Bastardhall Rat
CREATURE 5Variant giant rat
Giant rats are enormous versions of the common vermin. They are typically found in abundant numbers, but since they cannot fit in the nooks where mundane rats typically hide, they are much easier to locate and exterminate. They mostly live in sewers where they can scavenge from the streets above, but some families of giant rats live in more remote locations, such as dank caves, forests or hills. Rats are incredibly adept survivors and can be found nearly anywhere in the world, though they tend to favor temperate or warm climates as opposed to cold regions.
Although its bite alone is not lethal except to the very young or very old, the giant rat carries the putrid plague common to rodents around the world—a pestilence more than capable of ravaging rural communities.
Rats are a ubiquitous menace, scurrying through the sewers and on the streets of nearly every settlement in the world. Though a regular rat darting underfoot might startle or even frighten the average passerby, giant rats and rat swarms are far more dangerous.
A creature that takes damage from a Bastardhall rat's bite is exposed to a painful and debilitating curse, and must attempt a DC 22 Fortitude save against the following effects.
Critical Success The creature is unaffected by the curse.
Success Pain shoots through the creature as angry redringed blisters form in the vicinity of the bite. The creature becomes Sickened 1 by the pain.
Failure As success, but Sickened 2. In addition, the blisters linger even after the initial pain abates, leaving the creature Enfeebled 1 from the discomfort for as long as the curse persists. Each time the sun rises, the creature can attempt a DC 22 Fortitude save to end the curse's effects.
Critical Failure As failure, but the curse has an unlimited duration, and its effects grow more discomforting after dark, increasing to Enfeebled 2 and Clumsy 1 while the sun is down.