D&D 5E Looking for some ideas for a group of relative noobies

I'm about to start a campaign with 4 guys with only a little DnD experience. They want to all be Halflings, which I think is a fun idea.

The party will be made up of-
Ghostwise Paladin
Ghostwise Bard
Lightfoot Cleric
Lightfoot Ranger

Starting level 2 with point buy. They have not told me which subclasses they want to be.

I'm mainly looking for some fun ideas to throw at a party of Halflings both good and bad, but I also want to keep things kind of simple and straight forward for a while.

One idea I have is to poke fun of the fact that none of them can use a heavy weapon by letting them find a +3 Greataxe at early levels and sort of making it the focal point of the story for a while like maybe it draws a lot of unwanted attention, and they can't easily sell it or at least for a decent price.

Another idea was to let them find or buy some Mastiff puppies to take care of and eventually all ride on.

I've also toyed with the idea of granting them all one free feat provided they all choose the same feat. I like doing random things like this. Obviously depends on the feat too. I wouldn't let them all have Alert, but I would let them all have Mobile for example.

Since they're all likely to dump Str, I thought about giving them a hard time about encumbrance which is not normally something I pay THAT much attention to within reason.

Also, the two Ghostwise guys are looking forward to exploiting their telepathic communication with each other.

For whatever reason my first thought was to give them all a free musical instrument skill, and the Bard could be the vocalist for the "Biggest" Adventurer Rock Band of all time... kinda like Dio.

CTurbo said:

Since they're all likely to dump Str, I thought about giving them a hard time about encumbrance which is not normally something I pay THAT much attention to within reason.

Also, the two Ghostwise guys are looking forward to exploiting their telepathic communication with each other.

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I always use Encumbrance rules (so I'm biased about that), but regardless, if the whole party is likely to dump STR, then definitely keep track of encumbrance (and give them a heads-up about it when they're making characters, so they're making informed decisions)... But, with a Ranger in the group, it would be excellent if they bought an Elephant to tackle their Encumbrance issues (it is one of the animals listed in the equipment chapter of the PHB)... They could put their Rock Band stage on top of the Elephant!

I would make size and strength the main theme of the campaign. Introduce lots of situations in which size is a factor, and use enemies that are most interesting due to the size of the party. You can also play around with the role of halflings in your setting, and how non-halflings react to them.

I did joke with them about all being Bards before they came up with the Halfling idea so that's funny!

I do use the encumbrance rules. I'm just not THAT strict about it as in I don't add up every single thing. I'm not going to let them carry around 200lb of gp or 10 weapons, but I'm not one of those DMs that's like oh you're 4lb over your weight limit!

But that's another reason I thought some Mastiffs would come in handy. Or make them use ponies! haha

[MENTION=6855234]CTurbo[/MENTION] I applaud your players for going for an all-halfling party! One resource I've used before and recommend is John Biles' Alternate Five Shires, which is a reimagining of an old Mystara supplement (about halfling shires) to create more conflict & adventure possibilities.

EDIT: Also, for dealing with encumbrance for long-term games, I prefer to use a graphical representation of a "stone" system, similar to how many video games do it. Much easier, though it does require a little time up front to create the graphics & players willing to draw in their gear.

- The group is asked to clear out a Kobold warren. By a local Human noble. Because the halflings CAN fit down the narrow tunnels; his Men got stuck in tight spots and had to be pulled out by their ankles.
- Look over the Hill Giant chapter of Storm King's Thunder. The Halfling Adventuring Band is asked to sneak into a lodge at night, pilfer some thing, and get out. (Watch Mickey and the Beanstalk if you want to go for humor.)
- Who are they going to hide behind to get the racial 'cover' bonus? They can't hide behind each other; they are too small !
- Patron Human (or Elf) joins them on a journey and makes recurring jokes about being the only grown-up in the party.
- Cleric of Yondalla shows up and asks them why they haven't fulfilled their duty to their clan / race. He really means "Why aren't you taking care of MY to-do list for me?"
- Some thing valuable is in a physically precarious location (such as a narrow crumbling ledge). A 40-lb person can get closer to it than a 150-lb person could. Ergo, YOU are just the folks to "rescue my cat that is stuck up top of the tree."
- Cleric of Yondalla - in her aspect of "she who clears a safe place for my people to enjoy" - asks the group to take care of a problem / threat / danger.
- Arcane Trickster hires the group to cause a ruckus in a public place or otherwise draw (law enforcement's?) attention to themselves, while he sneaks in somewhere to perform a theft.

Ninjas have kidnapped the president. Are you bad enough dudes to rescue the president?

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The master thief Finieous Fingers frames them for a robbery thinking they are rivals from the halfling thieves guild.

I'd like to see how the adventure would go in a giant sized castle or dungeon. Having to stand on each other to get up a single step.