Halfling Size

[mgshamster]

So I just measured my three year old son (turned 3 in August).

He's exactly three feet tall.

That's how tall the average halfling is. O_o

Dear God. The average halfling is as tall as a three year old.

[JellyPooga]

Well...they're not called halflings for nothing :smallwink:

[JumboWheat01]

Sure they're the same size, but who gets into more shenanigans? My vote, the toddler.

[mgshamster]

I've always kind of envisioned them as the same size as a ten year old.

[Nonah_Me]

4th edition's version of riverfolk/Roma culture halflings were just a bit shorter than a dwarf. That's how they are in my settings. 3'10 to 4'5ish.

[Regitnui]

Halflings are small. It's an integral part of their culture. How do you think a humanoid culture would survive when most everybody you meet not only towers over you, but can throw you around like a ball and will probably treat you like a child to boot? That's why they're dinosaur-herding velociraptor riders :smallbiggrin:

[Princess]

This exact issue was brought up in 4e by one of the designers who insisted they be taller, but enough of 4e changes seemed pointless/annoying to people that they sort of abandoned 90% of it with 5e. Home campaigns can use whatever standards the table agrees on, but basically halflings by default are so small that they'd have to have completely different internal ongoings to function as they are described. They're another species entirely, is the simplest explanation of this.

But it gets scary when you realize halflings trained in lethal martial arts and military grade weapons could disguise themselves as little kids and move about discretely in public. Fear the hobbits.

[Temperjoke]

Height isn't everything. Sure, halflings are potentially the size of a 3 year old human, but they are fully developed adults, with all the normal adult muscles and such. Just like the average highschooler may be the height of an adult human, they typically (except for athletes potentially) don't have the physical power of someone in college or later (to a certain point).

[JumboWheat01]

Halflings are small. It's an integral part of their culture. How do you think a humanoid culture would survive when most everybody you meet not only towers over you, but can throw you around like a ball and will probably treat you like a child to boot? That's why they're dinosaur-herding velociraptor riders :smallbiggrin:

"Throw the halfling" is a favorite attack of ours in the group I play with, with a Rule of Cool loving DM that makes it work more times than not.

Plus it helps make up for the 10 less speed we get.

[Plaguescarred]

While a halfling is as tall as a 3 years old child, it's more strong, massive and sturdy though.

A creature's mass is more than just it's height and you won't toss around a midget person as easily as a child the same height for exemple

[Draco4472]

And that's why halflings can easily be disguised as children. Who knows? Maybe your son was kidnapped and now a halfling spy is among your home, waiting for an opportune moment to steal all you hold dear.

Just a thought. :smallwink:

[mgshamster]

And that's why halflings can easily be disguised as children. Who knows? Maybe your son was kidnapped and now a halfling spy is among your home, waiting for an opportune moment to steal all you hold dear.

Just a thought. :smallwink:

Only in appearence with a good disguise. As soon as you start talking with them, it'll blow the disguise. Three year olds can't hold an extended conversation. :)

[Sigreid]

Only in appearence with a good disguise. As soon as you start talking with them, it'll blow the disguise. Three year olds can't hold an extended conversation. :)

Neither can a lot of adults I know...

[Regitnui]

And that's why halflings can easily be disguised as children. Who knows? Maybe your son was kidnapped and now a halfling spy is among your home, waiting for an opportune moment to steal all you hold dear.

Just a thought. :smallwink:

Why does this remind me of a bad Wayans brothers comedy?

[Temperjoke]

Why does this remind me of a bad Wayans brothers comedy?

I try not to think of the Wayans.

I'm actually always reminded of the cartoon trope of the criminal disguised as a baby. For example, Snooper and Blabber in "Baby Rattled".

[Tanarii]

So I just measured my three year old son (turned 3 in August).

He's exactly three feet tall.

That's how tall the average halfling is. O_o

Dear God. The average halfling is as tall as a three year old.But how much does he weigh? Not trying to get personal, just wondering how it compares to the Halfling 35 lbs.

The really crazy thing is that a 3', 35 lb Halfling or Gnome has an 'average' Str of around 10. Of course, the way 5e stats work the majority will be Str 8, with a few Str 15 outliers (Paladins, Barbarians, some Fighters & Clerics). But the fact that they're Str 8 clearly indicates some inherently imbued non-physics thing is going on (aka magic). Similar to how Dragons can fly.

[Segev]

But how much does he weigh? Not trying to get personal, just wondering how it compares to the Halfling 35 lbs.

The really crazy thing is that a 3', 35 lb Halfling or Gnome has an 'average' Str of around 10. Of course, the way 5e stats work the majority will be Str 8, with a few Str 15 outliers (Paladins, Barbarians, some Fighters & Clerics). But the fact that they're Str 8 clearly indicates some inherently imbued non-physics thing is going on (aka magic). Similar to how Dragons can fly.

There's nothing about that which requires breaking physics. It just requires a different physiology. As an extreme example (I am not suggesting this is the case for halflings), we can build machines of the size of halflings with more strength than most adult humans.

Now, it would require that halflings have something different about their musculature, whether it be material composition, density of fibers, or even structural.

Or that the laws of physics of that world allow for training to improve the physical body far more than the real world's do, until a sufficiently strong barbarian can break a sword over his flexed pectorals.

[Tanarii]

IMO given that D&D is a fantasy setting, not a sci-fi one, approaching it as "material composition, density of fibers, or even structural" seems unnecessarily simulationist. (Edit: More power to you if you prefer that too "inherent magic" though. :smallwink: )

Meanwhile, "the laws of physics of that world allow for training to improve the physical body" = inherent magic. Like I said, the same way that dragons can fly.

[mgshamster]

But how much does he weigh? Not trying to get personal, just wondering how it compares to the Halfling 35 lbs.

The really crazy thing is that a 3', 35 lb Halfling or Gnome has an 'average' Str of around 10. Of course, the way 5e stats work the majority will be Str 8, with a few Str 15 outliers (Paladins, Barbarians, some Fighters & Clerics). But the fact that they're Str 8 clearly indicates some inherently imbued non-physics thing is going on (aka magic). Similar to how Dragons can fly.

I don't know his weight, exactly. I don't own a scale, and we haven't been to the doc in a while, but he's always measured right in the 50th percentile for weight. Looking it up, I found that 40 lbs is the average weight of a five year old, and that's what the book says halflings weigh.

[JeenLeen]

My child is about the height and weight of a 5e halfling as well. Not quite 3 years old.

Just yesterday she was chasing a group of kids around with a (wooden, non-edged) sword. Not with much skill, but she could hold it and try to run and stab. Yeah, I can picture a halfling realistically using a medium-sized one-handed weapon.

[Knaight]

There's nothing about that which requires breaking physics. It just requires a different physiology. As an extreme example (I am not suggesting this is the case for halflings), we can build machines of the size of halflings with more strength than most adult humans.

No need to bring in machines here - variations in bone-muscle connections by extending protrusions on a bone can easily get a lot more strength, though it tends to come at the cost of fine motor skills. Chimps are usually around 100 pounds, and 130 pounds is heavy for a chimp, while 150+ is downright common in humans with big muscular humans easily breaking 250+. Chimps are also stronger than humans overall, though not by as much as they're usually portrayed. Dinosaur bones are another interesting example - the protrusions are absolutely huge on the bigger dinosaurs, because otherwise they wouldn't have been able to move their own weight.

This still runs into various weirdness in places when you look at the way strength works in the system, but from a pure "can they be this strong without anything too exotic perspective" it's relatively straightforward.