Baldur's Gate : The Sword Coast Chronicles : NWN2 Persistent World

Today's question is on the subject of the master race.

How different do Svirfneblin look from other kinds of gnomes?

I know the skin tone and not having hair is two big differences. But is there anything else?

They seem to be the same size....

One website described them as "gnarled" and another that they have large eyes.

Then I started looking at images of different kinds of gnomes and depending on the artists style, both kinds of gnomes come in all shapes and sizes.

Surface gnomes can look like bearded haflings or skinny dwarves. Deep gnomes often look like gray goblins....

So what do they look like and based on that appearance- do they look very different from one another?

From Races of Faerun,

Rock Gnomes:

---

Deep Gnomes:




Main differences between the races is indeed skin tone and svirf males being completely bald and beardless.
Art on the internet can look wildly different from artist to artist, edition to edition and even setting to setting, what I link above is the description in the book of races that the server tends to follow.

Deep and Rock have same height, same weight.
But Deep are dark skinned, dark (maybe larger) eyes.
Deep gnomes overall are more wiry, gnarlier, sinewy. What does that mean- they are skinnier?

Rocks get +2 to con - could that make them more heartier more robust than Deeps?
Deeps get +2 to dex- their thin wiry frames lead them to being more agile?

Correct me if I am wrong but a Rock gnome could be imagined as a sort of cross between a halfling and a dwarf.
So I can imagine Deeps to be thinner, more wiry, dark skinned versions of the Rock Gnomes?

Tekill wrote: ↑Sun Apr 23, 2023 3:30 pm Deep gnomes overall are more wiry, gnarlier, sinewy. What does that mean- they are skinnier?

A marathon runner is what comes to mind for me, that really thin but somehow still strong form.

I think I have a good idea on how they look now - thanks!

But, this brings up a new question, or mabe a suggestion, based on the marathon runners physique perspective.

Would it not make more sense to give the more slimmer agile halfling body model to the Svifs and give the stouter fuller gnome body model to the more stout hearty Rock gnomes?

With rock gnomes having the hin bodies, they tend to look too much like and often get mistaken for, hins. This would be a mistake that would not be as likely if the Svirf had said body model instead.

Or at least give the Svirfs the option to choose either body model.

I just thought I would throw that out there.

Rock gnomes can switch between vanilla gnome/ skeleton in the nexus. (command >bodyswitch)

No idea why this never was added for svirfs.

Tekill wrote: ↑Sat Apr 22, 2023 9:46 pm One website described them as "gnarled" and another that they have large eyes.

I describe them as "Glorious" though!

I honestly prefer to see Deep gnomes as rock gnomes with darkish skin, although as said before, they are bald (males) and the details can change from edition to edition or author to author. As for their bulkiness, i would imagine anything within the presumed weight of the race.

I know what this thread is about. I know you are asking me to personally and perfectly represent gnome appearances. So I broke out my crayons and got to work under one condition: Nobody is allowed to ask me for a portrait.

I am sorry! My artistic skills are far too time consuming to do requests.

This is a masterpiece. Please do not steal it for your avatars, as it is copyrighted by me.





You are welcome.

DM Ink wrote: ↑Wed Apr 26, 2023 6:21 pm You are welcome.

Thanks!