D&D General why do we have halflings and gnomes?

[jmartkdr2]

I did like one of 4e's takes on halflings: itinerant boaters, who trade up and down rivers.

I assume for my own settings somewhere between 1/3 and 1/2 of smallfolk* are nomads of some sort - when you can't rely on force to stay where you are, you learn to move when you need to. River traders, desert caravans, living wholly on ships at sea, dog-sled nomads: wherever you go, there are smallfolk traveling about - visiting, trading, and moving on before they wear out their welcome.

(Ambushing said caravans as they go through the wilds is usually a bad idea, though.)

The others either learn to hide well (the classic hidden gnomish village) or live in separated city neighborhoods where they can just do a little business with outsiders and otherwise not get caught up in things.

* For ecological reasons, I combine halflings and gnomes into one species and call the split rules 'representative of the diversity within the race'. It just doesn't make sense that they would be two different kinds of creatures, even if it does make sense that one creature would have dozens of different cultures.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Nah.

Other races actually broad societies.

Bollocks.

All the D&D races have about the same breadth - very little. Lets trot out the same old tired elven clichés and dwarven stereotypes.

But that doesn't matter, since players don't pay any attention to it anyway.

 

[Richards]

That describes 90% of all player characters of any race.

And

describes the other 90%.

You've just divided all PCs into "90%" and "the other 90%" - I don't think that's how math works!

Johnathan

 

[Maxperson]

That describes 90% of all player characters of any race.

And

describes the other 90%.

That's like, um, 180%.

 

[Maxperson]

Nah.

Other races actually broad societies.

Now, admittedly my players don't play halflings often(6 or so in the last 20 years), but none of those have had, "X killed my family." backgrounds.

 

[Maxperson]

The write-ups specifically say halflings don't dream of gold and glory.

It's D&D that says 99.99999% of halflings are rustic low class folk who don't do anything major, not me

And yet official adventures often have halfling merchants and many halflings living in cities.

 

[Oofta]

That's like, um, 180%.

It's called "new math".

 

[Mind of tempest]

Bollocks.

All the D&D races have about the same breadth - very little. Lets trot out the same old tired elven clichés and dwarven stereotypes.

But that doesn't matter, since players don't pay any attention to it anyway.

elves and dwarves for some reason capture more auther imagination thus players had more to rip from, the small folk far less so for some reason.

 

[Umbran]

That's like, um, 180%.

Well, how many character ideas do most players come up with that never get used?

 

[Charlaquin]

I believe I have figured out why they always feel so off to the side, they do not build big things or seek to interact with other groups.
elves and dwarves had empires, nations and such in a lot of worlds history but the small folk seem to just somehow exist.
they feel like they were added at one point but never really developed them past that.
they simply are not great history no myths their gods other than garl and whats her name are box filler gods.
they feel like they were added by mandate not really used.

That’s true. Remember, halflings were initially lifted wholesale from Tolkien and expanded upon later. Tolkien used them to represent the agrarian class, so it wouldn’t have worked for them to have empires or nations. They had the shire and they were content with that, and to Tolkien that was incredibly wholesome. That’s also why, by the 3rd Age of Middle-Earth, humans who lived much further from the Shire than Bree weren’t even sure hobbits existed as more than fairy tales. Because they weren’t looking to make a big impact on history, they just wanted to get by, day by day on their farms, and enjoy little comforts.

Now, myself, I explain halflings’ lack of cultural monuments or powerful institutions as a product of their enslavement. They couldn’t exactly build an empire for themselves while they were busy being forced to build one for their human captors. And after slavery ended, its generational effects continued to keep them down. Maybe, in the wake of the latest societal collapse, they’ll find the opportunity to build something great.

As for gnomes, they’re the Hidden Folk. They might very well have a great nation, but if they do, it’s kept out of sight. Maybe underground, maybe in parts of the forest that are inaccessible to bigger folk, maybe it’s even in (or partially in) the Faewild, or the Underdark, or both.