Warning: Gez here, not Aloïsius. Don't trust what the displayed user name say.
It's strange how sometimes you have a feeling of typing the same thing for the umpteenth time...
1° I'm fond of gnomes. Half my D&D characters are gnomes (that makes two). The others are a halfling and a human.
2° I ain't fond of the infamous "gnecromancer". I can't help but find it comic-relief-esque. The only evil gnome is the spriggan gnome, and this one has definitely disappeard from all present and future WotC publication (spriggans are in the Tome of Horror, ask Nightfall if, by extraordinary, you still don't know what this mean).
3° My gnomes are rather like those of Kenjib, Schmoe, Benben, and Kamikaze Midget. However, not at all like those of Tonguez. Hermaphrodite and eusocial ? No, thanks, that really don't fit my vision of them... They ain't freaky insects !
4° They are keepers of secrets, blah-blah, if illusionist is still the favored class of rock and deep gnomes, forest ones are rather druids, while a homebrewed distinct subrace are rather clerics or diviners (when specializing in wizardry, can't take illusion nor divination as opposed school). Loremaster is a very common prestige class aong gnome elders.
Forest gnomes are shy and reclusive, but also well defended if need be. The one seeking FGs will have to enter the depth of the forests, part where even feral wood elves don't dare to tread, as thorns and roots everywhere prevents the uninitiated to travel comfortably... Hundreds of "natural traps", from vinesnares to frightened skunks to muddy soil making you fall back force you to go away. If you don't, you'll notice illusion magic at work, if you're skilled in spellcraft: ageless dweomers everywhere form a web of magical wards that confuse and deceive the unwelcome intruder. Will'o'wisps lure you away, small hints warn you at the last second of the presence of dangerous vegetals (like assassin vine or what could be sumed up by "Dire Poison Ivy" (tm))... And, everywhere, always more numerous, you'll notice at the limit of your sight range the feral eyes of giant foxes, you'll hear ever-invasive growls and snarls... Your compass will lead you toward the exit, your find the path spells will be foiled as well. Finally, once you'll reach the gnome village, you won't see it, hidden by a mixture of natural camouflage, crafty hiding techniques, and secular illusion spells that are now so well integrated to the nature of the forest it no more register on a detect magic attempt.
The welcome visitor will be able to notice the entries of the burrows, hidden in hollow trees or between the roots of venerable oaks. He will notice the countless pet owls and foxes playing with children in a surprising silence. He will notice, also, the huge underground libraries, impressive herbariums, and vast potion stores. He will notice his hosts are polite and humble, and speak only to say something meaningful. He will also notice the phenomenal knowledge and erudition of the elders.
Deep gnomes are the most tinkerish ones. IMC, they frequently work with dwarves (deep, hill, and mountain ones), and sometimes with deep halflings, and although both the gnome and dwarf races produces plentiful engineers, the most innovative are usually gnomish. Also, deep gnome skills are more directed toward fine mechanical works whereas dwarves are more comfortable with heavy metal workshop. Dwarves craft excellent weapons and huge, stout, awe-inspîring mechanisms, gnomes makes wonders of precision works like clockworks and gold- or silver-smithing. If FG's domain of lore is nature, herbalism, and alchemy, DG's are minerals, (middle-age to early Renaissance level) physics, and alchemy too (alchemy is something all gnomes know).
The elusive night gnomes are the strangest of all. Seen from afar, they look like little ghosts, being pale and wearing usually only pure white clothes. Living near lake that are sacred to them, worked to be perfectly circular and surrounded by a sort of colyseum/stone circle, they exit their underground cities only for two reasons: to perform their religious rituals, performed by clerics walking on the water of the lake, while all other gnomes crowd the terraces and sing their prayers; or to wander the world in search of lore. Few people indeed, outside of the gnome race, have ever met these mystic gnomes, and they left mixed feelings in those who have. They seem at the same time helpful and sarcastic, disinterested and manipulating, aware of all secrets of the universes and knowledgeable only in boring useless fields (like history of the evolution of goblin fish-cookie recipes). You never saw if they're polite or insulting, or if they've answered sincerely your question or just made a complicated sentence totally devoid of true meaning. It is their way of screening who get lore and what lore they get, because they are persuaded that knowledge is power and that power corrupt. For these reason, they try to prevent "unenlightened races" (nearly everyone else) from accessing dangerous knowledge. They also sometimes claim to know some secrets so awful that if ever they were told to the outside world, this would cause additional wars and genocides because noone else is wise enough yet to deal with such knowledge. Beside alchemy, they are learned in magic, mythology, cosmology, religion, history, geography, legends, and all that funky stuff. They frequently pet owls and giant owls, and have a knack with nocturnal mammals and birds rather than burrowing mammals.
Finally, the rock gnomes are go-betweens. They are the ones who know how to find a night gnome sacred lake, a forest gnome hideout, or a deep gnome outpost. They are the ones who travel and make trade between their gnome brethrens and the rest of the world. They are the less shy and the most prankish of all gnomes. A good minority of them are nomadic, but seldom in caravans like halflings do, rather individually, like small wandering families of gypsies, minstrels and charlatans all-in-one.
You could note that none of these gnomes look like elves. My elves are either feral, primitive wood elves (the kind that enjoy mad revelry at campfire, sing bad poetry, sleep with nearly anything willing (and sometimes not); but also run with wolves, eat raw meat, and fight fiercely as soon as they think they're provoked); decadent, tyrannical "high elves" (self-called High Elves, of course, other elves being called "low elves", and other races being called "slave" or "cannon fodder"); or the sea-loving and sea-going, disillusioned, pacifist, truly civilized grey elves (who've finally understood that their attempts at meddling in the affair of other culture more often than not turn into a disaster because not everyone is fit for their "cooperative anarchy" political system; and thus just watch that noone threaten them, and roam the seas).
I know that in both GH and FR, it's the Grey (resp. Sun) Elves who are nearly-to-totally fascist, but I, personnally, didn't wanted a +2 Int race to be egotistical, megalomaniac, and racist... Also, I have no drows, the surface high elves fill the bill of the evil elf race.
The svirfneblins excepted, none of them looks like dwarves neither: my dwarves are the typical hardworkers (hill, mountain, deep) or total a**h**e, politically, commercially and financially silvertongued crooks who would litterally sell ice cubes to an arctic bugbear and firesand to a fire giant (the golden dwarves, or crown dwarves). Other dwarves (derros, duergars) are unheard of, I'm not sure yet if I want them.
Gnomes also don't look like halflings, who are dodgers and survivalists, with a strong oral tradition, and a certain something for tattoos (used to take note of every step in the halfling's life, of his mood, his ambitions, and so on; the skin of a halfling can be read like a book for the one who know the symbolic language used; decency and nudity are very serious issue for a halfling, for the more skin he reveals, the more "soul" he reveals at the same time). Ghostwise are primitive and somewhat close to the feral wood elves, but more sinister, deep (or stout) are somewhat like dwarves except without the stakhanovian side, lightfoot are rather like humans, while tallfellows and strongheart are not sure to have a place IMC.
Of course, gnomes are absolutely not like orcs, goblins (of all kind, including hobs, bugs, and blues), and kobolds... And about them, I could say lot of things also, 5 orc subraces, 6 goblinkin subraces, 3 kobold subraces, each with its own culture, and not always evil (or at least, monolithically so, although 3 orc subraces nearly are).
So, I do have an unique niche for gnomes... Not only that, but for 3 different flavors of gnomehood ! (I admit, however, that the svirfneblins are less unique than the other, that's why I said 3, not 4.)
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