Whisper Gnome

Table 4–5: The Stonechild Hit Base Attack Fort Ref Will Skill

Level Dice Bonus Save Save Save Points CR Special

1st 1d8 +1 +2 +2 +2 (8 + Int mod) × 4 1 Feat 2nd 1d8 +1 +2 +2 +2 — 1 +2 Str, +2 Con, +1 natural armor 3rd 1d8 +1 +2 +2 +2 — 1 +2 Str, +2 Con, +2 natural armor, magic stone 1/day 4th 2d8 +2 +3 +3 +3 (8 + Int mod) 2 Blind-Fight 5th 2d8 +2 +3 +3 +3 — 3 +2 Str, +2 Con, +3 natural armor, magic stone 2/day 6th 2d8 +2 +3 +3 +3 — 3 +2 Str, +4 natural armor, magic stone 3/day

• Racial Hit Dice: A stonechild begins with two levels of outsider, which provide her with 2d8 Hit Dice, a base attack bonus of +2, and base saving throw bonuses of Fort +3, Ref +3, and Will +3. • Racial Skills: A stonechild’s outsider levels give her skill points equal to 5 × (8 + Int modifi er). Their class skills are Appraise, Climb, Craft (stoneworking), Intimidate,

Knowledge (history), Knowledge (the planes), Listen,

Search, Spot, and Survival. • Racial Feats: A stonechild’s outsider levels give her one feat. In addition, stonechildren get Blind-Fight as a bonus feat. • Weapon and Armor Proficiency: As an outsider, a stonechild is proficient with all simple and martial weapons, with light and medium armor, and with shields (except tower shields). • Natural Armor: A stonechild’s tough hide protects her from harm, giving her a +4 natural armor bonus to

Armor Class. • Immunity to Acid and Poison: Stonechildren take no damage and suffer no ill effects from acid or poison. • Magic Stone (Sp): Three times per day, a stonechild can use a magic stone effect, as the spell (caster level 3rd). • Automatic Languages: Common and Terran. Bonus Languages: Celestial, Dwarven, Ignan. • Favored Class: Fighter. • Level adjustment +4.

STONECHILD MONSTER CLASS

Outsider (Earth, Extraplanar) If you want to play a stonechild at 1st level, you can use the stonechild monster class. To use the monster class, generate your character with the racial traits given below (rather than the normal stonechild racial traits presented above), and then take levels in the stonechild monster class as you would levels of other classes. For more information on monster classes, see the Monster Classes section at the beginning of this chapter or Savage Species. Stonechildren sacrifice a few Hit Dice (and therefore base attack bonus, feat, and skill point accrual) in exchange for tremendous bonuses to their Strength, Constitution, and natural armor. Because of these benefits, a high-level stonechild barbarian, fighter, or ranger is a formidable foe. Dungeon Masters can also use the stonechild monster class to create less powerful stonechildren for use as lowlevel antagonists or young NPCs for their campaigns. Racial Traits • Starting Ability Score Adjustments: +2 Constitution, +2

Intelligence, –2 Charisma. Stonechildren are tough and smart, but they seem strange and alien to other races. • Medium: As Medium creatures, stonechildren have no special bonuses or penalties due to their size. • Speed: Stonechild base land speed is 30 feet. • Darkvision: Stonechildren can see in the dark out to 60 feet. • Immunity to Acid and Poison: Stonechildren take no damage and suffer no ill effects from acid or poison.

Class Skills

The stonechild’s class skills (and the key ability for each skill) are Appraise (Int), Climb (Str), Craft (stoneworking) (Int), Intimidate (Cha), Knowledge (history) (Int), Knowledge (the planes) (Int), Listen (Wis), Search (Int), Spot (Wis), and Survival (Wis). See Chapter 4 of the Player’s Handbook for skill descriptions.

Class Features

All of the following are class features of the stonechild monster class.

Weapon and Armor Profi ciency: A stonechild is profi cient with all simple and martial weapons, with light and medium armor, and with shields (except tower shields).

Magic Stone (Sp): Beginning at 3rd level, stonechildren can use a magic stone effect once per day (caster level 3rd).

At 5th level, this ability is usable twice per day, and at 6th level it is usable three times per day.

Blind-Fight: Stonechildren get Blind-Fight as a bonus feat at 4th level.

WHISPER GNOME

Whisper gnomes outwardly resemble common gnomes, but they lack the jovial nature and easy outlook on life that their more common relatives enjoy. Instead, whisper gnomes are creatures of stealth and suspicion. In profession and behavior, they range from dangerous spies to peaceful recluses. Few members of other races can match a whisper gnome’s powers of stealth, and whisper gnome scouts and rangers always stalk any creatures that come within a few miles of their hidden hillside communities. Whisper gnomes reluctantly ally themselves with common gnomes and other races when necessary. They know that they lack the physical strength and numbers to stand completely on their own.

Whisper gnome Personality: Whisper gnomes are quiet, suspicious sorts who fi nd it hard to build lasting relationships with members of other races. Although no other race is openly friendly with these reclusive individuals, no race bears them active malice either. Often, whisper gnomes share information about impending threats when allying themselves with more powerful or numerous humanoid races; in most cases, this arrangement has worked out extremely well for both sides. If the whisper gnomes’ allies fi nd themselves short of a few valuables after the gnomes have left their community, the losses are offset by the whisper gnomes’ valuable scouting and information-gathering abilities. Physical Description: Whisper gnomes are slightly taller than other gnomes, standing between 3-1/2 and 4 feet tall. Whisper gnomes are skinny, almost gaunt creatures, and rarely weigh more than 40 pounds. Their skin ranges in color from light gray to light green, although none of this variation in skin tone is noticeable without careful attention. Whisper gnomes have gray or blue eyes, but again they are rarely bright or striking in intensity. Relations: Many other humanoid races regard whisper gnomes as they would an untrustworthy cousin—they know that whisper gnomes are unlikely to do any lasting harm or steal their most precious items, but at the same time, they deserve to be watched carefully.

Dwarves in particular distrust whisper gnomes; these serious and stoic individuals let whisper gnomes into their cities only under the direst of circumstances.

Elves, humans, and half-elves generally tolerate whisper gnomes. Of all the other races, halfl ings are the most accepting of whisper gnomes, and many whisper gnomes travel for a time with halfl ing caravans.

Half-orcs and whisper gnomes get along very well. Whether because the two races are such opposites that they end up respecting the other’s strengths, or because they both often fi nd themselves outcasts from other races, they seem to enjoy each other’s company and approach to life. Halforcs with nowhere else to go occasionally settle in a whisper gnome community.

Alignment: Most whisper gnomes are neutral or neutral good. Whisper gnomes favor personal freedom and choice, but at the same time they value an ordered community and respect the rights of others and—to an extent—the property of others.

Illus. by W. O’Connor

Illus. by S. Roller

Whisper Gnome Lands: Whisper gnomes live in and among the communities of more common gnomes, or they form small, carefully hidden communities of their own. They favor the rolling hills and light woods that other gnomes enjoy, and like their distant cousins, they live underground. Whisper gnomes who want a more active lifestyle settle in human lands and fi nd work as spies, emissaries, or as simple thieves.

Religion: Whisper gnomes pay homage to Garl Glittergold, but many also venerate Olidamarra. Whisper gnomes are very open-minded about religion, and they fi nd the single-minded religious devotion of other races strange and confi ning. Most whisper gnomes believe it expedient to pay attention to whatever deity can help them the most in their current situation, and they do not see it as strange to frequently pray to different deities.

Language: Whisper gnomes speak Gnome, which uses the Dwarven alphabet. Most whisper gnomes also speak Terran, and they sometimes use that tongue as a sort of semisecret code when in the company of other races.

Names: Whisper gnomes consider names as semipermanent aliases at best, and one usually goes by a different name in each nongnome community he or she visits. When among other gnomes (of any kind), whisper gnomes usually stick to the names given to them by their parents. Whisper gnome family names are similar to, but not exactly like, the clan names of common gnomes.

Male Names: Alth, Fash, Threan.

Female Names: Bella, Freith, Geim, Mala, Nan.

Family Names: Bermin, Daergel, Falath, Shrenan.

Adventurers: Whisper gnome adventurers travel to test themselves. They seek not only to try out their powers of speed and stealth against the physical strength of larger creatures, but also to test their own moral limits. Many adventuresome whisper gnomes know that they are capable of stealing from humans and other creatures that can’t hope to compete with their powers of stealth, and they seek some rationale for why they shouldn’t take advantage of this superiority.

WHISPER GNOME RACIAL TRAITS

• +2 Dexterity, +2 Constitution, –2 Strength, –2 Charisma:

Whisper gnomes are agile and tough, but they are Small and therefore not as strong as larger humanoids. Their quiet nature also leads to a lack of personal presence. • Small: As a Small creature, a whisper gnome gains a +1 size bonus to Armor Class, a +1 size bonus on attack rolls, and a +4 size bonus on Hide checks, but he uses smaller weapons than humans use, and his lifting and carrying limits are three-quarters of those of a

Medium character. • Whisper gnome base land speed is 30 feet, despite their size. • Low-Light Vision: A whisper gnome can see twice as far as a human in starlight, moonlight, and similar conditions of poor illumination. He retains the ability to distinguish color and detail under these conditions. • Darkvision: Whisper gnomes can see in the dark out to 60 feet. Darkvision is black and white only, but it is otherwise like normal sight, and whisper gnomes can function just fi ne with no light at all. • Weapon Familiarity: Whisper gnomes treat gnome hooked hammers as martial weapons rather than exotic weapons. • +1 racial bonus on attack rolls against kobolds and goblinoids (including goblins, hobgoblins, and bugbears): Like their more common cousins, whisper gnomes battle these creatures frequently and practice special techniques for fighting them. • +4 dodge bonus to Armor Class against monsters of the giant type (such as ogres, trolls, and hill giants): This bonus represents special training that whisper gnomes undergo, during which they learn tricks that previous generations developed in their battles with giants. Any time a creature loses its Dexterity bonus (if any) to Armor Class, such as when it’s caught fl atfooted, it loses its dodge bonus, too. The Monster Manual has information on which creatures are of the giant type. • +4 racial bonus on Hide and Move Silently checks: Whisper gnomes have an uncanny knack for stealth. • +2 racial bonus on Listen and Spot checks: Whisper gnomes have keen eyes and ears. • Spell-Like Abilities: 1/day—silence (must be centered on whisper gnome’s body). A whisper gnome with a Charisma score of at least 10 also has the following spell-like abilities: 1/day—ghost sound, mage hand, message. Caster level 1st; save DC 10 + whisper gnome’s Cha modifi er + spell level. • Favored Class: Rogue. The best multiclass choices for whisper gnome rogues are fi ghter, ranger, and cleric. A fair number of whisper gnome wizards and sorcerers become arcane tricksters. • Racial Feats: The Extra Silence and Silencing Strike feats can be taken by whisper gnome characters (see Chapter 6: Character Options).