tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143435314932633148.post1772294625140646600..comments2024-03-29T03:53:01.413-07:00Comments on B/X BLACKRAZOR: How Bilbo Baggins Ruined EverythingJBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03263662621289630246noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143435314932633148.post-38188600858890972842009-08-11T10:42:31.476-07:002009-08-11T10:42:31.476-07:00I'm pretty sure that one is squarely R. A. Sal...I'm pretty sure that one is squarely R. A. Salvatore's fault. I don't remember any rules for that prior to Drizzt, and that jerk had so many imitators they almost had to make it easy to play him.Big McStrongmusclehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07067031012393190130noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143435314932633148.post-43162107806983075202009-08-10T15:18:13.869-07:002009-08-10T15:18:13.869-07:00@ Alexander...heh, I like it. But do they still en...@ Alexander...heh, I like it. But do they still end their careers at 8th level? Ha!<br /><br />Teaming your campaign with Blu's comment I say: why not make Halflings the Rangers of the B/C campaign world. Dwarves are warriors and miners, Elves are fighter/magic-users, and Halflings are Rangers.<br /><br />Who says Rangers HAVE to be human? Tolkien? No. AD&D? Well, I suppose, but AD&D also says halflings make the best thieves (which is pretty f'd in my opinion, in case you couldn't tell from the post above).<br /><br />Screw it. In MY B/X campaign, only one race gets to be "rangers"...and that's Halflings. And ALL Halflings are the equivalent of Rangers.<br /><br />(and being a Ranger does NOT mean you get to automatically dual wield two weapons...where the Hell did THAT idea come from anyway?!)JBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08532311924539491087noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143435314932633148.post-24048056462372036912009-08-10T10:47:49.885-07:002009-08-10T10:47:49.885-07:00In our B/X campaign, we removed Haflings entirely ...In our B/X campaign, we removed Haflings entirely because no one wanted to play them. To make up for the missing class, we replaced them with Rangers. <br /><br />Rangers are suspiciously identical to Halflings in all ways except they are humans. But now everyone loves them, because they get hiding, initiative bonuses, missile bonuses, etc. :)Restitutor Orbishttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05625086532637410710noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143435314932633148.post-7925735185607893772009-08-09T20:09:47.494-07:002009-08-09T20:09:47.494-07:00And there's something to be said for that, too...And there's something to be said for that, too. I've always thought it would be neat to blend the two - Let non-humans play character classes, but have them function differently, as though the two races had very different traditions for the same class. Dwarven fighters would work differently from human fighters, and elven MUs differently from human MUs. I never really followed through on it though, cuz of the sheer amounts of work involved, but its one of those things that might be cool to try someday.Big McStrongmusclehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07067031012393190130noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143435314932633148.post-82558356222464363422009-08-09T10:47:23.528-07:002009-08-09T10:47:23.528-07:00You know Rob, there's something to be said for...You know Rob, there's something to be said for a game like D20 that allows one to play ANY class-race combo, as long as you don't mind the game being an over-the-top, Final Fantasy kind o' thang. It can be fun and is probably the reason I continue to retain all my D20 hardcovers instead of selling 'em back.<br /><br />But "D&D"...well they don't exactly sing to me. And as purist fantasy gamism, dungeoneering...well, I guess THAT's where this post is coming from (and on the heels of last week's thief posts).I prefer my halflings as halflings; only humans should be thieves!JBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08532311924539491087noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143435314932633148.post-43381714140595907912009-08-09T00:41:46.803-07:002009-08-09T00:41:46.803-07:00I actually played one or two of those "weird&...I actually played one or two of those "weird" class/race combos in the AD&D days. I had a plate-mail clad elven fighter named Gensen under 1e (who, I still maintain, would totally have kicked Fzoul Chembryl's ass in that stupid Shadowdale module if he hadn't used Word of Recall to bugger out of the fight). No magic for me, thanks!<br /><br />I can't think of ever actually playing a halfling until the 3e days. At that point, I played two - one a fighter, the other a thief. One of my more oddball players played a split-class kender MU/Thief during my poorly-thought-out teenage games, though. Damn the rules! Full speed ahead!Big McStrongmusclehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07067031012393190130noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143435314932633148.post-73948352477608137142009-08-08T03:10:37.605-07:002009-08-08T03:10:37.605-07:00@ ZB: I played a swashbuckling dwarf fighter/rogue...@ ZB: I played a swashbuckling dwarf fighter/rogue/duelist in 3.5...YOU have nothing to apologize for!<br /><br />@ David: I've side-stepped the idea by deciding to ONLY play B/X.<br /><br />@ Blu: you are nuts but only in the best sense of the word. That sounds like the kind of thing I'D post somewhere. Made me smile.<br /><br />@ Myry: your post made me laugh louder than any of the others...thank you for sharing the travails (and strange appetites) of the shorties in YOUR game worlds.<br /><br />; )JBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08532311924539491087noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143435314932633148.post-65791588032241438402009-08-07T07:47:21.769-07:002009-08-07T07:47:21.769-07:00My favourite Halfling character was in AD&D Da...My favourite Halfling character was in AD&D Dark Sun, an illusionist/psionicist. Not for the power combo. For carving my enemies' thigh bones into flutes, and the discussion with the thri-kreen character as to who would get to eat what part of the human gladiator when the rations ran out.<br /><br />My Kender career was crippled (literally) by the critical hit tables in Combat & Tactics.<br /><br />The few Bilbo Baggins style Halflings/Halfling Thieves I tried to play were pre-emptively turned on and dispatched by the rest of the party (yet human thieves were tolerated fine).Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143435314932633148.post-5549945352421881902009-08-06T23:12:41.492-07:002009-08-06T23:12:41.492-07:00It almost seems that the halfling / hobits in OD&a...It almost seems that the halfling / hobits in OD&D, Basic, and Advance are three different species. In OD&D Halflings take after the shire hobits (which makes sense because they ARE hobits;) In Advanced halflings become something more akin to Gollum, sneaky mischievous, and untrustworthy, but in Basic i'd say the Halfling takes after Aragorn. Disappearing in the wilderness, keen eyes (Ranged bonus and initiative,) plus being as nimble and lucky as any fey blooded creature all scream Ranger to me. <br /><br />When introducing new players to BX / LL / BECMI, I usually describe Halflings as Rangers not Thieves.BlUsKrEEmhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05050270487818381832noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143435314932633148.post-39547075568643283612009-08-06T17:42:28.997-07:002009-08-06T17:42:28.997-07:00...just to add: a "yep" to all, to sheep......just to add: a "yep" to all, to sheepishly admit that i'm playing a dwarf thief in someone else's osric/ad&d campaign, and that my beagle rules.<br /><br />oh, and where i come from, halflings are the children of humans, and hobbits are something else entirely.ze bulettehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15603716850479808633noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143435314932633148.post-72188598122677678752009-08-06T15:32:32.958-07:002009-08-06T15:32:32.958-07:00I've never been comfortable with the halfling ...I've never been comfortable with the halfling thief. We all know where the inspiration for the halfling came from, but I guess some people got a bit foggy about the details. In my world the "hobbit" is as per the LBB <i>Men & Magic</i> - limited to fighting man only.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4143435314932633148.post-29211194712777416482009-08-06T12:36:03.865-07:002009-08-06T12:36:03.865-07:00As for SUPPLEMENTARY AMOUNTS OF WILD ASS remarks, ...As for SUPPLEMENTARY AMOUNTS OF WILD ASS remarks, let me just add that for the record, I consider Frodo & Co. to be the Normal Man equivalent of the halfling, i.e. level 1 halflings.<br /><br />Thanks.JBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08532311924539491087noreply@blogger.com