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

[Fifth Element]

I voted "halfling" (ie, no change), but only because there was no option for "Another name poll? Really?"

 

[Voss]

Neither/none of the above.

In my world, all the short, useless races would have been outbred and eaten by goblins.

 

[Xethreau]

I call them Oflin, and they're still going to be about 2 1/2 tall. Humans bastardized their name to elfling, and eventually to Hafling. They don't mind much though, they've been called far worse.

OMG, THIS is what I have been looking for!!
I have been looking and looking for a name for Halflings to call themselves, and Olfin is perfect!

As for me, Halflings should stay "Halflings." I in favor of most flavor changes, except to the height....

 

[Thaniel]

Why do people go on about this? Why do they have to be exactly half the height of humans to be called 'halflings'? Exactly the height of which humans? I've known people that were under 5', but I had no problem with 3' tall (60% height) halflings. It's an exaggeration, nothing more. They're called halflings because they're the smallest (that we know of) civilized race in numbers enough to worry about.

 

[Khairn]

If they sound like Kender, act like Kender, and look like Kender......then they're Kender. Not Halflings. I don't care that they live in marshes, and had a little growth spurt, that's not enough to change the fact that the new Halflings are, in fact, Kender.

QFT

Why try to disguise what they are?

 

[the Jester]

Hmm, replacing halflings with kender in the core rules is just about the only thing I can think of that might make me swear off dnd forever.

From what I have seen so far, the 4e halfling does pretty much what the 3e halfling did- it sort of melds the two together.

 

[Voss]

I'm not sure I quite understand the last couple posts. Halflings were just hobbits with just enough paint to avoid legal issues and kender were just halflings with a fresh coat of paint and some truly obnoxious abilities tacked on at the end. The thief stereotype wasn't 100% in 1e, but it was a good rule of thumb for any given halfling.

The 4e version just seems to tidy up the loose ends and pretty much call a spade a spade.

 

[Irda Ranger]

I think the name kender - just the name - is a good one. I just wonder if the name by itself is a problem separate from the behavior of the diminutive inhabitants of Krynn, or if the two are so intertwined that people can't help but read "kender" as those things from Dragonlance.

I came back to this thread to post this exact same thought. Yo Jon, thanks for saving me the work!

The more I think about it, the more I like the name (just the name) "Kender." Once I divorce it in my mind from the compulsive kleptomania, Darwin-defying curiosity and puppy-like emotional maturity, it's far superior to "halfling" or (gods forbid) "Hin."

Yes, yes. My campaign-world is coming together: Kender. Called "halflings" by rude tall-folk. Shoeless, hairless and webbed feet to go with water-born lifeways. No kleptomania (after all, who would ever allow "merchants" that stole stuff into their town?).

 

[Voss]

You realize the developers were just playing with the German word for children and just swapped an e in for the i, right?
Kinder->Kender

Even more condescending than halflings. Your entire race are just kids!

 

[Irda Ranger]

You realize the developers were just playing with the German word for children and just swapped an e in for the i, right?
Kinder->Kender

Yes I do. But I don't speak German, so it doesn't bother me.