Are Halflings/Hobbits in the world of Wesnoth?

[DMB]

Just wondering. We have Orcs, Elves, Dwarves, Drakes, Humans, Lizard Men and Ghosts and Goblins, but what about the other fantasy races? Are they just not native to the area of Wesnoth, and they exist elsewhere on the planet, or are those five races + 1 sub race + the unliving the only canon population of the planet?

I know they could be added as a simple faction add on but specifically lore friendly, lore approved wise, do Halflings exist? Do they possibly exist elsewhere, or do they just not exist in the world of Wesnoth period?

[Dugi]

I have never seen anybody even mentioning them. User made content has created fairies, elementals, demons, angels, biomechanical beasts, modern soldiers, divers, battle fishes, winged humans... all kinds of stuff, but never seen halflings mentioned.

[Turuk]

There was a topic a while back about them, and the Grafted Era contained halflings.

[Telchin]

First, I wouldn't use the term "hobbit" as IIRC it's considered property of Tolkien's estate, so other franchises have to use "halfling" or some other term.
Second, I'm not a developer, so my viewpoint might be irrelevant, but I don't see the point. They're essentially like humans, but short - a description which already matches the dwarves. Don't get me wrong, I read the Lord of the Rings multiple times and I know that it has both hobbits and dwarves. However, in LotR (and the Hobbit) halfling are viewpoint characters, backwater people in an epic fantasy world, stand-ins for contemporary humans in a setting where the actual humans (and elves) are closer to historical and/or mythological characters. In a game which already has campaings with both human and non-human characters this role seems redundant.
Also, I'm kind of sick of seeing the "Tolkienesque" races (elves, dwarves, orcs etc.) in like (almost) every fantasy franchise ever. This genre's name suggests using one's imagination, but for some reason people keep copying a sixty years old book. If I were to add new species to Wesnoth's world it would be probably something more exotic than just "short humans" (says the guy who made the cuttlefish campaign). That said I repeat that I'm not a developer, so my opinions might in the minority.

[Dixie]

On the topic of being creative with fantasy races, I find Lovecraft to be greatly inspiring. Documentaries on animals and plant life are also good places to get ideas; the oceanic depths are especially otherworldly (I seem to recall reading somewhere that oceanic depths had been one of Lovecraft's sources of inspiration, by the way). Granted, Lovecraft's work is set in a "modern" setting (early 20th century) and it is more horror than fantasy, but he's still being very creative about his creatures and peoples.

[Telchin]

@Dixie - I must admit I've never read Lovecraft. My campaign is deep sea based, but most units are more result of serendipity - what I needed for the gameplay and what was avaible in Wesnoth mainline (e.g. I wanted a fire damage unit, so I recolored the default cuttlefish orange and created a fire-breathing squid). I like watching or reading scientific documentaries though. In a world where many media tend to focus on the negative aspects of life it's refreshing to see a reminder that the world is a cool place and some people are actually doing something useful. (I apologize if I derail this thread too far from its intended topic.)

[Crow_T]

What would make a halfling unique? Maybe the upkeep would be halved? Maybe they could be elusivefoot? Maybe they could gain inspire at higher levels? The answer is sure they could exist, but what would make them unique as a race?

[Dixie]

An interesting UMC had a halfling faction which was made up of mostly LV0s, so it had a different gameplay as such.

EDIT:
Here is the faction

[Turuk]

There was a topic a while back about them, and the Grafted Era contained halflings.

An interesting UMC had a halfling faction which was made up of mostly LV0s, so it had a different gameplay as such.

EDIT:
Here is the faction

When our powers combine...

[DMB]

Neat. I obviously didn't know about that, but I actually drew up a rough draft of a potential Halfling faction (I do this a lot, I could fill a book with all the ideas I've made over a great number of topics and games) because I rediscovered an old gem, Age of Wonders, and it has a Halfling faction in it.

And I got a bit of inspiration, and came up with a faction very similar to the one you linked, minus the healer and armored Halfing, and in place a Mapper and Bard Halflings.

That then got me wondering if Halflings even existed in Wesnoth. And they apparently don't, officially. I think that's one thing I really like about Wesnoth; it's different. It doesn't try to reinvent the wheel or anything, but it doesn't go with your standard Tolkein fantasy approach. Dwarves are industrious and Elves are good with bows, but on the other hand Elves are weak to magic, and Dwarves are rather poor fighters in the open. I think one thing like the best is how Orcs are portrayed. They're not bloodthirsty savages, they're short tempered megalomaniacs who can create actual weapons and not rusty, broken weapons that somehow still work, and they can even plan! Meanwhile Trolls aren't just big green smelly swamp creatures, they're living rock instead. I'm actually glad Halflings don't exist officially in Wesnoth, it helps it stand out a little bit. Makes it more interesting.

[Dixie]

Sorry Turuk, glossed or forgot about your post, I guess