Tinker

As I mentioned the other day, the latest D&D Next playtest packet includes three new races: the half-elf, the half-orc, and the gnome. The first two are kind of bland, but the gnome is chock-full-o'-fun. (Too bad gnomes don't exist in the Druid Cycle world!) I especially like the rock gnome, who gets the super-cool Tinker ability. This feature allows the gnome to craft tiny clockwork machines, such as a marching toy soldier, a fire-starting device, or a music box. These devices are functionally similar to wizard cantrips, but with a uniquely gnomish flavor. I'm already dreaming up a gnome artificer (it may be a long while, of course, before we see this class in Next!) whose backpack is bursting with all sorts of gadgetry. My only reservation about the gnome is that neither variety (rock or forest) grants a Charisma bonus, so a gnome bard (historically a common class for this race) is sub-optimal right from the get-go.