Rat King Sphere (Patreon)

Wondrous item, uncommon (requires attunement)

This hollow metal sphere is covered with illustrations of rats, one of which is gilded and wears a small crown. The sphere is 6 inches in diameter and weighs 3 pounds. Holes of various sizes dot its surface, allowing you to peer inside. The sphere is completely empty while a creature isn't attuned to it.

While you're attuned to the sphere and it's on your person, ordinary rats, giant rats, and swarms of rats are indifferent toward you and will not attack you unless you threaten or harm them.

The sphere contains a special demiplane made for rats. If a creature is attuned to the sphere at dawn, or the first time a creature attunes to the sphere each day, it magically summons a swarm of rats to the demiplane within. The rats can peer through the demiplane and see outside of the sphere through its various holes.

You can use an action while holding the sphere to speak one of its three command words as described below. To do so, the sphere must have a swarm of rats inside it.

Summon Giant Rat. When you speak the first command word, the swarm of rats coalesces into a giant rat, which magically appears in an unoccupied space that you can see within 10 feet of you. This giant rat has 24 hit points and is friendly to you and your companions. It shares your initiative but takes its turn immediately after yours. On your turn, you can mentally command the rat (no action required) if it is within 60 feet of you and you aren't incapacitated. You decide what action the rat takes and where it moves during its next turn, or you can issue it a general command, such as to attack your enemies or guard a location. By using a bonus action to speak the command word again, you return the rat to the sphere's demiplane, at which point it becomes a swarm again. It then regains all its hit points. If the rat is reduced to 0 hit points, it and the swarm that created it disappear.

Swarm Tether. When you speak the second command word, you also throw the sphere at a creature you can see within 30 feet of you. Make a ranged attack roll with an attack bonus equal to your Dexterity modifier plus your proficiency bonus. On a hit, the swarm of rats exits the sphere and clings to the creature, forcing that creature to make a DC 13 Strength saving throw. On a failed save, it takes 2d6 piercing damage, and if the creature is Large or smaller, it's also grappled until the start of its next turn. The creature repeats this saving throw at the start of each of its turns for 1 minute or until it succeeds three times, at which point the swarm scatters and disappears. If the sphere misses the creature when you throw it, the action is wasted, but the swarm remains inside the sphere.

Visage of the Wererat. When you speak the third command word, the swarm inside the sphere disappears, but you gain the following benefits for 1 hour:

• You have advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on smell.
• You have darkvision out to a range of 30 feet. If you already have darkvision, its range increases by 30 feet instead.
• You can use an action to transform into a giant rat (as if by the polymorph spell) or revert back to your normal form. You retain your alignment, personality, and Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma scores while in giant rat form. If you're reduced to 0 hit points while in giant rat form, you revert to your normal form and can't transform again in this way for the remainder of the effect.

Mark of the Rat King. While you're attuned to one or more other items with "rat king" in its name, the sphere gains the following additional property.

You can summon a swarm of rats to the empty sphere using a special ritual, which takes 1 hour to perform and can be done during a short rest. Once this property has been used, it can't be used again until the next dawn.

You've called me mad, the lord of no city, the king of no kingdom, the emperor of no land. A pretender to royalty. Nothing.

You believe that to be royal is to be set apart above your subjects. This is true madness, for the king is but a man as any other. Does he not bleed and die as others do?

A king should see the streets and cares of its wards and workshops. A king should see firsthand the ebb and flow of his realm, and an emperor the woes of their vassal kings: all so the better that they may lead. This is what it means to be royal: to be loyal to one's people, so that they may be loyal to you.

Ask yourself: what land, what realm, and what people are denied to the rats?

So what, then, does my own title mean? Ponder who it is that I walk with, what it is that I am.