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Anyway, my point is that gnomes are a bargain on the XP scale. More importantly, though, is the fact that they seem fun to play and they have a nice theme. I like the idea of a very "fae" race that fills the role of a sneaky trickster. These guys are definitely not built for the front line, but their equipment options make them a bit tougher than a typical magic-user.
I like gnomes in their original trickster, animal talking mode. I think gnome archetype got muddied by Dragonlance with its tinker gnomes. My main issue there is that dwarves were already had the craftsman archetype. It basically made gnomes into sillier dwarves.
I think the duergar is currently my favorite and the gnome is in second place.
It's definitely an improvement. Right now, I feel like half-elves are on the right side of generic, but what you describe tips towards lackluster.
It does seem the main reason to play elves is the roleplaying appeal of being between two-worlds. As a split between the default race (humans) and elves, you can't really make them particularly distinctive. They're elves, but quite as elfy.Thing is, with race-as-class, it's all about the archetype, and half-elf is one of the more potent ones.
I seem to remember 3E giving them some kind of diplomatic edge as a way to add distinctiveness, but that didn't work well for people that wanted to play an outsider with no place in either society.
I think the OSE approach is probably best. It doesn't provide a strong mechanical reason to take it, but its a solid class for people that want to play a half-elf for role-playing reasons.
Half-orcs are an easier class to make distinct as their is no orc class for it to get caught between. They get to be their own thing. I do like the idea of reskinning them as some kind of thug class.