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

[Chaosmancer]

Fantasy plants. For the same reasons a Triton may just be able to dive deep into the ocean, halflings may just be able to grow the plants they need for delicious meals.

Trade exists to address scarcity of resources. And the lore seems to suggest that halflings don't need much. Add in fantasy, and a group of people can address scarcity internally, reducing or eliminating the need for trade.

Not gonna say that it all holds together, but I see no reason that this part shouldn't.

Sure, maybe fantasy plants.

But, think this through. Nothing about halflings suggests that they have plant magic. So, these plants would be something anyone can grow. There is nothing in the lore about them having access to crops no one else can grow.

So, anyone could grow all of these fantasy plants in their farms. So, since humans and halflings tend to live so close together, humans would be growing those plants.

So, Humans no longer need to trade for spices... so what are they trading? Because we have plenty of trade cities in DnD. But if they don't need salt, pepper, or other spices what is driving trade? Those were the three biggest drivers of trade in history, and we've waved them away. Is everyone trading in steel, swords and armor? Why? Perhaps all trade is in stone? Why?

Maybe we could find enough things to keep trade going in DnD worlds, but this change deeply impacts any city famous for trade, any famous merchant, the idea of shipping or caravans that you escort as guards. It cuts deep into our assumptions about DnD.

 

[tetrasodium]

Fantasy plants. For the same reasons a Triton may just be able to dive deep into the ocean, halflings may just be able to grow the plants they need for delicious meals.

Trade exists to address scarcity of resources. And the lore seems to suggest that halflings don't need much. Add in fantasy, and a group of people can address scarcity internally, reducing or eliminating the need for trade.

Not gonna say that it all holds together, but I see no reason that this part shouldn't.

Trade exists yes, however it comes with certain conditions such as roads & paths that a ranger looking for them could find to follow back to a village so every problem dismissed by not risking the formation of paths & roads once again returns or you have the problem of attempting to engage in that trade in such a round about obfuscated secretive means as was described initially to dismiss the problem caused by roads.

If they grow herbs & spices to use for delicious meals then it takes them being a special kind of starfish alien to have no interest in herbs & spices they don't or can't grow in those meals so the problems dismissed from not trading for exotic spices to limit the number of random nonrepeating long distance trips a farmer needs to take through the forest

Trade does indeed exist to address scarcity of resources, but people are saying that halflings live in an area so bountiful that there is no scarcity of resources due to being able to grow raise & produce anything. Such a fertile & bountiful area comes with problems of its own.

 

[Oofta]

Again.
I don't hate halflings.
They just confuse me.

I don't understand why halflings have happy idealistic idyllic lives where's the sneakier goblins and kobold scrounge for scraps of survivability and gnomes use both mundane and magical tricks to guard their home.

First, who says goblins and kobolds are always scrounging for scraps?

Second, goblins and kobolds tend to have (literally) evil neighbors that are described as bullies. Make halflings live in a bugbear or orc dominated society and they probably wouldn't fare as well.

 

[Chaosmancer]

A farm can feed several families. That frees up other members to be glassblowers, cobblers, etc. and we know from the books that the villagers have other professions than just farming and help each other out.

What are they blowing glass out of? Do they have magical sand plants?

We know from the book that they trade and many of them adventure. It's pretty easy to get books when you trade(not sell) and have a lot of adventurers.

So, they can't make books, like I said, and they'd need to engage in trade, like I said.

And you still insist that somehow trade and selling is an important enough difference to hammer home.

By not being found in the first place. Your contrived set of events to "establish" that Halflings can be found falls flat.

So, you can't send mail home to your folks, because no one can find halflings. Oh, unless you hold it at a central location where the halfling who once a month goes to town to trade for books can stop and grab it.

 

[Gammadoodler]

Sure, maybe fantasy plants.

But, think this through. Nothing about halflings suggests that they have plant magic. So, these plants would be something anyone can grow. There is nothing in the lore about them having access to crops no one else can grow.

So, anyone could grow all of these fantasy plants in their farms. So, since humans and halflings tend to live so close together, humans would be growing those plants.

So, Humans no longer need to trade for spices... so what are they trading? Because we have plenty of trade cities in DnD. But if they don't need salt, pepper, or other spices what is driving trade? Those were the three biggest drivers of trade in history, and we've waved them away. Is everyone trading in steel, swords and armor? Why? Perhaps all trade is in stone? Why?

Maybe we could find enough things to keep trade going in DnD worlds, but this change deeply impacts any city famous for trade, any famous merchant, the idea of shipping or caravans that you escort as guards. It cuts deep into our assumptions about DnD.

Fantasy plants don't need magic (unless you say they do), they are imaginary after all. And this is not suggesting that there is no need for trade, just that halflings, specifically may not need it.

 

[Oofta]

What are they blowing glass out of? Do they have magical sand plants?

There's no sand or fire where halflings live now?

 

[Vaalingrade]

I just realized that this whole thread has been one long 'Guy at the gym' fallacy.

Just because one doesn't believe a thing is possible, like farming enough for people to survive or cooking good food without black pepper, doesn't mean it's not true or that beings an a fantasy world with different-ass plants and animals couldn't do it due to being fantasy beings.

 

[Vaalingrade]

There's no sand or fire where halflings live now?

Fields grow fallow where steps the hairy foot. And lo do the hearths go dark and shore become stone.

 

[Oofta]

I just realized that this whole thread has been one long 'Guy at the gym' fallacy.

Just because one doesn't believe a thing is possible, like farming enough for people to survive or cooking good food without black pepper, doesn't mean it's not true or that beings an a fantasy world with different-ass plants and animals couldn't do it due to being fantasy beings.

But .. but ... pepper is vital to good food! People have never survived without it!

I live in Minnesota. My wife gardens and we've had some incredible meals with what we grew out of the garden along with some store bought protein because raising animals for food is more work than we want to deal with. The idea that you need spices from a far away land to make a good meal is just absurd.

 

[Minigiant]

First, who says goblins and kobolds are always scrounging for scraps?

D&D. D&D usually has goblins and kobolds scrounging for scraps to make improvised items.

Second, goblins and kobolds tend to have (literally) evil neighbors that are described as bullies. Make halflings live in a bugbear or orc dominated society and they probably wouldn't fare as well.

So if goblins lived near humans, goblins would live in happy rustic villages too?