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

[Yaarel]

I guess we just disagree.

Wait. Are you saying that there is no difference between lineages, except a personality trait?

If so, of course, I disagree!

 

[Mistwell]

Being childlike and curious about new things, isnt a separate species.

Also. The Halfling values "hardwork", "loyal outlook", "abundant rewards", and they can defend themselves "ferociously". There is some kind of ambition here. Family and home, ... legacy and estate, ... is a form of ambition.

But again.

Personality ≠ Lineage



The Elf differs physiologically because of planar origin and magical nature, but the appearance of it is subtle.

The Halfling as a Half-Gnome, would be physiologically nonhuman in origin. Even better if the Gnome is Fey.

From the Wikipedia entry:

"Tolkien presented hobbits as relatives of the human race, or a "variety" or separate "branch" of humanity. In Tolkien's fictional world, hobbits and other races are aware of the similarities between humans and hobbits (hence the colloquial terms for each other of "Big People" and "Little People"); nevertheless, the hobbits consider themselves a separate people."

I tend to default to calling people what they want to be called. If hobbits want to be called a separate people from humans, then I think it's right to call them a separate people from humans.

 

[Yaarel]

hairy shoeless feet, natural stealthiness, and round jovial faces, in terms of physical traits.

Hairy shoeless feet: heh, sorry for your 5e loss.

Round jovial faces: no problem.

Natural stealthiness: the 5e mechanics and lore for Halfling could do more to emphasize this, in ways that are clearly nonhuman.

From the Wikipedia entry:

"Tolkien presented hobbits as relatives of the human race, or a "variety" or separate "branch"of humanity. In Tolkien's fictional world, hobbits and other races are aware of the similarities between humans and hobbits (hence the colloquial terms for each other of "Big People" and "Little People"); nevertheless, the hobbits consider themselves a separate people."

In other words.

The Halfling is a Human!

The Halfling isnt a separate lineage.

The Halfling is a physically diverse Human ethnicity.

A Human nation is a "people".

That is what I have been saying all along.

The Halfling can be deleted from the list of lineages and added to the list of Human ethnicities.

The Halfling is way too Human.

 

[Hussar]

Your dwarves and gnomes sound pretty human to me.

Really? Your humans build underground cities and are united in their hatred of a specific enemy?

Look, I'm not talking about the quality here. Just the fact that halflings do stand out here as being 100% replaceable by humans without any changes other than about 3 feet vertically. Dwarves and gnomes might describe some humans, at best, but, the halfling description is pretty much indistinguishable from how you would describe most of humanity.

 

[Gammadoodler]

Really? Your humans build underground cities and are united in their hatred of a specific enemy?

Look, I'm not talking about the quality here. Just the fact that halflings do stand out here as being 100% replaceable by humans without any changes other than about 3 feet vertically. Dwarves and gnomes might describe some humans, at best, but, the halfling description is pretty much indistinguishable from how you would describe most of humanity.

It's a perfectly plausible way to describe a human civilization, yes. Hell, a lot of the elements are comparable to the existing Human write up.

Do yourself a favor, compare the PHB human write up to the halfling one directly. They aren't similar.

 

[Hussar]

It's a perfectly plausible way to describe a human civilization, yes. Hell, a lot of the elements are comparable to the existing Human write up.

Do yourself a favor, compare the PHB human write up to the halfling one directly. They aren't similar.

Sorry, but, how did I not just do that? I took the word for word description of halflings in the PHB and simply substituted humans. It worked perfectly fine. Since the argument is that halflings are just short humans, well, that is pretty strong evidence no? The counter argument that all the races are just (Insert trait here) humans doesn't hold much water when you cannot actually substitute human for those other races.

I wonder how far you could take this.

 

[Hussar]

Let's continue with our cut and replace of halflings with humans:

lThe diminutive humans survive in a world full of larger creatures by avoiding notice or, barring that, avoiding offense. Standing about 3 feet tall, they appear relatively harmless and so have managed to survive for centuries in the shadow of empires and on the edges of wars and political strife. They are inclined to be stout, weighing between 40 and 45 pounds.

Humans’ skin ranges from tan to pale with a ruddy cast, and their hair is usually brown or sandy brown and wavy. They have brown or hazel eyes. Human men often sport long sideburns, but beards are rare among them and mustaches even more so. They like to wear simple, comfortable, and practical clothes, favoring bright colors.

Human practicality extends beyond their clothing. They’re concerned with basic needs and simple pleasures and have little use for ostentation. Even the wealthiest of halflings keep their treasures locked in a cellar rather than on display for all to see. They have a knack for finding the most straightforward solution to a problem, and have little patience for dithering.

Kind a n d Curious Humans are an affable and cheerful people. They cherish the bonds of family and friendship as well as the comforts of hearth and home, harboring few dreams of gold or glory. Even adventurers among them usually venture into the world for reasons of community, friendship, wanderlust, or curiosity. They love discovering new things, even simple things, such as an exotic food or an unfamiliar style of clothing. Humansare easily moved to pity and hate to see any living thing suffer. They are generous, happily sharing what they have even in lean times.

Bl e n din t ot h e Crowd Humans are adept at fitting into a community of humans, dwarves, or elves, making themselves valuable and welcome. The combination of their inherent stealth and their unassuming nature helps humans to avoid unwanted attention. Humans work readily with others, and they are loyal to their friends, whether Human or otherwise. They can display remarkable ferocity when their friends, families, or communities are threatened.

Pa s t o r a l Pleasantries Most Humans live in small, peaceful communities with large farms and well-kept groves. They rarely build kingdoms of their own or even hold much land beyond their quiet shires. They typically don’t recognize any sort of human nobility or royalty, instead looking to family elders to guide them. Families preserve their traditional ways despite the rise and fall of empires.Many humans live among other races, where the humans’ hard work and loyal outlook offer them abundant rewards and creature comforts. Some human communities travel as a way of life, driving wagons or guiding boats from place to place and maintaining no permanent home.

Maybe a couple of quibbles, but, not really out of line. And not something you could do with elves.

I think probably the best bit comes from the relations with humans section:

Humans. “Humans are a lot like us, really. At least some of them are. Step out of the castles and keeps, go talk to the farmers and herders and you’ll find good, solid folk. Not that there’s anything wrong with the barons and soldiers—you have to admire their conviction. And by protecting their own lands, they protect us as well.”

I mean, good grief, it's RIGHT THERE. They flat out state that halflings aren't terribly different from common humans. It's not like people are inventing this stuff out of thin air. But, sure, try to do the same thing with elves. Or dragonborn. See if it still sounds like a human.

 

[pemerton]

The description of the Halfling 100% purely utterly completely identically totally HUMAN!

What else would we expect? This is exactly the literary purpose for which JRRT invented Hobbits: to be completely conventional English folk (as he imagined such folk).

 

[pemerton]

I want D&D elves to be less Tolkien elves and more nature beings, earthy being of vegetation or skyey being of sunlight.

At least even Tolkien had some kind of nod toward a nonhuman magical origin and heritage.

You should try Burning Wheel.

 

[pemerton]

People just weirdly overthink things.

People play halflings because they want to play short plucky heroes.

Anything beyond that is pretty limited to probably less than 1% of D&D players.

I think this is true. But why, then, are Halfling defenders trying to argue that Halflings aren't - in terms of culture and heritage - just interchangeable with humans? That seems like overthinking, or at least overreaching.