almost have me ready to burn the book. They turned them into Oompa Loompas or munchkins. I can't get past the description at all. Once one of my three favorite races I can say with certainty that they are now the worst ever. Not just in this edition...EVER. The skills might be good but unless I get a hankering to play Oz or Charlie and the Chocolate factory in RPG form this race is dead to me. Very sad. Well and angry.
buckethead111 wrote:
I'm not seeing anything Oompa-Loompa-ish in the halflings' description, but I definitely get that vibe from the artwork. I really dislike the top-heavy caricatured style they've gone with. Maybe I'm just too old school these days ~ I prefer my halflings to look like hobbits with big hairy feet. Not giant heads and tiny feet.
I also don't like the artwork, but I'm not sure I'd let that put me off the whole race.
I mean, I *also* don't much like halflings, but that's a side issue.
I don't like the jumbo heads and weeny feet either but not all the halfling art is like that. For me so far that's the only significant problem I have with the art. I can't imagine it will last long; it just looks too dumb. Apart from that I prefer dumpy, cheery Tolkienesque halfings as default over sinister silent killers. I playtested one halfling in 4e and it was such an amazingly good killer, I hated it. It felt so wrong. I expect every halfling I play to be fairly rubbish. That's how I like them dammit ;)
In 5e I'm sure they can be awesome too but the default feels like it has a sufficient superficial veneer of rubbishness to satisfy me. I approve.
Halflings and gnomes switched sizes. They are only 3 foot tall hobbits now. I preferred more like the reborn Regis in the companions. My halfling short bow hunter ranger easily out dps'd most others I played with both locally and at convention. He was a respected member of the local community who protected his comrads and rid the world of evil. Now he's a cartoon character...just my two cents and we know what opinions are worth.
In 4e, halflings are described as being about 4 feet tall and 80 pounds. Earlier editions describe them as being about 3 feet tall and DDN says they're 40 to 45 pounds.
One of the 4e designers mentioned somewhere (prolly the Races and Classes preview book) that they decided to make halflings bigger in that game so they'd be more *realistic* as adventurers (and less like 6 year old children). Paraphased o' course.
.]
buckethead111 wrote:
pukunui wrote:
I'll never understand this way of thinking. "My halfling character was always awesome. But I don't like this art, so now my poor character is just a cartoonish caricature of his former self! I'll never play halflings again!"
Get over it. It is just art. It doesn't change anything. There is a ton of bad fantasy art out there, and yet somehow I have always still been able to happily play D&D.
pauln6 wrote:
Arithezoo wrote:
I've never paid much attention to the "Official" descriptions of any of the races... (One of my iconic characters I've ressurrected through several editions, Ripper the halfling thief, is described as the largest halfling anybody's ever seen and muscled like a professional wrestler...)
Even as far back as 1st Ed., I looked at the size of the halfling and said, nope, that doesn't work, and made them taller and heavier.
Artifact wrote:
TheLyons wrote:
After more inspection I have decided it's just the art in the races section. All if it is pathetically atrocious except the Dragonborn. Therefore I will try to be open minded to the description knowing all the artwork is horrible.
Yeah, as much as I hate the halfling art, I would never let it affect my thoughts on the actual mechanics and features of the race in game.
The poor tiefling looks like ozzy in drag
The artwork is terrible and almost insulting. I'd consider firing the person who made that decision. I seriously cringe every time I see it. It stands out even further because the rest of the art I've seen is decent to awesome.
The actual crunch of the race is fine, IMO, however. That's really what matters. It'd be nice if they issued die cut stickers with 3e/4e styled halfing art to put over each offending illo, lol.
The gnome is a bit cartoonish too.
I don't think the fluff has anything about chocolate or Loompaland, though I've always imagined vermicious knidds looking like bulettes.
I dig the halfling art. I like that there's some unique character to halflings.
I totally agree with you. I was never a huge halfling fan, but i respected the little guys. Now, i just look at them and roll my eyes.
the only good one is the thief stealing the helmet, and even then, it's because you can't see very much of her.
Oompa-loompa? They just sound like hobbits to me.
Of course in my setting they are mostly nasty little things that like murder people in dark allies, but that's a different topic altogether.
Atheosis wrote:
trebor_rjf wrote:
trebor_rjf wrote:
I'll admit the halfling art and gnome art aren't how I picture those races. That Gnome archer just bugs me for some reason.
A slightly odder incident for me is that gnomes and halflings both have very similiar fluff of "happy, short people" Gnomes get "inventors" and halflings get "homemakers", but they really are similiar enough that besides the mechanics they could be rolled together.
I'm not advocating or complaining, just observing
I like the gnome archer. I think she's meant to be a forest gnome. It's just the halfling minstrels (the one in the race description and the one in the full-page illo) that bother me. Well, and the horrible illustration of Farideh. The rest aren't so bad. I do feel like there's a preponderance of elves in the art, though (some of whom have those ridiculously long WoW elf ears). Does anyone else think the female druid with the tiger looks a bit like Keira Knightley?
Gnomes to me should have big noses and some kind of spectacles or goggles. D&D gomes have become something every un-gnomish over the years.
Atheosis wrote:
Chaosmancer wrote:
buckethead111 wrote:
My default image of halflings is like Lidda, but black (I actually used to think that Lidda was black just going from the PHB art).
ClockworkSaber wrote:
I really cant take a 3 foot tall adventurer seriously. That is approximately the size of a five year old child.
kalil wrote:
kalil wrote:
I like the return to hobbits after a couple editions of miniature humans.
I also understand the need to change the art. Without scale, halflings are identical to humans.
Thoughts_My_Aim wrote: