So, in his characterisation of hobbits (them being his own invention...

So, in his characterisation of hobbits (them being his own invention, if derived in part from European "little people" folklore), Tolkien emphasises in both the "historical" material provided in LotR and in the actions of the four hobbits in The Company Of The Ring, a quality of "great-heartedness", of a sort of low-smouldering but unquenchable courage, separated from the "common hobbit-sense" they're also additionally famed for by only a very blurred line.

And isn't that charming as hell? That's really all I've got. I've just finished reading LotR for the first time since childhood, when it was obviously a bit dense and opaque to really sink in the way it should have. This was something that really tickled me in the right place, as I made my way through.

How have you characterised your halfling characters, Veeky Forums? Are you a fan of Tolkien in this regard? What do you like to do differently?

I want to fuck that hobbit.

>Tolkien invented fantasy meme

How do you get that from OPs post?

Hobbits are Tolkien's literary invention. That's fact. They draw, as I said in the OP, in part from European folklore concerning little folk, but I didn't claim anywhere at all that one dude from the 20th century invented a concept shared by a vast collection of different cultures across Europe. He was just influenced by that mythology when creating his own fictional mythology, and "Hobbits" are just that, his invention as an author. Other authors have their own literary inventions inspired by folklore concerning little people, and those inventions belong to them, just as Hobbits belong to Tolkien. Jeez, man.

id fug her to

Of all the half assed copies of Tolkien's interpretations that d&d chugged out, halflings are the ones that hurt me the most. Hobbits are fucking golden exactly the way they are. Halflings are all garbage.

Yeah, they're awesome. I'd really like to play a hobbit true to form in a game, but I have no idea what system handles that kind of character best (I've got another thread up to feel that out).

>I'd really like to play a hobbit true to form in a game
But Hobbits have no reason to adventure.
Are you playing a slice of life game?

Hobbits used to literally be a D&D race, they even have a hilarious backstory as to why they were added in despite Gary Gygax hating them.

If you aren't trolling and can't tell the difference between system and setting you're too ignorant to even greentext at.

D&D Halflings get bravery bonuses for precisely the reason in OPs post though. I think that 5e Halflings especially are quite close to Hobbits. Look at these race stats.

In terms of background, it says that they tend to live quiet, orderly, peaceful, unassuming and pastoral lives.

Well yeah, but d&d is popular.

She *is* rather adorable.

Well, the concession made here is that by sheer dint of being a PC, the character is person of exceptional nature. In this case I want to play one of those hobbits that's gotten the "itch", so to speak, or has been uprooted from his desired circumstances.

>But Hobbits have no reason to adventure.

No one has a reason to adventure.

>Hobbits have no reason to adventure
Yeah, no hobbit has ever adventured. Never could happen.

But its practically a racial trait that hobbits have a natural inclination not to adventure.
Its hard for me to reconcile this without imagining adventuring hobbits as absolute deviants

Not sure, but I never thought hobbits were that interesting. Imo LOTR (pretty much the only book they even appear in, that and The Hobbit obviously) wouldn't have been very different without them.

They really are rural humans. There are no detailed scenes happening in human farmsteads of Gondor or any other human faction, but if there were I'm pretty sure they would be very similar to Shire scenes.

Breefolks are degenerates urbanites, so they don't count.

They are.
By hobbit standards.
Doesn't mean they don't exist.

>its a "hobbits are stealthy and thievery" episode

>straight hair
>both head and feet
...someone needs to reread The Hobbit.
>"...like the hair on their heads, which was curly."

Not just rural humans.
BRITISH rural humans.
The Shire is basically Midsomer without the murders and sexual deviancy.

If they were French rural humans things would be different.

Hobbits tend to be.

Are hobbits opposed to adventure in itself, or are they just too ignorant/insecure of the world beyond their locality? I mean, hobbits are mediocre at pretty much everything, and surely they'd know that. They don't have the boastful overconfidence of the dwarves, who have much more going on for themselves.

They don't know shit about what's going on in the world at large.

Didn't they need a hobbit in the book because they are supernaturally easy to overlook?
Or was it because they are supernaturally good at finding secret doors?

No, it was because Gandalf said so.

I guess they can walk in silence more easily, being lighter than humans and dwarves, but I don't see what else they'd have.

They just needed a burglar.
Imagine that, you're an upper class respectable hobbit (I mean, Biblo did have a gardener and some very expensive silverware and he was not described to have a real job) enjoying a pipe in the sun in front of your well maintained country house and then some bearded foreign hobo comes along and says "yo come with me, we need a thief and you people are good at stealing shit".
No wonder he got mad as hell.

I never got this hobits got big ass feet you would think tracking them would be easy

>stout halflings
hey thats cool
im currently rolling a strongheart halfling archivist
stout halfling definitely sounds better and im glad they ported them to 5e
in my setting we've been transported to ravenloft where halflings are just empty headed farmers who practically sold themselves into slavery for protection against all the crazy shit in the area
as a strongheart halfling im very proud and hard headed, but in this setting i seem even more so, this combined with my characters 18 int makes him stand out against the rest of the halflings in the setting
i use it to my advantage by pretending to be a dumb sycophant but am secretly plotting to destroy the dwarven mafia

It took me forever to realize that Tolkien was essentially saying that salt of the earth Brits are a bunch of pot smoking puss is who need to depend on others to keep them from being absolutely slaughtered.

They're country Brits; they doing give a single fuck about any affairs that have nothing to do with thier little villages.

>how have you characterized your halflings.
They are the best at farming, primarily because anything they grow is already providing more nutrients/cals than they necessarily need, so they are able to survive bad winters, stockpile, and sell off surplus. They're well to do folk but a lot of the finer things come from other cultures and it is a dangerous world for a little person to go and venture out in.

They hold other species up on a pedestal, expecting them to be a representation of the entire race; or if they're clearly not then they hold a very personal grudge. Which can be a good thing sometimes, but generally leads to a skewed viewpoint.

They don't appreciate people bringing trouble into their towns, and they're obliged to give hospitality in exchange for protection. Shire Reeves and watchmen do most of the work keeping people safe and they don't like it when someone hires on a tallfolk with a sword or club as protection---reeks of intimidation tactics.

If they're brave it is because they know the comfort and good life they fight for. Even a destitute halfling doesn't go hungry in his community. They tend to live within the borders of other kingdoms as their own semi-independent nation state; mostly welcomed due to their agricultural prowess and low necessary resource consumption.

They, as a rule, hate the city. It smells like piss and shit, there are cats and dogs running around untamed, everything is loud, everyone is pompous, and it doesn't feel at all like a safe family place.

They're pretty much hobbits, with any adventuring type being seen as a deranged sort who is "figuring things out" until they eventually come back home with a chest of treasure and build something new for the community. They aren't thieves by nature and if anything, they're more like country lawyers. You'd find more Atticus Finch and Tom Sawyer in their lot than a Bree who throws knives.

They also don't get gnomes. Gnomes wear hats and have weird powers.

Halflings in my setting are basically the custodians of culture and civilization. When all the other races are out warring and changing the flow of history, they stay at home and eventually teach humans how to read and write when thier kingdoms get blown up. Their deviants (ie Bagging style halflings) are placed into what amounts to The Mafia; they place hits on adventurers Ho are fucking with farm life, restock dungeons and rescuing remains for people that are thier made men (who, in turn, take care of shit to make sure Halfling villages don't get affected by adventures), and run illegal trade routes for the explicit purpose of keeping those pesky wars from breaking out by making sure there's an even amount of crazy shit in everyone's hands so no one has an upper hand. Since only about 5% of halflings are Bagging-like, no one but halflings are aware that the Mafia is Halfling run; and they won't tell, because, frankly, it's none of anyone else's business and is a rude thing to discuss with visitors.

They get wrapped up in small stuff essentially. They don't know or care about anything aside from their own little towns and shit, which they see as simultaneously hyper important (as in, their own social standing and social awareness is super important to higher class hobbits like those in Hobbiton) and fucking completely menial (this is really prevalent with "country" hobbits, like the Tooks and Brandybucks, who see it as like a silly thing city hobbits do). To both, the pinnacle of existence is basically working hard enough to justify kickin it, smoking, drinking, and eating all the time.

Tl,dr: hobbits only care about hobbit shit usually.

Wait.

Hobbit society is all about being the eudaimonic philosophical hedonist?

Sign me the fuck up.

Basically.
A DM I know got into some real magical realm shit by implying that Halfling towns basically turn into a sea of erotica moaning and grinding at the end of every festival they have, because that's the socially accepted time to get pregnant, as no one can spread gossip of who's poking who when someone's suddenly having elevenses for 2.

SO wait they bothered to shot-composite the dwarves for that outtake?

From what I've heard, the actors were so reluctant to produce outtakes due to being disgruntled with the film that they spent most of any downtime that could be recorded flipping the bird or otherwise misbehaving in ways that (they thought) wouldn't be used. Some still were.

They are super padded like an elephants foot, people say an African elephant can walk through a forest without breaking a twig