Forest gnomes were painfully shy creatures who neither felt the need nor desire to interact with other races. For the most part, forest gnomes would simply like to be ignored as they had been for millennia. Unlike deep gnomes, this came less out of a general mistrust of outsiders and more out of an extreme sense of privacy and affinity for the natural world, combined with a general ambivalence about things that were outside of their experience. Among their own kind, forest gnomes were quite friendly, if not particularly lively.

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Like deep gnomes, forest gnomes rarely left their remote homes. As a general rule, forest gnomes lacked the curiosity typical of most gnomes and would only leave their homelands under intense pressure, such as a threat that they alone could not overcome. For the most part, forest gnomes preferred to stick to what they knew—caring for the woods around them.

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Forest gnomes lived in an extreme state of primitivism, though their lives were generally comfortable and idyllic. Forest gnomes are largely hunter-gatherers, harvesting their food from wild fruits, nuts, and berries, and supplementing their diet with a little meat. Forest gnome villages were usually composed of less than a hundred members, who were often all a part of an extended family. Forest gnome homes were generally small, reclusive, and so well-hidden that a human might well walk within a few feet of a gnome home and not even realize it. Part of this was because of the unique manner in which forest gnomes constructed their homes, which were typically located within trees.

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Forest gnomes only rarely became adventurers, usually only due to some kind of serious threat to their homes or other such need that forced them to leave their reclusive hovels. Most forest gnomes were craftsmen or other kinds of experts. Those who did leave would take on a variety of different roles, unusual for their kind. The forest gnomes love of music resulted in many excellent, if somewhat shy, bards. Other forest gnomes became clerics or druids, who often played important roles in forest gnome society once they returned from adventuring. Very few forest gnomes would consider themselves proper warriors and forest gnome fighters were next to unheard of. On the other hand, many forest gnomes found themselves well-suited for the life of a rogue, given their small size and stealthy natures. Some forest gnomes also showed a propensity for the arcane arts and became, like so many of their more common kin, illusionists. Because of their historical conflict against kobolds, orcs, goblinoids, and reptilian humanoids, many had taken defensive training against these during their upbringing, something that served them well during their travels.