Why are they making demi-humans taller?

[jester47]

The average height of a chimpanzee is 2.68 ft. However I bet one could beat us all at arm wrestling.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chimpanzee
http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=559145
http://www.janegoodall.org/chimp_central/conservation/issues/as_pets.asp

Except Teflon Billy. Billy could take the chimp, and then make the chimp a rapscallion.
But that is another story for another time.

 

[Clavis]

But then they'd be build like chimps. That doesn't seem very halfing/hobbit-like. It would also be a bit odd. A 3' tall mass of muscle? I can't imagine a little halfing with a neck like Henry Rollins.

But surround that muscle with a layer of fat, and they'd look exactly like Tolkien's pudgy Hobbits! Remember, real-life little people tend to look very thickly built for their size.

Some fantasy races just weren't supposed to be sexy looking. On the other hand, I've seen some midget chicks that I definitely wouldn't throw out of bed!

 

[BadMojo]

But surround that muscle with a layer of fat, and they'd look exactly like Tolkien's pudgy Hobbits! Remember, real-life little people tend to look very thickly built for their size.

I dunno. I still have this mental image of a fleshy cannon ball. A miniature version of Juggernaut.

 

[Klaus]

4' is not tall by any stretch of the imagination, and can pack quite a punch.

Right, Martin Klebba?

"Damn right!"

 

[DestroyYouAlot]

And beat the average human bodybuilder to death with their fists without much of a problem.

Chimps are both smaller (3-4 feet tall) and much stronger than us (5 times human upper body strength).

It's entirely probable that halflings could both be 3 feet tall and about as strong as an adult human. They would weigh something in the area of 120 pounds, though, on account of having very dense bones and muscle. It's not their D&D height or strength that doesn't make sense, it's the their official weights. Make 'em heavier, and they would be perfectly possible in the real-world.

[/WINS THREAD]

"Explaining away" D&D's traditionally short halflings doesn't take that much brow sweat, really. (That's if you really need that much mental acrobatics to maintain your suspension of disbelief - I don't.) And, quite honestly, I always thought that the unique challenges involved in playing an other-than-human-sized character in a human world (whether it's a halfling or a half-ogre) traded off whatever not-optimized-for-their-CR woes they might have with... oh, I don't know... interesting roleplaying? (I'd ask what the CR was for interesting roleplaying, but it looks like that's not going to be a joke much longer. *rolls eyes*) But far be it from me to suggest our PCs should ever be so inconvenienced as to find a suit of armor that didn't fit off the rack, or have to sit on the mage's spellbook to reach the table.

Dungeons & Warcraft, man. Go figure.

 

[Wormwood]

Dungeons & Warcraft, man. Go figure.

Gnomes are damn short in Warcraft, actually.

 

[Driddle]

Math and proportions.

Yes, humans who inherit the genetic markers for dwarfish (aka "little people," NOT midgets) may have certain average-size adult body parts. There are a few variants on the condition. The most common is achondroplasia -- 70 percent of cases -- which results in shortened limbs, spinal curvature and often some skull growth distortion.

However, if you're trying to reduce a full-size human to half his height, and still maintain the original proportions, the math (squares, surface area and other whatnot details) will result in a much lighter, thinner humanoid. Take a 6-foot-tall adult weighing 160 pounds, for example. Shrink him to only 3-foot-tall with the same leg-to-torso-to-arm-to-head proportions. He's gonna weigh 20 pounds.

Sounds ridiculous, I know. But that's what they're talking about with halflings, I think.

 

[Cadfan]

I'll agree with the "they're strong like chimps!" explanation the instant that halflings get a chimp's physique. You know, nearly all their mass on their upper body, small, short legs in comparison, and freakishly long arms for better leverage.

Count my vote for halfling knuckle-walkers.

http://universe-review.ca/I10-82-chimpanzee.jpg

 

[Hairfoot]

Has no-one mentioned the real halflings yet? About 3' 6" to 4' - hobbit or gnome sized. And ate possums, according to NG

 

[BadMojo]

And, quite honestly, I always thought that the unique challenges involved in playing an other-than-human-sized character in a human world (whether it's a halfling or a half-ogre) traded off whatever not-optimized-for-their-CR woes they might have with... oh, I don't know... interesting roleplaying?

Interesting for a while, but after a while it would be the same goofy things over and over, or maybe just hand waved. There are more interesting role playing hooks out there than "very short".

I'm all for having shorter than human characters, but 3' is VERY short. A little taller makes normal adventuring things much more plausible.