GNOMES

[while working hexes outside of Moor's End, play-testing the Holmentzer Wilderness Hex Generator, I realized how many gnomes live around there, and remembered, in Crackenmore, the gnomes around the glowing rock traveled from the south]

GNOMES

[Gnomes] live in air-enclosed cities on the bottom connected to the surface by tunnels. - Blackmoor, pg. 24

Gnomes are similar to dwarves, whom they resemble. They are smaller, have longer noses and beards and inhabit low-land and hill burrows rather than mountains. They favor crossbows. - Holmes, pg. 28

Gnomes have well-developed infravision, with a 90' range... Gnomes are excellent metalsmiths and miners. They love gold and gems and have been known to make bad decisions just to obtain them. They love machinery of all kinds and prefer crossbows and war hammers as weapons. Gnomes like most dwarves... war with goblins and kobolds who steal their precious gold. They usually attack kobolds on sight. - Mentzer Basic DMR, pg. 30

Currently, a gnome character can be either a fighter, magic-user, thief, paladin, or healer. A gnome may multi-class among the basic four classes if they'd like, e.g. fighter/thief, magic-user/thief, though they may not multi-class as a paladin or healer. Lastly, if they do multi-class, they will be restricted to the wearing of leather armor, and must split experience equally between each class.

Final details from AD&D Player's Handbook:

Saving Throws are identical to those of dwarves & halflings; however, as stated above, gnomes will generally have an even better saving throw vs. magic depending on their CONstitution score.


GNOMES IN FURTHERMOOR

Gnomes are sometimes spotted in the hilly lands east of Moor's End, south of Hood Hollow, west of Octopus Lake, near what is known as the Land of Horses. It is said that gnomes had great cities under the south section of the Howling Moors, but when their tunnels were infiltrated by the Fez and their Orcs, a Gnomish Offensive pushed their chaotic enemies up & out of the tunnels, into the nearby hills, setting the stage for the Last Battle, between lawful humans, elves and dwarves against the Fez. Though some gnomes returned to the great cities, many decided to burrow elsewhere about the land. They also say that the great worms are returning, making ways through the land once more. Said to have originally bored the tunnels at the edge of the moors thousands of years ago, a purple worm is generally seen by a gnome at an early age.

HOLMENTZER MAGIC-USERS

HOLMENTZER MAGIC-USERS

Humans who elect to become magic-users must not wear armor and can carry only a dagger for protection. They can, however, use almost all magical items, but not magical swords and other magical arms other than daggers. They have the advantage (shared with clerics and some elves*) of being able to work magical spells. At the start, however, they can cast only one spell and must advance a level in experience before they can learn another. Thus the magic-user starts out as an extremely weak character, but if he survives and rises in experience, he becomes increasingly powerful... Magic-users, of course, may be either... lawful or chaotic, and most of their spells remain the same. - Holmes, pg. 6

The magic-user acquires books containing the spells, the study of which allows him to memorize a spell for use. He can then throw the spell by saying the magic words and making gestures with his hands. This means that a magic-user bound and gagged cannot use his magic... A magic-user must concentrate on his spell, so he can not cast a spell and walk or run at the same time, and he certainly can not cast a spell while engaged in combat. Then, after all that, the spell may not work! - Holmes, pg. 13

To learn a spell, the magic-user must be completely rested. A good night's sleep is enough. The character then gets out the spell book and studies the spells to be used, which takes an hour or less... In more advanced games, adventures may last more than a day. In such cases, a magic-user can study spells each morning, if completely rested. A mule should be brought along on long adventures, to carry the spell book^ along with normal equipment. But beware! If the book is lost... - Mentzer Basic PM, pg. 38

Also, from Mentzer:

Magic-users never trade spells, nor do they ever allow anyone (except their teachers) to read their spell books.

Magic-users also have the following abilities, per Holmes:

SCROLL GENERATION

Scrolls are written in magic runes that fade from the page as they are read, so a scroll also can only be used once. Magic users may make a scroll of a spell they already "know" (i.e. have in their magic book) at a cost of 100 gold pieces and 1 week's work for each spell of the first level, 200 gold pieces and 2 weeks for a second level spell (if the magic-user is third level), etc.

MAGIC RESEARCH

It is also possible for a magic-user, through the expenditure of much money for research, to create new spells. The Dungeon Master must agree that the spell is appropriate to the level of the character trying to create it, the magic-user must spend 2000 gold pieces per level of spell and one week of time. He then has a 20% chance of success... [if] the spell research was successful, the magic-user writes it into his book and may use the spell...

Lastly, once more from Mentzer Basic Players Manual, pg. 38:

If a new spell is found on a scroll, it may be added to the magic-user's book - but this can only be done once for each scroll spell, and uses up the scroll in the process. If the spell is of too high a level to be cast, it cannot be put into the book... A spell on a scroll may be saved, to put into a book at a future time. [However] any magic-user can cast a spell found on a scroll as if it were memorized, regardless of the level of the spell.

For info on what spells a beginning magic-user has in his or her 1st level spell book, see HERE.

* In our game, as all PCs are high elves, they have magic abilities. Any elf can multi-class as a magic-user + another qualified class; however, an elf may also choose to be a magic-user only. In this case, they follow the spell book generation rules as a magic-user, except they use the elf spell list. Otherwise, for a multi-classed elf, the DM will let you know what spells are in your book.

^ Still trying to figure out how I want to deal with this "lugging of the spell book bit", see HERE for some thoughts (toward bottom of post), but gonna sleep on it.

HOLMENTZER THIEVES

HOLMENTZER THIEVES

Thieves are humans* with special abilities to strike a deadly blow from behind, climb sheer surfaces, hide in shadows, filch items and pick pockets, move with stealth, listen for noises behind closed doors, pick locks and remove small traps such as poisoned needles. Every thief has these abilities, but as they progress in experience they become better and better at it... Thieves are not truly good and are usually referred to as neutral... so that other members of an expedition should never completely trust them and they are quite as likely to steal from their own party as from the Dungeon Master's monsters. Thieves can wear nothing stronger than leather armor and can not carry shields. They can use all the weapons of a fighting man including magic swords and magic daggers. Thieves above the third level of experience can read magic scrolls and books and 80% of languages so that treasure maps, etc. are easy for them. - Holmes, pg. 6

* Halflings, dwarves, & elves, can also be thieves.

HOLMENTZER FIGHTING MEN

HOLMENTZER FIGHTING MEN

Any human character can be a fighting man and all halflings and dwarves are members of the fighter class, unless they opt to be thieves.* Elves are a combination of fighting man and magic-user...^ Fighting men can use any weapon and wear any kind of armor including magic weapons and magic armor. They can not do other kinds of magic, however. As they advance in experience they increase their "hit dice" and are harder to kill. After they reach the fourth level of experience they also increase their ability to get hits on an opponent... - Holmes, pg. 6

* Halflings & dwarves can choose to be paladins or healers (if they qualify), instead of a fighting man or thief.

^ An elf character may choose to be a magic-user only, not advancing as a fighting man. If they do multi-class, but not as a fighting man/magic-user, they can be thief/m-u, paladin/m-u, or healer/m-u (provided they qualify).

HOLMENTZER CLERICS

HOLMENTZER CLERICS

Clerics are humans who have dedicated themselves to one or more of the gods. Depending on the god, the cleric may be good or evil, lawful or chaotic. Clerics have their own special spells... They may... wear armor, including magic armor, and carry non-edged weapons such as the mace or the quarter staff.  No swords or bows and arrows can be employed, for the cleric is forbidden by his religion from the drawing of blood. Good clerics can often dispel the undead - skeletons, zombies and their ilk... As they advance in experience levels they gain the use of additional spells. Spells for evil clerics differ slightly from those of good clerics... Clerics have the ability to turn away the "undead," and higher level clerics can dispel them. If the cleric turns the undead away they retreat before him, will not touch him and flee from his immediate vicinity if they can. When a higher level cleric dispels an undead monster it disappears and is gone forever. - Holmes, pgs. 6 & 12

Whenever a cleric character tries to Turn undead monsters, the player will roll 2d6 and compare the total to the Turn Undead chart... If the attempt at Turning the undead is successful, the player will then ask you how many monsters are affected. - Mentzer DMR, pg. 21

Note in Cleric Experience Table that I allow 1st level clerics one 1st level spell a day.

HOLMENTZER HALFLINGS

HOLMENTZER HALFLINGS

Halflings are short, 3 feet high, little folk with several special abilities. Out-of-doors they are difficult to see, having the ability to vanish into woods or undergrowth. They are like dwarves in their resistance to magic.* Halflings are extremely accurate with missiles and fire any missile at +1. They can use all the weapons and armor of a fighting man as long as it is "cut down" to their size. - Holmes, pg. 7

Further specifics from Mentzer DMR, pg. 16:

A halfling character has special skills at hiding. This is because of the halfling's small size and ability to "freeze," or hold very still, not moving, for short periods of time. A halfling is also harder to hit when attacked by any creature larger than man-sized... [gaining] a bonus to their Armor Class.

* Holmentzer uses the Saving Throw Chart from inside the back cover of Mentzer Basic DMR, a chart by way of Cook Expert.

HALFLINGS IN FURTHERMOOR

Long ago, the largest community of halflings in Furthermoor was among the hills of Hoppling Downs, in NW Furthermoor, until the Shadow War took place nearby, in the zone now known as the Enchanted Waste. Today, the largest communities are the Halfling Ghetto within Furthermoor City & the hilly region of Duck Hill. Halflings are known for their excellence in the leisure arts, namely the brewing of beer & the growing of potent leaf.

HOLMENTZER DWARVES

HOLMENTZER DWARVES

Dwarves are about four feet tall, stocky of build and weigh 150 pounds, shoulders very broad, their skin a ruddy tan, brown or gray. They wear long beards. They are sturdy fighters and are especially resistant to magic as shown by their better saving throws against magical attack*. They have infravision and can see 60 feet in the dark. Underground, they can detect slanting passages, traps, shifting walls and new construction about one-third of the time. Dwarves can all speak the languages of gnomes, kobolds and goblins. - Holmes, pg. 6

The traps a dwarf can find are those involving large dungeon features, such as a falling ceiling, floor pit, and so forth. The traps a dwarf may discover does not refer to all traps. For example, a dwarf would have no chance at detecting a small dart trap on a chest; this could be detectable only by a thief.^ - Mentzer DMR, pg. 15

* The resistance to magic a dwarf enjoys is most beneficial using the saving throw table from the back of Mentzer DMR, i.e. Holmentzer. The Mentzer chart comes from Cook Expert.

^If a dwarf is a thief, these abilities will be in addition to their thief abilities.

DWARVES IN FURTHERMOOR

The origin of the dwarf in Wild Earth, published in Hooded Periscope #2, is mostly concerned w/ the realm of Kush, which is west of Furthermoor. In Furthermoor, dwarves come from various places, but mainly the SW, the magnificent, loud city of Moloch, or the nearby Mines of Turnip Skull. Though the dwarves have other places, unknown to non-dwarves, all over & through the mountains.