Interesting Fantasy Cultures

[tussock]

I think people overstate the size problem for Halflings.

Basically, small groups of proto-Humans could kill mammoths in strait-up fights using wood and stone tools, and they outweigh us by 100:1. It's not really about size. A Hobbit with more fast-twitch muscle and a more flexible spine (both of which they should have, being smaller and lighter) should be able to swing the tip of a sharp weapon on a pole faster than we can. It's just a shorter pole.

Or they can throw sling stones faster and more accurately like the book says, meaning they just don't deal with the issues of reach and the weighty crush of a melee. Like Humans are wickedly dangerous for our weight class, Halflings (and Goblins) can be just a little more so, optimised for stealthy close-range missile ambushes.

[darkmaster]

The problem with this argument is manifold, first is that mammoths are animals and while there is evidence humans occasionally hunted mammoth they almost certainly did so like every other pack hunter ever and targeted old and weak specimens and took them down as a large group. But other races do not have animal intelligence and can organize against attacks by even sizable forces.

Second, halflings are literally the size of children all other things being equal any weapon a halfling uses has to be much smaller in order for it to be wieldy and energy efficient for a hobbit to use.

You can make an argument for halflings as sling wielders, but rest assured there are problems with this too. The sling can be a very effecive weapon, it has greater range than most bows and it's surprisingly deadly, but this doesn't actually do anything for halflings for a couple reasons. Firstly, the maximum effective range of a sing is about 250m which is pretty damn impressive, but the problem with using a sling from farther away is not accuracy, its that your bullets or stones are probably just going to bounce off so the actual advantages of being more accurate are minimal, further since halflings can't really participate in real fights they're forced to use close up hit and run attacks which actually negates the principal advantage of the sling by putting them within range of the much more deadly bows their opponents can use because their opponents are probably not the size of children. Further you are never winning a war with just singers, you just aren't no one has ever fielded an army of nothing but guys with slings for that very reason and you're never taking land from any organized force through guerrilla warfare, for that mater you're probably never keeping any land you've just stolen from a group of people through guerrilla warfare because guerrilla war works by wearing down the opponent's resolve and convincing them the fight is too costly, which doesn't work if you're the aggressor on the enemy's home ground.

[Omegonthesane]

darkmaster, you're ignoring that Halflings as described in Shatner's post are supernaturally strong to the tune of having no Strength penalty compared to a human of the same level despite being half the size. This would seem to mitigate approximately all of the issues with a realistic creature being small and therefore wimpy.

Also, I'd genuinely like to see your explanation of why unskilled labour costs magically never become sufficiently high as to justify the creation of an Endure Elements trap on your sugar cane plantation no matter how dire the shortage of people.

[darkmaster]

First, it actually doesn't. Even if every halfling has just as much strength as a human just being small still cripples you in combat because if fucks your reach by both just being smaller and requiring smaller weapons in the name of being weildy. So trying to force halflings to compete in the same arena with the big folk really is doing them a disservice because even if there's no strength difference it's a fight they are almost certainly going to lose in the end. Because halflings still suck at man to man combat, and, therefore, still need to rely on guerrilla warfare in situations it really, really, isn't suited for.

And remember, even if they do have the same strength and endurance, they're also much less mobile because they're half the height and therefore have to work twice as hard to cover the same ground.

Second, that wasn't my argument, stop being a fucking idiot and learn to read.

[Omegonthesane]

First, it actually doesn't. Even if every halfling has just as much strength as a human just being small still cripples you in combat because if fucks your reach by both just being smaller and requiring smaller weapons in the name of being weildy. So trying to force halflings to compete in the same arena with the big folk really is doing them a disservice because even if there's no strength difference it's a fight they are almost certainly going to lose in the end. Because halflings still suck at man to man combat, and, therefore, still need to rely on guerrilla warfare in situations it really, really, isn't suited for.

You got a point with reach, but I was under the impression that kiting is in theory a valid pitched battle tactic rather than entirely a feature of guerilla warfare, and the use of ranged weapons means size is no longer the limiting factor on reach.

And remember, even if they do have the same strength and endurance, they're also much less mobile because they're half the height and therefore have to work twice as hard to cover the same ground.

Says who? They might be taking twice as many steps but if anything they're expending less energy, and already explicitly can live on a ridiculously small diet.

Second, that wasn't my argument, stop being a fucking idiot and learn to read.

All manual farming is back breaking labor. But for as low as 1,000gp (or less) you can have Endure Elements on all your workers forever and then you don't have to go through the troublesome process of getting more workers when the current ones die from exhaustion. Less than the cost of a single suit of Full Plate. The most questionable part about what I said is actually the Remove Disease part, but honestly if you're separating out the sick people rapidly and you can fully cure 2 people per day (5th level, 1 spell + 1 bonus spell from 16+ wisdom), then you can probably keep any sort of outbreak under control.

Except the price of dirt farmers is seriously measured in copper so 1000 gp is actually really expensive compared to just getting more people

That was the line that started the argument about skilled and unskilled labour. It is only because of that line that I still give a femtoshit about the argument about skilled and unskilled labour. Do you or do you not concede that the bolded point can be changed by local conditions causing unskilled labour to actually be more expensive? If not, why not?

[Laertes]

Give the guy a chance, people. If he drops a point and ceases to argue it, we should accept that with some grace and just move on. If you can't be a graceful winner then nobody is going to want to talk to you.

I find the "Halflings have magical muscles" thing unsatisfying. It's actually pretty reasonable to have a species which uses magic on a base biological level. That I can buy. But if it does that then it's going to use that magic for all its activities, not just to cover one particular gaping weakness. Species tend to specialise all their resources into the thing they're good at: for example, humans are straight-up crazy bullshit good at Int and Con compared to most animals, but at the cost of most other things. Similarly, you'd expect a magical halfling to use that magic for things it's already good at, like stealth. Using it to cover one weakness and not augment its strengths feels... like a cop out. Which it is.

You would also then need to explain why the halfling's magical strength bonus stacks with all other strength bonuses they can get, can't be dispelled and can be used in zero-magic zones.

Ultimately though, it doesn't matter. We are told that halflings are the size of children and that they have no strength penalty despite this. These are the rules of the game. Trying to reconcile fluff with crunch is like trying to make excuses for an abusive husband in that nobody really cares what you say because it won't influence either your or his future behaviour. The basic problem is still there no matter how you paper over it.

[darkmaster]

You got a point with reach, but I was under the impression that kiting is in theory a valid pitched battle tactic rather than entirely a feature of guerilla warfare, and the use of ranged weapons means size is no longer the limiting factor on reach.

The problem with this is that if the enemy doesn't chase them they're fucked, or if the enemy brings out their own lines of slingers they are equally fucked.

Also, halflings need 1/5 the food of a human and can thus outnumber humans 5 to 1 on the same patch of land. I'd have thought that would count for something even in a "fair" fight.

How the fuck do you figure that? I'm sorry but my suspension of disbelief stops right there. If halflings are going to be just as strong as a human but half the size that means they have to have really dense muscle structure and for all the advantages of that efficiency is not one of them. Muscle burns a ton of energy so if anything such halflings need MORE resources than the average human because their biology is hilariously inefficient. So by positing halflings that are as strong as humans you definitely have to accept that they need at least as much in the way of provisions, if not more.

Says who? They might be taking twice as many steps but if anything they're expending less energy, and already explicitly can live on a ridiculously small diet.

I think your congratulating my ideas and Shatner's because my ideas about halflings needing less are based on the idea that they're ferns, they're week, and shit at fighting but also need less. Anyway, no, if my stride is twice as long as yours not only will I move twice as fast in a single stride but I will also cover more distance before I tire out because you literally have to take to steps to cover the same distance as my one.

That was the line that started the argument about skilled and unskilled labour. It is only because of that line that I still give a femtoshit about the argument about skilled and unskilled labour. Do you or do you not concede that the bolded point can be changed by local conditions causing unskilled labour to actually be more expensive? If not, why not?

How about that is not the argument I've been having the argument I've been having is that no matter how fucked your kingdom's inflation is skilled labor is going to be more expensive than unskilled labor. I have already outright agreed that specific economic situations can change the price of labor, though presumably since the original topic you're fucking harping on was about slavery the price of said labor is actually really close to 0 in most cases. Because it's being provided by slaves.

[Omegonthesane]

You got a point with reach, but I was under the impression that kiting is in theory a valid pitched battle tactic rather than entirely a feature of guerilla warfare, and the use of ranged weapons means size is no longer the limiting factor on reach.

The problem with this is that if the enemy doesn't chase them they're fucked, or if the enemy brings out their own lines of slingers they are equally fucked.

Not seeing this. If the enemy doesn't chase, rout, or outlast them, they win. If the enemy gets out their own slingers, then it's a two-sided firefight.

Also, halflings need 1/5 the food of a human and can thus outnumber humans 5 to 1 on the same patch of land. I'd have thought that would count for something even in a "fair" fight.

How the fuck do you figure that? I'm sorry but my suspension of disbelief stops right there. If halflings are going to be just as strong as a human but half the size that means they have to have really dense muscle structure and for all the advantages of that efficiency is not one of them. Muscle burns a ton of energy so if anything such halflings need MORE resources than the average human because their biology is hilariously inefficient. So by positing halflings that are as strong as humans you definitely have to accept that they need at least as much in the way of provisions, if not more.

My initial reasoning was based on their silly weight. If you look, you'll see I edited that argument out before your response was posted, because I realised it was a stupid argument and therefore that standing by it would be stupid.

Says who? They might be taking twice as many steps but if anything they're expending less energy, and already explicitly can live on a ridiculously small diet.

I think your congratulating my ideas and Shatner's because my ideas about halflings needing less are based on the idea that they're ferns, they're week, and shit at fighting but also need less. Anyway, no, if my stride is twice as long as yours not only will I move twice as fast in a single stride but I will also cover more distance before I tire out because you literally have to take to steps to cover the same distance as my one.

But the short guy's single strides will likely take less time and fewer joules. Which is the point of my contention, I really don't see one stride costing the same amount of energy regardless of size, either absolutely or relative to the being's energy reserves.

That was the line that started the argument about skilled and unskilled labour. It is only because of that line that I still give a femtoshit about the argument about skilled and unskilled labour. Do you or do you not concede that the bolded point can be changed by local conditions causing unskilled labour to actually be more expensive? If not, why not?

How about that is not the argument I've been having the argument I've been having is that no matter how fucked your kingdom's inflation is skilled labor is going to be more expensive than unskilled labor. I have already outright agreed that specific economic situations can change the price of labor, though presumably since the original topic you're fucking harping on was about slavery the price of said labor is actually really close to 0 in most cases. Because it's being provided by slaves.

In that case I misread your argument. Still confused how it got from traps to skilled labour but that really isn't your problem.

I should point out, however, that - as was alluded to earlier - slaves really do have a labour cost. It's just measured in the overhead required to keep them enslaved (overseers, police, restraints etc) rather than in coin that they ever personally own.

Also, unless you're willing to stretch the definition of "skilled" to cover any possible increase in competency, if - and this is an intentionally ridiculous example - there are nine weedy scholars for every one that society actually needs, and one labourer strong enough for the work for every two that society needs, and the weedy scholars don't have the strength to make competent unskilled labourers, are they really likely to insist the former get more money than the latter?

EDIT: tags: the unfucking

[Shatner]

Re: Halfling Strength
Halflings don't have supernatural strength; i.e. it won't go away in an anti-magic zone. They have musculature that is designed for bursts of strength, so halflings are fantastic fighters and sprinters, but cannot come close to matching humans in long distance running (not that 3.x simulates that level of detail). A great source about this size-to-strength issue is here, which I quote a bit from below

The size of muscle is dictated by a lot of things, among them being contractile proteins and sarcoplasm. Contractile proteins are the little guys that actually do the mechanical work of moving your body around. The sarcoplasm is the fluid in your muscle cells. Believe it or not, the size of your muscle has as much to do with how much “water weight” you’re carrying as it does with how many contractile proteins you have. Yes, more sarcoplasm does correlate with more strength, but not as highly as with more contractile proteins.

Even with a “maximum” amount of both of these, this still doesn’t mean you will be as strong as someone half your size.

...

The first of the strong forces is much more complicated, and it is at least part of what accounts for the fact that top middleweight powerlifters and olympic weightlifters are SIGNIFICANTLY stronger than the worlds top bodybuilders, in spite of the fact that they are half their size.

So we're looking at a race of tiny olympians. And while the sight of a "child" carrying a heavy container up a gangplank would break our human-centric expectations, that doesn't mean it's "because magic". DnD posits a world where you can slap wings on a horse, and then have that horse non-magically carry itself and an adult human up into the sky for hours at a time... so if strong halflings are giving you a brain wedgie, I suspect your suspenders of disbelief have gotten a bit uneven.


Re: Halfling Invasion-Settling
My proposed halfings ARE a sort of growing farmer horde, as darkmaster put it, but this is the Iron Age so people, for the most part, don't give a shit about conflict happening "over there". The halfling Settlers pick a spot of "unoccupied" land, i.e. land that isn't being extensively cultivated, and they claim it. When they get there there will certainly be a population of goblinoids living there (because there is a population of goblinoids living everywhere you'd actually want to settle), and the land might also be home to some ogres or some owlbears or some other random encounters, and it might be part of the seasonal grazing grounds of orcish herders. And the humans and the elves and the dwarves won't give a fuck that the halflings watered the soil with monster blood before putting away their swords and busting out their plowshares. Hell, the humans will be cheering them on because their civilization has a very symbiotic relationship with the halflings, and the two spread in tandem.

The halflings will drive out the goblinoids immediately, because halflings are tiny badasses who show up in the hundreds, armed to the teeth, and unwilling to retreat... while the goblinoids totally prefer to leave than fight to the death over a patch of dirt. Sometimes the area happens to be used as grazing lands for orcish herders. Sometimes the orcs decide it isn't worth it, and the halflings move in with only some skirmishing. Other times the orcs throw down and it's an open question whether the "death before retreat" phalanx runs out of bodies or the savage warrior race runs out of nerve. But if the orcs win then two or so generations later the halflings show back up. And each time an expedition fails, the halflings back home upgrade the threat assessment of that area, so each subsequent expedition shows up with MORE halflings and MORE weaponry and MORE mercenaries. As such, the orcs usually prefer to withdraw and then embark on a campaign of raiding the halflings, as well as the traders attracted to halfling lands.


Re: Halfling Fighting Ability
Being Small (as in, the size-category, not the adjective) is largely a good thing for a combatant in 3.x. You have better accuracy and armor class, superior stealth, and being small pretty much guarantees you a racial dexterity bonus... and dexterity is an awesome stat (even better AC and accuracy with ranged weapons, superior initiative, even better stealth, better reflex saves, etc.). Also, you're not so small that your reach is in anyway affected (small and medium creatures have the same reach with their weapons). Now, you do use smaller weapons but that only reduces your average damage roll by one (d10 -> d8 -> d6 -> d4). You normally have a racial strength penalty on top of that, and that is what usually moves "being small" from a net positive to a net negative as far frontline combat goes. But halflings don't have that. They're not even slower. And while they do still lose grapples, since the Settlers show up in the low hundreds and fight in formation, grappling one of them means the others stab your dumb ass to death. And it'll be the halflings who get to hit and run or ambush the most against their medium-size opponents because they have a net +3 to move silently checks and a net +5 to hide checks.

Halflings will fuck you up.

[Lokathor]

The sling can be a very effecive weapon, it has greater range than most bows and it's surprisingly deadly, but this doesn't actually do anything for halflings for a couple reasons.

I stopped reading right about here, because we're talking about DnD, so no they don't.

Wait, there was more!

Even if every halfling has just as much strength as a human just being small still cripples you in combat because if fucks your reach by both just being smaller and requiring smaller weapons in the name of being weildy. So trying to force halflings to compete in the same arena with the big folk really is doing them a disservice because even if there's no strength difference it's a fight they are almost certainly going to lose in the end.

Halflings being small gives them an average of -1 damage from using smaller weapons. They've got the same reach as any other medium creature. They've also got +1 attack and +1 AC from being small though. If you count the normal stat mods of -2 Str and +2 Dex, then they're at an extra -1 hit/damage and +1 AC, and those kinda cancel out. Final modifiers

Net Melee Modifiers Compared To Human:
+0 Hit
-1 Damage and 1 die smaller weapons
+2 AC.

Net Sling Modifiers Compared To Human:
+3 Hit
-1 Damage (humans and halflings use the same sling stats)
+2 AC

So, halflings are plenty dangerous in melee, and extra dangerous with slingers (which can attack from dogback, and dogs are cheaper than horses and also grow their population much much faster).

EDIT:

But if the orcs win then two or so generations later the halflings show back up. And each time an expedition fails, the halflings back home upgrade the threat assessment of that area, so each subsequent expedition shows up with MORE halflings and MORE weaponry and MORE mercenaries. As such, the orcs usually prefer to withdraw and then embark on a campaign of raiding the halflings, as well as the traders attracted to halfling lands.

I sure dunno about this part. Orcs breed faster than halflings, same as goblinoids. There's rarely a point when a group that's lost to the war to the orcs can come back stronger than the orcs faster than the orcs can be back at full strength or more as well.

[fectin]

...also, sarcoplasm is the medium that triggers fibril firing when the sarcoplasmic reticulum dumps calcium into it. It's not exactly wasted space.

[Shatner]

EDIT:

But if the orcs win then two or so generations later the halflings show back up. And each time an expedition fails, the halflings back home upgrade the threat assessment of that area, so each subsequent expedition shows up with MORE halflings and MORE weaponry and MORE mercenaries. As such, the orcs usually prefer to withdraw and then embark on a campaign of raiding the halflings, as well as the traders attracted to halfling lands.

I sure dunno about this part. Orcs breed faster than halflings, same as goblinoids. There's rarely a point when a group that's lost to the war to the orcs can come back stronger than the orcs faster than the orcs can be back at full strength or more as well.

That's true but the halflings have much higher populations and much, much higher population density than the orcs, so they churn out more babies per square mile than the orcs. And when building an expedition, the Settlers draw from the excess population of potentially dozens of halfling population centers. Also, the halflings work in concert and strike a single position while the Orcs aren't always so organized or able/willing to concentrate their forces.

It's Rome vs. the Iberians: Rome simply had the will and the numbers to throw generation after generation into the meat grinder. And the Roman forces were operating together, while the Iberians had their own divisions and squabbles that'd weaken their ability to respond in kind. Conquering the area took nearly 250 years and had to be done a bloody series of battles at a time just to secure a region, but that didn't matter; the combination of numbers, will, and organization won out in the end.

[erik]

Making halflings have normal strength is interesting but that's about the extent that I'd want to use anything from the halfling writeup. Heck even on the strength thing I'd rather they could use medium sized weapons than carry more stuff. That's way more fun. Or give em both. Not like anyone cares about carrying capacity.



I'd dump everything about the halfling settlers/travellers that isn't outright fluff, heck probably some of the fluff is overboard too. Making an option and saying "this option isn't playable (and then making it so with Homesickness)" is just a douche move.

Just get rid of Homesickness/Wanderlust, and give the option of either -2 Cha or -2 Wis.

If you really want a Wanderlust and a Steader divide, make skill feats something like getting Knowledge:Local wherever you go after a short period and tricks due to that. And for Steader give em scaling competence bonuses for whatever while in their homeland (say within 10 miles of where they have lived the majority of the time for more than a year).[/rough idea]

And you are better off not saying crap like:

The halflings will drive out the goblinoids immediately citation needed, because halflings are tiny badasses who show up in the hundreds, armed to the teeth, and unwilling to retreat... while the goblinoids totally prefer to leave than fight to the death over a patch of dirt.

There's so many things wrong with that. Goblinoids also include Hobgoblins, Bugbears who aren't just pushovers who move on. Goblins shouldn't just automatically lose because lolhalflings, that's just crappy. I'm as big a halfling fanboy as any and I can't swallow it. Halflings are totally willing to retreat or submit by the source material you chose to try to emulate. By the by, the Tolkien stereotype wasn't that there's two classes of halflings, it's that they are able to rise to the challenge of walking to Mordor when the need arises despite preferring to stay at home.

The goblins will drive out the halfings immediately, because goblins are tiny badasses who show up in the hundreds, armed to the teeth, and unwilling to retreat... while the halflings totally prefer to leave than fight to the death over a patch of dirt.

That's true but the halflings have much higher populations citation needed and much, much higher population density than the orcs, so they churn out more babies per square mile than the orcs. And when building an expedition, the Settlers draw from the excess population of potentially dozens of halfling population centers. Also, the halflings work in concert and strike a single position while the Orcs aren't always so organized or able/willing to concentrate their forces.

*sigh* And if there are less halflings than orcs, then orcs will out number them even more in the future. Just handwaving that halflings always have more people is again, crappy. What I liked about Races of War writeups was having outcomes if race won and if they lost. If you preclude that possibility you are missing out and just aiming for Mary Sue.

[nockermensch]

The question then is "why aren't halflings the main race?"

They're as strong and smart as humans, but have 5x the population density. Even assuming that 4/5 of them will be homebodies with levels in commoner or expert, a halfling land will still produce the equivalent of the entire human population of a land of comparable size in adventurous halflings.

Once halflings hit overpopulation in a homeland and need to expand, they'll be able to field armies 5x larger than what an equivalent human or orc land can manage. This means the defenders will probably be swamped and overrun when the halfling invaders literally blot out the Sun with sling stones.

[Laertes]

I'm envisioning Mongol hordes of halflings, only instead of horseback archery they practise dogback slingery. I'm envisioning someone called Tom Alebottom or something boastfully riding ahead of the army to deliver that famous boast of Genghis Khan's while the humans and elves cower desperately behind their defences, knowing that they're helpless before the halfling horde.

I am the scourge of God. If you had not commited great sins, god would not have sent a punishment like me upon you.

This is pleasing to me.

[erik]

I can see myself pleased by halfling overlords too, if it makes sense, but this is really getting away from

Design Goal: Have halflings map well on to the Tolkien stereotype, which is a whole bunch of "adventures make you late for dinner" farmers and a few "let's walk to Mount Doom and back" adventurers. Also, I want to make a small race that is strong and I'm giving that to halflings. If you're wondering where the goblin's movement of 30 went, this is it.

A densely populated, expansionist, heavily armed, bipolar society of mini-humans is something a campaign world can work with, but then they no longer are anything near the Tolkien stereotype, which was the alleged goal. I'm having a hard time squaring this circle. (neverminding that the stated stereotype isn't accurate either since there is no bipolar split, there are just everymans who rise to the occasion)

If you want the halfling swarm master race then you have some things to address just for starters:
• Why haven't they conquered everything already yet?
• What happens when they run out of space to expand to?
• Merging settlements just have one leader step aside... if leaders were prone to doing that then why weren't they already replaced with leaders who are not meek?
• What sort of government/politics do they have? Definitely not Tolkien's with their almost non-existent government with lightly populated rural areas full of first and second cousins.
• What sort of population numbers are we talking here?
• Without building up or downward there's still limited space to pack people in. Do we have the halfling projects? Arcologies of 100' tall buildlings with 20 floors?
• How do halflings get along with other races? Not just the goblinoids and orcs? What is the elven response to a swarm of halflings turning forests into arable land? What is the halfling response to humans moving into their lands that were already at capacity and are shipping out and supplying halflings sufficient to send the orcish hordes packing?

[edit: ack, hit post before finishing. at least wanted to get that last point to address the other races]

[Shatner]

Oh, some interesting stuff to respond to. Let's see...

Making halflings have normal strength is interesting but that's about the extent that I'd want to use anything from the halfling writeup. Heck even on the strength thing I'd rather they could use medium sized weapons than carry more stuff. That's way more fun. Or give em both. Not like anyone cares about carrying capacity.

First off, I applaud the Erfworld reference. Halflings as exhibited by Julian Zammussels is a very entertaining thought. Also, you're right that no one cares about carrying capacity. That "carries like a medium sized creature" ability is purely for theme, just like goblinoids being able to eat directly out of a garbage can is thematic but unimportant power-wise.

That said, I don't want to make the "halflings have the advantages of being small and the advantages of being medium" any more explicit. People can maybe be talked around to a race of ant-like carrying capacity, but I think people will balk at someone bringing a tiny, almost cartoonish Cloud Strife to their grim and gritty fantasy game.

I'm 3' 2", if you include the hair, and my sword is 5' 6". -Halfling Cloud Strife

I'd dump everything about the halfling settlers/travellers that isn't outright fluff, heck probably some of the fluff is overboard too. Making an option and saying "this option isn't playable (and then making it so with Homesickness)" is just a douche move.

So, goblinoids include two playable races and two monsters. The Bugbear-equivalent is statted up and even talked about in slightly more depth than the PC-friendly goblin, because they're very relevant to the goblinoid race and why others tend to hate them. There's no reason you couldn't play as a Daibo, except that'd be game wrecking in just about every party configuration out there: they're so xenophobic they'd only work in an all goblinoid party and they'd have to be put in a Hannibal Lecter mask and straight jacket whenever the party wanted to interact with in a non-fatal way with members of the other races.

Now, regular 3.x DnD assumes there are a lot of dirt-farming halfling peasant NPCs out there. You won't play as one of them, but they're in the world and you might decide to talk with one or stab one in their face so they need stats and a write up anyway. In my revision, there are still dirt-farming halfling peasant NPCs, and you still won't play as them, so... what's the big deal? I have divided the halflings into three groups (stationary NPCs, settling NPCs, and those with the potential to adventure) because it makes for an interesting racial dynamic. A PC halfling is, by definition, going to be an adventurer, so a PC halfling from my write-up is going to be a Traveler by definition. I haven't limited player options here.

Feel free to not like and not use my material, but I feel like your above statement misinterprets it.

And you are better off not saying crap like:

The halflings will drive out the goblinoids immediately citation needed, because halflings are tiny badasses who show up in the hundreds, armed to the teeth, and unwilling to retreat... while the goblinoids totally prefer to leave than fight to the death over a patch of dirt.

There's so many things wrong with that. Goblinoids also include Hobgoblins, Bugbears who aren't just pushovers who move on. Goblins shouldn't just automatically lose because lolhalflings, that's just crappy. I'm as big a halfling fanboy as any and I can't swallow it. Halflings are totally willing to retreat or submit by the source material you chose to try to emulate. By the by, the Tolkien stereotype wasn't that there's two classes of halflings, it's that they are able to rise to the challenge of walking to Mordor when the need arises despite preferring to stay at home.

The goblins will drive out the halfings immediately, because goblins are tiny badasses who show up in the hundreds, armed to the teeth, and unwilling to retreat... while the halflings totally prefer to leave than fight to the death over a patch of dirt.

I think it's fair to ask for a citation on my above statement. Alright. First off, when Settlers end up encroaching on goblinoids, they are almost certainly not going to be encroaching on Hobgoblins. This is because, compared to the other goblinoids, Hobgoblins are not ubiquitous, in fact they're not even particularly widespread, being a relatively young subtype of the race that was created artificially in one location that they have only recently started spreading out from. Secondly, Hobgoblins do the civilization thing much more successfully than gobbos, daibos, and obos do, and will heavily cultivate an area to feed not only themselves but their subjects and slaves (many of whom aren't goblinoids and can't eat rancid table scraps. That they'll do this through judicious use of subject labor and slave labor is just gravy. Therefore, if an area meets the Settler qualification of "not inhabited" than it's almost certainly not held by Hobgoblins.

So, having removed the hobs from the equation, you're left with obos (dangerous but prone to leaving rather than extended fighting), goblins (inferior to halflings in combat), and however many daibo super-soldiers the local meat supply can support. I'll concede that I may have understated the resistance the goblinoids would have put up, but in my minds eye I see the daibos dying in the open days or weeks of combat and the remaining goblins deciding to move on after that if the halflings look like they're still able and willing to fight.

Being faithful to Tolkien isn't my primary goal here. My primary goal is make strong, militant halflings who meet the minimum Tolkien comparison of "lots of land-bound farmers and a few plucky adventurers". These halflings are, behavior-wise, a kind of cross between an insect hive and bower-building avians. The dirt-farming peasants want to be dirt farming peasants and they will fight you if you try to liberate them from their land. And each village of dirt farming peasants started as an army willing to fight you for your dirt so that they could then farm it. Yes, Tolkien halflings don't do those things and they are willing to retreat. These are not Tolkien halflings... I thought that was apparent.


More to come but this post has gotten long enough.

[erik]

Being faithful to Tolkien isn't my primary goal here...
These are not Tolkien halflings... I thought that was apparent.

Well, the first stated design goal, that is the primary goal offered in the writeup, was to map well with Tolkien halflings. You may want to amend that opening for your writeup since it is apparently not the case.

Trying to figure out how this was all jiving with your opening design goal is half of the headache these halflings gave me.

[deaddmwalking]

If you want pioneer halflings, you're going to have to talk about animal husbandry. Human farming has been successful because we have literally harnessed the power of horses, mules, and oxen. Halflings might be capable of domestication or using such large animals relative to their size, but it is by no means a sure thing. In any case, imagine they had all the issues humans have with elephants and you're in the ballpark of the difficulties that come from working with animals of such tremendous relative size...

Using smaller animals (ponies instead of horses) may bridge the problem to a degree, but I'd posit that smaller animals probably offer some important limitations...

Halflings will do well as a 'symbiotic race'. They require small amounts of resources making them ideal servants. They're relatively 'cute' making them appropriate in any type of company. Working in conjunction with other races allows them to rely on the others to cover whatever literal shortcomings they possess.

Working with other races allows any militant halflings to specialize in roles in which they excel. Slingers, scouts, and out riders are all valuable contributions they can offer to a force that already has heavy infantry and/or cavalry. Whatever their origin, their physiological advantages really seem to encourage forming cooperative partnerships, rather than trying to 'go it alone'.

Tolkien's halflings seemingly require extremely fertile farmland, well protected from casual invasion, requiring minimally intensive agriculture.

[Ancient History]

Also, possibly, Entwives.

[hyzmarca]

If we're going with sterotypes, Halfling farmers are more economically efficient because they don't grow food. They specilize in cultivating pipe weed and poppy.


In other words, they're drug dealers who are heavily into the opium and marijuana trade.

They sell their recreational crop and buy food and luxuries. And they do enjoy luxuries.

This means strong trade ties with surrounding communities. It also means that they're fairly popular. And have some really awesome pipe and hooka makers.

[deaddmwalking]

I could see Halflings dressing as goblins and 'hitting' a farmer that thought about planting a 'feel good' crop they had a monopoly on.

[sarcasmoverdose]

If we're going with sterotypes, Halfling farmers are more economically efficient because they don't grow food. They specilize in cultivating pipe weed and poppy.


In other words, they're drug dealers who are heavily into the opium and marijuana trade.

They sell their recreational crop and buy food and luxuries. And they do enjoy luxuries.

This means strong trade ties with surrounding communities. It also means that they're fairly popular. And have some really awesome pipe and hooka makers.

"Say my name."
"...Brandyburg"
"You're goddamn right."

[Shatner]

Alright, kiddo is in bed and dinner is done. Let's pick back up here...

I'm envisioning Mongol hordes of halflings, only instead of horseback archery they practise dogback slingery. I'm envisioning someone called Tom Alebottom or something boastfully riding ahead of the army to deliver that famous boast of Genghis Khan's while the humans and elves cower desperately behind their defences, knowing that they're helpless before the halfling horde.

I am the scourge of God. If you had not commited great sins, god would not have sent a punishment like me upon you.

This is pleasing to me.

What is best in life? To crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and to taste the fermentation of their grains.

If you want the halfling swarm master race then you have some things to address just for starters:
• Why haven't they conquered everything already yet?
• What happens when they run out of space to expand to?
• Merging settlements just have one leader step aside... if leaders were prone to doing that then why weren't they already replaced with leaders who are not meek?
• What sort of government/politics do they have? Definitely not Tolkien's with their almost non-existent government with lightly populated rural areas full of first and second cousins.
• What sort of population numbers are we talking here?
• Without building up or downward there's still limited space to pack people in. Do we have the halfling projects? Arcologies of 100' tall buildlings with 20 floors?
• How do halflings get along with other races? Not just the goblinoids and orcs? What is the elven response to a swarm of halflings turning forests into arable land? What is the halfling response to humans moving into their lands that were already at capacity and are shipping out and supplying halflings sufficient to send the orcish hordes packing?

1) Among the reasons the halflings haven't conquered everything is that this is an Iron Age setting so populations are small, territory is vast, and the world is dangerous. Assuming an Earth-like trajectory, eventually the agriculturalists will conquer the world, and the halflings will number among them, but that won't be for a long, long time yet. And, of course, this is DnD so you have things like demon invasions and shit to every so often undo much of the ground civilization has made.

2) When the halflings run out of space they turn on each other. The Settlers will pick a spot via some arbitrary criteria and take it from the halflings holding it. This will set off a lengthy cycle of violence until new frontiers open up or new regions are depopulated. The expanding swarm rarely has an answer for when it has run out of room.

3) Halfling expeditions aren't really like Moses leading the Jews to the chosen land, it's more like a Warhammer Waaaaagh or a wheeling flock of starlings, in that the destination is chosen through a cascade of everyone following... someone. Intel will be gathered and followed upon, it's not a group of fools following rumors, but the role of leadership is largely minor.

4) I haven't really thought too deeply on what government and politics would be emergent from this setup. That said, this is a race that is biologically predisposed to help other members spread across the land. Whatever culture has arisen has created legends and philosophies and justifications for giving a chunk of their surplus every so often to the Settlers when they come through so they can manifest destiny it up out there, halfling-style.

5) Populations? I'm not really sure. I guess the most successful villages would be like the farming villages outside major cities, like those that fed London, New York, and Rome. While the halflings will produce as much of a surplus as the prevailing agricultural techniques allow (they are enthusiastic dirt farmers, after all), they are heavily dependent on trade for, well, everything that's not in their territory. So halfling villages will likely have a higher population cap near other developed cities (human or dwarven, especially) because they'll be able to get more animals and farm implements and medicine and overlapping military support and what-not. More isolated villages will have their second sons and daughters go a settlin' sooner because they lack the iron needed to plow more land, or something.

6) I'm assuming a well developed halfling area will look something like rural England. Stone and wood buildings, most one or two human stories tall (which would be two to four halfling stories tall, I suppose). You'll have homes carved into hills as well because Tolkien, but really it'd probably look like Oxford did 600 years ago. And to help put land use in perspective, England has been inhabited for thousands of years and yet when you go there and get outside of the handful of big cities, it's got a population density that's laughably small. And many of those villages are themselves umpteen hundred years old and have been continuously cultivated. What excess population isn't trimmed by diseases and natural disasters and wars can always... move. And unlike iron age Europe, 1/5th of the each generation leaves no matter what's going on.

7) I actually wrote up a document that contains the race relation combinations (e.g. Human-Elf, Human-Dwarf, Human-Orc, Human-Halfling...); unfortunately I don't have that document handy. However, the humans love them some halflings. Humans found the cities that the halfling villages feed, and humans are the major trading race of my setting, and the halflings are some of their most reliable customers. If you strip out the fields and farmland that feeds it, cities aren't actually that big, so the humans can plant themselves near but outside the territory of a cluster of halfling villages and everyone is happy. The dwarves are similarly cool with halflings; halfling villages situated above dwarven holds receive a bounty of imported metals and stone (not least of all the waste the dwarves are dumping on the surface), while the dwarves get all sorts of foods, wood, charcoal, and surface animal products that they simply can't get from underground. In my setting, the orcs are obligate carnivores. That means they are total bad assess the way apex predators generally are, but also with similarly low population density (re: tigers, wolves, and lions). And as this is the iron age, the majority of the orcs have yet to leave the life of hunters and herders of unfenced grazing animals. Both the orcs and the elves HAAAAATE the halflings because the latter's agricultural spread is done to the direct detriment of the former's preferred environment. In fact, the elves are generally cool with the orcs and the two races have a history of shared military operations precisely to thwart the halfling menace. However, the orcs are getting pushed back bit by bit because that's what happens when low food yield people combat high food yield people (barring someone uniting the clans and going all Ghengis Khan on the halflings). Same for the elves; they're in decline for a number of reasons, and the halflings are one of them.

[Shatner]

If we're going with sterotypes, Halfling farmers are more economically efficient because they don't grow food. They specilize in cultivating pipe weed and poppy.


In other words, they're drug dealers who are heavily into the opium and marijuana trade.

They sell their recreational crop and buy food and luxuries. And they do enjoy luxuries.

This means strong trade ties with surrounding communities. It also means that they're fairly popular. And have some really awesome pipe and hooka makers.

"Say my name."
"...Brandyburg"
"You're goddamn right."

Genius. And the halflings would totally grow weed and poppies and tobacco because that stuff is valuable, which means more merchant caravans, which means more Travelers, which means fewer banjos and children born with extra toes.