What are your Halflings like?

[jdrakeh]

Wow. I like the smallish but useful (and not pudgy fat) 3e Halflings. The fat, stunted, hole-dwelling Halflings of AD&D never seemed very adventurous to me. I'm not big on Halflings suddenly becoming a water-dwelling or aquatic culture, as that seems pretty at odds with any past version of the Halfling in D&D.

 

[Xethreau]

My halflings are 3e Lightfoot halfings.

 

[hunter1828]

My games (both my homebrew and my FR) have three halfling subraces - the ghostwise, the lightfoot and the strongheart. Ghostwise are pretty much just like the Forgotten Realms write-up. Lightfoot are pretty much just like the PHB write-up. Strongheart are pretty much just like Hobbits.

 

[thundershot]

I've got a stupid question.

What do Halflings call themselves? Halfling is a term from a human perspective, and Halflings have learned to accept it (like Dwarves too, I would guess). But.... in a land where there are only halflings, what do they call themselves?

Since halflings have changed so much, they should have brought back the "hobbit" style ones and just called them gnomes... *runs*



Chris

 

[am181d]

What do Halflings call themselves? Halfling is a term from a human perspective, and Halflings have learned to accept it (like Dwarves too, I would guess). But.... in a land where there are only halflings, what do they call themselves?

They call themselves "Hin" (which I think is meant to translate to "The Folk" or "The People") in at least one D&D setting. I think Mystara. Maybe FR?

 

[Jhulae]

They call themselves "Hin" (which I think is meant to translate to "The Folk" or "The People") in at least one D&D setting. I think Mystara. Maybe FR?

Mystara. That setting was my favorite, hands down. They also had an interesting 'evil' subterranian elf race that wasn't Drow.

 

[Irda Ranger]

I've got a stupid question.

It's not a dumb question. "Halfling" always sounded like a pejorative to me.

IMC Halflings call themselves "Kender" (which simply means "the people"). I've excised all the annoying from them, but I do like the name. (But don't worry Piratecat, we'll call them "Hin" or something for the night if you ever stop in for a game).

(like Dwarves too, I would guess).

On the contrary, most worlds have Dwarves being an elder race than humans, so perhaps humans with a growth deficiency are named after them.

 

[Dragonhelm]

Mystara. That setting was my favorite, hands down. They also had an interesting 'evil' subterranian elf race that wasn't Drow.

I believe that's the Shadow Elves. I want to say they were a precursor to drow, but I don't remember what came first. *shrugs*

 

[The Little Raven]

I'm not big on Halflings suddenly becoming a water-dwelling or aquatic culture, as that seems pretty at odds with any past version of the Halfling in D&D.

Logically, a slow-moving race of nomads would be more ideally suited to a river-dwelling culture. On land, they would be at a severe disadvantage against predators, raiders, and enemies, since they move slower than most races. On water, this disadvantage is removed, allowing the race a more realistic chance for survival and growth.

 

[Jhulae]

I believe that's the Shadow Elves. I want to say they were a precursor to drow, but I don't remember what came first. *shrugs*

Drow came first. They were already established in GH and FR. And, I knew they were the Shadow Elves, but this is a thread about halflings after all and I didn't want to derail it too much.