Like many of the species inDungeons & Dragons, gnomes have been the subject of some big and small changes. Whether you like the changes or don’t like the direction that Wizards of the Coast has gone in, there’s no doubt that they are a fun species to pick up and play.
But wait, that’s putting the horse before the cart. How can you know if you like the 2024 Player’s Handbook gnome if you haven’t dived into what they can do? That’s exactly what this guide will cover. To be specific, it will go over their lore, traits, and even throw out suggestions about which class to play.
What Is A Gnome?
In the fantasy setting that is D&D, at a certain point after their creation, you may not have ever seen or heard of a gnome. This is becausethey often hid from people, living in burrows and deep in the forest.
Gnomes aresmall humanoids that were blessedand created by gods that were linked toinventiveness, illusions, and living undergroundfor some reason. Like, there are gods for that? Well, anyway.
They were able to outsmart any predators looking to pick them offwith elaborate trapsand sophisticated tunnels that formed labyrinths. Maybe that survival instinct is why they typicallylive to be around 450 years old. You know, a nice median age, not too long, not too short.
Gnome Traits
Gnomes onlyhave three traits, making them a species with one of the least. However, theirGnomish Lineageand the other gnome-specific trait do quite a bit of heavy lifting despite the stature of the characters they belong to.
Descriptions
Darkvision
You can see in dim light and darkness for 60 feet.
You have advantage on Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma saving throws.
Pick between two lineages: forest gnome or rock gnome.
Both gain two spells and another bonus.
Darkvision isa common traitthat different species have, but it’s also a feat that is so important to players and helpful for the characters as they go on quests and adventures.
As for Gnomish Cunning, this is a very powerful ability that aids not just during combat but also in exploration scenarios where traps may get triggered or enemies encounteredwill cast and use spell effectsagainst you and the party.
Some of the most common saving throws areIntelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma. Havingadvantage on those throwscan help you keep control of your character and be able to participate in the combat rounds while your party memberswill be more likely to fail.
Then there are the Gnomish Lineages. There areonly two to choose from, but they both come with some interesting extras.
Forest Gnome
You get the Minor Illusion cantrip, but you also get a spell that connects you much more with your forest ancestry. You learn and can castSpeak With Animals. This stays prepared always, meaning thatit doesn’t count against your known spell count.
You can cast Speak With Animalsusing your available spell slotsif you have them. If not, or if you want to save your spell slots, you can insteadcast it for free a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus.
When you take advantage of that ability to cast it without expending a spell slot, you’ll regain any and all uses of itafter you’ve completed a long rest. You can also, of course, cast it at a higher spell level, but thisdoesn’t give you any benefit, so you should save your higher spell slots.
Rock Gnome
Unlike the forest variety of gnome, the rock gnome getstwo cantrips insteadof one cantrip with a first level spell. But there is a very obvious reason for that. But before we jump into that, the cantrips you receiveare Mending and Prestidigitation.
Then, if youtake ten minutes to focus on and cast Prestidigitation, you can bring to life…well…maybe not life, but you createa tiny-sizedclockwork device. Some examples the passage gives are that it can be something likea toy, a music box, really anything tiny.
TheAC of the tiny device is five,and it onlyhas one hit point.
You give ita function based on one of the spell effectsyou can choose from in thePrestidigitation spell description.
You canhave three of the devicesat any given time. However, they only lasteight hours before falling apart. To use the effect you gave the device, you or anyone else can takea bonus action to touch the deviceand bring forth the effect.
What Class Should You Consider?
While this might not be the most popular opinion, give it a listen. Pick a class that focuses on eitherStrength, Dexterity, or Constitution saving throws.
Would gnomes make fine wizards and warlocks? Oh absolutely. But somethinglike a bard, which gets saving throw proficiencies inCharisma and Dexterity,gives you the best of both worlds. You havea better shot of making a Dexterity saving throwsince your class makes you good at it.
Then, with Charisma, not only are you good at it, but thenyou have advantage thanks to Gonmish Cunning, ensuring much better odds when trying to beat a saving throw.
Barbarians, fighters, monks, and rangersgo beyond that. They have both of their saving throws thatdiffer from the ones you have advantage in. This means that two of your saving throws willhave higher numbers, giving you a better shot of passing. Let’s use the example of Strength and Constitution saves.
And, even though your saving throw modifierwill be lower for Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma, with your advantage, you havefive saving throws with a pretty good shot at beating a spell effect DCor other entity that makes you roll to save.
Or, you could double down and ensure that not only will you have advantage on those rolls, but that they will already be much higher numbers, making itextremely difficult to fail a saving throw.Warlocks and wizards are a good choicefor that.
Warlocks get saving throw proficiencies inWisdom and Charisma. Meanwhile, wizards get them inIntelligence and Wisdom. This will make you so mentally fortified, in battle and outside of it. And who couldn’t use extra mental fortifications?
Differences In The 2024 Player’s Handbook
For those who have played with the 2014 Player’s Handbook, one of the first things that might stick out is that there are no longerdeep gnomes to choose from in terms of the Gnomish Legacy.
They hadSuperior Darkvision, which allowed them to see for120 feet in dimly lit or dark areas. They also had a trait calledStone Camouflagethat gave themadvantage on Stealth checkswhenever trying to hide in rocky terrain.
Rock gnomes' ability to create clockwork inventions was also very different. The device would last for 24 hours.However, it wasn’tdependent on the Prestidigitation spell.
Going based on Prestidigitation allows you to pickfrom six different functions. The legacy version of rock gnomesonly had three options. Rock gnomes alsolose their Artificer’s Lore trait.
Artificer’s Lore gave youtwice your proficiency bonus on History checksas they related to magical, alchemical, and technological items.
For forest gnomes, the big difference is that whilethey could communicate simple things to animals, theydid not learn Speak With Animals. Instead, you could only try toconvey things through gesturesand hope that the animal understood what you were saying.
Then, there are some of the changesmade across all species. The most prominent is that characters don’t gainadditional points to the six main stats in D&Dbased on their species. This, naturally, rings true for gnomes. That also applies tolearned languages.
