The Green Adam
First Post
How quickly we forget! That's not nearly enough straps, spikes, or weapons to be a 3e gnome.
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True, my little fellow has a much more 1E/Ars Magica look I think

AD
How quickly we forget! That's not nearly enough straps, spikes, or weapons to be a 3e gnome.
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Yes, possibly for the first time. I barely even knew the race existed in the 1e/2e days, outside of DL's tinkers - gnomes didn't seem to serve any significant purpose and I rarely saw them in adventures or in setting materials. And they never showed up in the artwork (insert invisibility joke here). In 25+ years of playing D&D I think I've only seen 1 gnome PC (a 3e bard). For the first time though, I would consider playing these gnomes. It's not just that they have a good "hook" - the abilities of the race back up and reinforce the hook.I think they got gnomes pretty good this time around. They have a good "hook."
Plus the archtype keeps getting messed with. In 3e they were little gypsies, complete with wagons. A possibly bigoted take for a race that's most often associated with thieving, but at least it's something that people know and can identify with. In 4e, they're dreadlocked riverfolk, which just isn't a very interesting hook to hang a character concept on (which I think also comes out in the very lackluster halfling racial feats).Halflings are a bit more troublesome from the 4e perspective because there isn't a big reason to have them there. The 4e halfling doesn't satisfy purists (they ain't hobbits!), and it doesn't satisfy people looking for the new stuff either (they lack a strong archetype in the way that dwarves and elves and gnomes have strong archetypes).
Spatula said:Yes, possibly for the first time.
In 4e, they're dreadlocked riverfolk, which just isn't a very interesting hook to hang a character concept on (which I think also comes out in the very lackluster halfling racial feats).
Uh... they look just like the halflings...
So your halflings are rogues with the Ruthless Ruffian or Acrobat Rogue builds, eh?Probably, yes. While individual settings often had pretty good gnome ideas (hobbits or tinkers or spies or whatever), the game as a whole didn't know what to do with them until 4e.
For most character creation choices, it's all about the archetype. The halflings presented in the core 4e rules don't fit an archetype very well.
Which is why I gave them the "thug" archetype IMC (which their boldness, athletics, and stealth actually reinforce, to a large degree).
Tbh I get how halflings are. Maybe because of Races and Classes.
Ridiculous. Okay, I can live with wanting to make them 'a monster' (I grit my teeth referencing that...) and thus not privy to the playable race list even though dragonboobs and demons apparently can be playable.
But if you're going to make them monsters, then make them freaking monsters. These half-ass pictures of spikey haired 10 year olds cos-playing Link (poorly at that) don't cut it.
Klaus said:So your halflings are rogues with the Ruthless Ruffian or Acrobat Rogue builds, eh?