Firstly, I would like to say this is not a Ratman. This is not that weirdo who lived in the sewers in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turles, and this is not Splinter.
There has been an idea for a Giant Rat by Evi.
This is taking that idea and hopefully filling it out a bit more and making it a worthy Neutral Enemy to face and stomp. Please tell me what you think.
Rat King!!!
Stats:
Health: Moderate - Above Moderate
Attack: Average
Defense: Average
Accuracy: High
Speed: Above Average
Dexterity: High
Intelligence: Moderate
Skills:
Level 1: Melee Bite - Multiple heads will bite the attacker. Due to its nature, the Rat King can be fully surrounded and bite everyone equally.
Level 3: Venomous Bite - This bite has a bit more kick due to the venom. With this move a Rat King could quite easily take down a DK1, low level, Theif, although thats not saying much.
Level 4: Venomous Gnaw - Tired of biting everything, the Rat King has now learned that if it bites and holds onto a creature it can gnaw away at it like a crazed Dog, foaming at the mouth, gnawing on a glorious bone.
Level 5: Seperation - Once a Rat King gets strong enough it learns this move. All it does is allow the Rat King to seperate into a dozen or so Giant Rats. It will usually do this if a few of its bodies have been killed in battle. Its more a every man for himself kamikaze move which it can pull out of the bag if its going down.
It could also use it once its behind enemy lines creating a small, and brief, oppertunity for you to capitilise on. Could be good. You think its about to go down and boom the Rat King is gone and the 3-4 remaining bodies are attacking you from different angles spicing up the rather bland, up until that point, hack 'n slash battle.
Special Skill:
Panic Generator - In a similar vein as a 'Fear' attack, the Panic it generates is a lesser version. Low to Mid level enemies, especially the human kind, will panic upon encountering this crazed little shit. Monsterous Creatures not so much, as they have seen worse usually by looking in the mirror.
As it is a Blitzer this comes in handy as it can be very useful if and when it makes it behind enemy lines; spreading chaos, venomous bites and seperating for kamikazi styled last lunges before it finally dies.
Author's Note: *eidt*
I changed a few of its moves and added an extra level. Have made it so it gets all its going to get early on, so if you face one you will be facing it at its best. I want it to terrorise the lower and medium leveled units foolish enough to not run from it when they have the chance.
Most Neutrals will be animalistic, hit and run attacks for food or just mindless Lemming assaults. They are there to keep you on your toes when venturing into the caverns of the underworld, but are mostly there as a small distraction to the bigger problems like Heroes and Keepers.
You will rarely see them at higher levels, and if you decide to capture and convert them, you will seldom get more out of them than what you see on the tin. There may be some that don't hold to this rule, but for now just know that I think that the Rat King and some others I'll post do.
Look at the Rat King as a small and compact Horned Reaper blitzer and then strip them of almost everything except their mindless anger and often their speed. It is mad and angry and wants to bite your face off.
Converted Neutrals in this catergory can't be used like your real Creatures, they can't bepositioned as Blitzers, Blockers and Flankers. No, these kind of Neutrals have to be unleashed pure and simple. They wreak havok while they last and allow your true Creatures a chance to move in on, or even move around, the enemy the Rat King and others will be faithfully going rabbid on.
Appearance:
Okay, here's the suprise. Rat Kings do exist! I actually saw one in Europe, and have seen a few dead ones on the net. Check out the pic below.
... and this is a pic someone drew on DevArt. Just exclude the Rat with an ear on his back, imagine they are all wearing Skull helmits, and their is a weird firey glowing whisp of energy floating in the middle above the tails intersection. The gree glowing 'essence' of the Rat King. I'll do a re-sketch of it to show what I mean today.
---The picture is credited to TmoeGee also known as Timo Grubing a devArt deviant.
They are basically many Rats, in this case Giant Rats, tied together at their tails. No one knows how this comes to be, but its thought to be a mixture of food, shit, wax and other sewer oddities.
Medieval scholars suggested that people may have been under the impression that the Rat King was actually one animal with many bodies, with the “king” referring to the animal's size. Legends have suggested that a ethereal “king rat” sat on the tails of the rat king, overseeing the movement of the animals as they attempted to navigate with their matted tails.
So maybe a small ethereal flare of firey magic could sit atop the matted tails which would naturally get bigger in size with the Rat King.
Oh its eyes, all of them, have to be blood red and it has to be a dark, matted brown colour just like a typical Rat. The tails can be a very dirty pink along with its paws and feet. Its big teeth will be bigger than they should naturall be. A lunge from this Neutral should make you wanna cower away.
In the rare cases that its not moving it will be many Giants Rats in a circle tied at the tail. When its moving the Giant Rats all generally move in the direction they are all heading in, and the ones at the back can be seen clambering up on top of some of the ones at the front.
Obtainable:
Captured and converted, although you wont want to keep them around for long in your Dungeon. So unless you have a game plan, or a seperate area, convert and unleash them as quick as possible. Or make note of where they are until needed, then capture, convert and unleash.
Lair:
If its there long enough to make a Lair then your not listening to me, lol.
In fact, no Lair. Its got multiple heads, at the very least 10, so some can sleep while others are awake and sleep walk with the others thanks to the 'king' essence guiding them.
Now that is a worrying thought. A rage filled, multi-headed Neautral that can infect with a bite that never truly sleeps and therefor doesn't stop moving.
Jobs:
Fighting
Training
Behaviour outside of & inside of your Dungeon:
When you stumble upon them outside they will always attack your Creatures, making short work of your Imps, Flies, Spiders and Beetles, most of which it will actually chow down on. If they are unaware of your Creatures they will often attack any other Neutrals that stumble to close. Its not unhead of to see Rat Kings fighting other Rat Kings. These fights will be messy.
In your dungeon it will be on the move all the time just like a DK1 Fly. Unless you lock the Doors it will often run off outside to find victims its not alligned with to kill.
Strengths & Weaknesses:
Its ability to cause panic in human(oid) units is a great strength, and its speed isn't half bad either. Must be all those feet. Its weaknesses are its vulnerability to melee attacks, as it has a lot of bodies to hit but no protection on any of them, and projectiles. Archers and Crossbow Men could seriously damage it long before it was in biting distance.
If it is in your Dungeon and a battle starts up elsewhere it will leave whatever it was doing and run to battle as fast as it can go.
Refuses to:
Do anything in your Dungeon except Train
Fighting Style:
Blitzer
Likes:
Killing
Biting
Eating
Hates:
Everything due to its rage issues. However it especially hates, and is especially hated by, the Hellhound.
Chickens:
When eating in the Hatchery it will gobble up around 4 Chickens, each individual Giant Rat grabbing one. Sometimes two may squabble over one and tear it in two.
Torture:
Its put on to a spinning spike by its centre blob that connects its tails and spun around like a Fun Fair ride. It, obvisually, hates this as much I hate most Fun Fair rides. Im a panzey.