They were created as the humanoid equivalent of chihuahuas by titans.
5
They’re humans who’ve been condensed by exposure to esoteric radiation. They’re heavier than their height would suggest.
6
They’re noble monkeys who’ve shaved off their fur and tails to leave behind their shit-flinging ways.
7
The waters of their homeland are tainted by growth-stunting pollution. Halflings raised beyond are no different than humans.
8
They’re really a species of rodent that only resembles humans.
9
They’re refugees from a smaller corner of the fractal universe.
10
Their blood is infused with shrinking magic.
11
They’ve got hollow souls. Their physical stature reflects their spiritual incompleteness.
12
Their ancestor made an ill-worded wish to never grow up.
13
A god cursed them to teach them humility.
14
They’re household spirits like brownies who survived the loss of their home.
15
They’re the hybrid descendants of humans and lilliputians.
16
The nutrients they should be using for growth are drained to something else.
17
They were bred as the slave caste of a society which correlated height with virtue.
18
They were originally the bioconstruct envoys of an extradimensional explorer who didn’t quite grasp the idea of size and space.
19
They’re the descendants of fairies who severed their fey nature to live in the mortal world.
20
They’re an offshoot from a common humanoid ancestor that evolved to be smaller to conserve resources in their island environment.
D20
These halflings live:
1
In moldy old stumps.
2
In hollowed-out boulders.
3
Half again as long as humans, with half the decrepitude in their old age.
4
Among endless fields of dandelions, which make their way into just about every dish of halfling cuisine.
5
In beaver-like dams among babbling brooks.
6
In constant fear of being eaten by something larger than they are.
7
In spaces shared with their beloved pygmy-cattle.
8
In sprawling pyramids of piled sod.
9
In treehouses.
10
In shorthouses, which are like longhouses but made for people smaller than humans.
11
In hivelike concrete apartments.
12
In warrens like those of burrowing mammals.
13
In enormous hollowed pumpkins, regrown each year.
14
In strong-walled fortress-compounds, to compensate for their disadvantage in strength.
15
Atop stilt-homes, walking between them on equally high stilts. The taller the stilts, the more prestigious the home. They categorically deny that they are compensating for something.
16
Nomadically, in hammock-homes slung between their beasts of burden.
17
In carefully-disguised holes in the sides of hills.
18
Only so long as the ones that know their true name allow them to. They live in dreadful filial subservience to parents who might kill them at any moment.
19
In delicate, lovely tents of woven grass and leaves.
20
In shantytowns of squats and salvaged supplies.
D20
These halflings enjoy:
1
Eating until they throw up then eating even more.
2
Engaging in mortal combat with cranes.
3
Smoking until they hack up blackened phlegm in revelatory patterns.
4
Stories that are exaggerated with each telling.
5
Winning one over taller folk by their own cunning.
6
Styling their hair into ludicrous shapes.
7
Fishing with their feet.
8
Throwing alcoholic reveries that no one involved will be able to remember when they’re done.
9
Dancing barefoot in the mud.
10
Growing farms of carnivorous, venomous plants.
11
Breeding vicious fighting-ferrets.
12
Filling their buildings with tunnels and hidey-holes only they’re small enough to crawl through.
13
Cooking huge pots of perpetual stews, the oldest of which are venerated like saints.
14
Tossing stones, with points being won for the stones’ size, distance, and precision.
15
Soaking in hot springs and baths.
16
Casual nudism.
17
Silent hikes through subtly domesticated nature.
18
Forming exclusive social clubs for every activity they undertake.
19
Constantly inventing new, impenetrable slang.
20
Holding feasts and festivals for every vaguely notable occasion.
D20
These halflings govern themselves:
1
By universal consensus. Decisions take a while to settle on but enjoy total support.
2
By adiposarchy, rule of the fattest (also, usually, the wealthiest).
3
By lot, a gambler’s democracy.
4
With a secret and unquestioned council of elders.
5
By rambunctious tournaments wherein the most brawny and cunning might rise to leadership.
6
Under their Lord of Misrule, who gains and maintains popular support by issuing the most pleasant, entertaining edicts.
7
By way of sophist-gangs who debate opponents into submission.
8
With ultimogeniture-practicing aristocratic families.
9
According to personal codes of honour, the tenets of which they tattoo symbolically on their faces.
10
With farmers and herders at the top of their hierarchy.
11
According to the commandments of their generally-puritanical religion.
12
By mocking imitations of human polities.
13
With a caste of scholars and storytellers who deliberate decisions with the weight and inertia of generations of accumulated wisdom.
14
In decentralized communities guided by elected mayors.
15
With charismatic leaders and their revelations.
16
By a web of dynastic politics and feuds among clans.
17
Under despotic mages who can punish and reward invisibly, untraceably.
18
Under four seasonal courts who exchange power with the changing of the seasons. Each halfling is at least a minor functionary in one of them. Membership in multiple is forbidden.
19
Under libertarian principles.
20
Under a king who is forced into absolute poverty as a condition of their authority.
D20
Among humans, these halflings:
1
Perform labour that would otherwise be assigned to children.
2
Act with exaggerated bravado and aggression to compensate for the size difference.
3
Are mistrusted, seen as sneak-thieves and child-snatchers.
4
Are seen as comedic, and mostly find work as fools and clowns.
5
Perform delicate manual labour, finding work as cobblers and weavers among other things.
6
Are overlooked, beneath notice.
7
Are prestigious servants in wealthy households.
8
Are mercenaries famed for their skill with slings.
9
Are sought-after chefs and brewers.
10
Are chimneysweeps, ratcatchers, and other professions where tight spaces are the working environment.
11
Are counterfeiters and similar sorts of clever criminals.
12
Are actors, prostitutes, spies, and similar shameful professions.
13
Are killed on sight, for poorly understood historical reasons.
14
Are condemned to squalorous quarters in sewers, trashheaps, and other dark, dank margins.
15
Are attributed with magical powers of illusion and enchantment.
16
Operate a grand conspiracy.
17
Are believed to be a myth.
18
Are commonly found as hirelings for adventurers.
19
Are given unwanted orphans, as it’s believed their childlike appearance makes them of a like sort.
20
Are held accountable by their own laws rather than human laws, and so find odd professions and workarounds in the crossover between those legal systems.
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