The Gnome is an odd addition. Prior to 1e AD&D, they
only appear as a monster, but in 1978 they suddenly show up as playable.
As far as I can tell, this occurred only because Gygax was tired of seeing the
other demihumans all the time and he liked Gnomes. Fair enough. Based on this
alone, they’ve remained in the PHB of every edition up to the present day
(excluding 4e, because of course it was different).
Personally, I’m not a fan of the little buggers. They’re mechanically
derivative, and (at least in base 2e) they are not the tinker/inventor-type weirdos
which makes them so unique in other media. By the book, they’re just weaker Dwarves with limited magical
ability. As
such, this should be fairly short work (that pun just showed up, I had nothing to
do with it).
