Reimagining the Hobbit

[Sketchpad]

Just trying to get a start ... feel free to change what ya need

 

[mmu1]

I actually think Tolkien would give a positive Con modifier to hobbits. They constantly handle physical adversity much better than the "big people," at least according to Gandalf and the elves.

They need to have good Fort saves - not necessarily a high Con or a bonus to Con. It's one of those things that D&D just doesn't handle well - as tough as Hobbits are for their size, Tolkien never tries to suggest that they'd stand a chance in a melee with the "big folk". They are the size of 8-9 year old kids, after all.

I suppose it's best left alone, considering that plenty of small and tiny creatures walk around with decent Con scores, but in a perfect world, they should not have the same Con score as humans. Better Fort saves, than humans, sure - same Con and comparable HP, definitely not.

 

[thedungeondelver]

I rather think early AD&D is a fine place to start with hobbits (ignoring anything after, say 1984 or thereabouts and we can forget those horrid "kender" and so forth).

 

[Moon-Lancer]

You do know, of course, that odd-numbered stat modifiers (e.g. +1) are not a good idea, right?

just a quick side track... why are +1 racial stat boosts bad? I have heard this before but not why this is.

 

[Dragonhelm]

just a quick side track... why are +1 racial stat boosts bad? I have heard this before but not why this is.

Because they don't guarantee that your ability score modifier will go up. Let's say you have a 12 Dex. You add one, making it a 13. You're still at a +1 modifier, making the +1 racial modifier kind of useless. With a +2 modifier, you guarantee that no matter what you roll, your +1 becomes a +2.

 

[monboesen]

Originally Posted by Moon-Lancer
just a quick side track... why are +1 racial stat boosts bad? I have heard this before but not why this is.


Because they don't guarantee that your ability score modifier will go up. Let's say you have a 12 Dex. You add one, making it a 13. You're still at a +1 modifier, making the +1 racial modifier kind of useless. With a +2 modifier, you guarantee that no matter what you roll, your +1 becomes a +2.

Well to me the problem seems to be that the modifier doesnt guarantee that the penalty will make the stat go down. This naturally leads players to place an uneven score in both the stats that are modified.

For a hafling you place that 11 in str (and then it is modified to a 10) and that 15 in dexterity (where it is modified to a 16).

Congratulations you just gained a bonus in dexterity for virtually no cost.

 

[EditorBFG]

I rather think early AD&D is a fine place to start with hobbits (ignoring anything after, say 1984 or thereabouts and we can forget those horrid "kender" and so forth).

Let's not be silly here.

For one thing, old school halflings were a little too naturally talented at thievery to simulate Tolkien. Part of the point of The Hobbit was that Bilbo Baggins was ill-suited for being a burglar and grew into it.

I would think Hobbits would get Con bonuses, bonuses against mind/emotion control (from being naturally unflappable and a lot better around high-Ego artifacts than any of the humans), and have some ability to sense the composition of rabbit stew the way dwarves sense slopes and grades in tunnels. That's about it. The charm of Tolkien's hobbits was that they were naturally unheroic and became heroic anyway.

Kender weren't horrid-- they served their own purpose in the story and world for which they were created.

To paraphrase Bill Coffin, 1984 ended way back in nineteen-eighty-freaking-four.

 

[Nyaricus]

This was taken from another post of mine; here are some descriptions:

• Hobbits:
  Like in Tolkien, there are 3 subraces of Hobbits IMC. There are Lightfoot Hobbits, Tallfellow Hobbits and Stoutheart Hobbits.
  
  Lightfoot Hobbits: the 'common' hobbit you'll meet. Generally friendly, they are of the shortest height, of medium build, and are usually simple peasants living simply lives.
  
  Stoutheart Hobbits: the most traditionalist of the hoobitfolk you'll meet; they are of medium height, heavyset of frame and make up much of the magistrates, sheriffs, clergy et al of the hobbit peoples.
  
  Tallfellow Hobbits: the most free-willed of the hobbits you'll meet, they are also the rarest bunch. They tend to live on the outskirts of society, at the end of the lane, so-to-speak. They are, however, the most common of the adventuring hobbits you may meet; and while they are often black-listed in their communities, their heroics are often praised in human societies. They are the tallest of the hobbits, and also the thinnest; they are also well-noted of their love of all things elven.

My hobbits are very Tolkienesque, IOW.

I have stats for them; I'll post them up tomorrow, hopefully.

cheers,
--N

 

[Aeric]

I think halflings should have phenomenal Will saves. After all, hobbits were the only creatures able to resist the lure of the One Ring for any length of time. Everyone else went into a frenzy merely upon seeing the ring.

I would make the halfling's stat modifiers -2 Str, +2 Wis. I never really saw a reason to boost their Dex except to make them even more effective rogues, and as it was stated earlier, there is no reason to make halflings naturally proficient at being rogues. It could be argued that a combination of their small size as well as their innocuous reputation makes them the perfect thief, but if they all become rogues, then everyone expects them to be such, and the element of surprise is gone. Kind of a catch-22, that.

 

[EditorBFG]

I think halflings should have phenomenal Will saves. After all, hobbits were the only creatures able to resist the lure of the One Ring for any length of time. Everyone else went into a frenzy merely upon seeing the ring.

Exactly.

It could be argued that a combination of their small size as well as their innocuous reputation makes them the perfect thief...

Don't the current rules already give Small creatures bonuses to Hide? I know you're just stating the possible argument, as opposed to making it, but I think you're right on no Dex mod. I also think Hobbits should retain a bonus to all saves, not just Will (though Will should be the big one)-- they seem to be lucky.