Gnome, Fire

Countless ages of toil in the deep mines of Dothion, where the walls between the Twin Paradises of Bytopia and the Elemental Plane of Fire are very thin indeed, has created a hybrid race that shares some qualities of gnome and some of fire elemental. Fire gnomes are exceptionally resistant to heat and especially vulnerable to cold, and though they share some of the same interests as their cousins the svirfneblin, fire gnomes are nowhere near as insular and paranoid.

Fire gnomes do not have the innate illusion powers of their cousins, but they are capable of impressive effects with fire. They frequently give ground, only to devise elaborate schemes and return later. And also unlike rock gnomes, fire gnomes have no compunctions about killing⁠—​especially in defense of their mines and tunnels. Adept at spotting incendiaries and explosives carried by opponents, fire gnomes are all too happy to start fires (which have no effect on them, of course) in hopes of setting off an opponent’s own supply of explosives⁠—​and thus letting the fire gnomes defeat their foes with only minimal effort.

Fire Gnome Traits (Ex): Fire gnomes have the following racial traits.

• +2 Constitution, −2 Strength.
• Small: As Small creatures, fire gnomes have a +1 bonus to Armor Class, a +1 bonus on attack rolls, and a +4 bonus on Hide checks. They use smaller weapons than Medium characters use, and their lifting and carrying limits are three-quarters of those of a Medium character.
• A fire gnome’s base land speed is 20 feet.
• Darkvision out to 60 feet.
• Stonecunning: This ability grants fire gnomes a +2 racial bonus on Search checks to notice unusual stonework. A fire gnome who merely comes within 10 feet of unusual stonework can make a Search check as though actively searching, and can use the Search skill to find stonework traps as a rogue can. A fire gnome can also intuit depth, sensing the approximate distance underground as naturally as a human can sense which way is up.
• +2 bonus to caster level when casting spells or using spell-like abilities with the fire descriptor.
• Immunity to fire and vulnerability to cold.
• +1 racial bonus on attack rolls against kobolds and goblinoids (including goblins, hobgoblins, and bugbears).
• +4 dodge bonus to Armor Class against creatures of the giant type (such as ogres, trolls, and hill giants).
• Spell-Like Abilities: 1/day⁠—​heat metal, produce flame. Caster level equals the fire gnome’s character level +2 (including the caster level bonus mentioned above).
• Automatic Languages: Common, Gnome, Ignan. Bonus Languages: Draconic, Dwarven, Elven, Giant, Goblin, Orc, Terran.
• Favored Class: Sorcerer.
• Level adjustment: +1.

The fire gnome warrior presented here had the following ability scores before racial adjustments: Str 13, Dex 11, Con 12, Int 10, Wis 9, Cha 8.

Challenge Rating: Fire gnomes with levels in NPC classes have a Challenge Rating equal to their character level. Fire gnomes with levels in PC classes have a Challenge Rating equal to their character level +1.