The Halflings
Maximum Ablilty Scores-
85
Halflings are clever, capable opportunists. Halfling individuals and clans find room for themselves wherever they can. Often they are strangers and wanderers, and others react to them with suspicion or curiosity. Depending on the clan, halflings might be reliable, hard-working (if clannish) citizens, or they might be thieves just waiting for the opportunity to make a big score and disappear in the dead of night. Regardless, halflings are cunning, resourceful survivors.
Personality:
Halflings prefer trouble to boredom. They are notoriously curious. Relying on their ability to survive or escape anger, they demonstrate a daring that many larger people can't match.
Halflings have ample appetites, both for food and for other pleasures. They like well-cooked meals, fine drink, good tobacco, and comfortable clothes. While they can be lured by the promise of wealth, they tend to spend the gold they gain rather than hoarding it.
Haflings are also famous collectors. While more orthodox halflings may collect teapots, books, or pressed flowers, some collect such objects as the hides of wild beasts - or even the beasts themselves. Wealthy halflings sometimes commission adventurers to retrieve exotic items to complete their collections.
Physical Description:
Halflings stand about 3 feet tall and usually weigh between 30 and 35 pounds. Their skin is ruddy, their hair black and straight. They have brown or black eyes. Halfling men often have long sideburns, but beards are rare among them and mustaches almost unseen. They like to wear simple, comfortable, and practical clothes. Unlike members of most races, they prefer actual comfort to shows of wealth. A halfling would rather wear a comfortable shirt than jewelry. A halfing reaches adulthood in his/her early twenties and generally lives into the middle of his/her second century.
Relations:
Halflings try to get along with everyone else. They are adept at fitting into a community of humans, dwarves, elves, or gnomes and making themselves valuable and welcome. Since human society changes faster than the societies of the longer-lived races, it is human society that most frequently offers halflings opportunities to exploit, and halflings are most often found in or around human lands.
Language:
Halfings speak their own language, which uses the Common script. They write very little in their own language so, unlike dwarves, elves and gnomes, they don't have a rich body of written work. The halfling oral tradition, however, is very strong. While the Halfling language isn't secret, halflings are loath to share it with others. Almost all halflings speak Common, since they use it to deal with people in whose land the are living or through which they are traveling.
Adventurers:
Halflings often set out on their own to make their way in he world. Halfling adventurers are typically looking for a way to use their skills to gain wealth or status. The distinction between a halfling adventurer and a halfling out on her own looking for "a big score" can get blurry. For a halfling, adventuring is less of a career than an opportunity. While halfling opportunism can sometimes look like larceny or fraud to others, a halfling adventurer who learns to trust his/her fellows is worthy of trust in turn.
