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

[Dannyalcatraz]

that is literally impossible as a defence dullness does not grant safety, armour, poison, violence and camouflage grant safety also large numbers it might work on supernatural threats but hill giants will still eat their village.

camouflage against natural none sapient does not work that way and unless they are all super assassins I doubt it will work on sapients.

can we have the characterisation essence? maybe that will help?

Just because one is a farmer doesn’t mean one is defenseless. There’s a reason why a lot of weapons evolved from farm implements.

And consider their semi-subterranean architecture. Halflings spend most of their lives in relatively shallow bunkers. That helps against aerial or surface threats (not as much against burrowers and the like). While few- if any- official sources depict their shires this way, there’s no reason why their communities couldn’t have subterranean passages and common areas connected to all the private dwellings. See Budapest or Coober Peady. Going after Halfling settlements would be like going after prairie dog towns.

 

[Minigiant]

That's part of their natural defense system. If they were exciting they'd attract too much attention.

You do know to many, that explanation sounds ridiculous within the context of D&D logic.

That's partially why this thread exists.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

You do know to many, that explanation sounds ridiculous within the context of D&D logic.

That's partially why this thread exists.

Honestly, given the threats in a given D&D setting, most settlements as described couldn’t survive sustained attack. Grand civilizations would be nigh-impossible.

 

[Mind of tempest]

Just because one is a farmer doesn’t mean one is defenseless. There’s a reason why a lot of weapons evolved from farm implements.

And consider their semi-subterranean architecture. Halflings spend most of their lives in relatively shallow bunkers. That helps against aerial or surface threats (not as much against burrowers and the like). While few- if any- official sources depict their shires this way, there’s no reason why their communities couldn’t have subterranean passages and common areas connected to all the private dwellings. See Budapest or Coober Peady. Going after Halfling settlements would be like going after prairie dog towns.

okay, this is at least better logic and I would prefer it was official as it would help ground them in the world.

Honestly, given the threats in a given D&D setting, most settlements as described couldn’t survive sustained attack. Grand civilizations would be nigh-impossible.

or have magical defences out of every pore.

 

[Neonchameleon]

An entire race of weak small individuals with no talent for anything but farming and personal stealth in a game about dangerous monsters in nearby dungeons makes little sense without an excuse. It doesn't matter how much fans like it, it still won't make sense.

Did you mean to write "an entire race of individuals who farm well, aren't much of a strategic threat, and don't especially value money, and whose farmers are pretty good at hiding from the dangerous monsters and are good with ranged weapons?" (The latter being covered by a dex bonus). Invading halflings unless you're actively and deliberately genocidal is a very bad idea and having expert farmers nearby is a good one.

 

[Mind of tempest]

Did you mean to write "an entire race of individuals who farm well, aren't much of a strategic threat, and don't especially value money, and whose farmers are pretty good at hiding from the dangerous monsters and are good with ranged weapons?" (The latter being covered by a dex bonus). Invading halflings unless you're actively and deliberately genocidal is a very bad idea and having expert farmers nearby is a good one.

you act as if no one raids for food, also gnolls literally live to kill and are also good at range, I feel like I am having deja vu.

 

[Yaarel]

Is this actually true in 5e? I don't think 100% of elves, or even a majority of elves, have magic. Most elf PCs do. But the PC rules are not NPC rules.

The D&D Elf ambiguously straddles the human ethnicity of Tolkien and the beings of magic of folkbelief.

Even in 1e, where the High Elf is more of a gish, the Grey Elf is a fullcaster mage.

There is room for both concepts.

In either case, magic officially perfuses and informs all aspects of Elf cultures. Indeed, even minimalistically, the Elf is a "magical people".

I insist on the fullcaster for the Elf. Which fullcaster classes gain prominence depends more on the specific community.

At the same time, I find the Eldritch Knight and the Ancient Paladin to be appealing elven tropes, and sufficiently magical. So I make room for them.

For me, the High Elf culture is militaristic, in the sense of walk quietly and carry a big stick. Each treehouse town requires military enlistment for the common defense of the town. Each adolescent from age 13, depending on aptitude, begins military training in either the Eldritch Academy or the Wizard Academy. (Whence weapon proficiencies.) At age 20, they become available to war.

In war, the High Elf utilizes prescience, seers and divination, as part of the military strikes, and also with regard to the alliances that lead to the best fates. All fullcaster military units coordinate their assaults to support the gish military units. And viceversa, the gish units prepare the battlefield for the heavy magic of the fullcaster units. Certain Elf towns befriend griffons (a 1e thing) who fight with them in cavalry.

Of course, there are unique individuals who do their own thing. This is how the High culture of the Elf works.

While I emphasize certain aspects of the High Elf culture, all of this derives from references in the Players Handbook.

 

[Minigiant]

Honestly, given the threats in a given D&D setting, most settlements as described couldn’t survive sustained attack. Grand civilizations would be nigh-impossible.

That's kinda the point.

With how on the edge and ridiculous the norms is, halflings not engaging whatsoever with little countermeasures highlights how alien and plot holey they are.

Did you mean to write "an entire race of individuals who farm well, aren't much of a strategic threat, and don't especially value money, and whose farmers are pretty good at hiding from the dangerous monsters and are good with ranged weapons?" (The latter being covered by a dex bonus). Invading halflings unless you're actively and deliberately genocidal is a very bad idea and having expert farmers nearby is a good one.

Just because they don't value money doesn't mean they have no valuables.

A farm is a farm. A bunch of wheat is a bunch of wheat.

With how unsustainable the orcs are in their lore, orcs would be raiding every halflings village on a regular basis just to survive.

And halflings only get a +2 to Dex. That's only a 5% increase. They don't even get a size bonus to stealth, AC, and attack rolls in 5e.

Halflings kinda suck mechanically. Some minor luck and bravery would not keep a tween sized humaniod from being punted around by full sized medium creatures who are trained for battle.

 

[Vaalingrade]

You do know to many, that explanation sounds ridiculous within the context of D&D logic.

That's partially why this thread exists.

Oh no, D&D being ridiculous? Perish the thought.

 

[Neonchameleon]

you act as if no one raids for food, also gnolls literally live to kill and are also good at range, I feel like I am having deja vu.

To quote myself "pretty good at hiding from the dangerous monsters and are good with ranged weapons"

Gnolls aren't anything halflings can't take down in sufficient numbers; bounded accuracy is a thing. Although halflings aren't in the MM we can make some pretty good extrapolations. Like halflings being more accurate at range other than some narrow ranges. And better at hiding while gnolls explicitly have a passive perception of 10. Shortbows and slings are both simple weapons so many and probably most halflings will be able to use them. And if halflings live in burrows it's going to be hard for the gnolls to do more than burn fields (and I'm not aware they eat grain).

And farming societies have much much greater population densities than raiders so there will be the greater number of arrows and slingstones coming towards the gnolls.