Sidebar- Size and Weight
For the sake of comparison, I've listed heights and weights of the different species, using "Woodland Feet" and "Woodland Stone." A Woodland Foot is about equal to one human inch, while a Woodland Stone is about equal to a Human ounce. You can use the stone with Delta's Stone Encumbrance system. Mostly this is just to make it easier to picture how big different animals are in relation to each other.
Mouse
Mus musculusAverage Height: 3 feet
Average Weight: 6 stone
Lifespan: 2 years
Kinda Like: Halflings
Mice are friendly and welcoming to outsiders. Few of them become great adventurers, instead tending towards simple, quiet lives.
▶ Ability Modifiers: +1 DEX, -1 STR
▶ Short: Mice are too small to use 2-handed weapons or longbows.
▶ Defense Bonus: Mice get +2 armour class against foes greater than human size.
▶ Stealth: Mice are good at sneaking and hiding. If using d6 thief skills, Mice get +1 stealth and have 5-in-6 stealth skill in the wilderness. Otherwise, Mice have a 90% chance to hide in the wilderness and have a 2-in-6 chance of successfully hiding in shadows or behind cover in a dungeon, exactly the same as a Halfling.
▶ Saving Throw Bonus: Mice get +2 to all saving throws against Wands, Breath Weapons, and Spells.
Rat
Rattus norvegicusAverage Height: 7-8 feet
Average Weight: 28 stone
Lifespan: 2 years
Kinda Like: Humans, Orcs
Rats are very social, and have a culture that emphasizes the greater good over individuality. There are many aggressive groups of rats, but there are just as many who become great heroes or leaders.
▶ Ability Modifiers: +1 CHA, +1 STR, -1 WIS
▶ Leadership: Hirelings and Retainers of rats gain +1 morale and +1 loyalty
▶ Climbers: Rats are good climbers. If using d6 thief skills, rats gain +2 to their climb skill. If using percent skills, Rats can Climb Walls as a thief of equivalent level. Rat Thieves add +10% to their Climb Walls skill.
Mole
Talpa europaeaAverage Height: 6 feet
Average Weight: 12 stone
Lifespan: 4 years
Kinda Like: Dwarves
Moles are stubborn and practical. They live underground in their tunnels, where they have vast underground cities. Moles are almost totally blind, but have amazing senses of smell and touch, and are deeply in tune with their environments.
▶ Ability Modifiers: +1 WIS, -1 DEX
▶ Senses: Moles have extremely poor eyesight, and cannot see anything more than 30’ away. However, they can use their other senses to detect creatures as well as sight out to 60’, even in the dark. They can only attack targets with missile attacks within 60’.
▶ Detect Doors: Moles can use their senses, when actively searching, to detect hidden and secret doors with a 2-in-6 chance.
▶ Stone Sense: Moles have a 2-in-6 chance of detecting non-magical room traps when searching, or detecting new construction, sliding walls, sloping passages, and other such construction trucks.
▶ Digging: Moles can dig using their paws, and are capable of excavating 5 cubic feet of dirt per turn.
Least Weasel
Mustela nivalisAverage Height: 6 feet
Average Weight: 5 stone
Lifespan: 8 years
Kinda Like: Goblins, Berserkers, Vikings
Weasels are bold, reckless, and unpredictable. Many of them have a distaste for ordinary lives, and seek out adventures, quests, or blood feuds.
▶ Ability Modifiers: +1 STR, -1 INT
▶ Squeeze: Weasels can squeeze through any hole at least 6 inches in diameter
▶ Determined: When an initiative roll is tied, weasels act first, as if they had won initiative. If using individual initiative, weasels get a bonus of +1 to initiative rolls.
▶ Monster Hunter: Weasels get +1 attack bonus against monsters taller than twice their size.
Hedgehog
Erinaceus europaeusAverage Height: 9 feet
Average Weight: 30 stone
Lifespan: 4 years
Kinda Like: Friendy giants, mountain men?
Hedgehogs are pensive loners, towering over other species but rarely picking fights. Most live quiet, brooding lives, living off the land and watching the stars.
▶ Ability Modifiers: +1 CON, -1 CHA
▶ Spines: Hedgehogs are covered in prickly spines. Any foe rolling a 1 or a 2 on an attack roll against a hedgehog suffers an automatic d6 damage.
▶ Ball: Hedgehogs can roll into a ball, sticking their spines out, which takes one round. During this they have Armour Class equivalent to Plate+Shield, but cannot move or take any actions.
▶ Hear Noise: In a quiet environment, Hedgehogs have a 2-in-6 chance to listen at a door or hear sounds.
Pond Turtle
Emys orbicularisAverage Height: 7 feet
Average Weight: 100 stone
Lifespan: 50 years
Kinda Like: Elves
Turtles are careful and thoughtful. They are extremely long-lived, with the oldest remembering twenty generations of rats or mice. Their longevity gives them a ponderous, slow nature, and they can seem frustratingly patient to other species.
▶ Ability Modifiers: +1 CON, -1 DEX
▶ Slow: Turtles are extremely slow, and have a base movement of 90’ (30’).
▶ Swimming: Turtles can hold their breath for 6 hours underwater, and can swim at their normal movement rate.
▶ Defense Bonus: Due to their hard shells, turtles have a natural armour equal to 13. They use this as their base AC unless wearing armour that grants a higher AC.
▶ Lore: Turtles naturally accumulate knowledge throughout their long lives. They have a 2-in-6 chance to know useful details about locales, notable persons, or even magical items.
Lizard
Podarcis muralisAverage Height: 4.5 feet
Average Weight: 6 stone
Lifespan: 10 years
Kinda Like: Tieflings, Half-orcs
Lizards are surprisingly widespread but often disliked, often making their way on the edges of society as merchants or thieves. Many of them follow their own religion, The Lizard Cult.
▶ Ability Modifiers: +1 INT, -1 CON
▶ Regrow Limbs: Lizards are capable of detaching their arms, legs, or tails freely, after which the removed limb wriggles around to attract predators. They can regrow a limb in one week.
▶ Missile Attack Bonus: Due to their advanced eyesight, lizards get a +1 bonus on attacks with missile weapons.
▶ Save Bonus: Due to their advanced eyesight, lizards get a +1 bonus on attacks with missile weapons.
Frog
Lithobates catesbeianusAverage Height: 4 feet
Average Weight: 12 stone
Lifespan: 8 years
Kinda Like: Creepy swamp people, Lizardfolk
Frogs are strange and suspicious of outsiders, forming close-knit clans in the swamps. Thou not altogether hostile, they have no cultural taboos against killing and eating outsiders who get on their bad side. Most travellers try to avoid stumbling onto clans of frogs, and for good reason.
▶ Ability Modifiers: +1 DEX, -1 INT
▶ Jumping: With a running start, frogs are capable of making a 10’ vertical or 20’ horizontal jump.
▶ Swimming: Frogs can swim at their normal movement rate, and can breathe underwater as well as in air.
Viper
Vipera berusAverage Height: 30 feet long total, 6 feet standing “upright”
Average Weight: 5 stone
Lifespan: 15 years
Kinda Like: ??? Assassins without legs? Who knows.
Vipers are curious, ambitious, and fiercely independent snakes. Though lacking both arms and legs, vipers can hold tools in their mouths and have venomous bites.
▶ Ability Modifiers: +1 DEX, +1 INT
▶ Limbless: Vipers have no arms. They can hold tools in their mouths or tails, but take a -1 to their Dexterity modifier for any tasks requiring precision. They cannot use any weapons or shields.
▶ Armour: Vipers are oddly shaped and must wear specially-constructed armour, which costs twice as much.
▶ Bite Attack: Vipers have a bite attack that deals damage as a sword.
▶Venom: Once per day vipers can choose to inject venom when biting. The creature bitten must make a save versus poison or die. Creatures more than 2x the weight of the viper get a +4 bonus to this save. Creatures 3x it's size or larger are immune.
▶ Sneaky: Vipers are naturally good at sneaking. If using d6 thief skills, Vipers get +2 stealth. Otherwise, Vipers can use Move Silently and Hide in Shadows as a Thief of the same level. Viper Thieves gain +15% to both of these skills.
▶ Infravision: Vipers have the ability to see infrared radiation, and can thus see in the dark out to 90'.
