This week we continue our exploration of ancestry with the Halfling, and its art by Nikki Smith-Cielo. As a basic ancestry, Halflings can be played separately or freely combined with one of the available hybrid ancestries. Of all the typical fantasy species, Halflings have the easiest path with which to trace their inspiration in literature. As such, a great deal of assumptions are involved when visualizing Halflings, so Realm of Runes seeks to meet those expectations while also using the modular nature of ancestry to provide some variation for those that want it.
From the rulebook: "Short, quiet and bearing a confusing resemblance to human children, halflings typically value comfort and company very highly. The typical halfling lives to around one hundred-fifty years old, and will happily spend the majority of that time in close proximity to home and family. Unfortunately, their small size and calm dispositions have made them a frequent target for domestic slavery among more ruthless societies.
Most halflings, even when allowed to develop freely outside of slavery, develop a talent for cooking and artistry. Halfling enclaves in settlements can often be identified by the smell of food and sound of song as much as by the size of the buildings. In both free and enslaved societies, it is not a surprise to find that the most popular bars and restaurants are staffed with a large proportion of halflings.
Halflings have a reputation for being docile and simple. While this is largely true, it merely describes the surface level of a typical halfling. Individuals will often have a deep well of inner strength and a spirit that is difficult to break, even when things become bleak enough for others to lose heart. Combined with the supernatural fortune that seems to follow them around, halflings will continually surprise and impress those who take the time to get to know them."
As a basic ancestry, Halflings have a full suite of ten ancestry feats with which they can diversify themselves. Like next week's Humans, however, Halflings don't have many unique abilities that are separate from their feat choices. Not quite as frail as Elves, but also not as quick as Goblins, Halflings generally have to rely on their wits and good luck to get them through tough scrapes.
Halfling ancestry feats tend to focus on exploring their general good fortune and communal natures. With their innately boosted Agility and Wisdom, they tend to have excellent synergy with class options that rely on finesse and ranged attacks or casting classes like Clerics and Druids that use Wisdom as the key ability for spells. Let's take a look at each of the Halfling's ancestry feats. Those with the Biology trait are exclusive to Halflings, while those without are available to those of other ancestries that have been adopted by Halflings using the Adopted Ancestry universal feat.
ATTENTIVE ANCESTRY FEAT
[Ancestry, Halfling]
You have a +1 un-typed bonus to Perception. This bonus is 1 higher to notice if a creature is under an emotion, mental or possession effect.
Perception in Realm of Runes is almost like a fourth saving throw, but boosts to it are fairly rare. Being more able to spot traps, hazards and other dangers before the other traditional saving throws are even required can save a lot of party resources. Noticing when those around you are acting out of character can also save a lot of lives.
DISTRACTING SHADOWS ANCESTRY FEAT
[Ancestry, Halfling]
Larger folk always seem to be conveniently in the way. You treat creatures bigger than you as cover instead of screening, and treat the Perception DC of creatures as reduced by an amount equal to the number of size categories bigger than you they are.
Cover not only provides a larger boost to AC than screening, but also provides some limited protection against area-of-effect damage and targeting. Treating the Perception DC of bigger creatures as lower helps you more actively sneak around big threats, though isn't quite as helpful when they're specifically seeking you out.
EXEMPLARY AWARENESS ANCESTRY FEAT
[Ancestry, Biology, Halfling]
Your eyes are attuned to your surroundings. Treat the bright light radius of light sources as twice as big. If you target a sensed opponent, your flat check DC is 2 less.
Without natural low-light or darkvision, Halflings have to rely on light sources in the dark. Being able to get more usable reach from your vision makes can make a huge difference in spotting important details, or dealing with ranged foes. If you can't get your light source to work for you, though, you have some extra help in discerning which shadowy shapes are the important ones, and only have a 15% chance of a targeting failure instead of 25%.
{R} LUCKY HALFLING ANCESTRY FEAT
[Ancestry, Biology, Fortune, Halfling]
Trigger: You fail a skill check or save
Effect: Roll the triggering check again and take the better result.
This feat doesn't have a lot of text to it, but it's effects have a huge impact. Being able to re-roll failed skill checks and saves over again at your discretion is not something that's easy to come by in Realm of Runes, and the utility of this feat only gets better if you invest in Combat Reflexes or other ways of increasing your reaction pool.
PLUCKY ANCESTRY FEAT
[Ancestry, Halfling]
Attempts to play on your fears and emotions are less effective on you. Your saves against emotion and fear effects are one step better.
Emotion and fear effects tend to inflict particularly debilitating effects like confusion or the scared condition. Treating your save against them as one step better can ensure that you have less to worry about, even if will saves aren't your personal forte. If they are, though, a common critical success result for these effects is becoming Bolstered, which is a temporary immunity to the effect.
SURE-FOOTED ANCESTRY FEAT
[Ancestry, Halfling]
You are not flat-footed when you Balance and Climb. Your skill checks to move are one step better.
Skill checks to move usually only come into play when there's something inherently dangerous or difficult about the movement, as with climbing, swimming and jumping. Anything that simply makes your check a whole step better is worth a lot more than just a straight number bonus. This feat is also worded to work whether you use the intended skill for those checks or not, as many characters will use Parkour or Power Through to swap whether a particular move activity belongs to Acrobatics or Athletics.
SURPRISINGLY PREPARED ANCESTRY FEAT
[Ancestry, Halfling]
You are prepared for situations that no one else expects. When you begin play, and each time you visit a settlement, you can set aside money into a preparedness fund. As long there is money in the fund, you can “remember” that you had a common item you can afford. You gain the equipment you chose and deduct the cost from the fund. Treat the item as stowed when you gain it this way.
This feat is awesome for those that like to have an answer for every challenge, even if they never saw it coming. It doesn't save you any money, but when the party realizes that nobody thought to bring enough rope, bombs for swarms, or healing elixirs, being able to "remember" that you did can save everyone from the walk of shame back to town for supplies.
TITAN SLINGER ANCESTRY FEAT
[Ancestry, Halfling]
Slings are especially good at felling big creatures. You have an un-typed bonus to attack and damage with slings equal to the number of size categories bigger than you the target is.
Un-typed bonuses are always excellent because of their ability to stack with all other forms of bonus you can find. This feat pairs well with Halfling Weapon Familiarity, which also improves your proficiency with slings. While effects of this feat can be a bit situational, as a small-sized ancestry even most humanoid enemies you'll face will be at least one size category bigger than you.
UNFETTERED ANCESTRY FEAT
[Ancestry, Halfling]
A cultural history of chains warrants special effort to remain free. You have a +2 un-typed bonus to checks and DCs to avoid and remove the grabbed, entangled and restrained conditions.
Keeping your freedom of movement is always important for staying out of dangerous situations. It's particularly critical for Halflings, as their small size makes them even more susceptible than most to being swallowed whole by those sorts of monsters that like to snack on hapless adventurers!
WEAPON FAMILIARITY (HALFLING) ANCESTRY FEAT
[Ancestry, Halfling]
Your kin favor weapons designed to fell those that use their size against you. You gain an esoteric proficiency boost to slings and spears. If a weapon has the halfling trait, it does not have the exotic trait for you, and you treat it as common. You can always use a halfling weapon to Riposte.
Extra proficiency increases greatly expand your capabilities, especially if you pick a class (like the Cleric or Sorcerer) that doesn't get many to begin with. Ignoring the exotic trait also makes those weapons easier to use altogether. Finally, Riposte is a great way to punish foes that gamble on their lowest-bonus attacks. Normally only available as a reaction if you wield a weapon with the parry trait, this feat helps ensure that you're always ready to take advantage of a foe's weakness with the preferred weapons of your people.
Whether you plan to be a full-blooded Halfling or augment your capability with the addition of a hybrid ancestry, Halflings make for reliable that manage to stay upbeat in even the most sticky situations. Those that underestimate Halflings because of their stature (or lack thereof) will invariably be pleasantly surprised by their hidden depths. Next week we'll continue our ancestry exploration with an important, if not always exciting option: Humans.
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