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Message: <blockquote data-quote="James Gasik" data-source="post: 8703950" data-attributes="member: 6877472">So there is no innate "Halfling" reason to go adventuring.  This concept boggles me, because there are lots of races that have no innate reason to go adventuring.  I'll go to my current favorite target to pick on, the Lizardfolk.Cracking open my Volo's Guide, I see we open with a warning: "If you're considering taking a scaled one on an adventure, remember this important fact.  The strange, inhuman glint in it's eyes as it looks you over is the same look you might give a freshly grilled steak."  -Tordek, dwarf fighter and adventurer (hey Tordek, glad to see you're still around, 2 editions later!).Then it goes on to accentuate that they live in dismal swamps that may be hundreds of miles away from civilization, and that their way of thinking is alien to us warm blooded folks.  It then goes on to say "some lizardfolk make an effort to understand and, in their own manner, befriend people of other races.  Such lizardfolk make faithful and skilled allies."  Hm, let's go back to that.The next section really tries to drive home the alien minds thing, in case we somehow missed it.  They have limited emotions, basically: fear, aggression, and pleasure.  In fact, they don't experience fear at all (despite not being Brave, heh)!  We're next told that lizardfolk assess everyone and everything in terms of utility, and have little use for art and beauty.  And this fun gem, "Lizardfolk see little need to plan more than a season or so into the future....Lizardfolk have no interest in developing writing, making long-term plans, or cultivating other methods to progress beyond their simple existence as hunters and gatherers".  Starting to notice a trend here.We're also told that lizardfolk see other races as weak, soft, and, at best deserving of pity.  Oh and previously, they mention that lizardfolk only stop from turning  dwarf into steak because he might be useful, and that tends to upset other non-lizardfolk.So in summary, lizardfolk have no innate reason to adventure based on their race and culture, and many reasons not to.  Even if you're one of the small segment of weirdos that does travel to civilized lands, and make an effort, why on earth anyone would give your lizardfolk the time of day is beyond me, when it's quite clear that you are a sociopathic Darwinist who thinks nothing about eating sentient humanoids.But this does bring up the real answer to all of this: adventurers are not the norm in 5e.  Few take up the mantle, and those who do are often considered dangerous troublemakers and radicals by society at large- there may be a need for mercenaries who will kill monsters out there, but you wouldn't let one marry your daughter!Many no doubt think that adventurers cause more problems than they solve, by riling up monsters and plundering the dead in order to overburden the economy with the excess wealth they acquire (and rarely sit still long enough to be fairly taxed!).  So the average Halfling isn't an adventurer.  Neither is the average (just about any other race)!I mean, look at Tieflings.  In D&D, Evil is a real, defined force.  Everyone knows evil gods exist, that there are demons and devils and Hells to go if you're wicked, and that the good gods are real, and they have Heavens for the righteous (that there are evil people at all in this reality makes zero sense to me, but eh, whatever).So then there's this guy.  Thanks to the Retcon of Asmodeus, almost every Tiefling is readily identifiable as such.  They got horns, tails, hooves!  They are literally part fiend!The average person should be making the sign of Pelor (or Lathander, or Pholtus) upon seeing one, and avoiding them like the plague...but nope! In fact, despite some possible emo backstories, Tieflings are a popular race found in many adventuring groups, and since, by default, they're running around with +2 Charisma, you should like them better than Joe Human!D&D races don't make a whole lot of sense.  Their reasons for existing don't make sense.  Their reasons for adventuring often make less sense.That is not why races exist in D&D.  Races exist in D&D so players and DM's can make their game worlds more vibrant, with more options than the same-old, same-old.  And if you do decide to have Dragonborn or Tabaxi in your campaign, it is up to you and your players to figure out how that works- not the blurbs of lore the WotC staff wrote down.If you're creative, it's trivial to make any race an all-star in the setting.  But it's going to, ultimately, only matter if your players like playing that race.  You could crow about how great Dwarves are, for example, and how advanced their culture is, but if all your players turn up their noses at grubby bearded drunkards with bad attitudes (...sounds more like Wolverine if you ask me) to go play Devil babes or totally hot Angel dudes, it doesn't really matter.If a guy wants to play a Halfling, let him be.  I don't care if 20% of players like them or 1%- they have just as much a right to exist as Firbolgs and, yes, even Hannibal Lecter lizardfolk.</blockquote>

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