{3.5} The Building of the Gnome

[AirGuitarGod32]

Hey! I just got ahold of Races of Stone and fell in love with the Chaos Gnome (granted, whisper gnome rox too)

Considering how chaos gnome is fundamentally different than "stock" gnomes, how would one build the "Gnomish Illusionist" at 8th level.

Considering that I want to use Shadowcraft Mage and have pseudo-real illusions, how can this be accomplished?

or

If anyone has a better gnome build, plz post it here


and one last thing: Y dont people seem to like gnomes all that much. Maybe its the "Fave Class: Bard", thus stems from Bard Hate, or maybe its the poorness of their melee, or maybe its their weapon, which is sub-par to say the least. Your thoughts, playgrounders?

[Sstoopidtallkid]

There's a lot of hatred for some races. Halflings, Elves, and Gnomes are the most obvious. It's not a statistical thing, it's the fluff.

[arguskos]

1. The classic Killer Gnome is a Whisper Gnome Shadowcraft Mage build that duplicates Miracles and other madness. Someone else can explain it further.

2. I personally hate gnomes because they are always played as maniacal little magical munchkin people with annoying voices who are crazy for kicks. I scourged them from my campaign setting and didn't look back. Oh, yes, halflings too.

[Temotei]

2. I personally hate gnomes because they are always played as maniacal little magical munchkin people with annoying voices who are crazy for kicks. I scourged them from my campaign setting and didn't look back. Oh, yes, halflings too.

I hate gnomes with a passion because of this. Pretty much exactly this.

Halflings...they're okay. They have their uses, and they're not gnomes.

Elves are fine, but I can't bring myself to take -1 hit point per level. And they're uptight jerks.

Half-orcs are so stereotypically this: "Rawg! Me squash you like little bug!" I get tired of that.

Humans are fine because they're so diverse, and that's their thing. No big stereotypes here.

Half-elves are fine too.

That might just be me though.

[Yuki Akuma]

A good build for a Shadowcraft Mage could use the Shadowcrafter PrC from Underdark. Master Specialist is also a nice PrC to dip into - there's really no reason why not.

Taking the Gnome Illusionist racial substitution level gives you Silent Image as a cantrip. With Earth Sense, Heighten Spell and Earth Spell, this lets you heighten Silent Image to any level you like and use it to cast spells of that level - instead of one level lower. (Without Gnome Illusionist, the only way to duplicate a first-level spell is by using a second-level or higher spell slot.)

Shadowcrafter gives your shadow spells some more 'oomph'. You can easily get your spells more than 100% real by stacking it with Shadowcraft Mage.

Focused Specialist from Complete Mage is also a good choice - you can quite safely drop Evocation and Enchantment. You should probably keep Conjuration, as unlike Evocation there are some good spells there you can't duplicate with Shadow Illusion.

Rainbow Servant can be used to get Miracle on your spell list, although that comes at level 10 so you're going to have to drop Shadowcrafter in that case.

Alternatively, Arcane Disciple would work if you can find a domain with Miracle in it...

[Draz74]

if you can find a domain with Miracle in it...

Luck Domain.

But isn't Arcane Disciple limited to 1/day per spell?

[AirGuitarGod32]

I adore gnomes because they are steriotypical comic relief (except the Whisper gnomes, which are Halflings in a different wrapping paper)

and as for the last post, the Gnome Illusionist sub levels may add nicely, so it'd look like this:

Beguiler2/GnomeIllusionist1/Beguler3/ShadowcraftMage2?

and would the feat Dazzling Illusion from complete mage be a good option?

[Yuki Akuma]

Er... Gnome Illusionist is a Wizard racial substitution 'class'. It wouldn't do anything for a build involving Beguiler. Wizards make very good Shadowcraft Mages - especially with the Earth Spell trick, which seems to have been designed especially for Shadowcraft Mages.

Dazzling Illusion doesn't really do anything amazing.

[BenTheJester]

Luck Domain.

But isn't Arcane Disciple limited to 1/day per spell?

Arcane Disciple simply adds domain spells to your spell list.

[AirGuitarGod32]

Er... Gnome Illusionist is a Wizard racial substitution 'class'. It wouldn't do anything for a build involving Beguiler. Wizards make very good Shadowcraft Mages - especially with the Earth Spell trick, which seems to have been designed especially for Shadowcraft Mages.

Dazzling Illusion doesn't really do anything amazing.

alright. Thanks for informing me

and Dazzling illusions adds to the effectiveness of illusionary spells

and is there an Illusion Reserve Feat?

[evil-frosty]

Ya drop the beguiler levels(unless if that is set in stone) and replace the first 2 with illusionist levels and then either for the second 3 replace with master specialist or more illusionist.

[Yuki Akuma]

Yes, but it costs a feat, which this build doesn't get many of! And it's not a particularly great feat either! If an enemy actually survives you casting an illusion spell (or at least isn't rendered a non-threat), something is terribly wrong.

Face-Changer is the only illusion reserve feat. It lets you use disguise self at will. Also not particularly great - a wand of disguise self is cheap.

[AirGuitarGod32]

Okay. so no "+1 competence bonus to CL" for my illusions

[Yuki Akuma]

Earth Spell gives you a scaling CL bonus on your heightened spells anyway.

(That Silent Image in the 9th-level spell slot? +9 CL.)

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

You don't want to use Chaos Gnome for a spellcaster, the +1 LA is not worth it. Whisper Gnome is a good choice, even a PHB Gnome would be better for it than Chaos Gnome.

Go Wizard specialized in Illusion, ban Evocation and Enchantment, and use all of UA's Illusionist variants. Go Wizard 3/ Master Specialist 4/ Shadowcraft Mage 5/ Shadowcrafter 8. Take the feat Signature Spell for Silent Image, using Illusion Mastery in place of Spell Mastery. As people have said, take Heighten Spell, Earth Sense, and Earth Spell, and with Shadowcraft Mage you can spontaneously convert a prepared spell into a Heightened Silent Image with your Shadow Illusion class feature. Don't forget you need Spell Focus: Illusion for Master Specialist. Also take the feat Residual Magic in Complete Mage, which makes half of your Silent Images heightened for free. Note that your Minor School Esoterica will apply to your Silent Image, and you can even take the feat Ability Focus from the Monster Manual for Silent Image for another +2 DC. The build takes a lot of feats, so I'd recommend taking two flaws, probably Noncombatant and Weak-Willed.

Other than that, all you need is an encyclopedic knowledge of every Evocation, Conjuration (Creation), and Conjuration (Summoning) spell.

[Foryn Gilnith]

Gnomes, like Kobolds, are overpowered. Gnomes have natural magical skill, enough Constitution to survive most plagues, and in many cases an inexplicable finesse with technology as well. Kobolds have complete racial unity, obscene amounts of natural magical skill, and an efficient enough metabolism to make supply trains completely obsolete.

[Yuki Akuma]

Gnomes, like Kobolds, are overpowered. Gnomes have natural magical skill, enough Constitution to survive most plagues, and in many cases an inexplicable finesse with technology as well. Kobolds have complete racial unity, obscene amounts of natural magical skill, and an efficient enough metabolism to make supply trains completely obsolete.

Also one in like every thousand is a Dragon rather than a Humanoid and can qualify for epic feats at level one if he's old enough.

[Foryn Gilnith]

If Dragonwrought Kobold cheese is viable, I assume that the original race (elves, for the sake of argument) would have Tippyverse conquered the world by now.

[gorfnab]

Shadowcraft Mage Handbook

[erikun]

I like my gnomes. They're comical, not comic relief. They know how to have fun without being, well, Chaotic Stupid Kender. I've actually seem more Chaotic Stupid Halflings than Gnomes in my time.

The +1 LA from the Chaos Gnome hurts quite a bit, especially with a spellcaster. Shadowcraft cheese can make up for this somewhat, or if you are starting at a high enough level, ask your DM for an automatic level buyoff.

Basic (Rock) Gnomes are perfectly useable: CON bonus, small size bonuses, even some free cantrips. Forest Gnome variants have an extra +4 to hide in forests and constant Pass Without Trace. Tinker Gnomes have -2 STR, +2 CON, +2 INT, -2 WIS for extra wizardly goodness, but are only in an old 3.0 book. (Dragonlance?) "Lesser" Svirfneblin have a +0 LA and several handy advantages, namely Darkvision. And of course, Wisper Gnomes are one of the best +0 LA races around. Most DMs won't let you run anything other than the standard Rock Gnome, though.

Others have given better advice for classes than I could. Remember that if you're going into Shadowcraft Mage/etc., you want to be a full-classed Wizard. (preferably, Illusionist specialist) On the other hand, if you have Complete Mage, there is the Ultimate Magus. Wizard 4/Sorcerer 1 is the usual entry, and with Practiced Spellcaster (Sorcerer) you only loose two Wizard levels. There's nothing stopping you from a Wizard 4/Bard 1 or Wizard 4/Beguiler 1, though.

[AirGuitarGod32]

I like my gnomes. They're comical, not comic relief. They know how to have fun without being, well, Chaotic Stupid Kender. I've actually seem more Chaotic Stupid Halflings than Gnomes in my time.

The +1 LA from the Chaos Gnome hurts quite a bit, especially with a spellcaster. Shadowcraft cheese can make up for this somewhat, or if you are starting at a high enough level, ask your DM for an automatic level buyoff.

Basic (Rock) Gnomes are perfectly useable: CON bonus, small size bonuses, even some free cantrips. Forest Gnome variants have an extra +4 to hide in forests and constant Pass Without Trace. Tinker Gnomes have -2 STR, +2 CON, +2 INT, -2 WIS for extra wizardly goodness, but are only in an old 3.0 book. (Dragonlance?) "Lesser" Svirfneblin have a +0 LA and several handy advantages, namely Darkvision. And of course, Wisper Gnomes are one of the best +0 LA races around. Most DMs won't let you run anything other than the standard Rock Gnome, though.

Others have given better advice for classes than I could. Remember that if you're going into Shadowcraft Mage/etc., you want to be a full-classed Wizard. (preferably, Illusionist specialist) On the other hand, if you have Complete Mage, there is the Ultimate Magus. Wizard 4/Sorcerer 1 is the usual entry, and with Practiced Spellcaster (Sorcerer) you only loose two Wizard levels. There's nothing stopping you from a Wizard 4/Bard 1 or Wizard 4/Beguiler 1, though.

My DM is waiving 1la races, treating them as 0la. Thats why chaos gnome sounds worthwhile

and he's also allowing almost any "in book" races, as long as they are "as printed"

I also agree that the Shadowcraft Mage is "breakable" if done right

[Keld Denar]

You should forgo Chaos Gnome and go normal Gnome with the Dark template applied. That would be a more worthwhile investment of your +1 LA. The extra movement and HiPS is pretty amazing, not to mention the HUGE bonus to hide.

I have a ScM who's level 8, and my build is Gnome Illusionist5/ScM3. You qualify thanks to Earth Spell + Heighten Spell. A lot of people like Master Specialist, but for this its better to have the bonus feat rather than SF: Spellcraft.

Dark is in Tome of Magic.

[AirGuitarGod32]

You should forgo Chaos Gnome and go normal Gnome with the Dark template applied. That would be a more worthwhile investment of your +1 LA. The extra movement and HiPS is pretty amazing, not to mention the HUGE bonus to hide.

I have a ScM who's level 8, and my build is Gnome Illusionist5/ScM3. You qualify thanks to Earth Spell + Heighten Spell. A lot of people like Master Specialist, but for this its better to have the bonus feat rather than SF: Spellcraft.

Normal gnome is boring! NO ONE in the party is a normal race. Even the orc is a variant

I like this idea. I'll do some modifications, and make it my own

[Keld Denar]

You aren't a normal Gnome, you are a Dark Gnome. Dark is awesome, and is better than anything you'll get from just about any other +1 equiv race.

[AirGuitarGod32]

You aren't a normal Gnome, you are a Dark Gnome. Dark is awesome, and is better than anything you'll get from just about any other +1 equiv race.

what book is it from?

and I may consider using the combo of a Dark Tinker Gnome for neigh broken-cheeseyness

[Bibliomancer]

I hate gnomes with a passion because of this. Pretty much exactly this.

Halflings...they're okay. They have their uses, and they're not gnomes.

Elves are fine, but I can't bring myself to take -1 hit point per level. And they're uptight jerks.

Half-orcs are so stereotypically this: "Rawg! Me squash you like little bug!" I get tired of that.

Humans are fine because they're so diverse, and that's their thing. No big stereotypes here.

Half-elves are fine too.

That might just be me though.

I don't have a bias against gnomes, primarily because their Eberron image (a race of manipulative, politics obsessed schemers who are at the heart of many of Khorvaire's power struggles) is actually quite interesting.

Similarly, almost any race you can name has a more nuanced image in Eberron.

Elves? Desert warriors, deathless cultists, near-immortal humans, or shadowy spies.

Half-orcs? Ambassadors for orcs and members of a House of wayfinders and propectors.

Halflings? Shamanistic warriors of the plains or urban thieves (not many caravans).

It should also be kept in mind that since humans are diverse, other races can be as well. If you don't like the fluff, invent your own new civilization.

[Draz74]

what book is it from?

Tome of Magic (Shadow magic section).

[AirGuitarGod32]

as I said, gnome is very much a chain-yanker and prankster, making a Gnome Illusionist a true Comic Relief

[AirGuitarGod32]

So, HOW exactly does the Dark Template Help? I'm not hiding too much, si the hide boosts are useless, the Darkvision is semi-useful, and anything else is as the hide boost.

[Keld Denar]

HiPS. Create an illusion of darkness (which you can see through) and you can cast and then hide, effectively making yourself invisible as early as level 1. Simple yet effective.