Roden (RO-den)
Small humanoid rats that love attacking in number!
“How many roden did you catch this time, Harvson?”
The halfling farmer holds up the roden tails, “About 10 of them.”
“In what span of time?”
“A week.”
“Then someone ought to get the Civil Guard! There could be a pack of them out there.”
Basic Information
Anatomy
Hunched on two legs, they are covered in fur with a long hairless tail. Their heads are rat-like with beady eyes. They are humanoid in overall shape. They can stand between 3-4 feet tall.
Growth Rate & Stages
Roden mature at age 10 and may live up to 65 on average. Though, most die early from various causes.
Dietary Needs and Habits
Roden are versatile in what they can eat. From meat and vegetables, to the questionable natures of certain fungi. Roden can survive off of most things.
Behaviour
Always fidgety, always tapping, roden have difficulty sitting still. They are full of energy and tend to speak faster than they can think. Oftentimes they improvise or conjoin words to compensate for this.
Survival is a roden’s first priority. They know how small and weak they are in an unforgiving world. That is why they often enjoy working in packs to form large numbers to feel much larger. The best way to scare any roden is to isolate them and give them no escape.
Additional Information
Social Structure
Roden tend to be obedient to the toughest or smartest among them. They call them pack leader, for their ability to lead the group, usually of about 20 roden. However, should a leader manage the ability to lead and coordinate with a massive amount of roden, like over 100, they are called pack masters. The scariest roden title of all is a pack lord, commanding a vast unknown quantity of roden hordes.
Geographic Origin and Distribution
Roden can be most often found either in the Province of Kalgarim or within the Western Wastes.
Perception and Sensory Capabilities
Accommodated to being underground frequently, they can see more easily in the dark compared to most other races.
Civilization and Culture
History
In Faunerro
Roden first appeared during the Incursion. In the Province of Kalgarim, a land where it’s said the strongest communities resided, Alkaran decided to mock this notion. He found countless attack survivors, those left behind. Countless criminals, exiles, and outcasts. He turned them into the first instance of roden. They were sadistic, bitter, and outraged by their circumstance, just as Maledict wanted as weapons against the Kingdom of Ardentry.
As the Incursion slowly neared its end, and the roden population kept to itself, the innate violent nature eventually left their numbers. The roden soon spread out on their own. Some packs stick to their Infernal masters while others pursued simple living.
Interspecies Relations and Assumptions
Alone, roden are survivors first and foremost in many regions. Their favorite places are around cities, especially when they overproduce on food that the populace there throw away. If possible, they prefer keeping to themselves and their pack as not to draw ire from the locals. Roden do not carry strong opinions about certain races or creatures. So long as roden can sneak their scraps away, they are happy to be around them.
Should other cultures embrace roden, they are happy to play as scouting roles or take part in civil society.
In Faunerro
Among the Blessed
Roden tied to the Cult of Maledict loathe those blessed by the caels. Where elves, stouts, avians, etc are seen as icons of good, their presence makes roden feel wretched and out of place, as if stains on the blessed portrait. Otherwise, roden who have more temporal goals see the blessed as an opportunity to hide and feed off the scraps they so easily waste. Oftentimes roden in Kalgarim harass and steal from stout farmers or in marketplaces where food is frequent.
Among the Corrupted
There is at least some feeling of kinship among orcs, inferiin, and wyrmbloods. They can relate more easily to those tied to the Cult of Maledict as roden see the corrupted as being in squalid circumstances as they are.
Roden Player Characters
Florenic Worlds
Roden
Climbing. You have a clmbing speed equal to your walking speed. You can’t use this climbing speed if you’re wearing heavy armor.
Darkvision. You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can’t discern color in darkness, only shades of gray.
Run-Flee. You can use the Dash action as a bonus action but only to move away from a threat or enemy.
Horde Tactics. You have advantage on a melee attack roll against a creature if at least one of your allies is within 5 feet of the creature and the ally isn’t incapacitated.
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