Monster: Scaled Rat

The unfortunate side effect of a sorcerer's attempt to make a more challenging plaything for his pet smilodon, the scaled rats have become a scourge to the farms along the hinterlands, as well as to delvers in the local underground labyrinths, where they aggressively scavenge and harass.

The scaled rats were bred with interlocking keratinous plates, giving them a somewhat armadillo-like appearance.  Larger than the familiar 'giant' or 'dire' rats, explorers are often taken aback by their armored visage and aggressive nature.

The scaled rats have also developed a rudimentary intelligence, most likely due to some arcane leakage during their breeding. As such, they tend to operate in semi-organized packs, developing harassing strategies and wearing down compromised explorers or creatures.  A pack of scaled rats will be led by a larger and more intelligent pack leader that directs his/her group through animated squeaks and whistles. Not retiring as normal rats, a pack of scaled rats will retreat and return to attack stragglers, often keeping up a minor battle of attrition until they succeed in taking down a casualty, or unless dissuaded by sufficient force or taking sufficient loss, indicating that their foes, and the contents of their packs are not worth the effort.

Critter sketch by Wife

Scaled Rat:
1+1 HD*
6/13 AC
Attack: Bite 1d4+1, 5% chance of disease
Move: 12
Save: 17
AL: N
CL/XP: 1/15 (*2/30)
Occurrence: 4-12
*Special: Any group of 6 or more rats will include a "Leader" rat of 2+1 HD that 'directs' the group.  The presence of a pack leader improves morale, and the rats will take on a 'cut and run' attack strategy, harassing their opponents until they have killed one opponent to prey on, half their strength has been diminished, or the leader has been killed.