D&D General My Problem(s) With Halflings, and How To Create Engaging/Interesting Fantasy Races

[Umbran]

So your dislike of halflings stems from the fact that your a crap/lazy DM...

Mod Note:
Right. Insults. Those are so convincing!
Try another thread. You are done in this one.

 

[Mind of tempest]

If your argument is A=A, the task should work in either direction. It doesn't.

it is h=H but H/=h halflings should just get merged back in with humans and it would be fine.

 

[Bolares]

it is h=H but H/=h halflings should just get merged back in with humans and it would be fine.

...aaand now I'm lost

 

[Mind of tempest]

I don't know why TSR and WotC don't fill in the blanks in the Forgotten Realms. Based on the 2e and 3.X publishing schedule I thought that filling in the blanks was the whole point of the Realms?

we may never know.

 

[Mind of tempest]

...aaand now I'm lost

big H is human, little h is halfling.

 

[Gammadoodler]

big H is human, little h is halfling.

And it was shown that H=/=h.

 

[Cadence]

big H is human, little h is halfling.

You want subsetting not equality for what you're saying.

 

[Bolares]

Yeah if halflings can't take the place of humans in their description on the PHB... PHB humans can't take the place of the halflings. The problem here is we assumePHB humans are the same as us, so if we see ourselves in halflings we see PHB humans

 

[pemerton]

If all you need is a description of being "magical" and "otherworldly", they can be added in basically anywhere in the halfling description without changing the substance of the description one iota.

"Magical" and "otherworldly" are meaningless descriptors beyond lazy writer code for "you should be impressed."

Saying that something could be done doesn't mean that it has been done. (I think @Hussar said the same thing upthread.)

And I don't think "magical" and "otherworldly" are meaningless or lazy in the context of a D&D-ish FRPG. They're literal descriptions that establish fiction.

Now if nothing in play turns on the fact that elves are magical and otherworldy, that's a different thing: but its not a problem with the conception of elves, its a problem with actually taking backstory seriously in gameplay.

 

[pemerton]

The problem here is we assumePHB humans are the same as us

That doesn't seem a very controversial assumption! (Assuming us means humans in all their variety.)

 

[Bolares]

That doesn't seem a very controversial assumption! (Assuming us means humans in all their variety.)

What I'm trying to say is that the PHB has a very specific description of humans, and if we are saying that the PHB description of a race has to emcompass all that that race is, then well, the description of human and halfling don't match well at all for the argument that halflings are just small humans to work

 

[pemerton]

What I'm trying to say is that the PHB has a very specific description of humans, and if we are saying that the PHB description of a race has to emcompass all that that race is, then well, the description of human and halfling don't match well at all for the argument that halflings are just small humans to work

Fair enough. I think it's to be expected, though, that players will bring their own conception of humanity to the conception of humans in the game; whereas for fictional beings they are more likely to be looking for authorial guidance.

 

[Mind of tempest]

What I'm trying to say is that the PHB has a very specific description of humans, and if we are saying that the PHB description of a race has to emcompass all that that race is, then well, the description of human and halfling don't match well at all for the argument that halflings are just small humans to work

yeah the problem with that is simply humans are what we all know so they can only be defined as us otherwise they stop being the function they were made for.

 

[Minigiant]

Yeah if halflings can't take the place of humans in their description on the PHB... PHB humans can't take the place of the halflings. The problem here is we assumePHB humans are the same as us, so if we see ourselves in halflings we see PHB humans

Me? I know who I am!
I'm the dude, playing the dude, disguised as another dude.
You the dude who don't know what dude he is!

 

[FrozenNorth]

What I'm trying to say is that the PHB has a very specific description of humans, and if we are saying that the PHB description of a race has to emcompass all that that race is, then well, the description of human and halfling don't match well at all for the argument that halflings are just small humans to work

I don’t see a problem holding the PHB to its descriptions of races that don’t exist in real life, yet accepting that humans, which exist in real life, conform to my experience with humans.

I mean, I can’t even begin to imagine a DM telling another player that “they are playing humans wrong” because they don’t match the description in the PHB. I can’t imagine a DM even thinking that.

 

[lingual]

The description of humans bears as much weight when applied to a single human as the other descriptions bear for their respective races. In other words, it means very little.

If someone who wants to play a dwarven pirate or brave halfling paladin, I'm not not gonna point to the PHB and say "well Ruled
As Described", you are not allowed to do that...because RAD you have to be a cave dwelling miner or a gardener. Likewise a funny, jokester dwarf or gluttonous elf would be fine too. They don't all have to be dour and taciturn or slender or vegan or whatever.

 

[Chaosmancer]

I've played dozens of halflings. The idea that there's no story to them is disproven by the millions of stories told with them

So, you laugh at my post, ignore my answer to your question, and then take out the smallest sliver of my paragraph to give a non-rebuttal?

Okay, you've played dozens of halflings. In fact, you claim millions of stories have been told with them

1) How many of those involved the halfling leaving their quaint farming village (ie, the Farm Boy stories)?

2) How many did you have to force out of that setting, and either ignore or rewrite halfling lore to create?

Because, shockingly, if I played a halfling who was the descendant of a grand ninja master who lived in a palace as a prince... it would be a halfling I am playing, and a story told with a halfling... but it certainly would be rewriting the PHB like I said. So, you have given no rebuttal to my points.

 

[Chaosmancer]

What you are missing is that different people play for different reasons. No race is going to work for everyone.

The races you like don't do much for me. Which is fine. There are plenty of options for everyone.

Okay, fine. Answer the question though please.

Why are humans so inhuman that Halflings are more human than humans? That was the point I was asking about in my post, a point that two posters made nearly next to each other. Saying "we like different things" doesn't answer that question,.

 

[Chaosmancer]

There are no elven farmboys. That would require an elf to:

A. Work
B. Get dirty

And do that for decades..at a minimum..

No F-ing way.

Elves caring for a fruit orchard makes perfect sense. Elves raising herds of horses or other swift animals also make sense. Actually, since elves are famous for Elven wine, I imagine elven grape and berry farmers are quite common.

If your only conception of a farm involves potato farming, I can see how you could be confused.

 

[Chaosmancer]

Heh, for me, Elves.Dont.Farm.

The High Elves live in homes among the branches of magically cultivated trees, and eat from tree products like leaves, bark, fruits, and berries.

The Wild Elf are nomads who hunt and gather.

The Uda Drow eat mushrooms but have slaves do the farming for it.

The Alfar are sunlight. Sunlight doesnt eat. When Alfar manifest in a humanlike form, they tend to hunt and gather, and can prepare marvelous meals from this.

Tree farms are still farms.