Cave Rat
Cave rats are a plague upon the common folk of Tamriel. Found in virtually every province, individually they are weak but collectively they can bring down a fully-armored man.
Rat, Beast; Trivial; White Soul (10)
Stats
| Characteristic | Value | Attribute | Value | Skill | Value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Strength | 10 | Hit Points | 10 | Combat | 40 |
| Endurance | 20 | Wound Thr. | 3 | Magic | - |
| Agility | 40 | Magicka | 10 | Evade | 40 |
| Intelligence | 10 | Stamina | 2 | Observe | 40 |
| Willpower | 5 | Initiative | +8 | Stealth | 50 |
| Perception | 30 | Action Pts. | 3 | Knowledge | - |
| Personality | 5 | Speed | 9m | Social | - |
| Morale | 5 | Size | Tiny | Physical | 20 |
Weapons & Armor
- Claws & Teeth: 1d4 Slashing; Reach 1m
Special Abilities
- Rat Leap (1 AP + 1 SP): The rat leaps up to 3m and makes a biting attack as a primary action against the target. Dodging or Parrying the attack has a -20 penalty as the rat catches them off-guard.
Traits
- Bestial
- Dark Sight
- Diseased (-30): If the creature successfully deals damage to an undiseased target with their natural weapons, then the target creature must succeed on a -30 Endurance test or contract a Common Disease.
- Quadruped
Encountering Cave Rats
Cave Rats are most commonly encountered in caves, however they can also be found in dungeons, sewers, and various other subterranean pits and places. They are harbingers of disease and decay, and wherever civilization goes, Cave Rats tend to follow.
Cave Rats are notoriously aggressive in spite of their diminutive size and feeble strength, which makes them a danger to societies small and large. Purging rat dens is a quintessential adventurer’s quest, and rat-killer is a perfectly reasonable career in large cities like Mournhold or Whiterun.
Cave Rats are defensive in their dens, and aggressively raid settlements, typically during the night, for anything they can eat. When fought, rats tend to flee when they realize they are in danger, but they are just as likely to be recklessly courageous, throwing themselves at their opponent with reckless abandon without awareness of the mortal danger they are in.
Should a population of Cave Rats flee their den they will typically regroup and create a new den quickly.
Loot
- On a +30 Survival test, a character can harvest one day’s ration of rat meat. Rat meat must be cooked, and consuming it forces a +0 Endurance test, causing the consuming character to gain a Common Disease on a failure.
- A character can harvest the rat’s tail, which is a Common Destruction ingredient.