First Ill say that this is just fun speculation as I have no idea of the devs gnome design, beyond the lore and look. But based on those things here are my thoughts:
I think that thier artificial bodies are like vessels for their souls. Their main body being basically a soul mass or astral in nature. Keeping that in mind that also means they shouldnt have much in the way of strength or weight capacity(if that is a thing). So plate mail and heavy weapons and shields should be out. As well as any class that would require strength as a main stat (dexterity based classes could be fine). The outer shell could have a decent amout of defense (not horrible but not that good), but would be very vulnerable to projectile attacks. Their souls mass would very strong against most magical atacks, but very weak to astral or psychic type damage (could make them a good candidate for a tank that specializes in magic mitigation?)
Classes:
Crusader and Warrior and Monk would be out.
Cleric and Dire Lord could work but they wouldnt be able to wear plate and no heavy weapon type for Dire Lord (for possible scenario of needing a max performance magic mitigation tank?) Either way Im kinda iffy about these 2. Maybe Dire Lord would be a no as well simply based on race alignment? As in Gnomes are considered a good race?. I that be the case a future magic based or mitigation tank could still be ideal.
All other magic classes (including Bard and Necro would depend on the races alignment if that is a thing) shouls work.
Rogue and Ranger being more dex or dex/int/wis should work as well.
I like most of what you've laid out here. I'm very much looking forward to how the lore of the Gnomes influences their form in-game and if that will directly impact the classes they can be. The other thing may be that they're lore has no effect on the classes they can be and the team goes with the more traditional aligment for determining class restrictions - though this seems unlikely given how very different these Gnomes are from anything we've seen previously.
The other thing to consider is where these Gnomes land on the alignment chart. It seems to me that they generally fit better in the Neutral vein, though I've seen them both good and evil elsewhere. Given what we know about their lore, these Gnomes scream Neutral.
But, but, I really really want to play a heavily clad Dire Lord Gnome :'') (Insert a dark, tragic and sinister story line here)
Heh, jokes aside, I am extremely interested to find out new race information. Do you guys believe there will be restrictions on choosing classes concerning specific races?
Sincerely,
C.
One thing I've always disliked are gnome races playing tank type classes. I can understand a rogue or mage type but never a warrior. Please, no gnome warriors.
Nice post Amsai. I bet you are in the right line of thinking with Gnomes not having much strength capacity due to their ethereal form, but I sure do hope they somehow justify the Gnome/Dire Lord for selfish reasons. Maybe their "spirit fog" is strong enough for plate and heavy weapons when it's reinforced and focused with the Maq'esh. Gnome ingenuity knows no bounds my friends. They could figure out a way. :D
What if they allows Gnome Dire Lords, but only have them be able to equip Resivore based gear? Maybe Resivore heavy armor and weapons could feel lighter due to the Gnomes' natural attunement with the material.
I loved my Gnome SK... ;(
All this assumption that DLs will be plate wearers like SKs. I see no evidence for that. I think it's much more likely that DLs will play kinda like a cross between a necro and a VG blood mage and will therefore be cloth users. I think it's pretty realistic that gnome DLs will be playable.
Bazgrim said:All this assumption that DLs will be plate wearers like SKs. I see no evidence for that. I think it's much more likely that DLs will play kinda like a cross between a necro and a VG blood mage and will therefore be cloth users.
This has been confirmed for a long time. DLs = Tank. I suppose you could be right in that they don't wear plate, though their role will most certainly be tank. So as cool as a necro/blood mage hybrid sounds, I don't think that's where the DL is going to reside. With that said, the team has said that the DL has seen some changes from the original Kickstarter description, so you never know. Light/medium armor wearing tanks are not unheard of these days.
But I digress.
Nikademis said:Bazgrim said:All this assumption that DLs will be plate wearers like SKs. I see no evidence for that. I think it's much more likely that DLs will play kinda like a cross between a necro and a VG blood mage and will therefore be cloth users.
This has been confirmed for a long time. DLs = Tank. I suppose you could be right in that they don't wear plate, though their role will most certainly be tank. So as cool as a necro/blood mage hybrid sounds, I don't think that's where the DL is going to reside. With that said, the team has said that the DL has seen some changes from the original Kickstarter description, so you never know. Light/medium armor wearing tanks are not unheard of these days.
But I digress.
Yeah I have since seen the original Kickstarter announcement which kinda killed my conspiracy theory. But as you say, it is always possible (albeit extremely unlikely) that they will significantly change their mind. As a side note, hopefully DLs dont become like similar DLs/SKs in other games where they're really good at getting aggro but as soon as they have aggro, they take hits like a chump.
P.S. I highly doubt there will be a non-plate-wearing tank.
From the 3rd and recent stream when they were decribing the Gnome, the are described as seekers of power and knowledge of the arcane. Even if that leads to death. This could be a big clue about what kind of classes they can be. Though I guess that also depends on how strictly Gnomes adhere to this philosophy. But just based on that description I would venture magic classes, and only those that would be considered arcane (spirit/life/death/divine magics would be out). It also suggests them to be Chaotic Neutral, because the only thing that would matter is their freedom to pursue power.
But assuming only magics that pursue knowledge of the arcane:
Cleric: No (divine/spiritual)
Crusader: No (Hybrid of Cleric and Warrior basically)
Warrior: Non-magic
Dire Lord: Maybe / I would consider it to be just Life/Death magic, but D&D actually does count it as an Arcane school of knowledge.
Ranger: No (Hybrid of Druid and and Archer basically)
Rogue: Maybe / I would generally classify as non-magic, but consider two things: 1) Cohn was playing as a Gnome Rogue (not official I know) and more importantly 2) Their ability to use alchemy that is built into their class skills which however limited is of the Arcane. Reaching? possibly.
Monk: No (usually uses Ki or Chi if any sort of magic which is typically mental/psychic and sometimes spiritual in nature)
Summoner: Yes (100% Arcane approved)
Enchanter: Yes (100% Arcane approved)
Wizard: Yes (100% Arcane approved)
Druid: No (divine/spiritual/and sometimes Nature magic)
Shaman: No (divine/spiritual)
Bard: Maybe / I would say its just song magic, but D&D actually does count it as an Arcane school of knowledge. Also I am Biased towards Bard, and Bards are seekers of lore and knowledge as well.
Necromancer: Maybe / I would consider it to be just Life/Death magic, but D&D actually does count it as an Arcane school of knowledge.
P.S. This is just me being bored and speculating based on the Devs emphasis on Gnomes obsession with the Arcane.
With their artificial bodies, I do not see why they could not play a tank class. Traditional Gnomes, probably not. But these with mechanical or what not bodies, yes. They could easily craft a body out of tough materials. Similar to Warforged in Eberron DnD.
They prefer magic, so maybe Dire Lord over Warriors.
Beefcake said:With their artificial bodies, I do not see why they could not play a tank class. Traditional Gnomes, probably not. But these with mechanical or what not bodies, yes. They could easily craft a body out of tough materials. Similar to Warforged in Eberron DnD.
They prefer magic, so maybe Dire Lord over Warriors.
From what we've seen, their bodies are purely ethereal (no physical substance at all) and loosely wrapped in a unique type of cloth. Not mechanical. The mask is the only part that appears to be made of metal. This is all that keeps their "bodies" or life essence from dissipating into oblivion. Although I guess it's not inconceivable that they could have some sort of special magic metal plates surrounding their ethereal bodies in place of the cloth. And as the OP said, I think Necromantic magic could be included in their obsession with the arcane. So a Dire Lord, while pretty unlikely in my mind, is technically possible.
Bazgrim said:From what we've seen, their bodies are purely ethereal (no physical substance at all) and loosely wrapped in a unique type of cloth. Not mechanical. The mask is the only part that appears to be made of metal. This is all that keeps their "bodies" or life essence from dissipating into oblivion. Although I guess it's not inconceivable that they could have some sort of special magic metal plates surrounding their ethereal bodies in place of the cloth. And as the OP said, I think Necromantic magic could be included in their obsession with the arcane. So a Dire Lord, while pretty unlikely in my mind, is technically possible.
Also, you could view the Maq'esh cloth as basically their skin. When the skin is damaged, the essence escapes, just as blood does. Then you could just have them wear armor over this 'skin'. You could definitely find lore ways to have some of them be melee types. They just figured out how to use their arcane essence in more physical ways, rather than casting spells. I could see maybe some of them striving to come as close to a physical form as possible and yearning for their old bodies. Maybe this is acceptable in their culture, or maybe they are shunned. Either way, I could definitely see it.
These pictures of a Gnome with a huge shield leads credence to your hope of Gnome Warriors.
http://pantheonmmo.com/content/forums/topic/4934
Could be a Cleric, but if they can be clerics, they should be able to be Warriors.