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

[brehobit]

Well in my game world, halfings are Protestant craftsmen who live in their own towns largely isolated from the humans and gnomes that make up the majority of the Empire in which they live.

Yeah, *that's* what a 4e halfing should be

(only thing worse than "let me tell you about my character" is "let me tell you about my world", so here we go: )


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Humans run the empire, and are fairly common outside of the empire too.
Gnomes are members of the empire, majority are in the middle class and they are extremely integrated into the human cities. In late "teens" they get hit by wonderlust and rarely return home other than to visit.
Elves are the bad guys
Orcs are minions of the elves, but many live in the empire now along the boarder
Goblins are also elven minions but largly not tolerated
Kobolds are slaves/servants/not allowed (depending on which part of the empire you are in). They are extremely tribal (a Kobold separated from its tribe will often become so depressed that they won't eat or drink until they die)
Dwarves are largely followers of the "old gods" (largely Norse) or Muslim. The Norse-leaning ones tend toward being pirates and pillagers, the Muslim ones tend toward scholar-warriors.
Halfings are Protestant members of the empire who aren't integrated at all into the empire.

Yes, I largely use real-world religions, but than again, I largely use real-world maps and countries too, so it works out

 

[WayneLigon]

I wish we could call them 'Kender'. It's a nice name, but DragonLance has poisoned that well for all time. Then we could get away from people forming an expectation on what their character is like based on something the GM didn't write.

I think it's somewhat ironic, though. They made all kender act the same as Tasslehoff, so people who dislike Tasslehoff dislike the entire species. People somehow expect that all hobbits were just like the western Shire hobbits when the more easterly hobbits were a more adventurous folk. (And taller, too, if I remember right. Fallohide hobbits were, I think, even a bit taller - up to 4E size. D&D's Tallfellows were based on them, anyway. Funny that no-one ever complained about them being not the proper sort of halfling).

One might even look at Bilbo as an unreliable narrator, but then more than a few characters in Tolkien (or other well-written fiction) are as well. They're not third-person travelogues, disgorging impartial fact. Certainly he and his neighbors are bucolic stay-at-homes types, but it's obvious that Frodo, with his Tookish blood, is made of sterner stuff. He's been kept 'down on the farm' as it were, but he quickly grows into his natural role later on. Much like a 3E halfling.

 

[Mercule]

I think it's somewhat ironic, though. They made all kender act the same as Tasslehoff, so people who dislike Tasslehoff dislike the entire species.

I liked Tas. I just didn't like a race that was pretty much all like him.

 

[Gimby]

Not that I am reversing my position, but the riverboat angle did come from somewhere with a tie to traditional halflings/hobbits: Tolkien's shire hobbits were deathly afraid of rivers and boats. It is blatant reversal in what I can only guess is an attempt to further distance them from their Tolkien roots.

Nonetheless I still find it nifty. And the vistani parrallels is something I intend to play with to some degree or another.

Just to pick this up - the shire hobbits did not trust boats and so on, but that's not true for all hobbits. One could argue that there is some influence from Smeagol/Deagol's tribe of hobbits on the 4e ones. It's weak, but not totally without precedence.

 

[Imaro]

As far as the "racial" diversity (skin color, hairstyles, etc.) that WotC is using for 4e's demi-humans...I say "good job" and "about time". Games like Earthdawn and the Midnight campaign setting have already done this and I think the diversity only widens the appeal (at least to those of us who aren't caucasian ) of the various races.

As far as the halfling's new culture it is sooo...Rhenee from Greyhawk. I always thought the Rhenee were cool so I don't have a problem with it. However that said I do feel as if we're missing the "everyman" race now. This was the role halflings seemed to play. Before, they were the underdogs who really would have been more comfortable at home smoking, drinking and eatng than in the muck of a dungeon with a blood crusted blade and dented armor on. There's just something appealing to me about having a race that really epitomizes the "reluctant hero".

 

[Dragonhelm]

I think it's somewhat ironic, though. They made all kender act the same as Tasslehoff, so people who dislike Tasslehoff dislike the entire species.

It is unfortunate that so many kender in the novels have been portrayed as "Tas clones." The games aren't so bad, and there are truly a variety of kender out there.

I think one of the best portrayals of kender is Nightshade Pricklypear from the Dark Disciple trilogy by Margaret Weis. He's a kender nightstalker, meaning he talks to the dead and puts spirits to rest. Kind of a fun role.

 

[curgoth]

The art below fits nicely with the gypsy connection and gives off a halfling sense of scale (though I can't tell what this artist is doing differently to make it happen).

Proportion. The halflings in that art are just over 5 heads tall, where a standard heroically proportioned human is around 8 heads tall. Reducing the proportions makes them look more child-like, and more like someone we expect to be short.

 

[Klaus]

Alas, this never worked too well for Gully Gnomes.

Gully "DWARVES".

Gnomes were "Tinker".

 

[WayneLigon]

As far as the "racial" diversity (skin color, hairstyles, etc.) that WotC is using for 4e's demi-humans...I say "good job" and "about time".

And yet, people are picking this out as if it's a new thing. Apparently some people just skim the PHB or MM, since dwarves in D&D have almost always been 'of color' (usually various earth tones), yet most D&D artists for book covers and game boxes portray them as short white people/Vikings.

 

[Klaus]

And yet, people are picking this out as if it's a new thing. Apparently some people just skim the PHB or MM, since dwarves in D&D have almost always been 'of color' (usually various earth tones), yet most D&D artists for book covers and game boxes portray them as short white people/Vikings.

Indeed. Gnomes are usually brown-skinned with blonde hair and green eyes, but no gnome in D&D artwork resembles that.

The Elf Races article said that Elves usually have tanned or brown skin, but I doubt that bit will be remembered by artists throughout 4e.