Your Favorite Halfling?

[avin]

A "fat" halfling, on an adventurer life, won't be fat for too long...

 

[Stoat]

I prefer the 3E-style gypsy/traveler halflings with brightly colored wagons and ponies and whatnot.

 

[Parlan]

Other

Hawt sexy tight leather-clad Lidda... yummy

Glad I'm not the only one.

What Dragon issue was she on the cover of? I could stare at that pic for hours...

 

[JeffB]

I've always (in my homebrew) portrayed/seen them as the Jeff Dee halfling. Of course older ones would be in poorer shape, flabbier, enjoying their old age...like me

Blodgett, anyone? (edit-beat to the punch

 

[Barastrondo]

I've had some modest success with exploring them as kind of a mostly-urban underclass, seen all over the place but often ignored or put into menial positions. They're a little bit informed by the general role of immigrant populations, a little bit informed by a kind of "stray mongrel" aesthetic. It leads to interesting ideas such as halfling domestics being popular, halflings sending money home to the family, halflings tending to be close-lipped around anyone not of the community, and even the idea that they might form clandestine "community welfare organizations" dedicated to the protection of halflings from the larger, stronger races... and of course, that's a common origin for organized crime syndicates. I realize the concept of "halfling Mafia" is a joke in greater gamer culture, but honestly some bits of Gangs of New York and some touches of historical yakuza, with a touch of Swords of Lankhmar for the idea of how covert urban warfare might play out, and it all works out pretty well.

So, closest to the 4e model, but with more of an emphasis on the fact that most people just don't pay them any attention, and they're fine with things that way. Sure, you can trust them to have your back in a fight or be solid traveling companions, but if they're garrulous, it's rarely stuff of substance. When halflings actually confide in you about stuff, then you know something is up.

 

[SteveC]

All I know is that they're supposed to be jolly.

 

[Evilhalfling]

me.

 

[fba827]

The only good halfling is a dead halfling.

 

[pawsplay]

How different are they from 4E? One Stat?

*cough* Do we really want to get into this? But right off the bat, I kind of liked the early 3e halflings, they reminded me of the more worldly hobbits. Somewhere along the way, they came to resemble distasteful gypsy stereotypes. Races of the Wild marked a turning point in my third edition purchasing, the first 3.5 book I did not hold onto in case it was useful later.

 

[Jhaelen]

The Dark Sun halflings were the best original take on the race, hands down. In my Dark Sun campaign was also the only time I had any halfling pcs in one of my games.

Apart from that I like the 4E halflings mechanically. Their fluff is still pretty meh.

All in all it's a race I could do without.