Homebrew Thirty-Seven Rats in a Trench Coat (TRIC) Species Details

Introduction: Since the dawn of magic, they have lurked, flourishing in the shadows of [canonical world name], the rat civilization has prospered. Never electing one ruler, never staking a claim in one place, the rats have managed to spread to every corner of the earth, united only by their rattiness. Rat culture is incredibly versatile, due to their varying habitats and tendencies to move from place to place. A rat's individual culture is often a melting pot of everyone they've met and everywhere they've been. 

Origins of a TRIC: Sometimes, rats will decide to mighty-morph into a humanoid thing of rats, allowing them to traverse the greater world and interact with other bipedal beings. In order to become a tric, rats must all partake in a special ritual, the steps of which only the rat population knows. The general rat population refers to it as a ratual. When rats group together, or "amalgamate" as they call it, they submit their minds and bodies to one being, often known as the 'singular'. The singular controls the tric's body, which after amalgamation, is a fusion of all of the rats that amalgamated, but in a humanistic form. The singular possesses a bit of all of the knowledge that the formers held. However, the singular is not one rat. They are a new conscious. And they know that they are new and they know that they used to be rats, but singulars do not always remember why they were amalgamated, or who they were before amalgamation. The rats that amalgamated into the tric are often referred to as formers. 

Appearance: After amalgamation, trics take on a humanistic form. Bearing the same structure and shape as a human. However, some trics, depending on the size of the rats and the number of rats amalgamating*, will be missing an arm or a leg. Because of this, Amalgamations tend to be anywhere from 4-6 feet tall. Even after amalgamation, trics usually still possess many rattish features, including but not limited to claws, ears, whiskers, tails, and pointed noses. Trics ore usually very pale, their complexion taking on almost a grayish-pink hue, and their hair is usually white or gray, although some trics have brown hair. It is not uncommon for a tric to have stripes or spots in their hair either. 

*- although the general consensus is that the average tric is made up of roughly thirty-seven former rats, A tric can be made of anywhere from 20-100ish formers. 

Alignment: As rats are not very moralistic creatures, trics tend to lean towards chaotic neutral. However, some trics, will attach themselves very quickly to anyone who shows them kindness, because they grew up in a world without empathy. Trics who are shown kindness may end up Leaning towards chaotic good, or in rarer cases, neutral good. Lawful trics however, are incredibly rare. 

Personality: Trics tend to be coy and sarcastic. Having never been taught manners, they usually dont treat others well after freshly amalgamating. However, Trics, having a naive and impressionable worldview, tend to mimic the mannerisms and traits of whoever they first meet after amalgamation. (In a way, this is sort of like how baby birds imprint on their mothers, just less cute.) A good portion of the world views trics as lower beings, so many trics are often defensive of their dignity, and will go to unhealthy lengths to prove their worth. Tricks may refer to themselves as 'we' and 'us', rather than 'I' and 'me'. In a nutshell, a generic tric is crafty, sly, defensive, and brash. However, not all trics fit that mold. A tric's personality is often based off of who they met and how they were treated after amalgamation. It also depends on where the tric's previous forms were from. A tric's personality is very versatile for those reasons. 

Names: In order to fit in, Trics will often name themselves by drawing inspiration from the cultures of their formers. Example: A tric with formers from a gnomish village will most likely give themself a gnomish name. 

Aging: After amalgamation, a new-made tric will appear with the physical features of a human ten year old. Over the course of about a month, the tric will age into about a human 18-year-old. From there, trics age naturally. They live to be at youngest, 70, and at oldest 120. 

 

Thirty-Seven Rats in a Trench Coat (TRIC) Traits

Prolific Whispers, Darkvision, Rat-tastic Senses, Claws, Burrowing

Darkvision

Thanks to your ratty heritage, you have superior vision in dark and dim conditions. You can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can’t discern color in darkness, only shades of gray.

Ability Score Increase

As a tric you are often treated wrongly. So you learned how to make others like you with your articulate speaking. +2 cha

You possess much of the the intelligence of your formers. There are many things you dont even know that you know. +1 int

Rat-tastic senses

You possess the vision,  smell, and hearing of a rat. You have advantage on all perception saving throws. 

Prolific Whispers

After amalgamation, you learn how to summon the voices of your formers so that they sound from all around you, allowing you to confuse and scare your enemy. Whenever you call prolific whispers, your target must make a Dexterity saving throw. A creature takes 3d6 psychic damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one.

At Higher Levels. When you cast this spell using a spell slot of 2nd level or higher, the damage increases by 1d6 for each slot level above 1st.

Claws

You can use your ratty claws to attack your enemies. You inflict 1d4+dex slashing damage on your enemies after attacking with your claws. 

Rat Master

At level 3, you learn more how to balance yourself between the rat world and the rest of the world. You learn sylvan, and gain proficiency on animal handling and nature checks.