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

[Faolyn]

quick perusal online tell me that 2000 and beyond we have had....

22 videogames (not counting expansions or DLC)

183 books (not counting reprints or omnibus editions).

That's not nothing.

Fair enough.

 

[Don Durito]

Why exactly do we care if Forgotten Realms or Critical Role is more popular?

 

[Faolyn]

Did you miss the part where I actually SEE Forgotten Realms books here in the library? As in pretty recent ones. It just stands out because, well, the foreign book section in my small town Japanese library isn't exactly extensive. That's how much penetration FR has around the world.

Doctorbadwolf was talking about CR merchandise.

A library book is actually quite different that general merchandise.

 

[Don Durito]

The thing about halflings that weird me out is how they feel like they were not designed for D&D but designed to copy an outside concept.

Like we all know the Way of the 4 Elements Monk is designed to copy the feel of Avatar the Last Airbender and draw inspiration from it. It is a forced insert. It's not a bad subclass but it feels forced. You wouldn't built your setting with it as a major element of the game unless the whole game runs on the elements.

The 5e Halfling and its lore feels forced. Like "It's the 4th LOTR race so we have to add it" forced. The game doesn't feel like it was designed with hallings in mind. And halflings to me feel like they weren't designed to fit in D&D world. They feel like they are 100% design to please fans.

Tolkien designed hobbits to fit in Middle Earth. They were designed to be the best ring carriers. They were designed to be less martal so the Dunedain thet protected them looked more badass. They were designed to highlight that weak peoples can be important to epic dangerous quests. They were designed to bring levity to a grim world. They were designed for the POV of a portion of potential book readers. Halflings feel jammed in in comparison. And since most push settings just copy the same mentality, halflings in 5e feel forced. To me.

Compare this to tieflings. 5e Tieflings feel made for D&D. You're part fiend and this isolates you from many groups and cilivilaztions. This pushes the skilled directly into the adventurer life as adventurers take on anyone of similar goals as friend and allies. Adventurers care lessabout the horns and tail and more that you saved theirs. The lore moves directly into the main play of the game. Tieflings feel more tailored for D&D.

That's D&D though isn't? The Ranger was designed so you could play Aragorn.

Honestly it feels to me like the throughline to Gygax to 5e is that the game was designed to offer a grab bag of character options without much care to how they all fit together outside of the dungeon or adventure at hand.

Gimli, the guy from the Kung Fu TV series, Van Helsing and a character from a Poul Anderson novel team up and explore a fantastic underworld.

 

[Chaosmancer]

I'm sorry, what race is it that you are claiming covers 100% of farmboy who leaves home?

Let's see...

Human
Gnome (I literally did play a gnome farmboy who left home)
Dragonborn
Elf
Genasi
Tielfing
Aasimar
Half-Elf
Half-Orc
Loxodon
Shifter
Dwarf

Those are the easier ones at least.

Then again, at your "AND" you admit that there are halflings specific stories, that you desire to destroy.

No, I do not "desire to destroy them" I said if I want to do anything else with halflings I first have break them away from the Shire and into the wider world. If you interpret that as "forcing the character to leave the shire" Congrats! That's the farmboy leaving home story. I'm talking about needing to put halflings somewhere else, and rewrite them to make different lore, just to get some other type of story out of them.

 

[Faolyn]

I'm sorry, what race is it that you are claiming covers 100% of farmboy who leaves home?

Probably humans. which also covers 100% of miners, foresters, tinkerers, mercenaries, members of a warband, people born into small wilderness tribes, scholars, magic users, people born into thieves' guilds, people born into traveling circuses... Clearly, there's no use for any race other than human.

And clearly, halflings can't also be miners, foresters, tinkerers, etc. They can only be farmboys who leave home. Like Clark Kent or Luke Skywalker.

 

[Yaarel]

I'm sorry, what race is it that you are claiming covers 100% of farmboy who leaves home?

Heh, the Luke Skywalker lineage.

There is also, the Parsifal lineage.

And dont forget the King David lineage.

 

[bedir than]

I'm talking about needing to put halflings somewhere else, and rewrite them to make different lore, just to get some other type of story out of them.

I've played dozens of halflings. The idea that there's no story to them is disproven by the millions of stories told with them

 

[Yaarel]

I've played dozens of halflings. The idea that there's no story to them is disproven by the millions of stories told with them

Heh, I am sure there are millions of stories about humans that are identical or similar to these halfling stories.

 

[Minigiant]

That's D&D though isn't? The Ranger was designed so you could play Aragorn.

Honestly it feels to me like the throughline to Gygax to 5e is that the game was designed to offer a grab bag of character options without much care to how they all fit together outside of the dungeon or adventure at hand.

Gimli, the guy from the Kung Fu TV series, Van Helsing and a character from a Poul Anderson novel team up and explore a fantastic underworld.

True. The pont is those ideas grew and morphed to be parts of D&D and make sense.

The Ranger was Aragorn. The Ranger now is the all the Rangers of the North, protectors of civilization from the monsters and savages. The class morphed to fit D&DD's mentality.

The Halfling, I feel, remains static. Or more accurately, it reverted back to the time when it was grabbed option character option.

For example. I am developing a setting called Klassico. The idea is to take all the ideas of D&D and fit them together into a consistent and coherent concept.

So in it, Halflings feed the Dwarves. They solve the "how do Dwarves survive in a mountain problem.". Well the Halflings camp out in villages all around Dwarven mountain and grow grain. And they trade the grain for metal and protection. The halflings have an army but it's barebones and designed to hold out for a halfling to alert the dwarves who will pour out the mountain pissed as someone is disrupting crucial production of the grain need for their alcohol (and food I guess). The Dwarven chief god and the Halfling chief goddess have an arraigned marriage between their second children. And this allows Stout halflings to be born.

The halflings do something similiar with some humans and this is how you get lightfoots. The elves scoffed at the idea. Some orcs are tempted to try it out.

Now halfling shires full of do nothings make sense. They are breadbaskets for hungry big folk. They are passive folk because they are protected for their food production in a harsh world. Halflings can produce a lot of food and don't need to eat much. Halfling fighters are those who hang out with the patrols too often and get all red-knighty. Halfling rogues come from all the commerce running through the shires and the low number of dwarven spies. And halfling magic items are ralated to food production of gifted smaller versions of their bigger protector's weapons and armor. Now halflings feel like they fit.