The World of Abadonya

Children of Wonder

Abadonyan scholars disagree on whether gnomes first arose in the ancient wilds of Eirlyn or among the strange magical convergences of Aurelion. Gnomes themselves rarely care enough to settle the question. To them, ancestry matters less than experience: a life is measured by discoveries made, skills mastered, stories gathered, and mysteries pursued.

In Eirlyn, gnome communities are often woven into the Eternal Woods and its hidden clearings, root-halls, and woodland roads. These gnomes cultivate ties with animals, fey, herbalists, illusionists, scouts, and keepers of old forest lore. Their magic tends to feel playful, organic, and instinctive.

In Aurelion, gnomes are frequently found near arcane enclaves, observatories, workshops, colleges, and magically unstable landmarks. Aurelion gnomes have a reputation for turning curiosity into mechanisms, theories, experiments, and devices that other folk consider ingenious, hazardous, or both.

Color, Expression, and Curiosity

Gnomes are small humanoids whose features can vary far more dramatically than those of most peoples. Hair may resemble autumn orange, spring green, deep red, violet, or other vivid hues, while skin tones can range from earthy browns and warm pinks to unusual pastel or greenish shades. Large eyes, broad smiles, tiny noses, or other exaggerated features are common and are rarely treated as unusual among gnomes themselves.

Most gnomes possess a powerful curiosity and an inclination toward intense personal interests. A gnome may devote decades to a single craft, obscure school of magic, forgotten language, species of beetle, musical instrument, architectural problem, or historical question before abruptly pursuing something new.

This restlessness helps explain why so many gnomes become adventurers. Ruins, distant regions, forbidden libraries, strange creatures, and magical anomalies offer something ordinary life cannot: something they have never seen before.

Gnome Racial Traits

Ability Score Modifiers: +2 Constitution, +2 Charisma, –2 Strength.

Type: Gnomes are Humanoid creatures with the gnome subtype.

Size: Gnomes are Small creatures. They gain a +1 size bonus to AC, a +1 size bonus on attack rolls, a –1 penalty to CMB and CMD, and a +4 size bonus on Stealth checks.

Base Speed: Gnomes have a base speed of 20 feet.

Languages: Gnomes begin play speaking Common, Gnome, and Sylvan. Gnomes with high Intelligence scores can choose Draconic, Dwarven, Elven, Giant, Goblin, and Orc as bonus languages.

Defensive Training: Gnomes gain a +4 dodge bonus to AC against monsters of the giant subtype.

Illusion Resistance: Gnomes gain a +2 racial saving throw bonus against illusion spells and effects.

Keen Senses: Gnomes receive a +2 racial bonus on Perception checks.

Obsessive: Gnomes receive a +2 racial bonus on a Craft or Profession skill of their choice.

Gnome Magic: Gnomes add +1 to the DC of saving throws against illusion spells they cast. A gnome with Charisma 11 or higher can use dancing lights, ghost sound, prestidigitation, and speak with animals once per day each. Caster level equals the gnome's character level, and the save DC is 10 + spell level + the gnome's Charisma modifier.

Hatred: Gnomes receive a +1 bonus on attack rolls against humanoids of the reptilian and goblinoid subtypes.

Weapon Familiarity: Gnomes treat any weapon with the word “gnome” in its name as a martial weapon.

Low-Light Vision: Gnomes can see twice as far as humans in conditions of dim light.

These are the standard Pathfinder 1e gnome racial traits. Abadonya's setting lore does not change these mechanics.

Those Who Ask “What Happens If?”

Aurelion's gnomes are drawn to magical theory, enchanted construction, strange celestial phenomena, unstable ley patterns, and mechanisms that blur the line between craft and spellwork. They appear throughout the region's enclaves and arcane sites as assistants, researchers, independent artificers, cartographers, alchemists, illusionists, and collectors of peculiar magical phenomena.

Their workshops are famous for containing several projects at once. A device may begin as an astrolabe, become a music box, acquire a minor illusion, and eventually serve an entirely different purpose from the one its creator first intended.

Aurelion gnomes often approach danger intellectually. A haunted ruin is a research opportunity; a magical storm is a phenomenon to chart; an unknown construct is something to disassemble only after everyone has argued about whether that is a terrible idea.

Keepers of Small Paths

Eirlyn's gnomes maintain a much older woodland identity. Their settlements are often concealed rather than fortified, tucked beneath roots, behind moss-covered stone, within living trees, or beside paths that seem to shift when strangers travel them. They are comfortable around the strange moods of the Eternal Woods and are often among the first to notice when something in the forest has changed.

Many serve as herbalists, beast-speakers, scouts, illusionists, guides, craftsmen, storytellers, or intermediaries with local fey. They tend to value clever solutions over direct confrontation and frequently use misdirection to protect their homes.

Their relationship with Eirlyn's elves is ancient and complicated, mixing friendship, rivalry, mutual defense, shared lore, and occasional exasperation. A gnome may consider an elven debate that has lasted forty years unbearably slow while an elf considers the gnome's decision to test three solutions before breakfast dangerously impulsive.

Why Leave Home?

For a gnome, adventuring rarely requires a grand tragedy. Curiosity alone can be enough. Some leave Aurelion to see whether the magical principles they studied hold true beyond the region. Others depart Eirlyn because an old forest path led somewhere it had never led before. Some seek a lost masterwork, an impossible creature, a forgotten spell, a legendary performer, or simply the next story worth telling.

Common gnome adventuring callings include alchemist, bard, druid, illusion-focused spellcaster, investigator, rogue, ranger, or any profession that rewards curiosity and specialized expertise. These are cultural tendencies rather than restrictions.

Common Homelands in Abadonya: Aurelion and Eirlyn.

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