Halfling

The Hearthguard

The first halflings awakened in the mist-veiled Darret region of Deus Augustus, in parallel to the humans of Yalgu. These childlike, diminutive people were among the first races to awaken on the continent. They began as a collection of nomadic tribes, but they were quick to master basic animal husbandry and agriculture; it was as if they were eager to settle down, as though homesteading were intrinsic to their nature. Halflings were initially content to live in hamlets and villages across the region, with their technology evolving slowly once their basic needs could be met with a bit of hard work and rapport with the land. However, late into the First Era, when Sheb made contact with the halflings, they learned ambition and the seeds of the Darret, the first kingdom of Halflings, were sown. But the shadow of ambition is greed, and this, too, they learned from Sheb...

Traits

The following traits are common to all halflings of Kraynor. You will also choose one of the variants below to complete your selection.

Appearance. Halflings retain a youthful appearance through most of their life; even into middle and old-age, they look more like tired and slightly wrinkly children than humans of similar maturity. They tend to have curly hair and ruddy skin, but different lineages can have different appearances. The Dimlight halflings, for example, tend to have skin in shades of darker browns, with their curly hair turning into coils.
Ability Score Increase. Your Dexterity score increases by 2.
Age. A halfling reaches adulthood at the age of 20 and generally lives into the middle of his or her second century.
Alignment. Most halflings are lawful good. As a rule, they are good-hearted and kind, hate to see others in pain, and have no tolerance for oppression. They are also very orderly and traditional, leaning heavily on the support of their community and the comfort of the old ways.
Size. Halflings average about 3 feet tall and weigh about 40 pounds. Your size is small.
Speed. Your base walking speed is 25 feet.
Lucky. When you roll a 1 on an attack roll, ability check, or saving throw, you can reroll the die. You must use the new result, even if it is a 1.
Brave. You have advantage on saving throws against being frightened.
Nimble. You can move through the space of any creature that is of a size larger than yours.
Languages. You can speak, read, and write Common and Halfling.

Variants

The halflings of Kraynor come in many varieties, with the majority falling under either the Lightfoot or Strongblood variants.

Lightfoot

Lightfoot Halfling

While all Halflings of Kraynor have deep roots and strong ties to family and friend, the lightfoot halflings are the type most likely to throw an impromptu party or gather their friends for a night of friendly debauchery. To a lightfoot halfling, home is a place of warmth and laughter; family is a state of mind, and the bigger the family, the better. There is a bit of mischief in the lightfoot blood, and a yearning for adventure. These things together create a type well-suited to the rogueish lifestyle.
Ability Score Increase. Your Charisma score increases by 1.
Naturally Stealthy. You can attempt to hide even when you are only obscured by a creature that is at least one size larger than you.

Strongblood

Strongblood Halfling

While on the surface Strongbloods may not seem as friendly as other halflings, their apparent sobriety comes from a place of deep love for kin and country. Strongblood halflings are the backbone of the Darret kingdom's military, and they form much of its nobility. Strongbloods have a strong sense of duty and propriety that shapes their social order; though the hierarchy of their kingdom and clans may seem overly rigid to the eyes of other races, no Strongblood halfling looks down on a man or hobbit for the circumstances of their birth. The principle of Noblesse Oblige, for example, is a duty that Strongblood nobles (such as the Highsaddle family of Dimlight) take quite seriously.
Ability Score Increase. Your Constitution score increases by 1.
We'll Carry On. Your quiet resolve never leaves you. When you are stunned, you do not take disadvantage on Strength saving throws and you can speak normally.
Corruption Resistance. You have resistance to necrotic damage.

Blackeye

Blackeye Halfling

Blackeye City, in the region of Darret, was founded by Ansible Blackeye, a hero known to legend as The Wandering Halfling. Common knowledge is that he has pledged service to the judge of souls, Yuross, in exchange for being exempt from judgment, and some halflings born in the city that bears his name also bear a small part of his blessings.
Ability Score Increase. Your Wisdom score increases by 1.
Blackeye's Shadow. When you roll a 1 on a death saving throw, it only counts as one failure, rather than two.

Shrouded

Shrouded Halfling

In the condemned region of Minnerond, the forest called the Shroud of the Saint is the ancestral home of a race of wild-haired and wide-eyed feral halflings. However, due to a cataclysm lost to living memory, there was once upon a time a diaspora of the Shroudlings, and their greatest villages are now in the Nightsun Forest of Dohas. Though they are nearly all cannibalistic, animalistic, and antagonistic to all outsiders, a few of them become fascinated with the outside world and wander off to the far corners of it to work as bounty hunters, assassins, or guides to the wild places of the world. However, those that leave the Nightsun stink of outsider and are never welcomed back.
Ability Score Increase. Your Constitution score increases by 1.
Alignment. Most Shroudlings are impulsive and near-constantly slightly intoxicated by the consumption of various forest-herbs and substances. As such, they lean toward chaotic alignments. While they are normally xenophobic and cannibalistic, this is mostly an issue of nurture rather than nature. They lean towards neutrality on the axis of good and evil.
Poison Acclimation. You have resistance to poison damage and immunity to Shroudling Poison.
Poison-Lore. You know how to make Shroudling Poison from common ingredients and you have a pouch that can hold up to 10 doses of this poison. Given an hour to forage in an area with common plants, you can create one dose of this poison. Alternatively, you can buy 50g worth of innocuous ingredients to make one vial of Basic Poison.

Shroudling Poison. You may smear a bit of this fruity-smelling blue paste onto a weapon, a natural weapon, or a unit of ammunition as a Bonus action. When you strike an enemy with a poisoned weapon, they must succeed on a DC 10 Constitution saving throw or take 1d4 poison damage. Shroudling Poison retains potency for 30 minutes after being applied.

Update Log

12/21/21: Blackeye: Removed Blackeye's Blessing and buffed Blackeye's Shadow.
Shrouded: Reworked completely with the same poison theme.