Halfling

 

Physiology

Halflings are so named as they stand at roughly half human height, making them about the size of a human toddler. Somewhat stocky, their arms and legs are proportionally shorter than those of humans, but they are not nearly as stout as dwarves. Halfings do have comparatively large feet, but the conception of them as commonly barefooted is a discriminatory trope.

On average, halflings stand 90 cm tall and weigh 17 kg. They present in a wide range of skin tones and hair and eye colours, and heredity of these traits within families seems weaker than among humans, thus even within a single family, a range of skin, eye and hair colours is not uncommon.

Halfings tend to have soft, comparatively youthful features, with larger, wide set eyes and somewhat small noses. Females tend to express their gender characteristics more strongly than males, with wide hips and a full bosom. By contrast, males tend to be somewhat androgenous with undefined muscle tone, and little to no facial hair.

Life Cycle

The halfling gestation period is approximately 240 days, and halfling babies are most commonly born as trizygotic triplets, with dizigotic twins being nearly as common, quadruplets and quintuplets are not rare, but numbers higher than that become very rare rapidly.

Infant and maternal mortality are comparatively low, but halfling babies tend to be very small and very helpless and require a lot of post-natal care. Extended families are highly involved in child-rearing. Babies mature into infants and toddlers very quickly, and by three years of age, they are closer in development to a human of six or seven years allowing them to begin adopting familial duties (and assisting in child-rearing).

Halfling puberty begins around eight, but is slow, and lasts until the late teens, when developmentally, halflings and humans reach equivalence in young adulthood. Halflings have the same 3 year life cycle as humans.

Culture

Halflings are a generally a quiet and peaceful people who are seen as agreeable and gregarious. They tend to favour rural, agrarian lifestyles, and enjoy working the land, farming, gardening and tending to livestock. They tend to cluster within their local communities, which often include porcine, tauran and canis families. Halflings are extremely social, and love parties, games, shared meals, and stories, and they take particular pride in receiving guests and being good hosts.

Adjustments

Halflings tend to embrace healthy physical and social lifestyles, and have a strong sense of community granting them bonuses to their Vitality and Conviction Stats, as well as to their Composure Derivative. Their small, stout builds reduce their Agility Stat, their base move and the damage they do in combat, though their size makes them harder to hit, improving their dodge defense.

Halflings also start with Apprentice level of mastery and a free initial roll in the Hospitality skill field, and they all benefit from the possibility of enhanced recovery due to the Seven Squares perk if they take care to well.