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| Inspired by this and this and I guess this and this. |
Instead of tying your bonuses to which specific values took the hit when you rolled up your pawn I'm just going to give you a list. You have up to 6 pts to spend, 1 for each shitty ability score. None of these effects improve as you level and you can't choose any of them more than once. If your scores are reduced below 6 later in game you do not get new abilities, but neither do you lose these abilities should your scores later improve.
Speaking of leveling: if you are part of any successful adventure or perilous scrape that results in a member of your party leveling up then you level up. You don't track XP and certainly not gold for XP because. Your fortune is the fortune of others. You may still only advance to 8th level.
At 8th level you gain any 3 Hobbit powers you don't already have, are free to establish your own private Estate and attract a bunch of distant relatives to live on your lands, are considered fluent in the language of any creature you met in your journeys, and may choose to Retire. Retirement is important because you can come out of retirement ONCE and be treated like a level 16 Fighter by those around you, also gaining equivalent to-hit and save benefits.
The effects you get to choose from are:
Charming Manner:
Escapist: Like "shields shall be splintered" without the shield; if you can explain how being little, thinking carefully, or leaps of faith might have spared you from what might have been a disastrous magical effect, hazard, or killing blow, then congratulations - you made it. Usable once per day. You can expend your use for the day to conveniently be able to wriggle out of bonds or through bars or whatever and get away, so long as there is the narrative possibility.
Barrel Rider: You gain a swim speed equal to the fastest land speed in the party, can hold your breath for at least 2 minutes, and do not suffer check/attack roll penalties associated with being underwater.
Forager: You have a 3/6 chance of finding enough food to feed the party in wilderness or grassland, 2/6 in a city, 1/6 in a dungeon.
Bravery: Whenever a fight breaks out you may elect to suffer from Fear, as the spell, and immediately make a saving throw, making a save at the top of each round. If you save against this effect then you may consider enemies you engage this round to be under the effects of Fear for a number of rounds equal to what you experienced, minimum 1, no save.
Christina Ricci: If you wander away from the party for one Exploration Round and are not immediately accosted or killed then you may rejoin the party at any point by declaring yourself to be inside something nearby, like a chest or barrel or cabinet or monster corpse. You do not have to explain how you got there, it just has to be barely big enough for you to fit into; rooms, closets, wagons, etc are not a suitable use for this.
Plain Hobbit Sense: You always use your best/lowest save when dealing with mind-affecting magic/effects unless the source of that mind alteration is beer or drugs, in which case you are a lightweight and take any penalties for the effects after one dose.
Redecorating: You make anywhere you sleep more homey. A Hobbit camp lets everyone who rests there regain 1 extra HP cumulative per night they and the Hobbit have slept there/settled in. If your players automatically reset to max HP after a night's rest, don't, but if you do anyway then add this bonus instead to the first healing the characters receive between safe night's rests, under the logic that a morning's invigoration puts one on the right foot throughout the day. Add 1 to the odds of a wandering monster check when Hobbit camping in the wilderness or dungeon.
Overlooked: Your enemies who ambushed your party literally just don't look down and see you. You never act in a surprise round but are never targeted, unless you are alone.
Hustler: Hobbits are passingly familiar with most common games and better at learning new games. If a Hobbit engages a NPC in a game as a distraction or tries to cheat at the game they add their level to the attempt.
Dressed For Movement: Hobbits dress for comfort and like lots of layers, because it's like taking a blanket with you. The first missile attack targeting a Hobbit always makes a hole in their clothes but leaves them unscathed, although arrows and bolts will pin them in place. When falling this has a 1/10 chance of snagging them halfway down the fall, but when climbing it has a 1/10 chance of snagging them and causing a fall.
Far From Home: A reminder of your life back home - being able to score your favorite tobacco, hearing someone else sing an old folk song, running into another Hobbit - eases your homesickness so much that it can overcome the effects of game elements like level drain or sanity loss, and in the presence of these players who are cursed or wield a cursed object are not affected by this curse. All these examples have a limited shelf life/benefit proximity so you're not untouchable but you can endure the strange foreign lands you encounter a bit better.
A Bit O' The Drink: You respond well to a little liquid hospitality. A tall warm pint reinvigorates you as from a night of rest.
Sworn to Carry Your Burdens: Magic or cursed items never count toward your encumbrance.
Friendship is Magic: If there is another Hobbit or halfling (meh) in the party you are each +1 AC. If there are three Hobbits (but not halflings) in the party you each gain +2 to hit. If there are Hobbits, FOUR Hobbits, in the party then you all gain +1 Constitution. If this puts your Constitution above 7 you do not lose your existing abilities.
Hillfolk: You wayfind and identify herbal, fruiting, or decorative flora as a Ranger of the same level, or 3/6 chance. You also have a 95% chance of tracking foxes and sheep.
Reputable: Your exploits have a life of their own, even if you toil in obscurity. Once per session you can confer a boastful title upon yourself, your allies, or one of your carried weapons.This duplicates the effect of an NPC's failed Morale check.
Bill: Any ponies you ever own gain +2HP every time you level and can Hear Noise/Search and Hide/Move in Shadows/Sneak as a Thief/Specialist of your current level. You may also use a Thief/Specialist's Climb rating to keep your saddle or navigate difficult terrain with this pony. They gain Morale 12 while you are alive.
Rally Monkey: When you suffer damage from a critical hit your allies benefit as if from a surprise round on the next round of combat.
That Dank Shit: You can always find pipe weed when shopping, and you (and only you) can always exchange pipe weed for spell casting or alchemical services.
