D&D 4E Call a kender a kender? What should 4E "halflings" be called?

[Thunderfoot]

Call them Kender so I can BAN them from my game!!!

Halflings should be short, round and lazy. Kender should be slowly roasted over an open flame and braised in a a honey BBQ glaze.

(Not that I have a strong opinion about Kender or anything....)

 

[pawsplay]

Fair enough, but are all halflings portrayed this way in the book? Could there not be some halflings who are Roma-like?

Could there not be some in little green derbies that go by Patty?

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Fair enough, but are all halflings portrayed this way in the book?

Yes.

 

[Hairfoot]

It's not as if there are giant moose to correspond to regular moose as whales correspond to porpoises.

But there are much smaller species of deer. Halfmooselings?

 

[kennew142]

Bring back the hobbits, IMO.

I know why they changed halflings in 3E to kender-lite, but I still don't find their reasons particularly compelling. Especially given the release of the LotR films at around the same time. It worked for Eberron (and, strangely enough, Dark Sun), where halflings are nomadic barbarians, but that's about it. Pushing them even further into being unfortunate gypsy knockoffs (only tiny! ...well, dwarf-sized, I suppose) is just compounding the mistake.

If they make them into hobbits again, I'll just go back to banning them in my games. Honestly! The pot bellies, binge eating, big hairy feet and the fact that only weird hobbits like to adventure! I was so glad to see that go. I have been working halflings into the background of my upcoming game (for the first time in a long time). I like the nomadic nature, and I don't mind the Roma connection. However, halflings (Kithauri, as they are called IMC) are not thieves and pick-pockets in this world. They are traders, with a penchant for mysticism. When I was working on this campaign for 3e, I was going to make their favored class wilder. Since 4e psionics are coming out later, I will have to wait and see. I believe that favored classes are going away (good riddance!). I guess I will have to default to making them a fully actualized race, not dependent on racist stereotypes.

 

[MarauderX]

What about hobbits? Why not call them what they first were???

 

[Hairfoot]

The pot bellies, binge eating, big hairy feet and the fact that only weird hobbits like to adventure! I was so glad to see that go.

Which, apart from the feet, describes every civilised race in D&D!

 

[Carnivorous_Bean]

They're kind of like kender dipped in grey paint .... kender in a drab and colorless form, in short ....

 

[Fifth Element]

Yes.

Ouch.

 

[Carnivorous_Bean]

I guess I will have to default to making them a fully actualized race, not dependent on racist stereotypes.

Um .... what exactly is a "racist stereotype" about modeling fictional characters, very loosely, on an actual culture? Is it taboo to mention identifiable characteristics of actual cultures nowadays? Is showing someone wearing a kerchief and standing in front of a wagon actually some kind of call for the extermination of gypsies, and I'm just too dense to see it?

In that case, I demand that a new language be invented to print all RPG books in henceforth. I find the use of English in these books to be a demeaning racial stereotype of English-speakers everywhere, and a slap in the face to Robert Cawdrey in particular.