Got Hobbits?

[ColonelHardisson]

personal opinion: 3e = anime and video game tainted sacrilege

Given that I don't watch anime and very rarely play video games, I don't carry that baggage into how I perceive the game. What you consider to be taint seems pretty cool to me, and I started out playing in 1979.

Anyway, I don't like the kenderized halflings much, so they have remained in my campaign world what they've always been, which are beings very much like Tolkien's hobbits. The only difference is that they didn't have Dunedain Rangers protecting them, so are much more aware of how dangerous the world is, and take care of themselves pretty well.

And my gnomes still have big noses.

 

[MrFilthyIke]

If I were running Blackmoor or Greyhawk, it'd be Hobbits (just called halflings).

In Eberron, I go with the thin and lithe Halfling.

If I homebrewed, I'd probably lean towards Hobbits, as I'm a huge fan of MERP.

 

[Saeviomagy]

i dislike the idea of "feats". seems silly to me. it seems a bit Draon ball z

I'm sorry, but this doesn't make the least bit of sense...

 

[ColonelHardisson]

i dislike the idea of "feats". seems silly to me. it seems a bit Draon ball z or some other bad anime in fluenced (if you doubt me, just think of KA! ME! HA! ME! HAAAAA! ::everything goes to hell:.

I can't think of "KA! ME! HA! ME! HAAAAA!" because I simply don't know what the hell that is. Again, I think this is more about what baggage you carry than what the game actually is.

Feats are a great way to customize characters. They don't strike me as "power ups" like in a video game, which is what I'm guessing you're getting at. Matter of fact, if video game power ups were as powerful as 3e feats, they wouldn't be all that powerful. "Whirlwind Attack" might be powerful in itself, but one has to look at the chain of feats necessary to get it, which represent a gradual build-up of training, power and expertise. One might point at feats and label them as being like something from a video game, but I could go through the list of core feats and find instances in classic swords & sorcery literature where they seem to apply - and I'm talking about stuff like REH's "Conan" and Leiber's "Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser."

 

[Imret]

I played from the Red Box on. I read the Hobbit while my friends were working through Dr Seuss. I've been involved in D&D for the greater part of my life and fantasy for even longer.

Do I have hobbits? No. Nor do I have Gondorian knights, men descended from Numenorean Kings, or a One Ring, Answer To All Riddles. Hobbits are, IMO, an exclusively Middle-Earth race.

OTOH, I don't have the halflings or gnomes from the PHB, either. It's not that I'm against Small races - I have a half-dozen or so - but the halflings and gnomes lack any convincing elements to their culture or existance as written, as far as I'm concerned. My Idwen are somewhere between halfings and gnomes; Small, some animal speech, a bit of illusion, good hand-eye coordination. They're distantly related to humans - hailing from the same genetic stock - and the first of their kin to build cities. They're also now fighting a bitter war for their very survival in the ruins of their culture.

But I'd swap over to 3.x PHB halflings and gnomes well before I'd call them hobbits unless I'm running Middle-Earth.

 

[el-remmen]

And my gnomes still have big noses.

Amen, brother.

 

[BroccoliRage]

I can't think of "KA! ME! HA! ME! HAAAAA!" because I simply don't know what the hell that is. Again, I think this is more about what baggage you carry than what the game actually is.

Feats are a great way to customize characters. They don't strike me as "power ups" like in a video game, which is what I'm guessing you're getting at. Matter of fact, if video game power ups were as powerful as 3e feats, they wouldn't be all that powerful. "Whirlwind Attack" might be powerful in itself, but one has to look at the chain of feats necessary to get it, which represent a gradual build-up of training, power and expertise. One might point at feats and label them as being like something from a video game, but I could go through the list of core feats and find instances in classic swords & sorcery literature where they seem to apply - and I'm talking about stuff like REH's "Conan" and Leiber's "Fafhrd and the Grey Mouser."

adhering to the edition war truce that was called a few blocks up.

we had feats back in the day. we called them "called shots" and your plusses came into play. im pretty sure they were a house rule (i havent really looked to see if there is a rule book variation). anyway, its the whole "special move" aspect behind the feats that i find ridiculous. it seems a bit trite to me, like when anime characters shout the name of their attack or when pro wrestlers pull off their special move or when the ninja android in that old godzilla movie used his special "robot punch" to save the day. ooo look redgar or whoever uses his "great cleave", look out, cue the entrance music. you see what i mean? the characters seem to cease to be relevant and become superhuman. i can see the appeal for some people in that, but i liked the old way of doing things. to each his own.

 

[Blair Goatsblood]

Yeah, in my 3.5 game they're 1st ed "Hobbits" and Gnomes...and neither are available as a player race. My campaign is a bloody, gritty, pulpy sword & sorcery game, and generally midget protagonists don't work in that genre.

 

[BroccoliRage]

Yeah, in my 3.5 game they're 1st ed "Hobbits" and Gnomes...and neither are available as a player race. My campaign is a bloody, gritty, pulpy sword & sorcery game, and generally midget protagonists don't work in that genre.

i have one group that differs from most hobbits in that they are wilder and have tamed dinosaurs and ride velociraptors ( a reference to a cartoon i used to watch). i think you could make these types work, that is if you wanted to. i take it your campaign follows more of a Gor, Conan or Elric type? i tried to mix pretty much everything, but i really like it when people can do dark fantasy really well without it becoming trite. it can make for a very good gaming session.

 

[Droogie]

BroccoliRage, do you know about Castles and Crusades? Its a very 1st Edition-esque RPG that incorporates many of the more intuitive concepts from the D20 system. Might be right up your alley.