D&D General why do we have halflings and gnomes?

[Minigiant]

What I'm saying is that in comparing gnomes and halflings, we're willing to blindly accept one lazy hacky workaround (vaguely described illusion proficiency), but not another (natural stealthiness, luck, and insularity)...and there is no good reason that the former is better than the latter.

They have equivalent amounts of logical support. There is no larger leap here.

It's D&D.
The only things widely accepted as an excuse for anything are

1. Magic spells
2. Magic items
3. Money

 

[Zubatcarteira]

Halflings have something similar to a Hag Coven spellcasting, when enough of them live together they can just pull a giant Pass Without Trace and Mirage Arcane to hide everything, obviously.

 

[Maxperson]

Halflings have something similar to a Hag Coven spellcasting, when enough of them live together they can just pull a giant Pass Without Trace and Mirage Arcane to hide everything, obviously.

Lucky bastards.

 

[Gammadoodler]

It's D&D.
The only things widely accepted as an excuse for anything are

1. Magic spells
2. Magic items
3. Money

I get that, but it's silly. Naturally fantastical and magically fantastical are both fantastical at the end of the day.

An inability to believe in one of 2 equally unbelievable fantasies is not the fault of the fantasy.

 

[Minigiant]

I get that, but it's silly. Naturally fantastical and magically fantastical are both fantastical at the end of the day.

An inability to believe in one of 2 equally unbelievable fantasies is not the fault of the fantasy.

But it is the fault of the lore givers who constantly put pitfalls in the way of the mundane whereas the magical only have a caster level problem.

AKA if D&D complicates and grims the nonmagical world so often in the past, it should not be a surprise that some are skeptical of a not magically attuned race with little emphasis on the nonmagical prowess living in a idealistic existence in it. Then the time the game attempts to push up the mundane, the whole edition is swimming in controversy.

4e halflings and gnomes were awesome though.

 

[tetrasodium]

They have equivalent amounts of logical support. There is no larger leap here.

There is not equivalent support. Stealth is a skill & sneaking is one of many verbs that involve using that skill while sneaky is an adjective often involving the use of that skill. illusionist is a type of arcane caster (usually a wizard) that can be a career or profession such as miner farmer soldier & so on. There would be equivalent support to halflings are sneaky for kobolds to build a civilization around being scaled or orcs being green, but even FR's kobolds & orcs have more deeply thought out cultures than nothobbits have an idyllic utopia because sneaky.

 

[Carlsen Chris]

why do we have halflings and gnomes?

I get that they are classic and all that but I can't for the life of me figure out the appeal of them or what to do with them in a setting?

I know why Tolkien used hobbits but I do not see who the use them in a non-story setting (gaming settings are slightly different)

gnomes I just have no idea aside from loving gems which is not something to build a culture around.

I know of similar concepts to them that I am more familiar but they are very different in rather drastic ways (they have more location-based subtypes than even elves) but I was asked for something less completely out there.
do any of you know what halflings, gnomes and such types are for in a setting? or why people might play them?

I don't know, why do mushrooms exist? They don't have a lot of nutrient value, taste bland, and seem inappropriate in every dish they're in except things like mushroom soup which is just terrible to begin with. I have a theory that other people enjoy mushrooms and that is why they're cultivated around the world.

 

[Maxperson]

I don't know, why do mushrooms exist? They don't have a lot of nutrient value, taste bland, and seem inappropriate in every dish they're in except things like mushroom soup which is just terrible to begin with. I have a theory that other people enjoy mushrooms and that is why they're cultivated around the world.

I'm with you on the whole mushroom thing. Your theory seems to be confirmed by my wife who loves mushrooms for some inexplicable reason.

 

[Gammadoodler]

There is not equivalent support. Stealth is a skill & sneaking is one of many verbs that involve using that skill while sneaky is an adjective often involving the use of that skill. illusionist is a type of arcane caster (usually a wizard) that can be a career or profession such as miner farmer soldier & so on. There would be equivalent support to halflings are sneaky for kobolds to build a civilization around being scaled or orcs being green, but even FR's kobolds & orcs have more deeply thought out cultures than nothobbits have an idyllic utopia because sneaky.

From Merriam Webster
Sneaky: marked by stealth, furtiveness, or shiftiness.

Almost like there's some kind of relationship between being sneaky and being marked by stealth here.

But yes, let's please do base our case on imaginary professions and semantics.

 

[Chaosmancer]

Do you want a title or an effect? Seems like you're a little wishy washy here.

"Natural illusionists" vs. "Naturally stealthy"
Ok.. seems pretty equivalent to me, at least in terms of extrapolation bases.

"Can make a 1 minute static illusion in a 5ft cube"
vs.
"Can hide behind larger creatures"
Also...pretty damn equivalent.

If there's a distinction to be made, this does not seem like fertile ground for it.

Then explain how being naturally stealthy and being able to hide behind larger creatures allows you to hide an orchard. Orchards are not naturally stealthy, and they don't have a lot of things larger than them to hide behind. So, how do those traits help hide the orchard?