Rat, Giant

Rat, Giant

Giant rats are enormous versions of the common vermin. They're typically found in abundant numbers, but since they can't fit in the nooks where ordinary rats typically hide, they're much easier to locate and exterminate. In fact, finding and slaying a giant rat is a rite of passage for many an adventurer. Such tasks get tiresome quickly, so many veterans subcontract extermination to new adventurers.

Giant rats mostly live in sewers where they can scavenge from the streets above, but some families of giant rats live in more remote locations, such as dank caves, forests, or hills. Rats are incredibly adept survivors and can be found nearly anywhere in the world, though they tend to favor temperate or warm climates as opposed to cold regions.

Although their bite alone isn't lethal except to the very weak, some giant rats carry a dangerous disease common to rodents around the world—a pestilence more than capable of ravaging rural communities. The rats are merely carriers with no risk of succumbing to the disease themselves.