ECOLOGY

Environment any temperate
Organization solitary or pair
Treasure none

The result of clone gone awry, a doppelrat uses short-lived duplicates to overwhelm its competitors. An easy battle against a single rat soon spirals out of control as the rat clones itself into a swarm and hides while combat rages.

Rat-bitten survivors suffer from a frightening disease, sloughing off a stillborn clone each day as their own vitality fades. Clones created by the disease cannot be raised from the dead in any manner.

Doppelrats settle in large city alleys and sewers after they have killed off or driven out their normal cousins and natural predators. A cat that has survived an encounter with a doppelrat avoids any other doppelrats it comes across. The rats have an instinctual sense for others of their kind; helpful, since litters born to doppelrat parents produce only 1 such creature out of 10. The rest provide sustenance for their parents and siblings. The creatures have a straightforward method of combat: spawn as many clones as it can, and then escape while the copied rats swarm their opponent. By succeeding at a Perception check opposed by the doppelrat's Stealth check, a character can discern the original from all the clones. In cities with known doppelrat lairs, magistrates hire spellcasters to scour alleys and sewers and quickly obliterate any rats they find. Less than scrupulous spellcasters who manage to capture a live doppelrat have used this to their advantage by promising to rescue the town from the explosion of rats for an exorbitant fee. Terrifying rumors of a dire doppelrat have never been substantiated.