The Inside Scoop on Gaming

Introductions

The first thing I thought when I picked up Warrens of the Ratmen was, "Great, a rip off of the Skaven." The Skaven, for those who might not know, are the ratman race of Games Workshop's Warhammer setting. They're plague bearing, Chaos-swinging evil creatures up to no good. They've got various factions, dedicated to worshipping evil in various forms. They use warpstone grenades and have Chaos-mutated Rat Ogres as allies.

I was only half-wrong about Warrens of the Ratmen, though. It's not a "rip-off", but a very well presented and handled attempt to capture the same sort of themes and ideas as the Skaven. There are a great many similarities between the Slitheren and the Skaven, but that doesn't prevent the slitheren from being an excellent nemesis for a Scarred Lands campaign.

Warrens of the Ratmen is physically in the same category as any number of similarly sized soft-cover White Wolf releases. The cover, by Ron Spencer, is grim enough to capture the flavor of the inside text. Give the Vigil Watch tag to this volume, I expect we will see further volumes detailing other foes in the Scarred Lands. Bravo.

You will definitely need copies of Creature Collection and Creature Collection II to have full use of the material presented in this book. Those two volumes contain the stats for most of the different types of slitheren. WotR isn't without monster write-ups, however. Included are two new marsh dwellers (Deadeater and Mire Wyrm), the Rat Golem, a Horserat, and five (5!) new Ratmen types. This brings the number of distinct slitheren types to a whopping 12 (plus the generic Ratman).

The conceit of this supplement is that it is actually a report written by the Vigilants of Vesh on the state of the ratman in the Mourning Marshes, along the southern border of Vesh. The book is broken up into six chapters (the first three of which stick to the conceit) and an appendix with all the monster stats. I'm glad to see this 'in character' approach, as it provides me the freedom as a DM to alter or change things to fit my own conception of the ratmen.

Chapter One

Okay, this is the chapter where each of the Broods (specific type of ratmen) is covered. With 12 distinct broods, the coverage isn't particularly deep. Instead, it focuses on hitting the basics: how do these ratmen live, what's their society like, how do they worship, and do they get along with others. I found these write ups to be a bit shallow, but still effective. The Diseased (the major brood) get a slightly more detailed write-up, including discussion of castes and such. Since much of what is described there is true for all the ratmen, it makes sense not to have repeated it.

In addition, in this chapter, we get three "templates": a Priest-King (who rules the brood), an Oracle (who advises) and a Strategos (who leads the troops). All three get some special powers for fulfilling these societal roles.

Overall, this Chapter does solid work establishing the society of the ratmen. It definitely expands on the limited information provided in the Creature Collection entries, and goes a long way to establishing the slitheren as a real society, rather than just an excuse to throw furry mooks at the players.

Chapter Two and Three

These two Chapters are basically plot hooks for the DM. Chapter 2 covers the Mourning Marsh, discussing the inhabitants (mostly monstrous) and the geography of the swampy land. Its not a particularly welcoming place, but give the rumors of ancient elven cities filled with gold and magic lurking in it depths, one that many adventurers are likely to risk.

Chapter 3 is all about what the slitheren are up to, and how they seem to be going about it. Discussion of tactics, raiding, and the plans of the various broods lurks here. This chapter has the strongest IC voice, and some sections could even be handed out to players for story hooks.

I found myself wishing that these chapters had been combined. The strong IC voice in the Ch. 3 would have been welcome in the discussion of the Marsh. As well, I found Ch. 2 a bit light to be completely useful. I'm not entirely sure why we needed a page or two discussing the monsters in the marsh, since most of the info there could have been extracted from the monster write-ups themselves. Integrating the plot ideas that were in Ch. 2 with the slitheren plans and schemes detailed in Ch. 3 might have made the whole thing gel better for me.

Chapter Four

The obligatory adventures. I believe any adventures in a sourcebook like this must be designed to show off the setting, themes, and the kinds of adventures the sourcebook promises.

"Diseased Nest of Chernpot Mossheld" has a group of 6th Lvl (if they're careful) to 10th Lvl (if they're hack & slashers) heading into the swamp after a reported warren of ratmen. This is a decent adventure that doubles as a kind of mini-sourcebook for how a warren would be laid out, and what assaulting one would be like. There is good coverage of how the ratmen respond to the party, and a party that screws up can swiftly find itself in deep, deep trouble. Thumbs up.

"Coven of the Celestial Urn" is for lower-level PCs (3-5th Lvl), and also involves the party in an expedition into the marshes. This adventure isn't quite as fleshed out, and lacks the detail about response to the party that the first did. Aside from facing a different brood of ratmen, it also seems very similar in tone. Eh.

Two adventures with the same basic idea (go into the marsh and find the ratmen) is one too many, I think. Still, both do give some idea of the dangers ratmen present.

Chapter Five

This covers how to role-play a slitheren as a Player Character. I have to admit, I found this chapter kind of puzzling. Playing a reviled, despised ratman in a world that considers you to be an abomination doesn't really make me go "oh yeah, sign me up." That said, this chapter gives you what you'd need to do it. It also includes two slitheren prestige classes (the Grenadier and Twilight Warden) that both seem more NPC oriented.

Chapter Six

Okay, the slitheren use some damn nasty poisons. Punicieus Mortis does 2d6 Con 1d6 Dex initial damage, and 1d6 Con 1d6 Dex secondary damage, with a DC 22 for the save! Yeowch! Of course, it does cost 3740 gp, but still. Six new poisons are described here, ranging from the lethality of the one just described to the annoyance factor of paralysis (Notch seep).

We also get 5 new diseases that the slitheren are apt to spread. Infect your players with Lung Rot (2d4 Str lost, 1d6 months to incubate) and watch them run to the clerics for some remove disease. None of these diseases is especially pleasant.

The slitheren do get some cool weapons. The standouts are the whipsword (a segmented sword that expands out into a nasty whip), the Hookstaff (a double weapon with two scythe-like cutters), and the Firesand caster (basically a flame-thrower). Firesand is the special weapon of the ratmen -- sand that burns with a super-hot lavender flame when exposed to air. It turns up in grenades and the firesand caster. All the gear presented here seems very appropriate to the ratmen and will definitely give them unique advantages in combat with the PCs.

Three particularly morbid spells are presented as well: Escape the Bonds of Flesh (the target’s skeleton tries to crawl out of his body), Fracture (break a random bone), and Rupture (break a particular bone). Just thinking about these spells makes me squirm.

Lastly, we has the slave bone, a wondrous item that turns whomever its used on into a dumbass slave. You just have to truss up the victim and screw this bone into his or her head. Can I say "Ick!"

Appendix

The appendix is great, I think. The Rat Golem is such a cool idea, I can hardly wait to use it on my group. The Mauler Ratman and Storm Chaser Ratman are other favorites of mine, too.

Conclusions

This is a better than average supplement. While it lacks the depth of something like Thunder Rebels (a Glorantha supplement dedicated to the average Orlanthi), it is a welcome expansion on the idea of the ratmen originally presented in the Creature Collection. It is also a well-handled homage to the Skaven of Warhammer fame.

If you're running a Scarred Lands campaign or if you find the idea of ratmen cool, this is definitely a good book to pick up. If neither of those things interests you, you're probably better off not picking this up.

Vigil Watch: Warrens of the Ratmen
Vigil Watch: Warrens of the Ratmen Capsule Review by Jason Langlois on 20/03/02 Style: 3 (Average) Substance: 4 (Meaty) A better than average look at a monster society; in this case, the ratmen of the Scarred Lands. If you like ratmen, this is definitely worth picking up. Product: Vigil Watch: Warrens of the Ratmen Author: Dave Brohman, Ben Lam, William Timmins Category: RPG Company/Publisher: Swords & Sorcery Studios Line: The Scarred Lands Cost: $13.95 Page count: 112 Year published: 2002 ISBN: 1-58846-164-5 SKU: WW8330 Comp copy?: yes Capsule Review by Jason Langlois on 20/03/02 Genre tags: Fantasy	Introductions The first thing I thought when I picked up Warrens of the Ratmen was, "Great, a rip off of the Skaven." The Skaven, for those who might not know, are the ratman race of Games Workshop's Warhammer setting. They're plague bearing, Chaos-swinging evil creatures up to no good. They've got various factions, dedicated to worshipping evil in various forms. They use warpstone grenades and have Chaos-mutated Rat Ogres as allies. I was only half-wrong about Warrens of the Ratmen, though. It's not a "rip-off", but a very well presented and handled attempt to capture the same sort of themes and ideas as the Skaven. There are a great many similarities between the Slitheren and the Skaven, but that doesn't prevent the slitheren from being an excellent nemesis for a Scarred Lands campaign. Warrens of the Ratmen is physically in the same category as any number of similarly sized soft-cover White Wolf releases. The cover, by Ron Spencer, is grim enough to capture the flavor of the inside text. Give the Vigil Watch tag to this volume, I expect we will see further volumes detailing other foes in the Scarred Lands. Bravo. You will definitely need copies of Creature Collection and Creature Collection II to have full use of the material presented in this book. Those two volumes contain the stats for most of the different types of slitheren. WotR isn't without monster write-ups, however. Included are two new marsh dwellers (Deadeater and Mire Wyrm), the Rat Golem, a Horserat, and five (5!) new Ratmen types. This brings the number of distinct slitheren types to a whopping 12 (plus the generic Ratman). The conceit of this supplement is that it is actually a report written by the Vigilants of Vesh on the state of the ratman in the Mourning Marshes, along the southern border of Vesh. The book is broken up into six chapters (the first three of which stick to the conceit) and an appendix with all the monster stats. I'm glad to see this 'in character' approach, as it provides me the freedom as a DM to alter or change things to fit my own conception of the ratmen. Chapter One Okay, this is the chapter where each of the Broods (specific type of ratmen) is covered. With 12 distinct broods, the coverage isn't particularly deep. Instead, it focuses on hitting the basics: how do these ratmen live, what's their society like, how do they worship, and do they get along with others. I found these write ups to be a bit shallow, but still effective. The Diseased (the major brood) get a slightly more detailed write-up, including discussion of castes and such. Since much of what is described there is true for all the ratmen, it makes sense not to have repeated it. In addition, in this chapter, we get three "templates": a Priest-King (who rules the brood), an Oracle (who advises) and a Strategos (who leads the troops). All three get some special powers for fulfilling these societal roles. Overall, this Chapter does solid work establishing the society of the ratmen. It definitely expands on the limited information provided in the Creature Collection entries, and goes a long way to establishing the slitheren as a real society, rather than just an excuse to throw furry mooks at the players. Chapter Two and Three These two Chapters are basically plot hooks for the DM. Chapter 2 covers the Mourning Marsh, discussing the inhabitants (mostly monstrous) and the geography of the swampy land. Its not a particularly welcoming place, but give the rumors of ancient elven cities filled with gold and magic lurking in it depths, one that many adventurers are likely to risk. Chapter 3 is all about what the slitheren are up to, and how they seem to be going about it. Discussion of tactics, raiding, and the plans of the various broods lurks here. This chapter has the strongest IC voice, and some sections could even be handed out to players for story hooks. I found myself wishing that these chapters had been combined. The strong IC voice in the Ch. 3 would have been welcome in the discussion of the Marsh. As well, I found Ch. 2 a bit light to be completely useful. I'm not entirely sure why we needed a page or two discussing the monsters in the marsh, since most of the info there could have been extracted from the monster write-ups themselves. Integrating the plot ideas that were in Ch. 2 with the slitheren plans and schemes detailed in Ch. 3 might have made the whole thing gel better for me. Chapter Four The obligatory adventures. I believe any adventures in a sourcebook like this must be designed to show off the setting, themes, and the kinds of adventures the sourcebook promises. "Diseased Nest of Chernpot Mossheld" has a group of 6th Lvl (if they're careful) to 10th Lvl (if they're hack & slashers) heading into the swamp after a reported warren of ratmen. This is a decent adventure that doubles as a kind of mini-sourcebook for how a warren would be laid out, and what assaulting one would be like. There is good coverage of how the ratmen respond to the party, and a party that screws up can swiftly find itself in deep, deep trouble. Thumbs up. "Coven of the Celestial Urn" is for lower-level PCs (3-5th Lvl), and also involves the party in an expedition into the marshes. This adventure isn't quite as fleshed out, and lacks the detail about response to the party that the first did. Aside from facing a different brood of ratmen, it also seems very similar in tone. Eh. Two adventures with the same basic idea (go into the marsh and find the ratmen) is one too many, I think. Still, both do give some idea of the dangers ratmen present. Chapter Five This covers how to role-play a slitheren as a Player Character. I have to admit, I found this chapter kind of puzzling. Playing a reviled, despised ratman in a world that considers you to be an abomination doesn't really make me go "oh yeah, sign me up." That said, this chapter gives you what you'd need to do it. It also includes two slitheren prestige classes (the Grenadier and Twilight Warden) that both seem more NPC oriented. Chapter Six Okay, the slitheren use some damn nasty poisons. Punicieus Mortis does 2d6 Con 1d6 Dex initial damage, and 1d6 Con 1d6 Dex secondary damage, with a DC 22 for the save! Yeowch! Of course, it does cost 3740 gp, but still. Six new poisons are described here, ranging from the lethality of the one just described to the annoyance factor of paralysis (Notch seep). We also get 5 new diseases that the slitheren are apt to spread. Infect your players with Lung Rot (2d4 Str lost, 1d6 months to incubate) and watch them run to the clerics for some remove disease. None of these diseases is especially pleasant. The slitheren do get some cool weapons. The standouts are the whipsword (a segmented sword that expands out into a nasty whip), the Hookstaff (a double weapon with two scythe-like cutters), and the Firesand caster (basically a flame-thrower). Firesand is the special weapon of the ratmen -- sand that burns with a super-hot lavender flame when exposed to air. It turns up in grenades and the firesand caster. All the gear presented here seems very appropriate to the ratmen and will definitely give them unique advantages in combat with the PCs. Three particularly morbid spells are presented as well: Escape the Bonds of Flesh (the target’s skeleton tries to crawl out of his body), Fracture (break a random bone), and Rupture (break a particular bone). Just thinking about these spells makes me squirm. Lastly, we has the slave bone, a wondrous item that turns whomever its used on into a dumbass slave. You just have to truss up the victim and screw this bone into his or her head. Can I say "Ick!" Appendix The appendix is great, I think. The Rat Golem is such a cool idea, I can hardly wait to use it on my group. The Mauler Ratman and Storm Chaser Ratman are other favorites of mine, too. Conclusions This is a better than average supplement. While it lacks the depth of something like Thunder Rebels (a Glorantha supplement dedicated to the average Orlanthi), it is a welcome expansion on the idea of the ratmen originally presented in the Creature Collection. It is also a well-handled homage to the Skaven of Warhammer fame. If you're running a Scarred Lands campaign or if you find the idea of ratmen cool, this is definitely a good book to pick up. If neither of those things interests you, you're probably better off not picking this up.

Vigil Watch: Warrens of the Ratmen