Gnome paladins chuckle at the stereotype of paladins as self-righteous, honour- bound, humourless sticks-in-the-mud, especially when someone thinks it applies to them.
Racial Influence: The gnome mindset blends creativity and whimsy with practicality. Many gnomes become philosophers, artists, inventors or alchemists. Their fun-loving natures and knack for illusion also make them natural tricksters and pranksters. Gnomes dream big and patiently work towards their ambitions in small, concrete steps.
Ethos: The fun-loving nature of gnomes often manifests in their paladins as a desire to bring joy and hope to others. Like all paladins, they oppose evil and strive to eliminate it. However, they place more importance on bringing good into the world. A gnome paladin’s racial inclination toward illusion and trickery often conflicts with her need to act with honour. Many gnome paladins resolve this conflict by speaking the truth at all times and only use their spell-like abilities to entertain or to play harmless tricks. Some have mastered the art of allowing an enemy to reach an incorrect conclusion without telling a single lie.
Roleplaying Tips: Gnome paladins maintain a positive and optimistic outlook, even when the forces of evil seem overwhelmingly strong. They believe evil triumphs whenever someone gives in to depression and despair. Thus, a gnome paladin looks for practical ways to brighten the day of everyone she meets. She might tell a joke to someone who looks sad, share her lunch with a hungry beggar or climb a tree to rescue a child’s kitten. In addition, every gnome paladin dreams of making some significant, positive contribution to the world, such as setting up an orphanage, a hospital for the poor or even a workshop to make toys for impoverished children, Some jokingly refer to their ambitions as their “Life Quests”. A gnome paladin sees her Life Quest as more of a hobby than an obsession. She easily sets it aside when more important matters demand her attention.
Skill Choices: Some gnome paladins take ranks in Perform (Comedy) to help them bring laughter to people. Some also take ranks in Craft (Alchemy) to capitalize on their racial talent in this area. A gnome paladin’s Life Quest might also influence her skill choices. For example, a gnome who plans to set up a hospital might take ranks in Heal.
Feat Choices: Gnome paladins — who often use alchemical weapons and crossbows in combat in order to offset their relatively low Strength scores — should select ranged attack feats such as Far Shot, Mounted Archery, Point-Blank Shot and Precise Shot. Gnome paladins also frequently take feats from the Mounted Combat feat tree.
Equipment: Gnome paladins favour alchemical weapons, especially if they have enough ranks in Craft (Alchemy) to make them cheaply. Many also carry a reach weapon, usually a lance, in case they encounter a giant or some other big creature.
Special Mount: Due to their connection with burrowing creatures, many gnome paladins call for a dire badger special mount when possible. Other gnome paladin mounts might include the black bear, boar, dire eagle, dire toad, dire weasel and wolverine.
Combat Tips: Durable combatants and hard to hit because of their Small size, gnome paladins do well in the front lines, keeping enemies occupied in melee and away from allied archers and spellcasters. In particular, they ought to draw as many attacks as possible when fighting giants because of their Armour Class bonus against such creatures. When mounted, they favour hit-and-run tactics with alchemical weapons and combining a charge with smiting evil.
Tweaking the Rules: You might make the following changes to a gnome paladin’s class features to emphasize her racial characteristics:
Class Skills: Replace Knowledge (Nobility and Royalty) with Perform (Comedy).
Special Mount (Sp): A 5th-level gnome paladin may summon a dire badger as a special mount. It gains special abilities at the same rate as a standard special mount.
Source: Dragon Magazine #329 (Page 94)