Whisper Gnome

*"She was quiet and grim. Dark even. Never met a gnome like her. I actually forgot she was there half the time."-Marrin Stoutman, halfling adventurer, on his fellow party memebers.*

*"You don't think gnomes have assassins. Oh my son, how foolish you are."-Kada, kobold chieftain, warning her son about the danger of underestimating the gnomes.*

*"He never looked at me twice. I liked him."-Jokk, porcine ranger, on the whisper gnome scout who guided his band around the hill-orc raiders.*

## Physical Description:

Whisper gnomes outwardly resemble tinkers, but they lack the jovial nature and easy outlook on life their more common relatives enjoy. Instead, whisper gnomes are creatures of stealth and suspicion. Whisper gnomes are slightly taller than other gnomes, standing between 3-1/2 and 4 feet tall. They 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. Their hair tends to be black, brown or grey without the exotic colors of typical tinker gnomes.

## History:

When the tinker gnomes were finally free from the shackles of the beholders and set out to find a place for themselves in newly liberated Apia, they began to have children in great numbers. Yet after this first generation of free gnomes was born, something odd was discovered. Some of the babies born did not laugh or cry as a typical gnome child did. They had more reserved skin and hair pigmentation and moved around their homes with such stealth that even their own parents could not keep track of them. The priests of Gnarl Glittergold did what they could, praying and divining in an attempt to receive an answer from their god on the reason for these strange babies but to no avail. Not even a whisper. Eventually, it was decreed that these children were a prank being played on the gnomes by their god and that they should be taken as such. Unofficially, some more scientifically minded gnomes couldn't help but speculate that these new emotionless children were the result of experimentation by mind flayers or beholders. Regardless of why, the whisper gnomes proved to be a secret weapon that saved the gnomeish people on more than one occasion. They were the spies, the scouts and, when necessary, the killers. These soft-spoken gnomes, never fully trusted by their communities or each other, were instrumental in keeping the tinker gnomes safe. The secrete lives of these gnomes are known to few outsiders, but are lovingly recorded in the records of the gnomes.

## Geography:

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 find work as spies, emissaries, or as simple thieves. No exact count of such gnomes is kept however and non-gnomes can never be sure which gnometowns hold a small company of whisper gnomes.

## Personality:

Whisper gnomes are quiet, suspicious sorts who find it difficult to build lasting relationships with members of other races. Although no other race is openly friendly with these reclusive individuals, none bear them malice. Whisper gnomes often share information about impending threats with more powerful or numerous humanoid races, this arrangement has worked out extremely well for both sides. If the whisper gnomes' new allies find themselves short of a few valuables after the gnomes have left, the losses are offset by the whisper gnomes' valuable scouting and information-gathering. They are slow to speak, raise their voice, or draw attention to themselves, preferring to slip into the back of any crowd or situation. Few display any outward emotions of any kind, keeping their opinions, thoughts and feelings, closely guarded.

## Society:

Whisper gnomes are almost exclusively individuals or small communities, without major towns of their own. As a result, each whisper gnome decides for himself how to best provide for himself and any family. Those who live in gnometowns follow those laws and their governing structures, all the better to not draw attention to themselves. This policy follows the whisper gnome to any community he or she is part of; they play by the rules, as long as everyone else is watching. When it comes to settling debate or disagreement between two whisper gnomes they will both discuss the issue until one relents or an arbitrator decides, usually another whisper gnome that is respected by both parties though a non-whisper gnome may do so if necessary. Whisper gnomes have no leaders and no governments. Any family units they have are small and extremely private. Monogamy is the rule among whisper gnomes for it is rare to trust one person so utterly as to marry them, let alone two or more.

## Religion:

Whisper gnomes pay homage to Garl Glittergold, but many also venerate Ahpion and Thydtia . Whisper gnomes are very open-minded about religion, and they find the single-minded religious devotion of other races strange and confining. 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.

## 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 and - to an extent - the property of others.

## 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 watch 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, halflings are the most accepting of whisper gnomes, and many whisper gnomes travel for a time with halfling 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 often both outcasts, they seem to enjoy each other's company and approach to life. Half-orcs with nowhere else to go occasionally settle among whisper gnomes. Gnomes, while they struggle to find common ground with their whispering cousins, hold a deep love for them, along with something resembling pity. While the average tinker would never wish to become a whisper, he is eternally grateful to them for the protection they provide.

## Language:

Whisper gnomes speak gnomish and common. Their gnomish is a slight variant with harsher consonants and gruffer pronunciation though any speaker of gnomish can communicate with a whisper gnome reasonably well.

## Names:

Whisper gnomes consider names as semi-permanent aliases at best and usually go by a different name in each non-gnome 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 morality. Many adventuresome whisper gnomes know that they are capable of stealing from humans and other creatures that can't hope to compete with their mastery of stealth, and they seek some rationale for why they shouldn't take advantage of this superiority.

## Traits:

Whisper gnome traits originally appeared in Races of Stone. They are reprinted below for convenience.

+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 fine 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 flatfooted, 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 modifier + spell level.

Favored Class: Rogue. The best multiclass choices for whisper gnome rogues are fighter, 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.