Skitter Rat

Skitter Rat CR 1

XP 400
CN Small magical beast
Init +6; Senses aura sight 30 ft., blindsense 30 ft., darkvision 60 ft., Perception +5

DEFENSE

AC 14, touch 13, flat-footed 12 (+2 Dex, +1 natural, +1 size)
hp 11 (2d10)
Fort +3, Ref +5, Will +1
Weaknesses light blindness

OFFENSE

Speed 40 ft., climb 40 ft.
Melee bite +3 (1d6 plus bleed)
Special Attacks bleed (1), swarming

STATISTICS

Str 10, Dex 15, Con 11, Int 5, Wis 12, Cha 8
Base Atk +2; CMB +1; CMD 13 (17 vs. trip)
Feats Improved Initiative
Skills Climb +20, Perception +5, Stealth +14; Racial Modifiers +4 Perception, +4 Stealth
Languages Undercommon (cannot speak), telepathy 100 ft (skitter rats only)
SQ expert climber

ECOLOGY

Environment underground or urban
Organization solitary, pair, pack (3-12) or warren (13-40)
Treasure incidental

SPECIAL ABILITIES

Aura Sight (Su)

A skitter rat can determine the health aura of all living creatures it can see within 30 feet. This tells it if creatures are at full health or injured, and whether it possesses any of the following conditions—confused, disabled, diseased, dying, nauseated, panicked, poisoned, staggered, stunned or unconscious.

Expert Climber (Ex)

A skitter rat gains a +16 racial bonus to Climb checks, and can climb sheer surfaces or upside down as per a spider climb spell.

Swarming (Ex)

Up to two skitter rats can share the same space at the same time. If two skitter rats in the same space attack the same foe, they are considered to be flanking that foe.

ABOUT

This creature resembles a rat the size of a small dog. Its tail is furred, and all four of its paws look nimble and dexterous.

Skitter rats are scavenging rodents with a dim intelligence and psychic senses. They can determine the presence of living creatures and whether or not they are injured—the better to set up ambushes to finish them off. Skitter rat warrens are often found near the lairs of larger, more dangerous monsters. The skitter rats feed on scraps the monster leaves behind, or waits until it gets into a fight in order to finish off the victor of these clashes.They do not carry disease as many other monstrous rats do, but their teeth inflict bleeding wounds that can drain the life out of their victims.

Skitter rats can telepathically communicate with each other, but these are limited mostly to images and emotions. Their warrens are organized like the hive of a social wasp—only one female reproduces and the other adults help her, but they are kept in line through bullying and violence rather than being inherently sterile. When the warren gets too large and food becomes scarce, older females leave with a cohort of males to set up warrens of their own. They are almost always found underground, but these scouting expeditions may surface at night to find an appropriate lair. Some skitter rats make their residence in crumbling buildings or sewers—these may be mistaken for dire rats, but are much more dangerous.

Skitter rat fur is prized among subterranean humanoids, although the sapience of skitter rats makes this resource mostly exploited by evil humanoids. For their part, skitter rats are more likely to tend towards evil than good—they live by a rule of might makes right, and may be recruited by demon cults or other lovers of the violent and monstrous. Skitter rats have a peculiar preference for the flesh of halflings. Halfling communities invoke skitter rats as bogeymen to keep their children in line.

Section 15: Copyright Notice
scroll to top