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

[Maxperson]

Why would they have spears and short bows? I mean, yes, if they hunt I agree. Even then, I guess I think of spears for hunting to be pretty specialized for particularly dangerous animals such as bear or boars.

Of course they hunt(spear and bow) and fish(spear and bow). In their pursuit of a fine meal these things would be done by every Halfling village out there.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

I've done that, only with conjured fog, wolves and kusari-gama.

It was a fun scene: bandits on horseback, charge the halfling wagons only to be mired in fog up to their horses' flanks. Then men start getting pulled off their mounts into the mists and horses start screaming as their legs get taken out from them. When it's over, the children and the old, who were working as spotters divvy up the bandit gear in a 'keep what you kill' system. The bandits are left where they fell, the live horses are set to be sold, the dead horses are delicious.

The wagon moves on. The bandit survivors return to camp with yet another tale about how the Lord of Fortune turned the woods against them the second they attack halflings.

In my Islands World, the combination of Gnomes and Halflings being the dominant demographic (numerically. neither group has a desire to rule over others except in rare cases) is why a particular province has been invaded, but never successfully. It's known in the empires of the east (the psuedo-European islands that are home to the Spanish and French inspired empires) tell their kids tales of pretty much what you describe.

I also add to halflings proficiency with thrown weapons, including nets, and all gnomes can speak to small critters and rock gnomes can make camp or build structures in a way where they are hidden, giving advantage on stealth checks to hide them.

I am hoping to have a chance to show halflings especially at work in defending their homes at some point. See the valiant knight charging forth, sure of his victory against the diminutive foe. See the knotted rope sail out of the mist, snap over his neck, and pull him almost noiselessly from his charging horse. See no more of the valiant knight.

 

[Vaalingrade]

Daggers ... maybe. I guess I wouldn't qualify most utility knives as a dagger, but that doesn't really matter much.

D&D lacks 'plain ass knife' as a weapon. I feel like 'dagger' is every knife ever in D&D world.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

Why would they have spears and short bows? I mean, yes, if they hunt I agree. Even then, I guess I think of spears for hunting to be pretty specialized for particularly dangerous animals such as bear or boars.

Daggers ... maybe. I guess I wouldn't qualify most utility knives as a dagger, but that doesn't really matter much.

In my campaign world they use slings both for hunting and defense.

Most country folk have hunting weapons, and have always done in every time and place where the nobility didn't force them not to, and even in those places they found a way nearly without exception. Country folk hunt, even if it's just small game.

 

[PsyzhranV2]

Why would they have spears and short bows? I mean, yes, if they hunt I agree. Even then, I guess I think of spears for hunting to be pretty specialized for particularly dangerous animals such as bear or boars.

Daggers ... maybe. I guess I wouldn't qualify most utility knives as a dagger, but that doesn't really matter much.

In my campaign world they use slings both for hunting and defense.

I don't know about hunting bears with spears, seems like a way to win the D&D Darwin Awards. But for boars, typically the only modification needed is to add horizontal lugs to the head of the spear to lower the chance of the boar charging up the shaft of the spear and goring you even after you've stabbed it. Might make the spear worse at penetrating mail armor, particularly if you're using a hunting spear with a really wide head, but it's still a perfectly serviceable spear. Example:

 

[Oofta]

Most country folk have hunting weapons, and have always done in every time and place where the nobility didn't force them not to, and even in those places they found a way nearly without exception. Country folk hunt, even if it's just small game.

That's going to depend. Depending on campaign and region game is protected and hunting implements are illegal.

In any case, assuming they are not illegal I don't see a reason many of the halflings would not have them.

 

[Oofta]

I don't know about hunting bears with spears, seems like a way to win the D&D Darwin Awards. But for boars, typically the only modification needed is to add horizontal lugs to the head of the spear to lower the chance of the boar charging up the shaft of the spear and goring you even after you've stabbed it. Might make the spear worse at penetrating mail armor, particularly if you're using a hunting spear with a really wide head, but it's still a perfectly serviceable spear. Example:

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People hunted wooly mammoth with little more than sharpened sticks and stones, according to various stories it was a right of passage for some American Indian males to hunt bears solo with a spear.

I wouldn't do it, but some people still do hunt grizzly bears with spears even now.

 

[Minigiant]

Giants are naughty words. There's no particular reason for them to be other than to justify murdering them, but they aren't carefree because they are all awful.

Giants are jerks because they are bigger and stronger than most things and thus feel no desire to be cordial to things they believe cannot hurt them. Having a society built around physical strength makes sense.

This is what weirds me out about halflings outside of 3e and 4e. They don't act like small magicless people. And many DM run them as clowns or as bores. And many editions and D&D adjacent games make them every weaker with silly illustration.

So I don't know if a portion of the community even like halflings, doesn't care what happens to them, but includes them just for tradition.

 

[Vaalingrade]

Giants are jerks because they are bigger and stronger than most things and thus feel no desire to be cordial to things they believe cannot hurt them. Having a society built around physical strength makes sense.

Except in the lore, this... didn't work.

Giant lost everything pretending being big and strong and being bullies was enough. They used to be an empire. They used to rule the world. now they are the losers and everyone kills them for fun and profit. One might argue that Hill Giants, with their dumb Invader Zim style reverence to the Fattest (haha fat jokes!) might be okay with this, but other giant should be smarter than this by now.

This is what weirds me out about halflings outside of 3e and 4e. They don't act like small magicless people. And many DM run them as clowns or as bores. And many editions and D&D adjacent games make them every weaker with silly illustration.

Okay, so this is a group issue. I don't think playing halflings as joke is really prevalent in the large zeitgeist. D&D tends to make them darker and edgier; Dark Sun cannibals, BoVD nebulous evils, Dragonlance kleptomaniacs and then sad boring kleptomaniacs... I guess the movies gave them all a weed habit, but that makes them more relatable based on current legislative trends, not less.

5e's illustrations are an abomination unto the Lord however. I agree. Ironically, the argument for that style was, of course, the ruiner of all things good and fantasy--realism. The idea was that those fetus monsters have 'realistic' proportions for their size. Taste the verisimilitude, I guess.

So I don't know if a portion of the community even like halflings, doesn't care what happens to them, but includes them just for tradition.

A portion community also hates strange races, traditional races, magic items, magic, dungeons, dragons, and combat, so I wouldn't put much thought into that.

 

[Gammadoodler]

People hunted wooly mammoth with little more than sharpened sticks and stones, according to various stories it was a right of passage for some American Indian males to hunt bears solo with a spear.

I wouldn't do it, but some people still do hunt grizzly bears with spears even now.

Yeah but those are MM humans, not PCs.