AC 12
HP 33 (6d8 + 6; bloodied 16)
Speed 30 ft.
Proficiency +2; Maneuver DC 12
Skills Perception +2, Stealth +4
Damage Resistances damage from nonmagical, non-silvered weapons
Senses darkvision 60 ft. (rat or hybrid form only), passive Perception 12
Languages Common
Keen Smell. The wererat has advantage on Perception checks that rely on smell.
Pack Tactics. The wererat has advantage on attack rolls against a creature if at least one of the wererat’s allies is within 5 feet of the creature and not incapacitated .
Wolfsbane. Lycanthropes are repelled by the wolfsbane flower. A lycanthrope in hybrid or beast form is poisoned while within 10 feet of a living or dried wolfsbane flower that it can smell. If wolfsbane is applied to a weapon or ammunition, lycanthropes are damaged by the weapon as if it were silver. An application of wolfsbane lasts for 1 hour.
ACTIONS
Shortsword (Humanoid or Hybrid Form Only). Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 5 (1d6 + 2) piercing damage, or 12 (3d6 + 2) piercing damage if the attack is made with advantage.
Hand Crossbow (Humanoid or Hybrid Form Only). Melee or Ranged Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, range 30/120 ft., one target. Hit: 5 (1d6 + 2) piercing damage, or 12 (3d6 + 2) piercing damage if the attack is made with advantage.
Bite (Rat or Hybrid Form Only). Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 4 (1d4 + 2) piercing damage. If the target is a humanoid, it makes a DC 11 Constitution saving throw . On a failure, it is cursed with wererat lycanthropy .
BONUS ACTIONS
Shapeshift. The wererat changes its form to a giant rat, a rat-humanoid hybrid, or into its true form, which is a humanoid. While shapeshifted, its statistics are unchanged. It can’t speak in rat form. Its equipment is not transformed. It reverts to its true form if it dies.
Frenzied Bite (While Bloodied, Rat or Hybrid Form Only). The wererat makes a bite attack.
Combat
The wererat prefers to fight in hybrid form, in darkness if possible. If its enemy has no obvious silver weapon or magical attack, it strikes with its shortsword, preferably using Pack Tactics; otherwise it attacks with its crossbow from hiding. It flees if bloodied and only uses Frenzied Bite if cornered.
Legends and Lore
With an Arcana or Nature check, characters can learn the following:
DC 10 Humanoids cursed with lycanthropy transform into animals on the night of the full moon. Many types of were-creatures exist.
DC 15 Any humanoid bitten by a lycanthrope risks becoming a lycanthrope themselves. The child of a lycanthrope might also suffer the curse. Nonmagical weapons cannot harm most lycanthropes, unless that weapon is silvered or coated with wolfsbane.
While in humanoid form, wererats struggle to control their impulses to skulk, steal, and hoard wealth. Wererats are social, forming gangs that congregate in cities and towns. Many wererats actively seek to spread their curse as widely as possible. Relatively weak compared to other lycanthropes, wererats can’t entirely shrug off attacks from mundane weapons.
Wilderness Behavior
1 In humanoid form, living alone: avoids strangers for fear of hurting them
2 In humanoid form, living alone: murders travelers
3 In animal form, hunting game
4 In animal form, stalking humanoids (possibly the characters)
5 Hiding in ambush, planning highway robbery
6 In humanoid form, living as a ranger; suspicious of strangers but will help those with good intent
7 Scouting for its family or tribe, or for an evil overlord
8 The last of its bloodline, seeking vengeance
Settlement Behavior
1 In animal form, slinking through alleys
2 In hybrid form, devouring a corpse
3 In humanoid form, fighting animal urges
4 In humanoid form, trying to frame someone for recent murders
5 In humanoid form; can’t remember what it did during the last full moon and is concerned that it may be a lycanthrope
6 In humanoid form, drunk (alcohol dulls its lycanthropic urges)
7 In humanoid form, fleeing from angry pursuers
8 In humanoid form, friendly and talkative (but kills to preserve its secret)
Wilderness Signs
1 Animal tracks that turn human or vice versa
2 A distant animal howl or roar
3 A humanoid corpse, torn limb from limb
4 DC 14 Perception check: the snapping of twigs
5 A natural animal ( bear , boar , rat , tiger , or wolf )
6 The carcass of a deer or wild pig
Settlement Signs
1 Animal tracks that turn human
2 A distant scream
3 A local crackpot claims to have seen a monstrous beast
4 People speaking in hushed voices about a rash of gruesome killings
5 An herbalists’s shop has been robbed and vandalized. DC 14 Investigation check: the wolfsbane is missing
6 Animal footprints lead to a shop window or door
While lycanthropes can be found anywhere, werebears and wereboars are most common in mountains and forests, while weretigers are often found in warmer climates. Werewolves and wererats tend to live in settlements, hiding their curse from others.
CR 0–2 wererat
Treasure 70 gp, 50 sp, pipes of the sewers
CR 3–4 2 wererats ; wererat with swarm of rats or 1 to 3 giant rats ; wereboar ; weretiger ; werewolf
Treasure 200 gp, silver and moonstone ring (75 gp), torn and bloody clothes, figurine of wondrous power (silver raven)
CR 5–10 1 or 2 werebears ; werebear with 1d4 black bears ; 2 or 3 wereboars ; 3 to 5 wererats ; 2 weretigers ; weretiger with 1d4 tigers ; 2 or 3 werewolves ; alpha werewolf
Treasure 50 pp, silver hunting horn studded with jade (250 gp), 1 weapon (type suitable for the lycanthrope; bears an engraving of an animal head)
CR 11–16 3 werebears ; 3 or 4 wereboars ; 3 or 4 weretigers ; alpha werewolf with 2 or 3 werewolves
Treasure 1,500 gp, tightly sealed silver coffer (250 gp) containing wolfsbane, set of silver manacles (250 gp), letter from a distant relative suffering the same form of lycanthropy, 2 potions of stone giant strength , ring of animal influence (it can be used without expending a charge when targeting beasts of the lycanthrope’s type)
Humanoids include a number of different intelligent, language-using bipeds of Small or Medium size. Humans and elves are humanoids, and so are orcs and goblins. Humanoids may employ magic but are not fundamentally magical—a characteristic that distinguishes them from bipedal, language-using fey, fiends, and other monsters. Humanoids have no inherent alignment, meaning that no humanoid ancestry is naturally good or evil, lawful or chaotic.