D&D General My Problem(s) With Halflings, and How To Create Engaging/Interesting Fantasy Races

[Cadence]

What do gnomes do that a short variant elf wouldn't do?

Be master tinkers/illusion-masters, not connected to Corellon, be curious and antisocial instead of haughty and xenophobic, etc.

Building clockwork toys, firestarts, and music boxes, or having an illusion cantrip seems a slow start to being a master-tinker or master-illusionist. But even so, are those genetic or societal? (Is 5e heading in a way that they would be societal?). Isn't being connected to a particular God purely fluff (Halflings are connected to Yondalla and not Garl Gllittergold. Do we really want to paint entire races as antisocial, haughty, and xenophobic?!?

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

So Gelflings?

No wings.

 

[Mind of tempest]

Well, a campaign setting! It is for a campaign that just started with a group I played with in 2008-15ish, and based loosely on the homebrew I used then. Or are you asking for more specifics about theme and atmosphere and such? The short version: A post-(magical) apocalyptic setting which draws from Sword & Sorcery (Howard et al), Earthdawn, Middle-earth, and other sources. What it doesn't draw from is the more anthropomorphic and video-game inspired ideas of the last 20 years or so.

Anyhow, this brings me back to my underlying (but unspoken) point above: I see the vast and varied corpus of D&D ideas as a toolbox, which each individual DM draws from to create a campaign setting. What a DM picks and chooses is entirely up to them, and what sort of setting they want to create. If it is a more co-creative setting, then players are part of that process.

WotC can model this in different ways through their official settings - which is what they're already doing. Each setting has different thematic qualities, but they range from "anything goes" to "strongly thematic." This, I think, can inspire creativity in DMs, if they recognize the toolbox idea. "Ooh, Theros is cool - I want to design something similar, but use Mesoamerica as inspiration instead of Greece." Or, "I love Dark Sun, but it is a bit too dark for me...how could I adapt it to being part of a larger setting, perhaps as an isolated continent ?" Or, "I like the anything goes approach of the Forgotten Realms, but could I build something similar but a little more cohesive, in which everything doesn't seem to haphazard?" Etc.

first I see what you're going for but lizardmen fit better in that than small plump Englishmen so why halflings specifically?

we know it is a toolbox that much is not being questioned but why the prevalence of the halfling implement it some unnecessary for the general use toolbox called the phb, they seem super limited to a certain setting which is not one wotc owns?

so again can you justify the halfling in most dnd settings?

notable non-inspiring guys like Bilbo, Frodo, Samwise, etc etc.

At this point the only way to think that halflings can't be heroes is to ignore fantasy literature all together.

that was not the point those are all based on the unlikely hero archetype what else can you do with a halfling? what other than that one archetype do they have? they end up super similar as they would not make wizards or monks, they care for nothing but comfort they are just Eloi without the being food angle.

 

[Aldarc]

No wings.

Of course not. You’re a boy.

 

[bedir than]

they end up super similar as they would not make wizards or monks

Guess I'll throw away the halfling characters that I've made. They just aren't optmized enough.

 

[Mind of tempest]

Of course not. You’re a boy.

what?

Guess I'll throw away the halfling characters that I've made. They just aren't optmized enough.

you missed the later part that applied context as we all agree they are more or less pastoral people who care for nothing save immediate comfort, so why would they seek knowledge of the arcane or seek enlightenment.
they are made to be victims who have horrible stuff happen to them that the party avenges.
or they are the reluctant hero.
not seeing world presence here I could dump them on an island like the dodos and ignore them.

 

[jayoungr]

they are more or less pastoral people who care for nothing save immediate comfort, so why would they seek knowledge of the arcane or seek enlightenment.

Some people find that an engaging question. You clearly don't, which is fine.

 

[Minigiant]

What do non-Duergar Dwarves do to push things ahead narratively that can't also be done by humans? (Or what do most humanoids do that can't be done by humans?). What do gnomes do that a short variant elf wouldn't do?

Dwarves stand in as the race of tradition and resistance to progression.

Their longer lifespans, toughness, skill with practical tools, proficiency with tool like weapons, and resistance to movement and poison display this.

Dwarves sit, squat, and don't move with the times. If a dwarf or multiple dwarves act instead of react, it's major.

 

[Mind of tempest]

Some people find that an engaging question. You clearly don't, which is fine.

they are defined as not caring about such things so they have no wizards or monks, rangers or barbarians are unlikely.
certainly no warlocks or most rogue subclasses as why would they want to assassinate people?
bard I have no idea, sorcerers could work for a caster, would they ever be sufficiently devoted to make clerics or paladins.
rangers and druids means sacrificing comfort so they would not naturally produce them.
not seeing a lot of class variety other than forcing them into it at which point why play a halfling.

I am not saying no small folk or halflings but why are they so common in world-building other than because we are told they should be there?
we could put something better in its place and move it to say a forgotten realms book.

 

[Aldarc]

what?

Now is not the time to make me feel old with my perfectly acceptable movie references.

He did it in Ptolus first. Both gnomes and halflings (loresong and quickling, respectively) are subspecies of faen (elves) and many people in the world of Pramael can't tell gnomes and halflings apart from one another at a glance, something I've used to great effect in my campaign for years.

Thought so, but I couldn't remember well enough to say.