D&D Beyond: Halflings

gyor · Feb 17, 2018

[video=youtube_share;Jtfh6KAh8kg]https://youtu.be/Jtfh6KAh8kg[/video]

I think it's a safe bet it will be Gnomes in the next video, with Elves and maybe Half Elves in the second last video. Gith would probably be last unless there is a surprise race in the book.

Charlaquin · Feb 17, 2018

Not a huge fan of this take on Halflings as cosmically sheltered. But eh, as always I’ll steal the ideas I like and ignore the rest.

Yaarel · Feb 17, 2018

Link?

Sunseeker · Feb 17, 2018

These things are kinda losing me with how integral they're making the gods in the lives of mortals, with seemingly fundamental elements of their lives tied to the whimsy of the gods. It makes writing distant god settings difficult to present to people.

I especially dislike when simply traits, such as wanderlust, are explained as somehow godly in nature. Why can wanderlust not simply be a natural trait that "adventurer" halflings happen to experience more strongly than others? Is not wanderlust a fairly integral element of all adventurers? The desire to leave home, seek out more, carve out your own destiny?

Putting such elements as divine seems to...lessen them. In fact, putting any natural element of humanoid existence as divinely-inspired lessens the lore as a whole. I get that D&D has always veered closer to the "divine creator" origin myths for most races, but their creations seem lesser for the fact that the gods need to constantly wind them up.

Charlaquin · Feb 17, 2018

shidaku said:
These things are kinda losing me with how integral they're making the gods in the lives of mortals, with seemingly fundamental elements of their lives tied to the whimsy of the gods. It makes writing distant god settings difficult to present to people.

I especially dislike when simply traits, such as wanderlust, are explained as somehow godly in nature. Why can wanderlust not simply be a natural trait that "adventurer" halflings happen to experience more strongly than others? Is not wanderlust a fairly integral element of all adventurers? The desire to leave home, seek out more, carve out your own destiny?

Putting such elements as divine seems to...lessen them. In fact, putting any natural element of humanoid existence as divinely-inspired lessens the lore as a whole. I get that D&D has always veered closer to the "divine creator" origin myths for most races, but their creations seem lesser for the fact that the gods need to constantly wind them up.

While I didn’t care for this presentation of Halflings either, I didn’t get the impression that the wanderlust was directly divinely inspired. Seemed more like their luck and tendency to be overlooked was divine in origin, and their relative peace and security an indirect result of that divine good fortune, and that wanderlust was more a trait some Halflings experience and that the community as a whole benefits from (though I suppose that could also be attributed to luck... eh.)

Personally, I’m not a fan of the blatantly Tolkien-derivative depiction of Halflings as almost universally provincial with the occasional exception when a special Halfling feels the call to adventure. My favorite version of Halflings I’ve seen, and the one I adopt in my home games comes from Scarred Lands, where the simple Halfling farmer with no shoes is a stereotype left over from a time in recent history where Halflings were enslaved by the dominant empire. They don’t have any particular racial or cultural preference towards agriculture, they were forced into such labor, and the idea that they are not too bright as a race and easily satisfied with “simple provincial pleasures” a mere justification. And although they are free now, the image has stuck around in the cultural consciousness.

Azzy · Feb 17, 2018

shidaku said:
These things are kinda losing me with how integral they're making the gods in the lives of mortals, with seemingly fundamental elements of their lives tied to the whimsy of the gods. It makes writing distant god settings difficult to present to people.

Just take what you want and ignore the rest.

In the homebrew setting that I'm working, I've changed whole swaths of D&D to fit my desire.

Yaarel · Feb 17, 2018

I agree, [MENTION=93444]shidaku[/MENTION].

Somehow "godifying" concepts dumbs them down. It is moreorless identical to saying, "the devil made me do it", which shortcircuits the investigation of actual influences and causes. Too much reliance on gods makes the setting feel dumber.

And the main problem is, hard-baking the gods into descriptions makes it increasing difficulty to present the feel of a nonpolytheistic campaign.

MarkB · Feb 17, 2018

So basically, it seems to add up to "Yes, Halflings are Hobbits. Only don't call them that, lest ye summon the mighty Tolkien Estate."

Which is fair enough - that's why they're in D&D in the first place. It just feels like a very lazy take on the race.

Yaarel · Feb 17, 2018

Ironically, the opposite is also true. Attributing flavor to the gods, makes the role of the gods feel more mechanical and feel less divine. There is no difference between Mordin making a metal dwarf statue come to life versus a mortal wizard who created a golem or an owlbear. They are simply powerful wizards, both. This is fine for a setting, but it makes less sense to call them ‘gods’ and much less sense to ‘worship’ them. They are powerful. So what.