Winning Races: Halfling - Nice

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

Normally, I would agree.

However, in this case, buying multiple dice is definitely against the spirit of the rule. The dice in question EXPLICITLY mentions you can't "store" multiple rolls. Quite obviously, the designer didn't intend for a PC to have multiple uses of the dice at one time.

But like many other "broken" items, the designer left out the words, "You can only have 1 dice at a time".

Ways to balance the dice.

While under the effects of the dice, a PC can't use action points for the day until the next extended rest.

Cut down how many rolls can be stored

I guess the problems is for "rules lawyers" there is no "spirit of the rules", only what is actually written down (and the rest is figuring out what it means and all kinds of linguistic exercises). But this is nothing that can't be fixed with a simple statement that limits the player character's ability to use multiple items of this type.

But I don't really care if they limit it explicitly or not. That's one of the things where I would simply say "No, but thanks for trying." I'd probably do the same if some player buys multiple Couter of Second Chances to get multiple rerolls per day.

 

[Hairfoot]

Meh. Hobbity halflings have more depth, even if their presentation in D&D has been one-dimensional.

If I feel like playing a real-world gypsy rip-off, I wonder why I'm not playing a human so I can have the same flavour text but instead be tall enough to be strong, dashing, and do decent weapon damage.

 

[AllisterH]

Meh. Hobbity halflings have more depth, even if their presentation in D&D has been one-dimensional.

Isn't this contradiction? As you point out, D&D halflings are one dimensional (personally, never really thought that...GNOMES though..there was a one dimensional race ) but they have great depth?

 

[Hairfoot]

Isn't this contradiction? As you point out, D&D halflings are one dimensional (personally, never really thought that...GNOMES though..there was a one dimensional race ) but they have great depth?

Good question. Hobbit-halflings were never really explored as a race in D&D.

While every other race was coloured with racial and cultural distinctions, halflings were lumped with a stereotype from day one.

Actually, that's not entirely fair: The Complete Book of Gnomes and Halflings for 2e tried to push the boundaries, but didn't, IME, shift the halfling image of fat, lazy, rural prigs.

That image, of course, derives entirely from the Shire as described by Tolkien. However, the Shire only portrayed a small community of halflings in a very isolated community which had enjoyed several generations of peace and prosperity. Who wouldn't grow fat and complacent under such circumstances?

Tolkien's broader history of Middle Earth describes the fight and flight of hobbit communities down the generations as they struggled to survive against great evils and invading species. The very fact that hobbits existed in the age of the LotR is testament to their hardiness and adaptability. By Tolkien's telling, fit, capable, pragmatic hobbits are the norm, while the Shire wastrels are a rare exception.

Unfortunately, the halfling community he chose to write about came to define halflings for 30 years of D&D's history, after which they were usurped by a tacky blend of Dragonlance kender and real-world Balkan vagrants.

The current conception of halfings as four-foot tall wandering elves is little more than a calculated marketing appeal to the fantasies of frail teenage boys.

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

Tolkien's broader history of Middle Earth describes the fight and flight of hobbit communities down the generations as they struggled to survive against great evils and invading species. The very fact that hobbits existed in the age of the LotR is testament to their hardiness and adaptability.

So basically they are four-foot tall humans?

 

[Hairfoot]

So basically they are four-foot tall humans?

Between two and four feet. Average 3' 6", and an offshoot of the race of men in Tolkien's setting.

I can see where you're going, but the point is that hobbit-halfings are a diverse and dynamic race that was replaced with a different diverse and dynamic race - with a specific, universal culture - purely to target a particular demographic of RPG purchasers.

I'm making an argument of preference and marketing, not of objectivity.

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

Between two and four feet. Average 3' 6", and an offshoot of the race of men in Tolkien's setting.

I can see where you're going, but the point is that hobbit-halfings are a diverse and dynamic race that was replaced with a different diverse and dynamic race - with a specific, universal culture - purely to target a particular demographic of RPG purchasers.

I'm making an argument of preference and marketing, not of objectivity.

So, who cares? Well, maybe the target demographic that just found an interesting race to play?

I think it was more than target demographic, though.
Do we need Humans, but in small? Maybe that's enough to differentiate them. But maybe it's not.

Humans can already be anything. Aloof archmages, forest dwellers, river boaters, miners, proud warriors, devil-pact making, city dwellers, slave race, master race. But we still like to provide races that focus on these archetypes.

I felt that 3E Halflings shtick was more the "urban" Halfling in some ways. His best class was Rogue, a class with a skill selection making it perfect for a civilized environment. It's ability score modifiers also fit a "civilized" world - you don't need that much strength if you don't work the fields. But it also added an element of "wanderlust" in their fluff.

I think 4E combines these themes stronger. They live in a "civilized" world - they live on river-boats, and they enter other settlements for trading and entertainment. They are both urban and wandering. They don't wander the country-side, but they travel a lot, see different places, but they form strong communities, with people relying on each other, engaging in different functions.

 

[TerraDave]

The article we ok.

Kits, not so much.