PF2e Remastered Ratfolk Ancestry Guide

Introduction

Ratfolk, or ysoki, are the ancestry for players who believe the correct answer to "Do you have a backup plan?" is "Which pocket are we checking?"

Mechanically, Player Core 2 Ratfolk are a compact package of Dexterity, Intelligence, scouting, tools, item tricks, and tight-space nonsense. They are Small, quick enough at 25 feet, get low-light vision, have a finesse jaws attack, and start with the kind of stat line that quietly begs you to play an Alchemist, Inventor, Investigator, Rogue, Wizard, or Witch.

The strongest Ratfolk builds pick a lane: alchemical problem-solver, tool goblin without the goblin, stealth scout, ranged skirmisher, cramped-map menace, familiar user, scent tracker, or consumable planner. Build around what you carry, how you scout, how you move, and what you can improvise when a room goes bad.

Use this guide with the main ancestry hub, heritage guide, classes hub, equipment hub, Crafting, Thievery, Stealth, Acrobatics, Survival, detection and senses, companions and familiars, movement actions, and GM environment rules.

Rating Key

• ● Bad fit. Avoid unless the story matters more than the mechanics.
• ● Situational fit. Strong in the right campaign, weak in the wrong one.
• ● Good fit. Reliable and easy to justify.
• ● Excellent fit. One of the best options for the ancestry, role, or level.

Ratfolk Snapshot

That chassis favors finding the side door, smelling the ambush, repairing the broken mechanism, identifying the odd bottle, and hiding a backup potion in its cheeks.

The 6 ancestry HP are modest, and the Strength flaw matters. Dexterity plus Intelligence gives Ratfolk a strong skill-and-tool foundation in PF2e. The ancestry pays off for players who treat skills, equipment, senses, and positioning as core mechanics.

Why Play A Ratfolk

Play a Ratfolk if you want:

• A Dexterity and Intelligence ancestry with real skill value.
• A natural fit for Crafting, Thievery, Stealth, Acrobatics, and Society.
• Scent, darkvision, squeezing, survival, or cold/heat resilience from heritage.
• A cheek pouch feat chain that turns "I packed for this" into a character concept.
• A small ancestry that supports alchemists, inventors, investigators, rogues, ranged characters, and utility casters.
• The cultural vibe of a communal tinkerer who treats every useless object as a future solution.

Do not play a Ratfolk if you want:

• High ancestry HP.
• A Strength-forward ancestry package.
• Built-in martial weapon access.
• An ancestry that carries your combat plan without class, feat, skill, or item support.

Ratfolk reward precision, and PF2e gives that precision plenty of room to matter.

Heritage Rankings

Longsnout Rat ●

Longsnout Rat gives imprecise scent and a bonus when Seeking creatures or objects within scent range. This is the cleanest broad heritage because hidden enemies, dropped objects, disguised threats, and exploration clues come up in many campaigns.

Best on Rogue, Investigator, Ranger, Thaumaturge, Witch, and any table where the GM remembers detection and senses exist.

Tunnel Rat ●

Tunnel Rat gives Quick Squeeze even if you are not trained in Acrobatics and lets you ignore difficult terrain from tight spaces that do not require squeezing. That sounds narrow until the campaign enters caves, sewers, ruins, vents, crawlspaces, barricades, ship holds, monster dens, or "the only exit is unpleasantly small."

Best on scouts, infiltrators, escape artists, Rogues, Investigators, Rangers, and players who enjoy making the map do work.

Sewer Rat ●

Sewer Rat improves your resilience against disease and poison, including a strong success upgrade. It is campaign-dependent, but disease and poison are common enough across monsters, hazards, alchemy, and nasty environments that this is rarely wasted.

Best on front-line scouts, dungeon crawlers, sewer campaigns, poison-heavy enemy lists, Alchemists, and anyone spending too much time near afflictions.

Deep Rat ●

Deep Rat gives darkvision. It is simple, useful, and hard to regret. Ratfolk already have low-light vision, so this is an upgrade rather than a new playstyle, but seeing in darkness is still seeing in darkness.

Best on dungeon campaigns, underground campaigns, stealth characters, and parties that keep learning the hard way that carrying a torch is a tactical confession.

Snow Rat ●

Snow Rat gives cold resistance scaling with level and reduces environmental cold severity. It is excellent in the right campaign and quiet elsewhere.

Best on wilderness campaigns, cold regions, survival games, Rangers, Druids, and any campaign using environment rules seriously.

Desert Rat ●

Desert Rat increases your Speed while moving on all fours with both hands free, reduces environmental heat severity, and extends your ability to go without food and water. The catch is that cold is harder on you unless you are protected or sheltered.

Best on desert, wasteland, heat, survival, and overland travel campaigns. Less attractive for shield users, weapon-and-tool jugglers, and games that bounce between climate extremes.

Shadow Rat ●

Shadow Rat trains Intimidation and lets you use coercion and Demoralize pressure against animals without the normal language problem, but animals begin with a worse attitude toward you. That is flavorful and sometimes useful, but it is not a default power pick.

Best on Intimidation builds, animal-heavy campaigns, unsettling character concepts, and players who are comfortable with the social drawback.

Ancestry Feat Rankings

Level 1 Feats

Tinkering Fingers is the headline. Ratfolk already point toward Intelligence and tools, and this feat lets a character show that identity immediately. It is especially good with Crafting, adventuring gear and tools, gadgets, and Alchemist or Inventor builds.

Cheek Pouches is the most Ratfolk feat in the list. It is not automatically the strongest level 1 pick, but it is the pick that creates the most unique long-term ancestry line. If you want your ancestry to become a consumable engine, take it early.

Level 5 Feats

Quick Stow makes Cheek Pouches a serious item-management option. In a system where Interact actions, held items, shields, tools, and consumables all compete for attention, free-action storage matters.

Cornered Fury is easy to underrate. Off-guard is a real combat condition, and many enemies are larger than a Small Ratfolk. The issue is that it triggers after the bigger foe lands a critical hit and damages you, which is not exactly the relaxing version of strategy.

Level 9 Feats

Uncanny Cheeks makes the cheek pouch chain a planning tool. It excels at tables that reward prepared consumables, odd gear, and "actually, I bought one of those."

Rat Form is excellent because Tiny scouting solves problems weapons cannot. Use it for scouting, escape, and infiltration before a fight begins.

Level 13 Feats

Skittering Sneak is the standout. Full-Speed Sneak is not flashy in the "big damage number" sense, but stealth characters understand how much map control this creates.

Warren Digger is campaign-defining when it matters. It should be discussed with the GM, because burrowing can change infiltration, escape, battlefield approach, and obstacle design.

Level 17 Feat

Call the Swarm is strong, cinematic, and wonderfully rude to enemies who thought the battlefield belonged to them. The prerequisite matters, though. If you want this at 17, Ratspeak needs to be part of the plan earlier.

Feat Path Recommendations

The Toolbox Rat

This path fits Alchemist, Inventor, Investigator, Wizard, and any character who wants tools, repair, scouting, and utility to matter.

The Cheek Pouch Menace

This is the funniest strong path. It rewards players who read equipment, buy useful consumables, remember their tools, and do not freeze when the GM asks what exactly they are holding.

The Scout

This path is clean on Rogue, Ranger, Investigator, and Thaumaturge. Pair it with Longsnout Rat, Tunnel Rat, or Deep Rat.

The Cramped-Space Skirmisher

This path wants maps with walls, allies, chokepoints, and enemies who get annoyed when the Small character will not stay where the diagram says they should.

Best Classes

Alchemist ●

Ratfolk and Alchemist are an obvious pairing for a reason. Dexterity helps AC and ranged attacks. Intelligence is the class engine. Tinkering Fingers, Cheek Pouches, Quick Stow, and Uncanny Cheeks all support a character who solves problems through items.

Use alchemical items, consumables, Crafting, and ranged weapons as your supporting guides.

Inventor ●

Inventor likes Intelligence, tools, Crafting, gadgets, and weird solutions. Ratfolk gives exactly that vibe mechanically. Tinkering Fingers is close to mandatory from an identity standpoint, even when another feat is mathematically tempting.

The Strength flaw can make heavy armor or heavy melee plans more awkward, so Dexterity-leaning armor, ranged options, gadgets, and utility engineering often feel smoother.

Investigator ●

Investigator loves Intelligence, skills, scouting, social inference, and having the right trick at the right time. Longsnout Rat, Ratfolk Lore, Tinkering Fingers, Rat Form, and Skittering Sneak all fit beautifully.

This pairing aligns the ancestry's scouting and item tools with the class's Intelligence and skill focus.

Rogue ●

Rogue loves Dexterity, Stealth, Thievery, Acrobatics, scouting, and positional play. Ratfolk Lore is efficient. Tunnel Rat and Longsnout Rat are excellent. Vicious Incisors can be useful if your build wants a finesse unarmed fallback.

The main caution is HP. Use positioning, flanking, armor, and party support to keep a Ratfolk Rogue from trading hits like a tougher frontliner.

Ranger ●

Ranger works well with Ratfolk because Dexterity, Survival, scouting, and senses all matter. Longsnout Rat is strong for tracking-adjacent play. Warren Navigator fits exploration. Snow Rat or Desert Rat can be excellent in climate-driven campaigns.

Ranger is a little less automatic than Rogue or Investigator because the Strength flaw can tax melee weapon plans, but ranged and finesse builds are clean.

Wizard ●

Wizard likes Intelligence, and Ratfolk gives it. Deep Rat, Longsnout Rat, Rat Familiar, Tinkering Fingers, and Rat Form all create useful utility around the spellcasting chassis.

The ancestry does not boost spell DCs beyond the attribute package, but it gives the Wizard better scouting, item use, and exploration tools. That is a good trade if you like prepared-play brains.

Witch ●

Witch also likes Intelligence and already plays well with familiar rules. Rat Familiar is redundant only if you ignore how much a familiar can shape the character's feel. Longsnout Rat, Deep Rat, Rat Form, and Tinkering Fingers support a sneaky utility caster well.

Pair this with staves and wands, worn invested items, and Arcana or Occultism, depending on the build.

Swashbuckler ●

Swashbuckler appreciates Dexterity, Acrobatics, and a finesse ancestry attack if you take Vicious Incisors. The ancestry is not tailor-made for panache, but it supports mobility, odd positioning, and small-size audacity.

This is a good pick if you want the table to remember your movement choices more than your raw damage.

Thaumaturge ●

Thaumaturge likes weird tools, esoterica, improvisational item energy, and knowing a little too much about everything. Ratfolk fits the tone and gives practical utility through skills, senses, storage, and scouting.

The class is Charisma-based, so the Ratfolk attribute boosts are not as direct as they are for Alchemist or Investigator. The pairing is still good if you build around Dexterity, utility, and items.

Attributes And Skills

Attribute Priorities

The Strength flaw is the tax. It does not ban melee, but it makes Strength-first concepts work harder. Dexterity melee, ranged weapons, finesse attacks, spellcasting, items, and skill pressure all fit more naturally.

Best Skills

• Crafting - The signature skill for Tinkering Fingers, repairs, item knowledge, alchemical play, and Inventor or Alchemist concepts.
• Stealth - Excellent with Small size, Ratfolk Lore, Rat Form, Tunnel Rat, and Skittering Sneak.
• Thievery - Great for scouts, infiltrators, rogues, trap work, locks, and delicate hands.
• Acrobatics - Useful for mobility, balancing, squeezing, and swashbuckler-style movement.
• Society - Strong for urban ysoki, merchants, investigators, and knowledge-driven characters.
• Survival - Good with Warren Navigator, Ranger builds, overland travel, and harsh environments.
• Intimidation - Best if you take Shadow Rat or build a surprisingly scary small character.

Equipment

Ratfolk equipment choices should reinforce the ancestry's actual strengths: tools, consumables, mobility, small-item utility, and Dexterity.

Best Equipment Priorities

For more detail, use adventuring gear and tools, weapons, ranged weapons, armor, consumables, alchemical items, gadgets, and worn invested items.

The Cheek Pouch Rule Of Thumb

If you take Cheek Pouches, ask one question every time you shop: "Would I be happy if this tiny object appeared at the worst possible moment?"

If yes, it belongs on the shortlist. If no, it belongs in the backpack like a normal person's dignity.

Example Builds

Ratfolk Chirurgeon Alchemist

Ratfolk Investigator Scout

Ratfolk Rogue Infiltrator

Ratfolk Inventor

GM Core And Monster Core Notes

GM Core support matters for Ratfolk because their best features often live outside a flat open-room damage race. Environment, hazards, skill DCs, subsystems, social encounters, and encounter building all change how valuable Ratfolk feel.

If every fight happens in a clean square room with no darkness, no clutter, no side passages, no disease, no poison, no clues, no locks, no tight spaces, and no useful items, Ratfolk lose texture. That is not a Ratfolk problem. That is a map problem.

Monster Core reinforces the same identity from the GM side: Ratfolk communities are clean, communal, clever, protective, and often associated with alchemy, invention, traps, caravans, and cramped lairs. A Ratfolk NPC should not be played as "diseased rat person." They should feel like a prepared, social, technically minded creature who knows exactly which tunnel you forgot to guard.

That also means Ratfolk PCs fit naturally into Monster Core-style encounter logic. They understand traps, bombs, small spaces, scavenged gear, and communal defense. Let that inform how the character reads a dungeon.

Common Mistakes

Taking Cheek Pouches With No Item Plan

Cheek Pouches is great if you care about item access. It is just flavor if you never buy consumables, never use tools, and never plan your hands.

Ignoring The Strength Flaw

Strength-heavy Ratfolk can work, but they are not free. If you want heavy melee, decide early how you are handling armor, attack stat, damage, Bulk, and survivability.

Picking Desert Rat In A Non-Desert Campaign

Desert Rat is good when heat, food, water, and travel matter. In an urban mystery, Longsnout Rat or Tunnel Rat will usually produce more table value.

Treating Rat Form As A Combat Form

Rat Form is a scouting, escape, infiltration, and comedy-of-proportion tool. Do not judge it by Strike damage. That is not its job.

Forgetting To Link Senses To Actions

Scent is not a passive win button. It interacts with Seek, hidden creatures, range, wind, and GM adjudication. Read detection and senses before assuming your nose solves every mystery.

Hot Take

Ratfolk shine as item characters: tools, storage, scent, scouting, and preparedness give the ancestry its clearest identity. Tinkering Fingers is a strong level 1 feat because it makes that identity visible in play. Cheek Pouches becomes more valuable when the character uses its free-action item storage deliberately.

Longsnout Rat is the broadest heritage choice because scent solves many exploration problems. Ratfolk gets the most from dungeons, streets, ruins, caravans, hazards, mysteries, and difficult weather, where its tools and movement options have room to matter.

Final Verdict

Ratfolk is strongest for players who want Dexterity, Intelligence, tools, scouting, consumables, and clever problem-solving. It shines in campaigns that reward preparation and players who use the options on the sheet.

The strongest Ratfolk builds are Alchemist, Inventor, Investigator, Rogue, Ranger, Wizard, Witch, and utility-minded Thaumaturge. Build around Longsnout Rat, Tunnel Rat, Tinkering Fingers, Ratfolk Lore, Cheek Pouches, Quick Stow, Rat Form, Uncanny Cheeks, and Skittering Sneak, then let the ancestry do what it does best: make the party better prepared than the encounter expected.

Related Guides

• PF2e Ancestry Guides
• PF2e Heritage Guide
• PF2e Class Guides
• PF2e Equipment Guide
• PF2e Skills Guide
• PF2e Detection And Senses Guide
• PF2e Companions And Familiars Guide