Hobbits are Back!

[Sammael]

I demand to see some fat warforged.

 

[SensoryThought]

Nice.

 

[avin]

There's a fat Warforged-like-dwarf creature in my Planescape game.

 

[Aeolius]

I demand to see some fat warforged.

My first 3e PC was Nok, a portly half-orc bard with skills as a chef and taxidermist. He wore a bloodied leather apron and attacked with meat cleavers.

Until she was beheaded and reanimated as a tsantsa, one NPC in my current game was a rather stocky shellycoat (greenhag) inspired by Aughra from The Dark Crystal.

In our not so distant past, being pale and overweight was a sign of wealth and power. Then cholesterol came along to spoil the party.

 

[Dragonhelm]

Hobbits are fat because they love the good life - lounging, food, etc.

I think the best approach would be to go back to the 1E approach of having a couple sub-races -- one can be hobbits and one can be gypsies/kender-esque.

I like the old halfling subraces. If you like the name hobbit, just apply them to the hairfoot subrace. These are your standard AD&D halflings. Lightfoots are the standard halfling for 3rd and 4th edition. I think of them as kender, though you can also use the 3e or 4e fluff just fine.

 

[Umbran]

I demand to see some fat warforged.

The word for warforged is not "fat". Only biologicals can be "fat" as only they have "fat" on their bodies.

Warforged prefer the word "tanky". As in, "I seem to have gotten a bit tanky around the middle," and, "Does this shield make my posterior look tanky?" Usually used after they've put on a few pounds... of armor. Yeah, that's totally armor plate! Really!

 

[ferratus]

I like the old halfling subraces. If you like the name hobbit, just apply them to the hairfoot subrace. These are your standard AD&D halflings. Lightfoots are the standard halfling for 3rd and 4th edition. I think of them as kender, though you can also use the 3e or 4e fluff just fine.

I could get behind that. Since we can't have hairy feet without being agressive to Tolkien's IP though, I think I'd just use the "stout" halflings and the "lightfoot" halflings. Stout halflings will be the chubby and rural reluctant adventurers, and the lightfeet will be the wandering and skinny gypsies.

 

[Kobold Avenger]

The statement just said that Halflings could be chubby, it didn't say that all of them were.

And like the idea of subraces of the different races, I can't see why a bunch of people hated the idea. Yes I know there were a ridiculous amount of Elf subraces, something like 10 or more back in 2e, but I never felt it was a problem. There certainly was nothing wrong with there being with Hairfoot, Stout, Tallfellow Halfings, along with Kender, those arctic Halflings and Athasian Halflings all existing back in the 2e Gnome and Halfling book.

 

[Hussar]

Yeah, here's hoping that the art direction in 5e gets a bit looser. I have no problems with a broader range of images being presented.

How about a tubby Dragonborn? Or maybe some scars, either accidental or deliberate? How about some bloody ugly folk for once? Not everyone needs to be pretty. Possibly a broader range in skin tones too. Why not grey skinned halfings? Or blue ones?

I think it would be good for D&D art direction to let things hang out for a bit.

 

[Jawsh]

I see a couple people here advocating a fat race and a skinny race of halflings, and I can't say I agree with that. Why not just one "race" of halflings, in which individuals can be either portly and sedentary, or lithe and active?

If there are going to be different subraces of halflings, I don't think body mass should be the distinguishing feature.