You could consider her ratfolk status to make everyone assume she is 'some wretch from the slums.' by rich folk, and 'a symbol of all that we suffer' by poor. Folk (Whether that is good like a messiah, or bad like a pariah is up to you."
As for farms and forest; I don't see how that can specifically tie in based on her nature and class.
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One of my PCs is a rat folk witch and I need some ways to challenge her in an upcoming campaign. It takes place in a city with a rich/poor segregated society and the surrounding farmland and forests.
Perhaps a maze of some sort...?
I'll show myself out.
Someone is covering up criminal wrongdoing by one of the worst guilds. The PCs sort the crimes out, then someone from the guilds offers them a payoff to keep it quiet. Do they take it? What are the consequences if they do?
Presumably there's a shadow economy which provides services/goods/jobs to nonhumans denied them by the guilds. The party might interact with it in the sense of working for them or hunting them down.
I might change a dungeon or two to be mazelike. That might make for some amusing party banter.One of my PCs is a rat folk witch and I need some ways to challenge her in an upcoming campaign. It takes place in a city with a rich/poor segregated society and the surrounding farmland and forests.
Perhaps a maze of some sort...?
I'll show myself out.
In all seriousness, the witch spell list includes reduce person. That makes a Small ratfolk witch Tiny. Perhaps some sort of pipe system or something that only a Tiny creature could fit through? Maybe to open a door for the rest of the PCs?
Just spitballin here...
Infiltration of a surprisingly intelingent dire rat community that arenplotting something vile. A ratfolk will have that mich easier disguising as one and with her powers the witch might just get intova position to thwart them from inside
There is a minor deliberating disease running through the town -- people are blaming the ratfolk witch, after all, "That's what rats do."
Now it's not the ratfolk's problem truthfully, but the character might decide to do something about it, and either way is likely to take more hate for it anyways.
How are Witches and ratfolk specifically regarded? The challenge could come from negotiating social situations. The ratfolk Witch might have a harder time getting into certain places, when there's a crime people are instantly suspicious of her or someone could use the Witch as a scapegoat for a crime or natural event e.g. missing children and blighted crops.
Have a cat folk druid as a recurring enemy. With a big cat animal companion, of course.
Some kind of clockwork cat or cat golem would be immune to many of the witch's hexes.
Think of all the implication of both Rats and Witches. Rats are plague bringers; it's a term synonymous with snitching or lying; they are stealthy scavengers; they live in the sewers. Witches hurl curses; they're bound to mysterious Patrons no one understands; they commune with the occult through animials and otherworldly creatures.
All of these point to the common misconception of this PC as a dirty, thieving, lying creature of filth. The PC must live in waste, may carry diseases and will infect most civil beings with their wretchedness.
Challenges for this PC might then include:
- Social awkwardness
- Guild oppression
- Forced "cleansing" (both physical and spiritual) by some church agents
- Disapproval by other arcanists for "selling out" for their powers
However if we're talking solely about challenges based on the elements of the build, then let's focus on the weaknesses of the build itself. Ratfolk suffer reduced Strength, so forcing this character into melee combat or situations requiring a Str check for resolution (Climbing, Swimming, opening stuck/locked doors, etc) will be difficult for the PC. Also they are Slow speed. Placing the PC in a chase, in difficult terrain or against enemies with enhanced mobility will be a challenge.
Of course the PC will have the opportunity to take spells to reduce or remove these challenges.
Next there's the Witch class. They are highly dependent on Int so any Disease, Poison or other threat that deals Int damage is a definite threat. Also they only get 1d6 HP/level so even if this PC cranks their Con sky high they will always be a glass jaw for enemies that deal massive damage. Also unless they use Con/Feats/Items/Spells to mitigate this the Witch will always suffer a low Fort and Ref save.
All of this suggests to me you want enemies that deal area damage, massive damage in melee and are able to withstand the witch's spells long enough to provoke melee. This to me says Dragon, but you might also be able to pull off some Fey or Undead too. Also grapplers will be especially devastating to this PC. Hitting them with creatures/foes that specialize in that maneuver may prove useful, but only if they can either get the drop on the witch or have a high mobility to get inside their spells/hexes.
My conclusion? The guilds of the city long ago purchased their reign of the city not from the political powers at large but rather from evil dragons. To this day the guilds collect excess taxes, tithes and dues to pay off their draconic patron and ensure their continued power. No one for hundreds of years has been powerful enough to oppose either force; the racist and divisive policies of the guilds coupled with crippling economic disparity have kept exceptionals like the PCs from rising up. Those that do are generally either slain or corrupted into the guilds' control.
The guilds have also employed kobolds. For centuries the draconic humanoids have labored as slaves in a vast network of undertunnels. They are as easily oppressed as the masses and culled by elite mercenaries maintained by the guilds so that their sheer numbers do not become a threat. The kobolds themselves are elevated occasionally by the guild and allowed to become sorcerous monks who help keep the populace in line.
A small number of citizens have developed a silent revolution to the oppression. They hail from the back alleys and the undercity. Ratfolk below harry the kobolds with abandon, attempting to assert themselves there while those on the streets work behind the scenes to foment dissent.
Recently something changed. The dragon high-lord is dealing with it's own upstarts among its kin; other dragons that threaten its dominion. The guilds have been commanded to not only increase their tithe thereby increasing the overlord's status in the eyes of its kin but they are also to destroy the other dragons who threaten the land. The guilds however have neither the firepower nor the inclination to intervene. They expect these mad lizards to destroy one another leaving the consortium to reap the whirlwind in the end.
Of course their inaction will devastate the land.
Now heroes rise. They must navigate the maze-like undercity and the enclaves of the kobolds for information and power. They will have to go into the land and find eldritch relics from a time when champions rode against monsters. Finally they will have to defeat the assembled horde of evils that fester in this broken land. And, when all is said and done, the people will look to these heroes to lead them out of the darkness they have suffered for so long.
Make sure they meet the occational elf or half elf with sleep immunity.
...catfolk assassin problem? Like constant (once every two or three sessions) catfolk ninjas going after her and she needs to know why.
...catfolk assassin problem? Like constant (once every two or three sessions) catfolk ninjas going after her and she needs to know why.
Yeah but catfolk have to watch out for lantern of reddot. Which casts irresistable dance on them with no save throw or spell resistance.
If we're looking for rat-related ironies or what not:
- a villainous organization known only as N Y M H
- a bard/enchanter enemy that charms rats with a flute or "pipe"
- people always mistaking the PC for a french chef named Remy
- a gangster-type nemesis with big lips that always referst to the PC as "you dirty rat"
- cheese as trap lures
- a rival ratfolk that is a wisened monk raising four anthropomorphic turtles
- snapjaw homunculi called "mousers" looking for ratfolk
- a region known for magical soup that the PC will have a hand in ruining
Hope these also help.