Mearls on Halflings, or How to Do New Where Tolkien Has Been

[Unoriginal]

https://youtu.be/Jtfh6KAh8kg

A nice video about 5e Halflings and how they're different.

[mephnick]

A race about nothing.

Pretty much. I "banned" them from my setting when I realized during the first session zero that I had completely forgotten they existed and a player asked about them. No one minded.

[Kane0]

Isn't that pretty much what we said back in the Mord's thread? They need some sort of conflict to make something interesting out of them, or they'll keep getting sidelined.

[Luccan]

I have to wonder if a huge conflict would "improve" halflings. I know some people think they're boring, but if it just ends up being halflings v evil halflings or halflings vs an evil monster everyone already dislikes, that doesn't make them more interesting. That makes them another race with a stereotypical blood-feud. And I never seem to see those actually played out by PCs anyway. I'm sure it happens, but I never see it.

What I'm getting at is basically this: the Drow don't make non-dark elves more interesting, IMO. Duergar don't inherently give Hill and Mountain dwarves an interesting angle in their character. I'm pretty sure giving the halflings their own millenia long conflict won't actually make them more interesting to the people that dislike them. If anything, they'll just be more homogenized with the rest of the standard d&d races. Like I said last time this came up, saying "Oh, what was your races' blood feud again?" to everyone without human blood seems really boring.

[Unoriginal]

Conflict doesn't make a species/society/culture inherently more interesting.

The Halflings don't need a big conflict, they have that "those who want to stay" vs "those who want to leave" contrast to provide some drive and contrast in what is intentionally a comfortable but nearly-without-ambition life.

[Waterdeep Merch]

Halflings are actually one of my favorite races because they're boring. They're both figuratively and literally beneath everyone's notice, part of what makes them fantastic rogues. They're background is generally 'great home life, then either X happened or the boring nature of my race gave me wanderlust, bad'. If a halfling is adventuring, you can be sure there's an interesting reason for it. If you run into one of their communities, they're pretty disarming with their total lack of grimdark.

They get to be the good side of humanity that we tend to pretend doesn't exist in fantasy, just because it isn't in-your-face with drama and violence. It makes them boring, sure, but that makes it a great contrast with everyone else.

[Wampyr]

In this world building thread -http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?545468-Quote-Based-Worldbuilding-Third-Time-s-the-Charm
- halflings have turned out to sort of be a race half finished, they grow to only half the height of a human, and many lack fingers, toes, an eye, even arms or legs. They are literally half-men.

[Millstone85]

Come to think of it, I am surprised halflings weren't the first to get a vile subterranean counterpart. *cough* *gollum* "gollum*

Anyway, I approve a book on great conflicts getting a chapter about the non-conflicts of gnomes and halflings. It is funny.

[Kane0]

A racial feud would be overdone, but one could go into what their nomadic lifestyle is like. What creatures have they domestricated? What stories do they share? How do they deal with outsiders? How do they deal with threats? How to they rear their young? Who do they compete with for resources? There is conflict in there to be found, of a different type and scale.
If Halflings used Ankhegs as beasts of burden and sometimes mounts, ate mostly animal products due to their on-the-move lifestyle and didn’t really socialise in the typical nuclear family manner then they would be a lot less bland. Sure they’d still be pleasant folk, but other races would probably not want to live the same way.

Just some half-asleep thoughts.

[Luccan]

A racial feud would be overdone, but one could go into what their nomadic lifestyle is like. What creatures have they domestricated? What stories do they share? How do they deal with outsiders? How do they deal with threats? How to they rear their young? Who do they compete with for resources? There is conflict in there to be found, of a different type and scale.
If Halflings used Ankhegs as beasts of burden and sometimes mounts, ate mostly animal products due to their on-the-move lifestyle and didn’t really socialise in the typical nuclear family manner then they would be a lot less bland. Sure they’d still be pleasant folk, but other races would probably not want to live the same way.

Just some half-asleep thoughts.

And these would be great things to explore. I've always wanted to do a halfling-only game, where you play the sheriffs of halfling communities, travelling with the caravans and administering halfling justice to them and the halfling communities you come across. See what the little guys get up too. More detail in that regard would be welcome

[mephnick]

They should have just replaced Halflings with Xvarts in 5e. I'd play a Xvart.

[BBQ Pork]

Pretty much. I "banned" them from my setting when I realized during the first session zero that I had completely forgotten they existed and a player asked about them. No one minded.
They're easy to forget and ignore. The only time anyone did anything "interesting " with them was Kender in Dragonlance, and players, IME, hated them with a passion.

A "what if" article in Dragon Magazine back in the 80s set the various races in the Stone Ages. In that, the Halflings were the first to domesticate animals, so they got wolves to balance their weakness.

I just ignore them.

[Luccan]

They should have just replaced Halflings with Xvarts in 5e. I'd play a Xvart.

I think we'll have to agree to disagree on this. I think a lot of the "classic" player races help make D&D distinct and continuous. Plus, it wouldn't make any sense in most settings for halflings to just be up and replaced with something else, so I don't see that happening in any coming edition.

[GlenSmash!]

I think we'll have to agree to disagree on this. I think a lot of the "classic" player races help make D&D distinct and continuous. Plus, it wouldn't make any sense in most settings for halflings to just be up and replaced with something else, so I don't see that happening in any coming edition.

Yeah, I can't see Xvart selling more books that halflings.

There will always be people who want D&D to have some Tolkienian elements in it. It's been that way forever.

[Unoriginal]

I'd like an adventure module that give the Xvarts a prominent role, but they shouldn't replace the Halflings.

[Aett_Thorn]

I wouldn't mind if Halflings had a more metaphysical conflict going on, rather than racial animus against another type of creature. For instance, they are naturally lucky, but that luck seems to be running out. It seems as if whatever god/goddess did create them has been gone for too long, and their impacts on the race are dwindling. Hafling PCs are those few who still display their racial luck, and are seen as heroes in their community. If something isn't done soon, their racial luck, and all that comes with it, might be gone.

[LibraryOgre]

Gnomes had a similar problem, for a long time. Dragonlance, of course, introduced the idea that they were tinkers, and 3.x pushed them more fey, but they didn't really have a clear vision than "sorta like dwarves, but not really."

But halflings have changed so much over the editions that you have to get pretty specific about who you mean. Are they the wandering halflings? The Shirefolk? To be honest, I think that would've been a better subrace split for halflings... Shirefolk v. Nomads.

[Luccan]

Gnomes had a similar problem, for a long time. Dragonlance, of course, introduced the idea that they were tinkers, and 3.x pushed them more fey, but they didn't really have a clear vision than "sorta like dwarves, but not really."

But halflings have changed so much over the editions that you have to get pretty specific about who you mean. Are they the wandering halflings? The Shirefolk? To be honest, I think that would've been a better subrace split for halflings... Shirefolk v. Nomads.

I mean... they kind of are that? They aren't as extreme as real hobbits on the Shirefolk side, but there are plenty of halfling communities that settle for awhile and some that move on continuously. I imagine Stouts probably err towards staying in one place (especially if you lean into their dwarvish heritage) and Lightfoots are more nomadic

Edit: And I guess you have ghostwise, who are territorial and don't like outsiders. Like if the Shire was full of psychic guerillas

[Theodoxus]

Without halflings, what would I play when DMs love to throw critical failures in my face? Kor are cool, but so not kosher - I have yet to meet a DM that would allow them - other than me, and my players hate when I DMPC, so I'll just stick with halflings.

One thing I do is replace the idyllic nature of halflings living in pastoral hilly land, and turn them all into swamp people. It's way more fun.

[GlenSmash!]

One thing I do is replace the idyllic nature of halflings living in pastoral hilly land, and turn them all into swamp people. It's way more fun.

Now I am imagining Merry and Pippin in one of those trashy reality shows.

"We're fixin' to pinch some mushrooms from Farmer Maggot." "Gotta watch out for his pet 'gators."

[Requilac]

Edit: And I guess you have ghostwise, who are territorial and don't like outsiders. Like if the Shire was full of psychic guerillas

Slight correction. The shire is now full of psychic guerillas that ride giant owls. :cool:

[bc56]

Gnomes had a similar problem, for a long time. Dragonlance, of course, introduced the idea that they were tinkers, and 3.x pushed them more fey, but they didn't really have a clear vision than "sorta like dwarves, but not really."

But halflings have changed so much over the editions that you have to get pretty specific about who you mean. Are they the wandering halflings? The Shirefolk? To be honest, I think that would've been a better subrace split for halflings... Shirefolk v. Nomads.

I have a similar problem with Gnomes. I don't allow them, because I don't feel like they fit in. I gave clockwork to the dwarves, since they are engineer types, and it fits together fairly well.

On the other hand, I like halflings. They've got a different racial flavor, whereas the other races start to blend together after a while. You have the "mountain races" goliath, dwarf, firbolg, and they all have a strength bonus and stark ideologies. You have elves, there are way too many elves, and then you have the weird exotic races and humans. But halflings are their own little thing. They would fit quite well as the reluctant adventurer *cough* Bilbo *cough* or as just a wild thrill-seeker on a massive lucky streak.

[danpit2991]

Gnomes had a similar problem, for a long time. Dragonlance, of course, introduced the idea that they were tinkers, and 3.x pushed them more fey, but they didn't really have a clear vision than "sorta like dwarves, but not really."

But halflings have changed so much over the editions that you have to get pretty specific about who you mean. Are they the wandering halflings? The Shirefolk? To be honest, I think that would've been a better subrace split for halflings... Shirefolk v. Nomads.

stout = shirefolk

lightfoot = nomad

ghostwise = wild and crazy zenophobic guerrillas on giant owls and dinos and wolves and stuff

[Naanomi]

They're easy to forget and ignore. The only time anyone did anything "interesting " with them was Kender in Dragonlance, and players, IME, hated them with a passion..
Never met an Athasian ‘master-race cannibal halfling’ eh?

[Luccan]

I have a similar problem with Gnomes. I don't allow them, because I don't feel like they fit in. I gave clockwork to the dwarves, since they are engineer types, and it fits together fairly well.

On the other hand, I like halflings. They've got a different racial flavor, whereas the other races start to blend together after a while. You have the "mountain races" goliath, dwarf, firbolg, and they all have a strength bonus and stark ideologies. You have elves, there are way too many elves, and then you have the weird exotic races and humans. But halflings are their own little thing. They would fit quite well as the reluctant adventurer *cough* Bilbo *cough* or as just a wild thrill-seeker on a massive lucky streak.

If you want to ignore engineering, forest gnomes should work. I feel they're far more connected to fey and nature than most elves anyway. But I am biased; I like gnomes.

[Regitnui]

Never met an Athasian ‘master-race cannibal halfling’ eh?

Or the dinosaur-riders of Khorvaire who fight to maintain their nomadic culture between pressure to urbanise, warlike elven raiders, and being trapped between a slowly expanding desert and a wall of dead grey mist.

That's actually a nice internal cultural conflict for those who want it; those halflings who want to live among the other races and those who want to remain nomadic.

[strangebloke]

I don't find them bland, just unnecessary.

But I find most of the races kind of redundant. Do hobgoblins and orcs really need to be separate races with all their own fluff?

With haflings I feel like they're just 'happy humans.' I like humans, for the record. Bland races allow you to add your own flavor. But much as with drow, I feel they're too different and yet not different at all. They're distinct both visually and culturally, but not in a way that is interesting.

Dwarves are all about discipline, elves are about harmony. That's a cool dichotomy. Orcs are all about basic instincts, passion and fury, each makes them an interesting counter to both dwarves and elves. Id, ego, superego, you might say.

I actually really like kobolds vs. Gnomes for similar reasons. Collectivism vs. individualism.

Haflings just don't have much going on for them as a race. As individuals I guess they're ok.

[Magic Myrmidon]

I was actually kinda surprised by how much I liked Mearls's thoughts on the Halflings. Nothing earth shattering, but it makes them more unique than I would usually think. The idea that they were all blessed by some lost god is really cool, and there's a lot to explore in that idea. Plus having the occasional halfling being "called" to adventure could imply that there is some force out there driving them to do it. Could put some questions of free will on the table.

Besides, there's always a place for a peaceful, quiet, harmonious race. Good fodder for adventurers to play against, and it's a good target when you want to make it super clear that the villain is just plain evil.