Ratosk (Raa-tosk)
Crafty humanoids with squirrelish features, the Ratosk view themselves as one of the most important races of the world. They believe that they were born on the heights of Ygg and later descended down to act as divine messengers from the gods, although detractors from this theory believe that the ratosk annoyed the gods so much that they were expelled from the tree. This has led to a sense of smugness towards the other races, and contributed to the races penchant for thievery.
Basic Information
Biological Traits
While a ratosks claws aren't useful in combat, they can easily dig into wood, allowing a ratosk to easily climb wooden structures. They also posses long, curly tails, and can often utilize this tails to trip foes in combat.
Growth Rate & Stages
Ratosk young, known as kits, start of blind and helpless, but grow quickly and are extremely curious about the world around them, gaining greater mobility and freedom at the age of 6. A ratosk reaches adulthood at 14 years of age.
Dietary Needs and Habits
The ratosok have extremely fast metabolisms, and must eat constantly to quell their hunger. Most ratosks often constantly chew on something mostly inedible to help keep this hunger satisfied until their next meal. Due to their high-energy life, ratosks consume high calorie foods such as nuts and fruits.
Biological Cycle
In the winter months, many ratosk become much more lethargic and lazy, and will often spend entire days sleeping and snacking.
Additional Information
Social Structure
Ratosk society is chaotic and unpredictable, as few ratosks have the patience to run a systematic government. This often leads to various ratosk clans that are constantly changing, as ratosks grow bored and leave while new ones join. Lacking the resources to maintain systems, these clans often resort to thievery to solve such issues.
Facial characteristics
A ratosks eyes are widely spaced on their body, allowing them a large scale range of vision when the tilt their head.
Geographic Origin and Distribution
Most ratosk clans dwell in the borderlands between Kirru and Central Matera, an area of massive trees known as the Tosan Range.
Average Intelligence
Ratosks are naturally cunning and curious, but they have a incredibly short attention span, often abandoning projects mere minutes after starting them.
Perception and Sensory Capabilities
The ratosk can see in low-light conditions. Many ratosks are practiced scouts, and can swivel their heads at extreme paces. This, combined with their wide eye, means that many ratosk can see in a field of 360 degrees.
Civilization and Culture
Beauty Ideals
While ratosks find beauty in the coloration of fur, they also find it in the amount of objects possessed. A unnattracive ratosk can easily attract a mate by showing of an impressive horde of (usually stolen) goods.
Gender Ideals
Asides from the expectation of a female ratosk to raise children once born, there is little in the way of gender ideals for the ratosk.
Courtship Ideals
Males often attract females by showing of either their impressive and large tails, or an impressive horde of items. Relations between mating ratosks are brief, as fathers often leave shortly after the mother births the children, as they rarely have the patience to for raising children.
Relationship Ideals
Ratosks often have very deep but short lived relationships, both romantic and platonic. Ratosks often form bonds of similar intrests, only for their interests to shift one day and they move on. A ratosks often reminisces about its many past friends, lovers, rivals, or even enemies.
Average Technological Level
Most of what the ratosks receive is taken from the surrounding races, and thus their level of technology often depends on who they steal from. While capable of invention, they usually lack the patience to craft new ideas.
Major Language Groups and Dialects
Most ratosk speak Ratosk and either Maran Common or Kirran Common, but are often found with a rudimentary knowledge of Celestial, Enthos, Halfling, Luxan, Rhoceni, Sylvan, or Treant. Most ratosk attempt to learn many new languages, getting down the basics before moving onto something else.
Common Etiquette Rules
Accusing a ratosk as being a thief is the quickest way to offend one, even if such accusations are obviously grounded. It is much easier to convince a ratosk of a different item is worth its attention then to try to convince it to return something it has taken.
Common Dress Code
Many ratosk can become obsessed with looking dashing, and will often go out of its way to acquire fancy clothes. They often fail to properly maintain their clothes, as their acrobatic lives often leaves the garments quickly looking tired. This leads to a ratosk often switching up its wardrobe constantly as it discovers new clothing. Pants must be specially tailed to accommodate a ratosk's large bushy tail, although most ratosk simply cut a large hole in the bottom to make room.
Common Customs, Traditions and Rituals
It is common for ratosks to be struck with random bouts of paronoia, and this often leads them to bury items and supplies for future use. They often forget what and where they bury such items, and often make elaborate maps and traps to lead the way back to their stashes.
Common Taboos
A ratosk who doesn't leave home as soon as they come of age (or often even before) is viewed as an oddity, as well as any ratosk that are overly charitible.
Common Myths and Legends
Most ratosk worship their Primal Beastman, Rataoskr.
Interspecies Relations and Assumptions
The ratosk have poor relations with other races due to their penchant for thievery and their lack of attention spans. It is difficult for a ratosk to make long term friends, as they might suddenly obsess over one person for a period of time, only to suddenly seemingly lose interest overnight. They are heavily disliked by the races native to Kirru and the Materan Tengu, as they often disrupt trade in that area by raiding shipments between the two. They get along well with the Tyrhin, as both have a penchant for mischief and mayhem.
Racial Table - Ratosk: Hit Dice: D8; Class Skills: Acrobatics, Climb, Handle Animal, Profession, Survival; Skill Ranks Per Level: 2 + Intelligence modifier per level; Weapon Proficiency: Simple, plus crossbows; Armor Proficiency: Light
| Level | BAB | Fort | Reflex | Will | Abilities |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | +0 | +0 | +2 | +0 | Animal Minded, Nimble Faller, Tripping Tail |
| 2nd | +1 | +0 | +3 | +0 | Nimble Attacks, Scavenger |
| 3rd | +2 | +1 | +3 | +1 | Expert Climber, Fox's Cunning |
| 4th | +3 | +1 | +4 | +1 | Tripping Steal, +1 Dexterity, + 1 Intelligence |
| 5th | +3 | +1 | +4 | +1 | All Around Vision |
Random Starting Ages
| Adulthood | Intuitive1 | Self-Taught2 | Trained3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 14 years | +1d4 years (15 - 18) | +1d6 years (15 - 20) | +2d6 years (16 - 26) |
Random Height and Weight
| Gender | Base Height | Height Modifier | Base Weight | Weight Modifier |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Male | 4 ft. 2 in. | +2d10 in. (4 ft. 4 in. - 5 ft. 10 in.) | 85 lbs. | +(2d10x4 lbs.) (93 - 165 lbs.) |
| Female | 4 ft. | +2d10 in. (4 ft. 2 in. - 5 ft. 8 in. | 65 lbs. | +(2d10x4 lbs.) (73 - 145 lbs.) |
Ratosk Aging Table
| Middle Age (-1 to Str, Dex, and Con, +1 to Int, Wis, and Cha) | Old (-2 to Str, Dex, and Con, +2 to Int, Wis, and Cha) | Venerable (-3 to Str, Dex, and Con, +3 to Int, Wis, and Cha) | Maximum Age (GM secretly decides maximum age) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 33 years | 49 years | 66 years | 66 + 2d20 years (68 - 106 years) |
Random Ratosk Homelands
| % Rolled | Homeland | Trait Gained |
|---|---|---|
| 01-40 | Treetop Village | Fast Talker |
| 41-70 | Forest Floor | Bandit |
| 71-90 | Non-ratosk Settlement | Dirty Fighter |
| 91-00 | Unusual Homeland | (Roll on Unusual Homeland table) |
Random Ratosk Families
| % Rolled | Parental Status |
|---|---|
| 01-25 | Only Father is alive |
| 26-50 | Both of your parents are alive |
| 51-75 | Only Mother is alive |
| 76-00 | Both of your parents are dead |
| % Rolled | # of Siblings |
|---|---|
| 01-50 | 1d4 Siblings |
| 51-70 | 1d3 Siblings |
| 71-80 | 1d2 Siblings |
| 81-90 | 1 Siblings |
| 91-00 | No siblings |
Lifespan
68 - 106 years
Average Height
4 ft. 4 in. - 5 ft. 10 in.
Average Weight
73 - 165 lbs
Average Physique
Ratosks are lean and quick, allowing for swift and precise movements.
Body Tint, Colouring and Marking
Ratosk furs range wildly in color, from vibrant reds and oranges to duller greys. They often have darker lines or other markings lining their fur as well.
Geographic Distribution
Ratosk
Type
Humanoid (Ratosk)
Ability Score Modifier
+2 Dexterity, +2 Intelligence -2 Wisdom. Ratosks are cunning and fast, but lack good attention spans.
Size
medium
Speed
Ratosks have a base speed of 40 feet and a climb speed of 30 feet. They gain the +8 racial bonus to climb checks that a climb speed normally grants.
Language
A Ratosk begins play speaking Common (Kirran or Maran) and Ratosk. A ratosk with a high Intelligence score can pick from one of the following list: Celestial, Enthos, Halfling, Luxan, Rhoceni, Sylvan, or Treant.
- Materil: Ratosks are intrinsically tied to the Air Materil, and must become Windcallers.
- Low-light Vision: Ratosks can see twice as far as humans in low-light conditions.
- Animal Minded: A ratosk gains a +2 racial bonus on Handle Animal and wild empathy checks against tree-dwelling rodent creatures. This bonus increases by 1 for every two hit dice beyond the 1st the ratosk possesses.
- Nimble Faller: Ratosks always land on their feet, even when they take lethal damage from a fall. Furthermore, they gain a +1 bonus to their CMD vs trip attempts. This bonus increases by 1 for every 4 hit dice beyond the 1st the Ratosk possesses.
- Tripping Tail: Ratosks have a tail that they can utilize in combat to trip foes. Whenever an enemy provokes an attack of opportunity from movement from the Ratosk, the Ratosk can forgo that attack and instead make a free trip attempt against that creature with a +2 racial bonus. This bonus increases by 1 for every 4 hit dice beyond the 1st the Ratosk possesses. This trip attempt doesn't provoke an attack of opportunity.
- Nimble Attacks: At 2nd racial level, a ratosk gains Weapon Finesse as a bonus feat. If they already had Weapon Finesse, they gain any feat that has Weapon Finesse as one of its prerequisites. They must meet all other prerequisites of that feat.
- Scavenger: Starting at 2nd racial level a ratosk gains a +2 racial bonus on Appraise and Perception checks to find hidden objects (including traps and secret doors), to determine whether food is spoiled, or identify a potion by taste. This bonus increases by 1 for every 3 hit dice the ratosk possesses beyond 2nd.
- Cunning Mind (Sp): Starting at 3rd racial level, once per day, a ratosk can use fox's cunning on themselves as a spell-like ability, using their total hit dice as their caster level. At 5th racial level, they can affect other creatures with this ability, acting as if using mass fox's cunning, targeting a number of creatures equal to 1/2 their hit dice.
- Expert Climber (Ex): Starting at 3rd racial level, ratosks can cling to cave walls and even ceilings as long as the surface has hand- and foothold. In effect, they are treated as being under the effects of a non-magical spider climb spell, save that they cannot cling to smooth surfaces. This increases the ratosk’s +8 racial bonus to a +16.
- Tripping Steal: Starting at 4th racial level a ratosk either gains Improved Trip or Improved Steal as a bonus feat. Whenever the ratosk succeeds at one of those maneuvers, they may attempt to do the other maneuver as an immediate action.
- All-Around Vision (Ex): At 5th racial level, a ratosk gains all-around vision and can no longer be flanked.
Alternate Racial Traits
- Glider: Some ratosk have skin flaps between their limbs that allow them to glide when falling. A ratosk with this trait gains a +2 racial bonus on Fly checks, and can move while falling at a diagonal direction of 5 feet per round. This trait replaces the Animal Minded trait.
- Hoarder: Some ratosk are excellent at hiding objects. They gain a +4 bonus on Sleight of Hand checks to hide items both on their person and in hidden stashes. This trait replaces the Animal Minded traits.
- Quick Reactions: Some Ratosk have faster reactions than others. They gain Improved Initiative as a bonus feat at 1st level. This trait replaces the Nimble Faller trait.
- Squatling: Some Ratosk are much smaller than their other kins, and are even more squirrelish in stature. Such ratosk are small sized creatures rather than medium. This trait alters the Ratosks' size category.
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