Raten 5e

Raten are intelligent and spry rat-like humanoids which are quite short, varying from the height of a halfling to that of a dwarf. They've got sharp teeth, a weak but prehensile tail, beady eyes, and a keen nose.

Raten usually live in communities called swarms. These communities are a collection of many families which all live among each other to benefit from one another. When a swarm comes together it is capable of great things and higher intelligence. When enough Raten are brought together they have been known to achieve great things that many others are incapable of, though Raten often aren't ambitious enough to leverage their potential. Because of this, the idea of a large ambitious group of Raten scares many. That resulting fear is what drives many to persecute Raten and drive them into the underground, undercity, or remote locations.
Raten homes are called warrens, and often house many Raten within them. Usually a warren is home to a single bloodline, but circumstances may cause several bloodlines to live within the same warren or even a full swarm in extreme circumstances.

Raten have a stigma against them as dirty, diseased, thieving creatures which bring death and illness. Although they are unorganized, they are quite clean and rarely carry disease. The stigma isn't unwarranted however. Raten stay separate from but close to society, usually in poor conditions such as run down buildings, sewers, or caves. They lack the ambition to form a strong society of their own, and they've been rejected from integrating into others' societies and so leech from existing ones through scavenging and thieving.

Despite their ways and how they are viewed, some Raten manage to find their ambition and strike out on their own. Their reasons can vary widely, much like humans, whether it be to rise above their lot in life, rebel, explore, prove themselves, or countless other aspirations. Most Raten who strike out on their own do so in the attempts to join human societies, and the rare few become adventurers.

Raten names are singular, and short. They never have surnames, though in some occasions they may have titles.
Male Names: Skaldirk, Rikkan, Skivven, Brak, Skriz, Riz, Fang, Claw, Pox
Female Names: Jix, Rissi, Thikka, Kitch, Vekki, Bhix, Poxy

Ability Score Increase – Ratfolk start with a +2 bonus to Dexterity

Age – Due to their rodent heritage, they reach adulthood around 8 years old and live to around 50 at most.

Size – While a huge size for rodentkind, these creature are by no means mighty by human standards.  Raten are small in size and stature.

Speed – Due to their bestial body shape, walking on their hind legs proves awkward.  Also, many civilized raten have grown portly due to a comfortable lifestyle.  Those who don’t live in such a way rarely consume the most healthy of foods either. Your base speed is 25 ft.

Scurry – You can quickly scamper away from danger.  When you take the dash action, you gain an extra 10 ft. for that round.  Alternatively, you can choose to drop to all fours as a free action.  You gain a 5 ft. bonus to speed while on all fours, but take disadvantage on any attacks that aren’t your bite.  Standing up consumes half of your base speed.

Senses – Due to a lifestyle deep within warrens, caves and tunnels; raten have developed a knack for sight in the dark.  You have Darkvision out 60 ft.

Bite – You have piercing teeth which can deliver a nasty bite.  Your bite attack deals 1d4 piercing damage.  It uses Strength or Dexterity. Damage increases as you gain levels; d6 at level 6, d8 at level 12, and d10 at level 18.

Squeeze - You can move through the space of any creatures of your size or larger, and given time you can squeeze or chew your way through tiny spaces.

Rodent Ancestry – You gain training in Animal Handling, and you have advantage on saves versus disease. Once per short rest or long rest, you gain advantage when using an Animal Handling check with rodents.

Strong Smell – You are proficient in Perception. You also gain advantage to perception checks made to smell. Anything that would normally induce disadvantage would cancel this out. Furthermore, anything that would block your sense of smell nullifies that advantage bonus until you take a short rest or long rest.

Cleverkin
+1 intelligence
Tinkerer – You are adept at crafting strange little trinkets.  You gain the Tinker ability found in the Player’s Handbook (page 37), which grants proficiency in Tinker’s Tools as well as the ability to craft small clockwork devices.

Clankin
+1 wisdom
Swarm – Clankin are more comfortable with allies close. When you are within 5 ft. of an ally who is not incapacitated, you gain advantage on one attack roll per turn.