Halfling Martial Arts

[Michael Hopcroft]

This is going to sound like a very off-the-wall question, but what sorts of martial arts can a halfling learn? I know Tolkien hobbits scorned martial pursuits, but halflings in the campaign world I am imagining are more involved in the world and do not foolishly scorn the need for self-defense.

However, what can bodies that small be trained to do in the way of disdging physical attacks, striking opponents (I doubt they can be trained to leap very high or far, so flying kicks are right out!) or using melee weapons?

[AnotherSkip]

Erm how about a flying kick to the opponents groin?
sorry but to put it mildly there is no sense in limiting the character for fluffy reasons.

However my barbarian Halfling fighter has a Grunt and strike manuver, with a Rear strike special manuver (you dont want to know.........)


limit the character to only what the rules actually limit the players and remember, Bilbo Baggins jumped right over Gollum with no athletic training in The Hobbit...

[Monolith]

I would go along with AnotherSkip's concepts. I would think a halfling's martial arts would involve a great deal of low-blows as well as maneuvers to trip and even hamstring opponents. I think there would be few male warriors who would not grimace at the thought of going up against a halfling in a knife fight. :)

[Killer Shrike]

Consider taking Martial Arts with a limitation "Only usable in conjunction with 1 other with same Manuevers (-1)" and "Required Teamwork Skill Roll" (-1/2) for some really cheap manuevers. Concentrate on "weak" manuevers, ie avoid the direct strikes and go light on exert manuevers, concentrating on NNDs, Martial Flash, Legsweep, Dodge, Escapes etc.

Basically, 2 or more Halflings working together could beat some serious ass

For a broader based Halfling out in the big folks world, just take Requires Teamwork Skill Roll.

[tkdguy]

Let's see... Halflings... small size, reputed to be good at archery and thrown object, usually know their home area like the backs of their hands.

Sounds like they'd be great at guerilla warfare, especially if they shape their land to create lots of places to ambush outsiders. Maybe you have great strength and are the greatest swordsman in the world. But try to invade halfling lands, and you'll never have the chance to flaunt your virtues. You'll never even get close.

[Ternaugh]

Well,

A long time ago, A GM gave me a pre-generated character that fit right into this discussion: a genuine Ninja Halfling. Lots of stealth, lots of pointy things (caltrops, throwing stars, and the like), and a tendency to borrow anything not nailed down too well (especially food and drink). The other players nicknamed his fighting style as "Death from Below" :D

Just remember to adjust the Hit Location Chart accordingly.

JoeG

[Dauntless]

Well, realistically, there's nothing to prevent a Halfling style not to be similar to other human martial arts. If they had a warlike history against their own species, then they would have developed martial arts with attacks for similar sized opponents....meaning against humans they would probably get 2d+7 for most hit location rolls. If they had to battle it out against other larger races, then they would have had to adapt accrodingly.

What would be the best style for a small opponent against a larger one? An internal style similar to Aikido, TaiChi, Bagua or Piqua would be good. Styles which are good at joint locks would also be good since some joints don't require that much leverage force to be manipulated to the point of pain (a good thing for a small less muscular race). Finally, a style which emphasizes ground fighting and throwing would be good....since a Halfling's lower center of gravity would be a boon.

Also, it's harder to fight smaller opponents than you'd think. A larger opponent who doesn't know how to kick will have to punch or swing lower, meaning they shift their center of gravity more off center (leading to easier throws). Therefore Halfling styles would probably develop good kick type defenses (legsweeps, ankle or knee locks, etc).

OTOH, Halfling styles would avoid hard style blocks since they don't have the strength to beat back a stronger opponents blow. Instead they will concetrate on dodging, and follow-up manuevers (a grab taken with the "followed by" dodge to simulate ducking out of a punch and intercepting the fist). Also, since Halflings will have shorter reaches, they must also close-in to grappling range with their attacker, meaning they will have to learn some very good escapes in case they get grabbed. Acrobatics would be very useful as it would make Halfling martial artists even harder to hit than they already would be (and having a lower center of gravity and being smaller...they should be slightly better at it than humans).

For weapon elements, I think a Halfling would have two choices. Either they could be good at long range weapons to keep larger-sized opponents at bay (a "long staff" for them might be a short jo-staff to a human), or they may go to the logical conclusion that since in unarmed combat they have to get in really close, they may as well get good at "brawling" style weapons....things we'd think of as brass knuckles, daggers, cestus gloves and the like. They may also prefer throwing weapons (to keep opponents at bay) or indirect weapons (like chained, roped or sectional weapons) which are harder for opponents to block...since strong opponents would be able to block Halfling sized weapons with greater ease (the size of the weapon may be smaller, but the force is weaker behind the blow)

[OddHat]

Crossbow, spear and dagger. Punji sticks, tripwires and poison darts. Humans don't use their fists to take on bears (with a very few exceptions) and yet the bear is not going to be the winner in a fight with a prepared human. A human army in halfling teritory is going to spend half of their time falling into concealed pits filled with sharpened stakes and the other half taking casualties from sniper fire; sniper fire aimed low.
A halfling unfortunate enough to get into close quaters with a human had best be carrying a short, sharp knife and know how to use it.

Of course this is Hero system. There's no reason why your NPC Halflings can't have 20 STR, 20 Dex, and an Offensive stike with 4 extra DC. A 12d6 kick should put that damn human barabarian in his place...

[gewing]

Many years ago I saw a set of expansion rules in Dragon or somewhere about a halfling martial art. IIRC the name translated as "Surprise and Smash"

I would tend to have them start with a legsweep or other takedown, then either a killing or NND grab (don't ask where) or maybe a disable element grab. I keep thinking about my 5'4" friend the mixed martial artist, who could take somebody down and cripple them so fast it isn't scary, it is terrifying!

Lots of oportunities, as stated, for "ninja" like tricks. I would think they would be well served by Bolas or lariats, particularly in groups. Maybe the Flying Guillotine.
Blow guns, spears, slings, bows, Stillettos, Bundi,

Very potentially frightening.

[AnotherSkip]

Erm the thing is that any Halfling martial arts would also be usable by kobolds and if you have Tuckers Koblods they dont need them.

[lemming]

Also in terms of martial arts:
I'm 6'8" and have dealt with sparring matches against much shorter opponents. The was a 5' blackbelt that if I kept her away from me, I had an advantage, but if she was in her knee-elbow strike range, I was in severe trouble.

Now that we have the real world example done with...

Generally, the shorter person's only disadvantage is reach. They'll probably be weaker, but that's covered by other parts of the Hero system.

I haven't gone further into the FH book, but there are probably rules for short/long weapons. A halfling is just going to be a bit shorter of a weapon, with whatever is inherent.

[Shadowpup]

I could see a lot of low blows included in their arts. Of course it also depends on their exposure to humans. If they have lots of experience with the human world then they will likely think of ways to defeat a human sized oponent.

I think a common trait among halflings is that they really hate to lose. So they will use every dirty trick to win. Foot smashes/stabs, hamstringing, trips, kneecapping, throws, etc.

[Enforcer84]

and definately a legsweep or trip maneuver.

[Nightfly]

Ahem, are halflings shorter than Yoda?

Cuz Yoda (in Ep.II) sure had no prob fightin, flippin, etc

[Alibear]

I think that disabling techniques specifically aimed at knees and hamstrings would be "high up" on the list.

[AnotherSkip]

no no no no no no no no

"high up" on the list would be having the unnaturally stretched races "singing soprano" if'n you catch my drift......

Kneecapping and Hamstringing are definately "middle of the road....