This thread is about the awesomeness of halflings

[Dandu]

You make me feel bad for belittling their race. I henceforth apologize; it was very small of me.

 

[Joker]

You make me feel bad for belittling their race. I henceforth apologize; it was very small of me.

No worries. It's quite a tall order to expect anyone to not look down on them.

 

[Theo R Cwithin]

Folks, this is shameful. Didn't your mothers teach you that halfling puns really are the lowest form of humor? Making jokes at their expense is a terrible hobbit.

I thought this community was bigger than this.

*sheesh*

 

[mkill]

Folks, this is shameful. Didn't your mothers teach you that halfling puns really are the lowest form of humor? Making jokes at their expense is a terrible hobbit.

I thought this community was bigger than this.

*sheesh*

Seriously. If this forum was a bit more civilized, we'd be making fun of dwarves instead.

Anyway, could it be that Gary had a thing for short people? The original demihuman races IIRC are dwarves, elves (*), halflings and gnomes, all of which are shorter than humans.

(*) The "short elves" paradigm was ignored in all groups that I played in, but it was retconned out with the latest edition only.

 

[Dandu]

Half elves are about as tall as humans, and half orcs are taller iirc.

 

[Orius]

I've always seen Nelwyn as more Gnome-like than Halflings. Maybe a bit taller and bigger than Gnomes, but still smaller than halflings. I know Wikipedia equates them with Halflings, but Nelwyn are what i use as a model for Gnomes in my games.

Nelwyns come off as kind of a mix between the two. Most of the Nelwyns we see in Willow are more like halflings, but the High Aldwyn is much more gnome-like. Then if you want to count the Shadow War books, we get Nelwyns that go into full-blown dwarf mode.

 

[I'm A Banana]

For the wee folk:

Gnomes, for me, will always be tricksters and pranksters, cunning, brilliant, deceptive, underhanded, giggling at others misfortune, constantly undermining authority, and giving a raspberry to the necromancer.

Halflings, for me, will always be Samwise. Not really Frodo. Not Merry. Absolutely not Pippin. Halflings are homespun and rural, they are doughty and resilient, they are wise and nurturing.

So, using 4e's tri-stat division:

Dwarves are Str/Con. They are a tiny warrior race. They are Fighters.

Gnomes are Int/Dex. They are a spry, agile, clever race. They are Rogues.

Halflnigs are Wis/Cha. They are practical and likable. They are Clerics.

Everyone who thinks halflings are sneaky, tricksy little ninjaes has, unwittingly, been fooled by a gnome who is pretending to be a halfling just to mess with the preconceptions of humans who think that a whole race of farmers and gardeners and borrow-builders is just too dull.

 

[Joker]

Seriously. If this forum was a bit more civilized, we'd be making fun of dwarves instead.

I would but my jokes keep coming up short.

 

[Herobizkit]

Everyone who thinks halflings are sneaky, tricksy little ninjaes has, unwittingly, been fooled by a gnome who is pretending to be a halfling just to mess with the preconceptions of humans who think that a whole race of farmers and gardeners and borrow-builders is just too dull.

I lol'd at this. Many moon ago, during a 2e campaign, one of my players made a CN Gnome Rogue who killed and stole in disguise... and identified himself as "The Masked Halfling." That brought back some silly memories for me.

 

[mkill]

Half elves are about as tall as humans, and half orcs are taller iirc.

But neither are part of the original race roster.

Anyway, this thread so far has not fulfilled my expectations, even though they weren't tall in the first place. Let's cut short on the merryment and talk more about awesomeness!