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HALFLING

ANCESTRY

SMALL

HALFLING

HUMANOID

Hit Points 6

Size Small; Speed 25 feet

Ability Boosts Dexterity, Wisdom, Free; Ability Flaw Strength

Languages Common, Halfling

Additional languages equal to your Intelligence modifier (if it’s positive). Choose from Dwarven, Elven, Gnomish, Goblin, and any other languages to which you have access (such as the languages prevalent in your region).

Senses Keen Eyes

Claiming no place as their own, halflings control few settlements larger than villages. Instead, they frequently live among humans within the walls of larger cities, carving out small communities alongside taller folk. Many halflings lead perfectly fulfilling lives in the shadows of their larger neighbors, while others prefer a nomadic existence, traveling the world and taking advantage of opportunities and adventures as they come.

Optimistic and cheerful, blessed with uncanny luck, and driven by powerful wanderlust, halflings make up for their short stature with an abundance of bravado and curiosity. At once excitable and easygoing, they are the best kind of opportunists, and their passions favor joy over violence. Even in the jaws of danger, halflings rarely lose their sense of humor.

Many taller people dismiss halflings due to their size or, worse, treat them like children. Halflings use these prejudices and misconceptions to their advantage, gaining access to opportunities and performing deeds of daring mischief or heroism. A halfling’s curiosity is tempered by wisdom and caution, leading to calculated risks and narrow escapes.

While their wanderlust and curiosity sometimes drive them toward adventure, halflings also carry strong ties to house and home, often spending above their means to achieve comfort in their homelife.

If you want to play a character who must contend with these opposing drives toward adventure and comfort, you should play a halfling.

You Might...

  • Get along well with a wide variety of people and enjoy meeting new friends.
  • Find it difficult to resist indulging your curiosity, even when you know it’s going to lead to trouble.
  • Hold a deep and personal hatred of the practice of slavery and devote yourself to freeing those who still labor against their will.

Others Probably...

  • Appreciate your ability to always find a silver lining or something to laugh about, no matter how dire the situation.
  • Think you bring good luck with you.
  • Underestimate your strength, endurance, and fighting prowess.

Physical Description

Halflings are short humanoids who look vaguely like smaller humans. They rarely grow to be more than 3 feet in height. Halfling proportions vary, with some looking like shorter adult humans with slightly larger heads and others having proportions closer to those of a human child.

Most halflings prefer to walk barefoot rather than wearing shoes, and those who do so develop roughly calloused soles on their feet over time. Tufts of thick, often-curly hair warm the tops of their broad, tanned feet. Halfling skin tones tend toward rich, tawny shades like amber or oak, and their hair color ranges from a light golden blond to raven black.

Halflings reach physical adulthood around the age of 20. A typical halfling can live to be around 150 years old.

Society

Despite their jovial and friendly nature, halflings don’t usually tend to congregate. They have no cultural homeland in the Inner Sea region, and they instead weave themselves throughout the societies of the world. Halflings eke out whatever living they can manage, many performing menial labor or holding simple service jobs. Some halflings reject city life, instead turning to the open road and traveling from place to place in search of fortune and fame. These nomadic halflings often travel in small groups, sharing hardships and simple pleasures among close friends and family.

Wherever halflings go, they seamlessly blend into the society they find themselves in, adapting to the culture of the predominant ancestry around them and adding their uniquely halfling twists, creating a blend of cultural diffusion that enriches both cultures.

Alignment and Religion

Halflings are loyal to their friends and their family, but they aren’t afraid to do what needs to be done in order to survive. Halfling alignments vary, typically closely in keeping with the alignment of the other ancestries that live around them. Halflings favor gods that either grant luck, like Desna, or encourage guile, like Norgorber, and many appreciate Cayden Cailean’s role as a liberator, as well as any religions common among other ancestries around them.

Names

Halfling names are usually two to three syllables, with a gentle sound that avoids hard consonants. Preferring their names to sound humble, halflings see overly long or complex names as a sign of arrogance. This goes only for their own people, however—halflings have names that suit them, and they understand that elves and humans might have longer names to suit their own aesthetics. Humans in particular have a tendency to refer to halflings by nicknames, with “Lucky” being common to the point of absurdity.

Sample Names

Anafa, Antal, Bellis, Boram, Etune, Filiu, Jamir, Kaleb, Linna, Marra, Miro, Rillka, Sistra, Sumak, Yamyra

TABLE 1: HALFLING HERITAGES
Exclusive Heritages Description
gutsy halfling Your family line is known for keeping a level head and staving off fear when the chips were down, making them wise leaders and sometimes even heroes.
hillock halfling Accustomed to a calm life in the hills, your people find rest and relaxation especially replenishing, particularly when indulging in creature comforts.
jinxed halflingAPG You were born with a strange blessing: bereft of the typical halfling luck, you can instead manipulate the fortunes of others.
nomadic halfling Your ancestors have traveled from place to place for generations, never content to settle down.
observant halflingLOCG Your finely honed senses quickly clue you in to danger or trickery.
twilight halfling Your ancestors performed many secret acts under the concealing cover of dusk, whether for good or ill, and over time they developed the ability to see in twilight beyond even the usual keen sight of halflings.
wildwood halfling You hail from deep in a jungle or forest, and you’ve learned how to use your small size to wriggle through undergrowth, vines, and other obstacles.
Versatile Heritages Description
AasimarAPG You descend from celestials or were touched by the celestial realms, gaining an air of awe and grace, as well as features distinctive to your celestial forebears.
AphoriteLOAG You were born with a connection to Axis, the Plane of Law.
ArdandeRE Your elemental heritage is reflected in the oils and fragrances of plants, in tree resin that fossilizes into amber, or in the gentle smell of a flower.
BeastkinLOAG The blood of a beast flows through your veins, granting you the ferocity and might of animals.
ChangelingAPG Your mother was a hag.
DhampirAPG You are the scion of a vampire, half living and half undead, gifted with uncanny charm and grace, a bloodless pallor, and elongated incisors.
DuskwalkerAPG Thanks to an ancient bargain, your soul has been reborn as a duskwalker, a planar scion with a connection to psychopomps and the Boneyard.
GanziLOAG Your blood is touched by primal chaos.
IfritLOAG You descend from fire elementals or bear the mark of the Inner Spheres, and your features illustrate the influence that elemental fire has over you.
OreadLOAG An earth elemental ancestor has influenced your bloodline, and your features highlight this elemental planar connection.
ReflectionDA You were created as a duplicate of another creature, intentionally or accidentally, though you might not know of your origins.
SuliLOAG You are descended from a janni or otherwise embody a dichotomy of opposing elemental planar forces.
SylphLOAG You are descended from air elementals or were born under the element’s influence.
TalosRE Your physical features reflect the influence a zuhra or other metal elemental has had over your bloodline.
TieflingAPG You descend from fiends or bear the mark of the fiendish realms, manifesting as some unusual feature that belies your heritage, such as horns or a tail.
UndineLOAG A water elemental ancestor influences your bloodline.
draconic scionBAD You possess the power of dragons, whether you descended from dragons, learned from dragons, were transformed by exposure to draconic energy, or reincarnated from a past life as a dragon.
TABLE 2: HALFLING ANCESTRY FEATS
Level 1 Halfling Feats Prerequisites Benefits
uAdroit ManipulationLOCG — You’ve fiddled with knots, locks, and blacksmith’s puzzles since you were a child to give your hands something to do.
Distracting Shadows — You have learned to remain hidden by using larger folk as a distraction to avoid drawing attention to yourself.
Folksy PatterAPG — You are adept at disguising coded messages as folksy idioms.
Halfling Lore — You’ve dutifully learned how to keep your balance and how to stick to the shadows where it’s safe, important skills passed down through generations of halfling tradition.
Halfling Luck — Your happy-go-lucky nature makes it seem like misfortune avoids you, and to an extent, that might even be true.
Halfling Weapon Familiarity — You favor traditional halfling weapons, so you’ve learned how to use them more effectively.
InnocuousLOCG — Halflings have been unobtrusive assistants of larger folk for untold ages, and your people count on this assumption of innocence.
uIntuitive CooperationLOCG — You are accustomed to working alongside others, relying on each other to get by.
rLet’s Try That AgainSG-04 — You feel a sense of deja vu when you’ve made a mistake, almost as if you weren’t so careless in a past life and could certainly do better if given another chance.
rLike a RoachSG-04 — Living with the bare necessities isn’t terribly hard for someone who has defied death, and like a cockroach, you always know how to survive.
Prairie RiderAPG — You grew up riding your clan’s shaggy ponies and riding dogs.
Sure Feet — Whether keeping your balance or scrambling up a tricky climb, your hairy, calloused feet easily find purchase.
Titan Slinger — You have learned how to use your sling to fell enormous creatures.
uUnassuming DedicationLOCG — Your family instilled the values of care and patience into you from a young age.
Unfettered Halfling — You were forced into service as a laborer, either pressed into indentured servitude or shackled by the evils of slavery, but you’ve since escaped and have trained to ensure you’ll never be caught again.
Watchful Halfling — Your communal lifestyle causes you to pay close attention to the people around you, allowing you to more easily notice when they act out of character.
rWeight of ExperienceSG-04 — The experience you’ve accumulated over multiple lifetimes envelops you like a weighted blanket, providing comfort and bestowing confidence under pressure.
rWisdom From Another LifeSG-04 — You absorbed a wide variety of facts before you died, and your soul still remembers slivers of this precious knowledge.
Level 5 Halfling Feats Prerequisites Benefits
rAnimal Soul SiblingsSG-04 — Your eyes have been opened to the spiritual essence suffusing the world.
Cultural Adaptability — During your adventures, you’ve honed your ability to adapt to the culture of the predominant ancestry around you.
uEasily DismissedLOCG — You are practiced at blending into the background of the streets and halls of larger folk to ensure that you are overlooked.
rEmpathy IncarnateSG-04 — Reincarnation has given you a compassionate perspective and enabled you to relate to almost everyone you speak with, putting them at ease and quickly generating trust.
rFey InfluenceLOIL — You have been exposed to powerful fey magic.
Halfling IngenuityLOCG Halfling Luck While your willingness to dig into a task you know little about might get you into trouble, your incredible luck often saves you from danger.
Halfling Weapon Trickster Halfling Weapon Familiarity You are particularly adept at fighting with your people’s favored weapons.
rI’Ve Had Many JobsSG-04 — Finding and excelling at odd jobs is child’s play to one who has worked many occupations during many lives.
rReincarnated RidiculerSG-04 — You’ve practiced the art of taunting an enemy, ensuring they know death will only make you stronger.
Shared LuckLOCG Halfling Luck You are evidence that it’s lucky to travel with a halfling.
rSleep of the RebornSG-04 — Philosophers compare the cycle of life, death, and rebirth to sleeping, dreaming, and waking.
Step LivelyAPG — You are an expert at avoiding the lumbering footsteps of larger creatures.
Level 9 Halfling Feats Prerequisites Benefits
Cunning ClimberLOCG — Whether you are climbing a ship’s rigging, a jungle tree, or a clock tower, you have an uncanny knack for finding footholds and handholds where larger creatures can’t.
Dance UnderfootAPG Step Lively You dart under the legs of your enemies in combat.
rDrain EmotionLOIL Fey Influence You touch an adjacent creature and attempt to draw out its excess emotion.
Fade AwayLOCG Easily Dismissed (page 44) Your ability to blend into the background allows you to fade away entirely or appear innocuous even to magical effects.
rFey AscensionLOIL Fey Influence The fey influence on your form and features grows even more powerful and notable.
Guiding Luck Halfling Luck Your luck guides you to look the right way and aim your blows unerringly.
Helpful HalflingLOCG — When you aid a friend with a task, you find many ways to help and avoid interfering.
Irrepressible — You are easily able to ward off attempts to play on your fears and emotions.
rLingering EchoesSG-04 — Not everyone is reincarnated, and you feel a strong connection with the spiritual echoes of those who didn’t receive the same opportunity as you.
rPlant Soul SiblingsSG-04 Animal Soul Siblings You’re now able to connect with the spirits present in the greenery of the natural world.
rRapid RetrainingSG-04 — Some feel trapped by their choices and have a tough time reinventing themselves.
Unhampered PassageAPG — You won’t allow others to restrain you.
rYou Seem Somewhat FamiliarSG-04 — You fought hundreds of foes in your various past lives, and now and then, something about a new opponent tugs at your memory, almost as if you defeated their grandparent long ago.
Level 13 Halfling Feats Prerequisites Benefits
rCannibalize MagicLOIL Fey Influence The fey magic inside of you is a vital part of your body, and you can steal other sources of magic to replenish yours.
Ceaseless Shadows Distracting Shadows You excel at going unnoticed, especially among a crowd.
rClinging to LifeSG-04 — This life still holds much for you, and you aren’t ready to fall back into the River of Souls just yet.
Cobble DancerLOCG — You know how to take advantage of foes thrown off-balance by unstable flooring, loose cobblestones, or similar impediments.
rEldritch CalmLOIL Fey Influence Your fey heritage has altered your mindset to more resemble the uncanny perspective of the fey.
rGlamourLOIL Fey Influence You unlock a new level of fey power and can manipulate the perceptions of others using a font of First World magic.
Halfling Weapon Expertise Halfling Weapon Familiarity Your halfling affinity blends with your class training, granting you great skill with halfling weapons.
rI Sense MalevolenceSG-04 — Your time in theRiver of Souls has given you deep insight into the machinations of those who refuse to move on.
Incredible LuckLOCG Halfling Luck Even other halflings consider you to be particularly lucky.
rLinguistic RevivalSG-04 — You achieved fluency in different languages with each reincarnation, and your brain remembers much of the grammar, idioms, and obscenities that you spouted in old lives.
rPain Is TemporarySG-04 — Sangpotshi practitioners know that suffering is a fleeting sensation that ultimately strengthens the soul and prepares it for a new reincarnation.
rStone Soul SiblingsSG-04 Plant Soul Siblings Your connection with nature’s spirits has progressed to the point where you can even have casual conversation with pebbles and boulders.
Toppling DanceAPG Dance Underfoot While sharing a creature’s space using Dance Underfoot, your weapons and unarmed attacks gain the trip trait, but only against the creature whose space you share.
rUnbreakable ResolveSG-04 — The experience of coming back after death has granted you a strong sense of resolve; devilish words, slick spells, and conniving trickery can’t easily catch you off guard.
Level 17 Halfling Feats Prerequisites Benefits
rBoneyard AcquaintanceSG-04 — Before your soul returned to the Material Plane, you interacted with a host of other souls on their way to the Boneyard.
rFey TranscendenceLOIL Fey Influence You become a powerful fey creature, gaining strengths tied to the First World but also some of the weakness against which all fey must contend.
rIndomitable SpiritSG-04 — Your soul has accumulated countless particles of quintessence over myriad deaths and rebirths, and for one moment, this raw material from the Great Beyond envelops you and your comrades.
rRelease the LightSG-04 — Many people report seeing a bright light before their death.
rSee You in HellSG-04 — You aren’t sure if you’ll be reincarnated again, so you might as well take this foe with you.
Shadow SelfAPG legendary Stealth With a powerful talent for misdirection, you slip from your adversaries’ notice so thoroughly you appear to be somewhere else.
rThis Time, Bring the BodySG-04 — Death sends a soul into the River of Souls.