Halflings -- what version (if any)?

[Agamon]

Kender = lame.

However, Lidda = hot.

So, Halflings = 3e, with joy.

-- N

I'm down with that.

 

[mkletch]

Exterminate them

Basic edition - OK
1st edition - drifting
2nd edition - weaker
Kender - the worst of the lot
Athas - weird; not worth the bother
3.x - better than kender by (10^-7)%

 

[tlaney]

I liked the gnomes in the basic D&D game more than the 3.5 Edition version. They were dwarves with pinache.

 

[Falling Icicle]

Weird ... my complaint with the current halflings is that they don't have a real niche. They're pint-sized gypsies, why bother? Just have gypsies.

Why have mountain folk who are good miners and craftsman as a race? Couldn't you just have a Human culture that likes to live in mines?

Why have forest folk who are good artists and archers as a race? Couldn't you just have forest dwelling, artist, archer Humans?

I like the 3E Halflings. And no, they are not at all like Kender. Kender were compulsive kleptomaniacs and nothing short of insane. 3E Halflings have nothing more than appearance in common with them. Yes, they have a resistance to fear, but only a +2. Kender were immune to fear. As I said, they were insane. Easily the most annoying and stupid fantasy race ever concieved.

But Halflings, on the other hand, are just fine. They have a bonus to saves against fear not because they are watered down Kender, but because they face adversity every day. If you were only 3 feet tall and had to fight monsters and big people to survive, you'd develop a resistance to fear too. It makes sense.

 

[scottdunphy]

Anyone who has a problem with the term "Halfling" and thinks they should only be called "Hobbits" has not read the "Lord of the Rings" (or at least isn't a fan of JRR's work). For that matter, they weren't paying that much attention during the movies (but they were only referred to as "Halflings" a few times there). Everyone in Middle Earth, except the Hobbits themselves, refer to them as Halflings - including Gandalf and Saruman!

 

[0-hr]

I'm surprised that so few prefer the hobbit approach. It seems to me that gnomes can fill the kender role easily enough - making them less dwarflike in the process. (shrug)

 

[davidschwartznz]

By my reading, the 3.5 halfling fits the description of Hobbits at the beginning of the Third Age. (Not to be confused with those lazy-ass Hobbits at the end of the Third Age. )

 

[Pierce_Inverarity]

I liked the old halflings, I like the new...

...but they are kenderesque, which isn't entirely a bad thing.

Can't remember if it was due to the rules, or just my gaming group, but before DL all "wee" folk were played like LOTR hobbits. Any hobbit PC was considered very exceptional in that he/she had an interest in the outside world, unlike the normal NPC hobbits (yes, we always called them hobbits, and treants were called ents!) Then DL came along and everyone wanted to play kenders. While occasionally annoying, I think it was a net positive because you just had to roleplay your kender to the hilt, and trying to think up ways to use the "taunt" ability led to some great strategic thinking.

 

[Razz0putin]

I gotta go with filling a niche because as a poster pointed out the halfling/hobbits we're getting now are the wild tame the frontier type if I read/remember correctly

 

[Menexenus]

Get rid of them and the gnomes while you're at it.

Here, here! Couldn't agree more.