Player's Handbook 2 n d Edition*

Rules Supplement

TheComplete Book of

Gnomes

Halflingsby Douglas Niles

TSR Inc.

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Table of Contents

Introduction: The Small FolkCooperationThe Invisibility FactorFighting Small

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GNOMESIntroduction: Gnomes

Gnomes in AD&D® 2nd EditionNew Stuff About Gnomes

Chapter 1:Myths of the GnomesGods of the Gnomedom . . . .

Garl GlittergoldBaervan Wildwander . . . .Callarduran Smoothhands

Flandal SteelskinSegojan EarthcallerUrdlen, The Crawler Below

11 '1

IkChapter 2:Gnome Subraces

Rock GnomesSvirfneblin (Deep Gnomes)Tinker Gnomes (Minoi) . . .Forest Gnomes

Chapter 3:Gnomish Culture . .FestivalsFiresMarriage and FamilyThe Nose Knows . . .

Food and DrinkGemsCraftsmanshipTradeTaboosEmotionsHumorAnimal FriendsWarfareMagicWandering . . . .

. 91010

11141414141lll41414

1515212630

34343535353536363737383939404142

Chapter 4:Gnome Character Kits 44Structure of the Kits 44Fighter Kits 45

Breachgnome 45Goblinsticker 46

Thief Kits 48Mouseburglar 48Tumbler 49

Illusionist Kits 50Imagemaker 50Vanisher 51

Multiclass Kits 52Buffoon (T/I) 52Stalker (F/T) 53

Priest Kits 54Rocktender 54Treetender 5hlgh5

Chapter 5:Granitehome

—A Typical Gnomish Village . . . 56Description of Granitehome 56Map of Granitehome 57

HALFLINGSIntroduction: Halflings 59

Halflings in AD&D® 2nd Edition 60New Stuff About Halflings 60

Chapter 1:Myths of the Halflings 61The Story of Littleman 61A General History

of the Halfling Race 63Gods of the Halflings 63

Yondalla the Provider 65Sheela Peryroyl 65Cyrrollalee 65Arvoreen the Defender 65Brandobaris 65

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Chapter 2:Halfling SubracesThe Wanderings of Littleman

HairfootStoutTallfellow

KenderAthasian HalflingFurchin

Chapter 3:Halfling CultureThe Name "Halflings"The Hearth and the BurrowThe FamilyGrowing Up

Sustenance, and MoreThe VillageCrafts, Labor, and ProductsTradeSociety Norms and TaboosJoy and HumorSorrow and AngerRiddlesVillages and ShiresWarfareTacticsMagicWhy Most Halflings Are Homebodies .Why Some Halflings Pursue Adventure

Chapter 4:Halfling Character Kits .The Structure of the KitsFighter Kits

The ArcherForestwalker

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67686970717375

77777779808182828384858686878788899090

HomesteaderMercenary ..SherriffSquireTunnelrat . . .

Thief KitsBandit

. 91

. 92

. 93

. 93

. 94

. 96

. 98

. 99101102103103

Bilker 106Burglar 108Smuggler 110Urchin 112

Fighter/Thief Kits 113Cartographer 113Trader 115Traveler 117

Cleric Kits 118Healer 118Leaftender 119Oracle 120

Chapter 5:Lindendale

- A Typical Halfling Village . . . 121Description of Lindendale 122Map of Lindendale 123

Appendix: Adventure Suggestionsfor Gnome and Halfling Campaigns 126

AD&D, ADVANCED DUNGEONS & DRAGONS, DRAGONLANCE,FORGOTTEN REALMS, and SPELLJAMMER are registered trademarksowned by TSR, Inc. AL-QADIM, DARK SUN, DM, DUNGEON MASTER andthe TSR logo are trademarks owned by TSR, Inc.e1993 TSR, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Printed in U.S.A.Random House and its affiliate companies have worldwide distribution rightsin the book trade for English language products of TSR, Inc.Distributed to the book and hobby trade in the United Kingdom by TSR Ltd.Distributed to the toy and hobby market by regional distributors.This material is protected under the copyright laws of the United States ofAmerica. Any reproduction or other unauthorized use of the material or art-work printed herein is prohibited without the express written permission ofTSR, Inc.

ISBN 1-56076-573-9

TSR, Inc.POB 756Lake Geneva,WI 53147U.S.A.

s TSR Ltd.120 Church End,

Cherry HintonCambridge CB1 3LB

United Kingdom

CREDITSDesigner: Douglas NilesEditor: John D. RateliffColor Artists: Larry Elmore, Keith Parkinson,

and Clyde CaldwellBlack and White Artists: James Crabtree and Ned DameronAdditional Black and White Art: Larry Elmore, Brom, Jim

Holloway, Stephen FabianCartographer: Dave SutherlandTypographer: Tracey ZamagneGraphic Designer: Paul Hanchette

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4 • Introduction

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Why a book for the small folk? And whatdo gnomes and halflings have in commonthat warrants their inclusion in a tome to-gether? The answer to the second questionlies in the first, for it is the diminutive size ofboth these popular races that is the most sig-nificant factor in the way they cope withtheir environment.

The worlds of the AD&D® game can befrightening and overpowering even to charac-ters broad of girth, potent of magic, and pos-sessing strength great enough to face many ofthose worlds' challenges. Imagine how muchgreater the danger to beings of small stature,limited strength, and little or no magic.

This is the environment faced by the gnomeand the halfling. It is a world teeming withlarger races, each of whom claims its nicheand jealously guards its prerogatives: prolifichumanity, with its potent wizards and power-ful clerics; dour dwarves, with their mightyfortresses and their doughty fighters; enchant-ed elves, masters of the woods; not to mentionthe monsters—giants, trolls, goblins, ghosts,and dragons—that lurk everywhere.

To counter these inherent disadvantages,and to make and keep a place for themselvesin a hard world, gnomes and halflings longago developed several traits that allow themnot only to survive, but to flourish. Commonto both races is an instinct for avoiding directconflict when possible. Just as valuable is agift for being unobtrusive. But most impor-tant of all, perhaps, is the open-mindednessboth halflings and gnomes show in their deal-ings with members of other racial groups.

Despite the many traits they share, gnomesare not halflings and halflings are not gnomes:each race remains distinct unto itself. Conse-quently, this book is divided into two majorsections—one about gnomes and the otherabout halflings. These sections contain all aplayer or DM needs to know about the socie-ty, character, subraces, and kits of these di-minutive demihumans.

Still, it's worth thinking about a few con-

siderations that apply to both gnomes andhalflings, especially those that relate to theirsize (which is small not just in comparisonwith humans but most of the other intelligentcreatures with which they share their world).These are the traits of the races that are mostuseful to players, as well as important hall-marks of any all-gnome or all-halflingcampaign.

CooperationGnomes and halflings both have learned the

value of cooperating with members of other,larger races. Halflings typically carry this in-teraction farther than do their bearded cous-ins, but gnomes, too, understand thatalliances and friendship make for more pros-perous neighbors than do feuding and war.Members of both races are not inherently ad-verse to making business deals with dwarves,humans, and elves—or even humanoid mon-sters, provided there is no inherent racial an-tipathy. Even where such enmity exists, asbetween gnomes and kobolds or goblins, it isusually the result of competition for livingspace; in settings where this traditional boneof contention is absent (as in the AL-QADIM™setting of Zakhara), gnomes find it easy to be-friend even these traditional enemies. Natu-rally, halflings and gnomes alike will becautious regarding offers of mutual coopera-tion from those who have been active enemiesin the recent past, but at least they will givesuch offers a fair hearing.

Alliances: The value of a military pact witha strong neighbor is an obvious one to anyrace. The trick, however, is to avoid thesmaller partner being dominated or swallow-ed up by the larger. The small folk have devel-oped diplomacy into an art and are adept atbeing able to negotiate mutually-beneficialpacts with a variety of their neighbors. For ex-ample, elves and dwarves might ally them-selves with different groups of humans but notwith each other, while the humans probablywill have trouble getting along even among

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themselves. Halfling or gnome communitiesin the same area are quite likely to have mutu-al assistance agreements worked out with theabove mentioned dwarves, elves, and severalof the human nations. Of course, these pactswill apply to outside threats only, as the smallfolk have no desire to get involved in the in-ternal power struggles of their neighbors.

Even in cases where no military alliance isformed, a community of the small folk willstrive mightily to maintain peace with itsneighbors. Halflings and gnomes will readilysuggest or agree to negotiation over points ofcontention, and they are capable of carryingon these talks for a very long period of time. Ifa group of humans decides to resolve an issueby force, the small folk will probably agree tothe terms without violent resistance unless amatter of strong principle is at stake. How-ever, even in acquiescence the halflings orgnomes might find a way to make the humanvictory a hollow one.

Say, for example, that a small patch of for-est forms a common border between a humantown and a halfling village. The halflings willstrive to see that the woods is preserved andshared, even to the point of bestowing upontheir neighbors gifts of game, mushrooms,and nuts from the woods. If the humans sud-denly claim the woods as their exclusive prop-erty, the halflings will spend a long time tryingto talk them out of this selfish notion—andthey'll continue to use the woods as they al-ways have for so long as the talks last.

If, however, the local human ruler issues anorder barring halflings from the forest and setsguards around it to see that he or she isobeyed, the halflings will probably resort todiscreet poaching, using their skills at movingsilently to evade the guards. Ironically, with-out the tending of Forestwalkers and Leaften-ders (see the halfling kits), the forest willproduce much less—and the humans proba-bly can't even find the mushrooms! Within ashort time, the woods will become a wilder,more desolate place. Thus, both sides suffer

from the humans' greed, and—if the friend-ship between the communities is main-tained—the halflings will hope that in a fewyears the human policy can be reversed.

In an extreme case, where the human rulerdecides that the woods should be cut downand the lumber used to build him or her a newsummer palace, the halflings might be drivento more dire resistance. If the forest is reallyimportant to the community's survival andidentity they may feel compelled to fight forit. Rather than declaring war on their neigh-bor, they will sabotage logging operations,waylay small parties of loggers, and generallymake the project too time consuming and ex-pensive for the humans to continue.

In all cases of possible conflict, halflingswill first try affability, progressing from thereto passive resistance, and only resorting toguerilla warfare if all else fails. Gnomes (espe-cially Rock Gnomes) are somewhat morequick to anger under mistreatment, but theytoo will never be the aggressors and will glad-ly end hostilities at the very first opportunity.It's easy to underestimate the small folk, butthey make tenacious foes to those who insiston becoming their enemies.

Intermingling: To varying degrees both kindsof small folk are open to the cultures of otherraces, whether this means individual gnomesand halflings living amongst humans, dwarves,and elves or accepting members of the "BigFolk" into their own communities. Betweengnome and halfling, a member of one group willbe warmly welcomed and feel quite comfortableliving among or visiting the other.

When gnomes or halflings live among an-other race, say in a populous city, they areadept at retaining their old customs whileadapting them to the traits and peculiarities ofthe people around them. The hearth, so essen-tial to the halfling, or the fire without whichno gnome dwelling would be complete, will befound anywhere a member of the respectiverace calls home—even if "home" is a corner ina crowded tenement and the hearth a mere

6 • Introduction

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