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

[Chaosmancer]

Right. I'm not sure how to read this post otherwise. Especially when you say "Wouldn't... humans ask for something in exchange? ... there is not a single thought being put into what the humans get out of it".

You mean the post that I literally just talked about to you and explained how you misunderstood it? Yes. I did make that post. I already explained how you misunderstood it.

Do the books talk about collecting taxes, tithes, services? No. Does any book anywhere discuss commoners of any race being conscripted or serving in a militia? Again and again you keep twisting words around. Has anyone ever said halflings don't contribute to their own defense, ever? Why does it matter that historically people have frequently either payed for mercenaries or a militia? Some governments will conscript commoners, others won't. It just depends, there is no one rule, no one way.

If halflings are fighting with the humans, why does it say this? "Not that there’s anything wrong with the barons and soldiers — you have to admire their conviction. And by protecting their own lands, they protect us as well.”

If they were fighting together, then it would not say that. It would say they defend their lands together.

If the expectation is that halflings are protected by humans, then I would have liked some indication of what they offered in exchange. Right now, it doesn't say, it could be nothing, it could be 95% of the food they grow. We don't know, it doesn't say.

And, why does it matter whether it is a militia or mercenaries? Maybe because of this post where I point out that because you shifted the conversation from militia's (which we were discussing) instead of mercenaries, I got chewed out for conflating a militia with a mercenary band. So, it doesn't matter to you, but it certainly mattered to Neonchameleon, and to me.

I've been consistent. Halflings contribute. Be that taxes, tithes of goods, services (including military service) if that is the standard for other commoners in the region. You are the only one that insists that the humans get nothing in exchange.

I have insisted that IT DOES NOT SAY.

Do I need to get flashing neon lights? I've never said they do nothing, I've said that it doesn't tell us. Sure, I can "imagine" anything I want. I can make it up all day long. But the truth is... the books don't tell us. It could be anything. It could be nothing. It seems since nothing is mentioned, that it is nothing, because it seems a strange thing to not include, but IT DOES NOT SAY one way or the other. So my claim is that IT DOES NOT SAY.


I await your response where you once again tell me that I insist that they never pay taxes and don't do anything. I love repeating myself again and again and again to people who refuse to read what I am typing.

 

[lingual]

What's with the whole gnoll thing anyways? Sorry to ask. Too lazy to go through everything. Is it that the halflings race would be wiped out because every single one of them is a farmer? Maybe Gnolls vs Halflings deserves its own thread with a poll.

 

[Chaosmancer]

Yes, in some cases people hire other people for protection. In other cases they do not. I pay taxes and we have these people called "police". In other cases, I'm sure people have and will self-organize to protect themselves. But this is just more typical "I'm going to pick one aspect of a conversation out of context and blow it all out of proportion".

But yes. you've cracked the case! We are not a hive mind! Things like how halfling communities are defends is really, really campaign setting specific and has little or nothing to do with why people like halflings as PCs.

I know you aren't a hive mind, but if you are going to butt into a discussion, maybe understand the discussion

 

[Chaosmancer]

The history of the sling is entirely new to me. So thank you for the earlier quotes!

Not a problem, it was new to me as well.

Was the training required to effectively use a bow in combat that much less than the sling? Was the training of the greatest bowmen (English longbow?) similar to that of the Balearic slingers?

According to the research? Yes. I don't know if the training was similar, but the bow was much easier to use well than the sling

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Couldn't say how much easier or harder it would be in combat compared to a bow. Most lethal thing I ever faced were empty cans.

If you get the chance, try both while tying to move. Controlling a relatively static machine like a bow is easy compared to something with a bit of gyroscopic force involved.

Youre going to miss A LOT with both, but odds are good you’ll actually do better faster with the bow.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Ball bearings are the best. Not that I have any personal experience, mind you.

If nothing else, they’re gonna affect movement…

 

[Chaosmancer]

I feel Backgrounds should be able to grant a certain weapon proficiency.

• Horseback Nomad: shortbow
• Deer Hunter: longbow
• Bore Hunter: spear
• Carpenter: handaxe
• Shepherd: sling
• Cowherd: lasso

And so on.

Interestingly, the sword appears to be the only weapon whose only purpose is to kill humanoids. Most other weapons are dual use for hunting or farming.

Halflings could easily be shepherds (literally pastoral), with Shepherd background whence sling.

The Halfling Shepherd background, in addition to sling, would even have various breeds of dog make sense, to help herding.

Yeah, that feels like a great addition to backgrounds

 

[Neonchameleon]

And I'm aware of plenty of groups of horse-archers but no groups of horse-slingers. (I don't say it's impossible for someone at a carnival - just that I can't think of it being done at a societal level).

Hmm... on a tangent it feels to me as if the stats for a sling actually belong to a slingshot (which aren't historical weapons as there weren't the elastics) and someone got confused between the two.

 

[Yaarel]

And I'm aware of plenty of groups of horse-archers but no groups of horse-slingers. (I don't say it's impossible for someone at a carnival - just that I can't think of it being done at a societal level).

Hmm... on a tangent it feels to me as if the stats for a sling actually belong to a slingshot (which aren't historical weapons as there weren't the elastics) and someone got confused between the two.

Yeah.

The slings would be more the Halfling (Rogue Thief!) shepherds.

The Halflings that are riding dogs as cavalry, might be Fighter Champions using Shortbows.

Properly a "shortbow" is the same as a "composite bow", which really is about as effective as a longbow, but more suitable for horseback.

The D&D 5e shortbow seems to be different from a composite bow, and really just a mini-bow. But it would still be suitable for shooting while riding steeds, including shooting at pursuers while fleeing.

 

[Don Durito]

First, the English/Welsh longbow wasn't the greatest ever. It might have been the greatest peasant bow - but it was a straight bow made from a single stave of yew wood; recurve composite or laminate bows allowed more force for the same draw weight, could be held drawn much more easily, and could even be made asymmetric to help with horse archery and not hitting the horse. But the Mongol, Samurai, Turkish, and other bows that were better were all, so far as I recall, associated with horse rather than foot archery.

Laminate bows don't do well in humid environments, which is why they never really caught on Europe.