Hello, fellow Gurus! Today we kick off a new segment on the blog called Monster Mash, where we take two pre-existing Dungeons&Dragons 5th Edition creatures, smash them together, and see what kind of fun new monstrosity you can throw at your Players. Full disclosure, these may require a bit of homebrew coaxing to meet your needs, and I’m not going to worry about Challenge Rating because measuring the real challenge of a monster is truly dependent on so many different factors (some of which are mentioned in this previous post). With this in mind, always feel free to scale your version of the new monster up or down as you see fit!
To kick things off, we’re fusing the Wererat (found on p. 209 of the Monster Manual) with the Warlord (found on p. 220 of Volo’s Guide to Monsters). Because Wererats are more iconic (and Warlord is intentionally vague on characteristics), we’re using our mousy friends as the base for this new creature and applying Warlord features when best suited. Without further ado, let’s mash these monsters!
Why Does it Exist?
Per their description in the Monster Manual, Wererats are cunning guerilla-warfare fighters, preferring to cut-(or bite)-and-run rather than face the enemy head on. This makes your Rat-Lord a peculiar specimen: what external influences necessitated a Genghis Khan in this race of outcasts, and what kind of unusual advantages must this particular Wererat have to serve as this grand unifier/tyrant? As you begin to answer these questions for your game, you may find this Rat-Lord transforming into your campaign antagonist; their rise to power sending shockwaves (subtle at first, yet exponentially becoming more and more overt) through both the natural and supernatural societies in your setting. For helpful tips on making great villains, click here!
While many 5th Edition DMs and Players believe Alignment has become passé, I implore you to use it when shaping the motives and methods of your particular Rat-Lord. We see in the Monster Manual that Wererats are most commonly Lawful Evil creatures, meaning they value a sense of order in their villainy (much akin to Devils). Therefore, our Rat-Lord should not be a temperamental powerhouse; instead, they should be respectable and cunning, achieving their meteoric rise to power through whatever means are deemed acceptable by your Wererats’ code of honor/social norms while simultaneously branding their opponents as disrespectful, brutish, and dangerous to the clan(s). These types of individuals are driven typically by the simple desire to be in absolute control (perhaps your Rat-Lord was originally sold into slavery as a carnival attraction) or by the unshakeable belief they have been given divine right to subjugate everyone around them. For those of you using the Forgotten Realms setting or just their deities, Bane makes for an incredible late-story reveal of the latter actually being true.
Finally, let’s consider what resources our Rat-Lord has at their disposal. Perhaps the most obvious, one cannot be a lord without followers. While a creature of this stature should definitely be able to hold their own against the adventurers (at least, for a short while), the Rat-Lord should be flanked by lackeys at all times. Perhaps this stems from a profound paranoia they will be deposed by a nameless rival, or maybe your Rat-Lord refuses to dirty their hands when a handful of minions will suffice. To Rat-Lord, lives should be expendable either for the “greater good” or sheer malicious apathy.
Explaining the Stat Block
There’s a lot to unpack here, so let’s take it step-by-step, starting from the top.
Since the ideal Rat-Lord should be equal mixes of cunning and dangerous, we want their AC to be high without being impossible to hit. The standard Wererat clocks in at a measly AC 12, while the Warlord has a bulky 18. Because we want to lean into the Warlord aspect, I felt an AC 17 was a fair compromise. Whether you want the AC 17 coming from a set of studded leather (as I have) or natural armor is entirely your choice. However, to reflect the frailer Wererat nature, we’re leaving their Hit Points far below the curve of your standard Warlord. This Rat-Lord is going to definitely use their minions and any other tricks before even entering the fray. Because Wererat and Warlord both have a speed of 30 feet, we’re going to leave it untouched.
To truly sell the premise, our Rat-Lord needs to be physically and mentally more intimidating than their typical Wererat brethren. To that end, I’m leaning more into the Warlord’s Ability Score spread while focusing more on Dexterity and less on Strength or Constitution; the mental attributes remain untouched from the bread-and-butter Warlord. The Saving Throw bonuses are taken from the Warlord, but the numbers are moved around slightly to account for the higher Dex. And while the Stealth and Perception are part of their Wererat nature, our Rat-Lord has a boost to their Persuasion checks to emphasize the subtle means by which they curry favor with their kin. Being a Wererat, our Rat-Lord is immune to non-magic, non-silver sources of bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage, meaning low-magic-setting PCs will have a harder time dispatching them compared to the standard Warlord. Finally, the Senses and Languages are unchanged from the Wererat.
It’s from the Rat-Lord’s Abilities onward that we get to have some real fun with this monster premise. While I’ve left Keen Smell and Shapechanger from the Wererat, I’ve added a homebrew ability called Sticky Fingers. Although the bite of a Werewolf is iconic, it’s always bothered me that the other Lycanthropes have to abide by the same rules (with the exception of being tusk-gored by a Wereboar). Instead, I wanted to lean into the pilferer’s nature of the Wererat and make it so any successful melee weapon attack from the Rat-Lord (or any other Wererat) gives them a chance to steal coins or an object from the target. If the stolen items aren’t retrieved within a day, the victim contracts the Wererat lycanthropy. I believe this method of spreading the curse suits the Wererat’s guerilla-warfare or larcenist nature; plus, it turns a den of Wererats from a town’s strange curio into a legitimate threat requiring an immediate solution. Finally, I lifted the Indomitable trait from the Warlord, but reduced it to twice per day to account for the Rat-Lord’s physically weaker body.
For Actions, I kept the Wererat’s Bite and Hand Crossbow attacks, but I swapped the Shortsword for a Rapier to once again demonstrate the Rat-Lords superiority and (perhaps falsely earned) sophistication. I imagine this person to be similar to Count Dooku from Star Wars, a master duelist whose arrogance gets the best of them in the end. With the Hand Crossbow, I imagine the Rat-Lord has two of them on their person at any time to account for the Multiattack, and their supernatural dexterity allowing them to understandably bypass the Loading property of the crossbows.
Note: Remember, monsters and NPCs are not subject to the same limitations as the PCs. The Loading property applies to Players, not your monsters.
Last, but not least, we have Legendary Actions. In D&D 5th Edition, most creatures past a certain point (typically 10th Level for PCs) are doomed without Legendary Actions. While it’s understandable not all creatures should get them (hence they would no longer be Legendary), we want our Rat-Lord to be the most imposing Wererat your Players have ever seen. The Legendary Actions are ripped straight from the Warlord, but you’ll notice a key difference in the Command Ally action. Being a tyrant means knowing how to seize the battlefield, so I think our Rat-Lord should be able to move his minions on-the-fly for the best tactical advantage. To still provide our PCs with some breathing room, I limited the free movement to half the target’s movement speed, which typically ends up being 15 feet. As a reminder, Command Ally only affects one target, so you can safely avoid unintended dog-piles which then lead to an early (and unsatisfying) PC knockout.
In Conclusion
So, what do you all think of the Rat-Lord? What stats, abilities, or actions do you like, and which do you believe could use some improvement? If you enjoyed this article, let me know and I’ll add this segment to the regular rotation!
Blessed be,
Matthew Wulf
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