Help me make halflings cool!
- Thread starter jdrakeh
- Start date
meh... I think hobbits woldn't be good at technology for technology's sake, but might be spectacular at anything directly connected with cooking, mending, household repair, gardening, etc. "Oh, that's not technology, that's just my seed-sifter. oh, and my pot-patch kit. and my knife sharpener. and my axle straightener. but that's all that would fit on my cart. what? me? tinker? no... just a bit handy around the house."
a similar sort of discussion goes for alchemy. Though I think the bridge from grandmotherly healing and comfort food to combat-effective tanglefoot pouches might be a bit far a stretch for me.
Gilladian
Adventurer
Utopia - I do agree with you that a "tinker" hobbit who was good with simple tools and such would be really likely. I would just never go as far as, say, the Tinker Gnome aspect, which I really dislike.
I see my hobyts as being far less adept than that, and far too busy with their green thumbs, greenhouses, and cookery to bother with "engines" and "brews". Although, yeah, simple alchemy such as tisanes and herbal remedies might not be out of the ballpark.
I see my hobyts as being far less adept than that, and far too busy with their green thumbs, greenhouses, and cookery to bother with "engines" and "brews". Although, yeah, simple alchemy such as tisanes and herbal remedies might not be out of the ballpark.
As a secondary thought, I would like to add:
-if- you can't think up a good hook, and -if- you don't have a particular reason to really _need_ them (i.e. a player who really really wants them, or you have a plot thread that demands them and can't be rewritten) then actually drop them from your setting.
You probably have the "nimble woodsy/nature" role filled with elves, and so if you don't have a good hook for halflings that makes them interesting & unique, then you should not need to include them just for the sake of including them.
-if- you can't think up a good hook, and -if- you don't have a particular reason to really _need_ them (i.e. a player who really really wants them, or you have a plot thread that demands them and can't be rewritten) then actually drop them from your setting.
You probably have the "nimble woodsy/nature" role filled with elves, and so if you don't have a good hook for halflings that makes them interesting & unique, then you should not need to include them just for the sake of including them.
darjr
I crit!
I'll tell you a secret, they run the universe.
Naw, they don't command angles or devils or demons, nor do they boss the gods around. Think of them as metaphysical handymen, the folks who keep everything running and in tip top shape, the folks whom without, the universe would slowly decay and fall apart until it was a ramshackle rusted weed infested mess.
Don't let the rable know, the gods and devils, angels and demons. First, they wouldn't believe you, and second if they did believe you they'd try to git rid of em, to all of our detriment.
Naw, they don't command angles or devils or demons, nor do they boss the gods around. Think of them as metaphysical handymen, the folks who keep everything running and in tip top shape, the folks whom without, the universe would slowly decay and fall apart until it was a ramshackle rusted weed infested mess.
Don't let the rable know, the gods and devils, angels and demons. First, they wouldn't believe you, and second if they did believe you they'd try to git rid of em, to all of our detriment.
1) Halflings *are* the 'fair folk,' and live 'under the hill' in warrens concealed within local woodlands. They are almost supernaturally stealthy, and they are the subject of all sorts of rumors, of cattle being 'elf-shot' or of little people under the hill stealing children or of mysterious crop circles or cattle mutilations (both performed to hide the fact that the halflings are stealing grain and meat, for their own supper!). Some may wear red caps, others may perform tricks, some may even be friendly and helpful, rescuing travellers lost in the woods.
2) Halflings have taken advantage of their small size and reduced need for food and drink to utterly dominate the seas, and halfling merchant concerns rule the seafaring trade, as halfling-manned vessels can hold more cargo for trade than the same size ship staffed by humans.
3) Halflings are born to humans, and vice-versa. Legend has it that they were either blessed, or cursed, to be born this way, and children born of the 'wrong size' are handed off to foster parents of the 'right size,' so that the vast majority of halflings are handed off by their human birth parents to other halflings to raise, while the occasional human also is raised by foster parents, after being handed off by halfling parents. In some areas, the two races exist side by side, in others the towns have 'halfling ghettos,' and in still others, where a halfling birth is seen as a sign of a curse or punishment, halflings are about as welcome in town as lepers, and a halfling birth to a prominent citizens is covered up and the 'little monster' disposed of, lest the birth be discovered and the parents stained with the implications that they did something to deserve being so punished. Cultures that go to this extreme regard 'normal sized' babies born to halflings as being some sign of a jealous halfling witch stealing the baby from some innocent human woman's womb through some diabolic art, and may attempt to 'rescue' the 'stolen baby.'
4) Halflings despise the name 'halfling,' not considering themselves 'half' of anything. They have names for themselves, but those names inevitably turn out to be the names of extended clans, and halflings from a distant clan will have a completely different name for their race. Names for the '
'halfling' race could include Huldrefolk, Hin, Fayen, etc.
5) Halflings are nomadic, driving brightly painted wagons that convert into barges with paddlewheels in a surprisingly short time. Some live up to their 'gypsy' reputation and live to swindle those whose communities they pass through, but the majority of them are honest folks with a strong sense of honor, and an unshakable sense of loyalty to their own kind. The arrival of a halfling troupe could become an impromptu carnival in towns that don't embrace the worst rumors, but it always seems that after the halflings move on, someone is quick to blame a lost cow or missing trinket on the 'gypsy thieves.' (Quite often to get away with evading taxes, by claiming that items of value were stolen, or to avoid settling a debt by quickly butchering a cow owed to a neighbor, and salting and concealing the meat for the winter, then claiming that 'those darned halflings must have stolen old Bessie! I'm sorry I can't pay you!') Just as in the real world, where 'those darned gypsies' were blamed for every single young woman's pregnancy (even if the child ended up with the same eyes as the young girls boyfriend...) and every single missing or misplaced item, a halfling troupe finds themselves a handy scapegoat for miscreants to point to after the fact, to draw attention away from themselves. The halflings, being long gone by the time the lies begin, have no way to refute these accusations, and their 'reputation' grows with each town they visit.
2) Halflings have taken advantage of their small size and reduced need for food and drink to utterly dominate the seas, and halfling merchant concerns rule the seafaring trade, as halfling-manned vessels can hold more cargo for trade than the same size ship staffed by humans.
3) Halflings are born to humans, and vice-versa. Legend has it that they were either blessed, or cursed, to be born this way, and children born of the 'wrong size' are handed off to foster parents of the 'right size,' so that the vast majority of halflings are handed off by their human birth parents to other halflings to raise, while the occasional human also is raised by foster parents, after being handed off by halfling parents. In some areas, the two races exist side by side, in others the towns have 'halfling ghettos,' and in still others, where a halfling birth is seen as a sign of a curse or punishment, halflings are about as welcome in town as lepers, and a halfling birth to a prominent citizens is covered up and the 'little monster' disposed of, lest the birth be discovered and the parents stained with the implications that they did something to deserve being so punished. Cultures that go to this extreme regard 'normal sized' babies born to halflings as being some sign of a jealous halfling witch stealing the baby from some innocent human woman's womb through some diabolic art, and may attempt to 'rescue' the 'stolen baby.'
4) Halflings despise the name 'halfling,' not considering themselves 'half' of anything. They have names for themselves, but those names inevitably turn out to be the names of extended clans, and halflings from a distant clan will have a completely different name for their race. Names for the '
'halfling' race could include Huldrefolk, Hin, Fayen, etc.
5) Halflings are nomadic, driving brightly painted wagons that convert into barges with paddlewheels in a surprisingly short time. Some live up to their 'gypsy' reputation and live to swindle those whose communities they pass through, but the majority of them are honest folks with a strong sense of honor, and an unshakable sense of loyalty to their own kind. The arrival of a halfling troupe could become an impromptu carnival in towns that don't embrace the worst rumors, but it always seems that after the halflings move on, someone is quick to blame a lost cow or missing trinket on the 'gypsy thieves.' (Quite often to get away with evading taxes, by claiming that items of value were stolen, or to avoid settling a debt by quickly butchering a cow owed to a neighbor, and salting and concealing the meat for the winter, then claiming that 'those darned halflings must have stolen old Bessie! I'm sorry I can't pay you!') Just as in the real world, where 'those darned gypsies' were blamed for every single young woman's pregnancy (even if the child ended up with the same eyes as the young girls boyfriend...) and every single missing or misplaced item, a halfling troupe finds themselves a handy scapegoat for miscreants to point to after the fact, to draw attention away from themselves. The halflings, being long gone by the time the lies begin, have no way to refute these accusations, and their 'reputation' grows with each town they visit.
Totally agree. But I'm biased.
Aldarc
Legend
I have been working on this problem as well. There are a number of issues facing halflings in their reception history that makes them somewhat challenging to utilize:
1) Mini-Humans. Campaigns sometimes just relegate them to being miniature humans, so for the most part, they completely lack an identity.
2) Hobbits. People tend to use them as the hedonistic, pastoral hobbits of Lord of the Rings. Hardly interesting.
3) Kender. Dragonlance turned the halflings into kleptomaniacs. Many halflings from this point on would be played as annoying members of a party that will do intentionally stupid things to get the rest of the party killed.
4E Halflings turn them into a sort of Romanov-river folk people, which does provide something of a balance between the prior three. But it is still not all that interesting.
When I looked at finding a place for halflings in my campaign world, one of my initial questions was, "How did a race like halflings possibly survive and proliferate as a successful race when competing with these other races of the world?" They are a diminutive race and their birth rate is not necessarily higher than other races. But there are safety in numbers. So my thought has been that halflings are a race that has successfully evolved, or simply exist, due to the sophistication of their social organization and commitment to the well-being of their affiliated groups. This frequently places halflings at the unofficial top of the cultural advancement totem pole. In order to ensure their own protection, they advance and protect the group. Any new advances such as writing, technology, or magic is shared with the family, clan, or tribe. Halfling feasts and festival that other races may deem frivolous may increase group cohesion. Also they are able to have these feasts due to the group's success. And while this originally included just other halflings in the periods of their racial isolation, it has expanded to include other affiliated groups with urbanization or globalization.
But this also has solved another problem: the kleptomaniac halfling. A kleptomaniac halfling, or any halfling doing anything intentionally stupid, is liable to get the rest of their kin or group killed. This sort of reckless behavior is shunned in most halfling cultures. Their courage comes from their biological altruism. And their commitment to the group also may serve as a means of determining an appropriate mate. Any halfling in your group who feels any sense of loyalty or attachment to the party will fiercely fight to protect the well-being of the party with the understanding that the rest of the group will do the same for the halfling, which may or may not happen.
From this premise, I will fit them into my campaign in different ways. In one campaign world, this evolutionary adaption has made them the most populous race the area. They outnumber even humans, who are more individually ambitious. But halflings are under the subjugation/protection of a dragonborn imperial state, which has proven to be a culturally advantageous move for both. The syncretism of their two cultures has also become the prevailing cultural spirit for other races in the empire. In another campaign world, the halflings are modeled closer to the gelflings of the Dark Crystal in demeanor and appearance (i.e. elfin with a tinge of animalistic). I changed the appearance primarily to further reinforce that halflings are not just mini-humans.
1) Mini-Humans. Campaigns sometimes just relegate them to being miniature humans, so for the most part, they completely lack an identity.
2) Hobbits. People tend to use them as the hedonistic, pastoral hobbits of Lord of the Rings. Hardly interesting.
3) Kender. Dragonlance turned the halflings into kleptomaniacs. Many halflings from this point on would be played as annoying members of a party that will do intentionally stupid things to get the rest of the party killed.
4E Halflings turn them into a sort of Romanov-river folk people, which does provide something of a balance between the prior three. But it is still not all that interesting.
When I looked at finding a place for halflings in my campaign world, one of my initial questions was, "How did a race like halflings possibly survive and proliferate as a successful race when competing with these other races of the world?" They are a diminutive race and their birth rate is not necessarily higher than other races. But there are safety in numbers. So my thought has been that halflings are a race that has successfully evolved, or simply exist, due to the sophistication of their social organization and commitment to the well-being of their affiliated groups. This frequently places halflings at the unofficial top of the cultural advancement totem pole. In order to ensure their own protection, they advance and protect the group. Any new advances such as writing, technology, or magic is shared with the family, clan, or tribe. Halfling feasts and festival that other races may deem frivolous may increase group cohesion. Also they are able to have these feasts due to the group's success. And while this originally included just other halflings in the periods of their racial isolation, it has expanded to include other affiliated groups with urbanization or globalization.
But this also has solved another problem: the kleptomaniac halfling. A kleptomaniac halfling, or any halfling doing anything intentionally stupid, is liable to get the rest of their kin or group killed. This sort of reckless behavior is shunned in most halfling cultures. Their courage comes from their biological altruism. And their commitment to the group also may serve as a means of determining an appropriate mate. Any halfling in your group who feels any sense of loyalty or attachment to the party will fiercely fight to protect the well-being of the party with the understanding that the rest of the group will do the same for the halfling, which may or may not happen.
From this premise, I will fit them into my campaign in different ways. In one campaign world, this evolutionary adaption has made them the most populous race the area. They outnumber even humans, who are more individually ambitious. But halflings are under the subjugation/protection of a dragonborn imperial state, which has proven to be a culturally advantageous move for both. The syncretism of their two cultures has also become the prevailing cultural spirit for other races in the empire. In another campaign world, the halflings are modeled closer to the gelflings of the Dark Crystal in demeanor and appearance (i.e. elfin with a tinge of animalistic). I changed the appearance primarily to further reinforce that halflings are not just mini-humans.
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Pig Champion
First Post
I've always seen Halflings as the creators of known society. Through exchange and trade, they taught the older races of Elves and Dwarves agriculture.
I like to mash-up Halflings and Gelflings. So the females can fly, although their ability to do so has diminished over the centuries.
Typically, the live near water supplies, used to irrigate their farms. My halflings have a capital of sorts on the banks of a large river, much like the Thames.
The problem is, the rivalry between the north and south banks of the city means that they can never work together to build any bridges as displayed by a huge bridge with the middle part missing.
They have trained dolphins, which act as ferries across the city's river and are famous for a warrior caste like the knight...except they ride dolphins and hold no lands, just titles.
There is one other thing my Halflings use to separate themselves from the pack. Their use of child assassins and thieves. Almost always female, Halflings hand pick children and send to their sleeper cells through out the world for training.
This provides the bulk of their income but also acts like Mossad. Politically, the Halflings have never been forgotten for their help and although their day has passed they still sit on very influential councils.
However, some see their culture as a blight on the world, probably because they live on all the best and most irrigated land. The cells usually make swift work of such people however.
I like to mash-up Halflings and Gelflings. So the females can fly, although their ability to do so has diminished over the centuries.
Typically, the live near water supplies, used to irrigate their farms. My halflings have a capital of sorts on the banks of a large river, much like the Thames.
The problem is, the rivalry between the north and south banks of the city means that they can never work together to build any bridges as displayed by a huge bridge with the middle part missing.
They have trained dolphins, which act as ferries across the city's river and are famous for a warrior caste like the knight...except they ride dolphins and hold no lands, just titles.
There is one other thing my Halflings use to separate themselves from the pack. Their use of child assassins and thieves. Almost always female, Halflings hand pick children and send to their sleeper cells through out the world for training.
This provides the bulk of their income but also acts like Mossad. Politically, the Halflings have never been forgotten for their help and although their day has passed they still sit on very influential councils.
However, some see their culture as a blight on the world, probably because they live on all the best and most irrigated land. The cells usually make swift work of such people however.
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jdrakeh
Front Range Warlock
Interestingly enough, Elves aren't portrayed as being skilled with ranged weapons, nimble, or particularly nature-loving in Holmes Basic. All of that stereotyping came later in D&D.
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