scriver wrote:Essentially giving LG two extra feats as in your suggestion makes them the better choice for sneaks, but it doesn't change that SH is still the self clear choice got every other kind of character, and it heavily unbalances LF towards other, non-halfling races as far as sneakers goes.
Whenever I encounter a Strongheart halfling in game, it is a sneak. Whenever someone asks help with a halfling build, it is a sneak. The exceptions to this rule are mostly just my own halfling characters. (Who are Dragon Slayers...)
As for this making the Lightfoot halflings the de facto sneak race:
- Grey Dwarves get +4 to Move Silently, along with all their racial immunites, and the free Invisibility spell.
- Thieflings get +2 to their Hide, on top of also being a +2 dexterity and intelligence race. Not to mention that the racial Darkness spell can be used to break line of sight these days on this server. The +2 to Bluff that Thieflings get also make them a good choice for feinters, even with their -2 to charisma.
Now, lore-wise, the most stereoptypical image of a Lightfoot halflings is that of a rogue. Especially a rogue that is tangled up with some thieves guild. Just read a random Forgotten Realms novel, and the chances are that a halfling mentioned is both a member of a thieves guild and a rogue.
Thus making Lightfoot halflings slightly better sneaks is in my opinion a lore based change. It does not twist the race into something that it is not, and in my opinion it should make the halflings population slightly more lore appropriate in the long run.
The server has already made a similar change in the past, namely by giving Gnomes +1 spell DCs with the Illusion School of spells. Prior to the third edition rules, gnome arcanists could only be Illusionists, and thus a Rock Gnome Illusionist stands roughly at the same line as a Sun Elf Illusionist. (Sun elf has more spells due to higher Intelligence.) While a Deep Gnome Illusionist is able to have that +1 to the Illusion spell DCs over a Sun Elf Illusionist.
Edit: Half-Elves and Half-Drow got the Elven Weapon Proficiency and the Skilled feats added in order to be a better mix of the two other races. Why else would anyone pick a half-elf, when humans used to have that extra feat and skill points over them, and the elves had the racial ability scores and superior perks and proficiencies?
Then there is the half-orcs, who got the Blooded for slightly improved reaction time and detection due to their orcish blood, and a +1 racial modifier to Constitution to help off-set the -2 modifier on both charisma and intelligence. Prior to this change, it made more sense to just roll an Earth Genasi even with their +1 ECL. Now, Half-Orcs are more or less on the same line, with something there to represent the stereotypical hot blooded nature.
