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

[Oofta]

Another issue with halflings that I'm not sure anyone's touched on yet is that whenever hobbit style halflings are used it sort of feels like somebody's injecting their fetish for feet into the story. It's like that Gunshow comic about the pee themed adventure, except instead of pee it's feet

Halflings diverged from hobbits a while back. They're obviously copies, but going barefoot hasn't been a thing for a while.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Another issue with halflings that I'm not sure anyone's touched on yet is that whenever hobbit style halflings are used it sort of feels like somebody's injecting their fetish for feet into the story. It's like that Gunshow comic about the pee themed adventure, except instead of pee it's feet

This is why you should never use Quentin Tarantino's campaign world.

 

[Vaalingrade]

This is why you should never use Quentin Tarantino's campaign world.

The worst part is that the Campaign Guide does not in fact tell you what language they speak in What.

 

[tetrasodium]

The farther inland you go, the more likely it is that you will be seen and some garrison somewhere will come wipe you out. And then you have to take that risk again on the way out. It was more than just wealth that made most of the raids coastal. It was also speed.

Indeed but those garrisons don't patrol lands & risk their lives protecting people out of the goodness of their hearts, They do that because the boring commoner serfs pay taxes to the local lord who in turn pays the garrison. Halflings can't just opt out of more advanced political structures & expect to get the benefits

 

[Maxperson]

Indeed but those garrisons don't patrol lands & risk their lives protecting people out of the goodness of their hearts, They do that because the boring commoner serfs pay taxes to the local lord who in turn pays the garrison. Halflings can't just opt out of more advanced political structures & expect to get the benefits

It says they trade, so they have money. I'd bet that they also pay taxes to whoever runs the area.

 

[Oofta]

Indeed but those garrisons don't patrol lands & risk their lives protecting people out of the goodness of their hearts, They do that because the boring commoner serfs pay taxes to the local lord who in turn pays the garrison. Halflings can't just opt out of more advanced political structures & expect to get the benefits

Why wouldn't they be paying taxes? Where does this theory even come from?

 

[Ace]

why do we have halflings and gnomes?

I get that they are classic and all that but I can't for the life of me figure out the appeal of them or what to do with them in a setting?

I know why Tolkien used hobbits but I do not see who the use them in a non-story setting (gaming settings are slightly different)

gnomes I just have no idea aside from loving gems which is not something to build a culture around.

I know of similar concepts to them that I am more familiar but they are very different in rather drastic ways (they have more location-based subtypes than even elves) but I was asked for something less completely out there.
do any of you know what halflings, gnomes and such types are for in a setting? or why people might play them?

A lot of stuff in D&D is there because it was there when the game started.

Also little folk are fun to play either for Hobbit fans or fans of the Gnomes book and TV series. Original AD&D gnomes were basically fae and could take illusionist as a class

Of course as with everything D&D there are mutations to suit current moods, Dark Sun cannibal halflings, Kender , Tinker Gnomes and the now kind of default artificer gnomes. Its all good.

 

[JiffyPopTart]

It says they trade, so they have money. I'd bet that they also pay taxes to whoever runs the area.

Also, if I peacefully coexisted with a tiger who wouldn't raise a paw to help me, would the threat of that tiger make you decide to go grab the guy who peacefully coexists with a sloth?

 

[tetrasodium]

It says they trade, so they have money. I'd bet that they also pay taxes to whoever runs the area.

Was it you or someone else who was saying that the roads they use for such trade are so small & narrow that dangerous things like bandits & raiders wouldn't be able to even travel on them? Whoever it was this is an example of their plot armor cracking

 

[Bohandas]

Halflings diverged from hobbits a while back. They're obviously copies, but going barefoot hasn't been a thing for a while.

You still see them in a lot of RPG comics