Some Thoughts on Wererats In Old School Sword & Sorcery Campaigns

 So I started looking back at some of DM Steve's notes on Thieves Guild by Game Lord, LTD. Now back in June of 2020 I covered some of my experiences with Thieves Guild but then that business didn't go anywhere. And I shelved those notes.

Zipping through the Stackexchange I came across this post about to 'To what extent were Dungeons & Dragons were-rats based on The Swords of Lankhmar?'  And the post got me thinking about using were rats controlled thieves guilds as their elite leadership & as one of the controlling forces for the local beggar's guild. And there's an Arduin connection where Daniel Boggs said, 'At this point, no one seems to remember, although the connection seems very likely. However it wasn't Gygax who introduced wererats to the game or coined the term. The were-rat was first one of the Twin Cities monsters introduced by Dave Arneson and his players. Who precisely is responsible is unclear, but wererat first appears in David Megarry's prototype Dungeon! game (1973) and next in Greg Svenson's Tonisborg Dungeon (circa Jan 1974).' 

So this begs the question, 'Are wererats the perfect monster hybrid to bridge the gap in a Sword & Sorcery' game?! I believe the answer is yes & there are several reasons why:

1. Wererats are an urban monster & ideally suited to city life and flourish there. 
2. Wererats are never alone and always socialize in packs. 
3. They have inherit aspect that ties directly into giant rats which go all of the way back to original Dungeons & Dragons. 
4. Wererats are masters of the sewers & the seedier parts of cities. This ideally suits the monsters. 
5. Wererats are a dangerous part of an alien eco system that humanity simply doesn't understand. 

Flying Buffalo Catalyst system books coupled with Thieves Guild books gives legs to a possible network of wererat controlled thieves guild holdings. And as a part of an information selling network a perfect addition to a Sword & Sorcery campaign. 
According to the Forgotten Realms Wiki entry on Wererat's ecology;"Ratmen were cannibals, eating uninfected humans and subsisting on what they could scavenge or steal. Wererats were noted to rarely mate with other wererats, instead mating with uninfected humans. The progeny of a male wererat and a human woman was human, but the child would inherit many of the physical characteristics of its father in his human form. The child of a female wererat and a human male were giant rats with paws that resembled human hands known as ratlings. These ratlings grew to maturity by the age of two and had the ability to transform themselves into human children who appeared to be roughly three times their real age" 

So this speaks to the fact that wererats are being very careful to whom & where they're bestowing their curse or gift upon. 

The wererats are certainly masters of the night & given their abilities within urban environments make formidable NPC adversaries; " Wererats were weaker than normal humans but they were more intelligent. Only silver or magical weapons could harm them and they were adept at surprise attacks.^[6]

Wererats shared the animal instinctiveness of all lycanthropes and were markedly more dexterous than humans as well as a little more hardy. Any damage caused by a weapon not made of silver or coated in alchemical silver would be reduced. Wererats were often carriers of filth fever due to the environments that they lived in". 
I have no idea what 'fifth fever' is but wererats are perfectly suited to the role of thieves guild leader or as chaos priest go between for the forces of darkness. In Astonishing Swordsmen & Sorcerers of Hyperborea they were the last surviving true Ancients according to them. An analog surviving hold over of some of the Hyperborean's human slaves. They used foul magicks to curse themselves with the wererat curse. 

The Upside Down City - Blood Soaked Travels With Game Lords LTD's Thieves Guild & The Catalyst series By Flying Buffalo - More OSR Campaign Commentary

"A complete rules system for fantasy thieves!
This new, completely revised second edition of the Thieves' Guild™ rules now provides more ways than ever for players to experience the danger-filled life of a medieval brigand, burglar, or cutpurse. Thieves' Guild™ gives thief characters opportunities to use a wide range of thieving skills and abilities to plan and commit the perfect crime. In addition to basic game mechanics, system rules cover every aspect of thieving activity, including:
• Basic Thieving Abilities • Thievish Combat Tactics • Disguises and Diversions • Tailing and Surveillance • Poisons and Venoms • Fencing Stolen Goods • Medieval Justice • Ransoming Prisoners • Underworld Organizations • And Much More!"



Its been a few years since I busted out my box set of Thieves Guild the Fantasy system from 

1984  by  Richard Meyer & Kerry Lloyd & Michael Watkins aka  GL 3901.  This was a glorious box set from a very different era. A glorious era in fantasy table top gaming called Nineteen Eighty Four & Game Lords were a very cool company. You can read all about their history & products right over at the Black Gate Blog here 



Now flash forward to the Nineties when lo & behold I was able to pick up the whole range of Game Lords product on the cheap. Then I began to run a first edition AD&D style game with sprinkles of Flying Buffalo Catalyst system books you remember those right?! Butcher,Baker, Candlestick maker well the line had one particularly nasty book called Deadly Nightside. As the Amazon reviewer called 'the dude' puts it; "Admittedly, the art is a bit stiff, but the stories make up for it. There are settings like "The Bloodmoon School" for training in the martial arts - replete with a thematic system of advancement and a mysterious sensei with a hidden purpose. There are organizations like the "Beggar's Guild" that establishes an information network and suggests that your best friend might secretly be one of the "changelings" exchanged for deformed children at birth. There's an assassin's "guild" called "The Steel Man" that is over the top on atmosphere. But best of all is the metaplot - there's a connection between the "Steel Man", the "Shadow Riders" (caravan raiders on the route into town), and a slave trader. Played right, it's an epic campaign... And I haven't even mentioned the time traveler!"
Now back in the 90's I used the Thieves Guild box set to give legs at the table top level among my players with the Flying Buffalo Catalyst rpg seamless  system. 


Now I used Deadly Nightside  quite lines up nicely with its sister book Citybook V: Sideshow which both of these line up almost but not quite with 'The Thieves Guild' books. Christ, I got a ton of use out of the Catalyst series of books including using them for a Vampire Dark Ages game in the early to late 00's.  But now seems like the perfect time to bust out Thieves Guild & the Catalyst series.  The inhuman terrorist cell, the strange almost Night Breed businesses, and more all cry out to be used including Thieves Guild. I have a cunning plan! 


What I'm going to do is add in these books to my Castles & Crusades rpg/Victorious rpg campaign now that the player's PC's have been brought to New York City in 1870;

"Imagine if you will that usual hum drum city of 1870's New York isn't, imagine just for a moment that half a step away & around the corner is another city a world away. A city if you will full of danger,excitement, fairies,dragons, & thieves. Now imagine that at certain hours, days, & times of the year that people can cross between these worlds only a foot fall away. "  Imagine if you will desperate thieves & adventurers stalking the night of 1870's New York City for any booty they can find. A shot rings out & the player's PC's find themselves in a whole cloth different world! The Upside Down city a far from conventional York City of the Castles & Crusades or Dungeons & Dragons variety with overtones of Lord Dunsany thrown into the mix. Elves, gods, & worse exist right around the corner in this fictionalized heavy dark fantasy New York..


As for Games Lord LTD. they still exist after a fashion right over here.  This campaign aspect is still brewing in my head at this point but this is what I've come up with tonight.
Apparently Tunnels & Trolls rpg has a humble bundle & Eric Tenkar is covering that here.