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

[carkl3000]

Says you. Not the Players Handbook.

Not D&D


Again. Says you. Not the Players Handbook.

What is Lucky? Mechanically negligible and − actually − flavorless.

There is no attempt in the Players Handbook to explore the possibility that Luck is magical or otherworldly.

In fact the QLP, in some halfling individuals, can manifest its influence in ways other than a reduced risk of catastrophically failing at a task.

Some of those individuals are able to channel the properties of the QLP to help prevent other members of their party from failing. (Bountiful Luck)

Some of them may force an enemy to fail at an attack when mundane 5e physics says that attack should have landed. (Second Chance)

No human, since they don't possess the halfling's QLP, may benefit from these unique properties of the physics of the D&D world.

And there could be human explanations for it. Like a culture that pays attention.


Obviously, these little gents and ladies are normal humans.

Nope!

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

I have to say, I have always thought it was a mistake to ditch infrevision/low-light vision and just use darkvision. To me, darkvision only makes sense for those species that are largrly sub-surface dwellers- dwarves, Drow, etc. The need it.

The other races- Halflings included- should only have low-light vision or just be like humans. Seeing fine in total darkness makes less sense for them.

 

[Crimson Longinus]

I have to say, I have always thought it was a mistake to ditch infrevision/low-light vision and just use darkvision. To me, darkvision only makes sense for those species that are largrly sub-surface dwellers- dwarves, Drow, etc. The need it.

The other races- Halflings included- should only have low-light vision or just be like humans. Seeing fine in total darkness makes less sense for them.

This issue is actually related to how 5e defines darkness weirdly. Dim light is apparently not that dim, and darkness doesn't actually require total absence of light; moonlit night is still defined as darkness. So from this follows that it is impossible to differentiate between creatures that can see well in really low-light conditions (such as cats and many other animals) and creatures that can see in total and utter absence of light (which is much rarer in real life and is based on infrared when present.)

 

[Minigiant]

Why is it necessary for D&D to seize upon one possibility and foreclose others?

Why is rigidity desired?

We already have Dwarves which are northern european to the extent they are out of place in settings not based on northern Europe. Why is it desirable to do so again?

rigidity is not needed.

But..

1. You take most the past supernatural abilities out of halflings
2. You take all the racial profieciencies and skill/tool/weapon favoritism of of halflings
3. You stick halfllings in the same terrain as humans
4. You stick halflings in the same culture and background as human commoners
5. You offer no halfling magic items
6. You offer no halfling subclasses
7. You make halfling unique racials passive
8. You make ability score adjustments not tied to race

And SURPRISE SURPRISE

Young and New Fans don't connect with hallfings, they see it as redundant, ignore them as NPCs, and mostly pick the race as PC to RP as childlike humans.

 

[Don Durito]

Young and New Fans don't connect with hallfings, they see it as redundant, ignore them as NPCs, and mostly pick the race as PC to RP as childlike humans.

Evidence needed.

 

[Minigiant]

Evidence needed.

This whole thread?

 

[Neonchameleon]

This whole thread?

Is good evidence that halflings have a lot of passionate defenders. And I've given my experience that halflings are one of the more popular races for a significant subset of new fans.

 

[Gnarlo]

Humans and Chimpanzees are 98.7% the same critter, but vive that 1.3%, no?

 

[Neonchameleon]

A D&D race also needs some kind of gimmick that is clearly nonhuman.

All of the other races have a nonhuman quality. The tiefling is fiend-touched, the dragonborn is an engineered humanoid dragon, the orc is animalistic with nonhuman origin story.

The Dwarf and Gnome half darkvision which is nonhuman, but I would like more. Dwarf as elemental and Gnome as fey can help.

There needs to be a nonhuman gimmick to justify a separate species.

I'd have said that precisely none of dwarves, elves, half-elves, half-orcs, halflings, and gnomes (in other words the old school PHB races) struck me as particularly non-human in other than age and vision. They're all different types of humans turned up to 11.

I therefore reject the idea that a D&D race needs some kind of gimmick that's clearly nonhuman.

 

[Minigiant]

Is good evidence that halflings have a lot of passionate defenders. And I've given my experience that halflings are one of the more popular races for a significant subset of new fans.

Yes.
But it is also proof that many people don't get or like halflings. Especially in their default 5e or FR/GW state.

If it was purely a lovefest would not be at...

(checks)

222+ pages.