Tell me about halflings in your world.

[der_kluge]

Halflings? Don't have them. They never existed on this plane. Gnomes gneither.

Dwarves are all dead. Wiped out in a war against mankind 300 years ago. Some undead Dwarves do exist. Restless ghosts of that fierce race.

Elves do not exist. They disappeared eons ago. They are only creatures of myth and legend.

Giants exist. Centaurs. Humans. Demons. Devils. and Undead. Lots of Undead.

There are no stars in the sky at night, either.

Egads! Remind me to never play in your game. Is that set on the world of Kermit*?


*really obscure reference to _The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy_ about a world with no night sky. At least, I think that's the name of the planet. Someone here will correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[der_kluge]

Well, now I'm torn between the concept of a nomadic race, and a peaceful agrarian race. Maybe I'll introduce both.

I'm also leaning heavily towards having high elves and wood elves, with the latter being much more chaotic and fey, and the former being haughty and civilized.

Still no dwarves, though. Sorry.

 

[Krieg]

And this thread wins the "use of the word cotton as a verb" award. Never seen that happen.

But you have to admit that in the context of Hillbilly Halflings it is entirely apropriate.

In my world, halflings are the Swiss.

No really. They look all peaceful and rural, and have a "We don't bother the World and the World doesn't botherus" attitude. But they are also armed to the teeth, know the mountains like the back of their hands, and have lots of unpleasant surprises for any would-be invader.

Hmm, the Swiss are hillbillies.

I never realized that.

Well, my Halflings (or Osispun (children of Ispun)) are more like earth's jews: They had once empires, that were able to fend of larger, human empires (about 2000 years ago). But now, these empires are gone and the only bond between the halflings is their religion which sets them apart (monotheistic while most every other people follows some polotheistic religion). They are learned and educated, having lost most of their stealth abilities in favor of intellectual bonuses. Sometimes pogroms end the lifes of whole halfling communities and only few halflings go on adventure being scholars, merchants and sometimes thieves.

In my world Gnomes fit this description...even down to Gnomish ghettoes & moneylenders.

 

[Presto2112]

I'd be more than happy to tell you about halflings in the campaign world I'm playing, but in the 2 1/2 years we've been playing in this particular game world, we haven't seen any. My DM assures me they exist, but apparently not anywhere my character has ever been.

 

[Jürgen Hubert]

Hmm, the Swiss are hillbillies.

I never realized that.

But smart hillbillies!

Think about it - the Swiss are polite, wealthy, obsessed with piece, quiet, and cleanliness... and armed to the teeth. IIRC most male Swiss adults are required by law to keep an assault rifle in their home, and practice with it regularly. And they have massive stockpiles of supplies hidden below their mountains.

And they sit on much of the money generated from organized crime syndicates from all over the world...

That was the angle I was trying to use for the halflings in my setting - they only look harmless at first glance, but if you think they are pushovers, you are very much mistaken...

here for a short introduction to the Survivalist mentality of the Swiss.

 

[green slime]

Egads! Remind me to never play in your game. Is that set on the world of Kermit*?

Well, there are legends of bright stars in the sky, but those legends are old, from the time before the Great Cataclysm, around 2000 years ago. In fact their disappearance marks the time of troubles and the descent in Chaos. Were it not for the arrival of the first Undying Emperor (hereditary title), who brought law and order and united most of the city-states, who knows what state mankind would be in today?

Unfortunately today, it is the machinations of the Psionic League (Sponsered by the vile Illithids acting within the Empire) and the undead hordes of the Pale Necromancer along the Eastern wastes threaten what would be paradise for a united humankind...

 

[KMageau]

Halflings in my campaign world are traditionally a rural country type folks. They tend to live in thier clans and family groups for life. On numerous occasions several leave home and venture into the world of the large folk. They try to find thier place and niche in the world around them. I attribute their leaving thier clans to Wanderlust, they need to travel and see things. Not all halflings suffer from this wanderlust but those that do are afflicted for may years and will continually travel to the far reaches of the lands. Once thier wanderlust subsides they will possibly return to thier clans homeland or settle down where they end up.

This settling down in a far off land is a good historical point to help establish credibilty as to why there are halflings in non-native lands. Many of the halflings that settle in these far off areas will tend to join or create a thieves guild. This is due to their desire and affinity to shiney gems.

My halflings are not typically treasure hording fools. They tend to lead simply or even slightly modestly when they are in thier wanderlust state. Those that stay in their clans/family groups will almost always be simple farmers and decent hunters.

If a halfling returns to his homeland after a wanderlust journey, there is a greater chance that his stories of adventure and travelling will spark the wanderlust in the younger halflings and some of these may journey away from their clan. Again this helps to add credibility to halflings being all over the land.

Halflings can be very stealthy and serious fighters if there homelands are attacked or they feel threatened. This will keep adventureres on thier toes when they do enter into a halfling dominated area.

Hope this helps you out. If you would like more information shoot me a private message or ask me to post another post.

 

[mhensley]

My halflings are pretty generic, but I thought I'd comment on something else: can't justify the overlap between gnomes and dwarves? Here's a thought: make gnomes be dwarf/halfling crosses. They share their dwarven parent's logical aptitude, and their halfling parent's inquisitive spirit. Of course, there would also be small communities of them that breed true.

That's pretty much how I have halflings in my campaign. They are the result of crossbreeding between dwarves and humans and are usually only found in human or dwarf cities. Sometimes whole villages of halflings can be found in areas near dwarven ruins.

I also have Gnomes being a cross between dwarves and elves.

 

[The_Universe]

My halflings are the only "small" race available. I also had trouble justifying the conceptual similarities between Dwarves and Gnomes, but I chose Dwarves, instead.

Halflings fill the cracks of society. Mostly criminals, they do the things that the larger races will not, as long as profit is to be made. Think cute-looking Ferengi....

 

[Arnwyn]

Not having to deal with the Tolkein estate, I have returned them to their roots. I call them....(wait for it).....Hobbits!

Pastoral agrarian people, very isolationist. Prefer their own company and don't much cotton to the big folk. Right now 99%+ of them live in their homeland, but a few stalwart adventurers are looking for other places where they can found colonies. Places where they can rule themselves.

Known as very good farmers, great with herbs and crops that require a great deal of effort or a careful touch. Also known for their crop breeding skills and the large number of different varieties of the fruits and vegetables they grow.

This pretty much sums up halflings IMC - except for the isolationist part.

As a few others have noted, Chimera especially, halflings IMC are pretty much like hobbits - pastoral agrarian people. However, they get along fine with the big folk and have no problem co-existing with them. Generally, though, they prefer to live in their burrows, farm, and try not bother the world around them - if possible.