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

[doctorbadwolf]

How is suggesting that one way to rewrite halflings is to have them control all food in the area, when the person claimed that one possible way to rewrite halflings is to have them control all food in the area me taking things completely out of context?

Like, I'm utterly baffled. I didn't say they said it was the only way. I didn't say they thought it was RAW. All I said was that they claimed it was an interpretation... which they literally told me when I said "yes you could, but this wasn't RAW and doesn't address my desire to improve RAW"


What do you think I was saying that makes you think I was so far off base here?

What do you think “we can assume” means? Because what it doesn’t mean is anything like the same thing as “we can posit” or “we can imagine” or “we can extrapolate”.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

The best information we have pegs halflings at around 5% of PC's.

No, it doesn’t. This isn’t just a nitpick. You keep minimizing the percentage by round a 9 down to 0, and it comes across as an attempt to misrepresent the data.
That data puts them at 5.9%, not “around 5%”, out of a hundred or so race, most of whom are at less than 5%. In fact, that data tells us that if they dropped races and added others using that data, Halflings would stay in the PHB.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

And so what? The effect it has one the game is exactly zero. Nothing happens any differently if one of the player characters happens to be a goliath rune knight.

Here I gotta disagree. The lore changes what happens at the table pretty strongly, IME.

And that is how it will go with lineages. Lineage it's separated from biology. A High Elf lineage character could be biologically an elf, or a half elf, or a halfling raised by elves. So the elven history of your campaign setting is completely separate from character creation.

I really doubt this.

View attachment 139534
Dragonborn..with lips

Yeah i mean, it’s not like they’re birds. What even started the lips and smoking tangent?

Goliaths aren't giants.

Okay, come on, this is a silly nitpick. They’re very clearly tied to giant lore.

And remember, for @Faolyn and @Oofta as well, Hussars point isn't that halflings need to show up in every single adventure. But that they should have a major role at least once. We are 7 years into the game, and they haven't had a single major role in anything to my knowledge. Meanwhile, we can find pretty major roles played by races like "elves" (and the quotes are because Drow count as elves)

Well, no. At most I could see saying they should be common, which they are. There is no reason they need to figure prominently in Realms Shaking Events.

 

[Gammadoodler]

Here I gotta disagree. The lore changes what happens at the table pretty strongly, IME.

I really doubt this.

Yeah i mean, it’s not like they’re birds. What even started the lips and smoking tangent?

Okay, come on, this is a silly nitpick. They’re very clearly tied to giant lore.

Well, no. At most I could see saying they should be common, which they are. There is no reason they need to figure prominently in Realms Shaking Events.

An assertion and challenge regarding dragonborn "factual" biology. It's a dumb tangent in what became a somehow dumber discussion.

 

[Don Durito]

Hmmm Dragonborn .

So you have a hybrid creature based off a bidepal ape and a physically impossible hexapodal flying lizard with some kind of internal source of combustion?

I agree. It's utterly ridiculous they could have lips.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

An assertion and challenge regarding dragonborn "factual" biology. It's a dumb tangent in what became a somehow dumber discussion.

Ugh. Yeah that tracks.

 

[Bardic Dave]

Dragoborn and Lizardfolk: why are dragonborn so cool and lizardfolk so lame? Why include lizardfolk (boring, bland, indistinguishable from dragonborn except for how lame they are) when you’ve already got dragonborn (objectively rad, lizardfolk dialed up to 11, better than lizardfolk in every way)? I demand answers from all the lizardfolk apologists out there! Discuss!

Also dragonborn don’t have lips! That’s factually unpossible!

 

[Bardic Dave]

I agree. It's utterly ridiculous they could have lips.

This guy gets it!

 

[Bardic Dave]

Some people might say they like lizardfolk because of their lizard brain and alien personality. To them I say, wrong! Dragonborn have dragon brains and dragons are bigger (and therefore better) than lizards.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

L

Some people might say they like lizardfolk because of their lizard brain and alien personality. To them I say, wrong! Dragonborn have dragon brains and dragons are bigger (and therefore better) than lizards.

Also if you want lizards that aren’t as cool as dragons, the Kobold is right there!