RATS!

Ah, Rats.  One of the old ‘go to’s in 1e AD&D for lower level characters.

"Anyway, like I was sayin', Rat is the fruit of the land. You can barbecue it, boil it, broil it, bake it, saute it. There's uh, Rat-kabobs, Rat creole, Rat gumbo. Pan fried, deep fried, stir-fried. There's pineapple Rat, lemon Rat, coconut Rat, pepper Rat, Rat soup, Rat stew, Rat salad, Rat and potatoes, Rat burger, Rat sandwich. That- that's about it."

Seriously though, there are many flavors of rats is D&D and they all present a decent challenge to lower lever characters, just adjust numbers accordingly!  Way back in the day, I had a friend named Robert Cudinski who came up with a WHOLE ‘nother take on rats.  He created the N2 Rat.

These were blueish colored rats with light blue ears and noses.  As you might imagine, they weren’t your run of the mill rats.  They didn’t seek food, per se.  They sought out warmth and lanterns, torches, any open flame.  By their nature, being N2 Rats (For those non chemists, N2 is the chemical annotation for nitrogen gas.), on contact they immediately smothered the open flame.  

You can imagine the effect this could have on the humans in the party.  This also gave rise to some hysterical means of getting around where the rats laired.  So much so that every time the rats were encountered, the party would chant this:

“Crazy?  I was crazy once.  They locked me in a rubber room.  There were rats in that rubber room.  Rats make you crazy!  Crazy?  I was crazy once.  They locked me in a rubber room.  There were rats in that rubber room.  Rats make you crazy!  Crazy?  I was crazy once.  They locked me in a rubber room.  There were rats in that rubber room.  Rats make you crazy!  Crazy?  I was crazy once.  They locked me in a rubber room.  There were rats in that rubber room.  Rats make you crazy!...........” 

And yet another trip down memory lane with Russ……

• Russ