“If you can stand the noise, you're welcome to stay the night. Just don't touch anything on that table. It…ah…wouldn't end well.”

Those not familiar with Gnomes might find them similar to both Elves or Dwarves. They tend to live in harmony with nature, and have a connection to the natural magics of the world, and they tend to be skilled craftsmen. But that is really where all similarity ends.

Unlike Elves, Gnomes are very much creatures of the world. They tend to live in forests, but more than a few have settled near the communities of other peoples. They are gregarious and friendly, welcoming all into their homes—though if one is not properly appreciative, one might not be invited to stay overly long.

Unlike Dwarves, Gnomes do not study their trades, but prefer to take risks and make guesses. That they turn out excellent work is a credit to their manual dexterity and their natural talents. However, they are known to turn out failures and explosions as frequently as they do successes.

Gnomes have long ears and noses, and frequently grow beards. They typically stand between 70 and 90 centimeters in height, and rarely grow taller than one meter. Their small stature makes them stealthy and difficult to hit, but all too fragile when struck. They have a preference for going barefoot, but will wear boots or sandals when the need arises. It is considered the height of rudeness to enter a Gnomish home with one's footwear on.

When you select Gnome as your ancestry, increase your Dexterity and Foresight by +1, but decrease your Body by -1. Then choose one of Agility, Charisma or Education and increase it by +1.

Though they are quick by nature, the Gnome's short legs tend to slow them down. Gnomes have a speed of four meters.

Despite their small size—or perhaps because of it—Gnomes have remarkable stores of energy. Gnomes start with fifteen stamina.

The Gnomish language has been lost to time. As a result, Gnomes do not have a language of their own, but every Gnome has a voracious appetite for learning. You begin play speaking and reading Trade, and may also choose one additional written language that you know. You may select additional languages, spoken or written, equal to your Education bonus.

Though wiry for their size, Gnomes are still quite small, and this impacts them in several ways, both good and bad.

• Gnomes take a +1 bonus to their Agility defence, making them even harder to hit.
• Gnomes take a +2 bonus to their Stealth skill.
• Gnomes suffer a -1 to damage rolls per damage die that they roll.
• A Gnome's One-Hand Lift statistic is equal to their Athletics skill bonus plus five.
• Double their hit points of damage when determining a Gnome's TN for Capacity and Death saving throws.
• Gnomes eat less than larger folk, and their meals in a community cost only 2cp per day, or 3sp for a week's rations.

Every Gnome is passionate about something–magic, mechanics, alchemy, whatever. Choose any non-weapon skill. You gain the general feature, Skill Focus, for that skill. You must, at some point during character creation, become trained in the selected skill.

When failure is not an option, you manage to draw a wild solution from the depths of your mind. After making a skill check, if you are not satisfied with the result, you may discard one of the ten-sided dice rolled on that skill check, and re-roll it. If the skill check is related to your Passion, you may re-roll both dice if you wish. You must keep the new result, even if it is worse. Once you use this ability, you cannot use it again until you finish a short or long rest.