So I noticed something weird... I made a halfling bard with a +3 Dexterity modifier. I didn't give her any ranks in Move Silently, yet when I look at her list of skills, she has a +7 total for that skill. The game manual says that halflings get a +2 to Move Silently, but it looks like that information is incorrect. Just to be sure, I loaded one of the pre-made parties with a halfling character in it, and sure enough, he too apparently had a +4 bonus.

The odd thing is that every guide I've been able to find online repeats the official line that halflings get a +2 bonus to Move Silently. Surely I can't be the only person who's ever noticed this discrepancy! Or is there some alternative explanation?

Game manuals are often incorrect. Online guides are frequently incorrect, and invariably suspect, since they're usually copy/paste material. A fully patched game should be your guide in this.

Oh, absolutely. I'm just honestly surprised that, as long as the game's been out and as many people have picked apart the mechanics and written walkthroughs and powergaming tips, there's no mention of this error online (as far as I can find, and I tried several different Google searches).