D&D 4E Reinvisioning the Halfling for 4E

[Traycor]

The new design on the Halfling seems to have been met with a resounding “meh”. I’ve not heard too much complaining about the changes, but we’ve not seen much excitement either. Apathy has set in.

First off, I like the new ‘swamp rat’ design on the Halfling. The failing IMO is the artwork. From what we have been shown in Races and Classes, the halfling will look boring and nondistinct. Humans and halflings appear the same unless pictured side by side.

Dwarves, Elves, Dragonborn, & Tieflings each have a unique design to their equipment, hair, way of dress, and body type. Each is quickly and easily recognizable.

 

[Traycor]

New Art Direction - Same 4E Design

- Halflings all have kinky hair now. Show it off! Halflings should have wild hairstyles that showcase their new hair instead of quietly hiding it.

- Swamp Rats! This is a great design and can look awesome. Make use of it! Inspiration can be drawn from the Dreadnoks on G.I. Joe. Tom Sawyer. Rafters in Louisiana swamps.

- Size Matters! Keep their bodies lithe and their faces child-like. We should be able to quickly tell that this is a halfling.

- Unique Gear Style! Just as all the other races, halflings need a unique look to what they wear. Bandanas. Vests. Mud. Big boots for wading in water. Sandals & Foot wraps. Gloves for fishing in the muck. If they are wearing armor, they should have the heroic V. Either an armored top with a slender lower half (as seen below on the paladin), or a wider lower half with a slender top (as seen below on the rogue & wizard)

- Small/Practical Weapons! Life on the river would require regular use of tools. Halflings would feel more comfortable with weapons like daggers, hand axes, crossbows, and quarterstaffs. Every halfling would have to know how to use implements like these in their daily lives, and it would make sense that they favor them as weapons.

Halfling Rogue:

Halfling Paladin:

Halfling Wizard:

 

[Traycor]

I welcome disagreement, critiques, and further suggestions on how to make the Halflings distinct and exciting. If you are going to offer further suggestions on improvement, I would ask that you stay within the design that Wizards has laid out for 4E:

Halflings are river and swamp dwellers, nomadic, traders, and live in clans.

 

[Lurks-no-More]

The new design on the Halfling seems to have been met with a resounding “meh”. I’ve not heard too much complaining about the changes, but we’ve not seen much excitement either. Apathy has set in.

That's likely because the changes to halflings are fairly minor, as far as I can tell. The outrage can't get purchase on them!

Like your pics, too.

 

[The Little Raven]

That's likely because the changes to halflings are fairly minor, as far as I can tell. The outrage can't get purchase on them!

Agreed. The only real difference I see is that they played up the whole "boat culture" thing more (though it was presented as one of their nomadic options in the PHB). The description in the PHB stated they had straight hair, all of the pictures showed them to have coiled hair, including the head-study sketch of the halfling male right next to the entry.

 

[Plane Sailing]

For me, the two big problems of the halfling pictures in races and classes are

1) human proportions. This makes them look like humans (duh). It would be better to give them proportionally somewhat larger heads. I'm not saying they ought to be ambulatory map-pins, but bigger heads makes them look as if they've got smaller bodies.

2) Lacking context. The pictures are almost all shown from the same kind of angle a human would be (except for the raft one). The result is that they just look like humans!. Drawing more of the halflings from a 'human eye view' would reinforce their smallness effectively.

(I like your sketches, by the way)

Cheers

 

[Traycor]

In 3E, Halflings were distinctly different in their art. The new art does not represent them well at all as a seperate race. Sure, they had an option to be river folk before, but they were really presented as gypsies in 3E. Any artwork of a halfling either looked like a leather wrapped super-spy, or a gypsie.

The "swamp rat" approach has the potential to get players excited about playing halflings of any type. Dwarves are little changed from the previous edition, but I've seen lots of excitement about them and their new art. 75% of the job of the art for a core player race is to get players excited about using that race.

The current halfling art in 4E does not do its job.

 

[mhensley]

4e Halflings should look and behave like this-

 

[Irda Ranger]

I was thinking about playing up a semi-aquatic mammal angle.

* Either hairless or "slick hair" like an otter. None of these dreads - they slow you down in the water and are heavy when wet. If Halflings aren't bald like dolphins they should have short, straight hair that streamlines in water and dries quickly.

* Webbed toes and partially webbed fingers. Sure, they can wear shoes and gloves, but they commonly don't so they can swim better. Either that or they wear a special kind of sandal that protects their feet from sharp things but lets their toes splay out when swimming.

* Jewels should consist mainly of pearls, sea-shells and nacre. There should also be a lot of intricate thread-knots in bracelets, headdresses, etc., because all the same tools, materials and skills needed for making fishing nets and hammocks will make you that stuff too.

* Weapons should primarily be thrusting weapons; spears are popular. Big on crossbows.


If you're feeling really extreme you could also put their nose on the back of their head so they can snorkle-swim. That'll differentiate them from humans!

 

[Umbran]

The failing IMO is the artwork.

That cant be the only failing. I haven't actually seen the book, but I have read the stuff of substance from reports. I haven't seen the visual design at all, and I'm still saying meh.