Shadow Rat Swarm

A squirming and squeaky mass of rats with rotting flesh, torn and matted fur, and reddish blazing eyes moves toward you. Their semi-translucent skin shows discolored bones and muscle.

Lore

Garidan remembers a story told by the priests of Calwein of a swarm of undead rats called ‘Shadow Rats’ that can become incorporeal at will but cannot do physical harm while in that state. They can drain your strength in either corporeal or incorporeal form. Only a magical weapon can affect them while incorporeal.

While in incorporeal form, it can be harmed only by other incorporeal creatures, magic weapons or creatures that strike as magic weapons, and spells, spell-like abilities or supernatural abilities. It is immune to all nonmagical attack forms. Holy water can affect incorporeal undead (which this is).

While in corporeal form, it is a swarm made up of 300 tiny rats. They take +50% damage from AoE spells and splash weapons. They take full damage from blunt weapons and 1/2 damage from piercing and slashing.

A distance voice in Malthazir’s head reminds him that the disease the Shadow Rat Swarm carries is Filth Fever which has a frequency of 1/day and an effect of 1d3 dex and 1d3 con damage. It takes a standard action to move from corporeal to incorporeal form. It prefers corporeal as it can feast on the flesh of the living and cause hp damage, but takes incorporeal form to avoid impediments or to escape. It also has Shadow Blend which allows it to disappear into the shadows gaining total concealment in all levels of illumination save bright light. Strong necromatic magic would be required to create such an undead.

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Statistics

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Beastiary – Undead
Menagerie – Beastiary
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