Nezumi (Nez-oo-me)
Also referred to as Nezu, the nezumi are small, rat-like humanoids mostly spurned by other races of the world. Viewed as dirty and only good as slaves, many nezumi struggle not to become consumed by spite as the world mistreats them.
Basic Information
Anatomy
The nezumi possess long rodent-like tails that help regulate their body heat. Many hide these tails under robes to help conceal their rodent features, however this often leads to the nezumi suffering from heatstroke-like conditions and can lead to health complications for the nezu.
Genetics and Reproduction
The nezumi often give birth to large litters of young, often producing clutches of 5-10 pups. Generally, only half these pups survive to adulthood, as space is tight and competition is feirce in a nezu warren.
Growth Rate & Stages
A nezumi reaches adulthood at 12 years of age. A nezu youngling is known as a pup for the first 6 years of its life, were it is mostly blind, hairless, and helpless.
Dietary Needs and Habits
Most nezumi eat a diet of cultivated nuts, fungi, and insects, but are capable of digesting nearly any type of meal. Cheese is a sacred and addictive delicacy to the nezumi, and is often used to bait and trap escaped nezu slaves.
Additional Information
Uses, Products & Exploitation
The nezumi are prized as slaves due to their numbers, fast reproduction rates, and relative ease of capture.
Facial characteristics
Nezumi have rat-like snouts that are capable of identifying scents that are in close proximity, as well as whiskers that help them keep their balance.
Geographic Origin and Distribution
Most ratfolk dwell in their ancestral homeland, the hilled borderlands between Ardlam and Skovasil, known as The Burrows. Due to their penchant for being sold into slavery, they can still be found spread out thought the world. There is also a large population of nezu in the techno based city of Nenu-Lan.
Average Intelligence
While they rarely receive formal education, the nezumi have an innate cunning and are able to learn at a rapid pace. They love to tinker, craft, and horde items.
Perception and Sensory Capabilities
The nezumi have darkvision.
Symbiotic and Parasitic organisms
Nezumi are known to breed rats, both normal and dire, as pets, much like a human would own a dog. Such close proximity with these creatures and each other means nezu warrens are breeding grounds for disease, and many nezu are carriers for a multitude of diseases.
Civilization and Culture
Naming Traditions
Slaveborn nezumi often lack names, often receiving number designations instead.
Beauty Ideals
Many nezumi are ashamed of their appearance, and will attempt to hide or change their appearance with masks or long clothing when dealing with other races. The nezu care little about personal appearance when dealing with each other, instead utilizing scent as a way to judge fertility and attractiveness.
Gender Ideals
The nezumi are a matriarchal society, with emphasis placed on reproduction. The most fertile female of the nest is considered the broodmother, and holds tremendous authority within the warren.
Courtship Ideals
Nezumi have little in the way of formal courtship, as the concept of marriage or a single mate is foreign to them. Most simply partake in mass breeding festivals during mating season, or are forcefully bred by their slave masters.
Relationship Ideals
Due to the stigma they receive by other races, the nezumi have strong community bonds with each other. They view the race as a whole as one extended family, and will often refer to other nezu with a family denominator, even if they only recently met.
Average Technological Level
Due to their love of tinkering and crafting, the nezumi that have the freedom to create often come up with many helpful inventions, and are one of the few races that often utilize firearms. Unfortunately, other races often take credit for these inventions, and the nezu are often not in a place to dispute these plagiarisms.
Major Language Groups and Dialects
While most nezumi speak Nezu and and eithr Ard Common or Skov Common, their sharp minds allow them to pick up languages quickley, thus can often be found also speaking Aklo, Chirat, Enthos, Orcish, Selian, Terran or Undercommon.
Common Dress Code
Many nezumi are aware of the stigma of their race, so it is common for them wear large baggy clothing designed to conceal their more prominent features in the hopes of looking more acceptable.
Common Customs, Traditions and Rituals
Most nezumi have a compulsion to horde, and a nezumi den is often filled with various items. More often then not, this compulsion leads a nezumi to steal items that it views as essential to its horde, despite its better judgement perpetuating the belief that the race as a whole are thieves.
Common Taboos
The Tengu are the hated enemies of the nezumi, and for a nezu to willingly work with one would be seen as a betrayal to the race. For a nezu to willingly not produce offspring for its warren is a crime punishable by shunning and banishment.
Historical Figures
One of the members of the Darkmoon Alliance, the villainous group that brought about the Sundering, was Sheev, a nezumi experiment from the city of Nenu-Lan.
Common Myths and Legends
A majority of the nezumi worship their Primal Beastman, Tesso, the Spurned. It is believed that both Tesso and the first Tengu god Hunginn were destined to ascend together and share the domain of messengers, but Hunginn betrayed and abandoned Tesso in the mortal world, leading to the current state of the nezumi.
Interspecies Relations and Assumptions
Nezumi are looked down upon by most of the other races, and are the most enslaved race in the world. Thus there are few positive interactions between the nezumi and the other races. Nezumi do get along well with Chirats, as they are similar in nature and stature. They are more likely to get along with halflings than other races, as halflings also suffer from greatly from slavery. They hate Tengu most of all, as it is believed that the Tengu gods betrayed the Nezumi in the past.
Racial Table - Nezumi: Hit Dice: D8; Class Skills: Climb, Craft, Handle Animal, Profession, Stealth; Skill Ranks Per Level: 2 + Intelligence modifier; Weapon Proficiency: Simple, plus all forms of daggers; Armor Proficiency: Light
| Level | BAB | Fort | Reflex | Will | Abilities |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | +0 | +0 | +2 | +0 | Animal Minded, Swarming, Tinkerer |
| 2nd | +1 | +0 | +3 | +0 | Burrower, Resilient |
| 3rd | +2 | +1 | +3 | +1 | Summon Swarm, Tunneler |
| 4th | +3 | +1 | +4 | +1 | Carrier, +1 Dexterity, +1 Intelligence |
| 5th | +3 | +1 | +4 | +4 | Overwhelming |
Random Starting Ages
| Adulthood | Intuitive1 | Self-Taught2 | Trained3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 12 years | +1d4 years (13 - 16) | +1d6 years (13 - 18) | +2d6 years (14 - 24) |
Random Height and Weight
| Gender | Base Height | Height Modifier | Base Weight | Weight Modifier |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Male | 3 ft. 7 in. | +2d4 in. (3 ft. 9 in. - 4 ft. 3 in.) | 65 lbs. | +(2d4x3 in.) (71 - 89 lbs.) |
| Female | 3 ft. 4 in. | +2d4 in. (3 ft. 6 in. - 4 ft.) | 50 lbs. | +(2d4x3 in.) (56 - 74 lbs.) |
Nezumi Aging Table
| Middle Age (-1 to Str, Dex, and Con, +1 to Int, Wis, and Cha) | Old (-2 to Str, Dex, and Con, +2 to Int, Wis, and Cha) | Venerable (-3 to Str, Dex, and Con, +2 to Int, Wis, and Cha) | Maximum Age (GM secretly decides maximum age) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20 years | 30 years | 40 years | 40 + 1d20 years (41 - 60 years) |
Random Nezumi Homelands
| % Rolled | Homeland | Trait Gained |
|---|---|---|
| 01-30 | Nezumi Burrow | Seeker |
| 31-55 | Desert | Resilent |
| 56-70 | Swamp | River Rat |
| 71-90 | Non-nezumi Settlement | Merchant |
| 91-96 | Subterranean | Surface Stranger |
| 97-00 | Unusual Homeland | (Roll on Unusual Homeland table) |
Random Nezumi Families
| % Rolled | Parental Status |
|---|---|
| 01-25 | Both of your parents are alive |
| 26-50 | Only Father is alive |
| 51-75 | Only Mother is alive |
| 76-00 | Both of your parents are dead |
| % Rolled | # of Siblings |
|---|---|
| 01-40 | 1d3+1 Siblings |
| 41-80 | 1d6+2 Siblings |
| 81-00 | No siblings |
Lifespan
41 - 60 years.
Average Height
3 ft. 6 in. - 4 ft. 4 in.
Average Weight
56 - 89 lbs
Average Physique
The nezumi are physically frail, their small limbs crafted for rapid movements rather then prolonged work.
Body Tint, Colouring and Marking
Most nezumi fur colors range from brown to black, but rarer white furred variety are known to exist.
Geographic Distribution
Nezumi
Type
Humanoid (Nezumi)
Ability Score Modifier
+2 Dexterity, +2 Intelligence, -2 Strength. Nezumi are agile and clever, yet physically weak.
Size
small
Speed
Nezumi have a base speed of 20 feet.
Language
A nezumi begins play speaking Common (Ard or Skov) and Nezu. A nezumi with a high intelligence score can pick from any of the following languages: Aklo, Chirat, Enthos, Orcish, Selian, Terran or Undercommon.
- Materil: Nezumi can be tied to either the Shadow or the Earth Materil, allowing them to become either Shadowbringers or Earthbreakers.
- Darkvision: Nezumi can see perfectly in the dark up to 60 feet.
- Animal Minded: A nezumi gains a +2 racial bonus to Handle Animal and wild empathy checks towards rat-like creatures. This bonus increases by 1 for every two hit dice beyond the 1st the nezumi possesses.
- Swarming: Nezumi are used to living and fighting communally. Up to two creatures with swarming can share the same square at the same time. If two creatures with swarming are in the same square and attack the same foe, they are considered to be flanking that foe as if they were in opposite squares.
- Tinkerer: Nezumi gain a +2 racial bonus on Craft (Alchemy), Perception, and Use Magic Device checks. These bonuses increase by one for every two hit dice beyond the 1st the nezumi possesses.
- Burrower: Starting at 2nd racial level, a nezumi gains a burrow speed of 10 feet. This speed increases to 20 feet at 4th racial level.
- Resilient: Starting at 2nd racial level, a nezumi gains a +1 racial bonus to any one saving throw. This bonus increases by 1 for every five hit dice the nezumi possesses after the 2nd.
- Summon Swarm (Sp): Starting at 3rd racial level, a nezumi can cast summon swarm 1/day as a spell-like ability, using their total hit dice as their caster level. They can only summon a rat swarm with this ability, but unlike casting the spell, the nezumi can influence the swarm using Handle Animal or wild empathy checks. For every 3 hit dice beyond the 3rd, the swarm damage of the rats increases by 1d6.
- Tunneler: At 3rd racial level, a nezumi gains Tunnel Rat as a bonus feat, only takes half penalties for squeezing, and doesn't lose their Dexterity modifier to AC while squeezing.
- Carrier: Starting at 4th racial level, a nezumi becomes immune to all diseases (including magical ones) but may still contract and spread the disease to others.
- Overwhelming: Starting at 5th racial level, a nezumi can cling to foes and overwhelm them. When adjacent to a creature of a larger size category than themselves, as a swift action, they can climb that creature's body, entering their square, with a Climb check. The DC of this check is equal to the target's CMD. This action isn’t a grapple, does not provoke an attack of opportunity, and does not grant the grappled condition to either the nezumi or that target. While a nezumi is climbing a creature, that creature gains a -5 penalty to attack rolls, and is considered flat-footed against the nezumi. The nezumi counts as flanking with any ally adjacent to the target.
Alternate Racial Traits
- Skaven: Some Nezumi never leave their underground lairs, and have adapted to a lack of sunlight. These Nezumi have Darkvision of 120 feet, but gain the Light Blindness trait. A skaven starts play speaking Undercommon and can take Common as a bonus language. This trait alters the nezumis’ senses and languages.
- Slaveborn: Some nezumi have only known a life of toil. These nezu gain a +4 racial bonus on Constitution checks to stabilize or against the effects of fatigue or exhaustion, and a +2 racial bonus on Fortitude saves. They always treat Knowledge (Geography) and (Local) as class skills. This trait replaces the Tinkerer trait.
- Stench Aura (Ex): Some nezumi live in such squalor that even other nezumi hesitate to go near them. They secrete a stench in 15 foot aura. All living creatures without the Stench Aura trait within the aura must make a Fortitude save (DC 10 + ½ HD + the nezumi Constitution modifier) or be sickened for 5 rounds. This trait replaces the Tinkerer trait.
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