Gnomes

[Lysha]

Gnome, Deep (Svirfneblin)

Regions: Gnome (deep), the North, Silverymoon.
Racial Feats: Animal Friends, Summon Earth Elemental.
Racial Prestige Class: Breachgnome.
Level Adjustment: +3. Refer to the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting entry for deep gnome racial abilities.

The deep gnomes are closest thing the gnome family has to "black sheep." Many surface dwellers count the deep gnomes along with their evil neighbors, the drow and the duergar, believing them to be little more than dark reflections of the friendly rock gnomes with whom they are more familiar. In fact, the svirfneblin are just as good-hearted as their sunnier kin. However, after centuries of dealing with the everyday perils of living in the Underdark, they have become understandably distrustful of all outsiders.
Compared to their better-known kin, the rock gnomes, the deep gnomes are as gray and lifeless as the subterranean caverns in which they choose to make their homes. They keep to themselves out of fear of outsiders-a fear born from numerous poor experiences with such people. To a deep gnome, the only people you can trust are other deep gnomes from your village, and preferably from your family. All others are best avoided.
With strangers, most deep gnomes are sullen, reserved, and suspicious, almost to a fault. However, when they are alone with their own kind, they are friendly and respectful to each other. Few people from outside a svirfneblin community have ever seen this more pleasant side of the deep gnomes. For their part, the deep gnomes would be horrified to find themselves observed by outsiders, and they find such a person staring at them - or even looking directly at them - quite rude.
Deep gnomes are gnarled and callused folk, with little fat all on their bodies. Their skin is the color of the rocks among which they live, almost as if they sprang directly from the stones themselves. They have dark gray eyes, ending toward black. Their hair is of a similar color, although it's only seen on the women, as the men are entirely bald and beardless.
Deep gnomes are short-lived for gnomes and reach adulthood at an age of 20 years. Use the following aging effect characteristics instead of the ones in Table 6-5 in the Player's Handbook:

Gnome, deep 80 120 160 +2d% years

Like their lives, svirfneblin are also short and hard. They stand between 3 and 3 1/2 feet tall on average. They are thinner than their surface cousins, but they weight just as much - about 40 to 45 pounds - due to the density of their muscles. They are little more than wiry sinews and rocklike bones.

[Lysha]

Gnome, Forest

Regions: Aglarond, Forest Gnome, Great Dale.
Racial Feats: Animal Friends, Forest Gnome Phantasist.
Level Adjustment: +1.

If deep gnomes are thought by some the black sheep of the gnome family (a title more fittingly reserved for the spriggans), then forest gnomes are the shy cousins. They are so reclusive that many times bigger people have "discovered" them, only to find that the forest gnomes have been living nearby for centuries. Forest gnomes are so quiet and painfully shy that they go to great lengths to avoid contact with others unless there is a great need to break their silence.
Whereas the rock gnomes are friendly and loquacious and the deep gnomes are sullen and reserved, the forest gnomes are practically invisible, the wallflowers of the gnomes. They have a great love for nature, particularly deep and quiet forests far from civilization or even anyone else's homes. For this reason, many people - including other kinds of gnomes - have never seen a forest gnome.
Most forest gnomes are extremely private, preferring to simply be left alone by other peoples. When among their own kind, they are a bit less reserved. They see themselves as caretakers of the forests in which they live, and about the only way to be sure to trigger a forest gnome attack is to directly harm their beloved forest.
Forest gnomes are the smallest of the gnomes, averaging only 2 to 2 1/2 feet tall. Even the tallest forest gnome is less than 3 feet. They usually weight around 25 to 30 pounds. Unlike other gnomes, they wear their hair and beards long, often almost to their feet when unbound. The males often trim their beards to a fine point or curl them into hornlike spikes extending to either side of their faces. Their skin is the color of bark, and their eyes are usually brown or blue. Their hair is brown or black, becoming gray or white with age.
Forest gnomes can live nearly 400 years on average, although some make it quite a bit further. They use the following aging effect characteristics instead of the ones in Table 6-5 in the Player's Handbook:

Gnome, forest 150 225 300 +4d% years

Forest gnomes are unusually diminutive; use the following random height and weight characteristics instead of the default gnome values described on Table 6-6:

Forest gnome, male 2'0" +1d10 25 lb. X 1 lb.
Forest gnome, female 2'0" +1d6 20 lb. X 1 lb.

[Lysha]

Gnome, Rock

Regions: The Dalelands, Gnome (rock), Great Dale, Lantan, Thesk, Western Heartlands.
Racial Feats: Animal Friends, Rock Gnome Trickster.
Racial Prestige Class: Breachgnome.

Rock gnomes are the gnomes that most people are familiar with, so much so that when someone says "a gnome," he is she is almost always speaking of a rock gnome. Unlike their reclusive cousins, the deep gnomes and the forest gnomes, the rock gnomes are an inquisitive and loquacious people. They are renowned throughout Faerun as technicians, alchemists, and inventors, as well as illusionists of the highest order. They do not care much for living in larger cities, where their talents are in high demand, and prefer the rolling hills of the countryside. But anywhere they find themselves, they display an amazing zest for life and all the pleasures it holds.
Rock gnomes are far friendlier and more outgoing than the other gnome kindreds. They are well known for their love of jokes and pranks, as well as their fondness for finely made things. As with all gnomes, they adore gems of all kinds, but rock gnomes have a particular passion for the purity and perfection of the diamond.
Rock gnomes average between 3 and 3 1/2 feet tall, and weight between 40 and 45 pounds. Their skin comes in many different shades of brown, but is unaffected by exposure to the sun. The hair of young gnomes can vary greatly in color, but adulthood they tend toward gray or white. The males wear their beards neatly trimmed.
From a rock gnome's point of view, life is meant to be enjoyed in all its facets: work, play, and otherwise. Again, it's the process that's important, not the goal, even if those goals - like, say, finely cut gems - do end up being valuable on their own. This shows in just about everything a rock gnome does, from making a meal to working a mine to playing a practical joke. The care they put into their actions always shines through.
Young rock gnomes have carefree childhoods. During their adolescence, rock gnomes are expected to learn the basics of a useful trade and to master the basics of self-defense. They are encouraged to dabble in all sorts of pastimes until they find something that perfectly fits their temperaments. They come of age at 40, an occasion for the largest party of their lives. From there, the average life expectancy is about 350 years, although some have been known to reach 500 years in age.