Introduction
In Baldur’s Gate 3, gnomes are defined by being small and by their Gnome Cunning trait. Sure, they have other traits, but mechanically Gnome Cunning is the real star here.
Table of Contents
Disclaimer
RPGBOT uses a color coding scheme to rate individual character options.
- : Bad, useless options, or options which are extremely situational. Nearly never useful.
- : OK options, or useful options that only apply in rare circumstances. Useful sometimes.
- : Good options. Useful often.
- : Fantastic options, often essential to the function of your character. Useful very frequently.
RPGBOT is fan content published under Larian’s Fan Content Policy. This is not official content, and RPGBOT has no official relationship with Larian.
Gnome Traits
- : Slower than medium races. If it’s a problem, cast Longstrider.
- : Likely the best defensive
trait that you can get from your race. If you have passable saving throw
bonuses, you can be borderline immune to things that require mental saves.
There are items which replicate this benefit, but they’re all Legendary rarity and won’t be available until extremely late in the game, which should tell you how great this is.
In addition, you must select a subrace which grants additional traits.
Rock Gnome Traits
Not super exciting, but durable, effective, and Artificer’s Lore makes it easy to get setting lore and locked dialog options from the History checks which occasionally occur in the game.
- : Helpful, but actual darkness isn’t common in the game, and you can also get the Darkvision spell via Camp Casting, so this won’t be unique beyond low levels.
- : Effectively Expertise in History. This is great for History checks which very occasionally occur in the game, but they’re not super impactful. You’ll sometimes get setting lore and sometimes you will get extra dialog options, but I never found them to be especially impactful. If you want to learn the lore of the setting as you play, this is a lot of fun, but it’s not especially powerful.
Forest Gnome Traits
There is no real reason to play a forest gnome. You can replace their only selling point with a potion or a scroll purchased from the first vendor you encounter in the game, or you can craft the potions from stuff you find on the ground almost as soon as you complete the prologue.
- : Helpful, but actual darkness isn’t common in the game, and you can also get the Darkvision spell via Camp Casting, so this won’t be unique beyond low levels.
- : Really good, but also totally replaceable.
Deep Gnome Traits
Excellent for stealthy characters, but Superior Darkvision isn’t significantly better than Darkvision, and Advantage on Stealth checks won’t be consistently useful for most classes.
- : Mildly useful in some parts of the game, but encounters in darkness almost universally take place within the range of normal Darkvision. The reduced range on spells and ranged attacks compared to the tabletop rules makes this much less of an advantage (unless you use a mod to increase the ranges of things to more accurately reflect tabletop rules).
- : Excellent for characters planning to rely heavily on stealth. For other characters, it’s more valuable to abuse vision cones and avoid Stealth checks entirely if you can.
Classes
Barbarian
Gnome Cunning is a great boost to your mental defenses, which are the Barbarian’s biggest weakness. It won’t totally solve your saving throw issues, but it sure helps. Coupled with Danger Sense, you have Advantage on 4 types of saves!
None of the Gnome’s subraces are meaningfully better barbarians than other gnome subraces.
Bard
Because the majority of the games History checks are made during conversations, a rock gnome bard makes a great main character. Bards aren’t proficient in Wisdom saves, so Gnome Cunning is an immensely helpful defense.
Cleric
Gnome Cunning is great defensively, but none of the subraces offer anything specifically useful to the Cleric.
Gnome trickery clerics might look at Stone Camouflage and think “Finally, I can also have Advantage on Stealth checks!” That’s definitely true, but you can also cast Pass Without Trace, and that +10 bonus for your whole party is far more impactful. You’re probably fine without Advantage.
Druid
Gnome Cunning is great defensively, but none of the subraces offer anything specifically useful to the Druid.
Note that Gnome Cunning doesn’t apply while in Wild Shape.
Fighter
Fighters have terrible mental defenses, so Gnome Cunning is very helpful. No specific subrace is any better for the Fighter, but, if you’re building around Dexterity, you may prefer Deep Gnome.
Monk
Monks can be nearly as stealthy as rogues, but without Cunning Action, Stealth is less important in combat, and outside of combat you can rely on Enhance Ability (Dexterity) or invisibility if you seriously need to sneak around, so Monks won’t get quite as much out of Stealth as rogues do. Even so, the Deep Gnome is a great choice.
Paladin
Because the majority of the game’s History checks are made during conversations, a rock gnome paladin makes a great main character. With Gnome Cunning and Aura of Protection, you’re extremely well protected against mental effects.
Ranger
Rangers can be nearly as stealthy as Rogues, but without Cunning Action, Stealth is less important in combat, and outside of combat you can rely on Enhance Ability (Dexterity) or invisibility if you seriously need to sneak around, so Rangers won’t get quite as much out of Stealth as rogues do. Even so, the Deep Gnome is a great choice.
Rogue
A deep gnome rogue is excellent. Maybe not quite as good as a lightfoot halfling, but definitely more durable thanks to Gnome Cunning.
Sorcerer
Because the majority of the game’s History checks are made during conversations, a rock gnome sorcerer makes a great main character. Sorcerers are proficient in Constitution saves, which is huge, but their mental saves are less protected. Gnome Cunning helps close that gap.
Warlock
Because the majority of the game’s History checks are made during conversations, a rock gnome warlock makes a great main character. Gnome Cunning is great on top of the Warlock’s proficiency in Wisdom saves.
Wizard
A rock gnome wizard will basically never fail a History check, which feels nice. Gnome Cunning is great on top of the Wizard’s proficiency in Wisdom saves.
In the tabletop rules, gnomes have historically been naturally good at being illusionist wizards. That has largely gone away in the 5th edition tabletop rules, and it’s outright gone from Baldur’s Gate 3. This makes me vaguely sad, but doesn’t actually matter.
