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

[Faolyn]

This is probably a good time to mention that the 5E Oz Kickstarter looks wonderful if, like me, you are a big fan of Baum's works. (Even if you're not, the Bestiary looks like a great time for people who want both whimsical fey and nightmare fuel.)

I did not know that was a thing. Thanks! <runs off to check it out>

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Oh, and of interest to this thread, check out the 5E Oz halfling description:

 

[pemerton]

clearly, JRRT has never meet any English man in his life let alone the other 4 or 5 depending on the what was or was not once a separate thing.
as everyone here tend to not be roused out of apathy rather than contentedness and if they lack apathy they really want to go do something.

I gather that you're English/British or live in England?

In any case, I have tried to be clear in my posts that JRRT is presenting his stereotyped ideal of rural English life. I think if LotR had been written by George Orwell the Shire would look rather different!

 

[pemerton]

Halflings feel too human.

We can see this in LotR as soon as we move our focus from heroic humans - like Faramir, Boromir, the Rohirrim etc - and encounter ordinary people like Ioreth or Barliman.

 

[Cadence]

When I mysteriously don't win the World's Best DM contest that WotC is running, I am thinking it's time for me to at least put out the big PDF of more "modern" influences (I'd go as far back as Zork and other videogames that followed D&D) up on DMs Guild. Harry Potter, Minecraft and everything else that says "fantasy" to audiences that started after Appendix N was published.

I am all over that for a however those things are funded drive to pre-buy.

Hard to think of it as new, but even the Black Company came out after Appendix N. (So here's a request for a Glen Cook line in your list for that, Dread Empire and Garrett PI). For video games, Ultima IV, Bard's Tale, and even Castle Telengard fall in the time range (although I never played that first one).

 

[pemerton]

Dedicated individual pursuit of individual passion can lead to improvement in whatever that field may be, but broadly that is not how a field advances.

That is why I referred to fantasy tropes.

I don't think introducing modern, rationalist theories of advancement - scientific advancement, industrial advancement, sporting improvement, etc - into the game really strengthens its fantasy feel. That would be a better fit in Blade Runner or some other modernist/sci-fi setting.

You think it's fine to apply a field predicated on subjective observations and evaluations as a source of objective truth?

Further you think it's appropriate to apply a singular subjective viewpoint to the whole universe of shared fictions that the larger population of D&D table groups represents.

You don't see how either of those in isolation, or (and especially) the combination of the two could be construed as arrogance?

Ok, but I disagree.

Whether, or in what sense, literary criticism is objective or subjective seems a bit off-topic. But it's a thing that people do. They criticise and analyse literary works, films, plays (both scripts and particular productions), etc. I don't see why criticism of D&D or roleplaying fiction more generally is out-of-bounds.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Oh, man, Ultima IV is a definite one, if only to do something with the Avatar's Virtues. Maybe a new alignment system, maybe a Paladin Oath.

 

[pemerton]

lore can also be much more easily ignored or changed than mechanics can.

To me this seems to depend on the details of each.

 

[Gammadoodler]

That is why I referred to fantasy tropes.

I don't think introducing modern, rationalist theories of advancement - scientific advancement, industrial advancement, sporting improvement, etc - into the game really strengthens its fantasy feel. That would be a better fit in Blade Runner or some other modernist/sci-fi setting.


Whether, or in what sense, literary criticism is objective or subjective seems a bit off-topic. But it's a thing that people do. They criticise and analyse literary works, films, plays (both scripts and particular productions), etc. I don't see why criticism of D&D or roleplaying fiction more generally is out-of-bounds.

I'm not precisely sure how we get to this as a modern or rationalist assumption. When, in all of human history has isolated individual effort been enough to literally single-handedly elevate a craft, study, or profession? Smiths take on and train apprentices, fathers train sons, discoveries are written down and shared, guilds organize for collaboration, training and preservation of knowledge. These practices are olllllld. More importantly they are practical. Practical steps a mortal takes when they're interest is advancing a collective cause rather than following a personal passion.

I've not suggested that criticism is out of bounds. I've suggested that concluding that tables which include Hobbit-style halflings "simply don't work" based on a critical reading of Tolkien and "the D&D mythos" is pretty darn presumptuous.

 

[Mistwell]

I am fairly new to the hobby, and younger than most of the active posters on this site (from my experience, anyway), being 19 years old (turning 20 in September). I have been playing D&D since just after my 15th birthday, so about 4.5 years now. D&D 5e was the first edition of D&D that I've ever played, and is still the only TTRPG that I have ever played/GMed for (although I know a bit about Pathfinder, Call of Cthulhu, Warhammer 40k, and Star Wars: Edge of the Empire).

Off topic but since you mentioned it, I had no idea you were new or younger. You post like a very experienced player who has a lot of knowledge and thoughtful opinions. I had assumed you were in your 40s and played many prior editions.