(Ratkin) Working on new villains for campaign


Pathfinder First Edition General Discussion


I've been getting tired of the standard big bad sorcerer standard villain and have been working on a new more subversive antagonistic foe for my campaigns. It's still got a lot of workshopping to do (especially on balancing the racial abilities) but I think it could make for some more interesting games involving cloak and dagger subterfuge instead of just rush in, clear the dungeon, grab the junk. I'd really appreciate some input on my concept.

Ratkin

Listen my children and remember what I tell you. The other races think we are humans but your eyes and noses can tell your own kin. You must never allow a non-kin to know of us because they have innate hatred for the rat. Whenever we’ve been discovered we’ve been persecuted, banished, killed. One day we will teach them to tolerate our ways but much work is yet to be done. When they talk about the importance of tradition know they intend to kill your brothers. When they tolerate the orc, when they tolerate the decadence among themselves, only then will they tolerate the rat.
-a Ratkin mother to her brood of children

A mischief of rats

Hidden within human societies lurks a tribe who have carved a niche profiting from the vice and decadence of the surrounding culture. Proprietors of brothels and gambling dens, moneylenders, publishers of tabloids, actors, merchants, even criminal attorneys and guild leaders, Ratkin do not fare well in healthy societies with strong traditional moral values. Ratkin prefer to live in cities where corruption is endemic and there is plenty of opportunity to profit from criminal or decadent activity. That is not to say Ratkin are eager to actually go out and commit crimes themselves, the risk is usually too high and rewards are too low, but immorality creates countless opportunities for Ratkin to profit.

Rather than be satisfied with the level of vice around them, Ratkin are constantly scheming to undermine the stability and moral values of the area they infest. To do this they make efforts to replace the society’s traditional morals with moral systems designed by Ratkin which will make other races more likely to fall into decadent activity. By subversively undermining institutions surrounding sex and marriage they increase patronage of institutions of vice and create children who will grow up without fathers and will be ripe for manipulation into even greater vice. By undermining communal support structures they make people more desperate and willing to sacrifice long-term goals in exchange for short time survival by engaging in activities such as borrowing money at interest, prostitution, gambling, and crime.

Ratkin believe that repression of impulses toward vice, high-investment parenting, and relying on collective strategies to benefit a group are pathological. Ironically (hypocritically?) Ratkin seldom waste resources on engaging in vices themselves, spend substantial resources making sure their children are educated and prepared for the hostile world that awaits, and possess a tightly knit highly nepotistic kin group. If a local human captain of the guard secures a promotion for a competent and hardworking nephew the nepotism will infuriate Ratkin, but if a Ratkin secures a promotion for another Ratkin then it seems only sensible to a Ratkin that they would help out their own people. Ratkin are generally happy to pool their resources to buy one of their members into a prestigious school or guarantee a powerful position because the kin they send there will be a resource for their community later. They will attempt to stop other races from doing similar things (or encourage them to borrow large sums at interest for these opportunities) because much of the Ratkin’s power comes from maintaining a closely knit community while other races become atomized and lacking in larger social support structures.

Ratkin believe that by subverting norms they are actually helping the society by changing it into something more enjoyable for its members and (in the eyes of Ratkin) more moral. Ratkin cannot understand why other races would want to fight against this moral subversion and always interpret such efforts as pathological hostility, hatred, or ignorance. If a member of another race calls out Ratkin for what they are Ratkin will respond by convincing others that the individual suffers from madness.
Ratkin Stats:

Description:
Ratkin look nearly identical to humans except for a slightly longer nose, slightly more sunken eyes, and a slightly less muscular physique. They usually have either dark or red hair. The females tend to be buxom and are often willing to engage in seduction if they believe it can get them something they want such as the resources of a wealthy or powerful man.

Ratkin tend to have long lifespans (90-120 years) though they reach adulthood at 13 are typically infertile by age 40. The long period of healthy life after the direct children are grown allows an older Ratkin a lot of time to scheme to improve the lot of the tribe as a whole. As a Ratkin ages beyond 80 he starts to take on a sickly appearance with many liver spots and skin hanging loosely off of the face but he retains his cunning up until death. Many centuries ago Ratkin were kicked out of their own territory and they have spent that entire time learning to thrive as a diaspora among other races (mostly humans).

Pathfinder:
Male/female names: Ratkin tend to take names from their surrounding society in order to blend in and not attract notice.

Ability Score Racial Traits: Ratkin are cunning and manipulative, but physically weak. They gain +2 Intelligence, +2 Charisma, and -2 Strength

Size: Ratkin are Medium creatures and thus receive no bonuses or penalties due to their size.
Type: Ratkin are Humanoids with the Ratkin subtype
Base Speed: Ratkin have a base speed of 30 feet
Languages: Ratkin begin speaking Common and Ratspeak. Ratkin with high Intelligence scores can choose from the following: Giant, Gnome, Goblin, Orc, Terran, and Undercommon

Hide in society: Ratkin receive a +10 racial bonus to disguise themselves as humans. This bonus does not apply to attempts to spot them done by other Ratkin.
Disease resistance: Ratkin receive a +4 racial bonus on fortitude saves vs diseases
Greed: Ratkin receive a +2 racial bonus on Appraise checks made to determine the price of non-magical goods that contain precious metals or gemstones
Low-light vision: Ratkin can see twice as far as humans in doncitions of dim light
Keen Senses: Ratkin receive a +2 racial bonus on Perception checks.
Hypergraphia: Ratkin receive a +4 racial bonus on any Bluff, Craft, Profession, or Deceive check involving creating a written document
The Big Book of Ratkin Tricks (plot hooks):

-Create a shortage of a vital commodity either by hoarding it or sabotaging the supply of it and then lend money at substantial interest to people desperate for the commodity.

-Sell construction project to locals that will require the importation of large numbers of foreign men. When there are more men than women in an area the single men will patron brothels and gambling dens and Ratfolk can profit on both ends.

-Arrange orc workers to come into a city to undercut wages of human workers then stir up resentment between the rival workforces and profit from hiring workers at cheaper wages, being advocates for the workers arrested for violence, and from any criminal activity the orcs could be manipulated into.

-Post as a doctor and during a sickness (either caused by the Rakin or not) suggest that the sickness is caused by the cultural repression of desires and that the remedy is to engage freely in those desires. When people wantonly engage in vice and are justified by medical advice Ratfolk are bound to profit.

-Start war between two rival groups and lend money at interest to finance both sides

-Encourage the youth to engage in some kind of self-destructive behavior (drugs, blood magic, orc culture, etc) and then charge noble families exorbitant amounts of money to rehabilitate their children.

Institute for Cultural Review

Ratkin like to form organizations that are outwardly philanthropic or scientific but inwardly are concerned with manipulating the behavior of other races to better serve Ratkin.

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