Birth rate ratfolk


Pathfinder First Edition General Discussion


So I need to make a ratfolk family for my back story. I'm trying to make this a very large family. But I need peoples thoughts to help me out here. How many kids would a ratfolk have in one birthing process?
My thoughts they would have three ratfolk in one litter.

P.S. I had no clue how to phrase this question.


Keeping in mind that rats and other animals that have large litters do so because most of their young will die, and that ratfolk presumably take care of their young well enough that most survive, anywhere from one to three kits (pups?) per litter seems reasonable.

Paizo Employee Organized Play Lead Developer

I recommend reading my entry on ratfolk in Pathfinder RPG Monster Codex, which you can also find on the Pathfinder Reference Document. Check the second paragraph for information about birth rate.


Would we presume that? Maybe ratfolk are terrible/cruel parents. Are these Spartan ratfolk?


blahpers wrote:
Would we presume that? Maybe ratfolk are terrible/cruel parents. Are these Spartan ratfolk?

I suppose they might be inadvertently terrible parents, but not cruel ones.

Ratfolk wrote:
Society: Ratfolk are extremely communal, and live in large warrens with plenty of hidden crannies in which to stash their hoards or flee in times of danger, gravitating toward subterranean tunnels or tightly packed tenements in city slums. They feel an intense bond with their large families and kin networks, as well as with ordinary rodents of all sorts, living in chaotic harmony and fighting fiercely to defend each other when threatened. They are quick to use their stockpiles of gear in combat, but prefer to work out differences and settle disputes with mutually beneficial trades.


Ah, k. Well, it does say "large families", so I'd expect individuals to have a lot of siblings.


Pathfinder Starfinder Society Subscriber

So if twins or triplets are common, we would be looking at 1-3 ratfolk kids per pregnancy. That would be close to the half-orc average of 2 kids per pregnancy and less than the higher but unspecified number for orcs. Since ratfolk have about the same lifespan as orcs, their lower birth rate suggests that they do take better care of their children than orcs do.


Among humans you can get some very big families in the right circumstances, e.g. around the time of a demographic transition with religion pushing them further. The oldest person I know came from a family of 10 children and her mother came from a family with 12 children. No twins at least in the family of 10. It's not the number per pregnancy that determines how large the family gets, it's how large they want and similar pressures.


avr wrote:
Among humans you can get some very big families in the right circumstances, e.g. around the time of a demographic transition with religion pushing them further. The oldest person I know came from a family of 10 children and her mother came from a family with 12 children. No twins at least in the family of 10. It's not the number per pregnancy that determines how large the family gets, it's how large they want and similar pressures.

I had a grandmother on one side that was one of 16.

A great grandmother on the other side that was one of 14.

Both were farming families. More kids = more farmhands.


Volkard Abendroth wrote:
avr wrote:
Among humans you can get some very big families in the right circumstances, e.g. around the time of a demographic transition with religion pushing them further. The oldest person I know came from a family of 10 children and her mother came from a family with 12 children. No twins at least in the family of 10. It's not the number per pregnancy that determines how large the family gets, it's how large they want and similar pressures.

I had a grandmother on one side that was one of 16.

A great grandmother on the other side that was one of 14.

Both were farming families. More kids = more farmhands.

God, that's 6 years of being pregnant.

16(Kids)*9(Child Growth)= 144(Months)/12(M Pre Year)= 6 (Years)


Wevi wrote:
Volkard Abendroth wrote:

I had a grandmother on one side that was one of 16.

A great grandmother on the other side that was one of 14.

Both were farming families. More kids = more farmhands.

God, that's 6 years of being pregnant.

16(Kids)*9(Child Growth)= 144(Months)/12(M Pre Year)= 6 (Years)

you're making a few assumptions there

(1) All the children were single child births (no twins, triplets, etc.)

(2) They all had the same mother (no remarriage to a new wife).

(3) None of them were adopted.

That said, it's not unusual in some places. If anything our modern society is unusual in only having 1 or 2 kids per family. History is full of large (by our modern standards) families.


Considering that Ratfolk are more humanoid than rat, I would assume their birth rate and gestation period are similar to humans. That said, there are human families nowadays with double-digit kids, so even if it is one or two per birth, so if you want the Rattersons to be a large family, well, they're just a large family.


Wevi wrote:
Volkard Abendroth wrote:
avr wrote:
Among humans you can get some very big families in the right circumstances, e.g. around the time of a demographic transition with religion pushing them further. The oldest person I know came from a family of 10 children and her mother came from a family with 12 children. No twins at least in the family of 10. It's not the number per pregnancy that determines how large the family gets, it's how large they want and similar pressures.

I had a grandmother on one side that was one of 16.

A great grandmother on the other side that was one of 14.

Both were farming families. More kids = more farmhands.

God, that's 6 years of being pregnant.

16(Kids)*9(Child Growth)= 144(Months)/12(M Pre Year)= 6 (Years)

12 years, not 6


Gavmania wrote:
Wevi wrote:
Volkard Abendroth wrote:

I had a grandmother on one side that was one of 16.

A great grandmother on the other side that was one of 14.

Both were farming families. More kids = more farmhands.

God, that's 6 years of being pregnant.

16(Kids)*9(Child Growth)= 144(Months)/12(M Pre Year)= 6 (Years)

you're making a few assumptions there

(1) All the children were single child births (no twins, triplets, etc.)

(2) They all had the same mother (no remarriage to a new wife).

(3) None of them were adopted.

That said, it's not unusual in some places. If anything our modern society is unusual in only having 1 or 2 kids per family. History is full of large (by our modern standards) families.

1, 2 and 3 were all true in the example I mentioned, at least for Anne and her 9 siblings. I don't know about the previous generation.


Darigaaz the Igniter wrote:
Wevi wrote:
Volkard Abendroth wrote:
avr wrote:
Among humans you can get some very big families in the right circumstances, e.g. around the time of a demographic transition with religion pushing them further. The oldest person I know came from a family of 10 children and her mother came from a family with 12 children. No twins at least in the family of 10. It's not the number per pregnancy that determines how large the family gets, it's how large they want and similar pressures.

I had a grandmother on one side that was one of 16.

A great grandmother on the other side that was one of 14.

Both were farming families. More kids = more farmhands.

God, that's 6 years of being pregnant.

16(Kids)*9(Child Growth)= 144(Months)/12(M Pre Year)= 6 (Years)
12 years, not 6

My bad

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