Svirfneblin, A Primer.

[KiMastReD]

I've been struggling with my fellow Svirfneblin players. Mostly on grounds of how we act and conduct ourselves. I want to take a second to explain my position and express my understanding of what the Svirfneblin is in the hopes that it helps other people enjoy the race.

The Svirfneblin are the master race, and that's a view more than just a few Svirfneblin players share. Here's why:

Right out the gate they're born with +2 Con +2 Dex +2 Wis, Darkvision, +2 Saves Universal, and a resistance to magical effect, and +1 to AC and AB for being small. Oh and just for yuckles they can put they're ears up to stone and listen to it, actually hear the earth speaking. A baby Svirfneblin is therfore already robust, nimble and wise before it learns how to walk, which, because of their base stats they do much sooner than other races.

Battle Training Everything. Spell Focus Illusion. Stonecunning:
Every svirfneblin child is trained how to fight, how to use magic, and how to locate crafting materials. Not only are they born better, before they are adults they can all do each others jobs on a basic level. This implies Svirfneblin live in a rigid and pseudo militaristic society.

Before a Svirneblin reaches adulthood it's already a fighter, a wizard and a craftsman. Because they're born much more well rounded than any other race they can do anything they want and excel. But unlike humans with a similar gift, Svirneblin are incapable of wasting they're time on frivolous pursuits. They grow up, they fill the most needed job and they do that job until they die without complaining.

They're no nonsense, straight forward, get it done and move on people. They rarely waste time on celebration, they don't drink, they don't gamble. They live for the work and they die for the work. They are loyal to one another and only one another. They do not listen to outside voices, they except alliances only with a grudging need. They don't look to other races for help they don't seek pity or remorse or forgiveness. The mind of a Svirfneblin is a steel trap, the feet of a Svirfneblin are as light as feathers and the body of a Svirneblin is as tough as stone.

Rock gnomes are like sandstone, the Svirfneblin are like obsidian, they're mages are like diamond. Elves live to find harmony and balance but the svirfneblin is born already attuned to his surroundings. The dwarves live to grow industry and fight. The svirfneblin are born to fight for their industry. Halflings are percosious thieves and light footed warriors but the Svirneblin are a community built on single minded unity, where one Hin may tread for wealth an entire team of svirfneblin have already picked it clean. Duergar fight and drink to excess, drow backstab and manipulate their own, or other wage wars to choose campsites. Goblins cannabalise and kobolds break under stress. Only the Svirfneblin and the Svirneblin alone live where evil lives enmasse and does not succumb to it.

http://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/SRD:Gnomes ... lin_(Race)

But, I've been dealing with the newer generation of Svirfneblin players on Arelith and it's beating me up.

They're willful, disrespectful, easily manipulated, taken to listening to outsiders, covorting with evil races, lazy, aloof and a broken people.

In a svirfneblin society nobody questions the job. Once the task is identified they complete it at all costs and without variation. If a troop of drow move into their caves and the decision is made to eliminate them they eliminate them like obsidian knives. If the decision is made to lure them away, they lure them away and then collapse the cave so they can never return. They don't argue about the method or the morality they see the objective and they complete it. They do not trifle with evil, they do not play games.

If there is starvation even the miners become farmers. If there is a lack of clothes the blacksmiths pick up a needle. If there is a war even the priests pick up a shileds. If the elder says go jump off that cliff they don't argue, they jump and try to get as much air as possible because that's the job and they're going to do it better than anyone else or die trying.

Anyway.. that's basically how I play Svirneblin. I'm kind of burned out dealing with my fellow Svirfs and the politics isn't my thing. In my mind the Svirneblin village never should have become what it has. No svirfneblin under any sort of stress would have capitulated their sovereignty to any foreign agency. They would have sooner died or walked into the open mouth of a dragon than loose themselves to another culture. But, here I sit, lost. For the second month listening to Svirfs complain and gripe and then stopping me from completing my duty. The duty that they themselves have recognized but will not complete.

If a Svirfs sees a problem, it reaches out with both hands and grabs it by the throat, they strangle that problem until not only that problem is dead but all related problems are too afraid to rear their ugly heads.

They prefer peaceful resolutions by they're wise enough to know when peace has failed them. They prefer stealth but they're not afraid of gunpowder. They're Gnomes, but first and foremost their Svirneblin. Chosen by the gods to do a job no other race could have survived. Tame the underdark.

Peace.

[StompyKobold]

While I do agree that you are right in most regards as far as cannon goes, once you step on the isle of Arelith, much cannon is set aside in order to have more engagement with the player base. Such is how it is for the monster races, outcasts, and drow. Under normal circumstances these groups would not work together as they do in Arelith. And most people would rather divert from the "norm" in order to have more RP engagement, than stick to a strict sense of lore. Also, players are suppose to be outside the norm is some regards, I'm sure the NPCs of Arelith are more akin the cannon. Your rigid ideal of how to play a race is not something you can ever expect from people that are here for fun, not to just fill a role. You should feel free to RP as a strict cannon svirf, but must be open to others not wishing to do so in order to coexist and enjoy the possibilities such diversity offers.

[The GrumpyCat]

Stompy Kobold basicaly has it right here. Whilst I do appreciate a perspective on how to play Svirfneblin, this does rather stink of 'Your Doing it Wrong.'
I'd add more, but I feel Stompy Kobold has done my job for me.
Don't worry so much about how other people play their characters, concentrate on how you play your own and, through that, encourage others.

EDIT:

Only the Svirfneblin and the Svirneblin alone live where evil lives enmasse and does not succumb to it.

Whilst Svirf's are certainly unusual in the underdark races in that they can (without the use of Awards) be good aligned, they are certainly not paragons of light either. Their General alignment is Neutral, and in Arelith it is entirely possible to make an Evil Svirfneblin.

[Lorkas]

The hobbits of the Shire make for an interesting setting, but terrible, terrible protagonists or antagonists for a story. You need the exceptional individuals that do outrageous things like go on adventures in the outside world in order to have an interesting story to read.

Our PCs are those exceptional individuals among their own people, and might well do outrageous things for the sake of the story. You're right though, that they should always pay respects in some ways to the lore and make sure that they are portraying their race as something other than tiny gray humans.

[azrael_athing]

I'd be happy to read any articles you can link, But your current one falls short on delivery.

Can anyone verify if this is from any source of Lore, or if this is just KiMastReds interpretation of the Svirfneblin lore?

[Emotionaloverload]

Although it doesn't match up with all that is above I found this

http://rpg.go-ghoti.com/Races%20of%20Faerun.pdf

-S

[miesny_jez]

Well... I dare to say it is a very much personal interpretation of the existing lore of Svirfneblins.

Not long time ago I was creating the section for the Svirfneblins in Daedins homebrew guide to Underdark (just open that in Chrome, does not work in Firefox):
http://homebrewery.naturalcrit.com/share/B1ygx7Iqx#p19

I was basing that on both what I learned in Arelith itself as well on:
dnd, wikipedia and forgottenrealms wiki.

I scoured the internet in search of books/forums entries and blogs detailing Svirfneblins and their history and its EXTREMELY limited. Essentially a "forgotten" folk (as refered to gnomes) gets a new meaning when You try to find anything about Svirfs.

And truly saying what I got from the sources did present a different description of the Svirf society:
1) Democratic, (King AND Queen chosen by the conglomaration of the society or trustee elders)
2) Work-focused, (work from the moment a Svirf can until death)
3) Extremely Xenophobic (Everything is a threat)
4) Overprotective (low birth rates, hostile environment)
5) In a constant struggle to survive due to low birth rates

Some of the points KiMastReD does highlight are not true as well:
- Svirfneblin do drink - Burgundy alcohol spiced with Gem dusts
- Celebrations are called upon to regulate the workflow of the Svirfneblin society by the clergy
- Frivolous pursuits - Art is cheerished and highly welcomed in Svirfneblin societies
- Keeping Alliances - It was Svirfneblin themselves which decided to help Mithril Hall against the Drow attack, none asked them.
- Looking to other races for help - Svirfneblins (under leadership of Belwar) did ask the dwarves of Mitrhil Hall for refugee after the destruction of Blingendenstone

I think what KiMastReD presents is rather a personal interpretation, nevertheless interesting one and I would certainly be happy to see him perform that in game

[Tourmaline]

Arelith deep gnomes start in either a very evil and cosmopolitan underdark city, which would mean they're likely unusual members of their race and possibly outcasts because of it, or they're from a village that's unusually open and frequently visited by the other earthkin races. If you're having trouble with your fellow players not following stereotypes maybe keep these two things in mind?

Frankly though all you can do is play the way you think is correct and try to set an example. If you want to shame other people for doing it wrong I think it works a lot better by calling them out in character and through RP-- and maybe they'll surprise you by justifying it, if not, call them a heretic or whatever and go from there.

Those who play characters that are egregiously against their race's traits don't tend to stick around anyway.

[One Two Three Five]

Even if all that were correct, expecting people to play characters how you want them played is a one way ticket to never, ever enjoying yourself, and bringing other people down in the process. Every time.

Also, the server would be straight boring if people played the same basic racial archetypes over and over and over and over and over and

[Cuchilla]

The Arelith deep gnomes got an interesting history on Arelith, and you can still find traits in the present setting: The female tailor in the workshop speaks of times in Cordor, Permistone of Urblexis Grond. The female dwarf in the lab of the times when they found the connection between Brogendenstein and Blingstonhold. The latest is the sage NPC, starting PCs find in the Grotto.

So the present setting is a result of many adjustments during time. It would take a wall of text to go into details with it. Which is not necesary, as there are quite a few hints IG. And there should be room for new players to put their fingerprints to it. Arelith is a dynamic server with a long history, and a playground for new and exciting experiments.

Many devs and players contributed to what Blingstonhold and the Grotto is today. And tomorrow? Who knows!

[Ironfoot]

I agree with Cuchi on this matter, what change one wants must be showed by an example and see what route take the players around it. I think there is no strict canon race on arelith its all "arelith drows", "arelith elves", "arelith dwarfs", "arelith gnomes" ect...sometimes change in characters even if players want it oocly need to come by IC terms for them to be able to alter their RP, such exchange is always two way, not one way, even if its about one side defeat one must put effort to make it fun for the other party no matter does that player deserves or not, important is that we as players do everything to show such respect because of ourselves.

DMs and DEVs are open for changes based on player activity more than ever, and proof are many things made in last several years, for example Greyhammer village, Earthkin portals, Benwick Doom (ups ). But all that values only if RP effort is being made and "TO BE NICE RULE" not broken.

Hope it helps!

[cptcuddlepants]

Rigid adherance to things like "but I MUST murder those people on sight1!1!!!!1!!!!" and "I'm not going to ever interact with anyone outside of my race" might be lore-accurate, but it doesn't exactly make for fun roleplay, especially for whoever's on the receiving end of it.

As I like to think, roleplay is more fun when you try to find reasons that'll allow for continued interactions, rather than kill on sight/leave or die/ignore and walk away.

[Iceborn]

The challenge of every race:
How do I retain my culture and racial status whilst adding to the RP?

[The Guy everyone thinks is Memelord]

This shouldn't be a challenge ;/ IMHO races can themselves be pretty big in affecting RP - if 'what' you are isn't contributing to how you play your part, and you're not a human, you're probably missing out something.

This doesn't mean you should chastise people that don't know everything though! I always used to be chill with folk who didn't really know much about their race's lore. Kobolds, in particular, I know can (and did!) get really complex. Moreso than most people actually want to research for something that's supposed to be 1/4th CL cannon fodder.

Nevertheless... to the OP: I suggest you improve the struggles of your communal relations by simply talking things over with them ICly. You don't 'have' to treat everything like you're explaining stuff they don't know after all! If it's something they should know as a race, you're probably safe to say "well duh. Don't you remember how- (insert elaborate lore)?" and let them improv off of it. Have faith~ ^_^

[milosr]

I don't know about you guys, but I totally embrace our new communist overlords and acknowledge the superiority of the svirf race. And all of you who say otherwise, are too stubborn(Placeholder for a ruder expression) to admit that a black underground smurf is superior to your prancing elf paladin.

Also...we need to make...Svirf mustaches a thing...we need a svirf Stalin. Fungus mustache anyone?...Or even better, a mustache made out of tiny rubies!!!!

[Xerah]

all my Svirfneblin friends

If you have all these svirfneblin friends, why can you be the change you want to see happen? Maybe it'll be hard to get settled in, but it always is.

You do you.

[One Two Three Five]

Learn the line between 'What I want' and 'What's fun for others.' And don't try to make the former overtake the latter. If the rp is crap, and the community is stuck up (what?), maybe taking a break to decide if you actually enjoy it in these parts is in order.

[Iceborn]

While, as a long-standing kobold player, I understand these concerns, I have to point that this is simply not the right approach to the problem. Ultimately, every player is going to do whatever they feel that is best and more fitting, and only extreme cases are going to be culled with fire - for everything else, we have to be accommodating in order to allow other players the space to breeeeeath and play.

I've seen kobolds of all sort. I've played both the super traditionalist, stuck up, stubborn kobold, I've played the cynical, apathetic kobold. I've played the pariah that went completely against society. And from all that, I've gathered that what matters in the RP is not the personality that the books say that you should have, but the reality of your situation.

Take the deep gnome example. You say that they have extremely low birth ratio, and they are consequentially extremely protective. This is a reality; there are, for both IC and OOC reasons, very few deep gnomes, and it can be interpreted in many ways, not simply as a protective desire, and even if it's a protective desire, it itself can be expressed in many narrative forms.

If you want people to adjust more to your vision of the lore, you take that as a chance to RP it. You take what you find a mistake and turn it into an opportunity. You give people other things to do, you make a plot out of what you want.

And some people simply won't play along. Just as I've seen the kobold that says "No, I really don't want anything to do with you" and made me foam by the mouth and wonder "THEN WHY MAKE A KOBOLD?!", you will find both characters that represent some degree of the cultures that they belong, and players that want to do their own thing regardless of the lore.
And in my experience, only those in the former group will be interested in making some worthwhile racial RP.