Gnomes Supplement

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Solomoriah
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Re: Gnomes Supplement

Post by Solomoriah »

Solomoriah wrote:Actually, purple, the previous release of the Gnome supplement had a note in it about needing something extra; I removed it after years passed with no comments.

Also please note, their save bonuses are not exactly the same as Dwarves. They do not have a Dwarf's racial bonuses against magic. You can't have it both ways: Naturally resistant to magic, and able to use magic. IMO, of course.
As I was tooling down the road on my motorcycle yesterday, my mind naturally turned to the question of special abilities for gnomes. (What, this doesn't happen to you guys?) Anyway, in a fit of inspiration, I thought of this:

Gnomes are naturally very observant; being smaller than most other races has made them cautious and aware of their surroundings. As a consequence, a gnome has a 10% chance to detect an invisible or hidden creature within a 30' radius. This ability does not transfer to inanimate objects; secret doors, invisible chests, and the like present the same problems to a gnome as to anyone. But a thief hiding in shadows, an invisible sprite, or a character wearing an elven cloak may all be detected in this way. The GM should make this roll, though of course a smart player might occasionally remind the GM of this gnomish ability from time to time.

A gnome who has detected a hidden thief can see him or her dimly; truly invisible creatures are sensed by their breathing, by the way echoes change in their vicinity, and so on. When fighting an invisible opponent, a gnome who has successfully detected the invisible creature suffers only a -2 penalty on the attack roll, rather than the usual -4 penalty as given on page 52 of the Core Rules. Naturally, if the roll fails, the gnome suffers the usual penalty.
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Solomoriah
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Re: Gnomes Supplement

Post by Solomoriah »

I realize my last motorcycle inspiration resulted in upgraded gnomes; I'm not sure how balanced or unbalanced they will be with both sets of abilities, or if I should remove their hiding ability and substitute this instead.

Honestly, I like this idea better, as it makes them different than the other races, rather than being sort of like fey halflings...
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SmootRK
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Re: Gnomes Supplement

Post by SmootRK »

I like having ideas that make BFRPG versions of various topics unique (and not simply a port of what other games/editions have done previously)... so yes, I think it is a good change. I have a similar such ability in the Caneins (and nearly identical mechanically to how you did this), albeit attributed to keen smell/senses.
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Dimirag
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Re: Gnomes Supplement

Post by Dimirag »

I'm all in favor of doing unique take on classical races and classes, to me, BFRPG stands out apart form most OSRPG and doing this sort of things goes with that line
Sorry for any misspelling or writing error, I am not a native English speaker
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Solomoriah
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Re: Gnomes Supplement

Post by Solomoriah »

I just pushed a new release to the downloads page. I had never removed the combo class info for magic-user/thieves from the supplement when I added it to the 3rd Edition, so getting that fixed is nice.
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Metroknight
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Re: Gnomes Supplement

Post by Metroknight »

If a person chooses to play a gnome, they would have to choose between Death Ray or Poison for their bonus modifier to be applied to?
Saving Throws: Gnomes save at +4 vs. Death Ray or Poison, and at +3 vs. Dragon Breath.
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Re: Gnomes Supplement

Post by Solomoriah »

"Death Ray or Poison" is the name of the category. The +1 applies to the category. You don't have to choose... if you did, I'd have explained that.
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Re: Gnomes Supplement

Post by Metroknight »

Ah. Thank you. Had a brain dead moment.
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Re: Gnomes Supplement

Post by Metroknight »

It was recommended to repost this in the thread.
-------------------------
It was noticed that there is a minor discrepancy between the gnome supplement and the core rule monster section. I recommended to the group that came across this is to use the core rules as the supplement is considered playtest material.
Core rules: Gnomes stand 3 to 3½ feet tall and weigh 40 to 45 pounds. Their skin color ranges from dark tan to woody brown, their hair is fair, and their eyes can be any shade of blue. Males usually wear short, carefully trimmed beards.
Gnome Supplement: Gnomes are small and stocky, more so than Halflings but not as much as Dwarves; both male and female Gnomes stand around three and a half feet tall and typically weigh around 90 pounds. Their hair and beards may be blond, brown, black, or sometimes red.
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Bitan
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Re: Gnomes Supplement

Post by Bitan »

Hi, I started playing a gnome and have some questions:
This detecting ability, if the check fails, can it be to be rolled every round a gnome is engaged in combat with an invisible creature? or just once per combat/creature?
In non-combat situations, should it be rolled once every turn, once per hidden creature?
Does it affect in any way surprise checks (ambushes), like the elves' own trait? (and if not, why?).

Regards.
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