Something i've observed over my entire Neverwinter Nights career, and which i had never really thought about much until now, is the way some people always play halflings as basically, older children.

Why is this? So many sickly-sweet halflings with speech impediments that try and act 'cute'. It's almost become standard convention, in fact, so much so that there are people out there that clearly believe that this is the norm. Playing childish pranks, naiveté, and such like.

In actuality, halflings are either Feral (Ghostwise), faithful (Stronghearts), or wild rovers (Lightfoots)*

I think of them as normal adventurers, but at half the price. Certainly, never child-like, since a child-like adventurer would just struggle to survive in even the harsher surface environment, let alone the underdark.

* The brackets donote the rule, there are exceptions of course

I share your thoughts NC.

Thank you so much.

NC, did you ever know that your my hero?

I believe most of us despise These things NC

Does thismean we can kill child halflings?! Can we can we please please?!

While the topic's up...

I played a Ghostwise for a good couple months a while back, but was always a little confused about them. Can some race expert throw a little light on this interesting little branch of the Halfling tree?

Basically Ghostwise Hins are antisocial with anyone other than other Ghostwise Hins of the SAME CLAN. They fought against the rest of the Hin clans to be free of them and then left for a deep and large forrest.

Getting to know a Ghostwise Hin is nearly impossible, and if you are are lucky enough to live in their secluded society, you usually end up regretting their intrusion.

They are a heavily nomadic race of barbarian Hins, though there have been known to be several druids, rangers, and clerics among them.

The Ghostwise are to halflings what the Drow are to Elves. Minus the spiderworship and violent bloodlust of course.

Nuclear Catastrophe Something i've observed over my entire Neverwinter Nights career, and which i had never really thought about much until now, is the way some people always play halflings as basically, older children.

Why is this? So many sickly-sweet halflings with speech impediments that try and act 'cute'. It's almost become standard convention, in fact, so much so that there are people out there that clearly believe that this is the norm. Playing childish pranks, naiveté, and such like.

In actuality, halflings are either Feral (Ghostwise), faithful (Stronghearts), or wild rovers (Lightfoots)*

I think of them as normal adventurers, but at half the price. Certainly, never child-like, since a child-like adventurer would just struggle to survive in even the harsher surface environment, let alone the underdark.

* The brackets donote the rule, there are exceptions of course

I agree that it's annoying when I see every other halfling played as if they ar a child. Just because they are the size of a child doesn't make them one. They are full adults with thoughts and feelings.

If you want a good example of how to play a halfling, llets look at hobbits from Lord of the Rings.

Merry and Pippen fit into the 'childlike' role in the first film. (though their personalities and outlooks on life change drastically by the end of the trilogy)

Bilbo is a good example of how an adult halfling should be played. The same would go for Froddo.

Samwise is somewhere between Merry/Pippen and Froddo.

These are full grown people who have feelings, goals and aspirations. They also have hates, loves, wants, needs, dreams and prejudices.

They are normal people.....just shorter and often hairier.

But...but...childish halflings make me smile :cry:

Comparing Ghostwise to Drow isn't really correct other than to point out that they are the "black sheep" of the family. They're definitely not hated or reviled as the Drow are, especially by their own kind.

Still, indeed. The child-like natures of many of these characters really needs to be toned down. What's meant to be a Halfling's carefree and whimsical nature has been turned into some slapstick comedy routine that doesn't get any funnier. I think it comes from a deep-seated desire to add the letter 'S' to the end of every word.

Halflings aren't a race of children.

If you dispute this fact, then that still doesn't account for why you think Children pluralise every word. What child does that? Not even the Teletubbies say things like "youses" instead of "you".

Garem Can some race expert throw a little light on this interesting little branch of the Halfling tree?

The general characteristics of the ghostwise halflings can be found in the Halflings section of Common Folk of Faerun in the Realmslore forum. Additional information about this particular race can be found in the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting and Races of Faerun.

djspectre They fought against the rest of the Hin clans to be free of them and then left for a deep and large forrest.

This bit of information is somewhat misleading, as the ghostwise halflings were actually exiled from the Lluirwood by the stronghearts and lightfoots.

djspectre If you want a good example of how to play a halfling, llets look at hobbits from Lord of the Rings.

In terms of literary references, Regis the halfling, a character central to many of the Drizzt Do’Urden novels, would be a better example of a halfling found in the Forgotten Realms.

Aekula But...but...childish halflings make me smile :cry:

And dying gnomes make me smile. Now I can still not just kill them all at will without repercussions, can I?

Rules.

So all along, what I thought were dirty rotten kids frolicking the streets of Sanctuary are actually Halflings! And all those times I tolerated having my bean bag punched by what I thought was an endearing, yet snotty kid? Oh the injustice!

Its been said before, but I have to say it again:

This thread rocks.

Down with child-halflings!

I'd buy you a beer if I could for this thread, NC!

Without attempting to refute what anyone else has stated perhaps I can offer an alternative reason as to why some people play halflings that act like children and that reason would be Krynn Kender; most notably Tasslehoff. However we're not playing in Krynn but that may not stop others from using that ilk of halflings as a model.

As everyone knows, the Kender are very inquisitive and (often enough) irritating-- traits exhibited by children more often than not.

I do agree with the posts made by djspectre and others and I also think there is a general consensus on what halflings should be like, BUT as has been stated in other threads, people are entitled to play their character as they want so long as it's not causing grief to everyone else on the server.

Is it?

Tasslehoff and kender, who are a major inspiration for 3rd edition halflings--do not "speakses likes thises!" or exhibit the intelligence and verbal pattern of 1) actual children or 2) incredibly moronic incarnations of what a total moron would think a child behaves like.

Tasslehoff, kender, and halflings are all curious, lucky, plucky, fearless and in many ways may appear child-like but they are still not incapable of forming basic words or properly using grammar.

I wasn't thinking about that part when I wrote the post. Point well taken.

Oroborous "speakses likes thises!"

Meesa so happies!

I agree that too many people on this server play them very child-like, but it does make sense in most cases. If you see someone as a child, you treat them like one. If you are treated like a child, you start to act like one. Rissi acts the way he does because he spent his entire life being talked down to becuase he wasn't raised amoungst other halfings. He does act childish, but theres a reason for it. As for others, it would be nice if they only did it if their character had a reason to do so.

Nero24200 I agree that too many people on this server play them very child-like, but it does make sense in most cases. If you see someone as a child, you treat them like one. If you are treated like a child, you start to act like one. Rissi acts the way he does because he spent his entire life being talked down to becuase he wasn't raised amoungst other halfings. He does act childish, but theres a reason for it. As for others, it would be nice if they only did it if their character had a reason to do so.

That's it, I'm making a dwarf that acts like a 10-year old.

Wasn't Frodo a halfling? I don't remember him being a cute wittle kid! :)

(But Pippin was just pimp)

I would urge anyone going to play a halfling to read up on them first, just to alleviate this issue that has been discussed. As Oro stated they as a generality are fairly fearless, but beyond that as a race and as a whole they are generally a very solidly good alligned race, along with the gnomes, the elves, and the dwarves. Moreso, the favored classes of the ghostwise are barbarian, and the stoutheart the fighter. These are not childish classes by any means, and the lighthearts have rogue due to their wandering and inquisitive natures.

As dieties tend to be the "embodyment" of the virtues/vices of a race, reading up on them as well can help discern the overall feel of how a race generally behaves.