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

[Yaarel]

I have a simple way to prove halflings lack lore, to groups of halflings with armies in the thousands have gone to total war with each other what would they fight about? and it is not a war of pure economic stuff like land or resources just to remove that crutch.

What would Halflings go to war over?

If they are house sprites, they might attack anyone who harms the animals on their farm.

The problem with Tolkien Halflings is, they lack ambition, so they are unlike to build an empire.

 

[Mind of tempest]

What would Halflings go to war over?

If they are house sprites, they might attack anyone who harms the animals on their farm.

The problem with Tolkien Halflings is, they lack ambition, so they are unlike to build an empire.

that is my point they can not affect the world in a major way they should not be at present a major race.

 

[Yaarel]

that is my point they can not affect the world in a major way they should not be at present a major race.

Heh, pretty much, the Halflings just sit around smoking "longbottom leaf".

The stoners of the Tolkien world.

Heh, again, they are way too Human.

 

[Mind of tempest]

Heh, pretty much, the Halflings just sit around smoking "longbottom leaf".

The stoners of the Tolkien world.

Heh, again, they are way too Human.

they need to be less human and have things they care about on a big scale.

 

[Hussar]

Really, that's the long and the short of it. Halflings don't have any stories. There's nothing to attach to them. Yes, yes, but.. but... but... Tolkien?!?!??! They don't build stuff like dwarves. They don't live practically forever and be all magical like elves. They aren't violent, or greedy. They aren't really anything.

I think it's pretty telling that every setting basically takes the PHB halfling out behind the barn and puts a gun in its ear and then comes back with something that might physically resemble a halfling, but, shares virtually nothing with them. Going all the way back to Dragonlance - the first setting to at least try to make halflings interesting, with .... errr... mixed results. But, over and over again, they keep trying to go to the well because, dammit, we MUST HAVE the Tolkien races in the PHB come hell or high water. Heaven forbid that we finally get people to admit that maybe, just maybe, when a race that's been in core D&D and every version thereof for 50 years and can't even crack the top 5 most played races, it's time to retire it and try something else.

 

[Mind of tempest]

Really, that's the long and the short of it. Halflings don't have any stories. There's nothing to attach to them. Yes, yes, but.. but... but... Tolkien?!?!??! They don't build stuff like dwarves. They don't live practically forever and be all magical like elves. They aren't violent, or greedy. They aren't really anything.

I think it's pretty telling that every setting basically takes the PHB halfling out behind the barn and puts a gun in its ear and then comes back with something that might physically resemble a halfling, but, shares virtually nothing with them. Going all the way back to Dragonlance - the first setting to at least try to make halflings interesting, with .... errr... mixed results. But, over and over again, they keep trying to go to the well because, dammit, we MUST HAVE the Tolkien races in the PHB come hell or high water. Heaven forbid that we finally get people to admit that maybe, just maybe, when a race that's been in core D&D and every version thereof for 50 years and can't even crack the top 5 most played races, it's time to retire it and try something else.

I have always wanted to do a setting where the Tolkien races aside from humans never were and we get to really build up some of the less used races.

 

[Yaarel]

I have always wanted to do a setting where the Tolkien races aside from humans never were and we get to really build up some of the less used races.

Which four or five lineages would you pick for a setting?

 

[Mind of tempest]

Which four or five lineages would you pick for a setting?

that really depends on the setting premice but I will like to need something that loves to fight, something that loves the divine, something arcane, and something stealthy.
but I have always wanted to do a setting with giants as important along with elementals and spirits both of things and the dead.

 

[Yaarel]

that really depends on the setting premice but I will like to need something that loves to fight, something that loves the divine, something arcane, and something stealthy.
but I have always wanted to do a setting with giants as important along with elementals and spirits both of things and the dead.

Giants, elementals, and spirits of things, can be the same thing.

• Fire Giant (mind of fire, soot, lava, sun)
• Earth Giant (mind of mountain, etcetera)
• Water Giant (mind of sea, river, lake, etcetera)
• Air Giant (mind of air, wind, storm)

Possibly, giants are normally human-size, but certain individuals can grow to reach any size.

Plus Human Ghosts.

 

[Mind of tempest]

Giants, elementals, and spirits of things, can be the same thing.

• Fire Giant (mind of fire, soot, lava, sun)
• Earth Giant (mind of mountain, etcetera)
• Water Giant (mind of sea, river, lake, etcetera)
• Air Giant (mind of air, wind, storm)
• Plant Giant (mind of trees, other plants, healing)

Possibly, giants are normally human-size, but certain individuals can grow to reach any size.

Plus Human Ghosts.

true but I want them to matter and have the peoples link into them so I can build some real lore to them, I was considering having giants be effectively civilised spirits, most spirits are alone and do not build like say a dragonfly, giants are things that where elementals but are also closer to human but still clearly different in the sense they build cites and have cultures that grow and change but ideally look very different from us.

plus some other things that matter even dragonlance was not only about dragons.