Ratfolk thread?
Ratfolk thread.
Here's something I found on short notice.
>>47814942
Since Don Bluth is getting back into it, perhaps this suggestion will lead to incredibly enriched childhoods.Hey, I'd fund it.
>>47815186
Damn it, glitched and lost the pic.
Here it is.
>>47814942
>>47815300
> slices of cheese pinned to the board
d'awwww
>>47815309
I'm tellin ya man, them ratfolk live big.
>>47815339
Where did that Skaven found an AdMech robe?
>>47815354
Dunno, probably from this cashed-up crow.
close enough, yeah?
>>47814942
>>47815122
>>47815202
>>47815300
>>47815339
>>47815656
>Wuts diz shit?
>No glorious skaven?
I'm sorry
>>47815959
so so sorry.
What do you like to stress running rat people?
Dirty sewer scavenging practical thieves?
Endless hordes of teamworking bastards?
Sneaky fuckers with a back way into anywhere?
Universally hated survivalists?
I generally find there's a lot of overlap with kobolds unless a deliberate contrast is made.
The truth about rats, of course, is that they are almost exactly the opposite of how they are portrayed; ESPECIALLY when it comes to Skaven.
Skaven
>Filthy, diseased, live in filth and muck
>Backstabbing bastards, care only about themselves and trusts nobody
>ugly
Actual rats
>Extremely cleanly and groom each other constantly
>Sociably, friendly, in laboratory tests will refuse food items if they know it hurts another rat; empathetic thinking
>Supreme QTs
ah ratfolk, the englishmen of fantasy races.
They can always go one way or another.
>>47816374
Whats funny to me, is that that the Skaven description actually perfectly describes how rabbits live.
Shittiest parents.
>>47816374
Yeah, I always feel bad about how rat-folk are done in fantasy games. I've a pair of pet rats who are the most chilled out, adorable fuckers who cuddle up next to one another in my lap to take naps during the afternoon.
Still, I think Skaven are pretty neat, just for mad science and treachery.
>>47816426
Read Rats and Gargoyles.
Receive weird religious philosophy and aristorats.
???
Profit.
It all depends on how the setting runs them.
>>47816374
Norwegian Sea Rats would like to have a word with you.
>Now reading up on the Indian rat temple.
Neat!
>>47816652
The what?
>>47816693
An Indian temple where 20,000 rats reside and live where they are cared for and sacredly worshipped and fed.
Allegedly it's got something to do with an Indian goddess reincarnation's son dying in accidentally, and when she pleaded with the god to bring him back, she said no, but will allow him and all of the sons her and her own to now reincarnate as rats, as a result, they're worshipped there.
To eat something one of the rats has chewed is considered an honour, and if you kill one of the rats, the price is replacing it with a solid silver one. Apparently theres never been a case of disease outbreak, and they're all rather friendly.
>>47816718
Can I get a name for the temple?
>>47816748
Karni Mata Temple
>>47816748
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karni_Mata_Temple
More Rats!
>>47815202
>>47815186
>>47816826
Holy crud, it might be happening:
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/dragon-s-lair-returns#/
>>47815202
>>47815656
I don't think this weapon can be fired properly due to the trigger being that far forward. The firing mechanism also looks kind of weird. It seems to be lacking a flashpan.
>>47816374
>ratfolk portrayed as gangly, long-limbed creeps
>constantly tauted as the only proper portrayal by people afraid of furries
In reality, rats are fairly plump.
And, like you said, they're smart, clean and sociable. I used to have rats as a kid, and one thing I enjoyed doing was sticking my finger in their regular washing routine. They'll actually start washing your finger. It's hilarious.
The most "realistic" depiction of ratfolk would probably be one of perfumed fops who like good food and intelligent discourse, and scoff at other races for being filthy buggers who wash themselves, at most, only once a day.
>>47816404
How DO rabbits live?
>>47820100
read Watership Down.
>>47816039
>Dirty sewer scavenging practical thieves?
>Endless hordes of teamworking bastards?
>Sneaky fuckers with a back way into anywhere?
>Universally hated survivalists
none of these things apply to real life rats. See >>47816374
>>47816374
>>47816039
>>47817379
To be completely honest, the Burmecians (!) and to some extent the Ratfolk of Pathfinder are probably the closest we will get to ratfolk who are like rats.
I'd really like a civilization of engineer ratfolk to appear in one of my games.
>>47820474
Well there are the reverse Skaven in the Bizarro Warhammer verse.
>Separated into clans
>One is devoted to creating safe technology for their race, often employing dangerous methods to push the boundaries of engineering.
>>47821277
Speaking of which, whatever happened to it?
>>47815300
Does he flip to become a 3/2 flying Rat Cheese hybrid?
>>47816718
Not quite anon.
>Karni Mata has a problem with Death
>Death is being a dick and won't help
>Karni throws a hissy fit
>"You'll get none of my followers then!"
>Makes it so all of her followers automatically reincarnate as rats
My pet ratties are currently running around my lap as we speak. Best pets.
I was playing a Ratfolk psychic in my last Pathfinder game. Was pretty fun.
>>47814942
Was Ink-Eyes in Legend of the Five Rings, or just the MtG cards I'm seeing as I google the name? I have a distant memory of something along those lines, although Lot5R is weirdly conflicted as to whether its PCs are adventurers or generic extras who watch the important things happen to other people and meeting a cool rat-ninja-stripper is the sort of thing that only happens to adventurers.
Also, obligatory reminder that Freya deserved much better than she got in FF9.
>>47825091
LotFR has Nezumi, but no Ink-Eyes Cameo.
requesting ratfolk with turbans/desert settings, need to find some for my desert dwelling necromancer. Hell ratfolk necromancer will do, if you have any.
>>47815950
>>47815977
>>47822685
Kinda petered out. Life stuff got in the way of the writers and no one new stepped in to fill the gaps in crunch and fluff.
>>47825674
How about Mole Rats in Arabic or at least Magreeb looking dress? I can imagine that such clothing would be an advantage to them if they achieved sapience and desired to move around readily on the surface.
You could also have Afghan/Central Asian looking Gerbils.
I'm kind of fond of the idea of fierce little Grasshopper mice dressed like Apaches, and/or some form of Kangaroo rats with southwestern native dress.
>>47826041
How would /tg/ feel if it was brought back?
>>47828120
I don't think they would mind.
>>47814942
Is there a ratfolk race stated out in 3.5?
>>47828390
There's one for pathfinder, the Nezumi from rokugan d20, and probably a few others.
You can also easily just make your own to emphasise what you want to do with them.
>>47814942
WHAT-WHAT ARE THOSE BREEDERS DOING?
THE SEER WILL WANT-DESIRE TO KNOW-KNOW OF THIS!
>>47816374
Skaven actually closely reflect how rats are in situations of extreme overpopulation.
when will this meem ever die
>>47828739
They closely reflect humans in extreme overpopulation.
>>47828750
When people like you stop posting. ;)
>>47828695
The same thing this one is doing.
>>47825091
How come rat-men seem like they are in every Asian-inspired setting, even though they aren't?
>>47822731
SOMEONE NEEDS TO DRAW THE TRANSFORMED VERSION- DELIVERER OF SQUEAKRETS
>>47828120
I'd be all for it. At least then I'd know where to start with lore.
>>47832236
Probably because Asia actually has a mythical spot for rats besides 'disease filled parasites'
>>47816394
>ratfolk, the englishmen of fantasy races.
I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks this...
Adding some love with my Nezumi 5e homebrew.
>>47824775
>Best pets.
With those short lifespans? No way.
One of my ex's had rats, they were awesome but no way would I get a pet that at most will only be around for 2-3 years
>>47832860
I like it, although that probably means it's a bit beefy.
Still, I like that At Home In Shadow doesn't make them any better at being a Rogue than an actual Rogue. Seems like a fun race to play a sneaky Fighter or Wizard with.
>>47815908
There is a surprising lack of skaven rule 34
>>47814942>Ink-eyes & Freya
Brain, no.
>Ink-eyes x Freya
Goddamnit brain.
>>47836109
Rat girls are for penetration.
>>47814942
Anything other than Skaven is a shit
>>47832236
Related pic.
>>47814942
>>47814942
What does anon think of Redwall?
>>47839654
>Dangit, can't see anything through this hood
>Maybe if I just look big and intimidating, they'll run away
>>47816394
>>47841958
Heresy. Tau Skaven is the best way to go.
>>47814942
>>47842258
>>47842258
>>47842821
>>47842821
That tyrannid trophy is ace.
Shame the pictures are such low quality.
>>47843110
There's even more.
>>47844061
So, if I wanted to talk about designing (fluff & crunch-wise) a Burmecian-inspired ratfolk race for a D&D setting I'm putting together, would this be a thread to do it in, or should I get out of here?
>>47840624
It was my favorite book series as a kid. I can still hum the opening theme music from the cartoon it had on PBS for a while.
>>47844901
Do it. Though, why you wouldn't use halflings is beyond me.
>>47844553
>>47844901
Go for it.
+dex, -???, speed boost, heat resistance?
>>47845312
Why halflings?
>>47845312
>>47847776
Not really Burmecians, per se, but ratfolk in general.
Though, if you think about it, you could just tweak the Elf stats a little to make a Burmecian.
>>47847876
Well, what are you planning to focus on? Britishness? Naval supremacy? There's Always Ten More Hiding Nearby? Immunity to plagues? Rat Ass being sexy enough to break past species barriers? Former servant race of which 10-90% are ninjas?
Pathfinder's are really good at sharing a space and coming on in hordes. Nezumi are notable for taint immunity and being the practical graverobbing fuckers that samurai can't be in l5r. Can't remember if there's any official 3.5 ones. Heck, you could make the whole thing a reference to pic related and get away with it.
I thought you said Ratlock and that this was going to be a thread about a rat version of Matlock and now I am disappointed.
>>47847776
The DMG suggests that you can refluff races, and uses making halflings into anthropomorphic mousefolk as an example, so making them ratfolk wouldn't be too much of a stretch.
>>47848928
Pssh. Halflings are clearly cats.
>Wanderlust, but also appreciate a warm hearth, good food, and finer things in life
>Lucky
>First reaction to feat is to stand firm and bullshit it away
>Fast and stealthy, even more so than just being little would suggest
>If you truly anger them, they will fucking cut you
If you take the thrown weapons deal as a cultural rather than racial deal, it works perfectly.
>>47844061
So what is that counted as?
>>47844061
>>47849192
No idea. But here's where it came from.
http://www.dakkadakka.com/core/gallery-search.jsp?p=1&u=58998&g=51479&ll=3&auction=0&unapproved=0&coolnesslow=0&coolnesshigh=10&paintjoblow=0&paintjobhigh=10&sort1=7&sort2=0&skip=30&en=&st=&utype=&start=0
>>47832819
I love portraying it. The cockney accents and lifestyles sit so well with them
>>47814942
https://warosu.org/tg/thread/36599531
>>47832236
>>47832653
The rats we most commonly associate with the word "rat" are black rats and brown rats, and they both originate from Asia. Black rats likely travelled to Europe with the Romans, while brown rats only came to Europe (and then the rest of the world) very recently, a few centuries ago.
>>47816374
>in laboratory tests will refuse food items if they know it hurts another rat; empathetic thinking
So they're portrayed as individualistic traders and merchants, but really they're filthy reds?
>>47837031
>you will never be a rat girl who needs to relax and satisfy her oni master
>>47842258
>>47842834
>>47842821
>>47854888
For the Greater Good, amirite?
>>47848122
Well, what I was planning to focus on was a combination of taint resistance and "noblebrightness" - oppose the bog-standard of ratfolk always being thieving, lying, dirty, cheating, malevolent hordes and go with their real-life positive traits. Hence the comparison to Burmecians which, to my limited knowledge, are ratfolk of the "elegant, well-groomed, noble, sociable" variety.
Basic summary of my idea for them is that they're one of the races that evolved after my magocratic setting blew itself to hell, Eberron's Mournland meets Fallout's wasteland style. They were mutated by magical fallout in one of the destroyed city-states and advanced by reading the surviving philosophical texts.
I have contemplated that they may be the only race in the setting with divine magic, if perhaps of a secular "motif" ala Wicked Fantasy replacing Clerics and Paladins with Philosophers and Palatines, but I'm not sure. Arcane magic is the "big thing" for the setting's history, so I don't know how well it works that the three major races were secular magocrats for centuries and now one race afterwards finally finds proof of divinity.
One of the big problems with 5e in comparison to 4e is that it's gone back to needing a cleric as the healbot in the party... :sulk:
>>47814942
I need more mechaFreya in my life
>>47857346
Perhaps, their outlook is that in the apocalypse the dead were either worthy of heaven or undeserving of anything but hell. They see their ratlike state as a constant reminder that they have committed great evils but that their God still believes in their capacity for good.
>>47858993
Ah, I should have been clearer; I meant that the setting's ratfolk mutated *from* rats in the magically nuked citystate, not that they are humans "devolved" into ratfolk.
And that wouldn't be a bad idea, except that, as it's worked out so far, the setting never really had religion. Sorcerers were the foundation of human society, which eventually gave way to wizardry, and so a need for gods just never really developed.
Found this new page on 1d4chan. Perhaps is relevant to this topic's interests?
https://1d4chan.org/wiki/Ratfolk
Skaven are shit.
PF's tech loving ratfolk are best.
For my setting, they are the descendants of the crew of a scientific exploratory vessel that crashed upon the world after traveling through a magic induced wormhole.
>>47857346
Well, in the Eastern- inspired setting I am working on, they are actually very rare, having been subjected to various campaigns to eliminate them. They, however, are very artistically inclined and possessed of great cunning and dexterity, and a few have even managed to accumulate enough wealth to force themselves into mainstream society. Some are searching for a homeland for their race, trying to start a ratfolk empire where they can live in peace.
It was only later that I realized that they were Jews. I am angry at myself.
