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

[Chaosmancer]

Why would it?

Because you kept insisting that Halflings were safe because they had all of these retired adventurers to fight off the monsters. Or are you going to claim that you never said that, and I took that out of context and ect ect ect

Er, I was just pointing out that there would be strong defenders. Nowhere did I say that adventurers would make them safe. They might turn back the invaders, but commoners could still be killed.

Nawp! That's just more of your altering my words again.

sigh

So then, back to what I was saying about them being attacked and needing better defenses that what is listed. Since retired adventurers aren't enough any more, then we are right back to my points, that you seem unable to rebut.

 

[Charlaquin]

Labyrinth is good (If I am thinking of the same one) but they definitely don't work for me.

If it’s the one with David Bowie in the revealing tights, then yes

Yeah, such goblins aren’t for everyone.

 

[Maxperson]

Because you kept insisting that Halflings were safe because they had all of these retired adventurers to fight off the monsters. Or are you going to claim that you never said that, and I took that out of context and ect ect ect

Nawp! Still didn't say that they were safe because adventurers. They're mostly safe because not able to be found and being able to easily hide when they are found. The adventurers just make it likely that if need be, they can beat back the raid.

So then, back to what I was saying about them being attacked and needing better defenses that what is listed. Since retired adventurers aren't enough any more, then we are right back to my points, that you seem unable to rebut.

Nawp! No amount of defenses will make them safe. There's always risk in a fight. They fight when necessary, but prefer to run and hide. If they're found, something has gone very wrong. If they have to stand and fight, something else has gone very wrong. But at least they have adventurers with weapons if they do.

 

[JiffyPopTart]

Sure, this can work if you have a centralized location where there are no threats. But, let me try something similar with this map of FR I found.

Red are areas where monsters can be found, according to the Wiki site. Now sure, this is just Faerun, but I've seen more worlds and maps built similiar to Faerun than anything else.

View attachment 131899

Well there ya go. Each hex on that scale is 10 miles across, easily enough room for a moderate population of a halfling town. Just pick one and you have somewhere not known for having monsters.

 

[tetrasodium]

Well there ya go. Each hex on that scale is 10 miles across, easily enough room for a moderate population of a halfling town. Just pick one and you have somewhere not known for having monsters.

Those places tend to be either heavily settled by other more advanced & developed races or rather awful places not especially conducive to the needs of living as farmers like deserts

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

And also, it is starting to bother me how... easily people are willing to turn the halflings into a protectorate race. More and more people seem to want them to be a race that needs to be protected by their larger and stronger neighbors. I'd be much happier with a write-up that allows the halflings to protect themselves, to live and travel on their own terms and not rely on the strength of their bigger, stronger neighbors to survive.

That would be the post-Sharkey Shire. Pre-War of the Rings Shire mostly gets by on obscurity and the fact that a wizard is very fond of it.

Both are accurate depictions of the race, of course -- the hobbits could have taken care of themselves all along, whether or not they knew it.

 

[Bohandas]

Just from a worldbuilding standpoint, not having 'practical simple farmers who enjoy a good meal and good company... just like every pastoral poem and story written for the "good ol' folk" of middle America or the rolling hills of the Greater British Isles' seems kind of grimdark and boring.

Personally I think farming sounds grimdark and boring

 

[JiffyPopTart]

Those places tend to be either heavily settled by other more advanced & developed races or rather awful places not especially conducive to the needs of living as farmers like deserts

Maybe. Perhaps we can get the same area mapped with the population centers marked with a dot and the hexes colored to indicate their general terrain type.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

You don't send an army at a raiding party. You keep a simple centralized defense force nearby or hire adventurers. You know.. what.. the game is about.

If you want to argue by logic, then you need to know more about real world history and military tactics. If you keep a "centralised defence force" raiders will simply raid around them, or salt the fields and starve them out.

When William of Normandy invaded Angland in 1066 he forced Harold to engage his forces by burning and salting the fields. During the civil war between Stephen and Matilda 1135-1153 - a period known as The Anarchy - there was a societal collapse leading to a rise in banditry. The first thing to note was those bandits did not destroy villages - they needed them to keep producing food. They killed a few peasants, took the food they needed, and disappeared back into the forest. Once peace was restored large bands of armoured knights rode through the forests, killed the bandits and hung the from gibbets as an example. the raiding stopped.

As for adventurers, real world adventurers like Drake, Raleigh and Cortez took armies with them. Indeed, it would be quite hard to tell them apart from a large band of marauders, apart from the more technologically advanced weapons and armour.

I'm not saying D&D defaults as a death world. However it is a noticeable more dangerous than Medieval Europe/Asia/Africa.

There is a reason wilderness encounter tables are called wilderness encounter tables and not rural farmland encounter tables. You do not find bands of 40+ gnolls wandering around central Cormyr. The typical D&D world has plenty of safe areas, it's just that adventurers tend not to see those bits.

 

[Mind of tempest]

look can you guys wrap these conversations up as I want to end the thread and make a new one for the bruiser types?