Deep Gnome (Svirfneblin) Icon Past Life pondering

[Vooduspyce]

I was excited to see a new iconic race coming and immediately began to imagine what the icon past life for Deep Gnome (Svirfneblin) would be...

I looked over the gnome entry in the 3.5e PHB to get some ideas of the kinds of things we could expect based on the theme of the race. I also looked at Deep Gnome as a player race on D&D wiki and I pasted the entry below.

What I hope will happen is that we get an IPL with universal appeal, like the MRR bonus from Warlock. What I hope we don't get is an IPL with narrow focus, like the druid past life. With that in mind, please don't make the IPL give +1 to illusion spells!! Toooooo narrow.

Just some speculation...

• Unlocks a special cannith crafting ability per IPL
• Gives a SLA for each IPL like Blur, etc. Possibly tiered like "Lesser" Dusk for 1st IPL then Dusk then Blur for 3rd IPL
• +2 to save vs. illusion spells per IPL
• +3 stacking SR per IPL

other speculation???

Also called deep gnomes, svirfneblin are said to dwell in great cities deep underground.
A svirfneblin has wiry, rock-colored skin usually medium brown to brownish gray. Only males are bald; females have stringy gray hair. The average svirfneblin lifespan is 250 years.

• +2 Dexterity, +2 Wisdom, –2 Strength, –4 Charisma.
• Humanoid (Gnome)
• Small: As a Small creature, a svirfneblin 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.
• Svirfneblin base land speed is 20 feet.
• Stonecunning: This ability grants deep gnomes a +2 racial bonus on Search checks to notice unusual stonework. A deep 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 svirfneblin can also intuit depth, sensing the approximate distance underground as naturally as a human can sense which way is up.
• Darkvision out to 120 feet.
• Low-Light Vision: A svirfneblin can see twice as far as a human in starlight, moonlight, torchlight, and similar conditions of poor illumination. He retains the ability to distinguish color and detail under these conditions.
• Spell resistance equal to 11 + class levels.
• Weapon Familiarity: Svirfneblin may treat gnome hooked hammers as martial weapons rather than exotic weapons.
• Nondetection (Su): A svirfneblin has a continuous nondetection ability as the spell (caster level equal to class levels).
• +2 racial bonus on all saving throws.
• Add +1 to the Difficulty Class for all saving throws against illusion spells cast by svirfneblin. This adjustment stacks with those from similar effects.
• +1 racial bonus on attack rolls against kobolds and goblinoids.
• +4 dodge bonus to Armor Class against all creatures. Any time a creature loses its Dexterity bonus (if any) to Armor Class, such as when it’s caught flat-footed, it loses its dodge bonus, too.
• +2 racial bonus on Listen checks.
• +2 racial bonus on Craft (alchemy) checks.
• +2 racial bonus on Hide checks, which improves to +4 underground.
• Automatic Languages: Undercommon, Gnome, Common. Bonus Languages: Dwarven, Elven, Giant, Goblin, Orc, Terran.
• Spell-Like Abilities: 1/day—blindness/deafness, blur, disguise self. Caster level equals the svirfneblin’s class levels. The save DC is Charisma-based and include a +4 racial modifier.
• Favored Class: Rogue. A multiclass svirfneblin’s rogue class does not count when determining whether he takes an experience point penalty.
• Level Adjustment: +3

[ValariusK]

You know, LA +3??!!
They're so not worth that, especially in the lower levels. Hopefully what Turbine gives them will be better than their official package. Just their stat adjustments, for instance, are pretty wretched. What can they bring to the table that a halfling or a drow, for instance, does not?

[QuantumFX]

I would be prepared to be underwhelmed by the PL feat. It’s probably +1 Illusion school DCs.

[Rog]

I was excited to see a new iconic race coming and immediately began to imagine what the icon past life for Deep Gnome (Svirfneblin) would be...

I looked over the gnome entry in the 3.5e PHB to get some ideas of the kinds of things we could expect based on the theme of the race. I also looked at Deep Gnome as a player race on D&D wiki and I pasted the entry below.

What I hope will happen is that we get an IPL with universal appeal, like the MRR bonus from Warlock. What I hope we don't get is an IPL with narrow focus, like the druid past life. With that in mind, please don't make the IPL give +1 to illusion spells!! Toooooo narrow.

Just some speculation...

• Unlocks a special cannith crafting ability per IPL
• Gives a SLA for each IPL like Blur, etc. Possibly tiered like "Lesser" Dusk for 1st IPL then Dusk then Blur for 3rd IPL
• +2 to save vs. illusion spells per IPL
• +3 stacking SR per IPL

other speculation???

Also called deep gnomes, svirfneblin are said to dwell in great cities deep underground.
A svirfneblin has wiry, rock-colored skin usually medium brown to brownish gray. Only males are bald; females have stringy gray hair. The average svirfneblin lifespan is 250 years.

• +2 Dexterity, +2 Wisdom, –2 Strength, –4 Charisma.
• Humanoid (Gnome)
• Small: As a Small creature, a svirfneblin 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.
• Svirfneblin base land speed is 20 feet.
• Stonecunning: This ability grants deep gnomes a +2 racial bonus on Search checks to notice unusual stonework. A deep 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 svirfneblin can also intuit depth, sensing the approximate distance underground as naturally as a human can sense which way is up.
• Darkvision out to 120 feet.
• Low-Light Vision: A svirfneblin can see twice as far as a human in starlight, moonlight, torchlight, and similar conditions of poor illumination. He retains the ability to distinguish color and detail under these conditions.
• Spell resistance equal to 11 + class levels.
• Weapon Familiarity: Svirfneblin may treat gnome hooked hammers as martial weapons rather than exotic weapons.
• Nondetection (Su): A svirfneblin has a continuous nondetection ability as the spell (caster level equal to class levels).
• +2 racial bonus on all saving throws.
• Add +1 to the Difficulty Class for all saving throws against illusion spells cast by svirfneblin. This adjustment stacks with those from similar effects.
• +1 racial bonus on attack rolls against kobolds and goblinoids.
• +4 dodge bonus to Armor Class against all creatures. Any time a creature loses its Dexterity bonus (if any) to Armor Class, such as when it’s caught flat-footed, it loses its dodge bonus, too.
• +2 racial bonus on Listen checks.
• +2 racial bonus on Craft (alchemy) checks.
• +2 racial bonus on Hide checks, which improves to +4 underground.
• Automatic Languages: Undercommon, Gnome, Common. Bonus Languages: Dwarven, Elven, Giant, Goblin, Orc, Terran.
• Spell-Like Abilities: 1/day—blindness/deafness, blur, disguise self. Caster level equals the svirfneblin’s class levels. The save DC is Charisma-based and include a +4 racial modifier.
• Favored Class: Rogue. A multiclass svirfneblin’s rogue class does not count when determining whether he takes an experience point penalty.
• Level Adjustment: +3

+2wis I am getting ready to I.T.R. What I would love to see is their village you have to find in the UnderDark with quest. its asking to much. maybe with special thing they can only do. since you found them and made them happy.

[UurlockYgmeov]

+3 MRR per past life (up to normal x3).

this ties into the underdark theme WoTC did last year.

[eris2323]

I would be prepared to be underwhelmed by the PL feat. It’s probably +1 Illusion school DCs.

If this were the case, I'd probably end up doing 3 lives solely to get my phantasmal killer a little higher... My DC caster can use all the help it can get....

[kuzka111]

imo 3 mrr per life up to total 9 or atleast 5 spell resistance per life up to total 15 any other will be just c...

[gravisrs]

Passive part should be universal to be attractive for any build.

+1 Illusion DC ? I think most of ppl will skip that. Sorc past lives adds +1 Evo (more universal) and still some mana pool to be attractive for others.
Unless it's active part - then fine.

But MRR/SR (passive part) might be handy for everyone.

Active part might be - according to lore something specific for deep gnomes:
- they can blind other beings, obscure their own presence, or shapeshift - +2% stacking concealment bonus ?
- they also have a great deal of resistance to magic of any kind - MRR/SR might be that passive part?
- (...) and can go undetected as if they were using the nondetection spell - hide/move silently bonus?