Do you realize how small a halfling/gnome is?

[Quasqueton]

At a non-game get together with my gaming group a while back, I introduced my Players to my 2*-year-old son. At that time he was a bit over 3-feet tall, and about 32 pounds. I explained to the Players that he is within an inch and couple pounds of being the same size as the party female halfling rogue. It was a bit of a surprise to see, for real, how small a halfling really is. I mean, these little people fight orcs and ogres and dragons and demons.

The next time you see a small child (big enough to walk on his own, but young enough to not run real well) think how the world would be for a race(s) of people normally that size. And think how small a halfling/gnome/goblin/kobold child would be.

Those of you with children of your own can probably relate/understand this size concept immediately.

*Edit: is 3 now, was 2 at the time described above.

Quasqueton

 

[Nightchilde-2]

Yeah, I came to that conclusion too. My 2-year old daughter is about the size of a halfling or gnome. It really kinda shed some light on the matter.

 

[BiggusGeekus]

It's that kind of stuff that causes me to curl up into a fetal position and rock myself back and forth whispering, "Hit points are an abstraction. Hit points are an abstraction."

 

[HellHound]

Biggus - my thoughts exactly.

My youngest daughter is bigger than any halfling or gnome, and slightly taller but lighter than a goblin.

It weirds me out, and makes me consider making the 'small' races a lot bigger than they are in the game, just so they can have the necessary leverage to use a weapon with some amount of power behind it.

 

[Crothian]

it is really amazing how children can help out in gaming....

 

[Plane Sailing]

As soon as I read the PHB height/weight/descriptions of halflings I couldn't stop laughing at the stupidity of it all (is that too harsh a word?). I thought at the time that the halflings with their mere -2 to Str are the size of 2 year olds. At least Tolkein put them at the size of about 9 year olds, which makes much more sense.

People wonder why 3e halflings and gnomes never exist in my worlds... I just can't suspend my disbelief enough for them!

Cheers

 

[Allanon]

I did the same once with a 3 meter stick in the gaming room. Showing with red lines the individual heights of sprites, halflings, dwarves, humans and large creatures like ogres. It was surely an eye opener, and I use it now as a visual aid.

I'd like to try it with a stick with which I can show the size difference between a human and a colossal dragon, but the darn thing wouldn't fit in the room

 

[Tav_Behemoth]

Having often carried my 2-year-old son Javi around in a hiking backpack, I can attest that the Road Warrior-style "Master Blaster" halfling/human combat duo would work pretty well; Javi's even been known to use the Mounted Combat feat by pulling on my ears to make me go where he wants. (There were rules for intelligent mounts in Dragon last year sometime that handle this pretty well!).

Like many other real-world experiences, though, it makes me feel for the poor D&D character. Walking around in a hundred-plus pounds of armor and weapons and *then* strapping a wriggling combatant to your back? No thank you; if that's what it takes to stop the armies of darkness from taking over the world, they're welcome to it

 

[Ferret]

So how high should they get?

 

[Laurel]

At a non-game get together with my gaming group a while back, I introduced my Players to my 2*-year-old son. At that time he was a bit over 3-feet tall, and about 32 pounds. I explained to the Players that he is within an inch and couple pounds of being the same size as the party female halfling rogue. It was a bit of a surprise to see, for real, how small a halfling really is. I mean, these little people fight orcs and ogres and dragons and demons.

The next time you see a small child (big enough to walk on his own, but young enough to not run real well) think how the world would be for a race(s) of people normally that size. And think how small a halfling/gnome/goblin/kobold child would be.

Those of you with children of your own can probably relate/understand this size concept immediately.

*Edit: is 3 now, was 2 at the time described above.

Quasqueton

For me it was a shock the first time compared thier baby to the halfling... only issue is now everytime someone mentions a halfling I picture a little baby weilding a little nerf/tonka weapon beeping and flashing in colorful plastic....