Gnomes - B/X Monster Tactics

According to their monster description, gnomes are human-like beings related to dwarves, but smaller, with "long noses and full beards." While the description doesn't explicitly categorize them as "demi-humans," their kinship with dwarves indicates they are.

The description also says that gnomes live in burrows in lowlands, but the only standard wilderness encounter table that includes them is barren/mountain/hills. So, gnome burrows must be located in valleys.

There's an example gnome lair in the Expert Rulebook. If the example is typical, a single gnome burrow will house many gnomes, and it will be well hidden, easy to miss, with several ways for the gnomes to get in and out in case of trouble. The gnomes described there are known for crafts that combine wood and metal, and they hunt game in the area for food. There is no mention of farming. Either the gnomes are strict carnivores, or their vegetables come from foraging and trade.

As listed, gnomes might be Lawful or Neutral. The Lawful ones are more likely to trade with other groups and to help them against Chaotic forces. Neutral gnomes will fight goblins and kobolds, but they will otherwise keep to themselves and shun outsiders most of the time. The one exception is when there are gold and gems in the bargain. Then they'll get involved, possibly even aiding Chaotic characters if the promise of gold and gems is credible and they don't have to work with goblins or kobolds.

Gnomes are also listed with Treasure Type C, the same as goblins. Even though gnomes are supposed to love gold and gems, their standard treasure includes no gold, and it includes only a few gems and only rarely. In addition to loving gold and gems, gnomes are in a perpetual state of lacking them.

At low levels, gnomes are nearly as tough as dwarves, and they are tougher than halflings. They have a full hit die, and their AC of 5 indicates that their standard armor is chain mail without a shield. They carry crossbows, which they will prefer to use, as well as hammers in case they find themselves in melee. They are not very fast; their metal armor gives them movement of 60' per turn (20' per round).

Crossbows are two-handed weapons that always lose initiative. Fortunately for them, their crossbows have 80' of short range, and they have 90' of infravision, rather than the usual 60'. Their mediocre speed is the same as kobolds' and unmounted goblins', their most common opponents in combat. So, they can effectively skirmish against those enemies, as long as the enemy starts more than 25' away.

Gnomes rely on traps and camouflage to hide their lairs. In combat, they keep their distance from enemies, pelting them with quarrels until the enemies have either fled, surrendered, or died.

In addition to the standard, 1-HD gnomes, there are leaders with 2 HD, chiefs with 4 HD, and elite bodyguards with 3 HD. Those tougher gnomes will still prefer to fight with crossbows, but they're much more comfortable in melee than their 1-HD counterparts. A common gnome strategy is to have skirmishers draw enemies into a choke point so that the tougher gnomes can emerge from hiding and take them out in melee.

Gnomes are not necessarily Lawful, and those who are Neutral can definitely serve as villains or enemies for PCs of any alignment.

Sleep, hold person, and charm person can affect gnomes, but their excellent saving throws give them good chances against the latter two. But gnomes are smart enough to know what a threat sleep poses. If they are fighting a group that includes elves or anyone who appears to be a magic-user, those characters are preferred targets for the gnomes' crossbows. If you assign sleep an area of effect (I don't), then gnomes will try to stay spread out. If gnomes are expecting sleep spells, they'll attack in waves, so that the spell can't take them all out at once, and they'll wake up their sleeping comrades when they get a chance.

Gnomes' morale is 8 (10 in the presence of their chief). They'll pass two morale checks a bit more than half the time. But gnomes also value their own lives. They won't start, or stay in, fights they are unlikely to win. Like a good adventuring party, gnomes will try to set the terms of any fight they get into, and they will try to give themselves the advantage.

What Gnomes Love

Gnomes love gold and gems. It is not a utilitarian love of wealth as something useful for buying other things. Gold and gems are ends in themselves for gnomes. They are what gnomes want more than anything else, and they are what gnomes live to acquire.

It is the particular, inherent beauty of gold and gems that gnomes admire. Gnomes are accomplished miners, digging for gold and gems to possess and admire, and for other minerals and metals to use in their crafts. Gnomes are especially fond of mechanisms, and you can safely assume that they are the most accomplished machine smiths in the world. Thus gnomes at their best can represent a refined aesthetic sense combined with practical skill in building useful devices. Gnomish products, then would not only work well, but elegantly.

The gnomish love of mechanism should be reflected in the traps they use for hunting and for protecting their lairs. If you do have kobolds occupying a deathtrap lair a la Tucker's Kobolds, it's a fair bet the kobolds captured the lair from gnomes, traps and all.

Encountering Gnomes

Lairs of 5-40 gnomes can be found in dungeons. They are likely either war camps or mining operations. Either way, the lair will probably be protected by alarms, guards and traps. They will exploit their better-than-normal infravision (90') to monitor approaches and give them ample warning of approaching enemies. Once alerted, the gnomes will need to quickly assess the situation and decide whether to activate their escape plan. That plan will always begin with salvaging as much of their treasure as they can before evacuating, preferably by secret or hidden routes where their attackers can't follow.

For every 20 gnomes in the lair, there's a 2-HD leader. Whether there is such a leader or not, the gnome lair has a 4-HD chief with 1-6 3-HD bodyguards. The chief and bodyguards will typically remain in the lair, keeping close eye on the group's treasure. 2-HD leaders, when present, will organize patrols and manage gnomes working inside and out of the main lair.

In the dungeon, gnomes wander in groups of 1-8. These groups may be patrols, scouts, or miners if the gnomes have an active mining operation.

In the wilderness, gnomes wander in groups of 5-40. They may include one or two elite, 2-HD leader-types. These groups could be traders, on their way to or from dwarf or neanderthal settlements, where they exchange their metalworks for other resources. Though gnomes are apt to mine and cut gems, they are much less likely to do so for profit, as they love the stone too much to trade them. If they do sell them, it will always be for gold, their second love.

A wilderness gnome lair will consist of burrows in a valley, near mineral resources, and its population will be from 25-200 gnomes. There will be a chief with bodyguards, as well as 2-HD leaders responsible for groups of about 20 gnomes each. Gnomes need food and water, and they are likely to supplement the little farming they do with hunting and imported food. Their hunting could put them into conflict with nearby dwarves and neanderthals, but those conflicts are apt to settled fairly easily through trade and cooperation on hunts and in war against goblins and ogres.

Lawful gnomes might be suspicious and cautious, but will not usually respond to PCs with hostility unless the PCs seem to be after their treasure. They might help PCs who are working against kobolds or goblins or advancing some other Lawful project, but only after they are satisfied the PCs can be trusted.

Neutral gnomes will be even less trusting, and they may be antagonistic to an adventuring party, especially if they're working for someone Chaotic. Even when they aren't working for Chaos, they might decide that a vulnerable party loaded down with gold and gems is an irresistible target. Gnomes who operate as bandits, both in the dungeon and in the wilderness, should occasionally occur.

When gnome reactions are determined randomly, here are some suggestions:

• Immediate Attack. If Lawful, the gnomes think the PCs are after their treasure, and so they attack to protect it right away. Neutral gnomes may instead think the PCs have treasure they can steal. Either way, if it's clear the gnomes are outclassed, they will instead begin looking for reinforcements or some other way to gain the advantage for a later attack.
• Hostile, Possible Attack. Lawful gnomes assume the worst, but they issue a warning before trying to attack them. Neutral gnomes want the party's treasure, but they are willing to let the party hand it over without a fight.
• Uncertain, Monster Confused. The PCs are out of place in the dungeon, not what the gnomes were expecting. The gnomes need to figure out whether the PCs are a threat, whether they have gold or gems, and how the gnomes can get them.
• No Attack, Monster Leaves or Considers Offers. The gnomes either think the party is not a threat or has nothing to offer them. Wandering gnomes will warn the lair of the PCs presence when they leave. Gnomes in their lair won't leave, but they open parlay with the PCs without assuming they are a threat.
• Enthusiastic Friendship. The gnomes treat the PCs as potential allies who can help them acquire more gold and gem.

Gnome Treasure

Gnomes have Treasure Type C in their lairs, which is a little weird. They love gold and gems, but Treasure Type C has no gold and a 25% of chance for a mere 1-4 gems. In fact, there's a 37.8% chance of Treasure Type C yielding no treasure at all!

Where have the gnomes' gold and gems gone? One possibility is that the group has fallen on hard times and had to trade them for food and other necessities—much to their displeasure. Another is that their treasure has been mostly stolen by kobolds and goblins. In a military outpost, the small amount of treasure can be explained by the fact that intelligent creatures are unlikely to bring their most valuable loot into a war zone.

For any particular gnome lair, the DM is always free to decide that they have troves of gold and gems, much like dwarves with their Treasure Type G. But you can also decide that the typical group of gnomes is no richer than the typical group of goblins (who also have Type C), and that they are therefore very much in need of gold and gems, and willing to make sacrifices (maybe literally!) others would not consider in order to get them.