Gnome
AX.GIL.06.03 - Lineage: Gnome
(Silicon Architects)
Setting Overview
"They own the Logic. What used to be ancient alchemy and rune-craft is now the operating system of every smart device on the planet. A Gnomish smartphone is a tiny captured magic circle."
Gnomes did not discover technology. They discovered that technology and magic were the same thing, systematized the insight, and built an industry on top of it before anyone else understood what had happened. The transition from arcane rune-craft to Runic-Silicon, the harmonic inscription layer embedded in every modern electronic device, happened over three generations of Gnomish engineers working in deliberate obscurity. By the time the other lineages understood what Gnomish "smart devices" actually were, the NTC had already established the global standard.
Every device that thinks, communicates, or responds to instruction runs on a Gnomish-designed logic substrate. The Internet is not a human network running on hardware. It is the Silicon Demi-Plane, a literal physical space that Gnomes can enter and navigate, with a user interface projected onto screens for those who cannot.
Biology: Compact frame, lower mass than any other IL lineage, with a nervous system adapted for sustained high-frequency cognitive processing. A Gnome running complex Technomantic operations at full output generates measurable thermal signatures from the base of their skull. Their eyes exhibit the characteristic "interface flicker", micro-rapid movement as they process overlaid AR data that others cannot see. They are not physically fragile in the sense of being delicate; they are simply optimized for a completely different threat environment than the one where melee weapons are relevant.
Economic Role: Architects and administrators of the Silicon Demi-Plane. Every "smart" device, from a consumer phone to a national defense grid, uses Gnomish Runic-Silicon as its foundational layer. The NTC maintains this standard, issues compatibility certifications, and provides the only practitioners capable of resolving true hardware-layer failures. They do not own the Internet; they are the Internet's physics.
Culture: - Technomantic Worldview: No meaningful distinction between a spell and a software program. Both are structured instruction sets designed to produce a specific output from available inputs. An Elf who describes magic as "mystical" produces the same result as a Gnome who describes software as "just engineering." - Interface Rigs: Constant connection via harness, eyewear, or neural-jack. Being disconnected from the network is to a Gnome what being blindfolded is to other lineages, not dangerous, but disorienting and uncomfortable. - Micro-Living: Hyper-efficient compact modules. Gnomish residential spaces use every cubic meter deliberately. Nothing is wasted; nothing is merely decorative. - "Solution" Addiction: Problems are bugs. Bugs have patches. A Gnome who loses a friend will genuinely suggest "have you considered neurological recalibration to reduce the impact of the absence?" They mean this kindly. - The Net is Physical: When a Gnome Plane-Walks, they are not surfing a metaphor. They navigate architecture, neon-lit logic-gate labyrinths, server-stack corridors, firewall walls they must physically find doors through. A Gnome who says "I'm going in" is going somewhere. A Human who sees code on a screen is watching a projection of that same space.
Weakness: Glass Cannon. Gnomes are never the frontline and are painfully aware of it. A Gnome's combat plan involves a crate, several drones, at least one hacked piece of environmental infrastructure, and a significant preference for this having been resolved before it became a fight. They innovate at a pace that consistently outstrips their security review process, the NTC's most persistent crisis is "Legacy Patch" scenarios, where Gnomish tech from two generations ago is still running in critical infrastructure with known vulnerabilities that no one has closed because the system is too deeply embedded to replace.
AxiomRPG Stat Block
| Feature | Detail |
|---|---|
| Health Modifier | −2 at character creation; no per-advancement modifier |
| Cultural Talent | Technical (Wit) |
| Cultural Focus | Technomantic Binding, Runic-Silicon hardware, Bound devices, magical hardware interfaces, NTC-standard systems |
| Lineage Perk | Neural Interface |
| Native Harmonic Tradition | Technomancy (Wit default, see AX.GIL.08.01) |
| ### Health Modifier: −2 at creation (IL setting rule) |
At character creation, Gnomes subtract 2 Health from the base formula (20 + Body − 2), reflecting smaller biological mass and a physiology optimized for cognitive and Technomantic output rather than physical durability. This modifier applies once, at creation only, Fortitude advancement rolls use the standard 1D6 with no lineage modifier.
IL Setting Note: The Iron Lattice Genre Catalog applies lineage Health modifiers only at character creation, not on each Fortitude advancement roll. This means a Gnome who invests in Fortitude receives the same per-die Health return as any other lineage. The creation deficit establishes the starting position; it does not compound into a structural barrier against physical development. A Gnome Hardware Exorcist who has reason to be durable can be durable, the setting's modern combat environment does not require Gnomes to be locked into a glass cannon archetype by the advancement system.
Canonical note: The Initial Pass IL document listed Gnome Health Modifier as +0. The individual Gnomes.md file is canonical, Health Modifier is −2 at creation.
Cultural Talent: Technomantic Binding
Talent: Technical (Wit) Cultural Focus: Technomantic Binding (+2D when applied to Runic-Silicon hardware, Bound devices, magical hardware interfaces, Logic-Binding, and NTC-standard systems)
All IL Gnomes receive Technical at 1D as part of their Cultural Talent grant (no Talent budget cost). The Technomantic Binding Focus is included, when the character applies Technical within the described Focus domain, they roll Wit + Technical + Focus.
What Technomantic Binding covers: - Physical assessment, repair, modification, and construction of Runic-Silicon devices at the hardware layer, not software, but the magical inscription substrate the software runs on - Identifying the harmonic signature of a Bound device, who inscribed it, what tradition was used, whether it has been tampered with - Diagnosing hardware-layer failures in NTC-standard devices (the kind of failure that shows up as "software bugs" to non-practitioners but are actually harmonic inscription errors) - Reading and writing Logic-Bindings at the physical component level, without full Plane-Walking - Interfacing physically with Gnomish-built infrastructure at the hardware level, maintenance panels, inscription access points, physical security layers
What it does not cover: Plane-Walking or network navigation (those are Technomancy Tradition Disciplines, not Technical rolls), social manipulation, physical construction, or non-Gnomish technical systems without additional Talent investment.
Relationship to Structural Integrity (Dwarf): Both Cultural Talents map to Technical (Wit) with different Focus domains. Structural Integrity focuses on physical construction; Technomantic Binding focuses on the magical hardware layer. In a Deep Vault facility where BVHI built the physical shell and NTC installed the logic security layer, both a Dwarf and a Gnome using their Cultural Talents are providing genuinely different and complementary expertise.
Lineage Perk: Neural Interface
"Going in. Cover the door."
Type: Extra-Normal (Lineage, access grant per AX.C.09.03) Activation: See below Scope: Self + network access Recovery: Per Technomancy Tradition rules (see AX.GIL.08.01)
Effect, Technomancy Access: The Neural Interface grants the character access to the Technomancy Harmonic Tradition at 1D at no Talent budget cost, per the AX.C.09.03 access mechanism. The character may improve this Tradition through normal Advancement (AX.C.13) at standard Odd Talent cost (current value × 2 XP).
Specifically, the Neural Interface enables the Plane-Walking Discipline (entering and navigating the Silicon Demi-Plane physically) as a natural capability, the character is their own hardware. Unlike other lineages who require an external Neural-Jack Focus to perform Plane-Walking without the Hardware Requirement penalty, the Gnome's Interface is biological.
Effect, Hardware Requirement Removal: All Gnome characters with the Neural Interface perk are exempt from the Hardware Requirement for all Technomancy Discipline rolls. They do not need an external device, node, or Neural-Jack Focus to access Technomancy, their own interface serves this function. The +2D Focus bonus of a separate Neural-Jack still applies if they additionally carry one.
Effect, Plane-Walking Entry: The Gnome may enter and exit Plane-Walking as a Minor Action rather than a Full Round Action. This applies only to the character's biological interface capability, not to other practitioners using external equipment.
Mechanical summary: - Technomancy Tradition at 1D (free, no budget cost) - Hardware Requirement permanently removed (biological interface) - Plane-Walking entry/exit as Minor Action (not Full Round) - Neural-Jack Focus (external device) still provides its +2D bonus if carried
Design note: The Neural Interface is a meaningful Extra-Normal access grant; it unlocks a full Harmonic Tradition. Non-Gnome characters wishing to access Technomancy must obtain it through Profession Power Access or Independent Study (AX.C.09.03). For Gnomes, it is culturally expected. A Gnome who has not activated their Interface by adulthood is considered developmentally unusual in NTC society.
Native Harmonic Tradition: Technomancy
Technomancy is the only IL Harmonic Tradition that originates from Gnomish innovation rather than biological evolution. The other lineages' Traditions developed organically over millennia; Technomancy was engineered, systematized, and then embedded so deeply into Gnomish culture that it became as natural as breathing.
This has a practical consequence: Gnomish Technomancy is the best-documented Harmonic Tradition in the world. Every Discipline has written specifications, error codes, and troubleshooting guides. Gnomish practitioners fail in predictable ways and recover efficiently. Non-Gnomish Technomancy practitioners (those who acquired access through study or Profession) operate with somewhat less native fluency, the NTC's documentation assumes a biological interface that most practitioners don't have.
Full Tradition rules: see AX.GIL.08.01, Technomancy.
The Silicon Demi-Plane: The network space that Gnomes Plane-Walk through is a literal physical location with spatial rules, threats, and architecture. See [13.x, Silicon Demi-Plane] (pending design) for encounter design, traversal rules, and in-Plane threats.
Combat Philosophy
Gnomes do not fight. They create circumstances in which fighting is unnecessary, and when those circumstances fail, they create circumstances in which someone else does the fighting while they manage the environment.
Preferred approach: drone deployment before any situation escalates to combat, a hacked environmental system at hand (suppression system, lighting control, lockdown capability), a turret or two if the budget allows. If things go wrong in a Gnome's plan, the failure mode is "we need to run while the drones buy time," not "I should move to the front."
In Plane-Walking terms, a Gnome who can hack the building's security grid before the party enters has already won most fights before they start. Their combat contribution is environmental, doors that lock at the right moment, cameras that loop, alarms that don't trigger.
Suggested Profession pairings: NTC Logic-Binder (hardware inscription and modification), Plane-Runner (Silicon Demi-Plane navigation and in-Plane combat), Hardware Exorcist (bound spirit removal and rogue Logic-Virus neutralization), Network Fixer (network access and intelligence gathering).
Role-play Notes
Interface Flicker should be occasionally noted as a visible tell, in tense social situations, the Gnome's eyes are doing something that makes other people vaguely uneasy. They are reading data overlays on the person they are speaking to. They may or may not mention this.
"Solution" Addiction is the Gnome's characteristic failure mode in social situations. They are not cold; they genuinely care about the people around them. Their expression of that care is systematized problem-solving, which reads as cold to those who expected emotional acknowledgement. The good roleplay moment is the Gnome who notices the gap between their response and what was needed and does not quite know how to bridge it.
The Net is Physical should be treated as a character perspective on the world, not just a power. A Gnome walking into a corporate lobby is simultaneously seeing the building's network topology superimposed on the physical space. They know where the security nodes are. They know which cameras are running legacy firmware. This is always on. It affects how they describe entering a space.
Quick Reference
| Health Modifier | −2 at character creation; no per-advancement modifier |
| Cultural Talent | Technical (Wit), Technomantic Binding Focus |
| Lineage Perk | Neural Interface: Technomancy access at 1D (free); Hardware Requirement removed; Plane-Walking entry/exit as Minor Action |
| Native Tradition | Technomancy (Wit default) |
| Combat Identity | Environmental control; drone warfare; never frontline; hack before fighting |
| Org Affiliation | Nexus Technomancy Collective (NTC) |
| Cultural Tell | Interface Flicker; "Solution" Addiction; Micro-Living spaces |