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Dire Rats
- Thread starter MensurB
- Start date
Nail
First Post
THey are nasty, especially with good "mob" tactics. (Rats can't think of strategy, but if they all rush in at once......)diaglo said:
What do you think of the CR of these critters? Is it too low? (They do only have a few hp.....however nasty their bite may be.)
Anybody got any stories written up with these critters in it? I can think of Old One's and Milo Windby's.......
My Pcs were able to handles 'em, but in part that was due to the situation:
(Shameless Plug of my own Story Hour)
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Scene: The Faegan's Mill, outside of town, by the River Liss. Three of the party stand just inside the door, waiting for Riva and Garret to return. The massive mill stone slowly turns nearby, grinding winter barley to flour. The party can hear the splash of the water-wheel as it turns outside. Inside is dim and dusty, with bags and crates stacked about. A door to a storeroom is behind them, while a walk-way stretches overhead.
Tieran, Rowan, and Thaile stand talking about the events of the past few days. A few moments later, Riva comes jogging up. ....when suddenly, conversation is cut off by a high-pitched scream from overhead!
The party looks up to see a man, Mrs. Faegan's husband Robert, running along the cat-walk, with 2 dark, dog-like creatures chasing him. (And yep: that’s his scream when things threaten to kill him.) He screams again as another of these dog-beasts cuts off his escape!
Riva looses his axe and CHARGES up the stairs! Riva's first swing CRASHES into the planking of the cat-walk, as the dog-beast it was meant for leaps out of the way. Another of these beasts drops down behind Riva -- and he realizes these aren't wild dogs -- they're huge rats! Their fur is black and matted, dripping with river slime, and their eyes gleam with blood-lust. The two chasing Robert have already downed him, and even now are chewing on Robert's legs as he screams (yet again: what a whiner)!
Tieran and Thaile hurriedly load their crossbows, while Rowan charges after Riva. Rowan's swings with her staff are too wide to connect with their mark, but they distract a rat long enough for Riva to land a killing blow with his axe. Riva steps up to stand over the unconscious Robert Faegan. The 3 foot long monstrosities will have to down him as well before they feed again.
Tieran, too, is making good on his opportunities: soon 2 more rats are dead, pinned to the wall or the catwalk with crossbow bolts. Thaile is having decidedly less luck...until a rat leaps at her, from behind! ("This is having better luck?") She drops her ineffective crossbow and draws her rapier. Her fellow party members can almost feel her frustration as her rapier proves as effective as her crossbow -- that is: she misses alot.
These rats are wily beasts! Who knew?
Still....within a few more moments, Riva and Tieran have cleared the catwalk of the over-grown pests. Rowan charges down, and with a telling blow from her staff she hits the rat threatening Thaile. Rowan's first hit! (DM's note: The lovely women of Eaglesford were not rolling well this fight.) The wound is harsh, and the rat flees through a large hole in the wall. The battle is over: 6 slimy rat corpses litter the upper catwalk and the floor below.
Rowan hastily climbs the stairs and tends to Robert Faegan's wounds. He will live - barely. Meanwhile, both Riva and Thaile begin to feel sick. Rowan informs them: they've probably been infected by the rat-bites with "Filth Fever". She tells them it will take several days for them to recover - as long as they rest completely, and don't ride off somewhere.
Rowan and Thaile both look at Riva.
Riva: "What?"
Just then, Garret arrives. "Hey guys, I've cleared it with the Captain. We can ride off with him as soon as.....whoa.....What happened here? You guys alright?"
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The rest of the story is right here.
s/LaSH
First Post
Them beasties is bad news for weaker parties. I actually had to fudge a healing potion to save the first PC in my current campaign. Better yet, I have a brief pictorial of the events; if you don't want to read the whole comic, go here: http://dungeondamage.keenspace.com/d/20020717.html
I'm actually surprised that a solo fighter survived that, but hey, his first every d20 roll was a critical that cleaved two goblins in half. Pity he only rolls 3 and 5 these days.
I'm actually surprised that a solo fighter survived that, but hey, his first every d20 roll was a critical that cleaved two goblins in half. Pity he only rolls 3 and 5 these days.
Rybaer
First Post
On the flip side fo this coin, our party's druid has a pair of dire rat companions. They've been instrumental in averting two TPK's...one of which was when our party was 4/5th level! Granted, the druid has advanced one of them and had custom-made leather barding created. They're pretty tough little buggers, with natural climb and scent coming in handy more than once.
We constantly give the druid a hard time about his dog-sized rats and groan everytime we have to dump a cure spell on one of them, but no one can deny the role they've played in our survivability thus far.
We constantly give the druid a hard time about his dog-sized rats and groan everytime we have to dump a cure spell on one of them, but no one can deny the role they've played in our survivability thus far.
These critters can be killers. The first combat encounter in "Sunless Citadel" is with three hidden dire rats. An overconfident rogue climbed down the rope and failed his Spot against the creatures' high Hide skill check. He drops down, they attack. He loses initiative next round as the rats roll an 18. A rat gets a critical. The rogue dies as the remaining rats start feeding. It was actually funny in retrospect.
