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<blockquote data-quote="Hussar" data-source="post: 8819585" data-attributes="member: 22779">The point being is that they actually don't though.&nbsp; Humans don't remember past lives and never sleep.&nbsp; That's something that is distinctly elven and serves to separate them from humans.&nbsp; That you could give that power to a human doesn't invalidate elves any more than short humans invalidate halflings.Humans don't live below ground, although, sure, they could.&nbsp; Nor do they innately see through stone.&nbsp; Again, you could certainly make a human that could see through stone and live underground, but, all you've done now is turn a human into a dwarf.Which would be the point that's been made over and over again.&nbsp; Halflings don't really have anything that makes them distinctly halfling.&nbsp; Not being fantastical is what humans are.&nbsp; To me there are several very strong reasons why halflings are problematic:1.&nbsp; Many settings, while leaving elves and dwarves more or less alone, rewrite halflings in an attempt to make them different and attractive to players.&nbsp; Whether it's the anti-hobbit kender, cannibal halflings, river trader halflings, dinosaur riding halflings or whatever, there have been so many very different takes on &quot;halfling&quot; that defining a halfling is actually pretty problematic.&nbsp; I mean, you, yourself mention that there innately magical halflings - which runs exactly counter to what everyone has talked about as the core of being a halfling - that they aren't special.&nbsp; That they aren't magical.&nbsp; So, &quot;define halfling&quot; becomes a game of throwing stuff at the wall and hoping that something will eventually stick.2.&nbsp; Halflings never play much of a roll in any of the settings.&nbsp; They are always the &quot;and also&quot; race.&nbsp; They never really matter and removing them from the setting would pretty much have zero impact.&nbsp; Even settings like Dragonlance where kender are actually a big thing, they don't actually DO anything in the setting.&nbsp; It's the humans and the elves and the dwarves that fight back the dragonarmies.&nbsp; The Kender are just kinda mentioned in a couple of paragraphs at the end.&nbsp; In most settings they don't even play that much of a role.3.&nbsp; According to the information we have, and a fair bit of anecdotal information, halflings have never actually been very popular.&nbsp; Again, they are the &quot;also ran&quot; race.&nbsp; If they are in an adventure at all, it's a very, very minor role.&nbsp; &quot;Save the halfling town&quot; hasn't been a plot in a module that I can think of (although, I'm sure it does exist somewhere).&nbsp; Yet &quot;Save the (Human/Elf/Dwarf) town has featured repeatedly.&nbsp; According to what we've seen on D&amp;D Beyond, they aren't played all that often.&nbsp; Think of it this way.&nbsp; If I told you that my 5 PC group was 3 humans and 2 elves, no one would bat an eye.&nbsp; Heck 3 elves a dwarf and a human would be pretty standard.&nbsp; When's the last time you had 3 halfling PC's at the same time?&nbsp; And if you have, would you say that that's a regular occurrence at your table?</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Hussar, post: 8819585, member: 22779"] The point being is that they actually don't though. Humans don't remember past lives and never sleep. That's something that is distinctly elven and serves to separate them from humans. That you could give that power to a human doesn't invalidate elves any more than short humans invalidate halflings. Humans don't live below ground, although, sure, they could. Nor do they innately see through stone. Again, you could certainly make a human that could see through stone and live underground, but, all you've done now is turn a human into a dwarf. Which would be the point that's been made over and over again. Halflings don't really have anything that makes them distinctly halfling. Not being fantastical is what humans are. To me there are several very strong reasons why halflings are problematic: 1. Many settings, while leaving elves and dwarves more or less alone, rewrite halflings in an attempt to make them different and attractive to players. Whether it's the anti-hobbit kender, cannibal halflings, river trader halflings, dinosaur riding halflings or whatever, there have been so many very different takes on "halfling" that defining a halfling is actually pretty problematic. I mean, you, yourself mention that there innately magical halflings - which runs exactly counter to what everyone has talked about as the core of being a halfling - that they aren't special. That they aren't magical. So, "define halfling" becomes a game of throwing stuff at the wall and hoping that something will eventually stick. 2. Halflings never play much of a roll in any of the settings. They are always the "and also" race. They never really matter and removing them from the setting would pretty much have zero impact. Even settings like Dragonlance where kender are actually a big thing, they don't actually DO anything in the setting. It's the humans and the elves and the dwarves that fight back the dragonarmies. The Kender are just kinda mentioned in a couple of paragraphs at the end. In most settings they don't even play that much of a role. 3. According to the information we have, and a fair bit of anecdotal information, halflings have never actually been very popular. Again, they are the "also ran" race. If they are in an adventure at all, it's a very, very minor role. "Save the halfling town" hasn't been a plot in a module that I can think of (although, I'm sure it does exist somewhere). Yet "Save the (Human/Elf/Dwarf) town has featured repeatedly. According to what we've seen on D&D Beyond, they aren't played all that often. Think of it this way. If I told you that my 5 PC group was 3 humans and 2 elves, no one would bat an eye. Heck 3 elves a dwarf and a human would be pretty standard. When's the last time you had 3 halfling PC's at the same time? And if you have, would you say that that's a regular occurrence at your table? [/QUOTE]

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