RPG Evolution: The Trouble with Halflings

Over the decades I've developed my campaign world to match the archetypes my players wanted to play. In all those years, nobody's ever played a halfling.

Picture courtesy of Pixabay.​

So What's the Problem?​

Halflings, derived from hobbits, have been a curious nod to Tolkien's influence on fantasy. While dwarves and elves have deep mythological roots, hobbits are more modern inventions. And their inclusion was very much a response to the adventurous life that the agrarian homebodies considered an aberration. In short, most hobbits didn't want to be adventurers, and Bilbo, Frodo, and the others were forever changed by their experiences, such that it was difficult for them to reintegrate when they returned home. You don't hear much about elves and dwarves having difficulty returning home after being adventurers, and for good reason. Tolkien was making a point about the human condition and the nature of war by using hobbits as proxies.

As a literary construct, hobbits serve a specific purpose. In The Hobbit, they are proxies for children. In The Lord of the Rings, they are proxies for farmers and other folk who were thrust into the industrialized nightmare of mass warfare. In both cases, hobbits were a positioned in contrast to the violent lifestyle of adventurers who live and die by the sword.

Which is at least in part why they're challenging to integrate into a campaign world. And yet, we have strong hobbit archetypes in Dungeons & Dragons, thanks to Dragonlance.

Kender. Kender Are the Problem​

I did know one player who loved to play kender. We never played together in a campaign, at least in part because kender are an integral part of the Dragonlance setting and we weren't playing in Dragonlance. But he would play a kender in every game he played, including in massive multiplayers like Ultima Online. And he was eye-rollingly aggravating, as he loved "borrowing" things from everyone (a trait established by Tasselhoff Burrfoot).

Part of the issue with kender is that they aren't thieves, per se, but have a child-like curiosity that causes them to "borrow" things without understanding that borrowing said things without permission is tantamount to stealing in most cultures. In essence, it results in a character who steals but doesn't admit to stealing, which can be problematic for inter-party harmony. Worse, kender have a very broad idea of what to "borrow" (which is not limited to just valuables) and have always been positioned as being offended by accusations of thievery. It sets up a scenario where either the party is very tolerant of the kender or conflict ensues. This aspect of kender has been significantly minimized in the latest draft for Unearthed Arcana.

Big Heads, Little Bodies​

The latest incarnation of halflings brings them back to the fun-loving roots. Their appearance is decidedly not "little children" or "overweight short people." Rather, they appear more like political cartoons of eras past, where exaggerated features were used as caricatures, adding further to their comical qualities. But this doesn't solve the outstanding problem that, for a game that is often about conflict, the original prototypes for halflings avoided it. They were heroes precisely because they were thrust into difficult situations and had to rise to the challenge. That requires significant work in a campaign to encourage a player to play a halfling character who would rather just stay home.

There's also the simple matter of integrating halflings into societies where they aren't necessarily living apart. Presumably, most human campaigns have farmers; dwarves and elves occupy less civilized niches, where halflings are a working class who lives right alongside the rest of humanity in plain sight. Figuring out how to accommodate them matters a lot. Do humans just treat them like children? Would halflings want to be anywhere near a larger humanoids' dwellings as a result? Or are halflings given mythical status like fey? Or are they more like inveterate pranksters and tricksters, treating them more like gnomes? And if halflings are more like gnomes, then why have gnomes?

There are opportunities to integrate halflings into a world, but they aren't quite so easy to plop down into a setting as dwarves and elves. I still haven't quite figured out how to make them work in my campaign that doesn't feel like a one-off rather than a separate species. But I did finally find a space for gnomes, which I'll discuss in another article.

Your Turn: How have you integrated halflings into your campaign world?

 

[Gammadoodler]

it is not quite as simple, it does not run on command and conquer economy, for starters both mining and theatre are businesses and once built a theatre can stay in operation for a great deal of time, the globe is four hundred years old and still in use in our would so what might be a choice one year may not matter in ten and when you have lives in the three hundreds that adds up rapidly plus you do not need a theatre for performances to be put on.

you act as if dwarves never trade or interact with the outside world other than in war or adventure.

No..I'm not. The question was..if they have to make the choice, what do they choose?

If I give you 1 acre of land on which you can build a 1 acre mine or a 1 acre theater, you don't get to build both. If you have 2 workers who can put in 40 hours a week on construction each, you have 80 dwarf-hours you can put toward construction for that week. If the mine and the theater both require 80 dwarf hours per week to build, one thing will have to get built before the other. The choice they make for how these resources get spent is a reflection of their values.

I'm not saying there are no theaters in dwarftown. I'm saying that dwarves as a society would build fewer theaters and those theaters would likely be worse, because theatre, in general, is lower on the Dwarven priority list.

This isn't anything radical. It works exactly the same way in the real world. If people care more about a thing, more resources get allocated to that thing.

 

[Faolyn]

No..I'm not. The question was..if they have to make the choice, what do they choose?

If I give you 1 acre of land on which you can build a 1 acre mine or a 1 acre theater, you don't get to build both. If you have 2 workers who can put in 40 hours a week on construction each, you have 80 dwarf-hours you can put toward construction for that week. If the mine and the theater both require 80 dwarf hours per week to build, one thing will have to get built before the other. The choice they make for how these resources get spent is a reflection of their values.

I'm not saying there are no theaters in dwarftown. I'm saying that dwarves as a society would build fewer theaters and those theaters would likely be worse, because theatre, in general, is lower on the Dwarven priority list.

This isn't anything radical. It works exactly the same way in the real world. If people care more about a thing, more resources get allocated to that thing.

Well, theoretically, you can have both a mine and the theater in the same acre--by thinking three-dimensionally. Dwarfs, who mine, would be more likely to think in 3D since dungeons, mines, caverns, and dwarfhalls all have multiple levels.

But anyway, dwarfs may very well put theaters lower on the list in terms of importance than a mine, but that's because they might not have a big theater culture anyway. They may have smaller stages in their really nice taverns, however. Dwarfs enjoy drinking in a nice environment after a long day of mining, and probably enjoy a bit of entertainment while they drink.

 

[Mind of tempest]

No..I'm not. The question was..if they have to make the choice, what do they choose?

If I give you 1 acre of land on which you can build a 1 acre mine or a 1 acre theater, you don't get to build both. If you have 2 workers who can put in 40 hours a week on construction each, you have 80 dwarf-hours you can put toward construction for that week. If the mine and the theater both require 80 dwarf hours per week to build, one thing will have to get built before the other. The choice they make for how these resources get spent is a reflection of their values.

I'm not saying there are no theaters in dwarftown. I'm saying that dwarves as a society would build fewer theaters and those theaters would likely be worse, because theatre, in general, is lower on the Dwarven priority list.

This isn't anything radical. It works exactly the same way in the real world. If people care more about a thing, more resources get allocated to that thing.

that is not how city construction works as your working in a vacuum and land good for mining and good for a theatre have completely separate traits, yo tend to in most places of the world have fewer theatres than mine as you only need many when you have truly massive cites.

white room theory does not work on city construction in a realist situation, you are literally thinking like a video game, the city could stand for centuries thus mines dry up and at some point, a theatre could be built no culture is static ever.
also, they are dwarves building things properly is basically morally good in their eyes to make something badly is an insult to dwarfdom.

 

[Gammadoodler]

Well, theoretically, you can have both a mine and the theater in the same acre--by thinking three-dimensionally. Dwarfs, who mine, would be more likely to think in 3D since dungeons, mines, caverns, and dwarfhalls all have multiple levels.

But anyway, dwarfs may very well put theaters lower on the list in terms of importance than a mine, but that's because they might not have a big theater culture anyway. They may have smaller stages in their really nice taverns, however. Dwarfs enjoy drinking in a nice environment after a long day of mining, and probably enjoy a bit of entertainment while they drink.

I take your point, but the thrust of the idea is that space is limited. It is a resource that is expended.

I have no problem with the idea of a troupe of merry dwarven actors putting on the battle of the four armies (or whatever) on in their taverns.

My argument is that the races/cultures that value theatre (or magic, or welfare, or information) more would devote comparatively more resources and thereby be better at those things.

 

[Gammadoodler]

that is not how city construction works as your working in a vacuum and land good for mining and good for a theatre have completely separate traits, yo tend to in most places of the world have fewer theatres than mine as you only need many when you have truly massive cites.

white room theory does not work on city construction in a realist situation, you are literally thinking like a video game, the city could stand for centuries thus mines dry up and at some point, a theatre could be built no culture is static ever.
also, they are dwarves building things properly is basically morally good in their eyes to make something badly is an insult to dwarfdom.

Cities are built and rebuilt all the time.

The stuff that lasts is the stuff people care about (or is too expensive to demolish and replace).

On average a population will only have as many theaters, craft halls, mines, gardens, and taverns as the population is willing/able to support through patronage and employment.

Holding resources equal, populations will have differing proportions of those institutions based on what the populations are willing and able to support.

Basic supply and demand.

 

[Faolyn]

I take your point, but the thrust of the idea is that space is limited. It is a resource that is expended.

I have no problem with the idea of a troupe of merry dwarven actors putting on the battle of the four armies (or whatever) on in their taverns.

My argument is that the races/cultures that value theatre (or magic, or welfare, or information) more would devote comparatively more resources and thereby be better at those things.

Well, D&D worlds rarely seem to run out of resources, especially when you consider magical assistance and nudges by elementals, gods, and other such entities.

Another thing to remember is that D&D worlds are old, and many things in it, especially those created by non-humans, were built to last. So there may not be many dwarfs building theaters now, but that's because there were theaters built hundreds or even thousands of years ago still in operation.

And, well, not every dwarf is a miner. There are going to be plenty of dwarfs who do the other jobs. Plus, of course, dwarfs can always hire non-dwarfs to make those less essential things for them while they do the mining and smithing.

 

[Gammadoodler]

Well, D&D worlds rarely seem to run out of resources, especially when you consider magical assistance and nudges by elementals, gods, and other such entities.

Another thing to remember is that D&D worlds are old, and many things in it, especially those created by non-humans, were built to last. So there may not be many dwarfs building theaters now, but that's because there were theaters built hundreds or even thousands of years ago still in operation.

And, well, not every dwarf is a miner. There are going to be plenty of dwarfs who do the other jobs. Plus, of course, dwarfs can always hire non-dwarfs to make those less essential things for them while they do the mining and smithing.

Time is a resource. For mortals, even fantasy ones, its always running out.

 

[James Gasik]

Well, D&D worlds rarely seem to run out of resources, especially when you consider magical assistance and nudges by elementals, gods, and other such entities.

Another thing to remember is that D&D worlds are old, and many things in it, especially those created by non-humans, were built to last. So there may not be many dwarfs building theaters now, but that's because there were theaters built hundreds or even thousands of years ago still in operation.

And, well, not every dwarf is a miner. There are going to be plenty of dwarfs who do the other jobs. Plus, of course, dwarfs can always hire non-dwarfs to make those less essential things for them while they do the mining and smithing.

It is true, the world never seems to run out of wealth to be found, or raw materials. Heck, I once posed this question to my DM:

"So a lot of spells require a sacrifice of diamond dust. Does this mean that the game world will one day run out of diamonds, and those spells will stop functioning?"

 

[Gammadoodler]

I can't believe how difficult it has been to get folks to agree that you have to make choices and those choices have consequences.

Theater or mine.. hah jokes on you, all my mines are theaters.

Acting or mining..hah jokes on you, all miners are also actors and the whole time they are mining, they are also acting and enjoying the other miner/actors' performances.

Work or hobby or charity..hah jokes on you..everyone who works, works at a charity which is also their hobby..

Is this the moment I come over to the pro-simulation crowd?

 

[Faolyn]

It is true, the world never seems to run out of wealth to be found, or raw materials. Heck, I once posed this question to my DM:

"So a lot of spells require a sacrifice of diamond dust. Does this mean that the game world will one day run out of diamonds, and those spells will stop functioning?"

In 2e, there was actually a dwarf cleric spell that regrew gemstones and metals. It took literally decades to accomplish, but it worked.

I imagine, though, that new ores and gems are constantly being created by various gods or grow out of tiny portals to the Plane of Earth.