# Gnome (monster class)
Gnomes are a class of monsters that appear in large numbers in the Gnomish Mines. They are humanoids that are slower than the player, and are peaceful to gnomish and dwarven characters. Nevertheless, they are a frequent cause of death for incautious adventurers.

Contents

1 Monsters

1.1 Gnome
1.2 Gnome lord
1.3 Gnomish wizard
1.4 Gnome king

2 Generation
3 Strategy
4 Variants

4.1 SLASH'EM
4.2 dNetHack
4.3 GruntHack

5 Encyclopedia entry
6 References

Monsters
Gnome
A normal gnome is slow and weak, but can use weapons and wands. 

G gnome 

Difficulty

3

Attacks

Weapon 1d6

G gnome 

Difficulty

3

Attacks

Weapon 1d6

Base level

1

Base experience

13

Speed

6

Base AC

10

Base MR

4

Alignment

0 (neutral)

Frequency (by normal means)

1 (Very rare)

Genocidable

Yes

Weight

650

Nutritional value

100

Size

Small

Resistances

None

Resistances conveyed

None

A gnome:

 has a head, a couple of arms, and a torso.

 is omnivorous.

 is not a valid polymorphable form.

 is a gnome.

 can pick up weapons and food.

 has infravision.
 can be seen through infravision.

 normally appears in small groups.

Reference

monst.c#line1450

Gnome lord

G gnome lord 

Difficulty

4

Attacks

Weapon 1d8

G gnome lord 

Difficulty

4

Attacks

Weapon 1d8

Base level

3

Base experience

33

Speed

8

Base AC

10

Base MR

4

Alignment

0 (neutral)

Frequency (by normal means)

2 (Quite rare)

Genocidable

Yes

Weight

700

Nutritional value

120

Size

Small

Resistances

None

Resistances conveyed

None

A gnome lord:

 has a head, a couple of arms, and a torso.

 is omnivorous.

 is a gnome.

 is a lord to its kind.

 is male.

 can pick up weapons and food.

 has infravision.
 can be seen through infravision.

Reference

monst.c#line1457

Gnomish wizard

G gnomish wizard 

Difficulty

5

Attacks

Spell-casting

G gnomish wizard 

Difficulty

5

Attacks

Spell-casting

Base level

3

Base experience

38

Speed

10

Base AC

4

Base MR

10

Alignment

0 (neutral)

Frequency (by normal means)

1 (Very rare)

Genocidable

Yes

Weight

700

Nutritional value

120

Size

Small

Resistances

None

Resistances conveyed

None

A gnomish wizard:

 has a head, a couple of arms, and a torso.

 is omnivorous.

 is a gnome.

 can pick up magical items.

 has infravision.
 can be seen through infravision.

Reference

monst.c#line1464

A gnomish wizard is a gnome dressed up as a wizard. Most of the time, its spell attempts will fail, so they can easily be hit or killed by any other means. When the spells succeed, however, you can suffer stunning or a splitting headache; stunning is especially problematic against groups of gnomes, or in Minetown where carelessness may cause you to attack a watchman or shopkeeper.

Gnome king

G gnome king 

Difficulty

6

Attacks

Weapon 2d6

G gnome king 

Difficulty

6

Attacks

Weapon 2d6

Base level

5

Base experience

61

Speed

10

Base AC

10

Base MR

20

Alignment

0 (neutral)

Frequency (by normal means)

1 (Very rare)

Genocidable

Yes

Weight

750

Nutritional value

150

Size

Small

Resistances

None

Resistances conveyed

None

A gnome king:

 has a head, a couple of arms, and a torso.

 is omnivorous.

 is a gnome.

 is an overlord to its kind.

 is male.

 can pick up weapons and food.

 has infravision.
 can be seen through infravision.

Reference

monst.c#line1471

As overlords to their kind, gnome kings that generate with weapons and/or armor are guaranteed to have their equipment's enchantment set to at least +1 and +0, respectively.
A gnome king is said to have a wine cellar, located in the basement of the Gnomish Mines.

Generation
Gnomes other than gnomish wizards are generated with one of the following: 3–14 darts, a crossbow and 3–14 bolts, a bow and 3–14 arrows, 3–5 daggers, an aklys, or nothing. The probability of getting nothing is 36% for a gnome king, 50% for a gnome lord, and 64% for an ordinary gnome.
Gnomes have a chance of getting a single candle: 1⁄20 if in the Gnomish Mines when the level was generated, and 1⁄60 otherwise. The candle will be tallow 3⁄4 of the time, or wax otherwise. If generated on a dark level, the candle will be lit.[1]
With the exception of Minetown, each floor of the Gnomish Mines will generate seven gnomes and one gnome lord, along with two random ​G. Minetown will generate varying amounts and types of gnomes based on which version is generated, with the exception of Orcish Town; Bazaar Town guarantees a gnome king in the northeastern room opposite the tool shop's designated location. Two variants of Mines' End, the Gnome King's Wine Cellar and the Mimic of the Mines, also guarantee a gnome king. If the player is a dwarf or gnome, two-thirds of the dwarves and gnomes generated this way are replaced with random monsters.
All types of gnome may be generated in throne rooms, with a gnome king eligible for generation on the throne.

Strategy
In general, gnomes are not usually considered to be a big threat, especially on their own. However, large groups and the stronger versions can pose a challenge, particularly to a low-level adventurer taking on the Mines early.
Gnomes can pick up and use wands; in rare cases this can lead to the infamous Gnome With the Wand of Death long before a player is prepared to deal with such a threat.

Variants
SLASH'EM
SLASH'EM features more gnome variants:

G&nbsp;gnome warrior
G&nbsp;gnome thief
G&nbsp;deep gnome
G&nbsp;Ruggo the Gnome King
dNetHack

G gnome lady File:Gnome lady.png

Difficulty

5

Attacks

Weapon 1d1 physical, Weapon 1d1 physical

G gnome lady File:Gnome lady.png

Difficulty

5

Attacks

Weapon 1d1 physical, Weapon 1d1 physical

Base level

3

Base experience

38

Speed

8

Base AC

10

Base MR

4

Alignment

0 (neutral)

Frequency (by normal means)

1 (Very rare)

Genocidable

Yes

Weight

700

Nutritional value

120

Size

small

Resistances

sleep, poison, petrification, level drain, disease

Resistances conveyed

poison

A gnome lady:

 has a head, a couple of arms, and a torso.

 is omnivorous.

 is not a valid polymorphable form.

 is a gnome.

 is a lord to its kind.

 is female.

 can pick up weapons and food.

 has infravision.
 can be seen through infravision.

 cannot be tamed.

G gnome queen File:Gnome queen.png

Difficulty

7

Attacks

Weapon 1d3 physical, Weapon 1d3 physical

G gnome queen File:Gnome queen.png

Difficulty

7

Attacks

Weapon 1d3 physical, Weapon 1d3 physical

Base level

5

Base experience

66

Speed

10

Base AC

10

Base MR

20

Alignment

0 (neutral)

Frequency (by normal means)

0 (Not randomly generated)

Genocidable

Yes

Weight

750

Nutritional value

150

Size

small

Resistances

sleep, poison, petrification, level drain, disease

Resistances conveyed

poison

A gnome queen:

 has a head, a couple of arms, and a torso.

 is omnivorous.

 is not a valid polymorphable form.

 is a gnome.

 is an overlord to its kind.

 is female.

 can pick up weapons and food.

 has infravision.
 can be seen through infravision.

 cannot be tamed.

dNetHack has separate growth chains for male and female monsters. Female gnomes will grow up into gnome ladies and gnome queens, instead of female gnome lords and gnome kings.

GruntHack
In GruntHack, lords and ladies are racial monsters that replace gnome lords and other similar monsters; kings and queens serve the same purpose for gnome kings, including generation on a throne in throne rooms.

Encyclopedia entry

...  And then a gnome came by, carrying a bundle, an old fellow three times as large as an imp and wearing clothes of a sort, especially a hat.  And he was clearly just as frightened as the imps though he could not go so fast.  Ramon Alonzo saw that there must be some great trouble that was vexing magical things; and, since gnomes speak the language of men, and will answer if spoken to gently, he raised his hat, and asked of the gnome his name.  The gnome did not stop his hasty shuffle a moment as he answered 'Alaraba' and grabbed the rim of his hat but forgot to doff it.
'What is the trouble, Alaraba?'  said Ramon Alonzo.
'White magic.  Run!'  said the gnome ..
&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;[ The Charwoman's Shadow, by Lord Dunsany ]
&nbsp;
"Muggles have garden gnomes, too, you know," Harry told Ron as they crossed the lawn.
"Yeah, I've seen those things they think are gnomes," said Ron, bent double with his head in a peony bush, "like fat little Santa Clauses with fishing rods..."
There was a violent scuffling noise, the peony bush shuddered, and Ron straightened up.  "This is a gnome," he said grimly.
"Geroff me! Gerroff me!" squealed the gnome.
It was certainly nothing like Santa Claus.  It was small and leathery looking, with a large, knobby, bald head exactly like a potato.  Ron held it at arm's length as it kicked out at him with its horny little feet; he grasped it around the ankles and turned it upside down.

[ Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, by J. K. Rowling ] 

References

↑ src/makemon.c in NetHack 3.6.0, line 701

This page may need to be updated for the current version of NetHack.
It may contain text specific to NetHack 3.6.4. Information on this page may be out of date.
Editors: After reviewing this page and making necessary edits, please change the {{nethack-364}} tag to the current version's tag or {{noversion}} as appropriate.