Skitter Rat
“Rat” © Anh Thao. Accessed at their ArtStation here
[Presumably, those are halfling skulls to make the scaling work right. The original in Rustlers of the Night is right on the edge of being a joke monster, as the original art looks an awful lot like a squirrel. My perfect mental image for them would be something like a killer cloud rat.]
Skitter Rat
CR 1 CN Magical
Beast
This creature
resembles a rat the size of a small dog. Its tail is furred, and all four of
its paws look nimble and dexterous.
Skitter rats are scavenging rodents with a dim
intelligence and psychic senses. They can determine the presence of living
creatures and whether or not they are injured—the better to set up ambushes to
finish them off. Skitter rat warrens are often found near the lairs of larger,
more dangerous monsters. The skitter rats feed on scraps the monster leaves
behind, or waits until it gets into a fight in order to finish off the victor
of these clashes.They do not carry disease as many other monstrous rats do, but their teeth inflict bleeding wounds that can drain the life out of their victims.
Skitter rats can telepathically communicate with each other, but these are limited mostly to images and emotions. Their warrens are organized like the hive of a social wasp—only one female reproduces and the other adults help her, but they are kept in line through bullying and violence rather than being inherently sterile. When the warren gets too large and food becomes scarce, older females leave with a cohort of males to set up warrens of their own. They are almost always found underground, but these scouting expeditions may surface at night to find an appropriate lair. Some skitter rats make their residence in crumbling buildings or sewers—these may be mistaken for dire rats, but are much more dangerous.
Skitter rat fur is prized among subterranean humanoids,
although the sapience of skitter rats makes this resource mostly exploited by
evil humanoids. For their part, skitter rats are more likely to tend towards
evil than good—they live by a rule of might makes right, and may be recruited
by demon cults or other lovers of the violent and monstrous. Skitter rats have
a peculiar preference for the flesh of halflings. Halfling communities invoke
skitter rats as bogeymen to keep their children in line.
Skitter Rat CR 1
XP 400
CN Small magical beast
Init +6; Senses aura sight 30 ft., blindsense 30 ft., darkvision
60 ft., Perception +5
Defense
AC 14, touch 13, flat-footed 12 (+1
size, +2 Dex, +1 natural)
hp 11 (2d10)
Fort +3, Ref +5, Will +1
Weakness light blindness
Offense
Speed 40 ft., climb 40 ft.
Melee bite +3 (1d6 plus bleed)
Special Attacks bleed (1), swarming
Statistics
Str 10, Dex 15, Con 11, Int 5, Wis 12, Cha 8
Base Atk +2; CMB +1; CMD 13 (17 vs.
trip)
Feats Improved Initiative
Skills Climb +20, Perception +5, Stealth
+14; Racial Modifiers +4 Perception, +4 Stealth
Languages Undercommon (cannot speak),
telepathy 100 ft (skitter rats only)
SQ expert climber
Ecology
Environment underground or urban
Organization solitary, pair, pack (3-12) or
warren (13-40)
Treasure incidental
Special Abilities
Aura Sight (Su) A skitter rat can determine the health
aura of all living creatures it can see within 30 feet. This tells it if creatures are at
full health or injured, and whether it possesses any of the following
conditions—confused, disabled, diseased, dying, nauseated, panicked, poisoned, staggered,
stunned or unconscious.
Expert Climber (Ex) A skitter rat gains a +16 racial
bonus to Climb checks, and can climb sheer surfaces or upside down as per a spider
climb spell.
Swarming (Ex) Up to two skitter rats can share
the same space at the same time. If two skitter rats in the same space attack
the same foe, they are considered to be flanking that foe.