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

[Crimson Longinus]

Those remind me of nordic trolls, and they look awesome. Please tell me either you drew them or know the artist.

I drew them. I made some concept art for my new setting.

 

[Mind of tempest]

I drew them. I made some concept art for my new setting.

you are good a drawing, got any more?

 

[Crimson Longinus]

you are good a drawing, got any more?

Yes, but these are just sketches. I'll post the stuff for my setting somewhere if I ever get around inking and colouring them. It's kinda in WIP state right now.

 

[Faolyn]

I like recognisable tropes but you got to break a bit more than they did to make something that is not just a legally safe knock off.

plus the dino riding makes literal anything cool it just works that way.
the more divergent ones tend to lose the basic slot they where made to fill hence why I do not put darksun ones in everything

Wait, first you say that halflings have no basic slot to fill, now you say that they do have one and doing anything outside that slot makes them non-halflings? You say you like recognizable tropes, but you also don't like it when halflings fill their trope? And sure, don't put the Dark Sun halflings in a non-DS game... but why not put the mercantile halflings in a game, or the mafia halflings, or the sailor halflings, or the shadow-touched halflings?

So what, exactly, are you looking for here? Do you even know what it is? Or are you just saying that you hate halflings so much that you won't let them be cool or different, because then you might have to stop hating them?

 

[Mind of tempest]

Wait, first you say that halflings have no basic slot to fill, now you say that they do have one and doing anything outside that slot makes them non-halflings? You say you like recognizable tropes, but you also don't like it when halflings fill their trope? And sure, don't put the Dark Sun halflings in a non-DS game... but why not put the mercantile halflings in a game, or the mafia halflings, or the sailor halflings, or the shadow-touched halflings?

So what, exactly, are you looking for here? Do you even know what it is? Or are you just saying that you hate halflings so much that you won't let them be cool or different, because then you might have to stop hating them?

I only had that position in the last thread on this topic, my present position is halflings have no setting place and they are a bad implementation of a race slot, not that said slot does not exist, I know this can get confusing.

I hate bad executions of a trope more than not having it.

grafting dinosaurs onto them just is cheap as anyone riding a dinosaur is cool and a halfling mafia only works in Eberron.
mercantile I just do not see that is way more goblin, dwarf or minotaur thing.

sailor, I just do not get it and have no idea where you're coming from.
shadow touched could work but I would want more than one type for a major no human race, plus seems more gnome thing what with them hiding their stuff with illusions.

I have never in my life ever known what I want only what I do not.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

No more Half Orc. Just play Orc. Large size Orc even better.

No. Mixed-race characters have merit on their own.

 

[Yaarel]

But humans in fact cannot use large sized weapons without disadvantage in D&D.

Heh, some of the illustrations in D&D have humans with too-large swords.



Instead of sized weapons which are a problematic mechanic, I would rather larger creatures simply add a flat 1d6 per size increase, once per round (with the flavor of momentum).

Thus, a Large player character can add a 1d6 damage bonus to one attack per round. Meanwhile, a Large longsword deals the normal 1d8 damage, but has a Large size prereq to avoid disadvantage.

A Huge creature can add 2d6 per round, but even a Huge longsword only deals 1d8 damage but has a size prereq.

So, if a player wants a buster sword, a Large longsword, for flavor, it still only deals 1d8 damage.

What I dont want is the temptation of dealing more damage to encourage buster swords to become more prevalent.

 

[Faolyn]

I only had that position in the last thread on this topic, my present position is halflings have no setting place and they are a bad implementation of a race slot, not that said slot does not exist, I know this can get confusing.

You can't say that they both have and do not have a setting place.

There's also no such thing as a "race slot." You can have as many or as few races you want in any given world. The PH just includes the traditional ones, plus a few breakouts like dragonborn and tieflings. You could make a world with none of the traditional races, including no humans, if you really wanted to.

I have never in my life ever known what I want only what I do not.

Well, maybe you need to sit down and really think about it, rather then just reacting. But some effort into it.

 

[Crimson Longinus]

So, if a player wants a buster sword, a Large longsword, for flavor, it still only deals 1d8 damage.

I'd hate this. I want at least some sort of WYSIWYG. Probably beyond the topic of this thread though.

 

[Yaarel]

I'd hate this. I want at least some sort of WYSIWYG. Probably beyond the topic of this thread though.

"What you see is what you get."

When you see a Huge creature, the creature is going to hit harder, whether with a fist or a sword.

When you see a Medium creature trying to wield a Huge weapon, the Medium creature barely lifts it, let alone wields it effectively.

Adding a flat size damage bonus is WYSISWYG.

 

[Yaarel]

No. Mixed-race characters have merit on their own.

If the book offers premades, for a common mix, using the multilineage mechanic, that is fine.

 

[Crimson Longinus]

"What you see is what you get."

When you see a Huge creature, the creature is going to hit harder, whether with a fist or a sword.

When you see a Medium creature trying to wield a Huge weapon, the Medium creature barely lifts it, let alone wields it effectively.

Adding a flat size damage bonus is WYSISWYG.

Except under your model the weapon damage dice are just completely arbitrary, not connected to the actual weapon as it exists in the fiction. If ogre picks up a human great sword, what damage does it do?

 

[Iry]

can you put halfling in a totally different concept without removing the halflingness? I do not think you can but I would like to be wrong.

I read a very cool halfling concept - a culture of born adventurers.

Because of their innate luck, the halfling people have developed a much smaller fear of death precisely because they escape it so often. While there are certainly home bodies and halflings working the farm, everyone has a relative in the adventuring business. At least one shop selling adventuring supplies can be found in even the smallest halfling villages, both for those that set out for adventure of their own, or just for the kids who someday dream and play with their grappling hooks up and down the side of grandma's house.

 

[Yaarel]

Except under your model the weapon damage dice are just completely arbitrary, not connected to the actual weapon as it exists in the fiction. If ogre picks up a human great sword, what damage does it do?

A Large Ogre adds 1d6 to the Medium greatsword damage, but the attack is at a disadvantage because the size of the hilt and the heft is off.

 

[Crimson Longinus]

A Large Ogre adds 1d6 to the Human greatsword damage, but the attack is at a disadvantage because the size of the hilt and the heft is off.

So ogre deals the same amount of damage with a human greatsword than with a ogre greatsword twice its size? Yeah, this doesn't work for me.

My answer is that the sword deals 2d6 damage (ogre greatsword would deal 4d6) and the ogre can wield the weapon with one hand, as it is about the same size than an ogre short sword would be (which would incidentally also do 2d6 damage.) In theory the ogre could have a disadvantage if the hilt was really unsuitable, but that seems a tad harsh as greatswords have really long and rather hefty hilts, so it is probably pretty suitable for one handed ogre grip. In fact, as in many settings ogres tend to be rather primitive, many of their weapons might be repurposed human weapons. And when the PCs kill the ogre, the party's human fighter can pick up the sword and start using it, the damage dice constantly remaining the same.

Anyway, about them halflings! I like them!

 

[Yaarel]

And when the PCs kill the ogre, the party's human fighter can pick up the sword and start using it, the damage dice constantly remaining the same.

Thats a feature, not a bug.

If a player absolutely wants an oversized buster sword, it is doable. But it is for flavor, there is no mechanical incentive.

 

[PsyzhranV2]

Just make the damage die tied to class, with specific weapon types providing different bonus effects, and then let the player flavour the rest however they want.

 

[Crimson Longinus]

Thats a feature, not a bug.

Yes, under my model the fighter can pick up the ogre's one handed short sword which was repurposed human greatsword to begin with. The can't wield an actual ogre sized greatsword, because that would be absurd.

If a player absolutely wants an oversized buster sword, it is doable. But it is for flavor, there is no mechanical incentive.

We simply have drastically differnt preferences. I wouldn't want to play that way. I don't want those empty calories. Flavour comes with rules giving things reality.

 

[Yaarel]

A flat 1d6 size damage bonus, is something that Large player lineage can balance easily as a lineage trait.

Large player characters become possible.

No more deluge of only Small lineages.

 

[FrozenNorth]

I guess I just don't get it.

I don't know when things like Innocence, Authenticity, Tranquility, friendship, just plain being comfortable and in harmony with one's self and surroundings became such UNheroic concepts.

You know, Innocence, Authenticity, Tranquility, Friendship, Comfort and Harmony are all traits I associate with Rogues, the class most associated with Halflings.

Maybe that is part of the problem?