D&D 5E Halflings are the 7th most popular 5e race

[ECMO3]

Huh. I wonder why a species that is more or less locked out from like three classes due to garbage size rules might not be played as often...

Halflings are not locked out of anything. The best Paladin and the best Ranger I have played were both small. The only thing they are really "locked out" of is a grappler build, and that is not really a class.

If you are playing RAW with Tasha's moving ability bonuses they are competitive with any other PHB race for really any class. If you are playing with critical fail homebrew they are hands down the best race for any martial, including all the official races.

 

[Hussar]

*backs away very slowly *

Lol

 

[CleverNickName]

It only seemed like 4E removed halflings, since they turned them into dreadlocked riverfolk. Which is a pretty cool schtick, but not what traditional halfling fans were expecting, to put it mildly.

Seems like this was a recurring theme with that edition.

 

[Scribe]

Halflings made it into the Top Ten of all but 4 classes (Artificer, Barbarian, Blood Hunter, and Paladin). But they only got 10% or higher participation in Bard and Rogue.

Gnomes are in the Top Ten of all but 4 classes also (Blood Hunter, Fighter, Monk, and Paladin.) They easily lead all other races in the Artificer class, and are third for Wizards, but otherwise never get above 10%.

And the Dwarf (my favorite) is in every single Top Ten list except for Warlock. They get 22.5% for Cleric, but otherwise never get higher than 10% in any spellcasting class of any kind. They're a popular choice, but not for spellcasters.

All this to say, I think that certain ancestries getting "locked out" has less to do with the size rules, and more to do with typecasting. Not many people read the description of a barbarian and think hmmm, that sounds like a gnome to me!

Nothing shocking about your listed breakdown either. Every one of them I checked seemed obvious for top spot.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

It only seemed like 4E removed halflings, since they turned them into dreadlocked riverfolk. Which is a pretty cool schtick, but not what traditional halfling fans were expecting, to put it mildly.

Hey 4e halflings were, in what I vaguely remember as the vernacular at the time, the bomb dot com.

jokes aside, I miss that interpretation of halflings.

Even though my 4e Halfling Hexblade was from a fishing/farming community near the cost of Sembia, and my 5e Halfling Monk is … this guy…

 

[doctorbadwolf]

Seems like this was a recurring theme with that edition.

Hardly. People exaggerate the differences.

 

[Remathilis]

It's also worth noting that aarakroca, genasi and goliath are/were free due to first being published in Elemental Evil Players Guide, which was a free online supplement. I'm sure that helps raise their exposure over many of the other non-SRD races.

 

[James Gasik]

Gnomes.

Also, they got to be a monster. With a minion.

And a lair!

 

[MichaelSomething]

So i confused Gnomes with Halfings? I'm sure that's a thing that never happened before...

Gnomes.

Also, they got to be a monster. With a minion.

 

[Vaalingrade]

So i confused Gnomes with Halfings? I'm sure that's a thing that never happened before...

Helpful trick: Halflings are the good ones.