FifthView
Vala
I'd give my gnomes a penchant for using poisoned weapons, maybe, and distance weapons.
And why not? If they are smaller against humans, they're smaller against any other sort of large predator, and over centuries of development, a gnomish society would have developed techniques for dealing with large predators and large prey.
Of course, if they already have a flair for technology, they may have put their effort into creating it and not maintaining low-tech martial arts–which could become a problem.
In general, I'd reiterate what Devor said:
^Much of that would depend on the kind of interaction gnomes and humans have had before. If they are coming into contact for the first time within the story, then what Devor mentioned would play a larger role. But if they've been interacting for some time, then it's conceivable that gnomes would have upped their game due to the presence of humans and humans would have upped their game v. gnomes.
135 centimeters isn't an incredibly small size, either, or not so great a disadvantage as might be thought. My guess is that any single random one-on-one encounter would probably be decided by the relative training levels of the two combatants, what odd bits of equipment and weapons they possess, etc. Assuming an accidental match-up between equally trained and equipped individuals, the human would have an advantage. But I don't think the advantage would be too great, and environmental factors could minimize the advantage further.
And why not? If they are smaller against humans, they're smaller against any other sort of large predator, and over centuries of development, a gnomish society would have developed techniques for dealing with large predators and large prey.
Of course, if they already have a flair for technology, they may have put their effort into creating it and not maintaining low-tech martial arts–which could become a problem.
In general, I'd reiterate what Devor said:
A gnome would train to fight bigger foes while most humans probably wouldn't be training to fight gnomes (although some of the more experienced would). If we assume for the moment that there are a handful of fighting tactics that could give the shorter fighter the upper hand, the gnome will know them, and the human won't be prepared to defend against them.
^Much of that would depend on the kind of interaction gnomes and humans have had before. If they are coming into contact for the first time within the story, then what Devor mentioned would play a larger role. But if they've been interacting for some time, then it's conceivable that gnomes would have upped their game due to the presence of humans and humans would have upped their game v. gnomes.
135 centimeters isn't an incredibly small size, either, or not so great a disadvantage as might be thought. My guess is that any single random one-on-one encounter would probably be decided by the relative training levels of the two combatants, what odd bits of equipment and weapons they possess, etc. Assuming an accidental match-up between equally trained and equipped individuals, the human would have an advantage. But I don't think the advantage would be too great, and environmental factors could minimize the advantage further.