Neonchameleon
Legend
The stats show that 5% characters made in DDI are halflings. Just because you find it useless doesn't mean others do.I find the theme of the halfling so useless as to be not worth having, I would rather uplift a monster race or make a new one from scratch who better fits.
So they are to halflings what genasi are to elves?I’m amazed that you can’t see the through line that is present right there in your own descriptions.
They’re small, magical, hidden folk.
Seriously, halflings are small folk and are generally pretty good at hiding and staying hidden (and have been ever since Tolkien). All you're telling me is that gnomes are magical halflings.
The Tinker Gnomes got off Krynn I suspect. I blame Spelljammer. And rock gnomes have nothing in the PHB I see to make them hidden. A forest gnome is, of course, the type that's obviously encroaching on halfling territory - and not just halfling territory but Tolkien halfling territory.And the 5e gnome could just stop at Forest Gnome and be perfect, tbh, but some folks needed the 3.5 hill gnome with light tinkering for whatever reason.