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

[Vaalingrade]

Halflings are nonambitious humans?

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.

 

[Cadence]

I am suggesting that if we move the halfling to exotic something will have to be moved to the common race slot and the flame wars will be like a dying blue sun.

I assume anything will be like a dying blue sun. But if we're getting that, I'd make the battle to the death just leaving Elves, Dwarves, and Humans as the only common ones.

 

[Mind of tempest]

I assume anything will be like a dying blue sun. But if we're getting that, I'd make the battle to the death just leaving Elves, Dwarves, and Humans as the only common ones.

ah but that is also one of the opinions that shall be argued over it is unavoidable.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

I did I was uninpressed.

Okay?

 

[Yaarel]

Probably, the default setting should feature the four most popular lineages as the foreground.

• Human
• Elf
• Tiefling
• Dragonborn

Maybe add Dwarf if a fifth.



These are the most popular D&D races according to DnDBeyond (2019).

Human 22.8%
• Standard 11.8%
• Variant 11%

Elf 22.8%+
• Half Elf 9.1%
• Wood Elf 6.1%
• High Elf 5.1%
• Eladrin 2.5%
• Drow (0.+%)

Tiefling 7.5%

Dragonborn 7.2%

Dwarf 6.6%
• Mountain Dwarf 3.6%
• Hill Dwarf 3.0%

Orc 4.7%
• Half-Orc 4.7%

Halfling 4.7%
• Lightfoot Halfling 3.4%
• Stout Halfling 1.3%

Gnome 3.1%+
• Rock Gnome 2.2%
• Deep Gnome 0.9%
• Forest Gnome (0.+%)

Aasimar 2.9%

Aarakocra 2.8%



Notice, combining Halfling and Gnome into a single lineage potentially improves their clout (7.8%).

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

To be fair, perhaps you're applying a higher standard to halflings that to other species? Like sure, I would combine them with gnomes, but then again I would also get rid at least half of the other lineages too. Most of them just exist because there were many words on thesaurus or because someone managed to think yet another marginally different and absurdly specific elf subspecies. Are orcs, goliaths and bugbears actually conceptually that distinct form each other? Do we need water genasi, triton and merfolk to be separate things? Leonin and tabaxi? And all the bloody elves?

A lot of the humanoid variants also exist because, until 3E and especially 5E, they were each tied to a narrow band of when they were a viable enemy.

Kobolds --> Goblins --> Orcs --> Hobgoblins --> Gnolls --> Bugbears --> Ogres --> Giants

The 1E PHB literally let fighters take as many swings on monsters below one hit die as they had levels, so that they could mow down, eventually, 20 in a round. Kobolds and goblins were intended as mass cannon fodder, unsuitable for even level 3 or 4 player characters, when they would have graduated on to orcs and hobgoblins. But by sixth and seventh levels, orcs and hogoblins were jokes, and it was on to gnolls and bugbears and ogres.

Since monsters didn't get levels and there was no notion of bounded accuracy, they had to create lots of different species to fight, even if there was very little conceptual room for them or if the differences were cultural or alignment-based and nothing else. There were something like three or four alternate "races" of orcs whose defining difference was not being Chaotic Evil.

And yes, sometimes Gygax (it was often Gygax) came across a new word or name for something that, realistically, already existed in the game, but felt the need to make it a brand new monster. And thus we got the xvart, the least loved of the 1E humanoid races. Basically, blue goblins who hang around with rats.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

Probably, the default setting should feature the four most popular lineages as the foreground.

• Human
• Elf
• Tiefling
• Dragonborn

Maybe add Dwarf if a fifth.

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.

 

[Vaalingrade]

Getting rid of halflings won't even work anyway.

The second you got rid of them, a bunch of people who didn't care one whit before will suddenly declare halflings to be their longtime favorite race just to enforce pointless tradition.

And I say this as a proud halfling supporter.

 

[jayoungr]

So my contention is that the fun of playing a nonhuman race is directly linked to its thematic limitations.

It can be, yes, absolutely--and I went out of my way to explicitly acknowledge that multiple times. But players are all different. Some simply aren't going to find that to be particularly fun, even though they understand what makes it fun for others. It isn't indicative of a flaw in their perception; it's just not their thing.

Let a thousand flowers bloom, and all that jazz.

 

[jayoungr]

The second you got rid of them, a bunch of people who didn't care one whit before will suddenly declare halflings to be their longtime favorite race

The surest way of getting someone in your campaign to want to play something is to declare that it's off-limits!