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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Messageboard Golem" data-source="post: 2010879" data-attributes="member: 18387">The Complete Guide to Wererats has become an integral part of my campaign. Considering that my campaign deals with both wererats and a disease cult this fact is not surprising. Mind you, I picked the book up after the campaign was underway, so I wasn't looking for a complete overhaul of the scheming rodent-men, but rather some meat to hang on the bare bones of the lycanthrope template presented in the Monster Manual. The Complete Guide promised to give me that and I think that it delivered.The book provides a great justification for the existence of lycanthropes as well as explaining their word view through the introduction of an ancient order of arcane casters: the Council of Flesh. Wererat society is broken down into broods, each of which shares the common goal of elevating the wererat to its rightful place at the top of the food chain while subjugating the rest of the world. Each brood has its own focus - its own way of reaching these goals. For example, the Graykin brood manipulates societies from behind the scenes while the Dorians unleash specialty plagues to eliminate their enemies.Each employs Shifters and Weavers to attain their ends. Shifters are a 10-level class that focuses on the benefits of shape changing and its alternate form. They are the wererats' elite warriors. Weavers are a variant Transmuter with some extra available spells. It is they who create the diseases, monstrous crossbreeds (such as the draconian wererat pictured on the book's cover), and mutations (represented by a generous offering of feats geared toward lycanthropes) that will ultimately lead the wererats to supremacy.Why aren't there more lycanthropes if it's so easy to transmit and so hard to cure? Why are all wererats Lawful Evil? Can a PC be played as a wererat? The Complete Guide answers all these questions and many more. The back of the book is chock full of stats for generic NPC wererats - warriors, shifters, weavers, etc. -  for quick insertion into your game.This book has a narrow focus, to be sure, but that acts as a benefit rather than a detriment, allowing for increased depth instead of unnecessary breadth. There isn't a lot of clutter in this book, which I think is a good thing, but I was surprised to not find the Dorians' insidious plagues or the Weavers' mutant crossbreeds (especially the aforementioned draconian wererat) included. Not to worry, however; they're available in a pair of web enhancements on the Goodman Games website. My players are even now being bedeviled by an outbreak of Magebane!I can give this book a solid four without reservation.</blockquote>

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