Great episode. These little folks fascinate me. They also benefit of living amongst us. They don't have to start from scratch. We've figured out a whole bunch for them. The possibilities are endless. I'm sure lots of people are thinking about villains, but I'm excited about how you could create little communities of beneficent rats🐀. One of my favorite pets ever was my pet misty. My little rat. She went everywhere with me and most people never noticed, and when they did thet just got a confusing glimpse of a little pink nose poking out of my jacket collar. She recognized her name and came when called. She knew to ignore calls for the cat's. Sorry kinda rambled, but I can imagine a little rat monastery hidden deep in golden gate park. It can just be fun.
Have them in a False Hydra story. Their hideout is soundproof to keep the town from thinking there’s an infestation. So They know what’s going on but as rats, there’s not much they can do. But they can “persuade” a group of adventures to plant bombs at “strategic locations”
I was thinking the same thing, also there could be a illiterate deaf mute who keeps them. They would act as a way the party could meet them without the moon rats leaving their cage.
Imagine how chaotic and sad their lives are... Between two full moons, your friends could be eaten, fall into rat traps, etc, without you giving a shit about it. And it all kicks back once a month.
Well a troll in 3.5 only has an int of 5 but is capable of speech, planning, self preservation so at and till the quarter moon they should be fairly mentally competent even if they are on the less intelligent side
@@ConstantChaos1 That's assuming they have access to regular vet care. Most D&D settings wouldn't have much, if anything, in terms of veterinary services for rats.
Connect the moon rats to a local thieves guild that is wererats. Have the moon rats have a ring of intelligence that they are able to wear as a necklace to be able to keep one of them more sentience throughout the month.
crank it up a notch - reuse the plot from Underworld, only instead of Vampires vs Werewolves, it's Moon Rats vs Wererats! One of the PCs is effectively Michael, their blood is the key!
Unless editions after 3rd changed it, rings are one of the magic items that adjust size to fit the one who wears it, and it must be on a hand (or, in this case, fore-paw).
I once had a DM that put us against some of them and it turned out that they were not the evil thing that the town folks thought they were. it was actually a demon that had freed itself from the mage that had summoned it and the moon Rats were trying to stop the demon from opening up a hell mouth.
My party of murderhobos would hear a rumor about a demon infestation in the town they just cleaned of Moon Rats. Then kill the messenger for gossip... smh
ok but imagine if the party's shadowy patron who works almost exclusively through in-betweens or speaks just out of view turned out to be a moonrat(or a colony of them)
Moon rats that have somehow acquired a copy of the Tome of Clear Thought would be very fun. Maybe they just got it as the moon is waning, so they are in a hurry to be able to read it and get the permanent +2 to intelligence. Or perhaps they’ve had it for awhile and are constantly arguing and stealing it from one another, meaning none have gotten the required time to read it and gain the benefits, then must wait weeks before they’ll be smart enough to read it again.
The smartest of the children read it together. The Elder watching them turns the page when everyone raises their paw to show they're done. I would fudge the mechanics of the book that it would even be permanent.
A fun idea if your party has a werewolf PC: they roll into town and for some reason the guards know they're a werewolf and arrest them on the spot. Turns out there's been a number of grizzly murders happening every month on the full moon, so the town installed all sorts of magical werewolf detection devices hoping to be able to identify the perpetrator. The rest of the party has to find the real murderer before anything bad happens to their friend. Could be fun because they think they're looking for another werewolf, when really it was the rats all along!
So Eberron has twelve moons which wood help... but legend has it there was a Thirteenth in the age of Giants. The Moon Rats would like to get the Thirteenth Moon back. In a multiple moon setting like this I can only imagine furry furrowed brows studying an orrery as they plan their rather complicated timetables.
I'd imagine moon rats working as spies or as scouts. Maybe they came from Lamannia or were created by House Vedalis specifically for the purpose of infiltration during the Last War.
NPC character idea. Moonrat Cleric of Selune. Given a boon by its Goddess to age at an incredibly slow rate. It also wears the amulet of Selunes chosen as a sash which as it constantly emits moonlight, grants the moonrat permanent intelligence.
Well for one thing the 2-3 Yeats lifespan is for wild rats, pet rats have been known to live more than 7 years so for one thing I'm pretty sure a moon rat would easily be able to live till it was 5 also a 6 int (quarter moon+) is enough to make plans, set traps, and speak, so I think they are competent beyond what dungeon dad said
So there's this creature in modern 5e called the Cranium Rats that are similar, sort of. They're rats with the ability to make their brain glow and form a hivemind. Individually, they're just rats who sometimes turn their brain into a lightbulb, but if they become a Swarm, they have psychic powers and an Int of 15. These two creatures would have a natural reason to try and work together, and I feel the rat tomfoolery would be even better with them.
I was just thinking about what would happen if an Illithid hive made a colony of Cranium Rats out of an existing group of Moonrats, either as slaves or even the Moonrats willingly seeking out the Mind Flayers to help increase their power
Yeah I see moonrats manipulating and extorting a city that are actually protecting said city from cranium rats trying to take over and make everyone cattle for the illithids. They start out as antagonists but can later become circumstancial allies if the players so choose
I would set it up so the Moon Rats have tricked a town of humanoids into worshiping a Rat god. Then they think they will have better luck if they do things like feed street rats cheese and ban cats. Stuff like that can be quirky, fun and a mystery for the party to solve.
I'd personally combine these with Cranium Rats, the psychic-hive-mind rats that get smarter and stronger the bigger the swarm they're in. A colony of them escaped the Mind Flayers are setting up their own rival nefarious plots...
In my homebrew 5e setting, illithids and other aberrations have a secret colony on one of the moons. Cranium and Moon rat combo fits my world really well
I love the idea of one of the moonrats seeking out Lichdom in hopes of it solving the intelligence problem, but even if after becoming a Lich his intelligence still fades. Seen as an outcast by his fellow moonrats, he is exiled and sent to live on his own. Generations later it encounters a party of adventurers. It can go two ways: The party encounters a tiny Lich that is really ineffective in combat when there is a full moon, or just an undead rat that just gets stepped on when it's not.
Moon rats have always been one of my favorite monsters. Many of the things you talked about in the video I’ve done in my games. They were part of a secret shadow government for a small hamlet, they caused an avalanche to block the trails in and out of the mountain top hamlet and then poison the wheat crop forcing the humans to obey the moon rats. Their plan was finally exposed by the adventures and they were forced into combat. King Rat the wizard had adapted the sunlight spell to cast moonlight, with two moons they became twice as smart and strong. The adventures negotiated with them and sent them to the moon to live.
well thats nice the party sent them on i just they did so with plenty of self sustaining capacity because im prity Shure those moon rats will be returning in that world but more skaven like and likly warshiping that party as saviors of their colony or dooming them in skaven like fashion :P
I love the idea of the descendents of the party decades or even centuries later facing off against an impossible foe like a Demon Prince manifested on the Material Plane only to have a Spelljammer full of technologically advanced rats swoop down to aid them in their time of need. When everything is done the party is offered the chance to travel back to the moon with the swashbuckling rats to aid them in fighting against some terrible foe of their people, perhaps some vile abominations from the Far Plane that seek to invade the rest of the Plane from the Moon.
I have to wonder what happens to them on worlds with multiple moons, would there be factions that exist per moon? Also what's with all of these monsters who's powers are tied to the moon but not Selûne. I wonder if you could flavor a Were-Rat as a Moonrat blessed by Selûne or Eilistraee so they can act as a cleric in some sort of "Moonless Land".
You could treat them like the Kajiit in Elder Scrolls! Have their size and intelligence tied to what moon they're born under. And have the rare rat that's born under all full moons stay smart always, and act as an archivist, of sorts. Possibly have those under more than one moon be leaders, since they would generally have multiple sapient periods
In the original entry of the monster it says if the world has multiple moons they gain their intelligence multiple times a month. But I like your idea of having multiple factions based on the moons. I also like the idea that other person suggestion of the different stats improve based on which moon it is.
I'm using the dragonlance setting, which uses 3 moons, white one for good, black one for evil, red one for nuetral. My idea is to make 3 types of moon rats, based on alignment. Then have each type of rat tied to its own moon cycle
They might also be able to recruit allies. Xvarts, for example, who can speak to rats, could probabally be bribed/bullied/tricked into doing their bidding. They could help them get some normal rats on their side to boost their collective strength, and the xvarts would be decent scapegoats if things get tough. Wererats might also be helpful, but they'd probabally end up as the dominant party in any such agreement.
Here's a hook - a moon rat drops his blackmail notes when there is a lunar eclipse. The PCs just by chance find it, and realize that there are a lot of notes and observations related to their current adventure. The quest giver has a dark side, the mayor they've been trusting should not be trusted. All sorts of things that lead the players to think that maybe they're not on the side of good.
What's fun is you can do the classic "Rat riddance" quest of RPGs only for there to be weird notes strewn about to hint at secrets. They almost seem like a very "Diskworld-seque" creature so grab a good Terry Pratchett novel and have at it.
These are my favorite D&D original monsters - Seriously, take any shady organization and replace them with Moonrats and blackmailed minions and watch the party freak out trying to figure out what’s going on. Glizhelm has become a hyper vigilant township, with people being prosecuted and executed for seemingly nonsensical reasons. As the party investigates the town and the town guard, they find a vast, nigh omniscient criminal enterprise that seems to not actually exist. Dead end following dead end, and oddly superstitious about cats…
For the record a pet rat can live to 7 years and since they spend ¾ of their time at or above 6 int (the same as a troll) they are capable of planning, setting and avoiding traps, speaking, and acting with intelligent self preservation (not just instinct) I would say a 3 year lifespan is just wrong, they should live till 5 easily
How about an adventure based on UFO sightings like the Hopkinsville event, where the PCs have to investigate strange livestock attacks, bizarre lights in the sky, and so on. When they finally get to the bottom of it, it's a spelljammer crewed entirely by a moonrat colony. They spend most of their time orbiting the moon to maintain thie intelligence, but have to make raiding trips once a month planetside to replenish their supplies.
I'm seriously thinking about putting these in my Ravnica game now. Seems like the perfect accidental creation of the Simic, and a fun quest for the Dimir to figure out who's been imitating them and why. Also the rats could be hoarding Simic tech to make their intelligence permanent along with other improvements. Moonrats turning themselves into Skaven maybe? Or a swarm of amphibious rats with scorpion tails? Lots of ways to play with this idea.
Well keep in mind that a 6 int (which is what they hit on a quarter moon) is sufficient to make plans, set traps, be sentient, and be able to speak so they are way more competent than dungeon dad suggested, sure they will just be doing simple survival stuff at that point but like they are still sentient for ¾ of the lunar cycle Also pet rats can live to over 7 years of age so with a 6+int for 21/28 days they should easily be able to survive till the age of 5 easily
My first thought was adding a headband of intellect to a leader figure who just passes the band down the generations every few years, or having a few headbands on key figures of their rat society. The few plan around and for the masses of other moon rats that way since they can function year round with one.
I had a magic shop in my campaign that was just ran by a hundred moonrats in a town of elves with a powerful enchantment of its own moon. When the enchantment was interrupted later the bard used a wish spell to reinstal the enchantment not for the benifit of the one friendly werewolf, not for the benefit of all the elves, not to thwart the enemies plan... But because the party loved that shop so much they were sad they would only get to visit it once a month.
These guys trying to bring about some lycanthrope-esque eternal full moon scenario would be cool. They maybe could even team up with a group of lycanthropes to achieve this mutual goal
What if it was a cursed village. They had been humans and now they have this. They might be seeking a cure. They might also have been punished, and helping them brings the ire of the person who punished them. Are they good? Bad? Is the punisher good or bad? Many twists possible. Great video
I think there's some fun plot hooks you could pull off with various mcguffins around the idea of moonstones, selenium, moondust, etc. and these critters. Also, throw in some weird unfortunate outcasts in the mix (e.g. a rat whose intelligence cycles with clouds covering the moon and not phases) and you can have a great, rich society to share with the party.
I love the idea of the moon rats using wands as artillery, I always enjoy in fiction when there is a society of borrowers adapting large items for their own use. I imagine the moon rats using magic rings as arm bands, crowns, or tail rings in order to attune to them. And I can see the leader moon rat having ceremonial robes that is just a headband of intellect wrapped around them.
Now I want to do a Secret of Nimh storyline... Where a society of Moon Rats are just trying to get along and find a way to keep their intelligence through the lunar cycle.
So over the course of six minutes i went from my main villains being a vampire to at least a whole arc dedicated to finding out who is running a criminal group only for it to be a group of rats.
There's a joke about Flowers For Algernon somewhere in here haha, no but for real, the parallels are interesting. Anyone familiar with the book will know that the protagonist is the narrator and as his intelligence increases and then tragically declines, the writing in the book becomes more and more sophisticated and then slowly less so until it's almost childish like at the start. This "trick" the author uses makes it even more heartbreaking. Love your content DD ❤
For people wanting more Moon Rats, watch Mason Rats is one of the episodes of Love, Death and Robots season 3, they have clothes and weapons so their size.
I really like Moonrats; I'm kinda disappointed they haven't officially returned in current form D&D. Another monster from the Monster Manual II found interesting is the Nightmare Beast; keep in mind this is a creature that does more than its name suggests. And I think pairing this with Moonrats, in an indirect way, could be interesting. You would have to get to the Nightmare Beast to see what I'm getting at. Moonrats is a low CR monster, and Nightmare Beasts are noticeably kind of high on the CR gauge.
Perhaps the rats are working on a spell, piece by piece, line by line, to be able to make a moon appear in the sky, at least for a while. (think Vageta from DBZ where he could create an artificial moon)
The very first plot idea I had when watching this was to make a Pinky & The Brain adventure about two moon rats trying to figure out a spell that would make the moon always be full, and their downfall is that werewolves take over and the adventurers have to solve that 😅
A Moonrat Lich makes so much sense. They see and hear everything, they keep secrets, work towards a goal, and their brethren willingly supply them with mice souls to keep them alive. I am adding this to my game 100%, thank you!
Great episode. These little folks fascinate me. They also benefit of living amongst us. They don't have to start from scratch. We've figured out a whole bunch for them. The possibilities are endless. I'm sure lots of people are thinking about villains, but I'm excited about how you could create little communities of beneficent rats🐀. One of my favorite pets ever was my pet misty. My little rat. She went everywhere with me and most people never noticed, and when they did thet just got a confusing glimpse of a little pink nose poking out of my jacket collar. She recognized her name and came when called. She knew to ignore calls for the cat's. Sorry kinda rambled, but I can imagine a little rat monastery hidden deep in golden gate park. It can just be fun.
That reminds me of when I worked at an art museum at the coat check and someone on their way out was wearing a hip bag and I noticed something squirming in it. They had brought their pet ferret! And they were LEAVING, so that means they'd checked in, checked their coat to begin with, and spent a few hours in the museum passing security every so often, without being detected.
I like the idea of one or several helping save an elf priestess of the moon and her giving them some form of small magical talisman that gives the wearer a permanent wash of moonlight on them. There are so many ways that could go!
I admit: after tons of binge-watching, this is the first monster you made a video of, that immediately spawned viable story ideas in my head! Thank you!
You always ask for suggestions, so I'm going to put in my two cents for a low-CR creature that I personally find interesting but that nobody else even seems to know exists - the *Topiary Guardian* . They're equal parts plant and construct and druids have very mixed opinions of them. Please consider adding them to your list. Thank you. Also, THANK YOU for this video on the Moon Rats. They're one of those monsters that I always wanted to use but never had a good idea for how to do so. This video helps me so much.
I like the idea of having a world with multiple moons. There could be different moonrat factions, and the moons could have different phase lengths. One faction has regular once a month smart days, another one could have 3 days or full moon, but their animalistic period is also 3 times as long.
If you go with a magic artifact as the transformative for Moon rats, it'd be a good chance to alter their cycle a bit. The colony working together to launch a dozen plans once a month is a cool plot device but giving each rat an individual cycle lets the colony run continuous schemes in shifts. For example, there's a magic chest that makes any rat who spends a night within it a Moon rat and whatever phase the moon was in when they did so become their 'dumb' phase. Bonus point: with their intelligence scores, the only thing keeping Moon Rats from gaining class levels is limited time to gather that knowledge.
The other interesting thing about the moon rats is because their activities would be occurring around the full moon, they also work well during the investigation phase of whatever's going on. The players will likely assume the source of the shenanigans is something truly lycanthropic, not just rats who get smarter around the full moon.
i had a dm use these as the eyes and ears of the local thieves guild. the rats doing the casing of places during the nights were the moon is out so that the thieves can sneak in during the nigths of the new moon when it's darker
now thats smart. a alliance were one can keep the other safe from its self and make use of the time the rats are forced to be animals the guild keeps them safe but when the nights are bright and sneeking around is a lot harder the rats now with their heads clear do plenty of staking out and relay things just before they lose their heads they write the notes all down and someone able of reading is left to the details.
Now I can't help but imagine them like the rats in _The amazing Maurice and his educated rodents_ by Terry Pratchett, or the ones in _The Secret of Nimh._
They could also create necklaces from moonrocks to keep their intelligence high. From there, they create a hierarchy were only a few chosen can have these moonrocks and only a few can travel to the moon.
All I can think of now is that Love Death and Robots episode where a Farmer goes to war with super intelligent rats. I also love how obsessed they are with intergenerational knowledge and the group over the individual, as it almost gives them a pseudo hive mind. I could see almost treating these little guys as a Rat King like hoard that could be a good source of rumors or information in exchange for items to help them with their schemes…or just food 🤣
and now i have a backstory for my character lol. moon rat captured at birth an study on by a wizard. play dumb and pretends to be a normal rat. during the full moon learns magic from the wizard and uses a scroll of Widogast's Transmogrification(Critical role session 2) and becomes Human. From there the goal is to escape with their family and free them from their curse.
You have given us the perfect combination for the Moonrats already and it's the Moon Dragon! They could use the Dragon's lair as a base and do expeditions while the actual moon is full, like you said in the video. It will be a very interesting relationship as well, as the Moonrats will take advice from the dragon in their Crescent phase and try to control and harness their power while in their Full phase.
Huh. A while ago I had the crazy idea for a PC of a gnome rogue who runs away from his city because he was escaping from a mafia-like organization, except they were rats, and that he uncovered them by using his gnomish ability to speak with tiny beasts, putting himself in danger. I didn't know about the moon rats until now, but this fits so perfectly with his background, and I love it so much.
You get extra points for using the Moon theme from DuckTales. Pfft. Everyone knows that NFTs are a poor investment. Crypto Currency, on the other hand, THAT'S a winner for you. *nods* Ratatouille is 100% a horror film. He's totally an enchanter wizard with the Chef feat who regularly spams Charm Person and Dominate Person. I could definitely see these things as being friend or foe, depending on their environment and the circumstances behind their plans. I could see someone doing a wererat or Pied Piper deal where it's similar to the Rat King from TMNT. Yes, the NPC can communicate with the rats and them to do the biddings of their master, but it'd be much easier if the rats had an increased sentience to pull off the plan without issue. I could even see an OG TMNT Master Splinter who had an increased intelligence due to a mutation or experimentation, or even a human who was permanently cursed and polymorphed into a rat, who then trains other rats. Yup, credits are still rolling. =D
My intro to moon rats was a bit lackluster. We went to investigate a town where people went missing every full moon. Our first real clue was when the tavern's lights went out, and a child in the middle of the room is missing somehow when we get the lights on, the only 'clue' being the grate nearby that for some reason goes into the sewer. The more I think about that game session the less it made sense. We learned after the end of the session the rats swarmed the kid, tore him apart, and disappeared without us hearing squat. The DM had the rats using swarm mechanics in the fight, it all turned out awful. So much potential for the moon rats wasted back then.
I used these in eberron with it's...12 moons iirc, it's been a while, anyway that let me accelerate their plans quite a bit and make them far more coordinated and threatening
It feels like these would be real cool as informants in thieves guilds, setting them all loose on a city on a full moon to gather all sorts of information and secrets in exchange for the guild providing them food, shelter, and safety. Could also be a great pet for a Rouge PC.
First off, great video, and a fun monster choice this week! If I may, I'd like to suggest The Crypt Chanter, from the 3rd edition Libris Mortis, as one of the odd-ball incorporeal undead from that book who kill by draining life energy through an enthralling song. It'd be interesting to see your take and fleshing these out some! My first thought upon finishing the video would be to imagine a group of these moonrats moving into an abandoned mansion or the like under the guise of an eccentric and reclusive noble. They don't cause a lot of trouble so the townspeople don't know them, but people of interest find them disturbingly always in the know despite only ever communicating through letters, messages, or proxies. Perhaps the mansion was rumored to be haunted before (the moonrats setting up shop) which went away after this 'noble' showed up, making higher ups suspect a secretive wizard or some type of shady organization. Between that and knowing too much about their own dirty deeds, the players could be called on to investigate, or be asked to make a delivery to the estate under real or false pretenses. At the mansion the moonrats themselves are most likely just neutral and trying to do their thing, living honest if secret lives, and they might run a kind of 'haunted house' to try and scare off the players, letting you do something almost scooby doo if you wanted, especially with a bunch of rats running a slew of traps for instance, herding players around...like rats in a maze.
These guys seem perfect for a mystery campaign. Personally I think having at least a few as spell casters is a good idea, not only for enlarge but also for counter spell to cancel any fireballs. My idea for how they react to being found is that the brood mothers escape with the baby’s, and a few grab some of the more important books to make sure there plans live on while the rest hold the party off.
The mental image of a wizard about to become a Lich only to have the ritual hijacked at the last moment by his pet rat might be one of the funniest things i've ever imagined.
I would maybe argue these are GREAT creatures for unique and varied combat mechanics! Run them almost like kobalds in their dens or nests with lots of like “Home Alone” style traps and tricks the rats use to incapacitate the party rather than just overwhelming them in straight combat!
I wonder what would happen if one were to awaken the moon rats during its new moon phase. Would it change its minimum intelligence to 10 and max to 20, or would it not seem to work? If it is the former, that would make them effective and cooperative allies with a circle of druids making them clever spies for a forest's protectors. Another idea is what happens if a cult run by moon rats tries to set forth a plan to effect the moon. Examples would be to alter the moon's orbit in such a way that it is always at least half full. Another is the moon rats have devised a ritual with the assistance of some being from the far realm, and have set it up so some humanoid cultists will carry it out. The catch is as they regain their intelligence during the time the ritual is to be performed they discover that they have been tricked and that the ritual instead of doing something to maintain their intelligence will instead cause the moon to collide with the planet. So now they are in a frenzy trying to find anyone to stop the cultists.
I'm already imagining a version of that death note scene where a moon rat which at the moment is just a normal rat has set up a plan to be hit with moonbeam, and all their machinations suddenly return to them and they pull out a master trap for the party.
Already have an idea. The Rat King. A "common" magical item that PCs would find but not care about. The ring of moonlight. As an action you can cause the ring to emmit moonlight, the light is dim light and goes from 5 feet radius to 30 feet, at the wearer's choice. PCs laugh it's a funny item, maybe helps find Lycanthropes. Then they recieve an offer. An shifty ragged man brings them a eloquent letter, an offer of purchase for the ring for a rather large sum. If PCs refuse the man shares another letter, this one with a exorbitant sum, like a powerful magical weapon or very valuable jewelry in return. If the PCs trade the Rat King is born, a permanently intelligent rat that commands the colony with his "Crown Ring", his actions limited while his bretheren "sleep" keeping only himself and those around them active but their plans in permanent motion. With time the Rat King studies when the moon wanes, learning magic. Using Thaumaturgy and Minor Illusion it speaks from inside the walls, presenting as a otherwordly entity with omnicience from the rat network, blackmailing and barganing to secure aid and wealth. Imagine months later the PCs coming to deal with a cult, except there is no cult. Their "Eldritch God" is a fake, the Rat King has decieved them with promises of power and wealth. The Rat King now controls the city and no one even knows he exists.
In the dnd world I made there is a location called the Moon Stone Swamp where a chunk of moon rock crash landed after a calamity ages ago, in this area creatures empowered by the moon gain a major boost and these little guys would be an excellent addition to that area
When my Dragon Heist players inherited the bar in Trollskull Alley, they heard rumors it was haunted. They even had several creepy events, like having objects moved in the night or hearing voices in the walls. When the full moon came around, they learned discovered that their "ghosts" were moon rats and during the fight they had to keep avoiding traps the rats had set. Come to find out the rats just wanted to be left in peace and were scaring away anyone who came around. The players struck a deal with the moon rats, and they've become beloved staple NPCs ever since
In dnd space, officially, i believe moons tend to have atmospheres and such. So a moon rat civilization is entirely possible. Makes for a good spelljammer encounter, or a oneshot where the group plays as some of them.
I would love to do an adaptation of an old Epic Level Handbook monster called the Vermiurge. The blurb in the ELH says it's the a 'god' to vermin. What if one is living or dormant in the tunnels beneath a city and the rats goal is to wake it up fully releasing it's power into the world. Maybe they don't even know it's the source of their unreliable intelligence but with said intellect comes a compulsion to dig and find it (think the darkspawn and old gods in Dragon Age Origins)
An interesting game plot hook could be if a spellcaster took a rat for a familiar but unknowingly it was a Moon Rat. The Moon Rat set this up so that it could bypass it's intelligence drop to beastial levels & getting a MASSIVE boost at the full moon while getting more knowledge of magic and a lay of the land and sending tiny letters back to its brood as the adventures go on.
I feel like these guys could take a lot of inspiration from the Ewoks and keep their territory trapped up. They wouldn't have to worry very much about setting them off when they're dumb since they'd be too small to trigger their own traps. Also rats in general are pretty smart animals. Also like there's also no reason to believe they would all have 100% identical stats. 12 could be their average int, some dumber, some smarter, just like player characters. A savant rat with 16 int could be a major threat. I also see an excellent story and adventure oportunity for what would normally be a very low level magic item. Some Noble hires the party to recover a fancy necklace that was stolen from them. It has a gem in the center that casts a dim light while it's in darkness. As it turns out the quality of the light is identical to moonlight. The rats have stolen it snd the player characters are now their enemy because they're threatening to take their intelligence away from them just so some rich 2-legger can have their bauble back. I know I'd fight pretty hard against them if I was a Moon Rat.
~goodbyyeeeee, mooonrats~ Removing his boot from the rat carcass, Devon takes his time to look around the room. As he walks down the hall, he feels something hard, stuck under his boot. Upon closer inspection, he sees a little leather bound book, bloodstained, viscera-coated, barely the size of his thumb. He pinches the tiny book and carefully tries to read its contents. "dear diary, the monthly meeting was a success despite jerry's outburst. always the daredevil, jerry insisted on going out for a couple more hours, in hopes of laying down more groundwork for our operation next month. the association has rules against such risky endeavors but Jerry wasn't going to take no for an answer. he stormed out of the hall, along with mick and min. I really hope they make it back in time... but the gates wouldve been locked by then... maybe i can leave the lock open for them...."
What a Kafka-esque nightmare! Imagine doing this curse to players characters, where every three days they go to sleep and wake up naked and filthy with some half-eaten dead animal nearby from a recent feeding..
Thanks for watching everyone!!
Great episode. These little folks fascinate me. They also benefit of living amongst us. They don't have to start from scratch. We've figured out a whole bunch for them. The possibilities are endless. I'm sure lots of people are thinking about villains, but I'm excited about how you could create little communities of beneficent rats🐀. One of my favorite pets ever was my pet misty. My little rat. She went everywhere with me and most people never noticed, and when they did thet just got a confusing glimpse of a little pink nose poking out of my jacket collar. She recognized her name and came when called. She knew to ignore calls for the cat's. Sorry kinda rambled, but I can imagine a little rat monastery hidden deep in golden gate park. It can just be fun.
Secret of N.I.H.M D&D edition.
Dude, great channel. This is a great resource for any DM not just for D&D.
So they are rat size skaven
i love it ^^
Have them in a False Hydra story. Their hideout is soundproof to keep the town from thinking there’s an infestation. So They know what’s going on but as rats, there’s not much they can do. But they can “persuade” a group of adventures to plant bombs at “strategic locations”
I had the same thought around the 5:43 mark, cool to see some one else on that train of thought to!
I hate and love this, mostly hate because I like rodents.
I was thinking the same thing, also there could be a illiterate deaf mute who keeps them. They would act as a way the party could meet them without the moon rats leaving their cage.
YESSSS
Or better yet, their unique biology renders them immune to the hydras song.
Imagine how chaotic and sad their lives are... Between two full moons, your friends could be eaten, fall into rat traps, etc, without you giving a shit about it. And it all kicks back once a month.
But also the inverse. Could you imagine how horrifying and alien those full moon thoughts must be to a simple rat brain?
Well a troll in 3.5 only has an int of 5 but is capable of speech, planning, self preservation so at and till the quarter moon they should be fairly mentally competent even if they are on the less intelligent side
Oh and a pet rat can live to age 7 so with their planning they should easily live 5 years
Very Flowers for Algernon
@@ConstantChaos1 That's assuming they have access to regular vet care. Most D&D settings wouldn't have much, if anything, in terms of veterinary services for rats.
Connect the moon rats to a local thieves guild that is wererats. Have the moon rats have a ring of intelligence that they are able to wear as a necklace to be able to keep one of them more sentience throughout the month.
You mean a rat belt?
crank it up a notch - reuse the plot from Underworld, only instead of Vampires vs Werewolves, it's Moon Rats vs Wererats! One of the PCs is effectively Michael, their blood is the key!
Unless editions after 3rd changed it, rings are one of the magic items that adjust size to fit the one who wears it, and it must be on a hand (or, in this case, fore-paw).
But then wouldn't that one moon rat become super-intelligent once per month?
@@ArakkoaChroniclesthat would probably boost the need for this
I once had a DM that put us against some of them and it turned out that they were not the evil thing that the town folks thought they were. it was actually a demon that had freed itself from the mage that had summoned it and the moon Rats were trying to stop the demon from opening up a hell mouth.
That is brilliant and I think your DM was brilliant
My party of murderhobos would hear a rumor about a demon infestation in the town they just cleaned of Moon Rats. Then kill the messenger for gossip... smh
What’s more terrifying than the Moonrats is the sheer amount of obscure rat gifs
A bunch of them are from magic the gathering
ok but imagine if the party's shadowy patron who works almost exclusively through in-betweens or speaks just out of view turned out to be a moonrat(or a colony of them)
im down for that idea
Lots of moonrats in a trenchcoat... :)
Moon rats that have somehow acquired a copy of the Tome of Clear Thought would be very fun. Maybe they just got it as the moon is waning, so they are in a hurry to be able to read it and get the permanent +2 to intelligence. Or perhaps they’ve had it for awhile and are constantly arguing and stealing it from one another, meaning none have gotten the required time to read it and gain the benefits, then must wait weeks before they’ll be smart enough to read it again.
A Rat Monarch who wears an intelligence-boosting ring as a crown.
The smartest of the children read it together. The Elder watching them turns the page when everyone raises their paw to show they're done. I would fudge the mechanics of the book that it would even be permanent.
A fun idea if your party has a werewolf PC: they roll into town and for some reason the guards know they're a werewolf and arrest them on the spot. Turns out there's been a number of grizzly murders happening every month on the full moon, so the town installed all sorts of magical werewolf detection devices hoping to be able to identify the perpetrator. The rest of the party has to find the real murderer before anything bad happens to their friend. Could be fun because they think they're looking for another werewolf, when really it was the rats all along!
Could have the werewolf released early on the basis that magic was able to determine they had never been to that town
@@kimkillillasfuq8212 That way the werewolf PC could still be a part of the game! I like it.
So Eberron has twelve moons which wood help... but legend has it there was a Thirteenth in the age of Giants. The Moon Rats would like to get the Thirteenth Moon back.
In a multiple moon setting like this I can only imagine furry furrowed brows studying an orrery as they plan their rather complicated timetables.
I'd imagine moon rats working as spies or as scouts. Maybe they came from Lamannia or were created by House Vedalis specifically for the purpose of infiltration during the Last War.
My players are currently on the wrong continent of my three-mooned homebrew setting to run into these little guys in a meaningful capacity.
There's also a variant of lycanthropy that works with every moon. They're turned pretty much all the time.
Thritenth? Rats? Additional moon?
It's all coming-going together, yes-yes!
NPC character idea.
Moonrat Cleric of Selune. Given a boon by its Goddess to age at an incredibly slow rate. It also wears the amulet of Selunes chosen as a sash which as it constantly emits moonlight, grants the moonrat permanent intelligence.
Well for one thing the 2-3 Yeats lifespan is for wild rats, pet rats have been known to live more than 7 years so for one thing I'm pretty sure a moon rat would easily be able to live till it was 5 also a 6 int (quarter moon+) is enough to make plans, set traps, and speak, so I think they are competent beyond what dungeon dad said
So there's this creature in modern 5e called the Cranium Rats that are similar, sort of. They're rats with the ability to make their brain glow and form a hivemind. Individually, they're just rats who sometimes turn their brain into a lightbulb, but if they become a Swarm, they have psychic powers and an Int of 15. These two creatures would have a natural reason to try and work together, and I feel the rat tomfoolery would be even better with them.
moonrats vs cranium rats like humanoids vs illithids :p
I was just thinking about what would happen if an Illithid hive made a colony of Cranium Rats out of an existing group of Moonrats, either as slaves or even the Moonrats willingly seeking out the Mind Flayers to help increase their power
Yeah I see moonrats manipulating and extorting a city that are actually protecting said city from cranium rats trying to take over and make everyone cattle for the illithids. They start out as antagonists but can later become circumstancial allies if the players so choose
Cranium rats have been around since 2e
A comunity of the both types of rates living and working together? Thats awesome! And hasso much potential.
I would set it up so the Moon Rats have tricked a town of humanoids into worshiping a Rat god. Then they think they will have better luck if they do things like feed street rats cheese and ban cats. Stuff like that can be quirky, fun and a mystery for the party to solve.
I'd personally combine these with Cranium Rats, the psychic-hive-mind rats that get smarter and stronger the bigger the swarm they're in. A colony of them escaped the Mind Flayers are setting up their own rival nefarious plots...
I like having the cranium rats work for the mind flayers since they can work as low level antagonists which foreshadow a greater conspiracy
In my homebrew 5e setting, illithids and other aberrations have a secret colony on one of the moons.
Cranium and Moon rat combo fits my world really well
I want to do a quest about the local benign moonrat population getting coopted by a rare cranium moonrat which seeks evil
So a secret rat war between the two?
I love the idea of one of the moonrats seeking out Lichdom in hopes of it solving the intelligence problem, but even if after becoming a Lich his intelligence still fades. Seen as an outcast by his fellow moonrats, he is exiled and sent to live on his own. Generations later it encounters a party of adventurers. It can go two ways: The party encounters a tiny Lich that is really ineffective in combat when there is a full moon, or just an undead rat that just gets stepped on when it's not.
eather way i can see that poor rat being convinced the good it can do can far out do the burden it has to suffer from being so small
You could use them in a nautical plot hook, "a haunted ship that always returns to port without her crew"
Moon rats have always been one of my favorite monsters. Many of the things you talked about in the video I’ve done in my games. They were part of a secret shadow government for a small hamlet, they caused an avalanche to block the trails in and out of the mountain top hamlet and then poison the wheat crop forcing the humans to obey the moon rats. Their plan was finally exposed by the adventures and they were forced into combat. King Rat the wizard had adapted the sunlight spell to cast moonlight, with two moons they became twice as smart and strong. The adventures negotiated with them and sent them to the moon to live.
Amazing!
well thats nice the party sent them on i just they did so with plenty of self sustaining capacity because im prity Shure those moon rats will be returning in that world but more skaven like and likly warshiping that party as saviors of their colony or dooming them in skaven like fashion :P
I love the idea of the descendents of the party decades or even centuries later facing off against an impossible foe like a Demon Prince manifested on the Material Plane only to have a Spelljammer full of technologically advanced rats swoop down to aid them in their time of need. When everything is done the party is offered the chance to travel back to the moon with the swashbuckling rats to aid them in fighting against some terrible foe of their people, perhaps some vile abominations from the Far Plane that seek to invade the rest of the Plane from the Moon.
I like the idea of a mischief of moon rats be in the middle of a plot revolving around a thrives guild, werewolves, and a clutch of moonstones
I have to wonder what happens to them on worlds with multiple moons, would there be factions that exist per moon? Also what's with all of these monsters who's powers are tied to the moon but not Selûne. I wonder if you could flavor a Were-Rat as a Moonrat blessed by Selûne or Eilistraee so they can act as a cleric in some sort of "Moonless Land".
Maybe different stats wax and wane?
Or maybe the colony has different factions with differing agendas tied to each moon.
You could treat them like the Kajiit in Elder Scrolls! Have their size and intelligence tied to what moon they're born under. And have the rare rat that's born under all full moons stay smart always, and act as an archivist, of sorts. Possibly have those under more than one moon be leaders, since they would generally have multiple sapient periods
In the original entry of the monster it says if the world has multiple moons they gain their intelligence multiple times a month. But I like your idea of having multiple factions based on the moons.
I also like the idea that other person suggestion of the different stats improve based on which moon it is.
I'm using the dragonlance setting, which uses 3 moons, white one for good, black one for evil, red one for nuetral.
My idea is to make 3 types of moon rats, based on alignment. Then have each type of rat tied to its own moon cycle
They might also be able to recruit allies. Xvarts, for example, who can speak to rats, could probabally be bribed/bullied/tricked into doing their bidding. They could help them get some normal rats on their side to boost their collective strength, and the xvarts would be decent scapegoats if things get tough. Wererats might also be helpful, but they'd probabally end up as the dominant party in any such agreement.
Don't forget jermlaines. Natural friends to all rattos.
I didn't know what Xvarts were until now but they are so cute!
Here's a hook - a moon rat drops his blackmail notes when there is a lunar eclipse. The PCs just by chance find it, and realize that there are a lot of notes and observations related to their current adventure. The quest giver has a dark side, the mayor they've been trusting should not be trusted. All sorts of things that lead the players to think that maybe they're not on the side of good.
Moonrats, when the Awaken Spell fails or when a Wizard uses rats as test subjects when trying to recreate werewolves.
What's fun is you can do the classic "Rat riddance" quest of RPGs only for there to be weird notes strewn about to hint at secrets.
They almost seem like a very "Diskworld-seque" creature so grab a good Terry Pratchett novel and have at it.
These are my favorite D&D original monsters - Seriously, take any shady organization and replace them with Moonrats and blackmailed minions and watch the party freak out trying to figure out what’s going on.
Glizhelm has become a hyper vigilant township, with people being prosecuted and executed for seemingly nonsensical reasons. As the party investigates the town and the town guard, they find a vast, nigh omniscient criminal enterprise that seems to not actually exist. Dead end following dead end, and oddly superstitious about cats…
lol and one of the party is a tabaxi
For the record a pet rat can live to 7 years and since they spend ¾ of their time at or above 6 int (the same as a troll) they are capable of planning, setting and avoiding traps, speaking, and acting with intelligent self preservation (not just instinct) I would say a 3 year lifespan is just wrong, they should live till 5 easily
How about an adventure based on UFO sightings like the Hopkinsville event, where the PCs have to investigate strange livestock attacks, bizarre lights in the sky, and so on. When they finally get to the bottom of it, it's a spelljammer crewed entirely by a moonrat colony. They spend most of their time orbiting the moon to maintain thie intelligence, but have to make raiding trips once a month planetside to replenish their supplies.
I'm seriously thinking about putting these in my Ravnica game now. Seems like the perfect accidental creation of the Simic, and a fun quest for the Dimir to figure out who's been imitating them and why. Also the rats could be hoarding Simic tech to make their intelligence permanent along with other improvements. Moonrats turning themselves into Skaven maybe? Or a swarm of amphibious rats with scorpion tails? Lots of ways to play with this idea.
Well keep in mind that a 6 int (which is what they hit on a quarter moon) is sufficient to make plans, set traps, be sentient, and be able to speak so they are way more competent than dungeon dad suggested, sure they will just be doing simple survival stuff at that point but like they are still sentient for ¾ of the lunar cycle
Also pet rats can live to over 7 years of age so with a 6+int for 21/28 days they should easily be able to survive till the age of 5 easily
My first thought was adding a headband of intellect to a leader figure who just passes the band down the generations every few years, or having a few headbands on key figures of their rat society. The few plan around and for the masses of other moon rats that way since they can function year round with one.
I had a magic shop in my campaign that was just ran by a hundred moonrats in a town of elves with a powerful enchantment of its own moon. When the enchantment was interrupted later the bard used a wish spell to reinstal the enchantment not for the benifit of the one friendly werewolf, not for the benefit of all the elves, not to thwart the enemies plan... But because the party loved that shop so much they were sad they would only get to visit it once a month.
For a more villainous campaign idea you could have the moon rats trying to make a ritual to tidally lock the moon when it's full.
These guys trying to bring about some lycanthrope-esque eternal full moon scenario would be cool. They maybe could even team up with a group of lycanthropes to achieve this mutual goal
What if it was a cursed village. They had been humans and now they have this. They might be seeking a cure. They might also have been punished, and helping them brings the ire of the person who punished them. Are they good? Bad? Is the punisher good or bad? Many twists possible.
Great video
It would be interesting to see the Moonrats interacting with Wererats.
I think there's some fun plot hooks you could pull off with various mcguffins around the idea of moonstones, selenium, moondust, etc. and these critters. Also, throw in some weird unfortunate outcasts in the mix (e.g. a rat whose intelligence cycles with clouds covering the moon and not phases) and you can have a great, rich society to share with the party.
I love the idea of the moon rats using wands as artillery, I always enjoy in fiction when there is a society of borrowers adapting large items for their own use. I imagine the moon rats using magic rings as arm bands, crowns, or tail rings in order to attune to them. And I can see the leader moon rat having ceremonial robes that is just a headband of intellect wrapped around them.
Now I want to do a Secret of Nimh storyline... Where a society of Moon Rats are just trying to get along and find a way to keep their intelligence through the lunar cycle.
So over the course of six minutes i went from my main villains being a vampire to at least a whole arc dedicated to finding out who is running a criminal group only for it to be a group of rats.
There's a joke about Flowers For Algernon somewhere in here haha, no but for real, the parallels are interesting. Anyone familiar with the book will know that the protagonist is the narrator and as his intelligence increases and then tragically declines, the writing in the book becomes more and more sophisticated and then slowly less so until it's almost childish like at the start. This "trick" the author uses makes it even more heartbreaking. Love your content DD ❤
For people wanting more Moon Rats, watch Mason Rats is one of the episodes of Love, Death and Robots season 3, they have clothes and weapons so their size.
I really like Moonrats; I'm kinda disappointed they haven't officially returned in current form D&D.
Another monster from the Monster Manual II found interesting is the Nightmare Beast; keep in mind this is a creature that does more than its name suggests. And I think pairing this with Moonrats, in an indirect way, could be interesting. You would have to get to the Nightmare Beast to see what I'm getting at. Moonrats is a low CR monster, and Nightmare Beasts are noticeably kind of high on the CR gauge.
Perhaps the rats are working on a spell, piece by piece, line by line, to be able to make a moon appear in the sky, at least for a while. (think Vageta from DBZ where he could create an artificial moon)
The very first plot idea I had when watching this was to make a Pinky & The Brain adventure about two moon rats trying to figure out a spell that would make the moon always be full, and their downfall is that werewolves take over and the adventurers have to solve that 😅
A Moonrat Lich makes so much sense. They see and hear everything, they keep secrets, work towards a goal, and their brethren willingly supply them with mice souls to keep them alive. I am adding this to my game 100%, thank you!
I always love this monster and found it fun. Having a criminal empire operating with the moon
Great episode. These little folks fascinate me. They also benefit of living amongst us. They don't have to start from scratch. We've figured out a whole bunch for them. The possibilities are endless. I'm sure lots of people are thinking about villains, but I'm excited about how you could create little communities of beneficent rats🐀. One of my favorite pets ever was my pet misty. My little rat. She went everywhere with me and most people never noticed, and when they did thet just got a confusing glimpse of a little pink nose poking out of my jacket collar. She recognized her name and came when called. She knew to ignore calls for the cat's. Sorry kinda rambled, but I can imagine a little rat monastery hidden deep in golden gate park. It can just be fun.
That reminds me of when I worked at an art museum at the coat check and someone on their way out was wearing a hip bag and I noticed something squirming in it. They had brought their pet ferret! And they were LEAVING, so that means they'd checked in, checked their coat to begin with, and spent a few hours in the museum passing security every so often, without being detected.
Moon rats are one of my favorite monsters. I had a moon rat king as the head of a clan of wererats controlling crime in a city in one game.
I like the idea of one or several helping save an elf priestess of the moon and her giving them some form of small magical talisman that gives the wearer a permanent wash of moonlight on them. There are so many ways that could go!
That Duck Tales Moon Level music as a background...
Perfection.
If there was ever a more natural ally of the were-rat, I can't bring it to mind!
Were-moon-rats would be... definitely interesting!
im not alone wonderfull the colony lives
AW MAN, My friend had a ton of 3.5 pdfs he shared with me and this one is up there as a favorite of mine along with Orcwort. Great creature
Added the orcwort and wortling to the list.
The background music is the trademark of a TRUE conoisseur. Also, as a proud pet rat owner: let's give these critters more love
I admit: after tons of binge-watching, this is the first monster you made a video of, that immediately spawned viable story ideas in my head! Thank you!
You could have a rat colony of espionage and all the rats were like 007 helping your party
You always ask for suggestions, so I'm going to put in my two cents for a low-CR creature that I personally find interesting but that nobody else even seems to know exists - the *Topiary Guardian* . They're equal parts plant and construct and druids have very mixed opinions of them. Please consider adding them to your list. Thank you.
Also, THANK YOU for this video on the Moon Rats. They're one of those monsters that I always wanted to use but never had a good idea for how to do so. This video helps me so much.
I like the idea of having a world with multiple moons. There could be different moonrat factions, and the moons could have different phase lengths. One faction has regular once a month smart days, another one could have 3 days or full moon, but their animalistic period is also 3 times as long.
If you go with a magic artifact as the transformative for Moon rats, it'd be a good chance to alter their cycle a bit. The colony working together to launch a dozen plans once a month is a cool plot device but giving each rat an individual cycle lets the colony run continuous schemes in shifts. For example, there's a magic chest that makes any rat who spends a night within it a Moon rat and whatever phase the moon was in when they did so become their 'dumb' phase.
Bonus point: with their intelligence scores, the only thing keeping Moon Rats from gaining class levels is limited time to gather that knowledge.
The other interesting thing about the moon rats is because their activities would be occurring around the full moon, they also work well during the investigation phase of whatever's going on. The players will likely assume the source of the shenanigans is something truly lycanthropic, not just rats who get smarter around the full moon.
i had a dm use these as the eyes and ears of the local thieves guild. the rats doing the casing of places during the nights were the moon is out so that the thieves can sneak in during the nigths of the new moon when it's darker
now thats smart. a alliance were one can keep the other safe from its self and make use of the time the rats are forced to be animals the guild keeps them safe but when the nights are bright and sneeking around is a lot harder the rats now with their heads clear do plenty of staking out and relay things just before they lose their heads they write the notes all down and someone able of reading is left to the details.
Now I can't help but imagine them like the rats in _The amazing Maurice and his educated rodents_ by Terry Pratchett, or the ones in _The Secret of Nimh._
They could also create necklaces from moonrocks to keep their intelligence high. From there, they create a hierarchy were only a few chosen can have these moonrocks and only a few can travel to the moon.
All I can think of now is that Love Death and Robots episode where a Farmer goes to war with super intelligent rats.
I also love how obsessed they are with intergenerational knowledge and the group over the individual, as it almost gives them a pseudo hive mind.
I could see almost treating these little guys as a Rat King like hoard that could be a good source of rumors or information in exchange for items to help them with their schemes…or just food 🤣
and now i have a backstory for my character lol. moon rat captured at birth an study on by a wizard. play dumb and pretends to be a normal rat. during the full moon learns magic from the wizard and uses a scroll of Widogast's Transmogrification(Critical role session 2) and becomes Human. From there the goal is to escape with their family and free them from their curse.
You have given us the perfect combination for the Moonrats already and it's the Moon Dragon! They could use the Dragon's lair as a base and do expeditions while the actual moon is full, like you said in the video. It will be a very interesting relationship as well, as the Moonrats will take advice from the dragon in their Crescent phase and try to control and harness their power while in their Full phase.
I had a island where the moonrats ruled, an artifact allowed them to keep their minds sharp.
I now feel compelled to make a campaign/one-shot about these guys. Long Live the Rats!
Huh. A while ago I had the crazy idea for a PC of a gnome rogue who runs away from his city because he was escaping from a mafia-like organization, except they were rats, and that he uncovered them by using his gnomish ability to speak with tiny beasts, putting himself in danger. I didn't know about the moon rats until now, but this fits so perfectly with his background, and I love it so much.
I'm really liking the new transitions and animations. Keep it up!
You get extra points for using the Moon theme from DuckTales.
Pfft. Everyone knows that NFTs are a poor investment. Crypto Currency, on the other hand, THAT'S a winner for you. *nods*
Ratatouille is 100% a horror film. He's totally an enchanter wizard with the Chef feat who regularly spams Charm Person and Dominate Person.
I could definitely see these things as being friend or foe, depending on their environment and the circumstances behind their plans. I could see someone doing a wererat or Pied Piper deal where it's similar to the Rat King from TMNT. Yes, the NPC can communicate with the rats and them to do the biddings of their master, but it'd be much easier if the rats had an increased sentience to pull off the plan without issue. I could even see an OG TMNT Master Splinter who had an increased intelligence due to a mutation or experimentation, or even a human who was permanently cursed and polymorphed into a rat, who then trains other rats.
Yup, credits are still rolling. =D
My intro to moon rats was a bit lackluster. We went to investigate a town where people went missing every full moon. Our first real clue was when the tavern's lights went out, and a child in the middle of the room is missing somehow when we get the lights on, the only 'clue' being the grate nearby that for some reason goes into the sewer. The more I think about that game session the less it made sense. We learned after the end of the session the rats swarmed the kid, tore him apart, and disappeared without us hearing squat. The DM had the rats using swarm mechanics in the fight, it all turned out awful. So much potential for the moon rats wasted back then.
Moonrats + Moon Dragon + Wererats = Great Horned Rat cult
I used these in eberron with it's...12 moons iirc, it's been a while, anyway that let me accelerate their plans quite a bit and make them far more coordinated and threatening
It feels like these would be real cool as informants in thieves guilds, setting them all loose on a city on a full moon to gather all sorts of information and secrets in exchange for the guild providing them food, shelter, and safety. Could also be a great pet for a Rouge PC.
First off, great video, and a fun monster choice this week! If I may, I'd like to suggest The Crypt Chanter, from the 3rd edition Libris Mortis, as one of the odd-ball incorporeal undead from that book who kill by draining life energy through an enthralling song. It'd be interesting to see your take and fleshing these out some!
My first thought upon finishing the video would be to imagine a group of these moonrats moving into an abandoned mansion or the like under the guise of an eccentric and reclusive noble.
They don't cause a lot of trouble so the townspeople don't know them, but people of interest find them disturbingly always in the know despite only ever communicating through letters, messages, or proxies. Perhaps the mansion was rumored to be haunted before (the moonrats setting up shop) which went away after this 'noble' showed up, making higher ups suspect a secretive wizard or some type of shady organization. Between that and knowing too much about their own dirty deeds, the players could be called on to investigate, or be asked to make a delivery to the estate under real or false pretenses.
At the mansion the moonrats themselves are most likely just neutral and trying to do their thing, living honest if secret lives, and they might run a kind of 'haunted house' to try and scare off the players, letting you do something almost scooby doo if you wanted, especially with a bunch of rats running a slew of traps for instance, herding players around...like rats in a maze.
Moonrat under a new moon:Gotta buy Non fungable Cheese. That way no one can steal my cheese. Cheese!
These guys seem perfect for a mystery campaign.
Personally I think having at least a few as spell casters is a good idea, not only for enlarge but also for counter spell to cancel any fireballs.
My idea for how they react to being found is that the brood mothers escape with the baby’s, and a few grab some of the more important books to make sure there plans live on while the rest hold the party off.
The mental image of a wizard about to become a Lich only to have the ritual hijacked at the last moment by his pet rat might be one of the funniest things i've ever imagined.
So basically they were inspired to make a monster out of Flowers for Algernon
I would maybe argue these are GREAT creatures for unique and varied combat mechanics! Run them almost like kobalds in their dens or nests with lots of like “Home Alone” style traps and tricks the rats use to incapacitate the party rather than just overwhelming them in straight combat!
I wonder what would happen if one were to awaken the moon rats during its new moon phase. Would it change its minimum intelligence to 10 and max to 20, or would it not seem to work? If it is the former, that would make them effective and cooperative allies with a circle of druids making them clever spies for a forest's protectors. Another idea is what happens if a cult run by moon rats tries to set forth a plan to effect the moon. Examples would be to alter the moon's orbit in such a way that it is always at least half full. Another is the moon rats have devised a ritual with the assistance of some being from the far realm, and have set it up so some humanoid cultists will carry it out. The catch is as they regain their intelligence during the time the ritual is to be performed they discover that they have been tricked and that the ritual instead of doing something to maintain their intelligence will instead cause the moon to collide with the planet. So now they are in a frenzy trying to find anyone to stop the cultists.
I had the exact same thought about Awaken. I personally think it would totally work like that.
This reminds me of flowers for Algernon. Imagine living that way your whole life.
you have reached peak dad fashion
My new favorite monster of all time
Yes! I'm so glad you made the Binky and The Brain reference!
I'm already imagining a version of that death note scene where a moon rat which at the moment is just a normal rat has set up a plan to be hit with moonbeam, and all their machinations suddenly return to them and they pull out a master trap for the party.
I set up some moon rats as a warring mafia kind of thing. My players seemed to like it I hope I keep up the good ideas.
All the little rat animations really made this video. Top notch stuff.
Imagine running a campaign as a bunch of moonrats and you plan a heist to steal from an ancient dragons lair. That would be so much fun.
Already have an idea. The Rat King.
A "common" magical item that PCs would find but not care about. The ring of moonlight. As an action you can cause the ring to emmit moonlight, the light is dim light and goes from 5 feet radius to 30 feet, at the wearer's choice. PCs laugh it's a funny item, maybe helps find Lycanthropes.
Then they recieve an offer. An shifty ragged man brings them a eloquent letter, an offer of purchase for the ring for a rather large sum. If PCs refuse the man shares another letter, this one with a exorbitant sum, like a powerful magical weapon or very valuable jewelry in return. If the PCs trade the Rat King is born, a permanently intelligent rat that commands the colony with his "Crown Ring", his actions limited while his bretheren "sleep" keeping only himself and those around them active but their plans in permanent motion. With time the Rat King studies when the moon wanes, learning magic. Using Thaumaturgy and Minor Illusion it speaks from inside the walls, presenting as a otherwordly entity with omnicience from the rat network, blackmailing and barganing to secure aid and wealth.
Imagine months later the PCs coming to deal with a cult, except there is no cult. Their "Eldritch God" is a fake, the Rat King has decieved them with promises of power and wealth. The Rat King now controls the city and no one even knows he exists.
In the dnd world I made there is a location called the Moon Stone Swamp where a chunk of moon rock crash landed after a calamity ages ago, in this area creatures empowered by the moon gain a major boost and these little guys would be an excellent addition to that area
They're like a whole colony of Taravangians, which is awesome.
When my Dragon Heist players inherited the bar in Trollskull Alley, they heard rumors it was haunted. They even had several creepy events, like having objects moved in the night or hearing voices in the walls.
When the full moon came around, they learned discovered that their "ghosts" were moon rats and during the fight they had to keep avoiding traps the rats had set.
Come to find out the rats just wanted to be left in peace and were scaring away anyone who came around. The players struck a deal with the moon rats, and they've become beloved staple NPCs ever since
Bro your editing style is so funny I can’t deal with it
Neat and fun little evil army to deal with. Thanks for the video
In dnd space, officially, i believe moons tend to have atmospheres and such. So a moon rat civilization is entirely possible. Makes for a good spelljammer encounter, or a oneshot where the group plays as some of them.
I would love to do an adaptation of an old Epic Level Handbook monster called the Vermiurge. The blurb in the ELH says it's the a 'god' to vermin. What if one is living or dormant in the tunnels beneath a city and the rats goal is to wake it up fully releasing it's power into the world. Maybe they don't even know it's the source of their unreliable intelligence but with said intellect comes a compulsion to dig and find it (think the darkspawn and old gods in Dragon Age Origins)
An interesting game plot hook could be if a spellcaster took a rat for a familiar but unknowingly it was a Moon Rat. The Moon Rat set this up so that it could bypass it's intelligence drop to beastial levels & getting a MASSIVE boost at the full moon while getting more knowledge of magic and a lay of the land and sending tiny letters back to its brood as the adventures go on.
I feel like these guys could take a lot of inspiration from the Ewoks and keep their territory trapped up. They wouldn't have to worry very much about setting them off when they're dumb since they'd be too small to trigger their own traps. Also rats in general are pretty smart animals.
Also like there's also no reason to believe they would all have 100% identical stats. 12 could be their average int, some dumber, some smarter, just like player characters. A savant rat with 16 int could be a major threat.
I also see an excellent story and adventure oportunity for what would normally be a very low level magic item. Some Noble hires the party to recover a fancy necklace that was stolen from them. It has a gem in the center that casts a dim light while it's in darkness. As it turns out the quality of the light is identical to moonlight. The rats have stolen it snd the player characters are now their enemy because they're threatening to take their intelligence away from them just so some rich 2-legger can have their bauble back. I know I'd fight pretty hard against them if I was a Moon Rat.
I’m not sure exactly how you’d achieve this but it’d be pretty cool to have some The Nutcracker-like situation using these guys
Video is awesome as always, but I love how your editing gets better and better with each one! 🤘🏼
~goodbyyeeeee, mooonrats~
Removing his boot from the rat carcass, Devon takes his time to look around the room. As he walks down the hall, he feels something hard, stuck under his boot. Upon closer inspection, he sees a little leather bound book, bloodstained, viscera-coated, barely the size of his thumb. He pinches the tiny book and carefully tries to read its contents.
"dear diary,
the monthly meeting was a success despite jerry's outburst. always the daredevil, jerry insisted on going out for a couple more hours, in hopes of laying down more groundwork for our operation next month. the association has rules against such risky endeavors but Jerry wasn't going to take no for an answer. he stormed out of the hall, along with mick and min. I really hope they make it back in time... but the gates wouldve been locked by then... maybe i can leave the lock open for them...."
What a Kafka-esque nightmare! Imagine doing this curse to players characters, where every three days they go to sleep and wake up naked and filthy with some half-eaten dead animal nearby from a recent feeding..
Maybe they cross a vagabond in a makeshift prison who begs them not to let him out, because he's almost got it all figured out..😉