This week we continue our exploration of ancestry in Realm of Runes with the Gnome, and its art by Nikki Smith-Cielo. As a basic ancestry, Gnomes can be played separately or freely combined with one of the available hybrid ancestries. Portrayal of Gnomes varies wildly across many different fantasy incarnations, and Realm of Runes uses its inherently modular nature to pull from as many different Gnomish traditions as possible, putting the player in the driver's seat for how you prefer to express the ancestry.
From the rulebook: "Tiny and whimsical in appearance, gnomes are nonetheless surprisingly durable when put to the test. A typical gnome generally lives for around two hundred years, but few actually manage to reach old age. Hailing originally from the positive energy plane, gnomes frequently have an effervescent personality and insatiable curiosity that borders on the manic. Even though gnomes have lived primarily on the material plane for thousands of generations, most gnomes simply have not mentally adapted to an existence where death is a real and permanent consequence. As such, the typical gnome’s reckless behavior in pursuit of knowledge and excitement can frustrate and baffle others.
"Most gnomes prioritize an existence of learning and invention, and frequently take things apart to see how they are made and where they can be improved. The fact that this produces a broken item as often as it does an innovation never seems to bother them, although it can cause a great deal of consternation if the broken equipment belonged to a friend or acquaintance. Gnomish tinkering is widely considered to be the origin of the firearm, and many kingdoms will hire or enslave gnomes in the pursuit of ever more deadly weapons.
"Gnomes have a reputation for inappropriate exuberance and optimism, and it is rarely an undeserved stereotype. Frequently having to rescue friends from situations where a gnome leaped before looking can lead to exasperated comrades and interpersonal tension, but those that befriend or travel with gnomes will often experience situations which sound implausible to others when tales are told, assuming anyone survives to relay the stories."
As a basic ancestry, Gnomes have a full suite of ten ancestry feats with which they can diversify themselves, as well as a few abilities inherent to all Gnomes. Low-light Vision helps them see excellently in areas where light is dim, and their natural predilection for curiosity lends them to have a functional understanding of more languages than most other ancestries with equivalent statistics. Gnomes are the smallest of the small-sized ancestry, but they don't let their stature hold them back and have many different tricks up their collective sleeves for getting along in a world that often prefers to cater to much bigger folks.
Gnome ancestry feats tend to focus on their dual connection to the natural world of the material plane and their historic roots in the positive energy plane. Slow like Dwarves, but not as frail as Elves, Gnomes tend to have excellent synergy with classes that harness natural magic or utilize bigger minions for getting around or fighting on their behalf like Druids, Rangers, Fey Sorcerers or Enchantment- or Illusion-specialist Wizards. Let's take a look at each of the Gnome's available ancestry feats. Those with the Biology trait are exclusive to Gnomes, while those without are available to those of other ancestries that have been adopted by Gnomes, through the Adopted Ancestry universal feat.
ANIMAL ACCOMPLICE ANCESTRY FEAT
[Ancestry, Gnome]
A rapport develops between you and an animal, which becomes your familiar. You can choose two familiar and master abilities each time you prepare. If your familiar dies, you can replace it by spending 2 Resonance Points during your Daily Preparations.
A familiar is one of the rarest category of minions, intelligent minions, which are able to act on their own in combat without requiring their master's direction. Though familiars are typically frail, their special abilities can provide a lot of neat tricks that can be useful to almost any character. This feat is also designed to stack with other (typically class) feats that grant a familiar and abilities, ensuring that a Gnome's familiar can easily be more versatile than any other familiar with a similar level of investment.
ANIMAL SPEAKER ANCESTRY FEAT
[Ancestry, Gnome]
You are conversant with the natural sounds of animals and insects, and have a +1 un-typed bonus to Deception, Diplomacy and Intimidation against animals, insects and beasts.
Being able to directly speak to animals and insects, which are typically not smart enough to understand language, can turn potentially deadly encounters into new sources of friends and allies. This language barrier is especially helpful to be able to break if you make use of an animal companion, as being able to communicate with an animal-intelligence minion can make it easier to train. The skill bonuses also help to ensure that when you make use of this ability, you do so at an advantage.
DEEP GNOME ANCESTRY FEAT
[Ancestry, Biology, Gnome, Svirfneblin]
You are descended from the deep gnomes that dwell in dark caverns far underground. Your skin is ashy gray, you have darkvision, the Svirfneblin trait, a +2 un-typed bonus to Acrobatics and Stealth, but a -1 un-typed penalty to Diplomacy, Performance and Society.
Much like there are Deep Dwarves in many fantasy settings, there also tends to be Deep Gnomes. These Gnomes are excellently adapted for adventures that frequently take place in the dark or underground, but these adaptations can make fitting into most societies more difficult. Whether that tradeoff is worth it is up to you as the player.
DISCERNING SMELL ANCESTRY FEAT
[Ancestry, Biology, Gnome]
You can use smell as a precise sense within 6 hexes.
Additional sources of precise senses are huge whenever you can get them, since they let you function just as well if vision doesn't work because of a lack of light or an invisible target. Smell, in particular, is a difficult sense for opponents to be able to circumvent, and is not one that most creatures take precautions against.
FEY FELLOWSHIP ANCESTRY FEAT
[Ancestry, Biology, Gnome]
An ancient kinship with the mysterious and capricious fey gives you a +1 un-typed bonus to Perception, Deception, Diplomacy, Intimidation, Performance and Religion checks and DCs against fey.
Fey aren't always involved in every adventure, but when they are they can be exceptionally tricky to treat with. Being partly fey yourself gives you enough insight into their eccentricities that you are better able to navigate their byzantine, warped logic and also be less likely to fall prey to their clever wordplay.
FIRST WORLD MAGIC ANCESTRY FEAT
[Ancestry, Biology, Gnome]
Choose one primal Cantrip. You can cast this spell at will. You are trained with this spell unless you would have better proficiency otherwise. Use Charisma as your Key Ability for this spell.
Cantrips in Realm of Runes maintain their utility throughout your character's adventuring career, so having more of them is always handy. Primary spellcasters can always use more Cantrips, and magic utility can add a great deal of versatility to even the most weapon-focused combatant.
ILLUSION SENSE ANCESTRY FEAT
[Ancestry, Biology, Gnome]
Your odd perspective makes you more difficult to fool. You have a +1 un-typed bonus to checks and DCs against Illusions. You can Disbelieve any time, even without cause.
Illusion spells in Realm of Runes carefully include circumstances that can allow a creature to attempt to Disbelieve the effect. This is usually some manner of interaction with the illusion in question, as described in the text, or as a result of the illusion being pointed out by someone else that has already Disbelieved it. Being able to circumvent these situations makes defending yourself and your party from being fooled a lot easier.
NIMBLE AVOIDANCE ANCESTRY FEAT
[Ancestry, Gnome]
Your stature is an advantage when defending against larger and slower enemies. You have an un-typed bonus to your AC equal to the number of size categories bigger than you your attacker is.
As a small ancestry, a very large proportion of enemies Gnomes will face will naturally be bigger than you. This feat helps you turn that tactical disadvantage on its head, and you can laugh safely while those giants flail around in frustration. Just don't get too comfortable!
OBSESSIVE ANCESTRY FEAT
[Ancestry, Gnome]
When a topic captures your attention, it becomes your focus. You have a +1 un-typed bonus to both Crafting and Knowledge.
This feat may not be particularly exciting to look at, but it can be surprisingly potent in the right hands. Crafting is useful for making your own gear, and gear you make yourself uses your Crafting DC instead of the item's default DC when a saving throw is required. Knowledge also comes up quite frequently, and some characters are able to turn a successful creature identification into helpful and tangible benefits, like extra damage dealt or boosts to saves against their natural abilities.
WEAPON FAMILIARITY (GNOME) ANCESTRY FEAT
[Ancestry, Gnome]
Your kin tend to favor explosive and experimental weapons. You gain an esoteric proficiency boost to bombs and firearms. If a weapon has the gnome trait, it does not have the exotic trait for you, and you treat it as common. You can always use a gnome weapon to Riposte.
Extra proficiency increases greatly expand your capabilities, especially if you pick a class (like the Cleric or Sorcerer) that doesn't get many to begin with. Ignoring the exotic trait also makes those weapons easier to use altogether. Finally, Riposte is a great way to punish foes that gamble on their lowest-bonus attacks. Normally only available as a reaction if you wield a weapon with the parry trait, this feat helps ensure that you're always ready to take advantage of a foe's weakness with the preferred weapons of your people.
Whether you plan to be a full-blooded Gnome or augment your capability with the addition of a hybrid ancestry, Gnomes make for fun and whimsical characters that are always full of surprises. No matter what kind of character you build, Gnomes will keep both friends and foes alike on their toes, never quite sure what to expect. Next week we'll continue our ancestry exploration with another small-sized entrant, Goblins.
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