Halflings or Hobbits?

[Corathon]

Hobbits. Not a fan of the "slenderkender" of 3E.

 

[Theo R Cwithin]

"Halflings" in the generic. Other terms might be used locally, depending upon the setting.

Usually, I'll say "hobbits" to mean the fat, domesticated halflings that produce their own gravy.

 

[NewJeffCT]

even though I love Tolkien, I call them "halflings" in D&D and not hobbits.

However, I insist on calling the "balor" the "balrog" whenever I put it on the table...

 

[steeldragons]

Halflings. I actually started playing D&D before I was familiar with Tolkien, so they've always been halflings for me.

Totally this!

Hobbits belong in Middle-Earth, and rightly so.

Halflings are forever blazed in my mind by Jeff Dee's illustration in the original Expert book. So very NOT the plump "comfort loving Tolkien hobbit."

Nor do they EVER where shoes (unless they're enchanted boots that magically form to their hair-covered feet, of course and even then, they are uncomfortable in them. But enchanted boots is enchanted boots, after all .

Corn-rows, square" ears and snug outfits/boots to define a "halfling"? NO THANK YOU very much! Bushy hairy feet and slightly pointed ears FTW!

Naturally, the "halfling" term is derogatory. As Bilbo (or one of 'em) says somewhere, "I'm not a halfling, I'm a whole hobbit."

That being said, "hobbit" or not, the sentiment is valid. I HIGHLY encourage all GMs to give a societal name to any 'halfling" people...a communal/racial name/term that is their own for their species. "Halfling" is a purely stature-related term used by the "big folk."

And that's my ruling on Halfling v. Hobbit. The Supreme Court (of Orea) agreed with this ruling in a vote of three to two (though I did have to pay off the one nasty orc judge, but regardless...).

--Steel Dragons

 

[jaerdaph]

Hairfoot, stout, and tallfellow.

 

[Dragonhelm]

Kender.

While hobbits are content to hide in their hobbit-holes in the shire, kender are born for adventure. Their wanderlust makes them want to see the world. Their child-like wonder and curiosity can lead to all sorts of adventures.

I know. They have a bad rap. And it's largely due to players who use them as an excuse to rob people blind. Those same players would probably do the same with a human rogue if given the chance.

3rd edition took a lot of kender traits, but toned it down some. 4th edition continues with that, with a greater focus on wanderlust. And some weird connection to rivers.

That being said, "hobbit" or not, the sentiment is valid. I HIGHLY encourage all GMs to give a societal name to any 'halfling" people...a communal/racial name/term that is their own for their species. "Halfling" is a purely stature-related term used by the "big folk."

I think Mystara uses the term "Hin". I'm not a fan of it myself, but it's an option.

Hairfoot, stout, and tallfellow.

I like all of these. Don't forget furchin and lightfoot.

The way I figure, you can have all sorts of halflings. Hairfoot halflings, for example, could be hobbit-like (and maybe call themselves hobbits). Stouts might have some dwarven ancestors.

Wikipedia has a great halfling article that goes into the D&D halfling subraces.

 

[VGmaster9]

The way I see it, Hobbits are just reffered in Tolkien's Middle Earth while Halflings are a general term outside of Tolkien. To answer the topic, I'd go with halflings.

 

[SSquirrel]

I'm a little miffed by their evolution. I don't care if WotC only shows fit adventurers, they generally don't show plump noncombatant elves either. But I don't understand why they're supposed to live near water now. That just came out of nowhere. I ignore that, an easy task as I'm running Dark Sun.

The water thing is them stealing influence from Tolkien again. The Stoors (the branch of hobbits Gollum came from) lived on riverbanks and were much more comfortable in the water than the Harfoots, which would resemble Bilbo and company.

 

[Smoss]

Neither. I removed them entirely for my RPG system.

But if I did include them, I would want them to have a unique group name. Much like dwarves in my system do not call themselves dwarves (or even dwarfs!).

I kept the term of elf for elves though, as it isn't an insult... Well, usually...

Smoss

 

[howandwhy99]

My old DM used both, hobbits as those in hobbit-lands, halflings as those who left. The adventuring type basically. Same thing with gnomes & dwarves, faeries & elves.