I was listening to a new (to me) D&D podcast (I’m in the process of trying some new ones by selecting sample episodes to see if I like them) and this particular episode was talking about halflings.
It was the reason I’d chosen it really considering I like playing halflings. And currently play a halfling wizard.
During the episode I couldn’t believe my ears when they mentioned a subrace of halflings called ghostwise. I really couldn’t believe them when the presenters said these halflings were telepathic! Wait, what?
So naturally I wanted to know more.
After a brief internet search I found out that the information I needed was in the Sword Coast Adventurer’s Guide.
In the side box that talks about the ghostwise it gives the following background for them. (This is quoted from the book itself)
“Ghostwise halflings trace their ancestry back to a war among halfling tribes that sent their ancestors into flight from Luiren. Ghostwise halflings are the rarest of the hin, found only in the Chondalwood and a few other isolated forests, clustered in tight-knit clans.
Many ghostwise clans select a natural landmark as the center of their territory, and members carry a piece of that landmark with them at all times. Clan warriors known as nightgliders bond with and ride giant owls as mounts.”
A halfling that rides on giant owls! OMG, that is soooo cool.
If your DM allows you play a ghostwise halfling, in addition to the other racial traits you get the following additional ones.
“Ability Score Increase. Your Wisdom score increases by l .
Silent Speech. You can speak telepathically to any creature within 30 feet of you. The creature understands you only if the two of you share a language.You can speak tele- pathically in this way to one creature at a time.”
Why isn’t this in the Player Handbook? I’d most definitely have been a ghostwise halfling if I’d known that was an option. Dram the telepathic wizard!
It would be great if all the halfling information was collected into one place. Between the Players Guide, Sword Coast Adventurer’s Guide and Mordenkainen’s Tome of Foes there is a lot of great background information about them. I imagine that all the races are in a similar situation.