Random Babbling Thread 119

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Life is not boring if you care about others and have a good game to play. Take it from Grandma Rogue. Halflings are smarter than humans.

 

Long time no see, Nakia

I don't know of any halfling subraces that have an INT or WIS modifier, though, so don't know why you say they're smarter

 

Human beings make those games so of course they cheat the Halflings of their due. Halflings need to be smarter than humans just to survive. Ain't no Halflingism groups to protect them. They take care of their own.

 

They don't necessarily need to be smarter to survive. A decent amount of cowardism or knowing when to hide behind someone else would suffice (which would point to WIS, rather than INT, I'd say)

 

Hokay, them thar are fighting words. I quote from the Wikipedia

Now we know that Hobbits are not cowards ergo Halflings are not cowards.

 

Half the size, half the courage!

 

Double the nerve! Twice the ability!

 

I say, more like twice the mouth!

 

What I always gathered from the books about hobbits was mostly that they're pretty tough or couragous when pressed, but prefer to avoid conflict. Which, considering their size, is probably a wise thing to do, but again, does not necessarily indicate intelligence

And as mentioned in the books (both The Hobbit and LotR), the hobbits doing the adventuring are mostly young ones, which is given in the books as one of the reasons why these hobbits were willing to go adventuring. Foolishness of youth and such

Twice the ability? Is that why they're such good rogues?

 

And Kender?

 

Had to look up what they are, but aren't kender just hobbits with shoes?

 

Kenders are the halflings that no one knows how to roleplay correctly and are thus hated almost universally by anyone who's ever played Dragonlance.

It's made worse by the fact that many players choose to play kenders with a chaotic neutral alignment, which is another thing no one knows how to roleplay correctly.

 

Or alternatively, no-one like crazy people.

 

Kender are not crazy. They just look at the wold different. No concept of mine or yours, but a good one between evil and good.

So, neutral good once you realize that they do not understand theft.

 

From the Forgotten Realms Wiki

 

Sounds more like strongheart halflings than lightfoot halflings.

The many D&D subraces aside (because dinosaur-riding barbarians and jungle canibals are a legit thing), generic haflings in fantasy are generally easy-going, skittish, and not particularly intelligent (though they often display wisdom).

 

The fun thing with fantasy is that it is just that fantasy. All depends on the creative ability of the author and of the player. When I step into a fantasy game who is in charge, the developers of the game or me? If the game is restive then I am role playing a resticted part not one I create but one that is created for me. It may be fun to play or it may not. If the game allows me to create a character to my own tastes, one that in some way reflects me then I am in charge. This is best done in single player games where the player is the one who moves the action forward instead of being lead, Do my actions have consequences? Arcanum was one of my favorite games because what my character did had consequences.

 

There's nothing quite like PnP to break the mold, although after decades of roleplaying, I still haven't seen many halfling characters that I actually liked (PC or NPC).

There were a couple of humorous ones though. A few years ago, one of my players was playing a halfling ranger with an eagle companion. Since the bird is Small, he's basically the same size as the halfling himself, which made it all the more funny when he said "the eagle perches on my shoulder". The joke went so far that we eventually installed handles on his pauldrons and gave the bird Strength-enhancing items, allowing the eagle to carry him around.

Spoiler

 

Trouble is people just don't know how to play Halflings. Maybe because Nakia created herself in IWD II and I am a small woman myself I felt a bond with her that a bigger person wouldn't. She became my favorite character and is as real to me as can be.

 

I don't think there's a wrong way to play halflings.

Unless you're playing a Kender, of course.