Medium swarm of tiny beasts, lawful evil
Armor Class 12
Hit Points 36 (8d8)
Speed 30 ft.
Proficiency Bonus +2
Proficiency Bonus +4 (5th Edition Advanced Mode)
| STR | DEX | CON | INT | WIS | CHA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 (-1) | 14 (+2) | 10 (+0) | 15 (+2) | 11 (+0) | 14 (+2) |
Damage Resistances bludgeoning, piercing, slashing
Condition Immunities charmed, frightened, grappled, paralyzed, petrified, prone, restrained, stunned
Senses darkvision 30 ft., passive Perception 10
Languages telepathy 30 ft.
Challenge 5 (1800 XP)
Illumination. As a bonus action, the swarm can shed dim light from its brains in a 5-foot radius, increase the illumination to bright light in a 5- to 20-foot radius (and dim light for an additional number offeet equal to the chosen radius), or extinguish the light.
Innate Spellcasting (Psionics). The swarm’s innate spellcasting ability is Intelligence (spell save DC 13). As long as it has more than half of its hit points remaining, the swarm can innately cast the following spells, requiring no components:
- At will: command, comprehend languages, detect thoughts
- 1/day each: confusion, dominate monster
Swarm. The swarm can occupy another creature’s space and vice versa, and the swarm can move through any opening large enough for a Tiny rat. The swarm can’t regain hit points or gain temporary hit points.
Telepathic Shroud. The swarm is immune to any effect that would sense its emotions or read its thoughts, as well as to all divination spells.
ACTIONS
- Bites. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 0 ft., one target in the swarm’s space. Hit: 14 (4d6) piercing damage, or 7 (2d6) piercing damage if the swarm has half of its hit points or fewer.
DESCRIPTION
The following passage is taken from the dreams of Bilfar the Diviner, who believed that secrets fled their sleeping masters every night:
“A small, crawling form itched into the back of my brain, and I dreamed of its words. My dreams had caught the secrets of one called vishkar, and it said:
“Fear me. Fear my coming. What others know of me is a mask that hides my true might. They think I am vermin, those rats whose brains pulsate with bilious light. They do not know I see through the thousand eyes of my body. My body lives among them, and they do not see me
“Upon waking I had the image of the cranium rat, commonly seen in the dark corners of pestilent villages, locked into my mind. But my dream was this creature, and yet it was not. Perhaps I will dream it again.”
Indeed he did dream it again, but Bilfar hever lived to publish his stolen secrets. A month after he penned these words, he was dead. Perhaps his dresms caught another, darker secret, for his servant found him one morning, bled dry from a hundred tiny wounds.
HABITAT / SOCIETY
So continues Bilfar’s notes:
“The vishkar’s secrets flee it at night, arriving piecemeal for my studies. Where they come from I cannot tell — there are too many images of too many places — but in all of these them is a common thread. It is a pulsing green vein that is the cord to a master who steals secrets from others. I am forced to guess that the vishkar is an agent of Ilsensine, the great god-brain of the illithids. Vishkar is the eyes and ears of its lord, gathering in all it sees and hears to please that ravenous power. A thousand eyes gather a thousand scenes all at once.
“Curious, I inquired with travelers and caravan masters about the extent of the cranium rat. I myself have seen them in Sigil, and I am told they are not uncommon in the Lower Planes.
“I have seen myself in my own dreams, asking and re-asking these questions. There are also dreams of packs searching me out. Are these the dreams of my mind, or secrets I have captured? Even my philosophies fail me here, but I think precautions are necessary.”
ECOLOGY
Cranium rats subsist on a diet only slightly more carnivorous than the normal rat. The extent and purpose of their powers are held closely secret, less Ilsensine’s instruments be exposed. Those who discover the true purpose of the cranium rats are under sentence of swift and terrible death.