Races of Theril: The Halflings

Halflings

First born of the small folk, the plucky halflings thrived in the ample plains and grasslands of Theril, away from the strongholds of dwarves and elves. Blessed with good luck and ample skills they still thrive to this day.

Fortunate Creations

Created by Vilken the lady of luck, the halflings were given much smaller forms then the elves, dwarves and dragons in that came before standing about three feet tall. Even when they reach adulthood they retain a childlike figure and face, with males utterly unable to grow much facial hair at all. Halflings have a tendency towards dark eyes and hair, their facial features slight and somewhat angular. They’re skin tends to be shades of tan and olive, depending on their origins. Halflings who are touched by malignance have the colour leave their skin and hair, becoming grey skinned with hair of pure white.

A People of Families

More than any other bond in halfling society, it is the bond between kin that is the most powerful. Halfling family units are large, with what might be considered distant relatives by human standards all sharing the same household. As a result a halfling home is capable of holding an immense number of people, with 30-40 being a standard number. Often the entire family will work in a singular line of business, a family of dalefolk all would tend to the same land, a family of cityfolk all servicing the same guild or gang, a family of riverfolk all serving the same ship. As a result of this halfling townships tend to be filled with only a few, but substantial, buildings, and several smaller ones which operate as shops and other services which would be inconvenient to operate out of homes. For the nomadic plainsfolk, the family operates more or less as a single self contained tribe, though each family would interact regularly with their neighbours.

Masters of Plants and Beasts

The halfling people have been incredibly fortunate in the returns they reap from their labours. Unlike the stoic dwarves who subsided on what they could find in caves, or hunt beyond them, or the elves who lived in communion with the forests around them, the halflings the first to reap the blessings of Yonet. The quickly domesticated plant species, and developed the the techniques of agriculture, while others learnt how to command beasts and by chance bred them to serve their purposes. The other races of Theril who encountered the halflings would later learn these tricks and intern developed their own adaptations but it was the halflings who set it all in motion, and thanks to their good fortune still reap the most benefits from this lifestyle.  

Fickle to Fate

A halfling is never one to take the safe option. They are always compelled to take bigger risks when there is a chance of getting more back. Lovers of games of chance but also of high risk activities. Farmer’s will compulsively plant high risk crops that yield more food, Thieves will always choose the high stakes jobs, Traders take the faster but unsafe routes. This is perhaps why they get along so well with the Gnomes, which offer the chance of a substantial payout from their experiments, but also great risk of calamity if it were to fail. Usually fortune smiles on the halfling that takes risk, so this isn’t always a bad thing, but even to them fate can be fickle. Perhaps their apparent luckiness is biased though, after all when you always take the bigger risk, it’s less likely to find the halfling that lost.

Bored with Magic

In general magic offers the safer bet, You invest large amounts of time into it and receive proportional safe returns. To a halfling this is often just too dull an option to pursue. Halfling mages tend to be those who are underprepared and often don’t make it far as wizards, those that do tend to rise to great power quite quickly, as the haphazardly make developments in the arcane that would have taken a more studious magi substantially longer to comprehend. They have no particular bias against magic users though, regularly interacting with Gnome arcanists.

The Kin

Halflings tend to have only one type type of relationship, familial. Treating friends as siblings, and those that they respect as elders. This familial relationship can often be off putting to those unfamiliar with it. Halflings also tend to be quite friendly, bringing in strangers into their little communities freely and being generous whenever they can.

Growing Up Small

A halfling home is always filled with numerous children, all being looked out for by the elder’s of the house. A reaches full maturity around the age of 20, but unlike humans they mature at a steady rate.  Further their generally childish demeanor makes it quite difficult for even halflings to tell the age of a child and young adult halflings. Halflings don’t really give names at birth, and will generally be called by their parent’s name, father for males and mother for females until they acquire a name of their own. Name here more often than not being a nickname, or the name of some other member of the family, because they share common traits. Halflings tend to take a household name in addition to their name, this can be the literal name of the house or ship they take residence in, or the name of the community they live in. The oldest halflings in a family look after the youngest, who are often their great great great grandchildren, as halflings tend to live into their second century.

Thankful for Blessings

The halflings realise that they are blessed by their creator and Yonet, and hence will often offer prayer to them. That said they tend not to have organised religion, favouring more of a small shrine in each home to the deities they serve. River halflings tend to give prayer to Nalar the river god. Each house will offer prayers to any deity that the see the blessings of in their life, and halflings that leave their home tend to carry the worship of those gods with them.

Touched by Fate

Within the soul of each halfling is a blessing from Vilken. Fortune smiles on the kin almost always. This luck filles the halfling with a sense of boldness perhaps not befitting their stature.

Tongue of Slangs and Gibes

The halfling tongue is not entirely their own, being heavily influenced by the Gnomes with which they share it. The combined languages of halflings and gnomes is collectively known as Smallish. Their contributions tend to be much shorter than that of the gnomes, to the point that most words are abbreviations. When a halfling creates a new word it is often a pun or just down right insulting. This is often meant in good jest, and quickly the insulting nature fades away, especially as the word gets abbreviated.

The Folk

Halfings can generally be split up by where they live and the relationship that they have with the land. Halflings call name these differences by the terrain from which they hail. The main distinction is between those who found their ways on dry ground and those who made their way by boat. Of the land bound folk there are yet more distinctions, each associated with varying degrees of urbanisation.

The Dalefolk. Most common of the folk, dalefolk live of the land as farmers. Fertile farm land along the southern half of Theris is filed with the dalefolk. Where their lands come within the borders of human lands, they are more then happy to abide by their laws. Stout and ruddy of complexion, their skin tends to be of the more tan variety, though those living in the far north may be more pale.

The Plainsfolk. Nomads of the northern half of Theris where farming is less profitable. These halflings are masters of their beasts; domesticating a stunning variety of herd animals as well as mounts dependant on their locales. Perhaps most interesting of them are those halflings that make their homes about mountains, who have domesticated herds of goats and use vultures as mounts.

The Cityfolk. With the dominance of Humans in Theris, and their large cities, many halflings have given up rural life to take their chances in the cities. Applying their skills as beast tamers, food and drink prepares, and thieves to reap  the fortunes of the city. Though they don’t seem much different to their rural brethren, many find that the Cityfolk are a lot less quaint. The cities also seem to play host to the most Whisper halflings, where their natural talents for burglary are most useful.

The Riverfolk. The name is somewhat of a misnomer, as the riverfolk ships are not just bound to the rivers of Theris but are also sea worthy, though they tend not to travel into the open ocean. Riverfolk live out their whole life on their ships. Those who are born on land are considered incredibly unlucky, and those who cannot be buried at sea a similarly seen as cursed.

Halflings Traits

Ability Score Increase. Your Dexterity score increases by 2.

Age. Halflings reach maturity at the age of 20 and generally live to see half of their second century.

Alignment. Halflings form small tight knit communities, and though they tend to be opposed to order they are more or less neutral on the issue of individuality. Halflings tend to be opposed to destruction, but this is not uniform across their population.

Size. Standing between 3 and 4 feet tall and weigh 40 pounds on average. Your size is small.

Speed. Your base walking speed is 25 feet.

Lucky. When you roll a 1 on the d20 for an attack roll, ability check or saving throw, you can reroll the die and must use the new roll.

Brave. You have advantage on saving throws against being frightened.

Halfling Nimbleness. You can move through the square of any creature that is of a size larger than yours.

Speak with Small Beasts. Through sounds and gestures, you can communicate simple ideas with Small or smaller beasts.

Stout Resilience. You have advantage on saving throws against poison, and you have resistance against poison damage.

Tool Proficiencies. You gain proficiency with the artisan's tools of your choice: brewer's supplies, cartographer's tools, cook's utensils, or leatherworker's tools

Language. You can speak, read, and write Common and Smallfolk.

Dale Halflings

The most common of the halfling, renown for their love of good food and drink. Despite their life as herders and farmers, they are surprisingly adept at stealth, and are among the more charming of the kin.

Ability Score Increase. Your Charisma score increases by 1.

Naturally Stealthy. You can attempt to hide even when you are obscured only by a creature that is at least one size larger than you.

River Halflings

Found almost exclusively on their ships, these halflings are skilled sailors and shrewd merchants. These halflings tend to have a more olive complexion, and tend to be darker than their land bound kin, owing to their lives lead under the sun.

Ability Score Increase. Your Wisdom score increases by 1.

Waterborne. You are proficient with Vehicle(Water). You have advantage on Dexterity (Acrobatics) checks when on a ship.

Whisper Halflings

Those halfling who are corrupted by the malignance undergo only mild transformations, hair going pale white regardless of age, and skin turning a dull grey. Their childish nature is mostly preserved , though they tend towards malicious trickery.

Ability Score Increase. Your Intelligence score increases by 1.

Shadowy Hands. You know the Mage Hands cantrip. Charisma is your spell casting ability for it.

Fade. While standing in shadowy illumination you may use your bonus action to become invisible as per the spell. This effect ends if you take any action other than a move action, if you are no longer in shadowy illumination, or if 5 minutes have passed. After you use this ability, you can't use it again until you complete a short or long rest.

Malignant. When making  Charisma (Deception), Charisma (Persuasion) or Charisma (Performance) checks against creatures without this trait you do not add your proficiency bonus.