D&D 4E 4E Halflings unrecognizable from Tolkien hobbits

[Dr. Strangemonkey]

I agree. Having "short folk" that aren't based on any "short folk" fantasy archtypes (faeries, hobbits, pygmies, and other myths already appropriated elsewhere in D&D)

I don't really understand how the 4E halflings as presented don't represent a decent analogue for pygmy myths. And they bring in a whole host or riverine people myths and legends that we were otherwise missing.

 

[Spatula]

I don't really understand how the 4E halflings as presented don't represent a decent analogue for pygmy myths. And they bring in a whole host or riverine people myths and legends that we were otherwise missing.

The pygmies from myth were short people who couldn't handle a bird in a fight. The wiki page on them notes that they are "often portrayed as pudgy, comical dwarfs." Sounds a bit more like a hobbit, to me.

 

[pemerton]

"If it's not Scottish, it's CRAAAAAP!"

Excellent post!

 

[(Psi)SeveredHead]

That's good, because they're not.

In fact, in many ways, Tasslehoff is atypical of a kender. For another classic kender example, I would refer you to the freedom fighter Kronn Thistleknot, introduced in Dragonlance module DL12 way back in 1985 as a pregenerated hero.

I remember him from novels. Maybe he was portrayed differently in modules, but in the novels he wasn't portrayed as a typical kender. He was actually capable of being serious.

I always thought afflicted kender were far cooler than regular kender.

 

[Klaus]

But if they only knew hobbits from LotR, they'd want to play brave, fit, daring hobbits elf archers with mad acrobatic skillz or scruffy badass rangers who left their safe community to go adventuring score with the elven princess, just like the characters in the films.

FIFY.

 

[The Ubbergeek]

Excellent post!

I have a few different ideas...

I have two posible slightly different dwarven archetypes - Kurdes and others Caucasians (hardy, clannish and proud montain folks), and Tibetan and related cultures (the tibetans used to be a warlike and proud people, surprisingly, and some related minorities kept this - like the Gurkhas).

 

[The Little Raven]

http://www.enworld.org/showpost.php?p=3967330&postcount=78

Doesn't make my point any less true. Most people view kender as annoying because a lot of kender players play them that way. Same with Malkavians in Vampire, hence the reason White Wolf fans came up with the term "Fishmalk" for those stereotypical players.

And if you're going to use my quote about insulting entire groups, make sure I'm insulting the entire group instead of specifying a particular segment.

 

[Dormammu]

Doesn't make my point any less true. Most people view kender as annoying because a lot of kender players play them that way. Same with Malkavians in Vampire, hence the reason White Wolf fans came up with the term "Fishmalk" for those stereotypical players.

And if you're going to use my quote about insulting entire groups, make sure I'm insulting the entire group instead of specifying a particular segment.

I think he was showing hypocrisy. The post you attacked was about the exaggerated, poor roleplaying by players of a certain character type. Yours is the same.

 

[The Little Raven]

I think he was showing hypocrisy. The post you attacked was about the exaggerated, poor roleplaying by players of a certain character type. Yours is the same.

The post I pointed out was about an entire group: all anti-hero players. PERIOD. No qualifiers between bad or good players, just all anti-hero players.

My post was about a subsection of the kender players, the annoying ones. I've seen plenty of good kender players as well, as well as Malkavian players. I pointed out that most people don't like either groups as a whole (kender and Malkavian players) because of a very visible segment (the annoying ones).

 

[Dormammu]

The post I pointed out was about an entire group: all anti-hero players. PERIOD. No qualifiers between bad or good players, just all anti-hero players.

Not exactly... he said "It's not that 'anti-evil' crowd can't handle them properly, is that the 'omfg I'm so darq' crowd have the creativity of a grapefruit, think that a cape will piss off daddy, and are about as creepy as Count Chocula." Now if you feel that the 'omfg I'm so darq' subset of anti-heroes is poorly defined, that is perhaps valid. But he was identifying a subset, which I at least took to mean people who overexaggerate features of an anti-hero with the sole and express purpose of making themselves look cool.

More specifically, I don't think "the annoying ones" is any more concrete a subset than is "the 'omfg I'm so darq' crowd". They seem quite equivalent.