DCC Bestiary - Rat-Thing

One of my favourite scenes from Fritz Lieber's Fafhrd and Grey Mouser series is the dark familiar with the unsettling human-like features.  It's dangerous and strange, even though it's a little thing and should be harmless.  It easily comes to memory, almost 25 years after I read about it.

So, running a casual DCC game with pulpy SF goodness, I quickly came up with an alternative to goblins ... little rat things, harmless on their own but deadly in large numbers, as they gain unholy vitality as blood is spilled.


Rat-Thing: Not quite humanoid, and not quite beast, these hunched creatures skulk in the shadows, wielding small, sharp blades in near-human like hands.  It is said that they need not feed on flesh and blood, but are sated on the suffering of others.
     Init +1; Atk bite +0 melee (1d3) or as weapon +0 melee; AC 11; HD 1d6-1 (3 hp); MV 25’; Act 1d20; SP infravision 60’, feed on fear and pain; SV Fort -1, Ref +1, Will -2; AL N.

     Feed on fear and pain: Anyone injured or failing a saving throw vs. Fear within 30’ of a rat-thing grants it 1 temporary hit point that lasts for a day.  These temporary hit points are cumulative.