Design & Development: Halflings [merged]

[Turjan]

i'm sorry, but is that really a problem?

In the real world, such cultures exist already. From bengladis tribesmen, to cajuns and creoles, to marsh arabs of Irak, etc..

Why not? It can be fun - they know the secrets of water and earth, guarding maybe against ancient evils hidden..

I guess the problem is that this looks specifically human. If there isn't any additional twist that we don't know about, halfings as riverfolk is a non-niche.

 

[Mortellan]

what archetypal role do halflings have to play in a fantasy world?

I'm a bit confused with this statement. For instance what archetypal role do humans play in fantasy?

 

[Turjan]

I'm a bit confused with this statement. For instance what archetypal role do humans play in fantasy?

Humans don't need an archetype. Humans are humans. No need for a definition or an archetype.

Hobbits were the personification of some kind of child-like innocence in LotR. That's fine for a novel, but doesn't really translate that well to a game with ever changing characters. To have a strong archetype, you need a niche for everything non-human. Human is just the default. Halflings are a bit too close to humans.

 

[I'm A Banana]

There are entire cultures of boat humans on Earth, but I'm not sure if there are any on rivers. The concept seems workable.

Halfling-run riverboat casinos!

Halfling yokels telling you you've got a pretty mouth!

Halflings that speak some sort of pidgin French and eat spicy foods!

Halflings with a great tan who eat shrimp off the barbie! They surf and wrestle crocodiles!

Halflings in the sewers a la the Goonies!

Halflings on Chinese junks!

Halflings in a tropical paradise where they dance the hula and wear grass skirts!

Halflings of the Amazon Basin, with facepaint and jungle herbs and poisoned darts!

Pirate Halflings of the Spanish Main!

Hold on a tic....halflings already have good stealth....and now they're no boats!

OH NOES! Halflings killed ninjas, and then killed pirates, and took both of their stuffs! OH DEAR LORD THEIR PECIOUS STUFFS!

The rivers and waterways are a good piece of landscape for adventure and action, I just wish they helped one of their new races take the role rather than foist it on the Halflings. Admittedly, they were floundering for a type, but I'm not sure "rivers maybe?!" will stick.

PLUS, this means that there will be acquatic adventures right out the gate, but they've said they don't have cohesive swimming rules yet, so GOOD acquatic adventures might be hard to come by.

 

[Mortellan]

Thanks for the clarification. So the problem with halflings I'm reading is that they are irrelevant/ redundant when there is already a choice to play humans. One may as well play a human child sans all the groovy cultural crunch bonuses? Hmm.

 

[Turjan]

Thanks for the clarification. So the problem with halflings I'm reading is that they are irrelevant/ redundant when there is already a choice to play humans. One may as well play a human child sans all the groovy cultural crunch bonuses? Hmm.

You can also play a human child _with_ all the groovy cultural crunch bonuses. If you use cultural bonuses.

 

[The Ubbergeek]

And then, peoples complained of too fantastical fantasy...

Offered a mudane option, they humph. :\

*sighes*

 

[Mortellan]

Sorry, I meant w/o the halfling cultural bonuses. Although reduced strength and greater dex (3.5e) seems realistic, the rest I don't know.

 

[Stoat]

Playing a character who learns how to be a hero, because he has to, is much more enjoyable than playing Thrud Nounverb . . .

Funny story here. The character that I've had the most fun playing is actually named Thrudq (pronounced "Thrud with a silent Q"). He's a dwarf trollslayer whose only joy in life is to hit things with an axe until they stop moving. Sometimes he hits them again after that just to be sure. I've played him in two editions of D&D and one edition of Warhammer FRP, and I fully intend to 4E him in a few months.

So I guess I'm the anecdotal counterpoint to your anecdotal example.

 

[Voss]

I will admit that halflings have never been a terribly popular race for adventurers, whether thay are in their hobbit-clone incarnation or otherwise.

I wonder why the designers of 4e even bother having them in the game.

I suspect they will probably be the least popular race in the new edition.

Do we really need halflings at all? If we remove Lord of the Rings from the picture (and its many clones, like Willow), what archetypal role do halflings have to play in a fantasy world?

Why even bother with halflings?

Same reason they were in 3e. Their mechanical advantages allow them be awesome cool <classname>.

Particularly on the popularity issue, I can recall many a 3e discussion that it was better to make a halfling wizard than a elf wizard, based solely on the race mechanics (the con penalty was too much, when you got the same dex and the small size bonuses plus other stuff from the halfling). I suspect, given the indifferent fluff and background, the popularity of races will come down to (partly) personal preference and mechanical superiority.