Short People

[Kaodi]

Giant heads and tiny feet might work for gnomes, which have become a more fey race, but they sure as Hell do not work for halflings.

Edit: Given that we are entering a prolonged period where there will be a series of movies not only featuring hobbits but in fact will be named for them, I really think maybe D&D should just bite the bullet and allow this editions physical iteration of halflings to be drawn straight from the source. Halflings ought to have big, hairy feet. Perhaps some halfling cultures shave off their foot hair and wear ankle "boots" that leave the bottom of their feet and toes free, but physiologically they should still have the big hairy feet going for them. Maybe such cultures tend to favour fingerless handwear as well.

 

[howandwhy99]

Hands and fingers feet and toes
Feet and toes
Hands and fingers feet and toes
Feet and toes
Yes eyes and ears
And mouth and nose
Mouth and nose
But not the
Hands and fingers feet and toes
Feet and toes

Yeah, their hands and feet are in danger of disappearing. Not

Spoiler

Rob Liefeld

disappearing, but pretty noticeable.

I actually like the large dwarven head with elfin appendages idea, but those little toes are not made for walking that body around much less running for long distances.

As for gnomes, think of them as cousins to both dwarves and halflings. About the same height, but much stockier. Long beards (and lets face it, lots of hair elsewhere too), large noses for scenting, bigger and pointier ears, paler by far as D&D gnomes were all kinds the kind of rock gnome that lived far underground, also big or beady eyes, I'm not sure which, but good for living in very dim places most of their lives.
[MENTION=42219]Hautamaki[/MENTION] What you're saying is exactly the reason why Halflings were limited to 4th level in the Fighter class. To be F1 they had to be far superior to other halflings than any human F1 was to other humans.

 

[Hautamaki]

What I'd like to see for halflings is a much more radical stat block for them; balanced, but a lot more radical. Something like cutting their str and con nearly in half, but a huge boost to dex, plus a bunch of other special abilities. Unfortunately, matching their mechanics to their fluff might end up in a class that is impossible to balance and nearly unplayable. Which is why I've honestly never liked halflings as a PC race.

 

[Remathilis]

Those are good halflings

 

[Salamandyr]

I've got to say, I've mostly been pleased by the glimpses of concept art in D&D 5e. It's not always been what I wanted, but it's been close enough that I could see it.

Until now...

This has been the first art to actually repulse me. This is the visual equivalent to the two weapon fighting rules, an element so bad it actually subtracts from my enjoyment of other elements of the game.

Please, please do not make halflings chibis.

 

[mlund]

If you're afraid of the Tolkien estate, just model Halflings as slightly pudgier Nelwins from Willow. Seriously. They aren't Dwarves. They aren't Gnomes. They are half-men, and it works.

Small-footed bobble-head dolls that look like they crawled out of The Legend of Zelda: The Windwaker are not going to do it for me.

Back to the salt mines ... er ... drawing board with you!

- Marty Lund

 

[steeldragons]

Please, please do not make halflings chibis.

YES!!! THAT'S what it was!

Thank you for saying this...so I could put my finger on what it was that was familiar-ish but/and I despised so (aside from and in addition to the lack of hairy feet and pointed ears .

D&D chibis...<shudder> Gods save us.

 

[Klaus]

Jeff Dee's halflings, from the wayback era of 1981:

 

[steeldragons]

Jeff Dee's halflings, from the wayback era of 1981:

Exactly as they should be.

 

[tuxgeo]

Agreed, except that the 3e (and probably PF) ones are a bit too short (average height is 91cm - which is the same as my 2-year-old nephew), and the 4e ones are a bit too tall for my taste. I preferred the 2nd Ed height ranges (2'8" + 2d8 inches, as opposed to 3e's 2'8" + 2d4 inches - though better still would be 3'0" + 2d4 inches).

All IMO, of course.

I'd like to see halflings stand a couple of inches taller than that: 3'2" + (2d4)" for an average height of 3'7" (= 43"), with a height range from 3'4" to 3'10" -- still shorter than most dwarves, but not by a whole lot.

One edition's PHB (I forget which; was it 3E?) stated that halflings average about 75% of the average human height. I think an average halfling height of 43" would come fairly close to fulfilling that.

For appearance, the barrel-chest and dinky legs feature of the big color illustration in the article seemed too "top-heavy" to me, and the arms in that one are too long compared to the legs. Wavy hair and rather round faces would be good visual cues; and I like mostly straight noses on halflings. Wide mouths might also help. (The ears shouldn't matter too much, because the hair usually hides them.)

Some halflings should go barefoot, but if halflings must be shod, consider below-the-knee trousers coupled with calf-high or knee-high stockings. Even if the colors in the stockings aren't done in modern glaring dyes, a knitted pattern would still seem more decorative than plain stockings would.

If we can't see the hair on the tops of halflings' feet, maybe we could see a fair bit of hair on the backs of their hands? Or at least on their arms, and protruding out of their sleeves onto their wrists? If they do have to be shod, that could still give us a visual cue reminiscent of hairy feet.

GNOMES, by comparison, should have more hooked or bulbous noses than halflings, and straighter hair; and they should be more stocky or chunky, like the earth-elementals they came from. Grimmer, more sardonic and/or sarcastic expressions, as though to say, "You haven't a clue about what's going on, have you?"