Mutant Rat Swarms

For ​All Flesh Must Be Eaten ​and other Classic Unisystem games

This supplement owes its existence to the ​Rats The mutants rapidly breed with the local rat
trilogy by James Herbert. Also, some wordings are population. The mutation breeds true in almost all
influenced by Open Game License material. This cases, meaning that a single mutant can cause an
supplement is fan-made and not for profit. outbreak of mammoth proportions. A female can
The author would like to extend their thanks to all have from five to eight litters a year, with anything
those who offered suggestions. You know who you from four to twelve in a litter. A city the size of
are. London could be overrun in less than a month.
The Rats are resistant to the traditional poisons
(especially anticoagulants) and display a defined
The Rats Themselves xenophobia when it comes to food: they will eat
only small amounts of unknown foods and if they
‘Ugly brute, isn’t he?’ Howard said jovially. ‘This
prove harmful they will shun them. The Rats do
is actual size. Over two feet in length – more
love warm animal flesh, though. Especially ​human
than three, counting the tail; long, pointed head
flesh.
with deadly sharp teeth – the incisors are
particularly large; ears pink, naked, pointed.
The fur is actually dark Origins
brown, but mottled with
The genesis of this new
specks of black that give
species appears to be down
it the appearance, from a
to one man - a zoologist
distance, of being
named William Bartlett
completely black. It’s
Schiller. He smuggled them
much like the normal
into the UK from an island
Black rat apart from its
near New Guinea which had
size, the main difference
been subjected to nuclear
being its large brain and
tests. Not content with their
strangely humped back –
original aberration from
powerful hindquarters,
natural life, he began to
you see. Its claws are
breed them, working toward
lethal.’
some unknown goal. He was
One of the forest
killed when his creations
verderers had gone deathly white. ‘My God, are
broke loose, causing the first Outbreak in London.
they all like that?’
Over time, exposure to other environmental
- ​Lair​, by James Herbert
factors gave rise to new generations of the Rats,
The mutant Rats are a vicious new strain of
each more suited to their habitat than the last.
monster. Larger and more deadly than their
Natural selection refines the Rats every time they
brethren, they also display a bizarre intelligence.
are encountered.
They feast on the flesh of the living betraying no
panic or even fear of Man. They do, however,
retreat from overwhelming force, and quickly learn
to fear what harms the group. Worse still, they
carry a stronger strain of rat-borne disease which
quickly incapacitates or kills its victims. Even a
single bite could be fatal.

Single Rats
Rivulets of blood ran down her arms and her
chest was stained red. She raised a quivering
hand towards them as though beseeching help,
strange gurgling sounds coming from her
throat.
Clinging to her back, weighing down her frail
body, was a huge, evil-looking black creature.
Its head was buried beneath the hair at the
back of her neck, its shoulders jerking
spasmodically as it drank in her blood.
- ​Lair​, by James Herbert
Individual Rats are easy pickings for fit, motivated
humans. For that reason they rarely attack alone
unless they have the upper hand. Rats will spring
from ambush, biting and clawing, before making a
quick escape. Alternatively, they
will sneak into secured areas to
kill and eat the weak. Young
children, wounded or sick
persons, and the elderly are
prime targets for these evil
tactics.
The individual Rats display
occasional flashes of bizarre
intelligence. They might seize
small vital items (medicine,
keys, torches) and scamper off
to where a swarm of their
siblings are waiting. They might
gnaw through cables or fling themselves into vital
machinery, suicidally sabotaging it. They play dead
and then bite the throats of the unwary. These acts
are uncommon but not rare.
Similarly, the Rats sometimes bide their time and
simply allow a terrified victim to retreat. This may
be to spread panic, weakening the bulk of their
foes.
Finally, the Rats may decide to spare those mad
survivors who betray their fellow humans. This
last mercy is unpredictable, and never long-lasting.
Encountering Single Rats
Individual Rats should be dealt with as a series of
Tests for an individual character. Those being
stalked by individual Rats roll their Perception and
Notice with appropriate penalties for local
conditions. This is opposed by the Rat rolling at a
+7. If the Rats are successful in ambushing, the first
Test made by the victim will be a Fear Test.
After that, a Dexterity and Dodge test might evade
attack, or Strength and Brawl would be used to
grab hold of the Rat.
A single attack from a sturdy weapon, or two from
something weak or improvised like a lamp or small
knife, will end the threat. If the human is
completely unarmed, they will need to grab the Rat
and maintain a hold long enough to kill it with
something nearby. This requires a successful
Simple Strength Test each turn. Alternatively they
may fling it away (buying a single Turn of time if on
flat ground, more if the Rat is thrown down a
stairwell or the like). Firearms are good weapons
for killing single Rats. Any firearm will kill on a hit,
but the Test to hit should be at a -2, or -4 if the Rat
is moving. Further, most Rats
are encountered in low-light
conditions.
Failing a test to evade or grab
the Rat will result in d6 sharp
damage from teeth and claws.
Also, a Simple Constitution Test
should be made if the target is in
a vulnerable or precarious
situation (driving a car,
balancing on a beam, holding a
breakable item). On a failure the
obvious misfortune occurs
(crashing, falling, breaking the
item), as the Rats have an
uncanny knack for causing maximum uproar and
chaos.
A single Rat can kill a person directly, if they can
get to a major artery for example, and this should
not be forgotten. Once combat is resolved, if the
human survives, test for infection as outlined
below.
“Where there’s one, there’s
more…”
Single Rats are one thing, but there is a bridging
stage between one and a street-covering carpet. If
the PCs are beginning to come under attack, then at
first the most vulnerable of them will be targeted
for ambush. After that, there is a rough pattern to
follow.
● More Rats can be seen looking from positions
around the PCs. They will be unafraid, waiting.
● Rats will attempt to breach barriers or
otherwise reach the PCs.
● Every PC will come under simultaneous attack
if possible.
● Once driven back, the Rats will regroup and
either flee or retreat to draw out their foes.
Swarm Rules and Statistics
When she toppled over the top stair of the
steeply-tiered theatre, the jaws of one creature
clamped around an arm, another clinging to
her back, teeth and
claws entwined in her
hair, it was like cresting
and plunging with a
small but forceful
waterfall.
A black, consuming
waterfall.
- ​Domain​, by James
Herbert
For simplicity a swarm is
defined as a single creature
ten feet by ten feet on flat
ground. Larger hordes are
composed of multiple
swarms. A single swarm is
about two hundred Rats. It
can occupy any contiguous
shape as long as its volume
is roughly conserved, and it
can squeeze through any
gap large enough to fit one
of its component creatures (in this case, as little as
five inches in diameter).
● A Rat swarm has a +7 on Stealth Tests, and a
+5 on Climbing and Swimming Tests. A Rat
swarm can always choose to take a die roll of 6
instead of rolling a d10 for these tests. Under
normal circumstances these rolls are not
needed, but they may come in handy when the
Cast are attempting to escape the Rats.
● Over flat ground, a swarm moves at a Speed of
10. They are not slowed much by broken
ground, but slipping through very narrow gaps
will slow the swarm for d4 Turns.
● Barricades softer than steel will be slowly
eaten away by voracious teeth. The Rats can
eat through a wooden door in minutes and
even brick can be eaten away over hours.
Combat
In order to attack, a single swarm moves into
opponents’ spaces, which means the victim gets a
chance at a single attack before they are overcome.
If instead they choose to evade, they may roll
Dexterity + Dodge. This replaces their actions for
their Turn. Additionally, each subsequent Dodge
that turn will accrue multiple action penalties. If it
is implausible for the
character to dodge, for
example being in a
cupboard or on a precipice,
they may not make this
Test. The swarm does not
need to roll an attack to hit
its victim: they simply take
damage and roll to resist
the various effects.
A Rat swarm deals d6*2
sharp damage to their
victims each turn. If more
than one target is in the
area, roll all damage and
tests separately.
Distraction
Being covered with heavy,
stinking, scurrying Rats is a
hideous experience. Any
character in the area of a Rat swarm must make a
Simple Constitution Test at the start of their turn. If
they fail, they cannot take any action whatsoever
(except shriek and struggle ineffectually).
The Disease
Leptospirosis is a disease that begins suddenly
with fever accompanied by chills, intense
headache, severe myalgia (muscle ache),
abdominal pain, conjunctival suffusion (red eye),
skin rashes, liver damage (causing jaundice),
kidney failure, and bleeding. Additionally, the
heart, lungs, and brain can be affected, with fatal
results. The infection is often incorrectly diagnosed
due to the nonspecific symptoms. The mutant
strain is even worse, and onset is so rapid there is
no hope for the misdiagnosed.
● To determine if a victim is infected during a
Rat attack, roll a Difficult Constitution Test,
with a penalty equal to the number of times
they were damaged by Rats in the combat
(you need only test once after combat is
resolved). If the test is a success the character
is safe - for now. If they fail they are infected
with the disease. Every hour they must repeat
the test. If they fail, reduce the highest of their
Dexterity or Constitution by one. If either their
Constitution or Dexterity hit 0 they are in their
last hours, fall blind and stricken with fatigue
or paralysis. Eventually their skin turns
jaundiced yellow and begins to thin and split,
causing pain that even morphine cannot stifle.
Agonising death comes within 24 hours of
exposure.
● If the Rats have been weakened with a viral
attack or other successful biological attack,
then infected characters test each day instead
of each hour, and if they are successful twice in
a row they have recovered (restore their stats
at 1 point per day).
● Treatment of the disease is difficult. The
Leptospira icterohaemorrhagiae​ carried by the
mutants is medicinally resistant, and live Rats
will be needed for scientists to study to
develop an effective antibiotic and
symptomatic treatment. They might luck into
it on their own… with thousands of case
studies to look at. Either way, once a
treatment is developed the disease can be
immunised against, and characters who have
had their shots need only fear the actual Rats
themselves.
Attacking Swarms
● Each swarm has 30 Life Points. A swarm
reduced to 0 Life Points is dispersed, with
most of its component creatures dead or
dying. Total extermination is not possible
unless the Rats are trapped and subjected to
specific attacks (overwhelming fire or
explosion, poison, etc). Swarms are never
staggered or reduced to a dying state by
damage.
● Swarms are extremely difficult to fight with
physical attacks. A swarm of Rats takes half
damage from normal weapon attacks, and no
additional bonus damage from sharp weapons
or bullets. Additionally, weapon attacks deal a
maximum of 10 LP per attack.
● A swarm has no clear front or back and no
discernable anatomy, so it is not subject to hit
locations or flanking.
Rat swarms have a few special vulnerabilities, as
follows:
● A flaming torch swung as an improvised
weapon deals d4*Str points of fire damage per
hit.
● A flame thrower or similar weapon will deal
its normal damage, attacking as normal with a
+2 additional bonus. Flare guns and other
more focused flame weapons attack as normal,
deal half damage, and do not cause prolonged
damage (as the few rats hit will be quickly
killed and avoided by the rest).
● A shotgun loaded with birdshot attacks as
normal and will deal normal damage.
● A lit lantern (or similar) can be used as a
thrown weapon, dealing 1d4 points of damage
to the swarm on a hit. This requires a Dex and
Throwing test at a +2.
● Grenades, molotov cocktails and the like
attack as normal and deal their normal
damage.
The Rodent Menace -
Scenarios and Campaigns
In the James Herbert books concerning the Rats
(​The Rats​, ​Lair​, and ​Domain)​ there is a marked
pattern to the Outbreaks.
● At first, the Rats are relatively few in number
and are concerned with skirmishing attacks.
They build up their taste for human flesh and
bravery in the face of people.
● They grow bolder, and attack in a few brutal
massacres where humans are weakest.
Cinemas, underground trains, campsites filled
with Scouts, and so on. The dark, crowded
spaces and human panic are their allies.
Against unprepared civilians in these places
 the Rats can cause terrible casualties (even
before the disease can be counted).
● Finally, with the area under their control, they
attack with impunity and score victories over
prepared troops by ambushing them and
adapting to human countermeasures.
In each book the humans must make use of
technology and bravery to exploit the weaknesses
in the Rats’ mutation. There are a few persistent
features that prove to be the Rats undoing.
● The Rats communicate by ultrasound. This
means they can quickly distribute information
to each other about danger and prey, but also
means they can be driven to and from areas
and stunned by human-made devices.
Characters theorised
that the Rats would
eventually prove
resistant to these
signals, if they were
overused.
○ A simple jammer
or even a
high-powered
ultrasonic whistle
will hold back Rats
for d4*2 Turns.
However, they will
adapt quickly to
this. Every time
such a device is
used, the user
must make an
Intelligence +
Electronics Test,
with a penalty
equal to twice the
number of times
the device has
been used. Failure indicates the rats have
become resistant.
○ More advanced devices (such as
professionally-designed rat disrupting
traps) will draw in all the creatures in a
few hundred yards. The Rats will be
drawn to the device in a stupor, where
they can be attacked with poison gas or
flamethrowers. These devices only suffer
from adaptation over a long time, but take
an Intelligence + Electronics Test to set up
correctly, with a base time of thirty
minutes.
○ Sensors designed to detect ultrasound
will show the Rats’ presence and
approximate numbers very effectively. At
first, at least. However, the Rats will
quickly notice they are being listened to,
and can subvert the sensors simply by
keeping quiet. Using a sensor to sweep for
Rats is an Intelligence + Electronic
Surveillance Test, using range penalties
like a ranged weapon, and ranges
10/20/30/40/100. Finding Rats who are
keeping quiet requires three or more
success levels.
● They are still
vulnerable to potent
poisons (bridging the gap
between pest control and
chemical warfare) and
often lair in areas where
they can be slaughtered en
mass by them. Any
repellant or area-denial
weapon will be effective at
first, but adapted to over
time. If it is not directly
harmful (tear gas,
capsaicin, etc) it will work
only once or twice.
● While the Rats are
very resistant to disease,
they are not immune.
Human virii will slow their
breeding and sicken them.
Additionally, the virus first
used against them nearly
neutralised the deadly
disease they carry. If a
man-made virus can be introduced into the
Rats’ food supply, then their numbers in
subsequent encounters should be reduced by
a quarter, as well as the effects listed under
“The Disease” above.
● The Rats can be driven away by persistent and
well-equipped troops. Soldiers with automatic
weapons and protective suits are one such
type, but even stout-hearted firefighters with
high-pressure hoses can score critical victories
where territory must be held.
● The Rats have a single leader. The leader’s
destruction causes a collapse in the Rats’
behaviour, and the suicidal remainder can be
killed much more easily by human forces.
Further, the Rats will turn upon one another at
the slightest provocation once the Leader is
dead, drastically reducing their numbers. The
death of their leader is the effective end of any
Rat Outbreak, but might not mean the end of
the species. Only the total eradication of the
Rats will see to that.
In each case, the knowledge of these facts (or
discovery of them) is the line between strategic
victory and crushing, apocalyptic defeat.
The characters range from everyman types
(teachers, ratcatchers, survivors of war) to
specialists (military and medical personnel), but
the preservation and use of knowledge is the only
weapon. Against beasts, no bestial tactic can
prevail.
On the faces of the men who listened into the
receivers was a mixture of disgust and pity. The
cries in their ears seemed to belong to hundreds
upon hundreds of children, screaming their
panic, wailing as they died. It did not take long
for the gas to penetrate every dark hole of the
sewer network and soon the radio men at their
different points began removing the
headphones, feeling no gloating victory, just an
ebbing of their spirit.
- Lair ​by James Herbert
Hopefully, this information will inspire or inform
your use of the Rats. From small scale to global, the
spread and the reaction of desperate people to it,
can cause no shortage of high drama.
The Leader
The Rats always have a leadership caste. In each
generation a single (or small group of) hideously
mutated leader Rats is born. Usually albino and
nearly bald, and always bloated to the point of
immobility. This blind baby-like monster is the
operating and commanding intelligence behind the
attacks, and also the driving force of their taste for
human flesh. The leader’s taste for human corpses
(fresh as possible, especially brains) drives their
campaign.
● In the beginning, a fat, helpless creature took
the Leader role. This two-headed monstrosity
was actually very nearly helpless once the
guard rats had been dispatched. It laired in a
canal-house, out of sight and forgotten by
neighbours. This obscurity kept the Leader
safe, as the Rats could use the canal towpaths
and nearby sewer outlets to bring it food in
secret.
● Later, in the second Outbreak, the leadership
caste was formed of a half-dozen or so swollen
monster rats. They lacked the double head of
the first leader, but maintained the complete
control of their black brethren. They were also
more mobile, mobile enough to kill their own
food if it was brought in range. The black Rats
surrounding the Leaders were fiercer and
even larger than before. A handful of these
dog-sized rats could prove a deadly adversary
to a group of humans. In this instance, treat
the guard Rats as Single Rats or one swarm,
and apply a -2 to all rolls to resist or evade
them, and a +1 to their damage dice. The Lair
was a ruined stately home in the forest. This
site gave security (a cellar swarming with
huge Rats) and concealment. The ruins were
home to pigs, who had been killed in the early
stages of the Outbreak. Thus the local humans
mistook glimpsed Leader Rats for pigs, and the
Leaders fed on pig brains in secret for some
time, gathering strength and numbers.
● In the final encounter, the Leader was referred
to as the Mother Creature. This rotund
two-headed beast had been the victim of
human experimentation, but much resembled
the first recorded Leader. It cried in a manner
eerily like a human child, and this cry lured
some humans into an ambush. The young of
the Mother Creature resembled hybrids of
human embryos and baby Rats. This sickening
realisation nearly drove the human witnesses
to madness (Fear Tests at -4). However, the
guard Rats were not fans of this sick new
breed. The trouble came when the Mother
Creature was killed. The Rats were driven to
frenzy by their new freedom, and sought to
destroy the human intruders with renewed
vigour. Killing the Mother Creature was easy,
but escaping alive from her Lair in the sewers
beneath Dartford Crossing was not.

Encounters and Notes
● Early encounters with the Rats will almost
always be in the form of single Rats. At the
very least, swarms will not be involved until
they have gained confidence. Note that while
we use the term “single,” more than one Cast
Member might come under attack.
● The Rats will always be attracted to weakness
and confusion in human prey. For example: A
Rat attacks the driver of a bus in sight of the
Cast. As they watch, it careens out of control
and slams into a wall. The passengers can be
seen panicking, and their shrill cries are
attracting furry attention. Of course, if the Cast
leave then the passengers are as good as dead.
If they attempt to help, their involvement may
draw yet more Rats in.
● Rats tend to hide in areas they can both attack
in and escape from. Any enclosed space - or
series of spaces - can become a nesting
ground. Vents and ducts are a classic, but a
children’s soft play
area or a theatre’s
backstage would serve
just as well. A plentiful
supply of victims can
be readily found in
either.
● Humans kept
quarantined can
rapidly go feral.
Anti-government
sentiment will rapidly
spread in any area
where humans are
trapped with the
enemy. Be sure to limit
or deny Essence regeneration anywhere the
Rats can strike. This includes seemingly safe
hideaways once the Rats are known to strike
the sleeping.
● Some of the most unbalanced in society can
begin to side with the Rats, seeing them as a
saviour instead of the shadow of Death. The
Rats will ignore humans who have a predatory
edge to them on occasion. This means the Cast
will be faced with murderous humans even
where friendly reinforcements could not hope
to reach them. Further, Rats may hold off on
attacking humans who are fighting amongst
themselves. Cannily, they will wait until the
internal strife is over and pick off the
weakened victor.
● The Rats will retreat from overwhelming
force. Cast members amidst an armoured
column or helicopter assault will often find
greatly reduced numbers of live Rats… While
the Cast has strength the Rats will act
elsewhere. While they can move unhindered, it
will be difficult for a large contingent of troops
to engage Rats directly.
● The Rats will cause a sudden drop in local
animal populations. This might make for
effective camouflage when humans expect
animal activity. Rats might pass for dogs, cats
or other mammals. The bloated, hairless
Leaders might pass for pigs… at a long
distance. When Characters are at half their
maximum Essence or less, any Notice roll
totalling 5 or less will be a false positive
sighting of a Rat. If there really are Rats in the
area, they will have
outmaneuvered the human
somehow.
● The Rats seem to
understand (on some
primal level) the morale of
humans around them. They
are driven back by force as
above, but they also seek
out sources of hope and
what might be called the
“sacred.” They will
gleefully desecrate places
like schools and churches,
finding them by sensing
human activity. Similarly,
any ‘secret weapon’ will not stay secret for
long unless it is offshore.
● The Rats’ Leader will be somewhere safe.
Somewhere away from the harsh light of the
sun. Somewhere that the corpses of the dead
might have gone unnoticed, and parts of fresh
kills have been ferried. A contingent of fierce
guard Rats will be on hand, and one or more
natural defences (be they camouflage or
hazard). Once identified, the Lair will be
somewhere the Cast must go to bring an end
to the assault. Make it somewhere they fear to
tread.