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- Stouts are not as common as their cousins, the Hairfeet, but they
are nonetheless a populous and widespread subrace. They are about
the same height as Hairfeet, averaging an inch or two below 3',
but much stockier — indeed, a typical Stout weighs half again
as much as the average Hairfoot. This girth is not all fat, however
— Stouts are more muscular than any other halfling and tend to
regularly best their kin in the wrestling contests that are a
favorite Stoutish entertainment.
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Stout halfling
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Ruddier in complexion than the other subraces, Stouts tend to
blush easily when pleased or embarrassed and flush bright red
when angry. Their hair color tends to be on the light side, with
blondes and sandy reds predominating; their eyes are blue, gray,
and green. Unlike Hairfeet and Tallfellows, male Stouts can grow
some facial hair, although not full beards; usually it takes the
form of unusually thick sideburns or muttonchops. Mustaches are
rare, and the few able to grow them are often inordinately proud
of their accomplishment.
- Stouts favor sturdy garb, commonly made of well-cured leather.
They prefer practicality to appearance, and thus the members of
a community tend to dress with an almost drab sameness. However,
a Stout will try to make a point of having a brightly colored
outfit of exotic material (such as cotton, wool, or, rarely, silk),
for use on special occasions. They often wear boots, which are
really more like thick moccasins that offer good protection from
the rocky or marshy ground typically under Stoutish feet.
- These halflings tend to segregate themselves from human society
more than do Hairfeet, preferring the company of dwarves. Stouts
and dwarves mix very readily, and their communities will often
be located near to each other. Military and defensive alliances
between the two races are common and prosperous trading is also
the norm.
- Stoutish villages will generally be in hilly or rocky regions
near good fishing waters and well-watered fields. They are the
only halflings with any affinity for mining and they are quite
good at it. They often develop bustling businesses from the excavation
of minerals. Stouts can also be skilled jewelers, stonemasons,
builders, smiths, boatmen, and carvers. They are lackluster farmers
at best, except where mushrooms are concerned, and as merchants
they excel primarily at selling the products of the above trades.
- Preferring underground habitation more than any other halfling
subrace, a Stout will typically live in a fully-excavated burrow.
He or she will have several round, shuttered windows placed in
a few walls to let in light and air, but the overall place will
be cooler, darker, and somewhat damper than a Hairfoot home.
- The most industrious of halflings, a Stout can accomplish a great
deal of work in a short time. They make doughty soldiers, and
their infravision (60' range) gives them a great advantage in
night-fighting. They are skilled swimmers and boatmen and have
used small, slender canoes with great effect in night attacks
against larger vessels.
- With a typical life expectancy of more than 130 years, Stouts
are not considered adults until they reach 30 years of age. The
eldest of the race have been known to exceed two centuries in
age.
- Stout halflings speak the Common Halfling tongue and a Dwarven
language of their choice as a native languages and have standard
skill in the Trade Tongue. The may spend skill points at first
level to learn the languages of dwarves (other dialects), elves,
gnomes, goblins, humans and orcs.
- Stouts have 60' infravision and gain 120 skill points which may
be used to develop the detect sloping passages and detect direction
underground racial detection skills.
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