OSR: Cranium Rats
- seeroftheabyss
- 14 minutes ago
- 10 min read
Cranium Rat
Number Appearing: 1 or 2d4
Alignment: Any Evil
Languages: N/A, but is telepathic
Treasure: Food, small piles of coins, gems, random shiny objects, scraps of fine fabric, anything that could be stolen by rats
HD 1
AR 0
Atk Bite (1d4)
Mor 10
Saves 7 or less
Telepathic: Cranium Rats have the ability to communicate telepathically with any creature with a mind. It can detect the minds of any creature within 50', assuming those creature's minds are not mentally shielded.
Mind Controller: Cranium Rats can control the minds of other creatures, though they have difficulty controlling creatures more powerful and intelligent than them. As an action, a Cranium Rat can attempt to control a creature. The targeted creature and the Cranium Rat must engage in a COG contest- if the Cranium Rat succeeds, that creature falls under it's control. If it is injured or ordered to do something it morally disagrees with, that creature may engage in a new contest with the Cranium Rat. Ordinary rats and rodents automatically fail this contest, while rat-like creatures have disadvantage on their checks.
Minions: Cranium Rats are always accompanied by 1 Swarm of Rats.
Tactics:
- Hide and avoid direct engagements
- Sacrifice minions to avoid danger and escape
- If in danger, plead for mercy
Cranium Rats are slightly bigger rats with bloated heads and piercing gazes. They seem perfectly ordinary until you look into their eyes or they reach out and connect with your mind. For despite their mostly normal appearance, Cranium Rats are rodents with a disturbing level of intelligence. They are rats that can think and they're about to make that your problem.
To customize a Cranium Rat, roll on the tables below:
What does the "Sewer Ghost" (Cranium Rat) want?
1d6
1- Bread and Meat!
2- CHEESE!
3- News of the City above. What's happening?
4- A cat slain!
5- A (rival) Cranium Rat destroyed!
6- Softness! It wants soft fabrics or pillows.
What will the "Ghost" do to you if you refuse?
1d4
1- It will bite out your eyeballs!
2- It will infest you with diseases!
3- It will curse you with a plague of rats!
4- It will cause all your clothes and leather to be chewed up and destroyed!
Note that Cranium Rats, for all their bluster, are often unable to actually carry out their threats. This won't prevent them from blustering and threatening with the best of them.
What other creature has this Cranium Rat taken control of?
1d6
1- A swarm of insects! An Insect Spirit has likely noticed this and will ask you to free it's charges of the Cranium Rat's control.
2- A stray Dog. The Cranium Rat uses it like a horse. There is a 50% a street urchin had his beloved dog stolen by "the voices under the street".
3- A Cat! Cats are proud and extremely dangerous, but not very smart. A Cranium Rat who can dominate one will be the envy of all his peers. If he were to ever lose control, the Cat would surely disembowel him immediately.
4- A Giant Rat. It may be the size of a greyhound, but it's not much smarter than a normal rat.
5- A Bird! Most likely a pigeon or a gull, but there is 20% this a raptor. In the latter case, the Cranium Rat rides it like a flying mount.
6- A madman. His (or her) damaged mind made him easy prey for the Cranium Rat. There is a 20% that the Cranium Rat is not actually controlling the madman, but has manipulated the madman into helping the Cranium Rat.
Sewer-Lords and Rat Kings:
Cranium Rats possess the ability to dominate rodents and bind them to their will. This grants them access to a nearly numberless horde of servants to which to gratify their desires and carry out their evil schemes. Cranium Rats control the rats of the sewers, using them to gather food and claim territory that the Cranium Rat lords over like a petty king. These solitary sewer-lords zealously guard their territories, sending armies of vermin to drive out invaders and to pillage the local midden heaps.
They fiercely compete with others of their kind, fighting proxy wars using hundred of rats. If you ever come across a small army of rats tearing each other apart, you may have stumbled upon a Cranium Rat turf war. Many "sewer ghosts" in the large cities are actually Cranium Rats, sending messages to the minds of approaching creatures, threatening vicious retribution unless said creatures leave offerings of food or depart.
However, not all Cranium Rats are content with such small holdings, nor with the loneliness such an existence provides. Among their feral cousins, a Cranium Rat is a natural aristocrat, but he or she will be desperately lonely, as none of it's servants will be able to actually understand it. As such, sometimes Cranium Rats seek each other out and live together in colonies, where an upper class of Cranium Rats is supported by a vast army of mind-controlled rats and other rodents.
When multiple Cranium Rats gather together, something strange can often happen. As the colony becomes more numerous, the Rat's psychic communion with themselves and their slaves will attract or create a psychic entity known as a Rat King.
Rat King
Number Appearing: 1
Alignment: Any Evil
Languages: N/A, but is telepathic
Treasure: Varies, see below
HD 1d6
AR 0
Atk Psychic Blast (1d8) or Psychic Power
Mor 13
Saves (7+HD) or less
Immaterial: Rat Kings are immaterial. They can pass through physical objects and non-magical substances. They are immune to anything that damages a creature's physical substance such as slashing, bludgeoning or poison damage. They can only be hurt by magic, magical weapons, fire and things designed to target Outsiders/Spirits.
Gestalt Manifestation: A Rat King can "appear" anywhere a member of it's colony is, as it is sustained by the Cranium Rats in it's colony. If all the Cranium Rats in it's colony die, it is immediately banished from this plane of existence, back to the Spirit World.
Gestalt Awareness: A Rat King knows anything that the Cranium Rats in it's colony know, along with anything that the creatures they have dominated know. It can also look through the eyes of any creature that is a part of it's colony.
Telepathic: Rat Kings have the ability to communicate telepathically with any creature with a mind. It can detect the minds of any creature within 100', assuming those creature's minds are not mentally shielded.
Mind Controller: Rat Kings can control the minds of other creatures, though they have difficulty controlling creatures more powerful and intelligent than them. As an action, a Cranium Rat can attempt to control a creature. The targeted creature and the Rat King must engage in a COG contest- if the Cranium Rat succeeds, that creature falls under it's control. If it is injured or ordered to do something it morally disagrees with, that creature may engage in a new contest with the Rat King. Ordinary rats and rodents automatically fail this contest, while rat-like creatures have disadvantage on their checks.
Tactics:
- Send disposable minions to do your bidding
- Protect colony to ensure one's own success
- Abandon all pride if necessary to survive
Rat Kings are terrible spirits, sustained by a colony of Cranium Rats. Though they are believed to be a product of the Cranium Rats themselves, Rat Kings are much more powerful and intelligent than their rodent subjects. They almost immediately begin lording over any Rodents near them, which will regard them with superstitious awe and terrible dread.
Rat Kings are intensely selfish and egotistical, thinking of only their own survival. They will sacrifice anything and everything to get what they want- the only reason they even bother to protect the Colony of Cranium Rats is because without it, the Rat King either dies or is banished, depending on what you believe.
To customize a Rat King, roll on the tables below:
What appearance does the Rat King project to those it speaks to?
1d4
1- A giant Rat!
2- A giant, humanoid rat!
3- A human with rat-like features.
4- A Cat being devoured alive by rats!
What creatures (besides Rats) does it control?
1d10
1- A group of humans. These humans are 1d4 [1= Madmen who believe that the Rat King is the leader of a heroic resistance movement and they are his elite soldiers; 2= A cult that worships the Rat King (there is an 80% they do not know what the Rat King really is, it is tricking them); 3= A group of criminals who help the Rat King in exchange for the knowledge he can provide them with and his help with their own schemes; 4= A group of half-ghouls who through repeated cannibalism are steadily turning into Undead.]
2- Monkeys. Probably a dumber variety, like baboons.
3- A swarm of giant rats. You thought a swarm of regular-sized rats was bad? You haven't seen anything yet.
4- Dog Pack. A pack of feral dogs. Some might carry rabies.
5- A Big Cat. The Big Cat is a 1d4 [1= Tiger; 2= Leopard; 3= Lion; 4= Panther.]
6- A sewer-monster. It's big and stupid and loves to eat garbage. It definitely carries a whole host of horrible diseases.
7- A Spirit of Disease. A lesser Spirit, bound by the Rat King's dominance. If freed, would definitely be willing to offer a favor in exchange.
8- A school of Kuo Toa. These degenerate fish-men are far from their underground homes. They think the Rat King is a God and worship it, empowering it through their faith. If you kill it, they might decide you are a better god and start worshiping you instead.
9- Rat Men. These are humanoid rats with the approximate intelligence of stupid humans. They are as horrible as you can imagine.
10- Man-King. A cluster of human bodies fused together into a horrific creature.
How many Psychic Powers does it have?
1 HD: 1 Psychic Power.
2-3 HD: 1d2 Psychic Powers.
4-5 HD: 1d3 Psychic Powers.
6 HD: 1d4+1 Psychic Powers.
What Psychic Powers does it have?
1d10
1- Mind Reading. The Rat King can, as an action, attempt to read a creature's surface thoughts. That creature gets a save to resist- on a failed save, the Rat King knows what that creature is thinking at that moment.
2- Illusion Creation. The Rat King can, as an action, create illusions that produce both visuals and sounds. These illusions last for as long as the Rat King maintains them. It can maintain up to X at once, where X is the Rat King's HD. These illusions burn away in sunlight and can be dispelled via magic.
3- Invisibility. The Rat King can, as an action, make creatures invisible. It can make X creatures invisible, where X is it's HD. This invisibility lasts until the Rat King releases it or the creature makes an attack.
4- Dream Manipulation. The Rat King can send dreams and visions to creatures, as long as it has either knowledge of that creature or some physical object that will link it to that creature.
5- Telekinesis. The Rat King can move things as if it had a STR of 10+HD as an action. Creatures who do not wish to be moved can make a STR or COG check to resist, on a successful check, the Rat King cannot move them.
6- Pyrokinesis. The Rat King can cause an object to ignite as an action, causing that object to take 2d6 fire damage. Creatures get a save to resist bursting into flames. The Rat King can also control existing flames, shaping or moving them as an action.
7- Cryokinesis. The Rat King can fire a beam that dramatically lowers the temperature in an area. This does 2d6 cold damage. Creatures can either attempt to make a save to halve the damage or evade entirely with a successful Defense roll.
8- Precognition. As an action, the Rat King can look into the future to see what is going to happen within the super-immediate future (next X rounds, X is HD). This lets it add +(1/2*X) to all d20 rolls for the next X rounds.
9- Biokinesis. As an action, the Rat King can heal a creature for 1d6 HP or force that creature to save or suffer a mutation.
10- Teleportation. The Rat King can, as an action, teleport a member of it's colony to anywhere another member of it's colony is. It can do this X times per day, where X is it's HD.
Why is it doing this?
1d6
1- Power! The Rat King craves power, whatever the cost, it needs more!
2- Envy. The Rat King hates you for what you have and it doesn't. It wants to take what you have to hurt you.
3- Greed. The Rat King wants more stuff! As long as it is valuable, it wants it. Note that it's definition of valuable comes from a rat's perspective.
4- Hatred. The Rat King hates someone or something in particular and wants to destroy that thing.
5- Worship. The Rat King wants to be venerated, to be revered, to be worshiped as a superior being.
6- Ascension. The Rat King wants to become "real", to have a body and a stable existence independent of the colony.
Plot Hooks:
1d8
1- The Cranium Rat wants to ruin the King's important diplomatic dinner. The Rat doesn't care about that, of course, it just wants to steal the very rare cheese being served as an appetizer.
2- The Cranium Rats are going to war in the sewers and their fighting is spilling out into the streets. Find out what is causing this "plague of rats".
3- A madman is running through the streets, talking about the "man in the walls". The madman says this "man" is going to steal something very important, but no one believe him.
4- Members of the Rat Catcher's guild keep being found gnawed to death by swarms of rats. Find out what is making the rats so aggressive and coordinated.
5- A thief has pulled off a series of impossible thefts and it has the city's aristocracy in a tumult. They are promising lucrative rewards to anyone who can catch the thief. In reality, it's actually a ring of thieves working together, with the assistance of some psychic rats.
6- The bartender has a rat problem in his basement. Could you help out? Secretly the bartender is being controlled or manipulated by the psychic rat or Rat King that lives under his floorboards and is feeding it people who won't be missed.
7- A Rat King is attempting to kidnap people and mutate them into being more rat-like, to make them easier to control.
8- A Rat King contacts the party, either in dreams or through an intermediary, and promises them money or a boon for rare mutagenic chemicals or magical items that can manipulate flesh. The Rat King is attempting to make stronger, more powerful rats for some no doubt entirely sinister reason.
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