Svirfneblin

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If you're a newcomer to the realms of Dungeons & Dragons, you may be wondering: "wow, there's an elf subspecies for almost every frigging region, and the dwarfs are almost as bad. There's even versions down in the Underdark. But what about gnomes? Do they have kin down there?"

Well, the answer, my young rookie, is a resounding yes. There are Underdark gnomes. They're called the Svirfneblin. And they've been down there a long, LONG time...

The Svirfneblin are a species of gnomes related to the common "Rock" Gnomes, but with an incredibly pronounced fixation on gemstones. Maybe they've got dwarf in them somewhere. So, as a result, the entire race lives in well-hidden mining compounds and cities in the depths of the Underdark, where they can get at veins of precious gems far better than any surface-based miner could hope to have. Unlike their elfish and dwarven counterparts, despite being the "grey-skinned tunnel dwelling subrace", svirfneblin aren't "Usually Evil" - in fact, they're predominantly neutral in alignment, being quiet and reclusive types who just want to be left to their work and prefer to avoid any non-gnomes they might encounter. Of course, as a short list of their neighbors includes psycho demon-worshipping elves, demented dwarves who want to exterminate/enslave all other life, giant psychic catfish who want to enslave everybody, brain-sucking, body-jacking squid-men, blind cannibalistic cavemen and foul-smelling ultra-carnivorous lizard-people, this is a rather sensible attitude to take. Needless to say, in addition to being expert miners and gemsmiths, svirfneblin are well-known for their innate affinity for illusion magics that better hide them. They're not bad with earth elementalism, either.

However, despite being the only non-evil Underdark demihumans, or perhaps because of it, the svirfneblin have never really caught on. Ironically, they survive to this day perhaps only because of the prominence of the Forgotten Realms and their association with one particular drow, despite the general hatred that the drow have for the Deep Gnomes. That drow is, of course, Drizzt Do'Urden, whose second book talks about how he ultimately survived in the Underdark before making his way to the surface thanks to his befriending the inhabitants of a svirfneblin city - ironically echoing their role when introduced in the AD&D 1e modules D2 - Shrine of the Kuo-Toa and D3 - Vault of the Drow.

Thusly, although never allowed to truly hold the spotlight, svirfneblin have been present in every single edition, and playable whenever they appeared.

AD&D

Playable Svirfneblin first appeared in the 1e supplement Unearthed Arcana, before reappearing for 2e in both The Complete Book of Gnomes & Halflings and Players Option: Skills & Powers.

3e

The 3e svirfneblin appeared in now fewer than three Forgotten Realms sourcebooks; the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting, Races of Faerun and Underdark. It also got a downgraded "lesser" version, which lacked the level adjustment penalties of the true svirfneblin, in a web-expansion for Player's Guide to Faerun.

Pathfinder

Ironically, despite their long association with D&D, svirfneblin are - or at least were - legal enough for Pathfinder to use them in the Advanced Race Guide and its follow-up Inner Sea Races. However, perhaps due to the tenuous nature of that claim, those were the only books they received any attention in, and Pathfinder mostly prefers to focus on the Pech instead.

4e

Although easily missed due to only appearing in the obscure supplement Into The Unknown: The Dungeon Survival Handbook, the svirfneblin do appear in this edition and even retain most of the key elements of their original lore.

5e

With their long history, it goes without saying that svirfneblin as a gnomish subrace were a shoe-in for the Elemental Evil Player's Guide, and subsequently were reprinted in the Forgotten Realms' Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide.