Mousefolk (4e Race)
Mousefolk[edit]
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| Mouse by C Lynn Steele, on Flickr |
A special breed of fighter well known for being of quick nature and fast thinkers.
| Racial Traits |
| Average Height: 4'9"- 5'4" |
| Average Weight: 95-160 |
| Ability Scores: +2 Charisma, +2 Dexterity |
| Size: Small |
| Speed: 5 squares |
| Vision: Low-light |
| Languages: Common and choice of one other |
| Skill Bonuses: +2 Stealth, +2 Nature |
| Shadow Blend: You hide in the shadows more effectively than most. If you have cover or concealment against an attack, that attack has an additional -1 penalty (-3 for cover or concealment, -6 for superior cover or total concealment). |
| Prey Sense: As a small creature, your survival instincts kick into high gear easily. You have a +2 racial bonus to initiative checks. |
| Nimble: Your enhanced heart rate in your little body makes you hard to pin down. You have a +5 racial bonus to Acrobatics checks to escape being grabbed. You also have a +5 racial bonus to Reflex saving throws against being grabbed. |
| Spurious: Catching your breath doesn't mean you catch a break as your small self. When you use your second wind, you can shift 2 squares as a free action. |
The mousefolk are a timid yet bountiful race that has mostly been forgotten among the many annals of history. They play many background roles in wars, having being driving forces behind organized espionage and scouting. They were optimal for these roles due to their size and nimble speed. With the encroaching danger of the Far Realm upon the reaches of nature, the mousefolk have rallied alongside wilden and other races to combat this threat.
Play a Mousefolk if you want...
- To be a neutral party
- To be a nature lover
- To be small, and built to be sneaky
- To be a member of a race that favors the Rouge, Cleric, or Sorcerer classes.
Physical Qualities[edit]
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| Subterranean Arvid, by michaeljpatrick on Flickr |
Mousefolk have a vaguely humanoid arrangement of limbs and body parts. They are pretty much an anthropomorphic mouse, with ears and a tail. Their small bodies are covered in short-haired furs, though this varies among different species. Their tail, hands and feet are usually naked, and their sensitive noses are equipped with whiskers. Like normal mice, their eyes are able to function in low light settings, like near dusk or in darker places. Their physiology is similar to a rabbit or a squirrels, with increased heart rate and hyperactivity, which makes them very elusive. Their lifespans are about half that of humans, but definitely longer than that of the normal mouse.
Playing a Mousefolk[edit]
When roleplaying a mousefolk, here are a few pointers to keep in mind.
Shallow Pride. Despite their size, mousefolk do not take kindly to being looked down upon. They see themselves as a noble race defending their rightful home from invaders, and thus should be respected as any warrior. This veneer collapses easily when their lives sometimes are threatened however.
All for One. As small and typical prey, mousefolk are ingenious for coordinating teamwork. They may sometimes flake when the going gets tough, but they are usually willing to sacrifice their ideals to help a friend out. Their weakness is not unknown to themselves. When their ego fails to cover for it, their teamwork steps up instead.
Uppity. Larger creatures like loxodons are liable to squish mousefolk, and they can be carried off as a snack by predatory monsters. As such, mousefolk keep a high-strung air about them of vigilance. Their instincts as prey sometimes tell them when they are in danger without them knowing consciously.
Characteristics: Alert, smug, prideful, jumpy, cooperative, aware
Male Names: Fogaggio, Haggit, Yggtraum, Jiggy
Female Names: Ratta, Lottie, Fetteda, Dotti
Mousefolk Adventurers[edit]
Mousefolk seek to defend their territory from the Far Realm. Many are aligned with camps of other forces to fight the aberrant influences. Their jobs as typical support and spies means sometimes scouring the country for artifacts or spying on well-known figures. Of course, some mousefolk just want to be able to also stand out from their pack and enjoy individual achievement for once too.
Rouge. The mousefolk make natural rogues, working as spies and assassins from the shadows with their nimble bodies and natural stealth. While they can't always kill directly, they make use of other things like traps and poison, similar to kobold tactics. On their own time, mousefolk sometimes sadly use his skill for less noble causes like thievery.
Cleric. It is often an unknown fact that mousefolk take comfort in religion. They are descendants of nature's beings in the end, and so respect the powers of gods like Chauntea.
Sorcerer. Drawing on their ancestry within nature, mousefolk that seek to regain touch with their roots are usually sorcerers. They make use of a variety of nature spells.
Three example mousefolk adventurers are described below.
Scarlett is a mousefolk sorcerer who wishes for greater power than her fellow spellcasters. Born the runt of her litter, she has often had an inferiority complex and thus seeks to get ahead of everyone. On their last expedition, she separated from her group in a city to find travelers who may take her along to a ruin rumored to have housed a powerful relic from Chauntea's early days...
Drogge is a mousefolk rogue that survived a botched assassination against a powerful noble. While he remains on the low for now, he fears for his life and is trying to return to his camp in the High Forest. It is doubtful he will be able to do so alone.
Tarogg is a mousefolk cleric traveling with an adventuring group. He lets the team largely do as they please so long as they show nature no harm. When he sees unjust exploitation of the earth mother's bounty, he is prone to raining spells on the guilty party in a fit of rage.
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