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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Lanefan" data-source="post: 8704494" data-attributes="member: 29398">That, and their world-changing (and cosmos-changing!) technology combined with divine magic, and their post-modern civilizations, etc., all of which ended ages ago but still now and then has influence today.Every time we see anything in the shape of a hexagon now we immediately think Hobgoblin influence, and are usually right. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />Question, though: why must they be unique?I should note I only have one other shortie in my games, that being Gnomes, thus Hobbits' stature makes them somewhat unusual in itself. (Dwarves are a bit taller, then Elves, then Humans)  I should also note we somewhat base on a Tolkein foundation more than does mainstream D&D, though by no means slavishly so - my ten-word campaign summary in that other thread consists of "JRR Tolkein, may I introduce you to Xena, Warrior Princess".  Hobbits have their place in such a setting.Mechanically, they have innate nimbleness and toughness to an extent no other playable species does.  They alone also get big bonuses with thrown or fired missiles; all of this coming at cost of a) some Strength and Wisdom (even though they make excellent Clerics they have to fight a small Wisdom penalty to do so), b) a ban on use of weapons over a certain size, and c) and a few soft guidelines on one's backstory.  Now of course none of this applies to 5e, but I've no reason to care about that.Dunno.  Is the gun loaded?  Can his chain reach her or the gun, or is he still at range?  Etc.Magic exists, yes, but while individual members of many species can learn how to access and-or use it there's very few species* wherein the great majority of members are taught this.  Arcanist Goblins are unheard of+, divine-magic Goblins exist but are very uncommon.* - in my games Drow and Githi are perhaps the only two.+ - to use arcane magic requires a certain degree of Intelligence which falls either at or above the species maximum for Goblins.What we're also running up against here is the ongoing trend, seen most clearly in 5e, to make species mechanically more similar and to remove penalties of any kind.  I don't subscribe for a second to the idea that a Hobbit should be on average as strong as a Goliath; and I expect - and demand - that averaging to carry over to PCs of each type.  On the respective bell-curve for the species, a Strength-14 Hobbit and a Strength-17 Goliath should be the same - considerably stronger than average but still well below the species maximum.Result: Goliaths are strong and thus tend toward classes and occupations requiring lots of muscle, Hobbits are nimble and thus trend toward classes and occupations requiring dexterity.Another differentiator that's been lost is different species' ability (or lack of) to access magic, either arcane or divine.  Now it's pretty much the same for everyone, meaning any advantage gained by species that could over those that could not has been erased.In short: the notion that all species should be more or less equally able to be all classes is IMO fundamentally flawed, and is a great contributor to the same-ness that is making Hobbits (and no doubt some other species) seem dull.</blockquote>

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