Halfling Burrows - An in depth guide

[Larry Shortoak 297]

Halfling Guide to Burrow building!

So with the change of maps, the halflings are once again forced to build their cozy, little burrows for their family. However, many of you reading this may not know how to make one of the nicer looking burrows.

This guide aims to change that... Hopefully.

If it doesn't, please give feedback on how to improve the guide.

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There are three main rules to follow when building your burrow.

- Make it cozy, remember, you are short.

- Circular, this will be explained later.

- And an obvious one, covered by dirt.

 

Cozy : Your burrow must be cozy, who wants to have a nice sip of their tea if they don't feel like they are at home. If you are wondering what I mean by cozy then pay attention. If your burrow is too spacious, such as wide hallways or tall ceilings, then you are asking for bigguns to come and cause trouble. A halfling should build their burrow depending on the size of their family, no halfling should have too much room to use.

Spoiler

See how in this image, the burrow is small and compact, it gives it a small feel to it, making it feel more Halfling.

Circular : Burrows should be rounded, this means your rooms should not have sharp corners like those pesky bigguns running around in their fancy cities. Check the picture below for an example.

Spoiler

In this image you can see how the burrow is rounded, even in a small room such as this the room has been brought to a point by curving it in with slabs, this could also be done with stairs if done right.

Covered by Dirt : If your burrow has some of your wood showing from above, it is just a poorly roofed house, and Halflings live in burrows, if you see wood or your burrow from above, cover it.

Spoiler

In this image, you can see the burrow has been covered by a layer of dirt with no wood visible other than the glass skylights, this is an effective way to light up a room.

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Standard Building Procedures

Most burrows tend to have between 3-6 rooms, this obviously depends on the size of the family and how much space you have. Your burrow will usually consist of two to three larger rooms and one bedroom for whoever you decide. You may have more like I said depending on your family or other exceptional circumstances, please ask your neighbors or Elders before expanding near another burrow. A large room is classified as any room more than or equal to 12x12 blocks.

 

Common Rooms a Halfling might include

- A bedroom

- Living room (Often where the fireplace goes, and yes, a fireplace is a necessity)

- Entry room/Hallway 

- Dining room, eating room etc

- Storage room (However we have a storage burrow, make use of that instead if possible)

- A small little study/library

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A standard burrow will usually consist of two large rooms, often being the entry room and living room with two smaller rooms often consisting of a bedroom and personal choice depending on your persona.

Attempt to plan out your burrow prior to building, this helps to save you time later on if you don't like what you have created. This could include placement of doors, windows, fireplace, room placement etc.

Walls would typically be made from wooden planks, exceptions can be made if you have made a storage room for your ale/wines and you're known to spills. Often, however not always common is that your planks, usually being slabs will be placed upon a sturdy log.

Your floors should always be covered in either wooden planks or some colorful wool, this is much easier with the addition of carpets. 

Your ceilings should be rounded from the outside and upwards in the middle to make it more circular, this is common in burrows and should be attempted. 

Below you will find what is a big no no.

Spoiler

See how in this image the ceiling isnt rounded, the burrow is too spacious and the color is all the same. Makes it boring, and hard to look at. Burrows need more than one singular large room with a flat ceiling and one color. FOLLOW THE STEPS!

(Sorry for publicly shaming whoever built this)

After your construction, your burrow should be covered in a layer of dirt, this is to make it look more natural, make sure to terraform the outside, otherwise it will ruin the inconspicuous look you were going for. After you have covered your burrow you can decorate the outside by planting trees, grass, haybales, etc.

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There are a number of steps you should try to follow to make your burrow building process run as smoothly as possible!

Step 1 : Dig the floor out and make a plan. Decide where you want each room, you can make your rooms at different levels but don't go crazy.

Spoiler

Step 2 : You can either decide to slab the floors or make the floors full blocks, it is up to you, but build your flooring, you can change plank type to give it some variety and a little bit of color. In this step you also want to place your door and entry point and decide on where you want your fireplace to go.

Spoiler

Step 3 : Here you want to build your walls, keep in mind you want the ceiling to be close to your head as well as wanting your ceiling to curve to be rounded. So aim for your walls to be 2-3 blocks and round it from there. With your walls you can either have them as normal planks or try to 'spice' it up a bit by making shelves with stairs or slabs.

Spoiler

Step 4 : Finish off your burrow's fireplace by completing the chimney and finishing the decorations of the fireplace. ALL burrows must have a fireplace.

Spoiler

Step 5 : Place dirt over your completed work, bonemeal it, trees or haybales or whatever you want, add those now.

Spoiler

Step 6 : Decorations. This is more of a personal touch, this should be easy, you will need a bed, chests, workstations, windows, dining table, carpet, paintings, flower pots, bookcases, etc. This is up to you and there are plenty of people who would be willing to help if you asked.

Spoiler

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Notes

- Small basements are alright, they can be used to store your ale/wine or be used for storage, however do not make these too large for fear of a cave in.

- No two burrows should be identical, you may gather ideas from others, but you need to make yours different for your persona.

- Different rooms can be different elevations, this can be done through the use of a staircase.

- Use wooden slabs/stairs to assist in rounding out your ceiling, remember, make it rounded.

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Once again, credit to cmack1028 who originally wrote the guide and who is one of the best burrow builders (And Matt011011) and his burrow where I took most of the images.

Thank you to zach211w who didnt let me show you his burrow layout.

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[Starfelt 1437]

Really cool guide Larry! #LarryForPrez

[Taketheshot 3834]

I love how my old unfinished burrow was the bad example XD

[Sky 0]

Before this guide I was an idiotic druid, and now... Well I am still that, but at least I can build Halfling burrows somewhat well now. Ye!

[sneLf 314]

:D This makes me want to make a halfling...This makes me feel cheerful!

[Gladuos 869]

Definitely not inspired by my lack of building prowess and proceeding complaints. Good guide though!

+1 Haha

[cmack1028 549]

you've done it again lare-bear

[MangoArt 399]

Woot woot. Great guide.

[Matt011011 166]

Cough cough