I truly salute you. It takes a real love of the game that not many have, to do what you have done. That is, to keep gaming with the wind pushing against you. The language in the Holmes, BECMI and AD&D rule sets is needlessly masculine, and I don’t mean just a little bit and I am not exaggerating “Needlessly“.

 

I am trying to imagine how it would feel if I sat down to a game with a table full of women. Then I read the rules and the entire text was “she” based, my character would be limited based on gender, and I STILL would return for weeks, months or years to play the game. Sometimes even with the men or boys ridiculing me for not “getting it”. I’m slow, but I really am starting to “get ” it. Maybe this article is long overdue from Fail Squad Games.

Women who game TRULY did and do love the game, because you are still here and playing after all this time.

The Authors

Before I continue, I would like to make it clear that this is NOT a personal dig at the original authors of any edition of D&D, BECMI, AD&D. I know many of them and have a deep respect for them as creators of my favorite game, and ultimately my career. I hope they consider this article as a constructive critique if they haven’t changed with the times, and as a sign post to personal growth if they have.

The Excusing Text

In all the old school books like Rules Cyclopedia, BECMI, and AD&D there is a paragraph that reads something like the following (from Rules Cyclopedia):

Pronoun Note
The male pronouns (he, him, his) are used throughout this book. We hope this won’t be interpreted by anyone as an attempt to exclude females from the game or to imply their exclusion. Centuries of use have made these pronouns neutral, and we feel their use provides for clear and concise written text.

As a young teen / preteen reader this made perfect sense to me. I accepted this and never understood why girls or women would feel any twinge of issue with anything about the game. Ok, I could kind of get the chain mail bikini thing, even back then. but hey, images of Elise Gygax sold me the book IN a chain mail bikini!

Was it really THAT bad?

Yeah, it was that bad. As an adult, and an RPG producer in 2018 re reading the text, even I find it distracting as an aging white male. It really is that bad. Come at the text as if you were your daughter reading the book and it sheds a little light on it. Let’s look at a paragraph, there are so many, but I’ll just pick ONE. Rules Cyclopedia page 7

A Magic user is a character who wields magic. He has little or nothing in the way of fighting ability,  and in the early part of his career he has little in the way of magical ability either. But as he gains  in experience, he becomes a powerful character and can wield powerful spells. The magic user’s prime requisite is his intelligence.

For that one paragraph a masculine tense is used SIX times. there are only 61 words in that paragraph! Only the very first sentence doesn’t reference the magic user being male. This paragraph isn’t a cherry picked exception in the book. It’s a standard example of the text.

I know what you are thinking, “Oh dammit! another article by a ‘Social Justice Warrior'” or some such crap. Please, stop right there. This is an article by a long time gamer and a publisher of games and most importantly a DAD to a young woman who likes to game. I am writing this article mostly as a father, secondly as an author, and thirdly as someone who wants everyone to game at my table.

So how do you fix that?

I wanted to write, but the texts I read with the gender pronouns seemed the only logical way to build a sentence. When I first started writing in the genre, I recalled those excusing paragraphs, but something didn’t sit quite right. There were growing pains in the gaming world and a number of solutions came up.

• Use she instead of he everywhere. [The same issue but in reverse. this just feels like vengeance]
• Use he / she [ ok but clumsy to type and read. What about those who are neither?]
• Use he in one instance, then she in the next. [Yeah, this happened around the 3.0 – 3.5 days and it is AWFUL to read and confusing as hell!]
• Use they or proper nouns or reword the sentence to not need a gender. [This is the Fail Squad Games fix and many other OSR publishers are getting on board]

So how would the sentence above read if published in a Fail Squad Games module today?

A Magic User is a character who wields magic. They have little or nothing in the way of fighting ability and in the early part of their career have little in the way of magical ability either. But as the magic user gains  in experience, they become a powerful character and wield powerful spells. The magic user’s prime requisite is intelligence.

It takes about 15 minutes of thinking when you first start writing this way. It makes more sense, the text actually reads smoother when written this way. It is more “clear and concise written text.” The Game master is either “GM, they, their”. Why assume he/his/him at all? After about 1,000 words in, this is the natural way to write and when you read gendered text it’s almost painful. I cringe when I see new authors in the RPG genre writing this way.

Characters with a gender are of course referred to as their gender in the game, it’s a simple, easy thing to do that makes your product better.

Helmets off to the Women

All through this, there are women who loved the game so much, they let this slide. Even when the rules set their maximum strength less than their male counterparts. I always found this troubling and in poor design even as a teen player.

Here’s to you for sticking with the hobby. Here’s to you for gaming through in an instance where, if the tables were reversed, I doubt many – if any-  men would be left standing. I salute your strength of character. I salute you for your love of the game and some who changed perceptions from the inside out. I also humbly apologize for anything you have endured to get here. I love BECMI, truly love the game. I love AD&D, all its authors, artists and contributors. I don’t like this one aspect of it and what it has done.  It was absolutely not necessary to write this way. It is my job as an inheritor of the hobby to fix it.

I will still play the games. I will ALSO continue to produce gaming supplements for the old systems and their clones. I WON’T be using that language in any Fail Squad Games product. I hope I can invite those who aren’t on board, to get on board. You’re on a sinking ship if you think you MUST write he, him, his a half-dozen times in a brief paragraph of 60 words.

What this Isn’t

This isn’t the chain mail bikini debate. I know Tarzan, Conan, Red Sonja, and Caldwell’s babes. This is a pronoun debate. A simple change in literary thinking that improves our hobby as a whole. As a young reader, I didn’t realize what this does to a line of thinking. As an adult dad, I do. As they say in Goonies, “This is OUR TIME! Down here!”

This is OUR time. We are inheriting this hobby from the previous generation. it’s time to fix this. With a couple of minutes of thought, any text can be written without the he, his, him bit. I don’t care that it was used my Shakespeare, Defoe, or any others for centuries. It’s not an excuse to use it now. It’ REALLY is not an excuse to purposefully use it in a hobby that wants to be inclusive. If anything, gaming incorporates the disenfranchised and this language should be something that our hobby leads the way in changing.

I welcome your comments below. If you think you must write with gender *fight me* I’ll rewrite your example text.

The post Women Who Game appeared first on Fail Squad Games.

I openly admit I am ignorant to a lot of things in the various game systems. After all, there are more RPG systems on the market than you can shake a stick at these days.  My casual reading has been strained lately as deadlines and college studies loom over my shoulder at every turn. Holidays are approaching and classes are resting so I started writing another adventure. I just finished up a fun Labyrinth Lord adventure Kickstarter and was diving in on a new 1E style piece. I haven’t put my nose in Labyrinth Lord Advanced in some time… ok hardly at all, and began writing the new adventure with the book closest to me. LL Advanced.

I took a little break to think about story elements while thumbing through the LL Advanced Companion book.

“Wait a minute! 17 STR  (+2)?” I blurted aloud.

That’s right, it had never occurred to me that Labyrinth Lord Advanced was Labyrinth Lord (BECMI compatible) with advanced rules attached, like dividing race and class, adding optional non-weapons, and other things. At the core it’s still basic Labyrinth Lord.

My apologies go out to Dan Proctor at Goblinoid Games for all the times I looked at Advanced Edition Companion Labyrinth Lord rules on my shelf and thought it was another AD&D clone. I was very very wrong. They have taken the things that sat funny with me about BECMI (race as class for one) and said no… here’s a suggestion of play for Basic but with some advanced options! It’s still the core Labyrinth Lord in the center of the pie, but the toppings are much better. Classes expanded, spells added, monsters juiced. My holiday casual reading just got bumped here. My love for this advanced companion on top of the core grew three times this day!  What a wonderful way to approach Basic and add in all the things I wanted to add in basic but never figured out how to play and test.

What about OSRIC?

Anyone who knows me, knows about my love affair with OSRIC and it’s AD&D roots. It makes Fail Squad Games possible! It leans so heavily on AD&D it can nearly be used interchangeably. OSRIC some might say, “Smoothed over the rough parts.” It fixes some wonky things like thief abilities and other bits to become, and yet not be AD&D. Yes, my 17 strength in OSRIC is +1 to hit, +1 damage. It remains at the forefront of books I reach for when writing a 1E adventure (Aside from the original TSR books). It is wonderfully organised with exceptional tables, random helpers, and design tips.

One Vs. the other?

I started this day trying to decide which system to write in. It’s not really possible for the two to compete since Labyrinth Lord Advanced and OSRIC are two different games. Do you want the BECMI simplicity with upgrades? or the head-first 1E feel with the roads repaired? Sitting here looking at both books, I am hard-pressed to make a decision on which system I want to pitch to my old group who are coming back together. The systems are far from the same thing. If you don’t have these books in your library, get them.

Budget tight? oh I’m sorry…. how about getting them for FREE? Both publishers offer their systems for FREE (in PDF).

Get OSRIC here

Get Labyrinth Lord here

~Lloyd M Fail Squad Games

The post Labyrinth Lord Vs. OSRIC – What I didn’t know appeared first on Fail Squad Games.

Distance in AD&D

It often gets a little glazed over by DMs & players and who can blame them? 1″=10 yards, 1″=10 feet, 1/3rd inside or 1:10 or 1:20… Lets take a closer look at what distance REALLY says. 

On Page 39 of the PHB (Easley cover 1980, #2010) is the section on distance. The paragraph starts off telling us that distances are 1/3 with respect to converting spell and missile range from outdoors to indoors. but wait – it gets confusing…

OK – that first part makes a little sense. Our friend Gary Gygax was a table-top war gamer. So measuring things like range and spell effect with inches is just how things were done. It sounds like going from outdoors to indoors the scale drops from 1″=a yard to 1″= a foot. (1/3) but it doesn’t. He goes on to justify the ruling by telling us that outdoor ranges are much extended by arching arrows and missiles up to achieve the distance. BUT… we then talk about 1″=10 feet underground and 1″=10 yards outdoors. So the 1/3 ratio is true – yes, but the wording is just confusing as all get out. It’s ok Gary, we still love you and the game.

Gary may have been grasping at explainable straws in the text making measuring the table for minis still work in both situations. This is a game, and we accept his explanation and move on.

Magic and Spells

Here’s where a potential curve ball comes into play. Spells and magic need to match range with archers and the like to make the game work. So outdoors spell ranges are also 1″=10 yards. With ALL CAPS there are warnings that spells and magic should only use this scale for range and not area effect. Then, Gary’s favorite hobby jumps into play again and we are given the confusing caveat that area effect is to be amplified if the mini ratio is 1:10 or 1:20. This is possibly one of the more confusing statements made in the section if you aren’t a war gamer.

What is being alluded to is if your 1 wizard mini on the table represents 10 or 20 wizards, then area effect is converted from feet to yards. (If I understand it correctly) A 3″ fireball would then cover 30 yards.

Made to fit the game

This is, what I feel, the key phrase of the entire rule set here. The text acknowledges, in not so many words, that these rules are likely not really true-to-life, but they fit the game. THAT is the key. Movement has some other tweaks that change in various situations and the PHB tells us that the DM has that. It’s a similar situation in that movement outdoors is typically less hindered than carefully exploring the dungeons of the world.

Sum it up

Which is what most of us do when we sit down at the table to game. 1″ = 10 yards above ground, or 10 feet below, indoors, and sometimes in town. Like the old Goldbox video game sets, DMs often switch to indoor rules and measures during encounters, then back to yards when travel resumes. This is typically the ‘house rule’ on the situation for AD&D. Unless, of course, the party is leading an army and there is a table set up for mass combat. 5E tackles the rules on this differently, but there are many years of play-testing in between. Both systems are viable and work within the confines of each game respectively.

I hope this closer look has helped clear up some of the mystery around distance in AD&D.  Those movements and ranges in inches make sense if you remember that DMs and players came to the game with minis and were measuring with rulers for combat. Some still do in new and old systems.

As always, enjoy the game, roll the dice and role your play!

~Lloyd M

The post Distance – It’s about to get confusing appeared first on Fail Squad Games.

1: Look for Inspiration

Inspiration is everywhere if you look for it. Look at the picture that is part of this post and ask yourself the following questions.

• What does it make you think about?
• Does it invoke a particular feeling?
• Does it remind you of something?
• Who or What lives there?
• How was this place created?
• Why would adventurers need to go here?

As you ask yourself these questions, jot down the answers in a notebook or on a piece of paper. Don’t worry about the “right” answer, just get the thoughts down. As you write the answers down think about how it all fits together. As you go through this process you are likely to find the idea growing and becoming something more substantial. Stick with it and see where it goes.

2: Draw a Map

Look at the picture again and think about what the inside of the tree looks like. Grab a piece of paper and start scribbling down some ideas. After you have an idea of the what the inside looks like think about what the area around the picture looks like. Again, don’t worry about it looking all professional, just worry about getting the idea down.

3: Don’t Worry about “Doing it Right” 

Role playing games are about having fun and that is what really matters. There are far to many people that want to tell other people what having fun means, don’t listen to them. Do what works for you and tell the stories you want to tell. If you get to caught up in doing it right you are likely to wind up frustrated and unhappy.

4: Don’t be Afraid to Give up on an Idea.

In my opinion, one of the hardest things to learn is giving up on a bad idea. There are some ideas that don’t come together no matter how hard you try. Rather than bang your head against a wall, switch gears and work on a new idea. Doing this not only reduces frustration, but also gives you a chance to revisit your original idea at a time when your mind is clear.

What designing and adventure really comes down to is not being afraid to start. Find a bit of inspiration, draw a map, and have fun doing it. You do this and the rest of it is easy.

Until next time may all of your rule books remain in excellent condition.

Ric :)

The post Building an Adventure: Getting Started appeared first on Fail Squad Games.

• What happens when a Lawful Good Paladin works with a rogue known for theft?
• What if a Lawful Evil Paladin shows mercy to someone weaker than themselves?
• Do both count as violations, or do neither?

Why, or why not?

It would be impossible to cover every potential violation of the Paladin’s code,  but a Game Master can and should work from some general guidelines. The following is how I break down code violations at my table.

Minuscule Violations

Minuscule violations are actions that barely count as a violation of the code. An example of this would be the Paladin forgetting to say a prayer before entering battle. Sure, this goes against the Paladin concept, but it’s hardly a big enough offense to call for a god’s attention. Not only is the deity in question likely to be concerned with such an action, but a player shouldn’t have to live in fear of forgetting a minor detail like this. If you’re a Game Master who punishes players for such minor things, maybe  you need to review how you handle Paladins in your game.

Minor Violations

Minor Violations are actions that break the letter of the code, but don’t break the spirit of the code. For instance, in the 5e Player’s Handbook the Oath of Devotion requires the Paladin to be courageous. What happens if the Paladin is in a situation where they know that their death is an unavoidable outcome of a fight? By the technical definition of courage, this violates the code, but what good is a dead Paladin to their deity?

When it comes to minor violations, I feel that they should be treated as an opportunity for role-playing. The Paladin could have a bad dream, or a servitor of their deity visits the Paladin and issues a warning. If the Paladin continues to commit minor violations then something more unpleasant should happen such as a servitor coming down and beating the Paladin down. Unless the player isn’t learning the Game Master shouldn’t strip the Paladin of their power over minor violations.

Major Violations

Major violations are actions that are in direct contradiction to the Paladin’s code. An example is letting an enemy live when the Paladin follows the Oath of Vengeance (5e Player’s Handbook pg. 88).  There is no debate that this breaks the oath and the Paladin needs to be brought to task. I would suggest that the Paladin be tasked with repentance, but it is not unreasonable to strip the Paladin of powers.

Grotesque Violations

Grotesque Violations are actions that not only violate the Paladin’s code, but go against everything the Paladin stands for. Slaughtering innocents is an example of grotesque violations and should result in the Paladin losing their status at the very least.

There is no way to plan for every single violation of the Paladin’s code, but the above should help a Game Master and player work out details. As always feel free to fire off in the comments below and let me know what you think. Until next time happy gaming!

Ric

The post The Paladin Code Part 2: Violating the Code appeared first on Fail Squad Games.

Game Masters, on the other hand, feel that players want the perks of the class without having to play the class correctly. I doubt anything I say affects the argument one way or the other, but it is a part of the game I have thought about quite often and figured I would share some of those thoughts today and follow up on in later posts.

Why is There a Code?

The concept of the paladin, a holy warrior who was granted amazing power in order to fight evil, existed from the beginning of the game. This power had to come from somewhere, and that somewhere was from the gods themselves. If a god was going to grant a human that much power, that god wanted to be assured the paladin would use it as intended. Thus the paladin code was created. This makes sense when you think about it. After all, why would a being as powerful as a god give that power without requiring something in return?

Not only would the god want something in return for granting the paladin power, but it would want to make sure that power didn’t get used for evil. This meant that not only did the god require the paladin to follow a code, but if the paladin did not uphold the code there needed to be someway to take the power away. While most everyone agrees that the concept of the paladin code makes sense, it is the god taking away a paladin’s power that causes problems. This is understandable, no one likes their character to lose powers simply because they did something against their code. The problem is that the paladin code is central to the concept of the class and without that code the paladin simply becomes a somewhat over-powered fighter.

While over time, the game has softened up on the paladin class (which anyone can attest who has played through all five editions* of the game),  even in today’s version the code is there. Most people agree there should be a code,  but what constitutes violating that code? What happens when that code is violated? All these can be hotly debated topics. I am going to explore this debate in future posts, but for now I need to let you all go.

In the mean time, I would love to hear from other people. If you have thoughts about the Paladin and the Paladin code, feel free to drop a line in the comments section below. Until next time, happy gaming!

Ric :)

*The game actually has more than five editions and there are grognards that will point this out so I figured I would point it out first :P

The post The Paladin Code (Part I: Why is There a Code) appeared first on Fail Squad Games.

Hirelings

The humble hireling is a frequently over-looked opportunity for the DM to add a fair amount of “dressing” to the world in which the characters live.

 At any time a character may attempt to hire various different sorts of workers, servants, or guards.

These hirelings are not henchmen that join you on your adventures, but the people who keep the home fires burning. they keep armor polished, spell books organized, houses free of vermin in the days, weeks, or months while the heroes are on the road. There are a few general hireling examples listed in the book:

• Alchemist
• Linkboy
• Teamster
• Blacksmith
• Valet
• Steward

This list also includes housekeeper, cook, farm hands and many other various jobs that heroes require. Even those who do not own property may still need a messenger, seamstress, or groomsman.

How do these serve the DM?

These bit actors on stage are often forgotten as daily living fodder. As DM it becomes a far more interesting game to take a brief note of each service required. Attach a name to these actors and a brief note on character traits or quirks. Keep these notes in your on-going setting, and soon you will find your heroes requesting these bit players by name.

The services can drain the coffers, but the tips for beloved service NPCs can drain them faster. I’ve seen players decide to spend small fortunes retaining the loyalty of simple hirelings. A humble tailor might find himself in a fine house, with the finest of tools, surrounded by family serving the master of the house. Another Lawful Good illusionist that comes to mind, hired a sweet girl from the brothel to make him tea for a week. Nothing more. In his elder years he wed his beloved to live in a cabin on a magical hill.

A hireling doesn’t need to be a throw-away service, it is an opportunity to create a living, breathing entity that can affect you game world and character experience.

Hirelings and adventures

Hirelings that are familiar to the players can give the heroes a sense of home. A place and people to defend. You don’t need to flesh each out to a full NPC, but keep the names, faces, and personalities consistent.

They quickly become active citizens with lives of their own. With those lives come struggles, and they happen to know a brave hero should things get dangerous.

Just a short list of hirelings with personalities can provide a never-ending series of story hooks, rumors, and trusted sources. Capturing them all to be rescued will grow old fast, instead allow these bit-players to become the heroes “eyes on the street”.

The folks working for the rich heroes, want their masters to stay rich – wealthy – and generous with the tips. If a goblin lair is rumored to be full of treasure, the best boss they have ever had, will likely find out.

Have you had any hirelings that took center stage in an adventure?

comment below

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From Monopoly to 5E Dungeons & Dragons House rules happen and power-gamers emerge. It happened to me, and I started to lose control somewhere along the line, until I tried this tweak to my games.

Adding in new classes, abilities, non-weapon proficiencies, bonuses and what not can create an unusual imbalance in AD&D games. An imbalance where monsters that are evenly matched for players get wiped out fast. Power gamers end up pulling away from regular classes in the amount of damage they do, speed of attacks and more. Every battle becomes one or two players and no one else gets an action before the enemy is slain. At face value, this seems good for players, but it can quickly sap the fun out of one of the core components of the game.

Super Heroes

For example, we had a group with two warriors who got lucky on their rolls and both had 18 (xx) strength and good dexterity. We had some 2E house rules in play, and they had specialization and various other bonuses to attacks. These two warriors would clean out a battle in one or two rounds.

I instinctively ratcheted up the level of monsters they would face. While the two warriors were ready for the challenge, the rest of the party was not. I soon found myself throwing encounters that were incredibly deadly for most of the party, and mildly challenging for the two warriors. As a DM I was nearly killing my heroes to challenge two.

I would watch the wizard and thief yawn and drift off to check their phones while the warriors took the battle out in a couple of rounds. I wasn’t sure how to fix this. Also, I didn’t want to pull back our agreed upon house-rules of specialization and a few other 2E cross-over rules we wanted to add.

It all came down to Hit points

After some trial and error, I realized that losing the weaker classes was only happening because they were being left out of ROLL playing. The battle was over too quickly, often before they even got to contribute to the conflict. Players need to roll dice sometimes!

I yanked my monster HD from a d8 to a d10 and things started to happen. Monsters lasted a little longer, without having higher level abilities that would wipe out players instantly.

I realize this was a scenario of my creation. The extra damage and bonuses piled on to a couple lucky stat rolls created my perfect storm to injure my game. As an old school player, I would have been happy with less damage dealt, and monsters with fewer HP. The players didn’t realize that monsters now had a d10, and rarely a d12 HD, but their excitement of dealing out higher damage was the reward.

Lesson Learned

In later games I began to temper my additions to the game like specialization, even DOUBLE specialization, and all the other things that can warp party balance. Along came 5E and I immediately noticed that creature HP and HD were now independent of their DC (Level) rating. I must not have been the only DM to have faced this issue.

So if you are facing the problem of a couple of heroes knocking out the battle before others get to roll, it might be as simple as assuming your monsters have a d10 for Hit Dice.

What are some of the ways you have had to balance out your games on the fly?

The post Monsters, Do levels and HD balance out? appeared first on Fail Squad Games.

Which do you Prefer?

When the race first came to Dungeons and Dragons, it was Hobbit. Clearly inspired by the works of J.R.R. Tolkein. In the workings of copyrights and business, it was quickly changed to Halfling.

At conventions I have sat at the table of a number of the old TSR Staff who insist on using the verbiage “Hobbit”, and they explain that we all know the naming was changed, but it was clear what was meant. In fact the term ‘Halfling’ remains in some of the Tolkein writings to describe the folk of the shire.

With the latest edition of the Dungeons & Dragons game (5E) Wizards of the coast seem to have taken a sharp left turn and made Halflings something un-hobbit like completely. Having small feet and a penchant for shoes seems awkward and out-of-place.

Do you Love it or Hate it?

I have tried to like the new Halflings, but in my mind, they remained as Hobbits. The little feet in the artwork of 5e is bothersome to me. I try not to look at it. I mean, I’m not even sure what I’m looking at here when it comes to proportion.

It does bring some new ideas to the table though, and that can’t be all bad – right?

There are interesting new quirks to little feet and shoes, and maybe I would be quicker to embrace the change if they weren’t SO little, with giant heads.

When you game – What do you see?

These differences are minor, it’s true. Likely a wise move by WOTC to get away from the Hobbit IP when the movies were headed the theaters.

When you close your eyes at the gaming table, what do you see when you think of a Halfling/Hobbit?

I have to work hard to stop seeing Meriadoc and Pippin smoking and eating apple pie at second breakfast. My mouth says the word Halfling, but my brain sees a Hobbit.

What are some of the ways you have made the transition? Have you changed Hobbits and Halflings in your own world?

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Being a Gnome

It isn’t just becoming an illusionist with a pickaxe. In AD&D, some of the gnomish abilities might surprise you and add a lot of flavor to your game.

The Gnomish Problem

In a previous article about How To screw Up Races we took a look at some of the level limits and gnomes have some heavy ones.

• No player character clerics
• 6th level Fighter
• 7th Illusionist
• 8th Assassin

Thief remains unrestricted, but no surprise there – that is true of ALL races. These restrictions may be one of the key things that turn players away from gnomes. But they do have some benefits, some that get overlooked and unused.

They Talk to What?

Gnomes start the game with at least 6 languages. What often gets over looked is their ability to communicate with any burrowing animal. I admit, I had forgotten about this until I re-read the section for this article!

*PHB (Easley Cover) page 16-17

Some Bonuses to Being Gnomish

Gnomes are related to dwarves, but aren’t on the list for ability bonuses, another blow to their appeal on creation.

• Dwarf-like saving throw bonuses (+1 / 3.5 con)
• Underground detection of walls, slopes, unsafe structure etc.
• +1 to hit vs Kobolds & Goblins
• Giant class creatures -4 to hit

It is often forgotten that gnomes aren’t strictly underground folk. They enjoy fully wooded areas and secluded hills away from humans. Through many writings, stories and examples, they enjoy long names with varying degrees of complexity.

“Remphenilblix enjoyed the company of his halfling neighbors, and allowed them to call him ‘Rem’ to ease conversation when he came to town for trade.”

Playing a gnome adds some interesting dynamics to game sessions. It is usually best to multi-class with the thief class if your party intends to go for the long campaign. This way you will always be progressing with the rest of the party in some way.

Being a gnome, like any race of AD&D is as open to interpretation as the player behind the sheet. A hardy gnomish warrior is a force to be reckoned with, even if they stop progressing at level 6. Add in some illusion, and things get interesting!

Who are your favorite gnomes?

Comment below

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