Fitting Non-Evil Rodentfolk into a setting

Well, squirrels are utter bastards, and rabbits aren't technically rodents, so I'd say rats. I think that they've got a lot going for them-the medical angle, the scientific angle, the nautical angle, the filthy warren angle, the clean warren angle, the super sneaky angle, the cunning politico angle, the ninja angle. A bunch of angles.

What a chill animal.

Roll 1d3 and consult your list

O look another dumb things your Gm does thread.

This. Alternatively, hamsterfolk (ignoring all the cannibalism and stuff).

None, yoff in hell

Squirrels are the messengers of God, user.

Rats are really nice animals that get a shitty reputation. They like being tickled, they wash 6 times a day, they're highly intelligent, social and emotional.

Ratfolk society would be one of foppy, well-dressed scholars who are permanently perplexed at the lax bathing habits of other races. And they'd probably like good food, too. When I had pet rats, they'd always leave the food pellets they like the least while eating the rest. I can understand why, because the pressed, green stuff didn't look very appealing.

Also, if you push your finger between their paws while they're washing their face, they'll wash your finger too. Rats are pretty great, and it's a shame tame ones get cancer so often. We had two old ones, and one of them died. The other one didn't last long after that, almost as if she gave up completely.

I consider it a cruel play by fate that they have such short lifespans. If you have kids, and want them to learn about life and shit, get some rats.

>Not wanting cannibalistic hamstermen in your game

But user, the horrible parts give them character.

>Mice are the good race
>Rats are the evil one
Literally wrong. Rats only crime was being ridden by fleas and spreading the Plague by accident.
Modern rats, especially ones bred to be pets, are sweet and cuddly. Mice, tame or not, bite the shit out of you and scratch you while doing their best to steal ypur food.

True, mice are horrid little bastards.

Well, yes. I personally would keep the ugly parts of a race just for flavor, but cannibalism is such a taboo in most cultures that considering a cannibalistic race also a good one might be a long shot. Just my opinion, though, maybe they keep the cannibalism thing as a sort of religious thing that outsiders don't know about.

Any race can be great with a little extra effort. What about a race of nomadic vole people, perhaps they are wandering traders. They trade what they find along the way, they are excellent foragers and scavagers so they always have the rarest of herbs from all over, medicine to cure almost anything and perhaps even the occasional ancient artifacts or magic item. With them being a cute race of fuzzy nomads they probably have plenty of people and creatures preying on them, with that being said they would have to have a way to defend themselves. Maybe they specialize on alteration magic to hide themselves or earth magic to protect their caravans and fight off enemies.

I've been thinking on Ratfolk lately, and have been thinking that they might be fun to include in a setting that features a large, magical city:

>Ages of alchemical runoff and ambient magic lead to rats eventually becoming a race of Ratfolk.

>City takes an antagonistic view of the Ratfolk living below and the two live in animosity for a long while.

>Today, the Ratfolk are accepted as citizens but distinctly lower-class citizens, working as laborers and servants.

Well, they don't have to be good. Just not evil.

>Homebrew Anthro Maagic Rooodents
>Homebrew Anthroo Maaaagic Rooodents
>HOMEBREW ANTHRO MAAGIC RODENTS!

Whilst I expect this thread will probably get booted to trash any minute now, I might as well ask: what kind of stats would you actually give a Bunnyfolk, Ratfolk or Squirrelfolki race in 5e?

For the Ratfolk example, we have two different canon "D&Dish" examples in Pathfinder's Ratfolk and Wicked Fantasy's Roddun.

PF's Ratfolk are Small +Dex/Int race, have Rodent Empathy, a unique ability to share a space with another ratfolk and gain the bonus of flanking attacks by doing so, and some minor skill boosts.

Roddun are a +Str/Con Medium race with Blindsight, immunity to non-magical diseases, advantage on resisting magical diseases, a bite attack, a claw attack, and a fast healing ability that gets stronger as they gain levels.

Which of these would you consider to be "more appropriate" to a ratfolk race?

Well, that really depends on what the GM wants to do with them in the setting, doesn't it? Small, scurrying types that are cleverer than they look, or the tough, persistent types that can thrive in terrible conditions? Both are used frequently enough to describe ratmen, sometimes in the same setting. Which is to say nothing of their respective cultures and origins. There are so many different interpretations and applications of "rat-like" traits that it's hard to say if one is more correct or appropriate than another.

I really want to create a society of rabbit folk and just impose it on someone's campaign. Because I want them to have a Jackelope trickster god and a doe eyed flop eared hearth mother in their pantheon, I want rabbit folk to be based loosely on American homesteaders. Farmers, ranchers, and a few coal miners in loose but very large families who get together for hootananies and markets.

Official posts would be primarily be run by elected men, but the soul of their society would be 'secret' cabal of matriarchal druids.

The bit I can't justify but really want is for the magically inclined to have an innate draw to storm sorcery or druidism.

Adventurers would be basically any archetype from a western. Horse rustlers, migrant farmhands, wandering lawmen, barmaids, 'chorus dancers', excons....

Honestly? That sounds pretty awesome.

And why is the magical bit hard to justify? Make them come from plains & prairies; ever seen the tornados and thunderstorms that hit those places in storm season? That's all the justification you need for them to be fond of storm sorcery and/or worshippers of Mual-tar & Tornado Dragons.

As for druidism... they're *rabbits*. They depend on agriculture, so folks with a magical green thumb who can help them keep from turning their farmlands into dustbowls are naturally folks they want to listen to.

Hells, in a 4e game, I could easily see a rabbitfolk huckster whose charming, devil-may-care, rambling-gambling-(wo)man persona is a clever veil to obscure their status as an Infernal Warlock or a Luckbender Sorcerer.

Do you mind if I steal this for my own campaign, user? I've been trying to think of what to do with halflings for a while, and whilst I've been tempted to just make 'em bunnyfolk, this really is an awesome idea that has a lot more going on for it than the standard "bucolic English peasant" portrayal of the stereotypical halfling.

>What a chill animal.

Not really. I mean they can be chill like most any animal, but like many wild social animals, they like to establish a pecking order (enforced by biting), can get territorial, and their long teeth can deliver a very nasty bite.

I guess its making it so specific to storm sorcery, but yeah. Its probably notbas hard as I think it is.

When I was typing it up I realized how close to hobbits they were (particularly if you have them burrow just a little and suddenly its a shire).

Take and remix as you please, if you go full Eberron introduce some moon rabbits from Japan to build their railroads.

>Rabbit chorus line

Well, that's a thing I can't say I've seen in my prior campaigns.

capybara is the one true answer

He means those old-fashioned dancing girls from Westerns, where a bunch of ladies in long frilly dresses dance around in lines doing high kicks and usually flip up their skirts to wave their (pantaloons-clad) butts at the men watching them at the finale, you know?

Can't say I've seen that either.

mole rats are pretty cool though. They should be misunderstood for their apperance.

They are tough and hardy, actively take care of one another... They are more like dwarves than rats really.

Maybe its like the mer?

Could be ladies of the night.

These kind of Saloon Girls. Sometimes they come with the French national anthem.

this

they are largest rodents on earth

Ever heard of the Redwall book saga?

Nope, haven't seen anything like that done with rabbits.

After some mild effort at google image searching it, I think I might agree with you. Something to request at the drawthread, perhaps.

What, western bunnyfolk or bunnyfolk saloon girls?

But, yeah, that user with the Western Settler Bunnyfolk idea really had an awesome idea. Lots of potential there. At the very least it's a neat spin on the standard halfling fluff.

You have never owned a house in a neighborhood with squirrels have you.

So, I understand there's a certain level of flexibility in terms of statistic interpretation of ratfolk and bunnyfolk. But what about squirrelfolk? How would folks stat such a race? Any edition, go on, don't be shy.

+2 DEX, -2 CHA, Climb Speed 30, Always Chaotic Evil.

Read Mouseguard

Mousefolk, ala corruption of champions

"Ala Corruption of Champions"? How's that supposed to work, exactly? What did CoC do for its mousefolk that'd be interesting?

You know, aside from female mousefolk engaging in shy romancing of human men and yearning to make lots and lots of baby mouses with them.

I'm trying to cobble together a squirrel society and most of it feels disjointed.

One option is barbarian tribes and guerilla warriors. Living on the edges and borders of societies with large cities, each household is mainly out for itself. The central ruling bodies, the Chittering Senates, are democratic to any free squirrel and are most decisions are unenforceable.

The other direction is an golden age Athens sort of society, skilled orators and philosophers have convinced the households and political blocs to go in the same general direction at least for a few generations.

Industries that make sense are timber, fur, surface mines, and charcoal. Individual smiths may understand steel, but it isn't spread across an entire kingdom.

Thoughts?

>picture of rat typing furiously at computer

Why choose one over the other? Make them separate citystates who are always in conflict with each other.

I mean literally have them be a near extinct race with two npc's, one baby crazy and the other a badass celibate
Then call anyone who calls you out on this reference a pervert

Go with something more off the wall, like capybaras. Quiet junglefolk who offer homes to those who have none, who help lost travellers and have vast amounts of wisdom.

...

They're so off the wall they've only been mentioned three times.

Can you name one RPG with Capybara-folk?

Alright ya got me. Now give me a short synopsis of what their society is if a party were to trundle through.

I barely care enough to visit their Wikipedia page so This is your canvas, buddy.