Halflings

"Optimistic and cheerful by nature, blessed with uncanny luck, and driven by a powerful wanderlust, halflings make up for their short stature with an abundance of bravado and curiosity. At once excitable and easy-going, halflings like to keep an even temper and a steady eye on opportunity, and are not as prone to violent or emotional outbursts as some of the more volatile races. Even in the jaws of catastrophe, halflings almost never lose their sense of humor. Their ability to find humor in the absurd, no matter how dire the situation, often allows halflings to distance themselves ever so slightly from the dangers that surround them. This sense of detachment can also help shield them from terrors that might immobilize their allies.

Halflings are inveterate opportunists. They firmly believe they can turn any situation to their advantage, and sometimes gleefully leap into trouble without any solid plan to extricate themselves if things go awry. Often unable to physically defend themselves from the rigors of the world, they know when to bend with the wind and when to hide away. Yet halflings’ curiosity often overwhelms their good sense, leading to poor decisions and narrow escapes. While harsh experience sometimes teaches halflings a measure of caution, some develop a taste for danger and become troublemakers. Halflings who fall into a life of crime may find themselves exiled from their communities and left to fend for themselves in the towns and cities of the larger races, where they sometimes find that their luck eventually runs out. But for those who survive the limitations of their statures often prove themselves to be true menaces to society at large, ending up as feared assassins and notorious thieves.

Though their curiosity drives them to seek out new places and experiences, halflings possess a strong sense of hearth and home, often spending above their means to enhance the comforts of domestic life. Without a doubt, halflings enjoy luxury and comfort, but they have equally strong reasons to make their homes a showcase. Halflings consider this urge to devote time, money, and energy toward improving their dwellings a sign of both respect for strangers and affection for their loved ones. Whether for their own blood kin, cherished friends, or honored guests, halflings make their homes beautiful in order to express their feelings toward those they welcome inside. Even traveling halflings typically decorate their wagons or carry a few cherished keepsakes to adorn their campsites. Unlike their Gnomish neighbors who lack the cohesiveness to form true communities, halflings have hamlets and villages that dot idyllic countrysides away from major human or elven settlements, some of these places become well known for those who appreciate artisanal delights. Rather than place their faith in empires or great causes, many halflings prefer to focus on the simpler and humbler virtues of their families and local communities, claiming no cultural homeland and control no settlements larger than rural assemblies of free towns. Halflings rely on customs and traditions to maintain their own culture. They have an extensive oral history filled with important stories about folk heroes who exemplify particular halfling virtues, but otherwise see little purpose in studying history in and of itself. Given a choice between a pointless truth and a useful fable, halflings almost always opt for the fable. This tendency helps to explain at least something of the famous halfling adaptability. Halflings look to the future and find it very easy to cast off the weight of ancient grudges or obligations that drag down so many other races." *-d20pfsrd/paizo/Fabian*

**Biology:** Halflings of both genders rise to a humble height between 3'0"-3'8", rarely smaller, though they have legends of giant individuals in excess of 4 feet. They prefer to walk barefoot, leading the bottoms of their feet to become roughly calloused. Tufts of thick, curly hair warm the tops of their broad, tanned feet. Their skin tends towards warm sun-kissed tones, and their hair toward shades of brown and black. A halfling’s ears are pointed, but proportionately not much larger than those of a human. Halfling men are a little heavier and muscular than their women-folk, but as a whole halflings are not especially strong, opting instead to rely on being light-footed, quick witted, and lucky, also having a well-known knack for stealth. Halfling lifespans are comparable to that of humans, though their average life expectancy of 90 years is slightly higher.

In the matter of mating and relationships, halflings are *enormously* family oriented, entire extended families will often found towns together and enter into business together. The roles of the genders are more blurred as both halfling husbands and wives might have an enterprise with which to earn money, and both take on roughly equal shares of raising the children, though the males are often the handymen while the females fulfill their roles as the family cook. Halfling courtship tends to be very conservative and is absolutely saturated with quaint folksy displays of affection, usually involving lavish picnics, bouquets of wildflowers, and nights dancing at a favorite tavern. This courtship can last as little as a few weeks or drag on for over a year before a pair decide to marry, but when the announcement becomes official, the entire community comes together to throw a week long celebration. The preferences of halflings are mostly heterosexual, though same sex pairings of either gender are not unheard of and are met with the same jubilation. One might think the intimate lives of halflings are dreadfully dull, however this is far from the case. For them, sex is as important as good food and drink, and oftentimes accompanies a particularly fine meal. Newly weds may do nothing but bond over their favorite dishes for days, between which they get tangled in sheets and discarded clothing. They do not typically seek out lovers of other races, on a practical level due to their small stature and the fact that they cannot breed except with other halflings, and secondly as a matter of self-respect. There are those who may sample liaisons with members of the larger races, but the attempt is rarely made and often fraught with regret and embarrassment afterwards. Halflings experience similar conditions as humans do, with similar gestation periods and similar risk, but upon the healthy birth of a child, the community erupts in a riot of confetti, music, and rivers of strong drink.