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Message: <blockquote data-quote="I'm A Banana" data-source="post: 6136139" data-attributes="member: 2067">I think all lore should be an assumed part of the core rules. That is, there should be no strict division between "core" and "setting" material. All material is setting material. Period. If you define halflings as kender, or as no kender, as maybe kender, as not existing at all....that's a setting decision. If you say one is "core" and one is "setting," you're presenting a false dichotomy. The fact is, our own games are subjective experiences, unique encounters with that multifaceted beast that is the D&D experience, each one its own unique instance. Because of that, we have our own unique ideas and expectations about the game -- experiences that any future iteration of the game needs to be able to support.To someone who has only ever played in Dragonlance, or who loved playing in Dragonlance, kender are and always have been part of the experience of playing D&D. A key part, an important part, a part they loved. So if 5e is going to support that player's game, they're going to need to support kender.To someone who has ever only played OD&D, though, halflings are pretty blatant Bilbo expies. That is just as important to them, and just as important to be supported.So to choose one to promote as "core" over the other is nonsense. It's tribal gatekeeping, saying "You can play D&D if you love hobbits, but you have to play Dragonlance-flavor if you love kender, because they aren't part of CORE D&D! Keep them out of MY game!"Which is silly and divisive.Folks who play and enjoy kender play and enjoy D&D. They shouldn't feel like they have to only play in one limited pre-approved sandbox. Anyone can play with kender who wants to play with kender, Dragonlance or no. And if it's not for you or anyone in your group, you don't have to pick it. But you also don't get to say that no one else who plays "core" D&D can pick it, or that you have to jump through a specific Dragonlance hoop in order to play what you want. Kender are D&D. Cannibal halflings are D&D. Cowardly burglar halflings are D&D. Raft-navigating dreadlocked halflings are D&D. Wagon-dwelling gypsy halflings are D&D. Space halflings with obsidian skin are D&D. In an inclusive game, maybe you have them all. In your game, maybe you just cut out kender. In Sara's game, maybe she cuts out everything other than cowardly burglars. You're all playing D&D, and all of those setting-specific halflings are part of D&D, parts that don't NEED to be segregated from the rest of the game. Imagine the world where kender and cannibal exist side-by-side...That's one of the strengths of embracing it all as D&D, after all. Suddenly, the thing that used to be only in a particular setting can now be in any setting that wants it.</blockquote>

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