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

[Yaarel]

Like I said earlier: yes.

They're actual humans while D&D humans are coked out Vin Diesels at best, poster-boys for Slytherin at worst. Sometimes you don't want to be the ISO standard adventuerer.

I get where you are coming from. But the critique remains. The Halfling adds little or nothing to the setting.

If the setting was about homebodies-versus-adventurers, then the Halfling might help characterize the mechanical benefits of not adventuring.

 

[Mercurius]

I'm not really into 5e, but do they still do that stupid thing where Small races have to use suckier versions of weapons and thus have most martial classes but rogue backdoor barred to them?

That might explain it.

This is why you ignore anyone who talks about 'verisimilitude', people.

Huh? You seem to be inflating your preferred style and approach to the game and accusing others, the "verisimilitude folks," as doing it wrong.

It is a different approach, which desires internal consistency and some degree of intra-setting realism, and thus highlight the differences of races rather than smooth it all out so that differences are mostly cosmetic (so that, for instance, a halfling can wield a greatsword).

 

[Mercurius]

It depends on what your goal is. If, as with 5E, your goal is to have a big tent approach for fans of all editions, centering tieflings and dragonborn is a great way to chase off a lot of the Baby Boomer and Generation X players who made up the primary player base until recently.

If your goal is to not have a big tent approach and bring in the maximum number of customers, I have some questions about what your business plan actually is.

Agreed, although I don't see how getting rid of halfings serves the goal of bringing in the maximum number of customers. It is not as if under 20-somethings will open the book and see, "Gross, halflings! I'm out of here."

The big tent keeps everyone involved, but--at worse--is only neutral to newbies.

 

[Crimson Longinus]

I'm not really into 5e, but do they still do that stupid thing where Small races have to use suckier versions of weapons and thus have most martial classes but rogue backdoor barred to them?

That might explain it.

This is why you ignore anyone who talks about 'verisimilitude', people.

Lack of verisimilitude actually hurts my desire to play things other than human. If my halfling doesn't feel at least somewhat believably like a small creature or my goliath doesn't feel any bigger or stronger than a human then what's the bloody point? If the species are not actually different from each other then just get rid of them and have a human only setting.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

Huh? You seem to be inflating our preferred style and approach to the game and accusing others, the "verisimilitude folks," as doing it wrong.

It is a different approach, which desires internal consistency and some degree of intra-setting realism, and thus highlight the differences of races rather than smooth it all out so that differences are mostly cosmetic (so that, for instance, a halfling can wield a greatsword).

He's literally right though re: "versimilitude folks" (rofl now picturing "the versimilitude community") being essentially the cause of this issue.

 

[billd91]

I get where you are coming from. But the critique remains. The Halfling adds little or nothing to the setting.

If the setting was about homebodies-versus-adventurers, then the Halfling might help characterize the mechanical benefits of not adventuring.

The primary mechanical benefit of not adventuring is hit point retention.

 

[Yaarel]

It depends on what your goal is. If, as with 5E, your goal is to have a big tent approach for fans of all editions, centering tieflings and dragonborn is a great way to chase off a lot of the Baby Boomer and Generation X players who made up the primary player base until recently.

If your goal is to not have a big tent approach and bring in the maximum number of customers, I have some questions about what your business plan actually is.

I am happy if the Forgotten Realms cosmology is no longer the "core" setting.

Obviously, FR is an important setting, and in it, Humans and Elves are, by far, the most important lineages in the foreground. And there is room made for each of the lineages in the Players Handbook. And, as an eclectic "kitchen sink" setting, the DM can easily add almost anything into the mix.

But, I want each setting to be considered in its own right.

Regarding core, many settings will have Human and Elf because these tropes are popular, and for the same reason will try to figure out how integrate Tiefling and Dragonborn. But some settings might lack one of these core four because the particular setting isnt about them.

 

[billd91]

He's literally right though re: "versimilitude folks" (rofl now picturing "the versimilitude community") being essentially the cause of this issue.

More like a specific design bee in a designer's bonnet. 3.5 is the only D&D edition that incorporated this. At best, it's probably an example of the unexpected feature creep of D&D 3.5. But in the end, what was the final result? Halflings typically doing 2 points less damage per melee attack. Not exactly the world's biggest problem.
Edit: Though, interestingly, at a +1 to hit compared to their larger, human-sized compatriots.

 

[Vaalingrade]

Huh? You seem to be inflating your preferred style and approach to the game and accusing others, the "verisimilitude folks," as doing it wrong.

It is a different approach, which desires internal consistency and some degree of intra-setting realism, and thus highlight the differences of races rather than smooth it all out so that differences are mostly cosmetic (so that, for instance, a halfling can wield a greatsword).

I have no idea how this relates to Small characters being passively barred from martial classes due to having to use objectively worse weapons'. Weapon damage is purely mechanical. HP is purely mechanical. Small weapons do less damage because 'verisimilitude' and literally nothing else.

 

[Vaalingrade]

Lack of verisimilitude actually hurts my desire to play things other than human. If my halfling doesn't feel at least somewhat believably like a small creature or my goliath doesn't feel any bigger or stronger than a human then what's the bloody point? If the species are not actually different from each other then just get rid of them and have a human only setting.

There's more to feel than purposefully making them objectively suck are half the classes.