Rat Monsters

[Kafkonia]

Well, let's try posting this in the right area, shall we? My apologies to the Creature Catalogue folks.

I'll be running the WLD starting this weekend, and in the first dungeon are quite a few rat-based creatures -- dire rats, fiendish rat swarms, and the big boss of the area is a wererat. I'm looking to broaden the variety of baddies while keeping to that theme, and I'm looking for suggestions.

So far I have:

Cranium Rats
Ash Rats
Vapor Rats (from the Creature Catalogue)
Plague Rat Swarms (applying the Plague Carrier template from the Advanced Bestiary)
Rat Swarm Oozes (applying the Ooze Creature template from the Advanced Bestiary -- a puddle of organic ooze periodically shaping and reshaping itself into rats...)

If they're having too easy a time of things I may go with the Apocalypse Swarm template, but that seems a bit excessive for a 2nd level party.

Are there other rat-based creatures out there? Templates I should consider? Are there any rat-demon types?

The CR is mostly 1/3 to 3, so suggestions in that range would be preferred.

 

[Iku Rex]

Jermlaine, MM2. Tiny rat-fey. (They make good druids. "Rat-keeper" maybe?)

 

[Iku Rex]

Some more:

Nezumi ("ratlings") from Oriental Adventures.
Anthropomorphic rats from Savage Species.
Uridezu demons (CR 6) from Manual of the Planes.

(Taken from an old WotC boards thread: http://boards1.wizards.com/showthread.php?t=54604 .)

 

[frankthedm]

MM3 has a CR3 lizardman Ogre {blackscale lizardfolk], change it's "look" to Rat-like and you should be good.

uk.games-workshop.com/lustria/miniature-gallery/images/SK_ratogres_lg.jpg

Change some Halflings to ratlings. You could leave the stats 'as is" or give small upgrades. Here is what i used for my own game, but they are not that strong.[sblock= Frankthedm's Ratlings]Skaven: +2 Dexterity, –2 Strength, Small, base speed is 20’ feet. If carrying nothing in your in hands, add 5’ to your base speed and +2 bonus to balance checks. +2 on Listen, Survival [food and tracking], and Move Silently checks. May use DEX rather than STR on climb checks if barefoot, +2 on Charisma checks dealing with rat like creatures, -2 on most charisma checks with most other humanoids, +1 on all saving throws, +2 on saving throws against disease, Low light vision. Due to having a set of sharp teeth, your “unarmed strike’ damage is 1d4 lethal. Languages: Common. Bonus Languages: Dwarven (tunnel rat), Gnoll, Giant, Kaliem(Desert rat), High speech, Glantri, Saurian [swamp rat] and Orc, Favored Class: Rogue. [/sblock]

 

[Nightfall]

What? No love for Slitheren/Ratmen from Scarred Lands?!

 

[frankthedm]

Not sure if Kafkonia own the Creature Collection. Good idea though...

 

[Arkhandus]

3 words: giant firebreathing rat.

Any of your players who've played The Bard's Tale (the version that came out for console systems sometime in the last few years; I've only seen it for PS2 though, myself) will get a laugh out of that, before it sets them all afire.

Considering the CR range you mentioned, unfortunately, you'll have to go with a plain old 4-HD or thereabouts Dire Rat (medium-sized after being advanced to 4 HD) as the base creature, and add the Monstrous Beast template from Savage Species. Give it the Breath Weapon (fire) special attack from that template, which results in it also gaining the Fire Subtype special quality. It'll deal 2d8 fire damage in a 30-foot cone with its breath weapon.

At higher levels, you could add the Titanic template from Monster Manual II and maybe, for fun, the Winged template from Savage Species. Then you'll have a Gargantuan, 25 hit die, fire-breathing dire rat that deals 6d8 fire damage in a 120-foot cone, and flies around (at clumsy maneuverability unfortunately). CR will be somewhere between 14 and 17 though I think.....

 

[Kafkonia]

No, I don't have the Creature Collection, unfortunately. I've considered it, but haven't had a good enough excuse.

Fire-breathing rats sounds like a good one -- I'm not sure who's played Bard's Tale, but it could work regardless.

My first session went today, and they only wound up having to deal with one fiendish rat swarm, so I didn't need to delve into any of my back-up baddies yet. Another one I'm considering, if need be, is using the Savant template from AB to make an intelligent swarm... played right, that'd just be nasty.

The various rat humanoids look like they'd be a good fit, too. Thanks!

 

[smootrk]

Since you are in Region A, you need low-level baddies. Try using Kobold stats, exchanging the description for small rat-like humanoids, and give them a weak filth-fever bite, and exchange their Profession (miner) or Craft Trapmaker with ranks of Survival & Tumbling (scurrying of rats). Then to add visual variety for your players, you can make some brown, some black, and a few with white/albino traits, having players encounter them in groups of only like-colored rat-men. The players might perceive differences where there might not be any... or you could grant some ability to differentiate the types.

 

[Twowolves]

The ratmen/slitheren from the CC Revised are probably what you are looking for, a rat-themed race that you can add levels to easily. Although I'd tone down the huge stat boosts and make them a LA +0 race.

Along those lines, the Vigil Watch: Ratman book has what is pretty obviously a Rat-ogre rip-off, who's name escapes me.