Ratmen in the Sewers adventure ideas

[Mantriel]

I would like to tell a "Ratmen in the Sewers" adventure, creating traps, preparing monster stats etc isn't a big thing, but I would like to add some interesting story elements.

Like Grandma Ratmen, who is the leader of the Ratman colony in the sewers, and who hates violance.
Or the heartbroken ratman male who is stealing teddybears from above to get her loves attention back.

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Any other ideas?
The adventure is intended for young audiences

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

An ascetic warrior who keeps 4 turtles as pets...

A human piper who lures young ratmen to their dooms...

 

[Celebrim]

The adventure is intended for young audiences

That's going to be the hard part. Rats don't lend themselves to cute stories. Rats in fantasy are generally about sex, filth, and eating things alive. Anthropomorphicizing them as for example wererats only highlights this making them about bestiality, cannibalism, perversion, and so forth. Rats in general are used as instruments of horror. Even fairy tales about rats tend to be horrifying - The Pied Piper, The Bishop of Hatto, etc. Stories of communication with rats, as The Pied Piper, or The Rat Man's Notebooks/Williard, generally tend to end badly horribly for all involved.

If you really intend the story for a young audience, I'd suggest not using ratmen at all and going more in the direction of Rats of NIHM or Ratatouille. You could have a colony of intelligent and noble rats playing against the type, and have the villains be alligators in the sewers or something of the sort that the heroes and the rats have to make a united front against.

 

[Mantriel]

I think the kids would like some Ratmen as enemies.

Take for example:
http://narnia.wikia.com/wiki/Reepicheep
he is a giant "Mouseman" and he is still cute. Ratatouille the same, Splinter from TMNT.

(I have never heard of Rats of NIHM before, it seems to be an interesting story, thanks).

 

[darrell_uk]

Re NIHM, read the book, DON'T watch the film. **shudder**

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Re NIHM, read the book, DON'T watch the film. **shudder**

Agreed.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

You could poach the basic plot from Disney's The Sorcerer's Apprentice.

Also, this:

http://www.mouseguard.net

http://www.mouseguard.net/books/role-playing-game/

 

[Celebrim]

I think the kids would like some Ratmen as enemies.

Take for example:
http://narnia.wikia.com/wiki/Reepicheep
he is a giant "Mouseman" and he is still cute. Ratatouille the same, Splinter from TMNT.

(I have never heard of Rats of NIHM before, it seems to be an interesting story, thanks).

Mice and rats occupy very distinct fantasy niches.

Mice are almost never bad. Rats are almost never good.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

Reepicheep

http://narnia.wikia.com/wiki/Reepicheep

 

[Tonguez]

Mice and rats occupy very distinct fantasy niches.

Mice are almost never bad. Rats are almost never good.

Pratchett has good rats in The Amazing Maurice and his Educated Rodents which makes for some good material, you also have the whole folklore of tje King-rat to work with.

Also Indian amd Asian folklore tends to be kinder to rats like Mooshika vahana the mount of Ganesh