WH40K: Ratling

Name: Ratling
Dice: 12D
Dexterity: 2D / 4D
Knowledge: 2D / 4D+1
Mechanical: 2D / 4D+1
Perception: 2D+2 / 5D
Strength: 1D+1 / 3D
Technical: 2D / 4D+1

Move: 8 / 10
Size: 0.9 - 1.1 m
Weight: 15 - 25 kg

Special Abilities:

• Deadeye Shot: The character’s rock-steady hand and hawk-like eyesight make him a dreaded marksman. No target, however agile or small, can escape his crosshairs. When making a Called Shot ranged attack, the character reduces the penalty by 1D.

• Heightened Senses: The character gains a +1D bonus to any Search Tests specifically involving Sight, Smell, or Taste.

• Light Sleeper: The slightest change in conditions or disturbance brings the character from sleep to full awareness, remaining alert even in slumber. The character is always assumed to be awake, even when asleep, for the purposes of Tests or surprise. Unfortunately, the character’s sleep is not deep and can be frequently interrupted, resulting in a less-than-cheery disposition when awake.

• Weedy Size: Due to their decreased size, Ratlings gain a +1D penalty to to both Sneak and Hide Skill Tests. Furthermore, enemies suffer a -1D to their attack rolls against a Ratling.

Description: "Little Thieves! Thieves and vagabonds, the lot of them. They’re petty-minded, larcenous little subhuman scum to the last. Everyone overlooks it because they can shoot straight and can cook a decent meal. You can’t trust them... any of them. They’ll steal your chrono if you shake hands with them, and as likely to pick your pocket as praise the Emperor’s name..." — Anonymous Imperial Guardsman

A Ratling (Homo sapiens minimus) is a member of a small, loud, hungry and lecherous Abhuman species. Ratlings are granted full Imperial citizenship despite their mutant status and in the past have often served in the regiments of the Astra Militarum as members of the Militarum Auxilla. However, they are still distrusted by the more Puritanical members of the Inquisition.

Though less resilient than their baseline human comrades, Ratlings are naturally excellent shots. It is said that Ratling marksmen can take the head off a Heretic from over a Terran mile away. Coupled with their knack for staying out of harm's way, this makes Ratlings formidable snipers who can exact a withering toll upon superior enemy forces. Inevitably, the Abhuman Ratlings face prejudice from the men they serve alongside, yet their skill as thieves, fences and black marketeers tends to win them acceptance. Indeed, Guardsmen who give the Ratlings too much grief will often find themselves mysteriously short of ammunition in the heat of battle, while their diminutive tormentors watch gleefully through telescopic sights.

Regardless of their small stature, and their questionable status as sanctioned aberrants, Ratlings have proven invaluable to the Imperium's armies time and again. They make exceptional forward scouts, and are able to move covertly into firing positions right under the nose of the enemy army. Only when the opening salvoes of battle have been loosed do they reveal themselves, announcing their presence with hails of precision shots that catch the enemy completely off-guard. The effectiveness of Ratling fire can often mislead the enemy into believing they face an entire platoon of Imperial Guardsmen, which in turn can draw large-scale assaults towards the snipers. With no hope of holding their own in close-quarters combat, Ratlings have perfected the art of hastily vacating their redoubts immediately after firing, scurrying away before securing a new vantage point from which to assassinate more of their assailants.

Though devious, duplicitous and morally dubious, Ratlings possess such unique talents that they will always find a place in the armies of the Imperium. Whether killing off enemy officers or procuring black-market amasec for their own, these adaptable Abhumans have certainly found their niche in the ranks of the Astra Militarum.

Source:

• Warhammer 40,000 Wiki: Ratling
• Only War Core Rulebook (page 92-93)
• thedemonapostle