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

[Nahat Anoj]

I don't have a lot of kneejerk reactions or emotional triggers. I like to think of myself as an openminded, easy-going guy. But if they replaced the name halfling with kender, I have absolutely no doubt that I would refuse to play the game.

I don't claim it's reasonable or understandable; it's just a name, right? But it's true. That's my line in the sand.

I'm sure you're not alone .

 

[Dormammu]

And if you're not racist, what exactly is the problem with halflings having dark skin and dreadlocks or cornrows? Hmm? Why does that bother you so damn much?

One might say it's the reverse. Why portray "half-humans" who live in swamps and are good at Roguery by making them look black? D&D doesn't do a very good job of being multicultural in general. Depicting non-humans as a real world ethnic type is dodgy in general. Minefield!

My only objection to de-Tolkeinizing Halflings is the skinny part. It is natural that shorter beings would be more squat and taller ones more slender. Removing other trappings of "Hobbit" (eg, burrows, bare and hairy feet, loving food) is a good idea however.

 

[FATDRAGONGAMES]

I miss the Tolken style hobbits. The LOTR books are what got me into fantasy three decades ago and is how I envisioned my earliest D&D campaigns.

 

[William Ronald]

I tend to think of species that are fairly close to humans as having about as much diversity in appearance and culture as humans. There could easily be different types of halflings in different regions, with respective cultures. If you consider the diversity in human populations and cultures, I could easily see 3e halflings, 4e halflings, and others in the same setting. (Of course, one way to surprise players is to have some exceptions to the rule - so, there may be some halfling communities that because of their history might surprise a few players. One example might be a very militant halfling community that works with a community of dwarves in fighting common enemies - to the extent that both groups have some cultural influences on each other.)

As for someone's question on the Stout Halfling, they were associated with wetlands in Tolkien's works. Also, I am surprised no one mentioned the deep halfling in 3E - which might work well as a subtype.

Remember, a culture may be more important in defining how a character approaches the world than the physical abilities and other statistics presented in a character race write up. So, in the end, halflings and anything else are what you chose to make of them at your game table.

 

[am181d]

Surely the problem with the new depiction of halflings is how broad shouldered many of them are, not their hair or skin colors...

 

[The Ubbergeek]

Surely the problem with the new depiction of halflings is how broad shouldered many of them are, not their hair or skin colors...

Wetlands implies boating - an hard work. It builds muscles.

The story go that the kung-fu where divided by the geography... the north had steppes, prairies and cavaliers, and so strong legs. The south had rivers, boating, and so strong arms.

 

[mhacdebhandia]

Also, what happened to riding dogs? It's not a big deal, but I was fond of them...

My family's last three dogs have been Keeshonden:

They're also called Dutch Barge Dogs, because of their origin as guard dogs and living foghorns on Dutch river barges. So, all you need to do is put halflings on Keeshondback, and you're set.

I tend to think of species that are fairly close to humans as having about as much diversity in appearance and culture as humans.

I entirely agree.

 

[~Johnny~]

My mental conception of Halflings has been informed by a few key pieces of art - most recently this one:

While they're not the stout Hobbits of old, they're also not the tiny dreadlocked humans Dungeons & Dragons has occasionally embraced. I like this depiction of them - their child-like proportions allows one to tell they're small, despite the lack of reference, yet their adult features allow one to distinguish them from children. I'll probably rely on illustrations like these to depict halflings in my campaigns, rather than the official art we've seen so far.

Great image choice, Zam. I agree that the 4e halflings seem bizarre and don't look at all small. The only way to tell they're halflings is the strange hair (which looks more like ancient Greek Herculanean style curls than dredlocks) and square ears.

If I were to redesign halflings, I would be happy to keep the thinner 3e look but I would try to pick some other physical trait to define them. Why not something that actually suggests small size, like large eyes? Perhaps they could have flat or upturned noses. Or perhaps (as in the picture above) they could have somewhat flamboyant hair to make themselves stand out in a tall world. And if they're going to be river-going, why not use that as an excuse to give them pirate-y outfit flourishes, like stripes and bandanas.

Most of the 4e races look really cool, but the halflings (even when drawn by William O'Connor in the inside cover spread) just look dumb. I suspect these physical changes will be slowly "retconned" over the course of the edition until they're looking just like 4e halflings.

 

[BASHMAN]

this new look for halflings reminds me of Jar-Jr Binks

 

[The Little Raven]

this new look for halflings reminds me of Jar-Jr Binks

How so? He doesn't have dreadlocks, his eyes are outside his head, he has a snout, huge fin-like ears, and textured, non-human skin.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/4/4b/Jjportrait.jpg

http://www.enworld.org/images/4e/4ehalflingcleric.jpg