Do you realize how small a halfling/gnome is?

[Driddle]

It's enlightening, too, when you set a child that size astride a mastiff and imagine that's what it must be like to see a halfling riding a wardog.

 

[Plane Sailing]

Uh, where did you read that?

If I recall correctly, Tolkein discribed Hobbits as between 2 1/2 and 3 1/2 feet tall.

I'm thinking of the time when Pippin has arrived at Minas Tirith and he comes across Beregonds(?) son - who takes Pippin for being a boy of similar age to himself.

 

[Plane Sailing]

Another thing that bugged me about the baseline "race" pictures in the start of the PHB was the dwarf. What are their muscles made of, wet noodles? These guys have got biceps the size of the humans thighs muscles... yet just have the same average strength!

FWIW I think Claudio Pozas did a far, far more reasonable job in depicting the different PHB races; he makes them distinctive but less charicatured IMO.

 

[Aust Diamondew]

As others have said strength and size don't change in proportion to one another. Also as some one has been saying some monkeys and apes are very strong. Look at chimpanzees, about 4ft tall and one of them could proably beat anyone I know at arm wrestling.

Don't forget about small characters -4 to grapple checks and such either or their 3/4 carrying thingy.

 

[The Sigil]

I'm thinking of the time when Pippin has arrived at Minas Tirith and he comes across Beregonds(?) son - who takes Pippin for being a boy of similar age to himself.

This was AFTER Pippen had drunk the entdraught, no?

--The Sigil

 

[Will]

Keep in mind that the standard adjustment for a step from Medium to Small is -4 Str, +2 Dex, and -2 Con.

Halflings, then, have a +2 Str and +2 Con compared to humans, discounting size adjustments.

A bit unusually strong and healthy? Not unreasonable, considering they have to live alongside Big Folk.

Gnomes have a relative +2 Str and _+4_ Con. Wacky.

 

[johnsemlak]

Halflings (or as I like to call them - Halfwits) in tolkien pretty much fill the role one would expect, other races look down on them, they pretty much hide from any sort of physical confrontation, and the exceptions don't disprove the rule.

None of which is relevant to DND where the abstractions and unrealities are what make it a fantasy game where humans CAN fight giants instead of being rightly smacked into oblivion.

-Hylo

But I think you're forgetting that D&D fantasy heroes of any race are always exceptions. A normal human (Commoner in 3e) who faces a 'normal' fire giant would be smacked into oblivion. But a 10th level Fighter might have a chance . A 10th level fighter is a very rare human however.

That fact is most normal humanoids of any race would mostly avoid confrontation. It's the exceptional ones that take up arms and willingly face danger. And there can be exceptional halflings just as there can be exceptional humans.

 

[Richards]

Originally posted by Aust Diamondew:

Look at chimpanzees, about 4ft tall and one of them could proably beat anyone I know at arm wrestling.

I recall a favorite episode of "The Lone Gunmen" when a chimpanzee with human intelligence beat up Langley, tied him up, and hung him upside-down from the ceiling!

Johnathan

 

[jgbrowning]

Keep in mind that the standard adjustment for a step from Medium to Small is -4 Str, +2 Dex, and -2 Con.

Halflings, then, have a +2 Str and +2 Con compared to humans, discounting size adjustments.

A bit unusually strong and healthy? Not unreasonable, considering they have to live alongside Big Folk.

Gnomes have a relative +2 Str and _+4_ Con. Wacky.

Nice way of looking at it.

joe b.

 

[Dr. Strangemonkey]

Originally posted by Aust Diamondew:I recall a favorite episode of "The Lone Gunmen" when a chimpanzee with human intelligence beat up Langley, tied him up, and hung him upside-down from the ceiling!

Johnathan

Murder on the Rue Morgue is another favorite of mine when considering the small races.

One thing this consideration of size certainly does make me regret is that our weapon tables aren't more geared towards race and culture.

Looking at those size comparison charts makes me realize how terrible it would be to fight a small sized PC opponent armed with weapons properly constructed for their comparitive heights.

The thought of someone playing with a halfling armed with a properly sized pole-arm with plenty of weapon catchers and pokey bits is pretty interesting.

On that same note, I always become very anxious for Gimli at the Battle of Helm's Deep in the movie that his axe has no upward pointing sharp bits at all and the blade is pretty clear there to help with a downward chop.

Still, lot's of shinless orcs lying around.