The Prophet of all Ratkind

[Melamoto]

I'm running a campaign, which isn't silly but it is a little light hearted. The campaign has only just started, but there is a villain(?) that I want to add in. Essentially, it is an Awakened Rat that went to the city. There, it found it's oppressed kin living in the sewers, and felt pity. It decided something had to be done, so it decided to lead the rats out of the darkness and attack the city. As for attitude, think almost like a Redcloak for the Rats, except more caring about power and freedom than ruling the world.
The campaign is gestalt, and only started recently (The characters are level 2). The reason for gestalting is because there are only 3 players, and one of those is a DMPC because neither of them wanted to play a Cleric. The setup for the party is:
Half-Orc Monk//Fighter (Brutish, very good at close combat), Elven Ranger//Sorcerer (Not too smart, but very charismatic and dexterous), and the DMPC Human Rogue//Cleric (Skillmonkey and healer all in one, for the party that doesn't care about optimization™). They're neutral and are mostly after profit.

Since I want to make this guy a challenge for them, how should I build him? They will encounter him any level between now and 5th, so levels are alright. The obvious choice for the first class would be Cleric, but the second one I don't know. Anyone have any ideas on how to make this Power-rat?

[Starscream]

Spellcasting classes are the obvious choice, as a rat is probably never going to be a formidable physical threat. Though a rat with sneak attack would be pretty funny.

If you went cleric//druid not only would wisdom power all your spells, but you could have it transform into something with more oomph when things get rough.

Or a wizard and give it a cat as a familiar. I just like the idea of a rat riding a cat around while reading from a tiny little spellbook.

Maybe give the thing Vow of Poverty to improve its stats. There probably aren't a lot of good magic items that a rat could use very well. Sure you could give it tiny little magic armor and such, but then what do the PCs do with it when they beat him?

I once statted out an awakened squirrel character just for fun. Made him a druid just for the Fire Seeds spell. Loved the idea of a squirrel who lobs exploding acorns.

[Xefas]

I second making one of his classes Druid.

When the going gets tough, he can Wildshape into a Lion, though I'd advise you fluffing that as just a giant rat form. Sort of like he absorbs the faith and prayers of all rat-kind to grow three size categories and get huge claws.

[Melamoto]

Spellcasting classes are the obvious choice, as a rat is probably never going to be a formidable physical threat. Though a rat with sneak attack would be pretty funny.

If you went cleric//druid not only would wisdom power all your spells, but you could have it transform into something with more oomph when things get rough.

Or a wizard and give it a cat as a familiar. I just like the idea of a rat riding a cat around while reading from a tiny little spellbook.Yeah, Wizard and Druid were my 2 main thoughts. I was personally erring towards wizard because the rat would be spending most of its time underneath a city, and a sewer rat probably isn't that connected with nature. Although I was thinking about modifying the rules slightly, so instead of "Treants", maybe he could summon giant sewer-plant-monsters. Either that or he could stick to fluff, and become some kind of champion for all things small and fluffy.
On the other hand was a Mystic Theurge, which would be pretty cool, especially in the summoning undead department. And yeah, I intended for him to be more of a minion user than a frontline fighter, even if he does care about the other rats.


Maybe give the thing Vow of Poverty to improve its stats. There probably aren't a lot of good magic items that a rat could use very well. Sure you could give it tiny little magic armor and such, but then what do the PCs do with it when they beat him?That would have to be so. My players aren't major realism seekers, but anyone who saw the rat with magic items would realise the most obvious problem: "Where did he get that armour from?"


I once statted out an awakened squirrel character just for fun. Made him a druid just for the Fire Seeds spell. Loved the idea of a squirrel who lobs exploding acorns.That sounds awesome. Maybe the Rat could awaken a Squirrel like that as a Lieutenant...

[Heliomance]

What you need is Silus (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=55087).

[Kol Korran]

i'm going to go against the flow, and suggest to make one of his levels a bard. (i'm talking the lore keeper and war chanter type of bard, not the rascal ladies charmer). the rat is a leader, who inspires and calls for greatness, through his speeches and strange haunting music. he may even have a followeror several of other races (through the leadership, or just because you want him to. i suggest gnomes.) give the guy a huge charisma, (he is truly a unique character after all), and make charm person a favorite spell...

as to the second class, i suggest one of two: wither favoured soul or spirit shaman. this rounds up the "wise man rat" part of his persona, and also gives some added flavour- if you go with the favoured soul it adds a "chosen one" atmosphere to him, and gives it many spells, enough to make it a frustrating, but not overly varied opponenet.

if you go with the spirit shaman however you could say that the rat is guided by the masses of the rats that lived and died before him (maybe even one collective spirit called something like "Grandfather rat" as the main advisor) this mass of spirits could also contain other "wise rats" before it who failed, and from whose shoulders it is learning now... and as to versatility and amount of spells, you can't easely beat the spirit shaman- it can retrieve different spells each time, and still cast them, and druid spells are quite effective.

(cool effects, that might need to be worked out:

specific spells with a rattish flavour: summon rat swarm, summon dire rats, sewer plague, mind of the swarm, and so on
the shaman might be able to summon the spirits to either bolster his swarms of loyal rats, or perhaps to animate various items, creating "instant constructs"
emphasize the swarm in this... this is the key feature of rat society... hmmm, this is true for all classes, and this character in general.
)

just had another thought, if you go with a bit of a different direction- make it an artificer- he's a technological kind of rat, believing in progress and moving ahead. it's overall scheme could be to create some sort of magic or construct locomoted by rat power, to bring on the new day. he'll be endlessly versatyle, as he can create scrolls of all types of magic, and can also create constructs. he can ride his homonuculi i guess.
(some other cool stuff:

armored rats constructs... or maybe aspecially built swarm construct? can only be built by those who understand swarm mentality.
some sort of a huge construct that is filled with rats who turn wheels, push levers and so on to make it work. could be cool... a squeaking, rattling behemoth of amachine with the rat lord on top screaming to his subjects to work in unison.
)

hope these ideas helped, i like it. just one more thing: check out moon rats (i think MM2) and possibly cranium rats (though i don't remember the MM). i think the rat prophet might aim to create the second kind of rats, as part of his process to liberate and uplift his ratkind.

don't forget to tell us what you chose.
Kol

[Kol Korran]

oh, almost forgot, magic items:
you could use rings easely, they could be arm braces, belts, or collars (magic rigns change diameter to fit size, right?
other ideas:
- the rat lord could store wands on his mount (whatever version) , and just grab one when needed and use it.
- a portable hole can fix most storage problems, though you still have a problem with immediate item retrival and use.
- figurines of wonderous power could work splendidly well as constructs and just as a surprising element. only problem is what to do with them when they are "out of power", but you can then use either the portable hole solution, or the swarm of followers can hide the items in the tunnels.
- come to think of it, some of the swarms can be there just to carry items such as potions and so on
- if the character can create items, i suggest it create magical fruits/ nuts/ whatever instead of potions... more believable.

and of course the easiest solution: just have it wear whatever you like, and have it change size to fit whatever character...

hope this helped,
kol.

[hamishspence]

epic bard rat- lead a whole crowd of people down to the river to drown. A new take on the Pied Piper.

[Sstoopidtallkid]

I agree, go Bard//Barbarian(Whirling Frenzy variant or similar). He sends waves of rats at the players, both as swarms and as individuals, buffed to the nines by Inspire Courage/Dragonfire Inspiration. Then, when they have been beaten down, he screams "You! Killed! My! Friends!", Snowflake Wardances, and hits the party as a raging ball of fur.

Plus, who wouldn't find a mass of Flaming rats charging through the sewers awesome?

[Starscream]

And yeah, I intended for him to be more of a minion user than a frontline fighter, even if he does care about the other rats.

Y'know, MM2 has stats for a species called Moon Rats. They start out as normal rats, but their strength and intelligence scores get higher depending on how much moonlight there is. In a full moon they get a +8 to both stats.

Maybe your rat prophet found a way to convert his followers into such creatures. Most of the time they are ordinary rats, but when it is the full moon they become a formidable army.

Fiend Folio also has Cranium Rats, which have a sort of hive mind thing going on. The more of them there are the smarter they get.

Come to think of it, there are also swarms of zombie rats and skeleton rats in Libris Mortis. And stats for anthropomorphic rats in Savage Species. D&D has a lot of great rat related goodies. Now I kind of want to do a "Rats of Nimh FROM HELL" campaign.

[Texas Jedi]

In one of the Forgotten Realms books there is an undead swarm of ghostly rats or other small creatures that died enmass in some type of natural disaster. They usually are found in sewers of big cities. Like say a flood caused by flushing the pipes of the sewer happened to kill a couple of thousand rats one would be created. I just can't remember the book.

I don't they are evil but they do hate the living like most undead.

[hamishspence]

MM III: Ephemeral swarm- swarm of small animals killed by a common cause. It does have a "In Faerun" entry, showing where they tend to occur.

[Texas Jedi]

MM III: Ephemeral swarm- swarm of small animals killed by a common cause. It does have a "In Faerun" entry, showing where they tend to occur.

Thanks I have so many books I forget where some monsters are.

[hamishspence]

yes- a 2 metre high stack of 3.0 and 3.5 books can be a little difficult to peruse. Fun though- there is an awful lot to draw from.

[Texas Jedi]

yes- a 2 metre high stack of 3.0 and 3.5 books can be a little difficult to peruse. Fun though- there is an awful lot to draw from.

That doesn't include the 1E and 2E books. I have several bookshelf rows filled with gaming supplements from various sources. Those don't even count the tons of Battletech mechs specs I have in paper form, those are still in boxes out in the garage.

[Manga Shoggoth]

Since I want to make this guy a challenge for them, how should I build him? They will encounter him any level between now and 5th, so levels are alright. The obvious choice for the first class would be Cleric, but the second one I don't know. Anyone have any ideas on how to make this Power-rat?

I can't add much to the rules side, but you might read "The Amazing Maurice and his educated rodents" for a few ideas on how things might work (the Rat King probably won't fit too well, but might be useful as a minion of sorts)

[Ascension]

I can't add much to the rules side, but you might read "The Amazing Maurice and his educated rodents" for a few ideas on how things might work (the Rat King probably won't fit too well, but might be useful as a minion of sorts)

Speaking of drawing inspiration from pop culture...

Have him Dominate a human child. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_(film)) A human child who sounds like Michael Jackson. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aSqo17o2a1w)

[XenoGeno]

I second making one of his classes Druid.

When the going gets tough, he can Wildshape into a Lion, though I'd advise you fluffing that as just a giant rat form. Sort of like he absorbs the faith and prayers of all rat-kind to grow three size categories and get huge claws.

Following this train of thought, make him a barbarian/bear warrior.

PC1: "Oh, look, it's a rat."
PC2: "Oooh, let's kill it!"

:Rat rages and shifts:

PC1: "Oh, crap." :smalleek:

[Melamoto]

Following this train of thought, make him a barbarian/bear warrior.

PC1: "Oh, look, it's a rat."
PC2: "Oooh, let's kill it!"

:Rat rages and shifts:

PC1: "Oh, crap." :smalleek:Nah, I'm going for more of a leader, and not a fearless one at that.

[Zaq]

Just make sure that he's not a rogue, or anything else with trapfinding. That way, enterprising players might think of a way to lay a clever ambush or pitfall (literal or metaphorical) for them, and they'll be trapped! Trapped like rats!

...Yeah, I got nothing. Sorry.

[Callos_DeTerran]

Vorpal Tribble made this tiny furry behemoth when I came up with the idea of a James Bond kind of villain of Machiavellian proportions. The only down-sides being that he can only act during the night of the full moon which could throw your players for a bit of a loop when it takes so much time between stages of the 'masterminds' plans.

You might need to scale him down though.

Master Moony

Moon Rat Beguiler 14
Tiny Magical Beast
Hit Dice: 1/4d10 + 14d6 (50 hp)
Initiative: +3
Speed: 15 ft. (3 squares), climb 15 ft.
Armor Class: 22 (+2 size, +3 Dex, +1 insight, +6 natural), touch 16, flat-footed 19
Base Attack/Grapple: +7/-1
Attack: Bite +10 melee (1d3) or +1 Wounding Heavy Crossbow +11 ranged (1d6+1)
Full Attack: Bite +10 melee (1d3) or +1 Wounding Heavy Crossbow +11 ranged (1d6+1)
Space/Reach: 2 1/2 ft./0 ft.
Special Attacks: Armored mage, cloaked casting, surprise casting
Special Qualities: Darkvision 60 ft., improved uncanny dodge, low-light vision, lunar mind, scent, trapfinding, uncanny dodge
Saves: Fort +11, Ref +14, Will +17
Abilities: Str 10, Dex 17, Con 11, Int 18, Wis 13, Cha 6
Skills: Balance +13, Bluff +15, Climb +10, Concentration +16, Escape Artist +19, Hide +16, Knowledge (Arcana) +12, Knowledge (local) +16, Listen +10, Move Silently +11, Open Lock +19, Search +20, Spot +9, Tumble +19
Feats: Combat Casting, Combat Expertise, Craft Wonderous Item, Dive For Cover, Improved Feint, Iron Will, Mobile Spellcasting, Silent Spell, Still Spell, Weapon Finesse(B)
Environment: Any land and underground
Organization: Swarm (10-100)
Challenge Rating: 13
Treasure: See Possessions below
Alignment: Neutral Evil
Advancement: By character class
Level Adjustment: -


Combat

Armored Mage (Ex):
As Player's Handbook II.

Beguiler Spells: Caster level 14th. (Spells per day: (6/6/6/6/6/6/5/3); Save DC 14 + spell level):

0 - Any from Beguiler list.
1st - Same + Feather Fall
2nd - Same + Fox's Cunning
3rd - Same
4th - Same
5th - Same
6th - Same
7th - Same + Mage's Magnificent Mansion

Cloaked Casting (Ex):
As Player's Handbook II. +4 bonus.

Improved Uncanny Dodge (Ex): Master Moony can no longer be flanked. This defense denies another rogue the ability to sneak attack the character by flanking him, unless the attacker has at least four more rogue levels than the target does.

Lunar Mind (Su):
As Monster Manual II.

Scent (Ex):
Master Moony can detect approaching enemies, sniff out hidden foes, and track by sense of smell.

Surprise Casting (Ex):
As Player's Handbook II.

Trapfinding:
Master Moony can use the Search skill to locate traps when the task has a Difficulty Class higher than 20. Finding a nonmagical trap has a DC of at least 20, or higher if it is well hidden. Finding a magic trap has a DC of 25 + the level of the spell used to create it.

Master Moony can use the Disable Device skill to disarm magic traps. A magic trap generally has a DC of 25 + the level of the spell used to create it.

A beguiler who beats a trap’s DC by 10 or more with a Disable Device check can study a trap, figure out how it works, and bypass it (with her party) without disarming it.

Uncanny Dodge (Ex): Master Moony can react to danger before his senses would normally allow him to do so. He retains his Dexterity bonus to AC even if he is caught flat-footed or struck by an invisible attacker. However, he still loses his Dexterity bonus to AC if immobilized.

-=-=-=-=-

Possessions:
+1 Wounding Heavy Crossbow (tiny-sized) - 18,000
Bracers of Armor (+6 armor bonus) - 36,000
Cloak of Resistance (+5 to all saving throws) - 25,000
Headband of Intellect (+6 Int) - 36,000 gp
Ioun Stone, Deep Red Sphere (+2 Dex) - 8,000
Ioun Stone, Dusty Rose Prism (+1 insight AC) - 5,000 gp
Ioun Stone, Pink & Green (+2 Cha) - 8,000 gp

[Fishy]

Ghost rat swarms?

Wasn't that in Twilight Princess? I hated those things.

[Olo Demonsbane]

I don't remember how, but I got a moon rat's intellegence up to 18 on a new moon. Then I gave him levels in Wizard :smallbiggrin: