In the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, gnomes are one of the core races available for play as player characters.

[1] Some speculate that they are closely related to dwarves; however, gnomes are smaller and more tolerant of other races, nature, and magic.

[2]: 23, 31, 67 Gnomes were originally introduced to Dungeons & Dragons as a new alternative to dwarves, elves, and halflings.

[3][4] They were developed from mythology from a number of different sources, originally being a bearded, short race similar to halflings and dwarves.

The gnome's niche in play was made magical to separate it from the more warrior-like dwarf and the more rogue-like halfling.

[10] A new gnomish subrace, the deep gnome (svirfneblin), was presented as a character race in the original Unearthed Arcana (1985).

The humorous Solo Quest adventure Gnomes-100, Dragons-0 featured these gnomes in their resistance against the dragon army of Takhisis.

The deep gnome (svirfneblin) is also referenced in the Player's Handbook and is fully detailed in the 5th edition Monster Manual (2014).

In the first edition, they were portrayed as intensely curious and intellectual, keeping in theme with their spell-casting niche, with an interest in gemstones.

They are respected by elves for their communion with nature and knowledge of arcane magic, admired by halflings for their humor, and sought out by dwarves for their gemcutting skills.