AW at-will · ENC encounter · DLY daily |
Fields: Req requirement · Trig trigger · Tgt target · Atk attack · Hit/Miss/Eff · 1°/2° primary/secondary · Sust sustain · After aftereffect · Spec special |
Shorthand: Str/Dex/Con/Wis/Int/Cha = ability mod · EONT/SONT = end/start of your next turn · sq = square(s) · CA combat advantage · OA opp. attack · MBA/RBA melee/ranged basic attack · HP hit points · tgt target · [W] weapon dice
| ENC | Fade AwayGnome Racial PowerImm React PersIllusion | You turn invisible in response to harm. Trig You take dmg · Eff You are invisible until you attack or until EONT. |
In the Feywild, the best way for a small creature to survive is to be overlooked. While suffering in servitude to the fomorian tyrants of the Feydark, gnomes learned to hide, to mislead, and to deflect—and by these means, to survive. The same talents sustain them still, allowing them to prosper in a world filled with creatures much larger and far more dangerous than they are.
Gnomes are smaller even than halflings, rarely exceeding 4 feet in height. Apart from their size, they resemble elves or eladrin, with pointed ears and chiseled facial features such as high cheekbones and sharp jaws. They have a more wild look than eladrin do, though, particularly in the hair that sprouts from their heads in random directions. Some male gnomes sprout tufts of hair from their chins, but they otherwise lack body hair.
Gnome skin tone ranges from a ruddy tan through woody brown to rocky gray. Their hair can be virtually any color, from stark white to blond and various shades of brown to autumnal orange or green. Their eyes are glittering black orbs.
Gnomes are as long-lived as eladrin, living over 300 years, but they show more of the effects of age. A gnome over the age of 100 has gray or white hair and skin that shows the wrinkled and weathered lines of a century of laughter, but even the oldest gnome retains the strength and agility of youth.
In quiet forests of the Feywild and remote woodlands in the world, gnomes live out of sight and mostly beneath the notice of larger races. Gnomes dwell in homes dug among the roots of trees, easily overlooked and cleverly concealed by camouflage and illusion. They are fond of the burrowing mammals that share their habitat, such as badgers, foxes, and rabbits, and have a sense of kinship with these small animals that share their forests.
Unobtrusiveness is a virtue among gnomes. They grow up on games of stealth and silence, in which the winner is the last to be discovered. An adult gnome who draws attention in a crowd is considered dangerously rude. Gnome folk heroes are not mighty warriors, but tricksters who slip out of captivity, play great pranks without being detected, or sneak past magical guardians. They deflect both aggression and attention with humor, and they guard their thoughts with friendly laughter.
Gnomes also value a quick mind and the ability to come up with a clever solution to any problem. They appreciate witty conversation, especially rapidfire repartee. They are inventive and resourceful, although they have little interest in or aptitude for the kind of technology found in human cities. They have an innate talent for magic and a love of illusion, music, poetry, and story.
Eager to see what the world has to offer and willing to be awed by its wonders, gnomes greet the world with open curiosity. Gnomes who are drawn to adventure are most often driven by curiosity and wanderlust above any desire for wealth or glory. Gnomes were once enslaved by the fomorian rulers of the Feydark, the subterranean caverns of the Feywild. They regard their former masters with more fear than hatred, and they feel some degree of sympathy for the fey that still toil under fomorian lashes—particularly the spriggans, which some say are corrupted gnomes. Gnomes are not fond of goblins or kobolds, but in typical gnome fashion, they avoid creatures they dislike rather than crusading against them. They are fond of eladrin and other friendly fey, and gnomes who travel the world have good relations with elves and halflings.
Two sample gnome adventurers are described below. Kellen is a gnome bard with a grim sense of humor and a ready blade. He was thrust unwillingly into an adventuring career when cyclopses raided his village and took him captive. He labored as a slave to a fomorian king for a decade before finally making his escape and fleeing the Feywild entirely. Though he longs to return one day to free the members of his family he was forced to leave behind, fear of what awaits him in the Feywild keeps him in the world. Orla has lived in the world her entire life. She was born in a forest among elves, but an encounter in the forest one evening changed her life. She found herself face to face with a fey spirit of such power that she was unable to move or speak and could only acquiesce to its unspoken demands. Her life belongs to that spirit now, she knows. She wields its power as a fey pact warlock, but she feels its desires and pursues its goals without fully understanding where they might lead her.
Small characters follow most of the same rules as Medium ones, with the following exceptions.
“Now you see me—but not for long!”
The gnome race has learned to survive in a dangerous world by remaining unnoticed, staying out of sight and wielding magic to become invisible. As a fey beguiler, you take that a step farther, using magic to cloud and confuse your enemies’ minds while you perfect your own talents for stealth and secrecy. As you progress along the path of the fey beguiler, you learn an array of methods to move around unseen while bedeviling your foes. You can turn invisible, blast your foe with a globe of fey light and dash away unseen, or dumbfound an opponent, leaving it vulnerable to your allies’ attacks. To supplement the powers of your path and your class, you also learn skills and utility powers typically available to rogues and wizards, either magical or mundane tricks to enhance your stealth, movement, or other capabilities. The key to your success is to escape notice, and you have an arsenal of techniques to do just that.
You can be sly and sneaky, moving quietly and skulking through the shadows. Subtlety is a valuable tool, and secrecy can save your life. But sometimes a forthright attack on an enemy’s mind is just the right tool for the job.
| ENC | Bedazzling OrbFey Beguiler Attack 11Std Ranged 10Illusion, Implement, RadiantTgt One creature | As you disappear from view, an orb of bright fey light streaks toward your opponent, then erupts in a dazzling flash that leaves that foe dazed. Eff Before the attack, you become invisible until the end of your turn. · Atk Int or Cha vs Reflex · Hit 2d8 + Int or Cha radiant dmg, and tgt is dazed until EONT. Spec When you gain this power, choose Intelligence or Charisma as the ability you use when making attack rolls and dmg rolls with this power. |
| DLY | Beguiling BoltFey Beguiler Attack 20Std Ranged 10Implement, PsychicTgt One creature | Your mental assault leaves your foe bewildered and vulnerable to attack, as you draw on fey power to regain your ability to vanish. Atk Int or Cha vs Will · Hit 4d10 + Int or Cha psychic dmg, and tgt grants CA (save ends). Eff You regain the use of your fade away racial power if you have already used it during this encounter. Miss Half dmg, and tgt grants CA until the end of its next turn. · Spec When you gain this power, choose Intelligence or Charisma as the ability you use when making attack rolls and dmg rolls with this power. |