Gnobody Gnomes The Trouble I've Seen...

On to another race, one which gets little love in the world of D&D, the gnomes. In part, this writeup was due to the self-confessed inability of the 4e design team to find a role for gnomes which wasn't either "short dwarves" or "short elves". It took me all of five minutes to come up with a basic concept which brought together the 1e/early 2e incarnation of gnomes as forest and hill dwelling trickster/crafters and the 3e/MMORPG incarnation of gnomes as technologically adept, and make them very clearly their own culture and not either Dwarf Lite or Elf Lite. This ain't rocket science, people.

(Again, I'm not claiming Great Originality here, nor is that what I'm aiming for. Given the stats of gnomes and their most common gaming interpretations, all I'm going for is something which works and provides enough background that I can guess what J. Random Gnome might do in a given situation or give a PC who wishes to play a gnome a skeleton on which they can build their character. True originality -- as opposed to just filing down the serial numbers and applying a quick coat of paint -- isn't really a virtue in RPG worldbuilding; the more alien and incomprehensible the world is, the more work it is to play in or, FSM forbid, run. There's a reason that any one of 10,000 Tolkien rip offs sell more copies than, say, "Skyrealms of Jorune". Criticizing my work for unoriginality is like criticizing an elephant for not having wings.)

Of course, since no one in my current campaign plays a gnome, none of this will be useful for a while. So it goes. But an idea crawled into my brain, and it won't rest until I let it crawl out.

(As a side note, it's interesting to see how the worldbuilding process works, at least for me, and if no one ever reads this blog, it's still a good record, for my own use, of the creative process. Skallidane exists only because a player wanted to run a Warforged; I yoinked the island itself from, of course, Swift's Laputa, and my own extremely inchoate concept of a gameworld inspired by console RPGs; I have had an idea for a flying island of steampunk ultratech burbling in the back of my mind for a few years now. So from the chaoplasm of vague ideas solidified the concept, in rough form; with the Warforged backstory, the end of Skallidane was fixed; that, in turn, gave me a hook for the gnomes, whose history helped add in details about the place. We now have a decent image of what a Skallidane street scene might look like, or at least I do; if I even do Arith itself as a setting, I have something to draw on. I steal from myself as much as, or more than, I steal from others, and fragments of barely-begun worlds often make their way into later creations.)

Gnomes

History
Very long ago, thousands of years in Arith's past, the gnomes dwelled primarily in the hilled grasslands and temperate forests. They were skilled toolmakers and hard workers, but lacked the warlike industry of the dwarves, the arcane might of the elves, or swift cunning of the wild halflings. They were closest in character to the village halflings, in fact, and the two peoples often lived in peace in close proximity. Their most fierce wars were against the goblins, who dwelt in the caves nearest the surface world and often boiled up to overrun the woods for a time.

Then came the technomages of Skallidane. Seeing a race of people with mechanical skill but easily conquered (or so they thought), they steered their island across each major gnome homeland, raiding the villages for slaves. In time, the race was practically extinguished on the surface of Arith; only on Skallidane itself did they exist in any numbers.

For centuries, they lived and toiled, learning the secrets of their masters, and plotting their revenge. Gnomes were not front line combatants by nature, but they were cunning and crafty. Subtle flaws -- so subtle, it would take a generation to notice even the smallest -- were added to the machines. Changes were made in way in which incarnum was harvested and implanted in the Warforged. Decade after decade, generation after generation, revolution was brewing.

Even now, almost all scholars attribute the fall of Skallidane to the Warforged. The gnomes were seen as victims finally liberated from their cruel masters, and keeping this illusion going is something the gnomes are quite happy with.

Since then, their homelands have been long since destroyed or settled by others. The gnomes who fled Skallidane spread across Arith, seeking community among other races. They were clever, peaceful, and hard-working. They never sought active power or demanded more than to be allowed to live in peace, and they did all they could to fit in, not make waves, and otherwise be as unobtrusive as possible. Small in stature and in numbers, they realized they could survive best under the shelter of others. Each gnomish community adapted itself to its environment, to cause the least possible friction with their hosts. Cities and villages with gnomish enclaves prospered, as the gnomes added little strain to public services and contributed much wealth to the city, as craftsmen, workers, or spellcasters. They also brought with them some of the lesser arts of Skallidane, and became known in some areas as the makers of wondrous toys and devices, none useful in daily life or warfare, but fun little fripperies to amuse and entertain.

All of this is true, and the gnomish heart is rarely filled with malice or spite. However, they are neither harmless nor helpless. Wrong a gnome, and disaster will befall you in a thousand little ways. In their most secure communities, often in sub-sub-basements no one knows are there, lie many secrets, for it is not merely the lesser arts of technomancy which the gnomes preserved and kept secret. They learned a harsh lesson, once, about being as harmless as they seemed, and they will never allow themselves to be used or enslaved again.

Today
The Crush did as much to disrupt the gnomes as it did anyone else; all the more so, because the gnomes were mostly found in the larger cities of Arith. Since then, many gnome bands have become wanderers, often traveling alongside halfling caravans, but unlike the halflings, they seek places to live. Much more skilled with machinery than other Arithians, they are finding that they can be of value to Earthborn holdfasts who are struggling to maintain failing devices, and they have begun, very subtly, adding in the arts of Skallidane where they can. The Earthborn, for the most part, do not recognize this, and just think the Ornaments (slang term for gnomes) are skilled workers.

A small number of gnomes have decided that this is the perfect time to regain their lands; since the Shattered World is neither Earth nor Arith, but someplace truly new, they feel no one else has any true prior claim on their homes. Many have sought out ancestral dwelling places and seek to tame and reclaim them. A few have tried to recreate "true gnomish culture", as it was pre-Skallidane, going back to old styles of dress, naming, and even language. Most consider this a pointless self indulgence, probably inspired by reading a lot of Earth political tracts.

Mechanics
Gnomes are mostly as described in the PHB or SRD. Gnomes who strongly take after the culture they dwell in may take the following options:

• Dwarf:+2 Profession (Mining) instead of Craft (Alchemy)
• Elf:May choose any type of magic (but only one) to get a +1 bonus to save DCs;Dodge bonus vs. giants drops to +3.
• Human:Gain +4 skill points at first level only; lose Weapon Familiarty and the ability to Speak With Mammals, only receive a +2 AC modifer against Giants.
• Halfling:Gain +1 racial bonus on climb, jump, and move silently; lose weapon familiarity and +2 Craft (Alchemy)

Forging War

So. One of my players wants to play a Warforged. I don't own Eberron; no offense to the creators, but I don't use pregen settings, and only buy them if I think I can suck the Crunchy Bits out of them, and, by the time Eberron came out, D&D 3.x had so many books of Pure Crunch that it didn't seem worth the effort. This isn't "Eberron suxx0rz!!!!", just, I don't use it. OTOH, I do like to meet player requests -- nothing kills a game faster than a player who isn't playing the character they most want to play. Warforged were described generically in MM3, which I had, so I went from there. The following is pretty cliche, but it sets up things nicely, and also fills in some background on Arith. Arith began as a vague "generic fantasy" world, and, frankly, it still is and always will be, but at least now it's getting some requisite history. It's all still pretty basic, but that's part of the point -- the "interesting" part of Shattered World is post-Crush. If I made Arith a baroque creation not readily identifiable as a typical D&D world, a)I would have to do a lot of worldbuilding, and, b)It would overshadow the world the campaign is set in.

So, I wrote up the warforged backstory. In so doing, I tossed out the term "Ironsouled Legion", because, you know, it sounded cool. Then I started thinking that it could fit into Shattered World, and that gave me the chance to crack open PH2 and build me an Affiliation. I love "systems for defining things", and I wanted to use a lot of the cool options which 3.x has produced over the years, so there you go. Thus, we present Warforged (as they exist in the Shattered World), and the first Affiliation for same.

(And, frankly, the idea of some Warforged painting himself red and blue and calling himself Optimus Prime is just damn appealing...)

Of course, having conceived of Warforged paladins, I now need some gods. They might be coming next. (Racial deities are another thing I like to create). And so worlds are built cascade style -- from one idea comes the next, and the next, and the next. The hard part is knowing where to stop, to actually focus on play, and not on making a stage no one will ever act upon.

Warforged
The warforged of Arith began millennia ago, shortly after the last Magewar. On the flying island of Skallidane, the scholars of the Pearl Conclave sought to supplement their small numbers (and their many dead soldiers) by finding ways to make smaller, cheaper, golems. To simplify the process, they used a small portion of incarnum -- the raw material of souls -- to power their creations. The miniscule spark used was enough to provide mobility and obedience, but not consciousness. At least, not at first.

After centuries (and this was still at least a thousand years pre-Crush), the populace of Skallidane was at least a fourth warforged. They served more than the Conclave -- the worked in every part of the flying island city, from the fields to the mills to the foundries. Then things began to go wrong. Some of the most ancient of the warforged began to grow rebellious; then it spread. A year after the first incidents, the island was consumed in a virulent war. The magitech for which Skallidane was known and feared was turned against itself, as the Conclave sought to destroy their own creations, unaware of how powerful they had become, and how free willed. The warforged, made with incarnum, had grown true souls, true freedom of thought -- and they were not content to be slaves.

By the time the war was over, Skallidane was no more -- the smoking ruins of the wondrous city had crashed into the sea -- but tens of thousands of warforged survived. They scattered across the world. There, their reception was uneven at best. Masterless golems -- which is how they were seen -- were known as rampaging killers only. While Skallidane was not loved by most of the world, a force which could destroy it was even more terrifying. The warforged were generally driven away. Some gave them shelter -- conquerors who saw them as perfect soldiers and who did not understand their true nature. Some took to banditry, some tried to disguise themselves as humans in thick robes and heavy makeup. A few, though, were determined to prove to the world they were as worthy of respect as any elf, man, or dwarf. They formed the Ironsouled Legion, a band of heroes who took on the greatest and deadliest of foes, asking nothing in payment but to be treated as equals. In time, their deeds became legend, and if folk didn't exactly love warforged after that, they began to accept they could be anything they chose to be.

Most warforged were destroyed in the first century after Skallidane's Fall, and many more died since then, as their natures take them towards dangerous careers. However, while the old rituals of warforged creation have been lost, it was found that a warforged could give up a small portion of their incarnum to animate another. The creation of the body takes 10000 gp and the soul-sacrifice takes 1000 XP, making this a rare process, but common enough that the race can continue -- and that many warforged take up adventuring to pay for the process of having 'children'.

Post-Crush, the warforged find themselves in a world where humanoid machines are sometimes feared, but often admired. The worlds of anime and tales of mecha appealed to them, and some have begun to paint themselves as Gundams or Transformers in the hopes of appearing to the Earthborn as heroes.


Ironsouled Legion
Ironsouled Legion
In the past of Arith, the Ironsouled Legion emerged from the ruins of Skallidane, to prove to the people of the world that beings of steel could be beings of soul. The Legion became legend, and the tales of its deeds have been told and retold by bards for centuries. The legion is not dead, though -- it existed right up to the Crush -- and beyond. Now, in a strange new world built from the mangled corpses of two older worlds, its members -- scattered, isolated, hunted, and feared -- still uphold the ideals of its founders.


The Ironsouled Legion
Symbol: The symbol of the Ironsouled Legion is a bright blue anvil, upon which is superimposed a white heart.

Background, Goals, and Dreams: The Ironsouled Legion exists to provide examples of heroism, honor, and nobility among the Warforged. While not every Warforged is a member of the legion -- or aspires to such nobility -- the Legion believes that if they can proved Warforged can be heroes, the rest of the world will at least give an unproven member of the race the benefit of the doubt.

Missions on behalf of the Legion often involve great risk, impossible odds, and worthy causes. Depending on the skills of the members of the Legion, they may be sent as front-line fighters, scouts, or bodyguards. Hunting down evil Warforged is one of the Legion's primary missions.

Type:Fighting Company

Scale:7

Affiliation Score Criteria:Only Warforged can join the Legion. Further, all must be of Good alignment (and will be tested) and maintain the highest standards of heroism. Cowardice is the worst flaw imaginable; second to that is acting in a way which shames all Warforged. The Legion encourages Warforged to go beyond the stereotypes, and so, Bards, Wizards, and even Druids can be found among their number.

Criterion
Character Level +1/2 PC's Level
BAB 5 or higher +1
BAB 10 or higher +2
Leadership Feat +2
Paladin +2
Completes a mission for the Legion +1
Dies on a mission +2
Acts to increase the reputation of the Warforged +2
Kills an evil Warforged +1
Acts in a cowardly fashion -10
Brings shame to all Warforged -10
Friendly association with evil Warforged -8
Friendly assocation with evil non-Warforged -5
Creates a new Warforged +1

Titles, Benefits & Duties: The Ironsouled Legion are warriors, first and foremost; even those without fighter type levels are expected to enter combat on a regular basis. There are no idle scholars or philosophers among the Ironsouled! As they progress through the ranks, members are expected to take on greater duties and assume the mantle of leadership, often volunteering their services to command armies of other races, if they are willing be so led.

3 or lower Not a member, or a member who has not proved himself.
4-10 Coppersouled: +2 on all Charisma-based skill checks with other Warforged; +1 on attack rolls against evil Warforged
11-15 Bronzesouled +4 on all Charisma-based skill checks with other Warforged; +2 on all Charisma based skill checks with non-evil being; +2 on attack rolls against evil Warforged
16-20 Ironsouled: Gain one Fighter bonus feat; +4 on all saving throws against fear; +3 on all attack rolls against evil Warforged
21-30 Adamantinesouled: +6 on all attempts to influence Good beings and +3 on all attempts to influence non-evil beings; +4 on all attack rolls against evil Warforged; +2 to natural AC bonus
31+ Mithralsouled: Gain two fighter bonus feats.