Halfling (Dungeons & Dragons)

Halfling
Characteristics
Alignment Any
Type Humanoid
Image Wizards.com image
Stats Open Game License stats
Publication history
Based on Hobbit

The halfling is a fictional race found in the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game. Halflings are similar to humans except about half the size. The original Dungeons & Dragons included hobbits,[1] but later the game began using the name halfling as an alternative to hobbit for legal reasons.

Contents

Publication history

Dungeons & Dragons (1974-1976)

The hobbit first appeared as a player character class in the original 1974 edition of Dungeons & Dragons.[2]

Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 1st edition (1977-1988)

The halfling appeared as a player character race in the original Player's Handbook (1978).[3][4] The halfling also appeared in the original Monster Manual (1977), which described the halfling subraces of hairfoot, stout, and tallfellow.[5] A number of halfling subraces were presented as character races in the original Unearthed Arcana (1985).[6]

Dungeons & Dragons (1977-1999)

The halfling appeared as a character class in the Dungeons & Dragons Basic Set (1977, 1981, 1983), Companion Rules (1984), and Master Rules (1985).

Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd edition (1989-1999)

The halfling appeared as a character race in the second edition Player's Handbook (1989).[7] The hairfoot halfling, the stout halfling, and the tallfellow halfling also appeared in the Monstrous Compendium Volume One (1989),[8] and Monstrous Manual (1993). The Athasian halfling for the Dark Sun setting first appeared in Dragon #173 (September 1991), and later appeared in the Dark Sun Monstrous Compendium Appendix II: Terrors Beyond Tyr (1995) and Dark Sun Campaign Setting, Expanded and Revised (1995). Several halfling sub-races were detailed as player character races in The Complete Book of Gnomes and Halflings (1993), including the Athasian halfling, the furchin (polar halfling).[9]

Dungeons & Dragons 3rd edition (2000-2007)

The halfling appeared as a character race in the third edition Player's Handbook (2000),[10] and in the 3.5 revised Player's Handbook[11] The lightfoot halfling, the deep halfling, and the tallfellow halfling appeared in the third edition Monster Manual (2000), and the 3.5 revised Monster Manual (2003). The jerren, a race related to halflings, appeared in the Book of Vile Darkness (2002). The lightfoot halfling, ghostwise halfling, the and the strongheart halfling for the Forgotten Realms setting were detailed in the Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting (2001), and in Races of Faerûn (2003).[12] The aquatic halfling, the arctic halfling, the desert halfling, the jungle halfling, the halfling paragon, and the water halfling were detailed in Unearthed Arcana (2004).

Dungeons & Dragons 4th edition (2008-)

The halfling appeared as a character race in the fourth edition Player's Handbook (2008). The halfling appears in the fourth edition Monster Manual (2008).[13]

Description

In the original 1974 edition of Dungeons & Dragons, there was a race of demi-humans known as hobbits that were very much like those found in The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. The Tolkien estate did not appreciate the resemblance and threatened legal action against TSR, the makers of Dungeons & Dragons. TSR renamed the folk halflings, another word used by Tolkien for the race, but used much less often in the books.

Early Dungeons & Dragons halflings also seemed nearly identical to Tolkien's hobbits: They lived quiet lives in their homes away from adventure and, despite being well suited for the task of thievery, they seemingly would not accept a life of larceny. A very similar race, kender, appeared in the Dragonlance campaign that had a lifestyle much more suited to the thieves that most halfling player characters became. The game's Third Edition altered the halfling lifestyle to become more in line with how some players played the race: They became troublesome opportunists, nomadic wanderers, and seekers of wealth. In short, they became more like the slender, childlike kender rather than the pudgy, homebody halflings they once were.

Subraces

Halflings in Dungeons & Dragons have been further divided into various subraces:

Campaign settings

References

  1. ^ Gygax, Gary. "Gary Gygax (Interview)". TheOneRing.net. http://archives.theonering.net/features/interviews/gary_gygax.html#maincontent. Retrieved 2008-10-07. 
  2. ^ Gygax, Gary, and Dave Arneson. Dungeons & Dragons (3-Volume Set) (TSR, 1974)
  3. ^ Schick, Lawrence (1991). Heroic Worlds: A History and Guide to Role-Playing Games. Prometheus Books. pp. 84–85. ISBN 0-87975-653-5. 
  4. ^ Gygax, Gary (1978). Players Handbook. TSR. ISBN 0-935696-01-6. 
  5. ^ Gygax, Gary. Monster Manual (TSR, 1977)
  6. ^ Unearthed Arcana, by Gary Gygax, published 1985, ISBN 978-0880380843
  7. ^ Cook, David (1989). Player's Handbook. TSR. ISBN 0-88038-716-5. 
  8. ^ Cook, David, et al. Monstrous Compendium Volume One (TSR, 1989)
  9. ^ Niles, Douglas. The Complete Book of Gnomes & Halflings (TSR, 1993)
  10. ^ Tweet, Jonathan; Monte Cook, Skip Williams (2000). Player's Handbook. Wizards of the Coast. ISBN 0-7869-1550-1. 
  11. ^ Tweet, Jonathan; Monte Cook, Skip Williams (2003) [2000]. Player's Handbook v.3.5. revised by Andy Collins. Wizards of the Coast. ISBN 0-7869-2886-7. 
  12. ^ Boyd, Eric L.; Matt Forbeck; and James Jacobs. Races of Faerûn. Wizards of the Coast, 2003
  13. ^ Mearls, Mike, Stephen Schubert, and James Wyatt. Monster Manual (Wizards of the Coast, 2008)
  14. ^ Cook, Monte (October 2002). "1" (Print (Hardback)). Book of Vile Darkness. Wizards of the Coast, Inc.. pp. 192. ISBN 0-7869-2650-3.