The general lack of a rat-people race has been, to me at
least, one of the oddities of D&D/Pathfinder. Maybe it’s because wererats and (the original, more doglike)
kobolds squeak-blocked them out of the action—when you wanted a small verminous
race, you were covered already. Admittedly,
3.0’s Oriental Adventures had the
excellent, Taint-resistant nezumi, but that was about it. But thanks to the Bestiary 3, that gap is now filled.
Maybe because of our ambivalence to rats—we hate them in our
houses, but love them as pets, and are about 50/50 when it comes to fictional
ones (NIMH, Redwall, etc.)—it makes sense that Pathfinder’s ratfolk are neutral
traders and scavengers. If you want
benevolent ratfolk, there are all the elements here to make them savvy nomads
and tinkerers; if you prefer malevolent rodents, there are all the elements
here for a race of shysters, fences, and scammers. Even their swarming ability works both ways—are they
excellent battle partners adept at defending their homes, or a chittering horde
that can strike twice as often as other races?
Yes, they make good PCs, too—in which case, you’ll almost
definitely want the Advanced Race Guide. Oh, and if you do want to bring wicked,
verminous ratfolk (dare I say…Skaven?) to life in your Pathfinder
campaign? ARG still has you covered—the gulch gunner and plague bringer
archetypes fit the bill very nicely.
Chasing down the
gnomish murderer Staggerwhite means going into the ghettos and tunnels of
the ratfolk. This is easier said
than done. Staggerwhite has many
friends among the rodent-people, and even those who revile him are in no mood
to have their doings scrutinized by Big Folk. Accidents happen in the dark, especially when the giant
draft rats are hungry…
Cobbleson stumbled
upon a rare glowing gold coin, only to trade it away for his favorite
obsession, a new wand. (The ratfolk
has no talent as a spellcaster but relies on his natural Use Magic Device
skill). It soon turns out this
latest “wand” is actually a magical rod that lets him influence others’
minds. But now he’s in real
trouble: A sewer dragon (a half-black dragon river drake) wants the coin
returned, the skulk who sold the rod is having second thoughts, and when
Cobbleson starts charming others to
fight his battles for him, people start dying.
Few travelers brave
the trade route known as Ribbon of Silk, save for ratfolk caravans. These travelers all look the same to
most men, but keen observers will be able to tell family and tribe apart based
on the instruments their bards play and by the eidolons they summon. Further south, the ratfolk of the Talon
Sea are far less benign, being consummate sailors (typically of a piratical
bent), rogues, and poisoners.
—Pathfinder Bestiary 3
231
When I was a sophomore in college, I spent a month living in
the YMCA on W. 63rd St. in Manhattan.
Every day we would take a train to the Bronx to tutor and
student-teach. Once Brian came
bursting in and said, “I went all the way to the front of the train and the
conductor let me sit with him. You
can see rats scampering across the tracks ahead of the train!”
Having some familiarity with the tiny rodents of Boston’s
Red Line, I said, “Are you sure they weren’t mice?”
Brian said, “These were the size of cats, had red eyes, and
one of them shouted at me, ‘Remember NIMH!’ I’m pretty sure they were rats.” Touché.
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