Getting Skill Focus as a racial trait is actually weaker than getting a direct racial bonus to a skill, as you can no longer take Skill Focus later and stack the effects.
I'd rather get my +2, then spend a feat on Skill Focus to get a +6, for a total of +8 to my Stealth (or other skills). Combined with other feats and their small size, halflings are the stealthiest creatures in the game next to goblins.
They get +1 mod from Dex, +4 from being small, and a +2 racial bonus. Those lil' bastards get a whopping +7 bonus on Stealth checks above and beyond most other races.
Your builds take much of that away as anyone can take feats.
Halflings being weak is a bunch of internet hype and isn't as true as many say it is.
That being said, some of the playtest numbers could be adjusted a bit.
I give them the Underfoot feat, ignoring prerequisites. And... they're still unpopular amongst my players. Multiple kobolds have been party members, and yet not a single halfling. Oh well.
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Getting Skill Focus as a racial trait is actually weaker than getting a direct racial bonus to a skill, as you can no longer take Skill Focus later and stack the effects.
Your builds take much of that away as anyone can take feats.
Halflings being weak is a bunch of internet hype and isn't as true as many say it is.
How is it a bunch of "internet hype"? I think the culprit is having each skill bonus worth 2. It is kind of diminishing returns to have that worth 2 points when feats can be had for 2 points or 4 points as a human bonus feat.
The Stalker/Skill Focus Stealth/+2 Intelligence with +2 Dexterity is huge. It means somebody can get a class skill bonus, skill focus, small size, dexterity bonus and be something like 12+ stealth out the gate.
The above halfling is also faster, is the best climber in the game, will have bonuses to Perception and possibly Sense Motive.
I wasn't arguing against the pricing adjustments, just the notion that halflings are weaker than other core races--that's the hype I was referring to.
So many people seem to play other races to their strengths: elven wizards, half-orc fighters, and dwarf clerics to name a few, but then turn around and DON'T play halflings to their strengths: halfling rogues, halfling sorcerers, halfling bards. They then call them weak when it is truly unjustified.
Getting Skill Focus as a racial trait is actually weaker than getting a direct racial bonus to a skill, as you can no longer take Skill Focus later and stack the effects.
Your builds take much of that away as anyone can take feats.
Halflings being weak is a bunch of internet hype and isn't as true as many say it is.
How is it a bunch of "internet hype"? I think the culprit is having each skill bonus worth 2. It is kind of diminishing returns to have that worth 2 points when feats can be had for 2 points or 4 points as a human bonus feat.
The Stalker/Skill Focus Stealth/+2 Intelligence with +2 Dexterity is huge. It means somebody can get a class skill bonus, skill focus, small size, dexterity bonus and be something like 12+ stealth out the gate.
The above halfling is also faster, is the best climber in the game, will have bonuses to Perception and possibly Sense Motive.
I wasn't arguing against the pricing adjustments, just the notion that halflings are weaker than other core races--that's the hype I was referring to.
So many people seem to play other races to their strengths: elven wizards, half-orc fighters, and dwarf clerics to name a few, but then turn around and DON'T play halflings to their strengths: halfling rogues, halfling sorcerers, halfling bards. They then call them weak when it is truly unjustified.
Once our Halfling Knife Master gets the Agile Weapon enchant on both his daggers he will be full of win. He has been awesome both as our scout ahead character but also as the group Face/Information Gatherer. When played to their strengths Halflings rock in Pathfinder.
Getting Skill Focus as a racial trait is actually weaker than getting a direct racial bonus to a skill, as you can no longer take Skill Focus later and stack the effects.
I'd rather get my +2, then spend a feat on Skill Focus to get a +6, for a total of +8 to my Stealth (or other skills). Combined with other feats and their small size, halflings are the stealthiest creatures in the game next to goblins.
They get +1 mod from Dex, +4 from being small, and a +2 racial bonus. Those lil' bastards get a whopping +7 bonus on Stealth checks above and beyond most other races.
Your builds take much of that away as anyone can take feats.
Halflings being weak is a bunch of internet hype and isn't as true as many say it is.
That being said, some of the playtest numbers could be adjusted a bit.
I think part of the problem is that unlike a lot of the races nowadays, the Halfling is very much focused on a particular role. Strength penalty, bonuses to Charisma and Dex, Small size, bonuses on Acrobatics and Perception ... it all ends up making a very strong package for a rogue, but a lackluster package for anyone who doesn't want to specialize in being skillful or who wants to do damage to enemies without relying on precision-type damage or spellcasting.
If a halfling is a member of a class whose primary DPR is from a fixed source that isn't dependent on size (Smite Evil, Challenge, Sneak Attack, spellcasting, bombs, Bane) then they can be powerful contenders. Once you start focusing on weapon damage, things start to lag a little bit. Even when focusing on spellcasting, however, halflings don't get the perks that gnomes or elves get.
In my opinion, all the halfling needs is a good array of alternate trait s that allow it to perform better at the roles that it cannot perform well at right now (Warslinger is a great example, but I am also annoyed that no one else but halflings can ever be as good at using slings as them, which is another problem entirely).
Halfling Paladins. Make me roll a save, I dare you... =D
Not to mention that the bonuses from Smite far outweigh the cost of having to use small weapons. We had a halfling paladin in one game and she was consistently our MVP in combat.
This makes me want to reinstall Baldur's Gate II to have Mazzy Fentan back in the party. :)
The problem with halflings is
1) they are the best sneaky rogues in the game. Rogues are the worst class in the game.
-Stealth has problems under the current rules
-A race without darkvision has a lot of problems finding an opportunity to sneak attack when they can still stealth.
-A slow race has a hard time moving to flank.
2) Their stats make them good sorcerers.Gnomes have better stats, The human bonus spell known per level makes humans FAR better, and halfling sorcerer just isn't an iconic archtype.
Maybe because those classes don't seem to attract min-maxers/munchkins/power gamers, no offense intended.
Just because they are underestimated doesn't mean they aren't powerful classes that are extremely easy to power game -- bards especially.
The problem with halflings is
1) they are the best sneaky rogues in the game. Rogues are the worst class in the game.
-Stealth has problems under the current rules
-A race without darkvision has a lot of problems finding an opportunity to sneak attack when they can still stealth.
-A slow race has a hard time moving to flank.
2) Their stats make them good sorcerers.Gnomes have better stats, The human bonus spell known per level makes humans FAR better, and halfling sorcerer just isn't an iconic archtype.
Sounds like they make excellent Ninjas, though.
And I think the Monk still takes first place as the worst class, but that's just me quibbling. ^^
Bards are easier to power game? How so?
It's the additive properties of the straight modifiers that they offer. The more people in the power the more of a power multiplier bards are.
Consider level 13 (this is the level they really really shine) -- in one round they can pop out inspire courage, good hope, and haste -- all of which stack. Now for themselves this is a +6 to hit and +5 to damage as well as another attack, +3 to Ref saves, +2 to Will and Fort saves +3 movement, +1 to AC and initiative. By itself that's a great start... but then they give this to each of their allies as well.
If you don't maximize charisma and instead focus on say using a long spear the bard is likely to have +26/+26/+21 to hit and 1d8+30 damage a hit and that's just keeping it basic with arcane strike and power attack with a strength of 24 and a +3 weapon (which they could make with greater magic weapon so they are likely to always have at least a +3).
They also don't need to spread out their skill points as much either. A bard can easily simply rely on Perform(dance), (oratory), and (Comedy) to also have acrobatics, fly, sense motive, bluff, intimidate, and diplomacy all maxed out as well as making said checks into charisma based checks too (for sense motive, fly and acrobatics). That's 6 extra skills from 3 skills, and then they also have half their level in bonuses on knowledge checks (one of the most common check types in the game).
Also check out the spells that are 'language dependent' you'll find the bard getting a +4 against all of those (which covers a large swath of nasty enchantment spells).
All this is before we check out the archetypes, like archaeologist, arcane duelist, Dervish Dancer, or Sandman.
The bard isn't an in your face power house like the fighter is... but he isn't a weakling either, and when you add him to a party his power multiplies the other party member's abilities substantially.
Sounds like they make excellent Ninjas, though.
They're still slow. So unless they go barbarian ninja it will be hard to set up enough flanks.
Also the entire point of being a ninja is the invisibility, you don't need to be good at hiding.
And I think the Monk still takes first place as the worst class, but that's just me quibbling. ^^
Pre ultimate combat i would have agreed with you.
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@Ravingdork: You say rogue, sorcerer, and bard aren't optimal for a halfling's strengths, well, what is?
Personally, I think that the Small size, Dex bonus, and good saves mean the halfling is good for anyone that favors high defenses over weapon damage-- which means just about any primary spellcaster.