Sacked by Rats

Let’s wander into Miniature Monday with another Wilderness Trek table entry! Today, we have a double-duty monster pick because these mini disease carriers can be used in a dungeon or outdoor environment.

Sometimes, it’s a downright crime not to honor a few of the bad guy classics, like rats and skeletons. They’ve been in your Monster Manuals since day one, so a DM gotta respect! Let’s just think of a clever way to incorporate these long-tailed little buggers into our Wandering Monster tables.

Thanks to Milestone Heroes and their Scatter Pack 13 release (from April 2023), we have several models that fit the bill here. The especially cool thing about this marvelous creator is he includes older sets in their monthly set releases and gives you a lot of bang for your monthly Patreon buck.

There are actually three rat-infested garbage pieces from this Scatter Pack, but for whatever reason, we only photographed two, so that means it’s probably time to fire the intern (just joshin’ …no intern would be crazy enough to work for us).

Remember, not every entry in our Wandering Monster table is an all-out fight. Half of our entries are non-combat and merely interrupt one’s long rest dreams. Now, as the DM, you certainly could turn this encounter into a rat swarm (AC 10, 24 HP), and Bob’s your Uncle. However, give the party a few options based on how they proceed.

Let’s map out some other engaging scenarios:

• Realizing these trash piles are actually rudimentary nests (e.g., do not disturb).
• Trying Animal Handling to see if you can obtain a rat familiar.
• Searching the junk could wake up the Rat Queen.
• Investigating the noises and simply moving on from the rude critters.

DM Ben would only call for initiative if the group attacked the baby rats’ or flipped their nesting place completely upside down during an Investigation check.

Here’s how we’re going to play it once the group settles in for a long rest in the forest. The on-watch player(s) will hear odd clanking noises from about 30 yards away. That clinking and clanking will be some baby rats frantically sifting through some older, discarded rations in a couple of cans left by a previous group. Then, DM Ben will just use one of the bullets above depending on how the group responds.

The Rat Queen will come a callin’ in 1d4+1 rounds if she hears her babies being attacked or squeaking loudly that their nest is being displaced.

If the group ends up displacing the nest and its pinky inhabitants, you could use a random loot table for the treasure results. The fine folks over at Dungeons and Possums (how fitting) made these awesome random loot tables broken out by Mundane, Uncommon, and Rare Splendors. They’re really slick, and we can’t wait to try them out!

And so our wandering monster table continues to grow! We’ll add another entry or two throughout the week. Stay tuned!