D&D 5E (+) Halflings In A New PHB

[Charlaquin]

Lightfoots are one kind of halfling. Halflings, not just a subrace of them, should be stealthy.

As for Halfling Nimbleness, by itself I don’t think it actually models the nimbleness it is named after.

Fair enough.

Honestly, I think getting rid of the Lightfoot/Stout split and just adding both Naturally Stealthy and Stout Resilience to the base race would put them on par with other PHB races, and both the toughness and the stealth are classic hobbit traits.

 

[Shardstone]

I just finished rewatching the LotR trilogy lately.

Every single hobbit has incredible mental defenses. Multiple in the Fellowship straight out resist Sauron. I think it would be cool if halflings adopted this, and basically had a feature that made them super mentally tough and hard to break down, exhaust, and so on.

 

[Agametorememberbooks]

Is the expectation that ”core” PHB halflings be based around the Tolkien mythos?

In the campaign world of Athas (Dark Sun), halflings were the progenitor race and were the mightiest mages of any era. So mighty, they destroyed the sun and ecological balance of the world. Now, halflings are cannibals but they still retain ancient, mystical roots to magics…if more along the lines of druids/blood sacrifices/etc.

In Eberron, halflings are expert Dino-riding traders and nomads. But they also live in cities and their hospitality is legendary.

I can see a need to have a core expectation versus campaign-specific changes.

 

[Shardstone]

Is the expectation that ”core” PHB halflings be based around the Tolkien mythos?

In the campaign world of Athas (Dark Sun), halflings were the progenitor race and were the mightiest mages of any era. So mighty, they destroyed the sun and ecological balance of the world. Now, halflings are cannibals but they still retain ancient, mystical roots to magics…if more along the lines of druids/blood sacrifices/etc.

In Eberron, halflings are expert Dino-riding traders and nomads. But they also live in cities and their hospitality is legendary.

I can see a need to have a core expectation versus campaign-specific changes.

Dunno why the Tolkien hyper-fortitude and strong mentals can't be applied to the Athas and all other ideas as well!

 

[Maxperson]

I just finished rewatching the LotR trilogy lately.

Every single hobbit has incredible mental defenses. Multiple in the Fellowship straight out resist Sauron. I think it would be cool if halflings adopted this, and basically had a feature that made them super mentally tough and hard to break down, exhaust, and so on.

Yeah. I would ditch the halfling racials and just make them these.

1. Vanish into the Background: Proficiency and Expertise with Stealth.
2. Mental Fortitude: Advantage on Int, Wis and Cha saves.

I think that bravery got added to them, because the hobbits of the Fellowship were very brave, but that doesn't have to be racial. I'm not sure where lucky came from. The stout resilience I'd just fold into their racial ASI and go with +2 dex, +1 con. Halfling nimbleness doesn't really need to be a thing.

 

[Maxperson]

Is the expectation that ”core” PHB halflings be based around the Tolkien mythos?

It's not at all my expectation of how D&D halflings should be, but being a Tolkien fan it's what I would do if I were to redesign that race.

 

[CreamCloud0]

Halfling
ASI: Tasha’s floating (Default: DEX +2, WIS or CHA +1)
Size: Small,
Speed: 25ft,
Languages: Common, Halfling,

Lucky: EDIT: PB/LR uses, When you roll a 1 on an attack roll, ability check, or saving throw, you can reroll the die. You must use the new result, even if it is a 1, alternately you can instead use a luck point to gain advantage on one of those rolls before you make it.
Inspiring Courage: You have advantage on saving throws against Fear, Allies within 15ft who can see you also have advantage against Fear.
Unobtrusive: You have proficiency in Stealth and can attempt to hide when partially obscured, Such as by foliage, dim light, heavy rain, mist or crowds.
Nimble: You can move through the space of any creature that is of a size larger than yours.
Master of the Hearth: When you spend the duration of a short rest or longer partaking in a communal activity with a group(such as cooking a meal or playing an instrument) roll an appropriate DC13 skill check to your chosen activity, On a failure nothing happens, On a success you each gain temp hitpoints equal to 1/2 the halflings proficiency rounded up worth of average hit die, On a score of over DC21 gain full proficiency’s worth average hit die temp hitpoints, The temp hitpoints last 6 hours or until you next rest whichever comes first.
Kitchen Skills: You have proficiency with either Brewers Tools or Chefs Utensils.

EDIT: Seeing as there’s the idea kicking around somewhat that halflings mingle into other societies very easily I was considering some sort of ‘integrated society’ trait where they get a single non-genetic based skill and the native language of a species they’ve spent alot of time around, or exchangeable for a skill and a tool proficiency if they’ve only known other halflings.

 

[Minigiant]

Minigiant's Halfling

• Age. A halfling reaches adulthood at the age of 20 and generally lives into the middle of his or her second century.
• Size. Halflings average about 3 feet tall and weigh about 40 pounds. Your size is Small.
• Speed. Your base walking speed is 25 feet. You can move through the space of any creature that is of a size larger than yoursat no cost of speed.
• Lucky.You have 1 luck point. At level 7 and 14, you gain another luck point.
  • Whenever you make an attack roll, an ability check, or a saving throw, you can spend one luck point to roll an additional d20. You can choose to spend one of your luck points after you roll the die, but before the outcome is determined. You choose which of the d20s is used for the attack roll, ability check, or saving throw.
    
    You can also spend one luck point when an attack roll is made against you. Roll a d20 and then choose whether the attack uses the attacker's roll or yours.
    
    If more than one creature spends a luck point to influence the outcome of a roll, the points cancel each other out; no additional dice are rolled.
    
    You regain your expended luck points when you finish a long rest.
• Strength of Mind. You can spend a luck point to gain advantage on saving throws against being frightened or mind control.
• Halflng Nimbleness. When you take the Dash,Disengage, or Hide action,you have advatage on any Dexterity (Acrobatics) checks you make until the end of your turn.
• Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and Halfling

Halflings should have an active ability.

 

[James Gasik]

Yeah. I would ditch the halfling racials and just make them these.

1. Vanish into the Background: Proficiency and Expertise with Stealth.
2. Mental Fortitude: Advantage on Int, Wis and Cha saves.

I think that bravery got added to them, because the hobbits of the Fellowship were very brave, but that doesn't have to be racial. I'm not sure where lucky came from. The stout resilience I'd just fold into their racial ASI and go with +2 dex, +1 con. Halfling nimbleness doesn't really need to be a thing.

As near as I can tell, it all started with 3e giving them a +1 luck bonus on all saves. This is where the brave thing started too. Oh and Nimble, with their bonuses on Jump and Climb checks.

Before then, they had the "shorty bonus" to saves based on Constitution, similar to Dwarves and Gnomes.

3e seemed to have a mandate to "de-Tolkien-ify" Halflings, so they did this to differentiate from the AD&D Halflings.

4e decided to go in a different direction, and made Luckiness their big trait- it started with being able to force a reroll on a successful attack made against them once per encounter, and had Feats that could boost this ability (my favorite was the one for Martial characters, where the reroll had a -5 penalty and could not crit, even if a 20 was rolled).

It's at this point that Nimbleness was weakened to being merely a bonus to AC against opportunity attacks, and Halflings lost any bonuses to Stealth beyond Dexterity.

5e gave us this disconnect where the same basic traits are kept (Halflings are nimble, lucky, and brave), but the lore hearkens back to AD&D, where Halflings are stealthy and reserved, not adventurous.

"We are plain quiet folk and have no use for adventures. Nasty disturbing uncomfortable things! Make you late for dinner!” -Bilbo Baggins

 

[Vaalingrade]

Speed 30 and different art direction.