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<blockquote data-quote="Clint_L" data-source="post: 8826088" data-attributes="member: 7035894">We are actually totally in agreement - I obviously just didn't express myself clearly. What I meant is that I don't like making things like skills and languages racial features. Like, should all dwarves really be proficient in axes and hammers, and one of three types of tools? What about that nerdy dwarf kid who could care less about making stuff or hitting things and just wants to study magic? Is there a gene for hammer proficiency, or something? This is what I mean about the game sneaking in cultural traits disguised as racial features. Leave those things to the player and the DM.On the other hand, resistance to poison...sure. That could be a racial trait. Darkvision? That tracks.So looking at Halflings in thePHB:I would cut all the &quot;kind and curious&quot; stuff, or modify anything like that with words such as &quot;in many settings,&quot; etc.Base speed 25: Not a huge fan, but okay. The reason that I'm not a huge fan is that it is a nod to realism (&quot;they're slow because they're small&quot;), but given that we have no problems letting Halflings have the same strength score as Goliaths, making sure that they have a lower base speed seems like an odd line to draw.Halfling Luck: I love natural 1s. They make the best story beats. I don't like robbing players of natural 1s just because they want to play a Halfing. Give them a better feature that doesn't kill their fun.Halfling Nimbleness: Sure. But should really just apply to all small sized races.Languages: Get rid of &quot;Halfling&quot; as a language. Racial languages are a weird idea. I don't speak &quot;human.&quot;Brave: Nah. Why is a whole race unusually brave? This is just a nod to Tolkien's Hobbit characters, who were kind of stand-ins for his idealized English people.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Clint_L, post: 8826088, member: 7035894"] We are actually totally in agreement - I obviously just didn't express myself clearly. What I meant is that I don't like making things like skills and languages racial features. Like, should all dwarves really be proficient in axes and hammers, and one of three types of tools? What about that nerdy dwarf kid who could care less about making stuff or hitting things and just wants to study magic? Is there a gene for hammer proficiency, or something? This is what I mean about the game sneaking in cultural traits disguised as racial features. Leave those things to the player and the DM. On the other hand, resistance to poison...sure. That could be a racial trait. Darkvision? That tracks. So looking at Halflings in thePHB: I would cut all the "kind and curious" stuff, or modify anything like that with words such as "in many settings," etc. Base speed 25: Not a huge fan, but okay. The reason that I'm not a huge fan is that it is a nod to realism ("they're slow because they're small"), but given that we have no problems letting Halflings have the same strength score as Goliaths, making sure that they have a lower base speed seems like an odd line to draw. Halfling Luck: I love natural 1s. They make the best story beats. I don't like robbing players of natural 1s just because they want to play a Halfing. Give them a better feature that doesn't kill their fun. Halfling Nimbleness: Sure. But should really just apply to all small sized races. Languages: Get rid of "Halfling" as a language. Racial languages are a weird idea. I don't speak "human." Brave: Nah. Why is a whole race unusually brave? This is just a nod to Tolkien's Hobbit characters, who were kind of stand-ins for his idealized English people. [/QUOTE]

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