D&D General My Problem(s) With Halflings, and How To Create Engaging/Interesting Fantasy Races

[Bohandas]

If I'm playing a wizard, was I inspired by Gandalf? Merlin? Harry Potter? Harry Dresden? The Gallant Jirayia? Sailor Moon? Can you say that I must have been unconciously influenced by Tolkien, when "magic" is such a common thread, and "magical old sage" as well?

Well if we're talking about D&D then if you're playing a wizard you're only allowed to be a Jack Vance character.

and Tolkien, I will give him this, he's definitely had more of a lasting impact than Jack Vance. I don't think I've ever seen Jack Vance mentioned in a context other than someone trying to explain where D&D's funky magic system comes from (or the related context of rattling off a laundry list of people who influenced Gary Gayax)

 

[Don Durito]

depends on one of the great questions do you have a player who likes halflings? plus given they are in the player had book refusing them can get heated as without some trust removing things gets difficult.

kenku have an error in their whole cursed thing that stops creativity or talking normally plus their backstory is hyper vague and could be better..

Yes. This is an issue with them. Granted. But it also makes them more interesting.

everything's core identity changes why should dnd not change?

Nothing goes on forever. Why don't TV series just keep changing with the times and never end? There's only so far you can stretch a concept. The Ship of Theseus is an interesting concept but if replacing all the parts of the ship also meant turning it into a completely different kind of ship as well, I think most would concede it is not infact the same ship.

 

[Bohandas]

Halflings fill a niche. They're the most prominent of the little people races.

No they're not, they're nowhere and do nothing. I don't think I've ever seen one in a published adventure where it didn't seem either forced or arbitrary.

And in the original Tolkien context it was even moreso; being boring and living in the middle of nowhere was actually their thing, the protagonists being explicit outliers.

Nothing goes on forever. Why don't TV series just keep changing with the times and never end?

I think attempting to change with the times, and indeed change in general, is WHY a lot of TV shows end. A show which always starts from a perfectly static status quo will never write itself into a corner, and one that doesn't start from a fixed place inevitably will.

 

[Don Durito]

No they're not, they're nowhere and do nothing. I don't think I've ever seen one in a published adventure where it didn't seem either forced or arbitrary.

And in the original Tolkien context it was even moreso; being boring and living in the middle of nowhere was actually their thing, the protagonists being explicit outliers.

Ok so you don't like them. The internet has taken note.

 

[Mind of tempest]

Yes. This is an issue with them. Granted. But it also makes them more interesting.


Nothing goes on forever. Why don't TV series just keep changing with the times and never end? There's only so far you can stretch a concept. The Ship of Theseus is an interesting concept but if replacing all the parts of the ship also meant turning it into a completely different kind of ship as well, I think most would concede it is not infact the same ship.

tv has a plot, dnd is as much a game engine as it is a game.

 

[Don Durito]

tv has a plot, dnd is as much a game engine as it is a game.

Keep reading. You're not at the end of the post yet.

 

[Bohandas]

Ok so you don't like them. The internet has taken note.

No, I mean that is literally a thing that is explicitly discussed in the book. That taking risks and being adventurous is more strongly discouraged in hobbit society than it is in other societies.

 

[Mind of tempest]

Keep reading. You're not at the end of the post yet.

I am aware of that but dnd is only partly pure setting you can stretch it more without breaking it plus do you know the breaking point?

 

[Don Durito]

I am aware of that but dnd is only partly pure setting you can stretch it more without breaking it plus do you know the breaking point?

Does it sound like I think I do?

But then we get to this: D&D is not a game that has playable goblins, it has halflings. That's part of its core identity. The question is, should D&D changes it's identity over time? Or should people just be more willing to play other games, if they're tired of D&D for what it is.

 

[Mind of tempest]

Does it sound like I think I do?

no