While not strictly an answer to the question, my personal preference about demi-humans on an Earth-like world is to simply make them fae - weird beings rather unusual to be seen anywhere near human settlements. This means that simply being an elf (or a halfling) can end with being burned at the stake by a rather inflamed mob of villagers.
Some specifics...
Elf: They are obviously faerie. The Sidhe / Tuatha de Danann archetype. Mound folk. Fair ones. I personally dislike "all-knowing illuminati" elves. I'd stick with faerie folklore, affinity with the seasons and phases of the moon, sexuality and sadism, walking around naked, messing with humans, you got it. Give them magical cantrips related to the season (like making flowers bloom in the spring, a small amount of water freeze in the winter, etc.)
Halfling: While I understand the role Tolkien invented them for, I never thought it meshed well with anything beside, well, Tolkien. But hey. If elves are "mound folk", then halflings are doubly so. If elves are faerie nobles, they are faerie commoners. The wee people. Like stealing stuff from humans, playing pranks, and having lots of gold and food around. Super material, and quite petty. Tend to prefer green clothes and fancy hats.
I'd also replace Bushcraft with Sleight of Hand as their Skill. (This goes for Tolkien halflings and Hickman kenders too. Bilbo was quite a natural burglar, but a real crappy woodsman.)
Dwarf: A lot less Tolkien and a lot more Wagner. Schwarzalben. Nibelungen. Not so much wide and burly as steel cable thin and ten feet of solid stone strong, crooked, shriveled, sooty and ugly. Creeping and tunneling below the skin of the Earth, mining and forging in the neverending dark. Proud and vain beyond description, but with reason. As good craftsmen as they are warriors - even the gods have to fear from them, in both aspects.
Also, faerie folk tend to have a rather bad relation to human religion. I'd make all demi-humans Chaotic, and give them all weaknesses against holy water, the sound of churchbells, and similar stuff.
Last edited by Lepus (2015-01-24 05:35:43)