My youngest daughter, Charlotte, is 3’1″ tall and weighs 34 pounds, which is roughly the size of a gnome from Dungeons and Dragons 5e. This can NOT be a coincidence; if you are the height of a gnome and the weight of a gnome, then you must be a gnome.
So for this week’s Lawful Good (read: weekly free D&D 5e content curtesy of Nerds on Earth), I’ve created a gnome NPC for you to use in your D&D 5e homebrews, should you be in need of a gnome, that is. By the way, Charlotte is 4 years old, so this NPC will be 4th level.
D&D 5e NPC Gnome: Charella Mottinsleeves the Thunderous
You’ll often hear Charella Mottinsleeves before you see her. Born to two forest gnome adventurers, Charella is an accomplished wizard in her own right, focusing on elemental magic.
Although, if asked, Charella will regale you with a tale from her parent’s adventures, adventuring is not the path Charella chose for herself. Keenly observant, Charella instead seems content to spend time in her lab, surrounded by scrolls and potions, engaged in the latest experiment or project she’s attending to.
Her flaxen hair is always wild as if she just popped out of bed, and her clothing is every color imaginable. With the amount of tiny woodland creatures that are all around, it’s difficult to discern if Charella does her work in a lab, or if it’s actually a petting zoo.
But you’ll always know it’s Charella when you hear a thunderous sound, which shakes buildings, kicks up a puff of dust, and rattles nearby bottles.
Tactics
If forced into combat, Charella is inclined to use her spells primarily for defense.
For a first action she’ll usually cast mage armor and follow that with shield. Then, there will often be a scattering of woodland creatures, many of which Charella will use in varying capacities, such as viewing through their eyes or stealing small objects.
If pushed to fight offensively, Charella has devastating attacks that ignores protections against thunder damage. She’ll also use her potions and scrolls should the need arise.
In a fight Charella puts survival first. Her potion of invisibility is for just such an emergency.[/column]
Usage
- Charella could be the kindly Gnome that lives on the edge of town and is known to be a touch eccentric due to her often loud experiments.
- With her parents being adventurers, a DM could use Charella as a source of historical knowledge. (For example, a GM could establish that it was her parents who first explored a mysterious cavern or temple, and use Charella to provides hints.)
- With her proclivity for potions and scrolls, a DM could also use Charella as a sort of quartermaster for an adventure, perhaps having a unique item the PCs need to complete a quest. (If the setting is not a town town, Charella could be serve that function from a nearby forest as well.)
- Finally, a GM could use Charella as a “more than she appears” type of NPC, that if the situation arrives, could be forced into adventure.
Charella Mottinsleeves
Lawful Good Gnome NPC
Armor Class 11
Hit Points 28 (4d6 +14)
Speed 25 ft.
STR 8 (-1)
DEX 11 (+0)
CON 14 (+2)
INT 18 (+4)
WIS 12 (+1)
CHA 13 (+1)
Skills Arcana +6, History +6, Insight +3, Investigation +6
Senses Passive Perception 11
Languages Common, Gnomish
Challenge 2 (450 XP)
Gnome Cunning. Advantage on INT, WIS, or CHA saving throws against magic.
Spell Casting. Charella is a 4th level spellcaster. Her spell save DC is 14 and her spell attack bonus is +5.
Cantrips (at will): minor illusion, dancing lights, message, ray of frost, thunderclap
1st level (4 slots): expeditious retreat, find familiar, fog cloud, thunderwave, mage armor, color spray, shield
2nd Level (3 slots): shatter, mirror image, pyrotechnics
Equipment. Various scrolls and potions at the DM’s discretion and for the furthering of the adventure. Examples include: potion of healing, potion of gaseous form, potion of growth, potion of hill giant strength, potion of animal friendship, and scrolls for the spells listed above.
Tabletop Takeaways: Tips for Dungeon Masters with a Narrative Spin