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

[Cadence]

@Cadence

It looks like the problem with halflings existed since the beginning in. They are simply short humans. And because they are short, are compared to gnomes.

In other words, the critiques in this thread are validated by the Basic and 1e origins.
• Delete halfling and use a Human of Small size instead, being a distinctive ethnicity.
• Merge halfling with gnome, and make them ethnicities within the same lineage.

Both of the above suggestions are legitimate.

For me, I want the halfling to move out of the foreground as part of the top four "common" lineages that get featured. But I dont mind them in the background as uncommon, alongside orc and whatnot. I feel they can stay in the PH, like other uncommon races can. However, if they exist separately, I want them to feel distinctively different from human.

Except it feels like in the beginning it was "Halflings are close to Humans, and Gnomes are close to Dwarves". The only thing it feels like Halflings and Gnomes have is size.

 

[Faolyn]

Because you were doing things like saying halflings are explicitly farmers, and no one else is explicitly stated to be a farmer, therefore halflings control the world's food supply. That's a fun idea, but it isn't what the books say. IT would be a way to rewrite them (I don't think it would be a good way, but it is a way) but you were presenting it as how they were already written.

Read Cadence's reply.

And so if the halfling never rolls a 1, how am I supposed to show that the halfling racial story is one of being unusually lucky compared to the other races?

So, the fact that they're lucky enough to never roll a 1 means that they're not lucky?

Sure, I can describe a lucky break if they roll a 1, then reroll to succeed, but when trying to make sure a player feels like their race matters, I need to be able to do it more reliably than that.

I have already given you numerous examples of how to do this. If you can't figure it out from there, you need to read up on GMing 101.

To reiterate:

• They roll and succeed, or they roll and fail: This is just like with anyone else, although a halfling may be more likely to ascribe this to good or bad luck than to skill, because they are superstitious and believe very strongly in luck.
• They roll a 1, reroll, and succeed: They succeeded by the seat of their sensibly sturdy trousers*. See? Lady Luck is smiling on them.
• They roll a 1, reroll, and fail: They failed normally instead of catastrophically. See? Lady Luck is smiling on them, because things could have been a lot worse.
• They roll a 1, reroll, and roll another 1: They have failed catastrophically. Fickle Fate has flicked them the finger, which she is wont to do on occasion. (I ran out of alliteration.)

(* Halflings invented denim. Change my mind.)

Same thing with the Brave. Sure, it comes up if they are fighting dragons, but if they are hunting a gnoll pack? How do I make them feel like halflings are braver than the other races without making the other players play their characters ins specific ways?

Halflings have advantage on saving throws against being frightened.

Dwarfs have advantage on saving throws against being poisoned (and resistance to poison damage).

Elves have advantage on saving throws against being charmed.

How do you make dwarfs and elves feel more resistant to toxins and mind-control without making the other players play their characters in specific ways? I mean, if you, like probably most other gamers, assume that poisons also includes alcohol and dwarfs are naturally resistant to the effects of alcohol and therefore can drink like a particularly stupid college student on spring break and not feel a thing, do you force the other PCs to be lightweights in order to show how special a dwarf's liver is?

And again: it is up to the players if they want to roleplay their characters as being frightened or not of something mundane. Not up to you.

This is patently false, as I have done so repeatedly. Heck, I did so just a few posts ago.

Yes, and it took how many pages for you to get around to doing that? I asked you what, 15 pages ago? And you outright refused then.

I don't want new halfling lore right this very second. I want new halfling lore at the next available point for them to have a major update. Maybe when they release a guide to halflings, or when they do something for the anniversary edition.

So stop complaining about it until then. Talk about how a future edition can improve them or come up with your own lore about them instead of kvetching about how boring they are and dismissing everyone else's attempts to show you what they can be.

 

[Cadence]

As far as possibilities... from Dragon #29 (with an early Half-Ogre write up by EGG).

So maybe combining early and late lore, gnomes are dwarf/elves? Going by size halflings are gnome/humans? This doesn't feel like it's helpful. Orcs are Human/Ogres? Ogres are Hill-Giant/Orcs? :-/ Just so it stops, the creation of Thouls was magically enabled right?

 

[Yaarel]

Except it feels like in the beginning it was "Halflings are close to Humans, and Gnomes are close to Dwarves". The only thing it feels like Halflings and Gnomes have is size.

I totally agree.

At the same time, one can heighten the theme, via mechanics and lore, that a halfling is a kind of house sprite. And in this way, be less human, and have more in common with gnome.

The house sprite is responsible for the good fortune of a house, including good crops and healthy animals and so on. So the Lucky trait is great for the theme. It would be even better if the halfling can share its lucky trait with other characters who are cohabiting with the halfling.

 

[Yaarel]

As far as possibilities... from Dragon #29 (with an early Half-Ogre write up by EGG).

View attachment 138808

So maybe combining early and late lore, gnomes are dwarf/elves? Going by size halflings are gnome/humans? This doesn't feel like it's helpful. Orcs are Human/Ogres? Ogres are Hill-Giant/Orcs? :-/ Just so it stops, the creation of Thouls was magically enabled right?

In my view, delete Half Elf and Half Orc, but let Tashas custom lineages handle any hybrid lineage.

I get it that Half Elf is popular so maybe it should remain as an example of how to use custom lineage.

The Half Orc should simply be an Orc. But allow custom lineage to mix and match traits for hybrids.

 

[Cadence]

I totally agree.

At the same time, one can heighten the theme, via mechanics and lore, that a halfling is a kind of house sprite. And in this way, be less human, and have more in common with gnome.

The house sprite is responsible for the good fortune of a house, including good crops and healthy animals and so on. So the Lucky trait is great for the theme. It would be even better if the halfling can share its lucky trait with other characters who are cohabiting with the halfling.

If whatever is done doesn't give the classic halfling as a sub-whatever, then it doesn't feel like a halfling. It isn't obvious to me how this does that.

 

[Oofta]

I totally agree.

At the same time, one can heighten the theme, via mechanics and lore, that a halfling is a kind of house sprite. And in this way, be less human, and have more in common with gnome.

The house sprite is responsible for the good fortune of a house, including good crops and healthy animals and so on. So the Lucky trait is great for the theme. It would be even better if the halfling can share its lucky trait with other characters who are cohabiting with the halfling.

Yuck. That would basically make them into servants with no independent value on their own.

 

[Yaarel]

If whatever is done doesn't give the classic halfling as a sub-whatever, then it doesn't feel like a halfling. It isn't obvious to me how this does that.

Im unsure what you mean here?

For me, I either want the halfing to actually be a human, or else updated to make one more obviously not a human.

 

[Yaarel]

Yuck. That would basically make them into servants with no independent value on their own.

House sprites are independent. For example, if they get offended, they can leave a house and move on to a new house. The abandoned house suffers from the loss of luck.

 

[Cadence]

Im unsure what you mean here?

For me, I either want the halfing to actually be a human, or else updated to make more obviously not a human.

Having them simply be human feels like it wouldn't allow the current halfling concept because I can't see WotC (or any big publisher anymore) doing sub-races of humans with physical characteristics and social descriptions. Would the "house sprite" you're picturing have a sub-race that would match to the current or previous edition halflings? If it didn't, then it isn't a halfling, is it? It would be a new thing with an old name. (Trying to go with your idea though elemental->genasi, angel->aasimar, devil->tiefling, house sprite-> ?).