Using Halfings

[AtlanteanTroll]

Hello. I've always like more "realistic" DnD, with more focus on creatires based on mythology then the fastastical creatures whose origins lie in DnD. Now, what does this have to do with the title of the thread?

I recentyl was thinking how their are pygmy peoples in the real world. I was thinking about incorporating them into a game and using halfling statistics. Is this a horrible idea, or not? Please tell me what you think.

Read the pygmy article on Wikipedia if you think it would help you.

[Yora]

Halflings have quite a lot more abilities that humans don't have. But I don't think it would be a problem to make halflings a subrace of humans and have them be "humanoid (human)" instead.

[Marnath]

Aww man, i thought this would be a thread about using halflings as catapult ammo.

Seriously, there shouldn't be any problem using the halfling stats for small humans.

[Andion Isurand]

Not that it directly addresses the thread topic... Ghostwise Halflings Mod

[Octopus Jack]

Aww man, i thought this would be a thread about using halflings as catapult ammo.

You're not alone there, I was thinking of various ingenious uses for them before I read the first post

[Cyrion]

All it sounds like you're doing is changing the cosmetics of the race, and that's not going to have a significant effect on game play. You might run into trouble only if they were the only non-human race allowed, but I don't think halflings are such a big step away from humans that you'll have to worry.

[AtlanteanTroll]

Halflings have quite a lot more abilities that humans don't have. But I don't think it would be a problem to make halflings a subrace of humans and have them be "humanoid (human)" instead.

Thats a good idea. I'll think about that

All it sounds like you're doing is changing the cosmetics of the race, and that's not going to have a significant effect on game play. You might run into trouble only if they were the only non-human race allowed, but I don't think halflings are such a big step away from humans that you'll have to worry.

Well, it isn't entirely cosmetic. I guess they would still get the bonus Skill Points and Feat at first level. But no Dex bonus. They'd get the other benifits of being small. Does that constitute LA?

And should someone move this to Homebrew, or shuld it stay here?

[GenericGuy]

I pretty much have all of my humanoid Races being offshoots from humanity, so I don't see much of a problem.

[AtlanteanTroll]

I suppose so, but I like giving Humans a +2 to any one score, (to sort of railroad my Players into being humans, though it doesnt often work). Since these Pygmies/Halflings will be a Human subrace (ethnicty?) do I grant them the +2 to any one ability score?

[gorfnab]

Aww man, i thought this would be a thread about using halflings as catapult ammo.

I like Halfling throwers. Half-Ogre or Half-Minotaur Warblade 5/ Hulking Hurler 3/ Bloodstorm Blade 4/ Master Thrower 5/ Bloodstorm Blade or Warblade 3 with Leadership. Cohort is a Dragonfire Inspiration Bard for either Flaming or Sonic Halfling followers/ammo.

[Reynard]

But no Dex bonus. They'd get the other benifits of being small. Does that constitute LA?

...Which are? A piddly bonus to hide/move silently, and +1 AC?

Halflings have no LA anyway.

[Ravens_cry]

Thats a good idea. I'll think about that

Weren't Hobbits supposed to be related to Humans anyway in Tolkiens world?
I am sure I read that in some appendix or the other or maybe The Similarion.

[Toliudar]

If you want a race of pygmy humans, how unbalancing would it be to just have a sub-race of humans that get -2 to strength, +2 to dex, +2 to the stat of their choice, and small size? Pretty straightforward.

On the other hand, having played in a game where all the PHB races were just different strains of human...not a big deal. Mind you, we don't have any rangers in the group.

[AtlanteanTroll]

If you want a race of pygmy humans, how unbalancing would it be to just have a sub-race of humans that get -2 to strength, +2 to dex, +2 to the stat of their choice, and small size? Pretty straightforward.

On the other hand, having played in a game where all the PHB races were just different strains of human...not a big deal. Mind you, we don't have any rangers in the group.

Yeah, that'd work, as log as the +2 can't go into DEX.

Ermmm, no Rangers what?

[The Glyphstone]

Because then Rangers with Favored Enemy: Humanoid (Human) would have an unfair advantage.

[Randel]

Here's an idea: What if halflings were just child protagonists?

Basically, in a typical fantasy setting then maybe one out of every hundred or so adult humans will have the skills and courage needed to become a hero. Maybe one out of every thousand humans has the skills needed to be a hero as a child?

So you get people like Harry Potter, or Dorothy Gale, all those other little kids who are able to pull of crazy stuff at a young age. These guys get halfling stats. The reason that they never grow up into adult humans is because... well a wizard did it (maybe literally maybe not, maybe they just think that growing up sucks and/or never eat their vegetables or whatnot).

So the halfling characters are just really adventurous kids who wrote down "18" on a piece of paper, put in in their shoes, and decided to go kill goblins for money. If anyone asks if they are old enough to drink in a tavern, they just say "Of course I'm over 18!" and then go play with knives.

[Toliudar]

Hilarious! The entire race of halflings are in fact simply delinquent children.

[Devils_Advocate]

I've thought about modifying halflings and elves to turn halflings into elven children.

As to what AtlanteanTroll is saying, though, I'm not quite clear on the concept. Every race is already "humans, but with some differences". Even, say, green dragons are humans except for all of the things that make green dragons different from humans. There are just more differences between green dragons and humans than there are between any two of the races (including humans) that are basically fantastic stand-ins for varied human ethnicities and cultures (which isn't to say that there's a one to one correspondence).

If you want all of the player characters to be of the same species, there's nothing keeping you from saying that halflings, elves, dwarves, gnomes, and whatever else you want all have common ancestry, can interbreed, etc. If you want to make them more similar to each other than they are in the source material, then, hey, go nuts. It might even make sense to toss out the common fantasy trope of a designated "human" race that the audience is supposed to identify most strongly with.

[Calmar]

Hello. I've always like more "realistic" DnD, with more focus on creatires based on mythology then the fastastical creatures whose origins lie in DnD. Now, what does this have to do with the title of the thread?

I recentyl was thinking how their are pygmy peoples in the real world. I was thinking about incorporating them into a game and using halfling statistics. Is this a horrible idea, or not? Please tell me what you think.

Read the pygmy article on Wikipedia if you think it would help you.

Tolkien's hobbits are - if I'm not completely mistaken - technically humans, respectively closely related to Men. I guess halflings got their own type because every (pureblooded) core player race has it's own type.
As for actual pygmies, I strongly suggest to use normal human stats and simply change the size from Medium to Small. Pygmies are, after all, purely human.
On the other hand, if you use a Europe-style setting instead of one resembling some equatorial region (wher most real-world pygmy cultures seem to live) you should stick with halflings for no player would call them anything other than halflings there.

The reason that they never grow up into adult humans is because... well a wizard did it (maybe literally maybe not, maybe they just think that growing up sucks and/or never eat their vegetables or whatnot).

That's probably not even necessary, since none of the campaigns I've seen has lasted long anough for any character to age significantly.

[Tech Boy]

Aww man, i thought this would be a thread about using halflings as catapult ammo.

Seriously, there shouldn't be any problem using the halfling stats for small humans.

Heh. Funny story about throwing halfings.

In the last session my party played, my character, a halfing was thrown by the half orc in an attempt to catch an escaping enemy. None the less, he failed the strength check.