Homebrew Athasian Halfling Species Details
“Be wary of a the short folk, they will as soon eat you alive as look at you. Chances are you won’t even notice them until you’ve become the main course.” ―Mo’rune, half‐Elven ranger
While omnivores, halflings prefer raw flesh and let no meat go to waste, including that of enemies, humans, and other sentient creatures.
Halflings have difficulty understanding others’ customs or points of view, but curiosity helps some halflings overcome their xenophobia. Little concerned with material wealth, halflings are more concerned with how their actions will affect other halflings.
SMALL AND SAVAGE
Halflings are small creatures, standing only about 3 1/2 feet tall and weighing 50 to 60 pounds. Rarely affected by age, halfling faces are often mistaken for the faces of human children, even the elderly among them. They dress in loincloths, sometimes with a shirt or vest, and paint their skins with bright reds and greens. Forest halflings rarely tend to their hair, and some let it grow to great lengths, though it can be unkempt and dirty.
ANCIENT CULTURE
Halfling culture dominates their relations with others and predates human civilization. Rarely will they ever draw the blood of another halfling. Halflings of different tribes share a tradition of song, art and poetry, which serves as a basis of communication. Creatures that do not know these cultural expressions are often at a loss to understand a halfling’s expressions, analogies and allusions to well–known tales. Halflings can easily become frustrated with such “uncultured” creatures and lose their patience with outsiders intolerant of their ways, such as eating other humanoids. They abhor slavery and most halflings will starve themselves rather than accept slavery.
FEAR OF OUTSIDERS
Halflings have no desire to see their home become like the rest of Athas. They are fierce and merciless in its defense, uncaring about the struggles and excuses of other races. Halflings’ bond with nature extends into most aspects of their culture. A shaman or witch doctor, who also acts as a spiritual leader, often rules their clans. This leader is obeyed without question. Halfling fighters willingly sacrifice themselves to obey their leader, leaving outsiders to perceive them as fanatics when halflings dearly love and enjoy life.
Exploring the Tablelands gives curious halflings the opportunity to learn other customs. Although they may at first have difficulty in understanding the numerous practices of the races of the Tablelands, their natural curiosity enables them to learn and interact with others. Other halflings may be criminals, renegades or other tribal outcasts, venturing into the Tablelands to escape persecution by their kin. Most tribes reject arcane magic, but a few have preserver chieftains who would sacrifice an entire tribe to keep one defiler out.
Athasian Halfling Traits
Halfling headhunters!Size
Halflings are small creatures, standing only about 3 1/2 feet tall and weighing 50 to 60 pounds.
Your size is small.
Age
Halflings reach adulthood at the same rate as humans and live to be about 120 years old.
Speed
Your base walking speed is 25 feet.
Ability score Increase
You gain +2 to either your Strength or Dexterity score, and you gain +2 to your Wisdom Score.
Savage attacks
On a critical hit with an weapon attack you deal two extra die of the weapons damage type as extra damage.
Fury of the small
When you damage a creature with an attack or a spell and the creature’s size is larger than yours, you can cause the attack or spell to deal extra damage to the creature. The extra damage equals your level. Once you use this trait, you can’t use it again until you finish a short or long rest.
Natural Knowledge
You gain proficiency in the Survival and Nature skills.
In addition, once per short rest you may take any poisonous plant life you find and create one of three unique poison's. These poison's can be applied to a weapon as a bonus action, if unused the poison's go inert in 8 hours. The save DC for your poison equals 8+ Proficiency bonus+ your wisdom modifier
-Boiling Blood: Target must succeed a CON save or take 3d6 fire damage, half damage on a success.
-Torpor: Target must succeed a CON save or become poisoned for 1d6 hours.
-Truth Serum: Target must succeed a CON save or be unable to tell a lie for 1 hour, as if under the effects of Zone of Truth.
Language
You know one city state language of your choice.
Halflings are one of the few races to have a language of their own, you know this as well.