Ghostwise Halflings in Eberron? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Ghostwise Halflings in Eberron? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Moosh Nailo
07-10-07, 04:50 PM Ghostwise Halflings, from the Forgotten Realms settings. Anyone figure out where/how they fit into Eberron?

Has there been some page or thread on the topic that I've missed?

I'd probably stick 'em in the Reaches, basically so their background could remain intact (replacing Malar worship with one of the dark six, of course)
Alex_
07-10-07, 06:04 PM Officially, there are no Ghostwise Halflings in Eberron.

However if you want to introduce them, I would use them to replace standard Halflings of the Talenta Plains. The sub-race was practically made for them.
Moosh Nailo
07-10-07, 07:17 PM How do you figure they were made for the plains?
Alex_
07-10-07, 07:53 PM The change of favored class from Rogue to Barbarian works well for the Talenta Halflings as they are an illiterate nature loving society with a greater number of Barbarians amongst their martial PC classes.

The Halflings of the Talenta Plains rely on the dinosaurs and pterosaurs living in the region for transportation, as draft animals, food, clothing, and other things. Riders form close connections with their mounts, and the Ghostwise ability to communicate without speaking would be useful. Not so much in having conversations, but simple things like "here", "stay", "sick'em!" and the like, which could help reinforce the mysterious and spiritual bond between Halfling and Dinosaur.
Moosh Nailo
07-11-07, 03:12 AM That makes sense. How would you explain speak without sound in this scenario?

Along the lines of their connection with their dinosaur friends expanding to mystical proportions, then that empathy extending to their fellow hin?
Alex_
07-11-07, 12:04 PM The Speak Without Sounds ability would be used to emphasize the relationship between rider and dinosaur I mentioned earlier. It would allow the rider to deliver verbal commands to the dinosaur without actually making any sounds.

Yes it could be used with interactions with other Halflings, although this isn't a particularly prominent part of Talenta Halfling culture that I wouldn't dwell too much upon.
Dr. Benway
07-12-07, 08:00 PM Let me preface my post by saying that I love halflings, and when I played in Faerun my favorite character ever was a Ghostwise druid who ROCKED.
That being said, you need to realize that Eberron is not just another place in the forgotten realms. Whenever I see a 'how would I incorporate fearunian(god, race, region, group, etc) into Eberron' post, I wince. Unlike Faerun, Eberron is a setting that was completely realized as an environment and a world previous to publishing. As such, incorporating outside elements does not work here in the way they easily work in a faerun setting. Even the planar cosmology is completely and totally different with absolutely no connection, even 'out there' somewhere.
The real point is that, because of the presence of Dragonmarks, subvarients of the PHB races do not exist. The reason they dont exist is because of the danger of aberrant dragonmarks forming and bloodlines becoming mixed/dilluted/tainted. That is a MAJOR part of the history and development of the world, its politics, and its economy...the last being dependent on the purity of the bloodlines of the D'marked houses.
All that being said, if you really want to play a ghostwise in Eberron, than I would do exactly as Alex_ suggested and just replace ALL normal halflings with the ghostwise. In that way you dont mess with major theme of racial/bloodline purity, which a major war of genocide was actually fought about, called the War of the Mark. This war was fought by the D'marked houses to wipe out all the aberrant and variant forms of Dragonmarks and the bloodlines/subraces that carried them.

Or you could ignore all of that and just toss 'em in there. :P
Its your game, dont let me tell you what to do with it...

EDIT: If you call an Eberronian halfling a Hin you might just get uncomfortably up close and personal with a Velociraptor. Just thought I'd warn ya there laddy... ;)

DocB
:88E: vs :coolcthul Who shall prevail?
Moosh Nailo
07-13-07, 03:10 PM Now that is a stand up post! Decisive, to the point, and gives all the information to answer the OP. A nice mix of seriousness and jokes, with a flavorful sprinkling of sarcasm on top. And yet you still remain positive and supportive! Simply incredible, Dr. Benway.

Anyway. I realize it's not exactly the best thing to do, dropping faerun subraces into eberron. But I love the ghostwise, and think playing one in eberron would kick butt. I never thought of it from the point of view of the d'marked before.

How about this, then: Rather than being a subrace, just change up the backstory a little to have them fit in in a tiny corner somewhere, just enough to cough up a PC once in a while ;).
During the 5th decade of the Last War, a small mercenary tribe of halflings underwent a magical ritual, trying to become the perfect scouts. As a result of the ritual, they gained the ability to speak without sound, but lost a spark of their humanity (halflinganity?). The fates no longer counted them as being halfling. While still halflings in most ways, none have developed a dragonmark, true or aberrant, since the ritual. Their special ability only breeds true with other blood members of the tribe. With the tribe numbering just over a hundred individual members at any one time, it is easy enough for them to keep this a closely guarded secret. And secret it shall remain, or the true halfling tribes would unite to destroy the impure blood.

What I went for here is simply removing the option of them having marks, of tainted blood, while keeping in theme (I hope that's what I achieved, anyway). They trade the ability to gain dragonmarks for speak without sound. Seem allright? Or is it still too forced, to messy?

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Moosh Nailo 07-10-07, 04:50 PM	Ghostwise Halflings, from the Forgotten Realms settings. Anyone figure out where/how they fit into Eberron? Has there been some page or thread on the topic that I've missed? I'd probably stick 'em in the Reaches, basically so their background could remain intact (replacing Malar worship with one of the dark six, of course)
Alex_ 07-10-07, 06:04 PM	Officially, there are no Ghostwise Halflings in Eberron. However if you want to introduce them, I would use them to replace standard Halflings of the Talenta Plains. The sub-race was practically made for them.
Moosh Nailo 07-10-07, 07:17 PM	How do you figure they were made for the plains?
Alex_ 07-10-07, 07:53 PM	The change of favored class from Rogue to Barbarian works well for the Talenta Halflings as they are an illiterate nature loving society with a greater number of Barbarians amongst their martial PC classes. The Halflings of the Talenta Plains rely on the dinosaurs and pterosaurs living in the region for transportation, as draft animals, food, clothing, and other things. Riders form close connections with their mounts, and the Ghostwise ability to communicate without speaking would be useful. Not so much in having conversations, but simple things like "here", "stay", "sick'em!" and the like, which could help reinforce the mysterious and spiritual bond between Halfling and Dinosaur.
Moosh Nailo 07-11-07, 03:12 AM	That makes sense. How would you explain speak without sound in this scenario? Along the lines of their connection with their dinosaur friends expanding to mystical proportions, then that empathy extending to their fellow hin?
Alex_ 07-11-07, 12:04 PM	The Speak Without Sounds ability would be used to emphasize the relationship between rider and dinosaur I mentioned earlier. It would allow the rider to deliver verbal commands to the dinosaur without actually making any sounds. Yes it could be used with interactions with other Halflings, although this isn't a particularly prominent part of Talenta Halfling culture that I wouldn't dwell too much upon.
Dr. Benway 07-12-07, 08:00 PM	Let me preface my post by saying that I love halflings, and when I played in Faerun my favorite character ever was a Ghostwise druid who ROCKED. That being said, you need to realize that Eberron is not just another place in the forgotten realms. Whenever I see a 'how would I incorporate fearunian(god, race, region, group, etc) into Eberron' post, I wince. Unlike Faerun, Eberron is a setting that was completely realized as an environment and a world previous to publishing. As such, incorporating outside elements does not work here in the way they easily work in a faerun setting. Even the planar cosmology is completely and totally different with absolutely no connection, even 'out there' somewhere. The real point is that, because of the presence of Dragonmarks, subvarients of the PHB races do not exist. The reason they dont exist is because of the danger of aberrant dragonmarks forming and bloodlines becoming mixed/dilluted/tainted. That is a MAJOR part of the history and development of the world, its politics, and its economy...the last being dependent on the purity of the bloodlines of the D'marked houses. All that being said, if you really want to play a ghostwise in Eberron, than I would do exactly as Alex_ suggested and just replace ALL normal halflings with the ghostwise. In that way you dont mess with major theme of racial/bloodline purity, which a major war of genocide was actually fought about, called the War of the Mark. This war was fought by the D'marked houses to wipe out all the aberrant and variant forms of Dragonmarks and the bloodlines/subraces that carried them. Or you could ignore all of that and just toss 'em in there. :P Its your game, dont let me tell you what to do with it... EDIT: If you call an Eberronian halfling a Hin you might just get uncomfortably up close and personal with a Velociraptor. Just thought I'd warn ya there laddy... ;) DocB :88E: vs :coolcthul Who shall prevail?
Moosh Nailo 07-13-07, 03:10 PM	Now that is a stand up post! Decisive, to the point, and gives all the information to answer the OP. A nice mix of seriousness and jokes, with a flavorful sprinkling of sarcasm on top. And yet you still remain positive and supportive! Simply incredible, Dr. Benway. Anyway. I realize it's not exactly the best thing to do, dropping faerun subraces into eberron. But I love the ghostwise, and think playing one in eberron would kick butt. I never thought of it from the point of view of the d'marked before. How about this, then: Rather than being a subrace, just change up the backstory a little to have them fit in in a tiny corner somewhere, just enough to cough up a PC once in a while ;). During the 5th decade of the Last War, a small mercenary tribe of halflings underwent a magical ritual, trying to become the perfect scouts. As a result of the ritual, they gained the ability to speak without sound, but lost a spark of their humanity (halflinganity?). The fates no longer counted them as being halfling. While still halflings in most ways, none have developed a dragonmark, true or aberrant, since the ritual. Their special ability only breeds true with other blood members of the tribe. With the tribe numbering just over a hundred individual members at any one time, it is easy enough for them to keep this a closely guarded secret. And secret it shall remain, or the true halfling tribes would unite to destroy the impure blood. What I went for here is simply removing the option of them having marks, of tainted blood, while keeping in theme (I hope that's what I achieved, anyway). They trade the ability to gain dragonmarks for speak without sound. Seem allright? Or is it still too forced, to messy?