Halfling Ability Bonuses & Favored Class: Change!


Races & Classes


Halflings... the Strength/ Dexterity trade off is pretty much a given. The question is their other ability modifier - currently Intelligence +2.

I think it should be Wisdom +1 or +2, and their favored class should be Druid instead.

Let's start by looking at the description of the race:

"...it’s their spirit and sense of community that sets them apart. Half lings care a great deal about their families and other close relations, making them great friends as well as bitter enemies to those who have wronged them. While some halflings prefer to settle in one location, usually with others of their kind and extended families, others feel a greater sense of wanderlust and move from place to place as their moods and the situations dictate. Halflings have a relatively optimistic outlook, being able to find the bright side of nearly any situation. This, combined with their uncanny luck, makes them relatively fearless, willing to risk their lives for the chance of adventure."

That gives us traits of:

* Spirit
* Determination
* Mentally resilient, including strong optimism and ability to work through fear
* Able to get along in small groups for long periods of time without exploiting each other, or wander and size up/ adapt to new situations quickly.

None of this is about intelligence. All of this fits extremely well into the Wisdom category.

Now, let's look at the game design side, because that piece of the puzzle also fits. Races with arcane casters as favored class already exist. Elves as Wizards, Gnomes as Sorcerers (good choice, that!). One more is just clutter.

Races with divine caster as a favored class include Dwarves and Half-Orcs, both as clerics. Notice which class is missing here.

Druids. Halflings fit Druids exceptionally well, as a pastoral race known as excellent farmers et. al. who work with the land rather than forcing it. The wanderers can also fit, for they'll need adaptability to the terrain and there is a need for wandering caretakers of nature. Add the fact that this race should have a wisdom ability bonus, the fact that druids remain an unfilled slot in racial terms, and the fact that Dex bonuses are quite valuable to a druid due to armor restrictions, and the choice seems very obvious.

I'm inclined to make the Wisdom bonus just +1, because Halflings have a LOT of other positive abilities, from attack bonuses to save and stealth bonuses (also a big plus for a Druid). So my suggestions is:

+2 Dexterity, +1 Wisdom, –2 Strength: Halflings are nimble and mentally resilient, but their small stature makes them weaker than other races.

Favored Class: The favored class of halflings is rogue or druid. This choice must be made at 1st level and cannot be changed.


They will keep the +2/+2/-2 stuff. So make it WIS +2.
But I don't know if this would fit better than INT +2.
But you are right, Wizards for halflings is ridiculous.

But instead of Druid they should be RANGERS!

Dark Archive

I agree the +2 Int doesnt make sense, but I almost think that +2 Cha would make more sense than the Wis. I could also see Bard as their other favored class.


Wizard is a bit strange, but since my next favorite ability for Rogues after Dex is Int, I love +2 INT.

Halfling Rogues, not only are we quick, we're smarter than you too.


katman wrote:
While some halflings prefer to settle in one location, usually with others of their kind and extended families, others feel a greater sense of wanderlust and move from place to place as their moods and the situations dictate.

This is why I think it should be rogue/monk :)

Dark Archive

If they're all about a sense of community, and a +2 Wisdom fits better than a +2 Intelligence, then a Favored Class of Cleric/Priest seems to work pretty well, thematically.

I don't care for Favored Classes in any event, but IMO, *nobody* should have Favored Class Wizard. They are supposed to be special.


anything but INTELLIGENCE and favored class wizard! wtf wizard? just because they get a bonus to Intel? I just cant get behind that (plus having to near identical dex races happens to be annoying

I say a bonus to CHARISMA, its still good for the rogues (bluffing, UMD, gather information, feinting in combat etc) it also makes more sense (the little guys having Big personalities is cool)

If was going to give Intel to one other race it would be GNOME, oh my god! they got a bonus to Intelligence in 2ND ED, why skimp now! (favored class bard and sorcerer? bard and Wizard makes more sense)


SneaksyDragon wrote:


If was going to give Intel to one other race it would be GNOME, oh my god! they got a bonus to Intelligence in 2ND ED, why skimp now! (favored
class bard and sorcerer? bard and Wizard makes more sense)

Sorcerer for gnomes makes sense in Pathfinder because of the Golarion background (as opposed to a totally neutral fantasy rulebook): gnomes have connections to the 1st world and the Fey, therefore sorcery makes more sense than "academic" wizardry. They favor both classes with spontaneous casting of arcane magic (Bard is also pertinent for their obsessive inquiring skill-focused natures, and also for backward compatibility, I guess). That furthers my idea that favored classes can be OK, but that they have to be tweaked to your campaign setting if you want them to make sense.


Andreas Skye wrote:
Bard is also pertinent for their obsessive inquiring skill-focused natures, and also for backward compatibility, I guess

Illusionist would be best for backward-compatibility for gnomes, but now I'm showing my age...


DEX/CHA and Rogue/Bard would be fine, and it would fit the Non spellcaster/spellcaster favored class idea as well.


I still don't get why all races should be built on the same template of "+2/+2/-2".
Anyway they cannot be balanced. As a matter of fact, maybe they shouldn't be balanced.
Are all races equal ? No.
So why bother trying to find a justification for another bonus that doesn't sound right ?
-2 Strength & +2 Dexterity seem perfect.

As for the favored classes, well...
They are a vestige of the past, like the old level limitations.
Get rid of them.
We don't play roleplaying games to play stereotypes. We play unique characters.
A race's devotion to classes depends on its environment, whether natural, cultural or historical.
Why giving a favored class to a race, when it can change radically from a region to another ?


I think they should get the Wis bonus, but as for the other favored class... maybe druid, or monk. I still think Half-Orcs should get Druid rather than Cleric.


I've been thinking of halflings as druidical ever since (the original) Unearthed Arcana, so I like that idea.

---

For gnomes, I'd tend to make their favored classes bard and wizard. Bard matches 3.5 and fits the Pathfinder-described traits of the gnomes that dwell with the fey . . .

"Those that dwell with fey are often the opposite, their lives full of frivolous endeavors, making them seem odd and fickle to outside observers. Even these gnomes take to one passion or another, usually music, song, or poetry."

. . . while wizard subsumes the illusionist of 3.0 and earlier gnomes, and matches the Pathfinder-described traits of the gnomes that dwell with other races:

"[G]nomes that dwell alongside other races often take to one craft or profession with obsessive zeal, using that passion to root them in their surroundings. Many view such gnomes as eccentric, as their passions tend toward invention, alchemy, or other technical pursuits."


Set: I agree that no race should have favored class: wizard. Being a race known for being fighters or barbarians or clerics even makes sense, but I think of wizardry as that form or power that only resides in hidden arcane colleges and such. Tolkein is still the only reason that the fantasy genre elves all have "arcane" magic as opposed to "nature"/fey/druidic magic, which most myths and folklore more usually supports...when there is a difference between types of magic.

GnomeNinja: I would agree here that I would much rather see the half-orcs as the druid race as opposed to the gnomes.

Even though the gnomes in PFRPG are more the woodland fey sort rather than the tinkering sort, I still think they should be bard/wizard, rather than bard/sorcerer. (I know the fey bloodline is probably there just for them, but they are almost always portrayed as small intelligent problem-solving creatures.)I would also like to mention/admit that I am and always will be racist against gnomes. I've just never found a reason why of all the fantasy races in Western culture that the gnome somehow got into the mix. They seem to exist for the just those players that can't decide between playing an elf or dwarf.(They bother me even more than having to find places in a campaign world for half-orcs and monks. These three things always seem to end up a pain in the butt while coming up with a unique campaign environment.)

And since we're actually talking about halflings, I think their magic class should be bard. Bard goes well naturally with rogue and charisma is just as important as int to making a rogue useful to its adventuring group so I'm for that change also. Besides, I also like the idea that they are small, but magnanimous- little but make a big impact on their world with their disproportionately large personalities and ambitions.


James Griffin 877 wrote:
And since we're actually talking about halflings, I think their magic class should be bard. Bard goes well naturally with rogue and charisma is just as important as int to making a rogue useful to its adventuring group so I'm for that change also. Besides, I also like the idea that they are small, but magnanimous- little but make a big impact on their world with their disproportionately large personalities and ambitions.

Word! Bard could then be removed from gnomes (where it never belonged, IMO), freeing up their other choice to be...? That's where I'm out of ideas.


Kirth Gersen wrote:
Andreas Skye wrote:
Bard is also pertinent for their obsessive inquiring skill-focused natures, and also for backward compatibility, I guess
Illusionist would be best for backward-compatibility for gnomes, but now I'm showing my age...

I was thinking 3.5 compatibility... I had my run of 1s ed Illusionist-Thieves!

You can do that with a sorcerer which takes Illusion spells (and the 0 level repertoire is aided by gnomes´ natural abilities). Sorcerer makes sense in the Golarion setting, more than anything else.

I would like to say that not all classes should have a favored spellcasting class... unless the setting warrants it, dwarves and orcs don't sound too pious, nor halflings too wizardly... It's background-less game balancing (and I hate that when it has no reason). What about rogue and barbarian for half-orc (for urban thugh halforcs)? Dwarves should have Fighter and Expert (NPC class, but it reflects average fantasy and Golarion dwarf activity). Halflings... not sure, perhaps rogue and fighter or bard and rogue. I don't know if Golarion halflings would be pastoral enough to warrant a druid class.

Dark Archive

The problem I have with Favored Class is twofold.

One, it rewards a player for choosing the class that is already ideally suited for his racial choice. It's like roleplaying kryptonite.

Two, there are many conflicting ideas as to what classes best suit the many different 'visions' of the races.

*I* see Elves as being paramount Bards, Druids, Rangers and Sorcerers. Innately magical, artistic, trained in weapons even if they aren't going into a martial class, and associated with nature. *Nothing* about the academic wizard with his books and academies and research laboratories says 'elf' to me. If I had to pick just one Favored Class for elves, I'd pick Bard. But that's just *my* vision of elves, as innately magical, feytouched, artistic, graceful and somewhat skilled with blades and armor.

But even in that case, I wouldn't want to have an elf who followed the 'easy path' of a Favored Class to be in any other way rewarded for that choice compared to an elf who decided to be a Cleric or Fighter or Wizard or Rogue or Barbarian or Monk. In some cases, choosing a class that goes against these sorts of stereotypes is already an uphill slog, and the player shouldn't feel that he/she is being punished for not toeing the party line.


Kirth Gersen wrote:
[Illusionist would be best for backward-compatibility for gnomes, but now I'm showing my age...

I was thinking that the gnome should have wizard as a favored class because i too remember the days when the only specialist wizards were illusionists and the gnome where either illusionists or multiclass variants of the illusionist.

The only halfling arcanist i can picture in my mind is Willow and he definetely isn't exactly the studied for years in dusty tomes type.

IMHO, 3.0 messed up in making the bard the favored class of the gnome. Too late now but i really do see bard as a more viable choice for hafling. In my mind eye, most halflings are homebodies with the rare roguish adventurer and the bard is the most roguish of the spellcasters.

Also... orcs really aren't the respect nature kinda guys so i don't think druid is a good choice for half-orc favored class.


Praetor Gradivus wrote:


IMHO, 3.0 messed up in making the bard the favored class of the gnome. Too late now but i really do see bard as a more viable choice for hafling. In my mind eye, most halflings are homebodies with the rare roguish adventurer and the bard is the most roguish of the spellcasters.

Also... orcs really aren't the respect nature kinda guys so i don't think druid is a good choice for half-orc favored class.

Actually, the favored class for gnomes in 3.0 was illusionist. It was 3.5 that screwed up on the gnomes.

I can see sorcerer for gnomes based on the PF setting, though. No real complaints there.

But I will agree that the halfling flavor isn't quite right. Then again, I'm a bit of a Hobbitist. I prefer fuzzy-footed hobbits to the kender-lite halflings have become.
I wouldn't mind seeing a wisdom bonus and druid favored class. It fits better than wizard by a long stretch. They'd just be a bit more pastoral than truly wild.

I most certainly wouldn't make half-orcs more druid than cleric. That rubs me the wrong way, flavor-wise as well.


Bill Dunn wrote:


Actually, the favored class for gnomes in 3.0 was illusionist. It was 3.5 that screwed up on the gnomes.

I no longer have the 3.0 books so forgot that the changed occured in 3.5

But still, a change the gnome did not need... in my opinion of course.


Gnomes...

Praetor Gradivus wrote:
I was thinking that the gnome should have wizard as a favored class because i too remember the days when the only specialist wizards were illusionists and the gnome where either illusionists or multiclass variants of the illusionist.

Me too. But the game moved on, and given gnomes' description (fey) and bonuses (charisma), sorcerer strikes me as exactly the right choice. And if you want an illusionist, gnomes still get the plusses re: illusion spells, and a sorcerer who selects those spells can cast lots of them. So you can definitely still play a gnome illusionist.

That decision, to me, was one Paizo really got right because it gives gnomes a solid niche they've been lacking since the illusionist's demise. Giving them "Wizard" would not have done that (elves have it too, after all). The sorcerer is a very popular class that needed someone. And the gnome race really can't afford to remain without a unique niche much longer, or it's "I'm a monster. Raaar!" time.

I think they done good here.

Elves...

If half-elves and humans can declare Wizard as their favored class to make multi-classing easier later on (and they can), elves should too.

Solution: you could always house-rule that Gray Elves had Wizard or Cleric as their favored class options, High Elves had Bard or Wizard as their options, and Wood Elves had Ranger or Druid, and close that circle with the whole range suggested for elves. 4E actually did well with the Elf/Eladrin split; but it sounds like Paizo is doing away with the elf sub-races altogether, so I don't expect to see that kind of option set in Pathfinder's core.

Halflings...

The halflings' description does not imply a higher charisma; indeed, they sound like they're either kind of insular, or wanderers on the fringe. Add to this the fact that you don't want to make "Halfling thief" an utter no-brainer - all the folks drooling over the idea of Halfling rogues with +2 charisma illustrate the reason why it probably is not a good idea.

But strong Wisdom IS very strongly implied in their description and mechanics. Given that, you're looking at divine caster favored classes, or a monk class which could be very interesting and amusing thematically.

If Cleric is taken by other races, and Druid fits better anyway but is not taken... good design, to me, says "fill the empty slot that fits." To me, that says "Druid" - or possibly "Monk."

I like "Druid", it needs a race to associate with it, and I think Halflings would work very well. You could do a lot with it in a campaign, and the existing illustration for a druid already looks rather halfling like. Ride that Cloud Leopard, baby, and bring the pain. Nothing like an animal companion who also thinks "run, run, my pretty little bundles of XP!"

But now that people bring up the concept, the "Hairy Feet of Fury" mental concept of the lone halfling who utterly wipes the floor with 4 big, burly human toughs after they confront him on the road... that's pretty damned amusing, and you could do a lot with it, too. The pastoral society, integrated with others, who developed combat with their bodies and simple farm implements to appear less threatening while still protecting themselves. Especially if/when human become repressive and wish to limit any armaments beyond the nobility (that's what happened in Okinawa here). I see that working extremely well, actually, especially in Golarion.

Question is whether the -2 strength is too much of a handicap, or whether their stealth and other bonuses just make them a different build of monk.

Wizard? Meh, no flavor there at all.

Wis +1 (+2 if you must, but no reason to), Rogue favored class, plus Druid or Monk. I'd be good either way.


Another vote for halflings with +2 Wis instead of Int and Druid as a favored class instead of wizard...

By the way, racial ability bonuses of +1 are a bad idea, it must remain a +2

Grand Lodge

Pathfinder PF Special Edition, Starfinder Roleplaying Game Subscriber

The Halfling's other bonuses don't justify giving them a short shrift (mind the pun :) on stats compared to the other races. Given that argument, you should be taking more off elves! They get free martial weapon proficiencies, skill bonuses, and auto searches.

I also have no problem with the mods towards Half-orcs, it goes well towards actually thinking of them as player character types as opposed to monsters that happen to be a player choice. In Eberron as I recall, orcs are actually the most druidical of the races, another reason I like the setting so much. It broke the orc as thug trope.

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