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View Full Version : The first rat of the Apocalypse [3.5 monster]



The Mentalist
2009-07-31, 11:53 PM
Size/Type: Tiny Magical Beast
Hit Dice: ¼ d10 (1 hp)
Initiative: +2
Speed: 15 ft. (3 squares), climb 15 ft., swim 15 ft.
Armor Class: 14 (+2 size, +2 Dex), touch 14, flat-footed 12
Base Attack/Grapple: +1/-11
Attack: Bite +5 melee (1d3-4)
Full Attack: Bite +5 melee (1d3-4)
Space/Reach: 2½ ft./0 ft.
Special Attacks: Plague bearer's bite
Special Qualities: Low-light vision, scent, airborne carrier, waterborne carrier, Darkvision 60ft, Immune to Disease,
Saves: Fort +2, Ref +4, Will +1
Abilities: Str 2, Dex 15, Con 10, Int 2, Wis 12, Cha 2
Skills: Balance +10, Climb +12, Hide +16,
Move Silently +10, Swim +10
Feats: Stealthy, Weapon Finesse*
Environment: Any
Organization: Plague (10-100)
Challenge Rating: No earthly idea
Advancement: -
Level Adjustment: -


Airborne Carrier: Any creature within ten feet of the plague rat comes in contact with 1d3 of the following diseases: Blinding sickness, Cackle fever ,Filth fever, Mindfire, Red ache, Shakes; roll a d6 to determine which diseases you contract.

Plague bearer's Bite: Any creature bitten by the Plague rat contracts a disease (see Airborne Carrier) with no save; the creature is also a disease carrier, gaining the airborne carrier ability for 1d4 days but only for any diseases it has.

Waterborne Carrier: Any body of water a plague rat is in becomes contaminated with 1d3 diseases (see Airborne Carrier) at a rate of one quart a round.


Strange creatures are commonly dismissed with "a wizard did it." Here they'd almost be right, a cleric was the creator of this particular horror, a devout priest of the god of plague and suffering. They have since become feared worldwide for their ability to spread diseases so quickly

Plague rats have are identical to normal rats only highly more diseased.

Strawman
2009-08-01, 12:25 AM
Just another reason for every wizard to have a fireball ready.

Is it a unique rat or many rats? How quickly do they reproduce? They could make for a good campaign with a time limit.

I think it should be a very low CR, but with a special clause that they cannot be summoned by a low level summon spell.

The Mentalist
2009-08-01, 12:29 AM
This is a breed of rats, as for breeding, they make guppies look bad.

DracoDei
2009-08-01, 01:54 AM
The description for the Waterborn Carrier ability is a sentence fragment I believe.

Would THESE (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/printthread.php?t=104363) spells be mutually incompatible with a campaign setting involving these rats?

The Mentalist
2009-08-01, 02:34 AM
I would encourage using them actually, I'm pretty sure it's impossible to cover an entire city.

DracoDei
2009-08-01, 09:29 AM
Well, depending on how many clerics you have and how hard they spam it... in any case it is only going to be the +5 bonus in most cases for this since it is a natural disease transmitted supernaturally. Actually, that level 0 spell may be nearly as important as the higher levels stuff...

You need to make a swarm version for higher level play... it does ruin half the point (stealth) but for targeted "Die horribly and immediately"... well, lets just say I want to see a [Evil] summoning spell that summons a swarm of these rats. Come to that, putting the individual rats on the Summon Monster 3 (since that is the spell level necessary to undo what they do) or probably higher since they are a walking AoE even if they die immediately before they can attack (which would require a readied action or something) would be good. Odd to think of something with 1 hitpoint as going up against level 5+ characters... but their you go...

By the above argument about a creature only generally being encountered when you have the resource to counter its effects, that makes this thing a CR 5 sorry, minimum number appearing is 10, so 10 of them might be CR 5, so individual CR is 1/2 (possibly 3/4, although that may require specialized rules). Man but these things are glass cannons! On the off chance one lands a bite and the PCs fail their knowledge checks to know about the transmitted air-borne thing it might infect the whole party before they realize it... not to mention multiple saves just for the overlapping auras...

The Mentalist
2009-08-01, 09:45 AM
I'll see what I can do on the swarm and the spell, I make no promises though. I may also doing the other three Apocalypse rats.

Realms of Chaos
2009-08-01, 01:06 PM
I have no idea how a rat of war would work but the idea amuses me. :smallbiggrin:
Hmm, maybe make it like this except that is spreads an enragement effect instead of diseases.

As for CR, I also have no darn idea. Giving this a CR is like giving a CR to signs of the apocalypse from Elder Evils (actually, that is a very good comparison). It seems like more of a background danger than a direct threat unless you are dealing with a swarm.

Debihuman
2009-08-01, 01:40 PM
Very nice creatures. A swarm of these would be particularly nasty.

Throwing a plague rat down a public well ito infect everyone who drinks the water is a nasty though effective tactic used in warfare. Of course, curing the general populace afterwards is always a problem.

Just one more thing: shouldn't plague rats be immune to their own diseases (even though they are carriers) and to the diseases of other plague rats?

Debby

The Mentalist
2009-08-01, 02:17 PM
Debi is once again correct. I just forgot to add that immunity.

RoC: I was thinking the same thing. I'm just hammering out the fine details and fixing the wording.