Gnome 5e: The Complete Species Guide

Gnomes are small, curious, and absurdly inventive. They tinker. They build. They laugh at their own jokes. They're what you get when you mix a Dwarf's love of crafts with a Halfling's general cheer, then add an unreasonable amount of magical intuition.

Mechanically, Gnomes are Intelligence-focused casters with strong save protection and niche subrace utility.

Base Gnome Traits

Gnomes get:

• +2 Intelligence.
• Age: 40 to 500.
• Size: Small.
• Speed: 25 feet.
• Darkvision (60 feet).
• Gnome Cunning: Advantage on Int, Wis, and Cha saves against magic.
• Languages: Common + Gnomish.

Gnome Cunning is enormous. Save-or-suck spells target mental stats. Charm, fear, domination, banishment, hold person. Gnomes resist them all with advantage.

Subraces

Rock Gnome

+1 Constitution. Artificer's Lore (expertise on Int History checks about magic items, alchemical objects, or technological devices). Tinker: make clockwork devices (clockwork toy, fire starter, music box).

Best for: Wizards, Artificers (non-SRD), utility-focused casters. The tinker feature is flavor fun.

Forest Gnome

+1 Dexterity. Natural Illusionist: know Minor Illusion cantrip (Int-based). Speak with Small Beasts: communicate with small animals.

Best for: Illusionists, Wizards, Rogues (Arcane Trickster), Bards.

Gnome Cunning: Why It Matters

Advantage on Int, Wis, and Cha saves against magic. Let's count the common spells that target these:

Charisma saves: Banishment, Command, Zone of Truth, most Warlock spells, Hold Monster (at higher levels).

Wisdom saves: Hold Person, Dominate Person, Fear, Confusion, Calm Emotions, Frightful Presence, many mind-affecting spells.

Intelligence saves: Phantasmal Force, Feeblemind, and various psychic spells.

These are half the spells that end encounters. Gnomes are immune-ish to most of them.

Class Combos

Gnome + Wizard. Forest Gnome's free Minor Illusion + Rock Gnome's bonus utility. Int bonus is perfect.

Gnome + Artificer (non-SRD). Rock Gnome is thematic and mechanically aligned.

Gnome + Rogue (Arcane Trickster). Forest Gnome. Int-based magic + Dex bonus.

Gnome + Bard. Forest Gnome for Dex. Minor Illusion helps even without being your class's cantrip.

Gnome + Cleric. Not ideal (Gnomes favor Int, Clerics favor Wis), but Forest Gnome + Knowledge Domain is thematic.

Gnome in Solo Play

Gnomes are B+ to A tier solo:

Strengths:

• Gnome Cunning is a massive save defense. Solo characters are vulnerable to save-or-suck spells without party support. Gnomes resist.
• Darkvision for dungeons.
• Forest Gnome's illusion access for creative problem solving.

Weaknesses:

• Small size prevents heavy weapons (niche).
• Slow movement (25 feet).

For more, see our classes ranked for solo play.

Final Verdict

Gnome is a fantastic pick for casters and Int-based classes. Gnome Cunning alone makes it one of the best defensive species in the game.

Start a Gnome on The Endlessness, pick Wizard (School of Evocation), and enjoy being nearly immune to mental magic.

For more, see our character creation guide.