The folk of Faerûn are more familiar with the lightfoot hin than with either of the other two subraces, primarily because the lightfoots are the most numerous and widely travelled of all the halflings. Nearly every human community of any size larger than a village has at least a few halfling residents. When most Faerûnians think of halflings, the lightfoots are the people that most often leap to mind.
History: Most lightfoot halflings trace their family ancestry back to the days when a great tribe of their subrace populated the territory known today as Luiren. Following the events of the Hin Ghostwars, the majority of the lightfoot halflings departed their homeland and spread out across northern Faerûn in a great diaspora. Though some lightfoot halflings remained in Luiren, the subrace has become ubiquitous throughout the settled lands of Faerûn.
Outlook: Lightfoot halflings may be the most common of all the subraces, but their behaviour is also the most varied. It’s impossible to describe the “typical” lightfoot halfling because, much like humans, the race embodies individuals that are the absolute antithesis of one another. This diversity of behaviour is mirrored in a diversity of outlooks: Some halflings adopt views and beliefs about the world that are very close or even identical to whatever human community they happen to dwell in, while others retain distinctive points of view that separate them from other races and groups (including other halflings). It’s not uncommon to meet halflings who, because they spend the greater part of their lives roaming from place to place, have outlooks that are amalgams of those from multiple cultures and environments.
The aspect of the lightfoot outlook that most non-halflings notice, however, is that they are the hin subrace that is most likely to wander out of an innate desire. It is not unknown for individual lightfoot halflings or even entire families to decide that, after living in the same place for decades, they want to move on to someplace else. Some learned folk speculate that the lightfoot hin experience a habitual need to see many different places and enjoy a variety of experiences. Other sages and loremasters wonder if the lightfoot penchant for the semi-nomadic lifestyle is socialized behaviour, learned from centuries of practice. These scholars theorize that the lightfoot hin who left Luiren because of the Ghostwar massacres were unable to find a new homeland that suited them as well, so they wandered. After so many hundreds of years of wanderings, the behaviour is now natural to the lightfoot hin, or so this school of thought holds. Whatever the case, there’s no denying that many lightfoot halflings seem determined to see a great deal of Faerûn and have many interesting experiences during their lifetimes.
Characters: As befits their name, lightfoot halflings often take classes that work well for wanderers, such as rogue and bard.
Favoured Class: Rogue. Lightfoot halflings often pick up an impressive array of skills during their travels, and with their small size and low strength, they need the advantages of stealth and cleverness.
Prestige Classes: Some halflings become masters of the ambush, popping up from behind a bush to deliver an onslaught of stones. These guardians, the warsling snipers, are often the first line of defence for a halfling community and accordingly are much cherished by their fellow citizens.
Society: Lightfoot halfling society is hard to quantify, because lightfoots can be divided into three groups: those who live among humans, those who live among other lightfoots, and those who wander from place to place. Some lightfoot halfling families live their entire lives in one place, sometimes as part of a human community, and sometimes in a settlement populated almost entirely by halflings. Others live their entire lives on the roads and byways of Faerûn, never remaining in one place very long.
Language: Lightfoots speak Halfling, Common and the language of their home region — which, given lightfoot wanderlust, could be almost anywhere. Wandering lightfoot halflings pick up the languages of the places they live, and often learn other widely spread tongues.
All lightfoot non-barbarians (the vast majority of the race, in other words) are literate.
Magic: Lightfoot halflings tend to be generalists when it comes to magic, using a broad array of spells and magic items to make their travels — or their hearths — more pleasant. They are skillful clerics and sorcerers, but sometimes lack the discipline to become accomplished as wizards.
Spells and Spellcasting: Because they’re almost always fighting foes who are larger than they are, lightfoot halflings favour spells that help them move around the battlefield and negate the physical strength of their foes. Expeditious retreat, fly, haste, various polymorph spells and especially Evard’s black tentacles are common spells in a halfling spellcaster’s arsenal.
Some lightfoot halflings become so enamoured of travel spells that they take the Hin Wandermage feat.
Magic Items: Lightfoot halflings are fascinated with magic that makes travel easier in some way. It’s useful to travel faster, of course, but speed isn’t always a priority to a lightfoot who’s wandering anyway. Items that make travel more comfortable or safer are especially cherished.
Common Items: Bags of holding, Heward’s handy haversack, carpets of flying and any magic boots can be purchased in lightfoot halfling communities for 10% less than the normal cost.
Iconic Item: One of the most consistent disadvantages halflings face is that their size makes it difficult for them to make use of certain types of weapons. In response to this difficulty, a halfling wizard created the first hornblades — deceptive magic weapons that inflict more damage than their size would suggest. These weapons seem to be in the possession of lightfoot hin more frequently than the ghostwise or strongheart, giving rise to speculation that perhaps the original hornblade inventor was of the lightfoot subrace.
Religion: The diversity evident in the lightfoot halflings’ outlook and society is also reflected in their religious beliefs. Of all the hin subraces, the lightfoot are the most likely to worship deities other than those belonging to Yondalla’s Children. In addition to the deity they most favour, many lightfoot households — particularly those that prefer life on the road to a more settled existence — often venerate a household patron, often inspired by some matriarch or patriarch in the family’s history.
Brandobaris, the Master of Stealth, is much beloved by the lightfoot hin for his realistic and good-humoured view of life. Brandobaris is a common patron deity of those halflings who trust to their luck to see them through as they wander from place to place.
The worship of Cyrrollalee, the Hearthkeeper, is wildly popular among lightfoot halflings born within the last two generations. Her message of the ascendance of the halfling race to a station of respect and power in Faerûn has fallen on receptive ears. The ranks of her clergy have swelled with the number of lightfoot hin seeking to spread her message and contribute to the search for a new lightfoot homeland.
Yondalla’s faith is popular with the lightfoot halflings, both those who wander and those who prefer to settle in more permanent communities. Recently there has been some tension between her clergy and those serving Cyrrollalee: Yondalla is not at all certain that this younger deity’s call for a halfling homeland is wise.
Equipment: These halflings favour the lightfoot war-sling, a deadly and powerful version of the common sling. The war-sling fires skiprocks, which halflings delight in throwing with great accuracy as well.
Animals and Pets: Lightfoot halflings make up for their small stature by domesticating some of the largest and most powerful hounds in Faerûn. A towering human brigand has a hard time pushing around a halfling traveller with a pair of loyal hounds at his side.
Regions: Amn, Calimshan, Luiren, The North, The Western Heartlands
Source: Races of Faerûn (Page 77), Player’s Handbook (Page 19), Player’s Guide to Faerûn (Page 26), Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting (Page 18)
Your character can be either male or female.
Every player character starts as an adult. You can choose or randomly generate your character’s age. If you choose it, it must be at least the minimum age for the character’s race and class (see Table: Starting Ages). Your character’s minimum starting age is the adulthood age of his or her race plus the number of dice indicated in the entry corresponding to the character’s race and class on Table: Starting Ages.
Alternatively, refer to Table: Starting Ages and roll dice to determine how old your character is.
| Adulthood | Intuitive1 | Self-Taught2 | Trained3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20 years | +2d4 (22—28) years | +3d6 (23—38) years | +4d6 (24—44) years |
1 This category includes barbarians, rogues and sorcerers.
2 This category includes bards, fighters, paladins and rangers.
3 This category includes clerics, druids, monks and wizards.
With age, a character’s physical ability scores decrease and his or her mental ability scores increase (see Table: Aging Effects). The effects of each aging step are cumulative. However, none of a character’s ability scores can be reduced below 1 in this way.
| Middle Age1 | Old Age2 | Venerable3 | Maximum Age |
|---|---|---|---|
| 50 years | 75 years | 100 years | +5d20 years |
1 -1 to Strength, Dexterity and Constitution; +1 to Intelligence, Wisdom and Charisma.
2 -2 to Strength, Dexterity and Constitution; +1 to Intelligence, Wisdom and Charisma.
3 -3 to Strength, Dexterity and Constitution; +1 to Intelligence, Wisdom and Charisma.
When a character reaches venerable age, the DM secretly rolls his or her maximum age, which is the number from the Venerable column on Table: Aging Effects plus the result of the dice roll indicated on the Maximum Age column on that table, and records the result, which the player does not know. A character who reaches his or her maximum age dies of old age at some time during the following year, as determined by the DM.
The maximum ages are for player characters. Most people in the world at large die from pestilence, accidents, infections or violence before getting to venerable age.
Choose your character’s height and weight from the ranges mentioned in the appropriate race description or from the ranges found on Table: Height and Weight. Think about what your character’s abilities might say about his or her height and weight. A weak but agile character may be thin. A strong and tough character may be tall or just heavy.
Alternatively, roll randomly for your character’s height and weight on Table: Height and Weight. The dice roll given in the Height Modifier column determines the character’s extra height beyond the base height. That same number multiplied by the dice roll or quantity given in the Weight Modifier column determines the character’s extra weight beyond the base weight.
| Gender | Base Height | Height Modifier | Base Weight | Weight Modifier |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Male | 2’ 8" | +2d4 (2’ 10"—3’ 4") | 30 lbs. | ×1 (32—38 lbs.) |
| Female | 2’ 6" | +2d4 (2’ 8"—3’ 2") | 25 lbs. | ×1 (27—33 lbs.) |
Source: Player’s Handbook (Page 109)