So, here we have a race, with very little lore in the game, very little guidance being given to the players for what that race is in the setting and how it interacts with the setting, very little presence in any published adventure and it's one of the four most common races in the game. And you honestly think there's no issue there?
Well, as we keep showing, and you keep ignoring, there actually
is quite a bit of lore on halflings, there's quite a bit of guidance given as to how to play them, quite a bit of info on how to play one, and quite a presence in published adventures.
What they
don't have are ridiculous uber-plots, meddling gods, super-powerful spellcasters or warlords who left artifacts behind, or their hand in world-shaking events.
I fail to see how that's an issue (especially since you can say the same thing about nearly any other race out there), and you have failed to show it is beyond you saying so.
I'm still waiting to find out how medusas turn people to stone without magic. That's one HELL of a natural phenomenon. I wonder if I can claim that my halfling can spontaneously fly in these campaigns where there is no demarcation between magic and natural. After all, flying isn't magical. So, why can't my character fly?
Well, if you spend about six seconds thinking, you'd realize that if something isn't magical, then it's mundane, and mundane things need a logical, physics-following explanation. So, does your halfling have wings, a jetpack, or a flying steed? No? Then they can't fly.
@Faolyn, I didn't ignore your description of the halflign village. I did ask you a direct question, but, I think it got lost in the scrum.
Why do your halflings live in sod houses? Sod houses are for people who live where there aren't any trees. So, again, without referencing Tolkien, why are they living in sod houses, but, newer houses aren't. Have they only recently taken up residence in this town? Do your halflings have to live in the plains of Western and Central North America where there aren't many trees?
Because I saw pictures of (Icelandic) sod houses and I thought they were really cool looking.
Example. (square doors.)
If I had to justify it in-game, then I'd say that those houses were built by the original halfling druidic settlers, many generations ago, using magic that let them shape the earth without harming trees. Because with magic, you can build sod houses even when there are trees around and you don't have to deal with any of the negative issues that they normally cause.
When other halflings moved in later, they used other materials.
Again: not a drop of Tolkien. And, of course, I could describe halfling villages in dozens of different ways, so the next one would likely be completely different. Sprawling ranch-homes. Clapboard houses. A repurposed orc fortress. A tent (or yurt) city. Round beehive houses. A flotilla of halfling-piloted houseboats. A halfling tree-village. Neat little country cottages. A village built into the ruins of a human town.
It's really,
really easy to describe halflings and the things they do without referencing JRRT. I'm sorry you can't do it, but maybe you should try practicing instead of just insisting that it's impossible.