The Master-Rat, A Murderous Urban Myth

An unpleasant urban horror that's not as mythical as you'd like.  Very likely either a competitor or ally of King Kockroach and his own army of vermin.  

This post also marks the end of my long-running project to do one of each possible pairing of villain approaches and archetypes.  All 252 of them.  Whew.  That was some work. 

The Master-Rat

The origins of the Master-Rat are unclear, but urban legends of things like him go back over a century and appear in large cities across the US and Europe.  It's possible he's not not a unique entity at all, merely an exceptional specimen of his kind.  The rats who invariably infest an area he frequents don't appear to be the same species at all, merely unnaturally large and prone to random mutations.

Despite his animalistic appearance, the Master-Rat can speak, mostly to taunt foes or threaten prey.  He identifies himself as Jenkin Brown, which suggests some familiarity with H.P. Lovecraft's writings and a sense of irony.  His motivations seem to be a mix of spite, territoriality and greed.  Jenkin intensely dislikes most humans.  Anyone who enters the urban hunting grounds he currently claims are seen fair game for him and his rodent followers, and he's even more vicious toward those who intrude upon his lair.  He also has a lust for human wealth even if he has trouble benefitting from it, and enjoys hoarding physical tokens like jewelry and antiques even more than cash.  He and his rats can get in almost anyplace, although their infiltrations are usually pretty unsubtle and leave signs of their presence in the form of gnawed holes, hair and droppings.

Description: A horrid freak of nature combining the worst elements of man and rat.  It has an ugly, sharp-toothed human face attached to a human-sized rat's body.  Each limb ends in a twisted human hand, and the thing shifts uneasily between a quadrupedal stance and an awkwardly hunched two-legged pose.  It stinks of filth and decay, and its voice has a grating squeaky quality to it.  

Gender: Male         Age: Uncertain         Height: 5'6"          Eyes: Bloodshot Brown

Fur: Mangy Dark Brown                     Skin: Caucasian                  Build: Horrible Rat-Thing

Approach:  Relentless                          Archetype:  Domain

Health:  50 + (5 x H)

Powers: Animal Control d10, Vitality d8, Agility d6

Qualities: Stealth d10, Fitness d8, City Rat d8, Criminal Underworld Info d6

Status: (# environment targets and challenges) 3+ - d10 / 1-2 - d8 / 0 - d6

Abilities:

No Escape From The Rats (R) When an opponent moves away from you, you may follow them and Hinder them by rolling your single status die.

Psychic Cannibal (A) Roll any number of environment minion dice.  Recover that much Health.  Remove those minions.

Rabid Swarms (A) Roll any number of environment minion dice.  Attack every target in the scene except yourself with those dice.  Remove those minions.

Rats In The Walls (A) Activate one of the environment's twists in its current zone or one zone closer to red.

Savage Vermin (A) Attack and Hinder using Stealth.  If the target status die is d4 or d6, use your Max + Min dice.  If target status die is d8, use your Max die.  If target status die is d10 or d12, use your Mid die.

Upgrades & Masteries (optional):

Power Upgrade (I) +20 Health.  Increase all Power dice sizes by one (max d12).

Master of Enforced Order (I) If you have complete control over your surroundings, automatically succeed in an Overcome to organize rabble to accomplish a task.

Tactics

The Master-Rat is strange mix of cowardice and savagery when confronted, and prefers to let the swarming rats around him do the brunt of the fighting.  He can call them up in large numbers using Rats In the Walls, then either let them act independently, callously drive them into combat with Rabid Swarms or sacrifice them for his own survival using Psychic Cannibal.  No mater what, there are always more of them.  When he takes a more personal interest, he'll single out a low status-die victim and use Savage Vermin, either by himself with Agility in the pool or with lesser rats using Animal Control.  Anyone attempting to avoid him will at least be hampered by No Escape From the Rats, and Master-Rat will happily attempt Overcomes to restrict the movement of high-mobility heroes or ground flyers.

Jenkin rarely has his upgrade unless he and his rats have gone too long without a proper feast, at which point desperation will drive them to cunning hunting strategies using his mastery as well.

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Whenever Jenkin Brown is present and an environmental twist would introduce minions or a lieutenant to the scene, the GM may opt to replace whatever the normal options would be with his themed minions below.  These are automatically hostile to heroes and allied to Master-Rat as long as he's still active, but are removed immediately if he flees or is defeated.

Savage Rats d6 environment minion

Description: A dozen filthy vermin, each the size of a small dog and far more vicious.  They are frenzied far beyond any sense of self-preservation.

Suicidal Savagery: Whenever you would take a saving roll against damage when your Attacker is close to you, you may opt to fail before rolling.  Instead, roll your die and deal that much damage to the Attacker.

Giant Mutant Rat d10 environment lieutenant

Description: A freakish rat-mutant the size of a grown man.  It may sport twisted extra limbs, tails or tiny heads, but however many eyes it has they all gleam with mad hate.

Frenzied Rat-Mutant: You receive a +2 bonus to Attack actions, but cannot take Boost or Defend actions.

Suicidal Savagery: Whenever you would take a saving roll against damage when your Attacker is close to you, you may opt to fail before rolling.  Instead, roll your die and deal that much damage to the Attacker.

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