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| Who knew the Shire was in Norway? |
The Rangers won the game I went to on Wednesday, thanks to an overtime goal by Mats "The Norwegian Hobbit Wizard" Zuccarello. Standing in at a "mere" 5'7" and bearing a passing resemblance to Elijah Wood, Zuccarello has previously led the Swedish Elite League in scoring and looks to have a pretty good future, despite his relatively diminutive size for an NHL forward.
The thought of a Hobbit Wizard is kind of curious. It was expressly forbidden in earlier versions of the game and is just not that efficient in the 4th Edition. Plus, it kind of takes away from the "aw-shucks" quality of Hobbits.
I confess that I haven't read the books since just before Fellowship of the Ring came out in film. I saw the movies in the theaters but only once. I'm not expert on Tolkien or the stories. I have, however, played a metric ton of Dungeons and Dragons and can say that Halflings are not Hobbits. I'm not sure if there is an exact reason, but the longer I play D&D, the less I like D&D Halflings. This isn't because of the changes in appearance. It's because they are pretty much as pointless as gnomes. Anyone who has played D&D with me knows that I just don't see the point of gnomes and I'm starting to get that way with Halflings as well.
I received the Blu-Ray edition of the Lord of the Rings trilogy for Christmas and I was watching them with my fiancee a week or so ago. One of the things I noticed about the four hobbits is that they are not pure adventurers. This isn't something that translates too well into a role-playing game, since you want to play a pure adventurer. The only hobbit with a real responsibility is Frodo. Look what it does to him. The other three hobbits, Samwise, Merry, and Pippin, all serve a very different purpose--they are the consciences of their charges.
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| I don't see any of these guys making it in the NHL. |
Hobbits were innocence. Halflings are mischief. Hobbits resort to trickery to overcome the fact that they are not fighters, sorcerers, or powerful in any material way. Halflings seem to enjoy trickery for the sake of it. Hobbits are the heart and soul of any group they are part of, while Halflings just seem like little douchebags.
I'm thinking of not allowing Halflings into my Lamentations of the Flame Princess game. If a player insisted, I guess I'd relent as long as he played it more like a Hobbit than a Halfling. Instead of any kind of thieving bonuses, I'd give them some kind of ability to influence opinions, but only if they were on behalf of "the right thing to do." The penalties for not being a fundamentally good person and wearing your heart on your sleeve would be steep. Really bad saving throws and absolutely no abilities of suggestion.
What do you think?
I never had any interest in playing halflings. I think you'll find most folks will think halfling = hobbit with the LotR out for all to see and use as a template. In the Tolkien's books, it mentions that hobbits leave next to no tracks when they want to and are silent sneaks when they want to be. I think the only class they lend themselves to is thief. Who would take a 3 1/2ft tall person seriously as a fighter (see midget wrestling as proof). I wouldn't blame you for banning halflings or gnomes unless someone really wanted to play one for comic relief. That said, I haven't seen the 4th Ed rules. I haven't played since 2nd Ed.
ReplyDeleteHaha, I hear someone mention Norwegian hobbits. We have at least two ;)
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The LotFP halfling is totally Tolkien-inspired. I saw them as being the characters that don't do anything particularly well except escape trouble and survive all the weird things going on around them... which is, I think, a useful skill all in itself.
ReplyDeleteWhy is is sub-optimal in 4th edition? Because you don't get a +2 to Intelligence, netting a total -1 to hit and damage over an optimized character?
ReplyDeleteSounds like munchkinism to me, sir.
This is all I hear from people about character design, like a +1 bonus is going to make or break their character and become unplayable. It's unthinkable to take that minor hit and just play a cool character concept (though, to be honest, a halfling wizard doesn't sound all that brilliant -- I'd much rather talk about a halfling bard or any Primal class).
I have, in a few cases, gone so far as to remove racial ability modifiers in my campaigns to nip this bullshizz in the bud. I want people playing characters that are conceptually fun and interesting, not statistically optimized.
Mechanics rant aside, the current "douchebag" incarnation of halflings can be attributed to Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman, and their terrible kender race. They created the middle ground with halflings that were innocent, but jerks due to their kleptomaniac tendencies, resistance to logic, and inability to comprehend others' irritation and anger at them.
ReplyDelete3rd edition just took it a step further in 2000, transforming the chubby and hairy versions of halflings that "nobody wants to play" into sleek, leather-clad rogues that were essentially miniature elves with attitude.
I think you should go with your instincts and make some major adjustments to halflings. Remove the thief tendencies, give them Charisma bonuses instead of Dexterity (I can't for the life of me remember how Charisma was useful back then, unless determining number of followers and their loyalty) and maybe a Wisdom bonus as a nod to their common sensibilities and desire to avoid conflict.
It would be a complete racial overhaul, but it could be worth it to portray halflings as we've come to love them in Lord of the Rings -- I can't think of a single D&D 3rd or 4th edition halfling whose character I have enjoyed (Lidda in Scourge of Worlds was a little bitch with a snarky attitude).
In my experience, virtually everyone plays and treats halflings as hobbits, despite years of D&D trying to convince people otherwise.
ReplyDeletePS - IMHO hobbits are an argument for Luck and Courage stats.
ReplyDeleteMan, finally someone who shares my sentiments. I despise the gnome race and think D&D halflings are an abomination. Since I run with a race as class it solves the whole halfing thief problem and there are no worries over halfing wizards, or halfling anythings for that matter since your just a plain Hobbit. I can call them that too. Hobbits. I fear not the Tolkien estate. Hobbit. Hobbit. Hobbit.
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