How To World Build With Hobbits and Halflings

[@Blackarooni]

Worldbuilding with dwarfs seems like a tall order. As long as you don't aim too high you'll be fine

[@kid9893]

I want to Pin this lol

[@minnion2871]

As for the whole Kender thing, I think sticking with the ground rule of "Always ask before you borrow something someone is carrying...." (as while lacking a sense of personal property I'd still figure they understand that a person likely intends to use any objects they are carrying and it would be rude to deny them to use of what they are carrying, as adventurers carry things for a reason... I'd also play up their curiosity.... (While you can't steal from the party that wouldn't stop them from snooping in their companions bags and cataloguing everything the party is carrying.... As well as generally being prone to tresspassing.... Doing things like breaking into a heavily secured vault not because they want to steal what is inside but just to see what it is.... Often the best way to keep a Kender from breaking in is to just unlock the door, let them see what is inside and tell them to spread the word among other Kender in the area so that they don't break in to satiate their curiosity about "What's in the box".... If anything I'd say Kender getting mixed up in thievery is likely due to outside influence.... (They don't actually want to steal anything meaning actual thieves can just kind of follow them around and steal anything that the Kender has lost interest in once the security measures have been bypassed.) I'd figure the only thing Kender are apt to steal would be food(when they're hungry), Medicine/healing items(When they are injured or sick), or supplies their friends have requested they obtain... (The party quickly learns that if you don't want to be responsible for a crime spree and possibly on the wrong side of the law never send the Kender out to buy supplies... They WILL come back with everything on the list, and the money you gave them to buy the supplies with.... ) But yeah basic rules of playing a Kender? 1.Never steal from the Party. 2.Have it understood out of character that when you ask the player about what is in their inventory it's because you want to RP your character as being an insatiably curious snoop who while not stealing anything will still look through your pockets to see what you have. (Possibly doing a "Slight of hand check" vs. Perception to see if the other party member notices you being nosy.... 3.While you never steal from the Party you also have no sense of ownership of anything in your inventory.... Meaning if you don't foresee an immediate need for it, and know what it is/does you will probably give things away to the first person to ask for the thing.... (Kender will probably refuse to willingly give up an item they don't recognize and have yet to identify on the basis of wanting to know what it is yet.... And then immediately loose interest in it if they don't have need of it once it is identified...) It also means that you have no concept of land ownership.... If you're not familiar with an area you will probably want to explore it, and the DM will probably want some idea of what you will find in the houses of basically everyone that lives in a place you have never been when you visit for the first time... as well as possible consequences for trespassing ranging from legal action, to some Cult trying to murder the entire party because the Kender stumbled across and disrupted some sacred summoning ritual and knowing too much... (Or otherwise discovering something a potential BBEG doesn't want anyone to know about in the course of their explorations...)

[@joshuakanapkey6570]

Solid thoughts. One thing I would add is that the majority of the time, Kender take things with no intrinsic value, or of little consequence. An interesting and helpful way to assist the party and utilize the Kender's "handling" ability, would be for the Kender character to "happen" to have some potion or item that a character needs before their next action and have the Kender "use" it on their behalf.

[@kid9893]

Your rules for them definitely make them more playable and fun. Sadly every time I have had a kender it has been terrible. It seems like players use them as an excuse to be jerks rather than as a fun roleplay opportunity like you suggested here.

[@kid9893]

That is something I don't ever see done by the kender I play with. No one becomes fascinated with a spork, they always are "fascinated" by the expensive magic sword.

[@minnion2871]

@@kid9893 Yeah seems like the problem is less the race and more the players using them as an excuse to PvP the other players in what is supposed to be a Co-op game.... In theory if played properly and genuinely lacking in a sense of ownership over anything could be quite fun.... Their guiding principle of what they use should be "Is it useful to my allies or me?" because yeah while they might not understand ownership, they should still understand that "My friend is dependent on this magic sword to not die in combat so denying him its use would be a bad thing because I don't want him to die."

[@Telleryn]

Most of us probably know about halflings' association in Faeruhn with Tymora, the god of luck, and that luck being an explanation of how they've survived in such a hostile world, but one twist I've read somewhere on why they are so chill and yet have managed to survive is that they somehow gained a blessing from some kind of god of hospitality, merriment, and kinship, and so even the most violent and wicked creature's disposition towards them is basically 'halflings are chill', everything just feels less serious around them, even those on a dark crusade to end the world just subconsciously avoid damaging halfling villages 'cause they're just silly little guys - who would want to hurt them?, it would also be how they could tame dangerous carnivores, having an aura of 'friend, not food'. I could imagine every halfling village has 1 or 2 BBEGs living there who were marching through on their way to destroy a human settlement or whatever evil thing they were up to at the time but got caught up in the aura of good vibes and were like 'you know what, this whole campaign of terror is more effort than it's worth, it's kinda nice here, I deserve a break' and just never left

[@kid9893]

I really like that concept. They are like the capybaras of fantasy races. Just so chill and cool with everybody.

[@joshuakanapkey6570]

Interesting stuff! Howzabout covering Gnomes soon? 😊 I much prefer Gnomes over Halflings.

[@kid9893]

Gnomes have been on the docket for a while now. They have some similarities to kobolds so I wanted to space them out a bit to not keep treading the same ground.

[@elgatochurro]

why though?

[@captainkoala5660]

I like your culture mixing, it really makes a unique but fun and not too far from the lore race. Might use it more in my own games!

[@kid9893]

I'm glad you like it! When my game eventually releases I have an entire system around the new cultures.

[@twilightgardenspresentatio6384]

My gnomes and halflings are just split lineages of the dwarves, a species created long ago by forgotten elves as a caste of laborers They live in outdoor rooms built of living plants that can easily disguise their presence. A wariness from surviving the war with “the spiders who use words” has caused their culture to value nomadic invisibility in lush, overgrown places as their basis for day to day survival.

[@kid9893]

That's some super cool lore. I can dig it.

[@nnn8983]

Kender is our word but you can say kenda

[@kid9893]

Thanks top G

[@elgatochurro]

whatever Kender, you crazy

[@MrNetWraith]

Ironically, your Great Valley halfings have been done before! An obscure AD&D halfling subrace, long forgotten with the passage of time, is the Furchins; a race of Eskimo-themed halflings introduced in a Spelljammer adventure, then later revived in the Complete Book of Gnomes & Halflings. Nobody remembers them, largely because D&D tried to move away from overt hobbit references (Hairfoots, Stouts and Tallfellows, the original halfling subraces of AD&D, were literally just the Modern English translation of Tolkien's Harfoots, Stoors and Fallohides) and so dropped the halfling subraces until 5e.

[@adammcclelland5746]

This was a very informative video with a fun, new culture for a very old race. Hillbilly-inuit halflings for the win!

[@kid9893]

Thank you! I am glad you liked it