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Racial Ecologies: Guide to Ratfolk

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Racial Ecologies: Guide to Ratfolk
Publisher: Fat Goblin Games
by Chris D. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 12/10/2012 17:31:14

Didn't care for this as it diverged too drastically from the Ratfolk description in Pathfinder. Granted it is still compatible with Pathfinder, but I was hoping for some more detail in line with what's in the game, not a rehashing of Skaven for Pathfinder. Sorry I spent the 2 bucks.



Rating:
[1 of 5 Stars!]
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Creator Reply:
This product was released prior to a lot of the current content released by Paizo on the ratfolk race.
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Racial Ecologies: Guide to Ratfolk
Publisher: Fat Goblin Games
by Alexander L. [Featured Reviewer]
Date Added: 03/26/2012 18:03:14

Originally Posted At: http://diehardgamefan.com/2012/03/26/tabletop-review-racial-ecologies-guide-to-ratfolk-pathfinder/

INTRODUCTION: Racial Ecologies: Guide to Ratfolk is an eight page colored PDF document that is compatible with Paizo’s Pathfinder role-playing game and can easily be converted for other role-playing games with minimal difficulty. This supplement can be used for any fantasy role-playing game that utilizes different types of races that can be played by the players per the GM’s/DM’s approval.

CONTENTS: This wonderfully well-done PDF contains a lot of great information on the race of ratfolk. I wish to point out that these ratfolk discussed in this document are NOT wererats. In any case, the easy to read contents of this PDF covers the race of ratfolk in its entirety such as their history, physiology, ratfolk society, psychology, enemies and allies, player races, ratfolk equipment, ratfolk featsm and a new monster, the Rat Ogre. The supplemental material within the contents of this PDF will be more then enough information to have a player be a member of this race with future content dictated by the DM. I found all information in this PDF to be extremely descriptive and covers essentially everything one needs to know about playing a ratfolk as player character.

PRACTICAL USE: In the past 2 ½ weeks, I handed one of my best players this document and told him to make a ratfolk character for a 1st level Pathfinder one shot adventure of twelve hours…that actually lasted three weeks. Let me say that I was indeed totally impressed with the balance of the ratfolk’s stat blocks as a player character. The other three players had no idea of the true identity of the player’s race because he was heavily covered in clothes, robes, and cloaks, which is typical of their nature when they are dealing with surface dwellers. I did manage to use the Rat Ogre as the big bad evil guy however, both the player ratfolk character and the monster were bullrushed over a cliff by the paladin in the party leaving questions as to the survival of the player character and his race of which the players were getting curious by certain subtle hints of “rattish” behavior. The player who test played this ratfolk PC thought it to be extremely interesting and is looking forward to playing it again with more abilities as he levels up. A DM who is looking to add more alternative races should really give this ratfolk race a shot. They will provide loads of fun and their mysterious nature will only add more flesh to a Pathfinder campaign.

POSITIVE NOTES: Again, this wonderfully well-done PDF is easy to read, easily formatted for PDF use, and just full of information on a new race without all the unnecessary fluff. The race of ratfolk is not an overpowered race and with its abilities will certainly supplement fighters and rogues in a group of players. Ratfolk as a playable race are more likely to get away with being a PC because of their size and their “human” mannerisms even though they really do not like to reveal who or what they really are.

NEGATIVE NOTES: None

OVERALL REVIEW: This is an AWESOME supplement that found great use in the last three weeks. The player who was chosen to play it did an excellent job and it really made this one of the better Pathfinder compatible supplements I have seen in a while. This will certainly make a long term campaign more colorful with the introduction of new races for players to utilize.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
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Racial Ecologies: Guide to Ratfolk
Publisher: Fat Goblin Games
by Thilo G. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 03/06/2012 04:05:50

This pdf is 9 pages long, 1 page SRD, leaving 8 pages of content, so let's check this out!

This racial ecology presents us with the options we'd need to play ratlike humanoids and after a brief introduction, we are presented with 3 different kinds of ratfolk - small ratlings, small ratfolk and the Nezumi.

Ratlings:+2 Dex + 2 Wis, -2 Con; small and base speed 20ft, option to run on all fours for 30ft base speed, Darkvision, light sensitivity a bonus to climb, perception and stealth and affinity with rodents as well as the ability to swarmfight with other ratlings.

Ratfolk: +2 Dex and Int, -2 Str, small size, darkvision, +2 to Craft (Alchemy), Perception and use Magic Device as well as Rodent Empathy and again swarm fighting.

Nezumi: +2 Str and Dex, -2 Cha, medium size, a natural bite attack for d6 damage, +2 to Survival, Perception and Stealth as well as Rodent Empathy.

It should be noted that lore section, age, height & weight tables etc. are included. After these basic racial traits, we get 4 alternate racial traits, which include Prehensile Tails, Scent and a resistance against disease. 4 racial feats are also presented: A feat to capitalize on their enmity with dwarves, a feat that enables you to better use weapons and armor you're not proficient with, halving the penalty, one to grant you improved pack fighting and a feat called "Artful Dodge". I have a problem with this one. Not only is the name a misnomer, the feat enables you to make 2 five foot steps as part of a full-round action instead of one. Every feat that grants you additional actions is extremely prone to abuse. Not gonna happen in my campaign.

The pdf also features 3 new items, a sewer hood and cowl, the nauseating filth bomb and the eye-stinging bone dust. I really liked the items.

Finally, the pdf offers a new creature, the CR 3 Rat Ogre - disease-ridden, deadly and frenzied creatures.

Conclusion: Editing and formatting are ok, but not great - I encountered a lot of glitches like Rat Empathy not being bold, capital letters in the middle of words etc. The layout adheres to a 3-column standard and is rather interesting in that the background is full-color and the artworks are awesome. The pdf has no bookmarks. I'm a huge fan of the idea of Ratfolk - Warhammer's Skaven, Scarred Land's excellent Vigil Watch: Warrens of the Ratmen - I LOVED them. Unfortunately, while the items and the ogre are cool, the overall pdf feels painfully short. Essentially, the pdf, when compared to similar books by Rite Publishing and other 3pps is just short and suffers from said shortness. The 3-column layout is a bit unfortunate and makes reading the pdf a bit harder to read than necessary. The options presented herein are mostly nice, but none truly stood out, not once did I really want to play a ratfolk as per these rules. I might be spoiled by aforementioned sources, but the igniting spark never came while reading this one. Add to that the rather above average quota of glitches, and I'll settle for a final verdict of 2.5 stars - due to the low price, I'll round up for the purpose of this platform.

Endzeitgeist out.



Rating:
[3 of 5 Stars!]
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Racial Ecologies: Guide to Ratfolk
Publisher: Fat Goblin Games
by Kenneth A. C. [Verified Purchaser]
Date Added: 02/05/2012 04:57:21

I've always been particular fond of ecologies, so when I saw an ecology to the ratfolk, I had to pick it up. I love wererats, but how are the ratfolk different from these well-known lycanthropes? Well, for one, the ratfolk only has one shape, and since there are more of them (a lot, in fact) they can build rather large and complex societies.

Lets look at the guide to ratfolk. This presents us with a short history of ratfolk (which is large unknown, sadly), a description of the three different ratfolk variants (ratlings, ratfolk and nezumi - the biggest difference between these are the size and whether or not their walk on two or four feet), a description of the mindset and society of the ratfolk (which I could have been without since each race gets its own walkthrough later on), a short section on enemies and allies (note that ratfolk only really trusts drows!).

Next up is the meat of the product, the three playable races. They are pretty straightforward, but a little underpowered, if you ask me. I am also not sure that I agree with the various ability score bonuses/penalties. I find it really hard to believe that ratfolk are weaker physically than ratlings, who weighs between 15-25 pounds. The four alternative racial traits are pretty cool and useful and I think two of these should have been part of the original traits (prehensile tail and scent). This meaty section ends with a couple of mundane items and some feats, 4 to be precise. Of these, I really like the pack fighter.

Lastly, the GM gets a single monster called a rat ogre. I really liked this creature, which is created naturally, as part of the mutation process. I can easily see how these stupid brutes will be used in the ratfolk society.

Overall, I like the material found within this pdf. You get a lot of material for your $2, which is really nice. However, I would probably need to make a couple of adjustments if I decided to use the playable races, but with the excellent alternate racial traits, I think this could easily be done. My biggest problem with this pdf is the layout, it could really use another round of proofreading, also, when printing, the dark (purple) corners become really dark making it hard to read some of the text. This is a little annoying. Lastly, I want to mention the artwork.... which is excellent and of really high quality.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
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