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Post by Merkholz on Apr 29, 2011 1:34:25 GMT -5
I've thought recently about the importance of demi-humans and how they are to be used in an AD&D campaign. Was the inclusion of demi-humans just a nod to the Tolkien fanboys or did Gary have a serious interest in having halflings and gnomes in addition to the well-known elves and dwarves?
Also, why were they all good? And, apart from the elves, they were lawful good. Halflings were supposed to breed master thieves to left and right and they all came from LG, goody-two-shoes societies of cropular [sic] abundance. Gnomes were percieved as devious, tricky, hardnoses with a penchant for fooling their surroundings with illusions - hardly a very LG background, is it? Are their alignments based on that Man is N and all the demi-humans are kinder, more decent and helpful than man-kind?
What should halflings be all about in the campaign. I have a good guess but isn't there more? More difficult is the role of gnomes. Are they just spell-casting dwarves, big-nosed halflings, or what?
I'm thinking about seriously reducing the amount of halflings in my campaign by giving them a more localized presence and to make gnomes more neutral, once a threat to the dominance of man-kind.
Ideas?
M
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Post by Scott on Apr 29, 2011 6:39:54 GMT -5
For the most part, I think demi-humans were introduced to placate the Tolkien fans. I believe the concept took off from there, but that was the impetus.
Halflings are hobbits, and their game descriptions try to present hobbits in a D&D format. Their culture is very lawful good. They have natural abilities that make them good thieves, but that’s not a cultural thing. I think that the Halfling = thief thing should be kept to the world of PC choice, but the majority of Halfling NPCs should be Tolkien-esque hobbits.
Gnomes are N – LG, so there is a lot of room for the “devious, tricky, hardnoses with a penchant for fooling their surroundings with illusions” that you describe, though the DMG racial description paints them to be more like relaxed dwarves. Their alignment spectrum gives you a lot of room for variety. A lot of my gnomes lean towards the N side of the alignment range, and I base their character on Tolkien’s petty-dwarves.
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Post by Scott on Apr 29, 2011 6:44:51 GMT -5
I agree that the halfling presence should be limited. One primary 'homeland', with smaller enclaves located in several locations.
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Post by graymouser on May 28, 2011 13:04:05 GMT -5
Also, why were they all good? I imagine to give players at least potential allies when adventuring, as opposed to all the goblins, orcs, hobgoblins, etc. Sure you could potentially parlay with the later but since they are evil they might just stab you in the back as soon as they perceive it would benefit them. I would also say that it seems to me people are generally more willing to play PC races that are generally good rather than evil. I would point out that as far as Gnomes are concerned, their alignment in the MM is actually listed as "Neutral to Lawful Good." And just because one is LG doesn't mean that you don't like being a trickster and using illusions to your advantage. As for Halflings, I don't think they were "supposed" to breed Master Thieves. I believe the vast majority of their population are considered to be either 0 level or low to (somewhat) mid level fighters. While they may be able to excell at thievery the same could be said for any of the Demi-Human races. Elves, for example, are potrentially much better thieves than they are Magic-Users. That doesn't mean most of their population is going to be given over to thievery (or even magic use, for that matter). The answer to this will depend on what part of those racial groups you're talking about. The greater part of any demi-human race will be normal non-classed NPC's. Halflings will be much like their literary inspirations in the Shire. The only true thief amongst them that we see is Bilbo. The entry for Gnome in the MM only talks about the "rumor" of Gnome spell casters. It's not until he write the PHB that Gary made them able to advance to a mid-level of Illusionist ability. That all seems to me to indicate that this would be a potential ability that only some Gnomes would ever develop. Players are free to choose their demi-human PC's class, role, reason d'etre, etc. The guidelines found in the MM seem to be for the "stereotypical" member of each race. I try to use that (as well as the racial characteristics mentioned in both the DMG and PHB) to give me a better idea of how these races are treated in AD&D. I think having at least some of the Gnomish settlements being Neutral in alignment (at least fo the majority of their inhabitants) is a good idea since that's one of the alignment possibilities mentioned for them in the MM. I like you idea for Halflings, too. I tend to localize them in a couple of areas and when they dwell amongst other classes it's rare. Gray Mouser |
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Post by Scott on Aug 8, 2011 7:29:43 GMT -5
The fact that they were all good makes the bad ones that much more memorable. Would Obmi the renegade mountain dwarf be such a memorable character if he was a half-orc? Or would Iuz’s evil Halfling minions (the minifigs) be so twisted if it wasn’t so out of character for them?
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Post by Scott on Aug 8, 2011 7:35:17 GMT -5
Speaking of those evil halflings, I once statted up an evil halfling hit squad for Iuz, but the halflings in that pack don't really seem like adventurers. One of them is fanning IUz with a giant feather fan, one of them is holding a book open for him, another is carrying a book, and I can't remember the fourth. And they look more like the goblins from Gringott's Bank fom the Harry Potter movies than traditional halflings, or maybe even the house elves.
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