steal your kidneys. They just appear to be more fey, in the traditional, almost malicious sense to me.

Also, I like how they don't look like kids, sure that female is short, but she doesn't have the creepily child-like quality of the Pathfinder gnome, who looks like she's auditioning for Lazy Town. (no offense to the dude that said 'rawr' about that gnome)

@whoever said that thing about her questioning the dagger: Dude! Awesome. I now imagine her 'listening' to the dagger as it tells her to plunge it into the back of the man in front of her. "Yes, dagger..." God, I need to stop PWI.

[Myou]

Is this a dagger I see before me?!

[Draz74]

I can't believe I'm saying this, as I got as annoyed as anyone else by the inane repetitions of "4e is an MMO!!!!!11111" posts in days of yore, but ...

That picture looks disturbingly like a screenshot from an MMO.

Which immediately turns me off towards everything 4e-Gnome-related. Forever.

[bosssmiley]

See, now, I like 4e but... well, check this previewed image of the gnome race from the PHB2

Oh great. Now we have 4 (or should that be 3 1/2?) races of pointy-eared magical metrosexuals instead of a second (unnecessary) Dwarf race.

"Hey Ma. Guess what. I'm a hipster." -- WOTC's 4E Gnome, in interview

[charl]

Wow...

Those gnomes do not look anything like I would have imagined. "Going back to the fey roots"? No way. They look like characters from WoW, and the girl looks like a stripper.

[Asbestos]

Wow...

Those gnomes do not look anything like I would have imagined. "Going back to the fey roots"? No way. They look like characters from WoW, and the girl looks like a stripper.

@You and the other guy that said the MMO thing: I'm looking for it and reaaaaly not seeing it. I think you guys are really stretching it on this one.

@bosssmiley: That has always been the tragic position of gnomes, stuck between elf-like and dwarf-like.

Btw, someone took some pictures of the PHB 2 pregren characters from DDXP and it seems that gnomes start with Ghost Sound as a racial encounter power, that and a +5 to saves against illusions is what separates them from the gnome in the MM.

[Dacia Brabant]

They don't look anything like WoW Gnomes, but they do look like Blood Elves with smaller ears, so that's reason enough to dislike them.

Oh well, at least they're not Dragonlance Gnomes.

[KnightDisciple]

I play WoW, and I'm not seeing much direct resemblance, either to WoW gnomes or WoW Belfs.

I had a post earlier that got eaten by forum troubles, but basically, I think they're trying to go for a more savage Fae aspect, which I applaud. Someone pointed out the eyes; I think that's one of the first things you can notice.

These gnomes aren't necessarily nice, cuddly little tricksters. They might be out to eat your face, or something.

Part of what they seem to be doing here is widening the difference between gnomes and halflings, without having one of them be the size of a newborn human or something (that would be like WoW gnomes, incidentally).

If they're sticking with Gnomes being innately illusion-y, maybe they'll have connection to the Shadowfell as well as the Feywild?

[charl]

Well, I've actually never played WoW, just seen the occasional screenshots, but the general look is very modern MMO-like in my opinion.

I miss the old days when heroes looked like heroes and female armour covered more than 1/5 of the body.