Homebrew Star Gnome Species Details

Unique amongst the galactic races, the star gnomes give
the galaxy a glimpse of what can be achieved without
the crutch of magic. While fundamentally the same
as terrestrial gnomes, star gnomes evolved on a world
deep within a Dead Magic Zone; as such, they propelled
themselves to both space and to galactic significance
using technology alone, a testament to gnomish intellect
and their boundless curiosity.
Indeed, most star gnomes today tend to be skeptical
of magic and standoffish with magical races, or at worst,
hostile towards its practitioners. Few gnomes have
come to accept magic as a part of daily life, even with
generations of experience, and most prefer to continue
enhancing and refining their technology.
A World Without Magic
While by no means a new race, the gnomes of Nebellion
are one of the younger starfaring races. As their world
is isolated within a Dead Magic Zone, the gnomes came
to rely on their own ingenuity, instead of magical tricks,
to cultivate their world. With time, gnomes developed
an adept discipline founded on logical reasoning and
manipulating nonmagical forces, which they call science.
This science is the foundation of all gnomish technology,
which is wholly independent from magic and can function
without hindrance in Dead Magic Zones.
Naturally drawn to the underground, the gnomes
transformed the caves and mountains of Nebellion into
grand, glittering cities, packed with mechanical marvels of
every variety. Eventually, the great spires of the undercities
burst forth from the ground, and continued to grow
like blades of grass wrought from steel and glass; now,
there is little of Nebellion’s surface that isn’t covered by
cityscape. While Nebellion’s environment hasn't suffered
with the gnome’s expansion (freedom from reliance on
burnable fuels being an early accomplishment of gnome
tinkers), living space has become a premium. It was a
search for this resource that led to their expansion into the
stars.
The Silver Disc
Remarkably, nearly two decades before the gnomes
first launched into space, they discovered that they had
not been the first intelligent life on their homeworld.
Embedded deep below the surface of Nebellion, gnomish
explorers discovered what appeared to be a city-sized
disc made of unknown metals, filled not with scientific
marvels, but nonfunctional arcane devices. They also
discovered the burnt-out remnants of a Dark Matter.

engine, and from there proceeded to reverse-engineer
their way into the stars. Despite the fact that most of
the enchanted objects (including those which seem to
be recordings or record keepers) located on the vessel
were intact, years of testing yielded no results; no form
of gnomish power could cause them to spring to life, and
even re-introduction to magic outside the Dead Magic
Zone proved fruitless. To this day, it remains a mystery as
to who landed on Nebellion, how long ago they landed,
and how they traversed the Zone with such a vessel.
What isn't a mystery is the effect the disc’s discovery
had on gnomish society. Within fifteen years, the Traversal
Guild had managed to create a functioning, low-class
Dark Matter engine powered by fuel sources known to
them. Five years later, they perfected the new technology
and achieved spaceflight. Within fifty years, the gnomes
had breached the edges of the Zone, reached the maw
nearest to Nebellion, and discovered their place in the
‘verse. The whole of gnomish society refocused their
efforts, and in another 50 years’ time, the beginnings of
the Great Gnomish Flotilla launched from the Nebellion
shipyards, carrying seventy-five percent of their
population with it.

Star Gnome Traits

Your gnome character has certain characteristics in common with all other gnomes.

Ability Score Increase

Your Constitution score increases by 1.

Age

Gnomes mature at the same rate humans do, and most are expected to settle down into an adult life by around age 40. They can live 350 to almost 500 years.

Alignment

Gnomes are most often good. Those who tend toward law are sages, engineers, researchers, scholars, investigators, or inventors. Those who tend toward chaos are minstrels, tricksters, wanderers, or fanciful jewelers. Gnomes are good-hearted, and even the tricksters among them are more playful than vicious.

Size

Gnomes are between 3 and 4 feet tall and average about 40 pounds. Your size is Small.

Speed

Your base walking speed is 25 feet.

Darkvision

Accustomed to life underground, you have superior vision in dark and dim conditions. You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can’t discern color in darkness, only shades of gray.

Retro Technology

Whenever you make an Intelligence (Technology) check to identify old magical technology, you can add twice your proficiency bonus, instead of any proficiency bonus you normally apply.

Engineer.

You gain proficiency with
circuitry kits. Using this kit, you can spend
1 hour and 10 gp worth of materials to
construct an improvised piece of magical
technology. You can build a flashlight, a
comm set, or an igniter. The device ceases
to function after 24 hours (unless you
spend 1 hour repairing it to keep the device
functioning), or when you use your action to
dismantle it; at that time, you can reclaim the
materials used to create it. You can have one
improvised device at a time.