Rat Megaswarm, Dire

A squirming horde of vicious rats the size of small dogs streams forward. They have coarse, spiky fur, feral eyes, and jagged, yellowed teeth. They surge ahead in a roiling mass of filth and stench.

Rat Megaswarm, Dire (CR 5)

Small Animal (megaswarm)
Alignment: Neutral
Initiative: +7
Senses: Low-Light Vision, Scent; Perception +11

Speed: 40 feet, Climb 20 feet, Swim 20 feet
Space: 10 feet

Defense

Armor Class: 14, touch 14, flat-footed 11 (+3 Dex, +1 size)
Hit Points: 52 (8d8+8 plus 8)
Saving Throws: Fort +9, Ref +9, Will +3
half damage from piercing weapons

Offense

Melee: swarm (2d6 plus disease)
Reach: 0 feet

Special Attacks: disease, Distraction (DC 15)

Statistics

Str	Dex	Con	Int	Wis	Cha
10 (+0)	17 (+3)	13 (+1)	2 (-4)	13 (+1)	4 (-3)

Base Attack Bonus: +6
CMB -
CMD -

Feats: Great Fortitude, Improved Initiative, Skill Focus (Perception), Toughness

Skills: Climb +11, Perception +11, Stealth +14, Swim +11

• Racial Modifiers: uses Dex to modify Climb and Swim

Languages:

Special Abilities

Disease (Ex)

Filth fever: Swarm-injury; save DC 15 Fort; onset 1d3 days; frequency 1/day; effect 1d3 Dex damage and 1d3 Con damage; cure 2 consecutive saves. The save DC is Constitution-based.

Megaswarm Traits (Ex)

Megaswarms are not so called because of the size of the swarm but rather the size of the creatures that compose the swarm. Unlike normal swarms, megaswarms are composed of Small creatures which are usually a megafauna version of a normal swarm and otherwise behave in a swarmlike manner. There are usually around 100 creatures in a megaswarm. The net effect is that they take only half damage from piercing weapons but take normal damage from other weapons. In addition when the swarm is reduced to 0 hit points or lower and breaks up, unless the damage was dealt by area-affecting attacks, then 2d6 surviving members of the megaswarm continue their attack, though now only as individual creatures. Otherwise, a megaswarm conforms to all of the other swarm traits as described in the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Bestiary.

Ecology

Environment: Any Urban
Organization: solitary, pack (2-4 megaswarms), infestation (7-12 megaswarms)
Treasure: none


Much like a swarm of ordinary rats, a dire rat swarm is composed of a teeming mass of disease-ridden dire rats intent on feeding on whatever they can catch. A dire rat swarm usually exists in abandoned ruins or city dumps where there is a plentiful food supply and a lack of significant predators.

A dire rat swarm seeks to overrun and attack any warm-blooded prey it encounters. It typically ignores undead and other creatures that are not warm-blooded.

Credit Original author Greg A. Vaughan Originally appearing in Slumbering Tsar (© Frog God Games/ Greg A. Vaughan, 2012)