Halfling

Beyond the Ringing Mountains are jungles that flourish in rains that never reach the Tablelands or the Sea of Silt. There, life is abundant, the foliage thick and untamed. The undisputed rulers of these jungles are the halflings. They are small, quick, and agile creatures steeped in an ancient and rich culture that goes back far into Athas’ past. Although they are not common in the Tablelands, some halflings leave their homes in the forests to adventure under the dark sun. As carnivores, halflings prefer to eat flesh raw.

Personality: Halflings are culturally insular and can often have difficulty understanding others’ customs or points of view. An innate curiosity, however, helps some halflings overcome their xenophobia. Little concerned with material wealth, halflings are more concerned with how their actions will affect other halflings and the natural world around them.

Physical: Halflings are very short, standing no more than 3 1/2 feet in height. They are muscled and proportioned like humans, but they have the faces of wise and beautiful children. Halflings live to be as much as 120 years old but, once they reach adulthood, their features never succumb to their years, so it’s very difficult for an outsider to determine a given halfling’s age. A halfling weighs 50 to 60 pounds and is virtually always in peak physical condition.

Halflings dress in loincloths, sometimes with a shirt or vest, and paint their skins with bright reds and greens. Forest halflings rarely tend to their hair, and some let it grow to great lengths, though it can be unkempt.

Relations: Halflings’ culture dominates their relations with others. They relate very well to each other, since they all have the same cultural traits and are able to understand each other. Halflings of different tribes still share a tradition of song, art, and poetry, which serves as a basis of communication. Creatures that do not know these cultural expressions are often at a loss to understand the halfling’s expressions, analogies, and allusions to well-known halfling stories. Halflings can easily become frustrated with such “uncultured” creatures. They abhor slavery and most halflings will starve themselves rather than accept slavery.

Lands: Halflings villages are rare in the Tablelands. Most live in tribes or clans in the Forest Ridge. Many dwell in treetop villages. Non-halflings typically only see these villages from within a halfling cooking pot.

Language: Halflings rarely teach others their language, but some individuals of the Tablelands have learned the wild speech. Halflings found in the Tablelands may learn to speak common.

Halfling Society: Most halflings have a common outlook on life that results in considerable unity across tribal and regional ties. Rarely will one halfling draw the blood of another, even during extreme disagreements. Only renegade halflings do not share this racial unity, and are cast out of their tribes because of it. Halfling society is difficult for other races to understand, as concepts such as conquest and plundering have no place. The most important value in halfling society is the ability of the inner self as it harmonises with the environment and the rest of the halfling race. Halflings are extremely conscious of their environment. They are sickened by the ruined landscape of the Tyr region and desperately try to avoid having similar devastation occur to their homelands in the Forest Ridge. Most halflings believe that care must be taken to understand and respect nature and what it means to all life on Athas.

Halfling culture is expressed richly through art and song. Storytelling in which oral history is passed on to the next generation is an important part of each halfling community. Halflings rely on this shared culture to express abstract thoughts and complicated concepts. This causes frustration when dealing with non-halflings. Typically, halflings assume that whomever they are talking to has the same cultural background to draw upon and find it difficult to compensate for a listener who is not intimately familiar with the halfling history and “lacks culture”.

Halfling culture is fabulously diverse, but difficult for other races to comprehend. A complete history of their culture, if such a thing existed, would speak volume upon volume of complex social change, inspirational clerical leaders, and in-depth personal studies of the halfling and his duty to his jungle home. Conspicuous in their absence would be references to great wars of conquest or tremendous monetary wealth – the yardsticks by which other races measure cultural success. Halfling culture cares for the individual’s inward being, his identity, and spiritual unity with his race and environment. Their culture does not provide for more traditional values, and vices such as greed and avarice are particularly discouraged Oddly, the richness of the land may be disturbed and examined, even used for a halfling’s own gain. However, those riches belong to the land and, in the mind of the halfling, should never be moved away. For instance, nature intended a spring to bring water only to a certain area. To move the water through irrigation to some other area is not what nature had in mind. Similarly, an archaeological find in the jungle that yields a great pile of gold and metals is an event that shouldn’t be tampered with – the gold might be used to raise a spectacular series of clerical buildings on the spot, but it should not be carted off to some other location.

Role-playing Suggestions: You are comfortable when with your own kind. While not afraid to adventure among other races, you have a hard time adjusting to other points of view. You tend to be curious and, at times, utterly confused by the behaviour of others. To quell your own confusion, your curiosity demands you attempt to learn many of the customs of those you meet. While other races may think less of you because of your small size, you honestly see great bulk as a drawback and are prepared to respond to “short” comments with your views on the virtue of stealth, speed, etc.

You will never cross or lie to your own kind and will help other halflings in need, regardless of danger.

Halfling Racial Traits

–2 Strength, +4 Dexterity, +2 Wisdom, –2 Charisma: Halflings are nimble and strong-willed, but their small statures make them weaker than other races.
Small: Halflings are Small creatures and gain a +1 size bonus to their AC, a +1 size bonus on attack rolls, a –1 penalty on combat maneuver checks and to their Combat Maneuver Defense, and a +4 size bonus on Stealth checks.
Slow Speed: Halflings have a base speed of 20 feet.
Fearless: Halflings receive a +2 racial bonus on all saving throws against fear. This bonus stacks with the bonus granted by halfling luck.
Halfling Luck: Halflings receive a +1 racial bonus on all saving throws.
Keen Senses: Halflings receive a +2 racial bonus on Perception checks.
Stealthy: Halflings receive +2 racial bonus on all Stealth checks.
Sure-Footed: Halflings receive a +2 racial bonus on Acrobatics and Climb checks.
Reduced Water: Halflings require only 1/2 gallon of water per day when active.
Weapon Familiarity: Halflings are proficient with slings and treat any weapon with the word “halfling” in its name as a martial weapon.
Languages: Halflings begin play speaking Common and Halfling. Halflings with high Intelligence scores can choose from the following languages: Dwarven, Elven, and Gith.