I thought along the same lines for our warhammer mod. Dwarves in warhammer are very short yet shoulder broad and I think I've figured out the perfect way to do them!

The concept is simple. Instead of using the thigh bones as thighs, they make new hips for the dwarf so that, in practice, the legs start with the lower leg (which is animated as a thigh). The foot bone is used for the lower leg and foot. Same thing with the arms, the upper arms make new (broad) shoulders, while the elbow and hand joints are used for the actual arm. The spine (pelvis - abs - torso) is zig-zagged to get the shoulders in the right place I have yet to try this out in game but in max it looks awesome! I'm so happy

With a little creativity and imagination, you can create almost any humanoid creature this way! (of course you need all-new animations, but still!).