"Skabulus, King of the Rat Men, has also arrived in force with a full brigade of musketeers and swordsmen, led by his lieutenants, hideous hybrids of Ogres and Rat Men. They have fortified their area of the dungeon with battlements and pill-boxes, a near-impregnable ring of defences around the Dragon's Lair."
- J. Thompson, Deathtrap Dungeon: The Bestiary (1998: p. 15).
BOGRAT (#8/31, #128/365) [OOTP IV]
STAMINA: 6
ATTACKS: 1
WEAPON: Shortsword or Sling
ARMOUR: Leather Hauberk
DAMAGE MODIFIER: None
HABITAT: Marshes, Rivers, Lakes
NUMBER ENCOUNTERED: 1-6
TYPE: Animal/Humanoid
REACTION: Unfriendly-Hostile
INTELLIGENCE: Low
Thought to be related to Rat Men, BOGRATS are a swamp-dwelling race of rodentine humanoids. These are dark, hairy creatures, short and skinny, with long toothy jaws and red, mean-looking eyes. A crest of yellow hair runs across the top of their skull down to the nape of their neck. Bograts wear leather hauberks made from the hides of various swamp beasts, and carry shortswords and slings as weapons. They are quick and tricky fighters, but not particularly strong, and will flee if confronted by clearly superior opponents.
If five or six Bograts are encountered, one will be a BOGRAT CHAMPION (SKILL 8 STAMINA 8), to lead them on their raids and depredations. Bograts rob and eat anything they think they can capture successfully, and have sometimes trained swarms of Swamp Rats to help them in their attacks. Bograts dislikes Fen Folk, fear Fen Beasts and Marsh Fiends greatly, and are sometimes friends with Marsh Goblins and Swamp Orcs.
Bograt lairs are damp, cold burrows, dug into the sides of hills, rises and river banks, lit by candles and full of old bones and rubbish. The entrance to this bolt-hole will be a trapdoor hidden in the long grass of the swamp, and Bograts have been known to spring out of the trapdoor and attack anyone they hear passing by. In ancient times they were rumoured to dwell in some number at the aptly-named Bograt Hill in Mudworm Swamp, and indeed many are still found in nearby wetlands now, such as Scorpion Swamp, Minak Sikla, and the Bogomil Deeps.
RAT MAN (#9-15/30, #129-135/365) [OOTP IV]
STAMINA: 8 12
ATTACKS:
Rat Man Soldier - 1
Rat Man Elite - 2
WEAPON: See below
ARMOUR: See below
DAMAGE MODIFIER:
Rat Man Soldier - None
Rat Man Elite - +1 to Damage Roll
HABITAT: Ruins, Dungeons, Towns (sewers), Caves
NUMBER ENCOUNTERED: 1-6
TYPE: Animal/Humanoid
REACTION: Unfriendly
INTELLIGENCE: Low-Average
RAT MEN are generally thought to be unfortunate Chaos-spawned beast people, with the body of a human and the head and tail of a rat, cursed to scavenge in the cities, ruins, and dungeons of Titan in search of sustenance and succour. However, some do rise above. Rat Men have been reported as serving as scouts or engineers in the diverse Chaos armies of both Imperial Silur Cha and independent warlords including Belgaroth the Dark Serpent. In legend a Rat Man was even noted as the chief servant to Princess Jet at her ancestral seat called the Tower of Ghosts.
Nevertheless, for a humanoid race so long present upon the surface of Titan it is perhaps no surprise that variations exist, and often considerably so. Elsewhere in this volume can be found details of Bograts (see p. XX) and Rat-Ogres (see p. XX), while below are two major extensions to the original Rat Man as presented in Out of the Pit (p. 96).
More advanced in martial abilities than typical Rat Men, are the RAT MEN SOLDIERS, of which there are several different varieties. Unless otherwise stated, all encountered Rat Men Soldiers will be of the same type if met as part of a group. Roll for Rat Man Soldier table below to determine which type have been encountered:
Roll Rat Man Soldier Type
1 Swordsman: Sword, Chainmail Hauberk. The mainstay of a Rat Men army, SWORDSMEN are also the least trusted and respected of the troops. Prone to break and run if wounded, most adventurers can cut them down with ease. Unfortunately their strength lies in numbers, and where Swordsmen settle they dig in, fortifying their area with trenches, pillboxes and battlements.
2 Musketeer: Matchlock Blunderbuss, Bayonet (Sword), Chainmail Hauberk. Cunning engineers that they are, the Rat Men have equipped some of their more reliable troops with primitive muskets equivalent to the Matchlock Blunderbuss. These are relatively accurate, mostly owing to the spread of shot that can pepper the doughtiest of heroes or heroines with a cloud of musket balls. When faced with several of these dangerous opponents, slaying them as quickly as possible becomes a priority. Dwarf tunnel fighters would advise one to stay on the move, and use whatever you can find, but be careful, because RAT MEN MUSKETEERS are no slouch in hand-to-hand combat either, as they have vicious bayonets fastened onto the ends of their muskets.
3 Grenadier: Grenadier's Companion, 2-7 Grenades, Sword, Chainmail Hauberk. Some elite Rat Men are entrusted with the Grenadier's Companion (see EA:V2, p. XX), a simple but effective wooden grenade launcher. If an adventurer gets hit from one of these grenades, they will certainly know about it! RAT MEN GRENADIERS are pretty indiscriminate in their choice of targets, and will tend to try and overwhelm their opponents with a barrage of grenades. Sometimes this can be used to one's advantage. Again, Dwarfs say, that if a Grenadier is firing at you, head for the nearest group of enemies and let them share some of the heat. Otherwise, kill a Grenadier as soon as possible, using whatever means you have at your disposal, before they either blow you up, or bring the surroundings, especially if underground, down upon everyone in a dreaded ceiling collapse.
4 Assassin: Sword, Leather Cuirass. Special Abilities. Any/all other Rat Men in this group will be Swordsmen; the RAT MAN ASSASSIN will be in disguise among them. Rat Men Assassins are very stealthy. An Awareness roll has to be made when a Hero comes near them, or the Assassin will make their first attack from concealment gaining a +4 bonus on their combat rolls. There is also a 1 in 2 chance their weapon is Poisoned.
5 Priest: Staff, Robes. Roll for patron god/spirit: 1-2 Shreech the Rat King, 3-4 Shaman (Ancestors), 5 Disease, 6 Decay. Any/all other Rat Men in this group will be Grenadiers. For template ideas for the RAT MAN PRIEST, see the Shaman template in the Combat Companion (p. 47), or the Priest or alternative Shaman templates in the Priests Companion (p. 52).
6 Wizard: Staff, Robes. Roll for type: 1 Beastmaster (Rats), 2 Shadow Mage, 3 Sorcerer, 4 Technomancer, 5 Warlock, 6 Wizard. Any/all other Rat Men in this group will be Musketeers. For templates for the RAT MAN WIZARD see the Wizard template in the Combat Companion (p. 47).
Leading such a rabble of Rat Men Soldiers will be a member of the RAT MEN ELITE. Known generally as Rat Kings if male or Nest Mothers if female, these are monstrous humanoid creatures with rat heads and tails, standing up to three metres tall on their hind legs, with great clawed hands and rancid stinking fur. Rat Men Elite wear patchwork leather robes made from the hides of their vanquished enemies that counts as Medium armour. They can defend themselves with claws and bite (both Large), or may wield a weapon such as a club, sword or polearm.
Rat Men Elite will usually have 1-3 Rat Ogres (see p. XX) as bodyguards, and may also have a pet such as a Rattapillar or a Great Rat that accompanies them. In battle they may also call on a swarm of rats in their lair to provide aid. Each time a Rat Man Elite is wounded, they will let out a screech of anger summoning a small pack of rats to burst out of the filth and fling themselves at there enemies. For the next Attack Round, all the opponent's combat rolls are made at a -1 penalty, as the rats swarm across them, biting and scratching. Finally, anyone wounded in combat by a Rat Men Elite's putrid claws or fangs must Test their Luck or contract a disease.
The Rat Men Elite lurk at the heart of their rodentine empires, surrounded by squalour and looted riches in equal measure. Some accrue noted power indeed. The Nest Mother of the Khulian port of Ludria was known to guard the Orb of Shadows (see Adventure Creation System, p. 297), while the Rat King Skabulus threw his lot in with Baron Sukumvit of Fang and appeared in the third iteration of the Chiang Mai despot's Deathtrap Dungeon trial of champions. Skabulus was the toughest and most ruthless of the Rat-Ogres, and his gold crown and bejewelled club betrayed his status. It was necessary to defeat him to reach the Dragon's Lair deeper within the dungeon.
RAT-OGRE (#16/30, #136/365) [OOTP IV]
STAMINA: 11
ATTACKS: 2
WEAPON: Club
ARMOUR: Light
DAMAGE MODIFIER: +1 to Damage Roll
HABITAT: Ruins, Dungeons, Towns (sewers), Caves
NUMBER ENCOUNTERED: 1-3
TYPE: Animal/Humanoid
REACTION: Unfriendly-Hostile
INTELLIGENCE: Low-Average
One of the weirder creatures to clamber out of the arcane spawning pits of the Rat Men wizards and priests is the enormous RAT-OGRE, a Rat Man in form, but with the build of an Ogre three metres tall. These hideous hybrids wield spiked clubs in battle and typically serve as the lieutenants for a Rat Men host of soldiers, such as the forces of King Skabulus who dwelt within the third incarnation of Baron Sukumvit's infamous Deathtrap Dungeon. Rat-Ogres can also be found living a quiet life in some isolated cave or den, decorated with their weird and macabre collections of bones and trinkets, eating whatever they can subdue with their great strength. They rarely flee and will do all within their power to beat their opponents to death with their massive club, as Rat-Ogres can dish out a lot of damage as well as take it.
Golden Crown of Shreech (#17/31, #137/365) [EA:V2] (Artefact)
This is a golden crown, ornately decorated with rodentine motifs but unadorned with jewels or gems. In legend gifted to the worthy by the rat god Shreech, it was worn by King Skabulus, commander of the Rat Men soldiers who dwelt within the third incarnation of Baron Sukumvit's infamous Deathtrap Dungeon. It has all the powers of an Amulet of the Masters (see Encyclopedia Arcana: Volume 1, p. 139, or Magic Companion, pp. 35-36), with respect to all kinds of rats, as follows:
- Control rodent: All rodents in the immediate vicinity are friendly for 60 minutes.
- Summon rodent: Wearer can summon 1-6 Giant Rats who will serve them for 60 minutes or until slain.
- Talk to rodent: Wearer can speak and understand all rodent languages for 60 minutes.
- Immune to rodents: Wearer is immune to all rodent attacks, including any diseases, for 60 minutes.
Unavailable to buy
Jewelled Club of King Skabulus (#18/31, #138/365) [EA:V2] (Enchanted Item)
This is a great wooden club, banded with strips of iron and with a jewelled hilt. It was wielded by King Skabulus of the Rat Men soldiers who dwelt within the third incarnation of Baron Sukumvit's infamous Deathtrap Dungeon. The club counts as a magic weapon and confers a +1 bonus to the Attack Roll. It does damage as per a Greathammer, but must be used with two hands by any humanoids between a Dwarf and a human in size range. It is too big to be used by smaller humanoids, such as Halflings, while bigger humanoids, including Half-Giants, Half-Ogres, Half-Trolls and Rhino Folk may use it one handed.
Unavailable to buy
Orb of Shadows (#19/31, #139/365) [EA:V2] (Enchanted Item)
This is a glassy orb about the size of an apple, filled with swirling shadows, usually kept in a pouch at one's belt. Once a day it can deepen the shadows around the holder (who must take it out of the pouch and hold it in the palm of their hand), so they gain a +2 bonus to their Sneaking tests for ten minutes. One of these magic orbs was known to be possessed by the Rat Men Nest Mother of the city of Ludria (see Adventure Creation System, p. 297).
Unavailable to buy
Grenadier's Companion (#20/31, #140/365) [EA:V2] (Enchanted Item)
Some elite Rat Men soldiers are entrusted with the Grenadier's Companion, a simple but effective wooden grenade launcher that fires deadly sulphurous grenades at the enemy, at a much greater distance than simply throwing or hurling them. Using the Grenadier's Companion allows the wielder to double the missile weapon ranges for Grenades (see Blacksand, p. 8), but it takes one Attack Round to load the Grenadier's Companion, one round to prime the grenade, and one round to fire the weapon.
Each grenade used as ammo counts as one individual item, so only a few are carried at a time. If a fumble occurs, the Firepowder Weapon Oops! Table (see Blacksand, p. 8) is used. When rolling for the Grenade damage result (see Blacksand, p. 7), an explosion 'in hand' indicates the grenade has exploded inside the Grenadier's Companion, causing regular damage plus destroying the weapon. In addition, any un-ignited grenades carried by someone in such an explosion, will also detonate and explode.
If an adventurer
gets hit from one of these grenades, they will certainly know about it! Rat Men grenadiers are pretty indiscriminate in their choice of
targets, and will tend to try and overwhelm their opponents with a
barrage of grenades. Sometimes this can be used to one's advantage. Experienced Dwarf warriors say that if a grenadier is firing at you, head for the
nearest group of enemies and let them share some of the heat. Otherwise,
kill a grenadier as soon as possible, using whatever means you have at
your disposal, before they either blow you up, or bring the
surroundings, especially if underground, down upon everyone in a dreaded
ceiling collapse.
250 GP
There's another rat creature, the ratbear (Sk9, Stm8), that appears in parts 1, 2 and 4 of the Steve Jackson's Sorcery game.
ReplyDeleteI don't know about the 4th game, but in the first and second i think it's just a flat creature that attacks you.