As I was tooling down the road on my motorcycle yesterday, my mind naturally turned to the question of special abilities for gnomes. (What, this doesn't happen to you guys?) Anyway, in a fit of inspiration, I thought of this:Solomoriah wrote:Actually, purple, the previous release of the Gnome supplement had a note in it about needing something extra; I removed it after years passed with no comments.
Also please note, their save bonuses are not exactly the same as Dwarves. They do not have a Dwarf's racial bonuses against magic. You can't have it both ways: Naturally resistant to magic, and able to use magic. IMO, of course.
Gnomes are naturally very observant; being smaller than most other races has made them cautious and aware of their surroundings. As a consequence, a gnome has a 10% chance to detect an invisible or hidden creature within a 30' radius. This ability does not transfer to inanimate objects; secret doors, invisible chests, and the like present the same problems to a gnome as to anyone. But a thief hiding in shadows, an invisible sprite, or a character wearing an elven cloak may all be detected in this way. The GM should make this roll, though of course a smart player might occasionally remind the GM of this gnomish ability from time to time.
A gnome who has detected a hidden thief can see him or her dimly; truly invisible creatures are sensed by their breathing, by the way echoes change in their vicinity, and so on. When fighting an invisible opponent, a gnome who has successfully detected the invisible creature suffers only a -2 penalty on the attack roll, rather than the usual -4 penalty as given on page 52 of the Core Rules. Naturally, if the roll fails, the gnome suffers the usual penalty.