Gnomes

[Big Mac]

Gnomes, seem really pointless to me as they come off as goofy dwarves with an engineering fetish and that's completely unlike anything from folklore.

I've always really associated that type of gnome with Dragonlance (and Spelljammer - where they are travellers from Krynn).

I think that DL gnomes worked very well, but then other campaign settings (and core D&D) said: "this is popular, lets copy it". I think that was a mistake, because it dilutes the good idea of DL, but also because this DL element doesn't necessarily fit in with the cultures of other campaign settings.

I want my demihuman groups to feel like nations, that fit into the local geography, rather than some sort of universal stereotype.

With Blackmoor having more tech than other settings, I could see someone making a case for gnomes that are similar to DL gnomes, but they shouldn't really be identical to them. I'd be wanting to focus on the differences in Dave Arneson's gnomes.