TEXT:  
   
   
   
  Riddle of the 
  golden rat 
   
    
   
   
   
   
   
   
  
   
  2 
   
  Riddle of the Golden Rat 
   
  Rumours & Hooks:  
  The Golden Rat, an enchanted idol from a prior 
  age, is said to grant the power to summon and 
  control vermin of all kinds.  
   
   
  “Oh Rool, you and that stupid rat dream!”   
   
  - 
  Franjean the brownie to his friend Rool 
  (also a brownie) in the 1988 movie 
  Willow.
  1 
   
  Crafted by the capricious hag Menethorii during 
  a past age, the Golden Rat is a 4 inch statuette of 
  pure gold, shaped to resemble a field mouse 
  standing on its hind legs, pawing at the sky.  
   
  In fact, the idol is a trap; a cursed object intended 
  to punish greed and school mankind in the 
  importance of perspective, vulnerability and 
  wonderment. 
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
                                                   
  1 If you you’re never seen Willow, stop reading this 
  and go watch it right now! You’re welcome. 
   
  Infused with the blood of the unseelie crone 
  herself, the idol’s magic is especially potent, 
  insusceptible to Cure Malady or Dispel Magic 
  spells (but may be countered by Reflection or 
  Forbidden Wish).  
   
  Any human touching the idol triggers its curse, 
  instantly affecting not only the touching mortal 
  but all other humans in a 30 ft radius. Targets 
  immediately feel nauseas and sway precariously, 
  dropping to one knee or grabbing hold of a 
  nearby wall to steady themselves. After a 
  moment, the true curse is unleashed, rapidly 
  shrinking all mortal targets to a mere 3 mm tall 
  (including their gear); no larger than a tiny bug! 
   
  Furthermore, as the PCs shrink, the idol begins 
  to move, its metallic form transmuting into a 
  common variety field rat. Scrunching up its nose, 
  the furry colossi issues a deafening squeal before 
  scooping up any tiny humans and swallowing 
  them whole. At the GM’s option, PCs with a 
  cunning plan or the right magic might be able to  
   
  Map 
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
  
   
  3 
   
  avoid this fate (eg: perhaps by turning invisible 
  and immediately flying away). If some PCs do 
  escape, they have successfully avoided this 
  adventure, and might like to join the GM behind 
  the screen or play a trapped henchmen, hireling, 
  faithful hound, etc instead. Escaped PCs return to 
  normal size when the trapped PCs escape, or in 
  4d6 hours, whichever occurs first.  
   
  The rat cannot be defeated through brute force, 
  magical or otherwise. It is immune to hostile 
  sorcery, including charms and suggestions, and its 
  outer flesh far too thick to be pierced by tiny 
  weapons. The vermin has an acute sense of 
  smell, good enough to track down a slow moving 
  invisible target, and is much too fast to outrun.  
   
  Swallowed PCs are immediately engulfed in 
  darkness, soaked in saliva and battered by the 
  tongue and oesophageal pipe before being 
  shunted into the stomach moments later (see 
  Area 2 below).  
   
  The PCs might become involved in this 
  adventure by (i) finding the Golden Rat as 
  treasure, (ii) being paid to retrieve it by a wealthy 
  antique collector, or (iii) the GM running the 
  scenario as a dream the whole party shares when 
  camped in the deep woods one night during a 
  blood moon. 
   
  Fluctuating Size 
  As the adventure progresses, the party continues 
  to 
  change 
  size, 
  sometimes 
  shrinking 
  to 
  microscopic form, other times enlarging back to a 
  few millimetres tall. Upon escaping the rat they 
  are restored to normal size.  
   
  At 
  the 
  microscopic 
  level, 
  a 
  bluish 
  bioluminescence covers everything, allowing the 
  PCs to see long distances (relatively speaking). 
  Additionally, while at this size, their basic life 
  functions are magically maintained without the 
  need to drink, eat or breathe. This elementary 
  protection 
  does 
  not 
  extend 
  to 
  injuries, 
  exhaustion, disease and so on.  
   
  Although magically shifting size is not ideal from 
  a consistency point of view, it allows the PCs to 
  interact with a wider variety of locations and 
  hazards within the rat’s body. Given the degree of 
  suspension of disbelief already required for this 
  adventure, a little more probably won’t hurt. 
   
  Ain’t nobody said nothin bout no science  
  At this stage some GMs might be concerned that 
  their players have a better knowledge of anatomy, 
  chemistry or micro physics than them. Phah! Use 
  your best judgment, and if any complex sciency 
  issues arise that you can’t explain or don’t make 
  sense, consider deploying one of the following 
  venerable GM solutions:  
   
  1. “I dunno, it’s magic or something”.  
   
  2. “Bloody 
  stupid 
  adventure 
  writer 
  obviously didn’t think about that. Let’s 
  handwave it for now.”  
   
  3. “I hear what you’re saying, but hold up  
  let me just check something… (rolls dice) 
  uhuh, RANDOM ENCOUNTER!” 
   
  Random Encounters 
  The party’s first stop is the stomach (see Area 2) 
  where they must contend with bubbling acid and 
  grinding walls. If they survive that location, the 
  PCs are pushed through a number of other 
  dangerous places before any real chance of 
  escape arises.  
   
  Whilst moving between locations, there is a 90% 
  chance of a random encounter. If an encounter 
  occurs, roll 1d6:  
   
  1. 2d6 White Blood Cells appear from the 
  blood steam or emerge from membrane 
  walls. They instinctively attack the PCs as 
  foreign bodies, seeking to absorb and 
  neutralise them. 
   
  White Blood Cells, AC 13, HD 3, Partial 
  Ingestion 2d4+1, 19: special, S16 D7 C16 I- P12 
  W- Ch-, L6, Mv 30 ft. White Blood Cells absorb 
  foreign bodies, breaking down their constituent 
  parts and eradicating them. On a 19+ attack roll, 
  a piece of random non-magical equipment is 
  destroyed (1d4: (i) weapon, (ii) armour, (iii) 
  shield, (iv) other). The cells are relentless; if an 
  
   
  4 
   
  adventurer is reduced to zero hp, and the body 
  not recovered in one round, the PC dies.  
   
  2. Rush of Blood. An adrenaline burst 
  causes a rush of blood, flushing the party 
  downstream. The roller coaster like ride 
  causes PCs to knock into each other, 
  organ walls and red blood cells, causing 
  2d6 damage (Luck (Con) save resists). 
  After the rush stops, the party could be 
  anywhere 
  in 
  the 
  body 
  (determine 
  location randomly).  
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
  3. 1d6+1 Cancer Cells (see Area 5) peel 
  themselves off some discoloured red 
  blood cells and swim towards the PCs, 
  intending to fuse with them. 
   
  4. A random permanent magical item (LFG 
  p.152) comes floating down the blood 
  steam, or is embedded in a flesh wall, 
  etc. Although the poor sod that owned 
  the 
  item 
  is 
  long 
  dead, 
  his/her 
  supernatural trinket still endures.  
   
  5. The rat suffers an injury (bitten by some 
  random predator), and is losing blood. 
  Platelets are already forming around the 
  wound, but up to 1d4 PCs might be able 
  to escape before the hole is sealed (a Dex 
  check at -2 is required). Any PCs that 
  make it out immediately morph back to 
  normal size, but may have to deal with 
  up to 2d6 random predators (GM 
  discretion). Escapees may also want to 
  catch hold of the rat if any PCs remain 
  trapped inside.  
   
  6. Quake! The rat goes for a tumble, falling 
  while climbing or thrown by a predator. 
  The PCs collide with such force that they 
  must roll on the Injuries & Setbacks table 
  (LFG p.54, a Luck (Con) save resists). 
   
  Organ Locations 
   
  Area 1 - Mouth Cavity 
  If the party makes their way back up towards the 
  rat’s mouth cavity, the enchantment begins to 
  reverse, the PCs enlarging up to three millimetres 
  tall. The mouth cavity is a dark red cavern, foul 
  smelling and lined with slippery saliva, the tongue 
  a roiling mass of pink doom.  
   
  The tongue, saliva and jaws are deadly hazards at 
  this size; anyone attempting to traverse the rolling 
  tongue must make up to 1d4 Dex (Athletics or 
  Acrobatics) checks to avoid being crushed against 
  the wall of the mouth (50% chance, 3d6 damage) 
  or thrown into a pool of diseased saliva (Luck 
  (Con) save or infected with lethal (for humans) 
  Purple Cankers (bloody mouth and throat sores, 
  spread by coughing up fetid purple phlegm, 
  causing 1 Con loss per day. The disease may be 
  cured by an Apothecary with the right healing 
  herbs, recovering 1 Con per week). 
   
  Passing through the yellowed fangs is to court 
  death itself. The rat is liable to open its jaws at 
  any time, but just as likely to snap them shut 
  again, biting at small insects or responding to 
  
   
  5 
   
  strange itching along its gums (ie the PCs). A 
  successful Str (Athletics) check is required to 
  climb the teeth to a suitable height for crossing, 
  and a Luck (Dex) save to cross the fangs at the 
  right moment. On a fail, the PC either dies 
  instantly (50%, torn to pieces by the towering 
  fangs), or is reduced to zero hit points (50%, 
  crushed against the teeth by the flailing tongue, 
  before dropping to the gum line, still inside the 
  teeth perimeter). 
   
  PCs attempting to use torches or fire, and/or by 
  irritating the ulvula, to encourage the jaws to open 
  are met with a thrashing head and waves of saliva 
  instead (Str check at disadvantage or swept down 
  into the stomach). If the party manages to cross 
  the teeth they earn their freedom.  
   
  Area 2 – Stomach 
  After being thrust down the oesophagus, the party 
  is dropped into an almighty, lightless chamber, 
  half filled with acidic digestive juices. The 
  stomach acids are bubbling and echoing as walls 
  of muscle grind against each other in an attempt 
  to break down food into smaller components. 
  And to top things off, the PCs are still shrinking, 
  now down to about 1 mm in height. 
   
  Being submerged in the acid extinguishes torches 
  and lanterns. A PC with quick reflexes might be 
  able to  use a grapple rope (or blade thrust into 
  stomach lining) to hang from a wall, and keep 
  their light lit.  
   
  Those in digestive juices suffer 2d4 acidic and 
  grinding damage at the start of each round. 
  Those hanging from flesh walls suffer 1d4 
  damage (grinding only).  
   
  There are two main exits from the stomach:  
   
  1. Scaling the stomach walls, forcing open 
  the upper sphincter, and climbing back 
  up into the oesophagus (requires three 
  Str checks at disad vs Str 19), or 
   
  2. Being sucked and/or squeezed out the 
  lower sphincter into the digestive tract. 
  After 2d6 rounds in the stomach, PCs 
  must make a successful Str check each 
  round to avoid being pushed or washed 
  into Area 3. 
   
  PCs attempting to make their own exit by hacking 
  through a flesh wall find it surprisingly rubbery 
  and resilient. Small holes can be made with time, 
  however such damage causes the stomach walls to 
  grind that area with extra force, causing 1d6 extra 
  damage and forcing a Str contest (as above) to 
  avoid being squeezed out of the lower sphincter. 
   
  Area 3 – Digestive Tract 
  The tubing of the digestive tract is a nightmare of 
  biblical proportions: a colossal tunnel of 
  undulating flesh, grinding and folding together to 
  squeeze food along as it melts in digestive juices. 
  Foul gasses fill the tunnel, which is partially filled 
  with organic acid.  
   
  Each round a PC remains in the digestive juices 
  causes 1d4 damage, and requires a Dex check to 
  avoid being hurled or pushed further along the 
  tube. The intestines stretch far longer than any  
  PC could possibly survive, but happily for them, 
  they don’t have to stay here.  
   
  Shortly after entering the tract, the PCs shrink 
  down 
  to 
  microscopic 
  size 
  (comparatively 
  speaking about half the size of a red blood cell, or 
  a quarter of the size of a white blood cell). In this 
  miniscule 
  form, 
  the 
  tract 
  becomes 
  all 
  encompassing, so large that the far walls cannot 
  be seen, the juices a veritable sea, dominated by a 
  sickly white, fleshy sky. By now, even the most 
  hardened adventurer is struggling to hold it 
  together, and all PCs must make a Luck (Will) 
  save or suffer a moderate madness (LFG p.91; 
  recurring night terrors of being eaten by a 
  colossal rat, and/or waking delusions of the 
  same).  
   
  
   
  6 
   
  More importantly, the PCs become small enough 
  to squeeze through the tube walls and enter the 
  veins and arteries of the rat, gaining them access 
  to other organs. The party will see red (and 
  occasional white) blood cells doing exactly this; 
  wriggling their way through fleshly crevices in the 
  translucent walls. A Str check is required to pass 
  through.  
   
  Area 4 – Veins & Arteries 
  If the party enter the veins or arteries, they are 
  microscopic and swept along in a surging torrent 
  of clear yellow plasma, within which hundreds of 
  red blood cells are travelling nearby, tumbling 
  and jostling with each other as they ride the 
  circulatory system.  
   
  PCs caught up in the general flotsam are 
  inevitably hammered by careening red blood 
  cells, causing 1d10 damage. The party might be 
  able to protect themselves against bombardment 
  by hitching a ride on a red blood cell or other 
  benign organism (requires a Dex check at 
  disadvantage), by forming a protective ring of 
  their own and deflecting cells with long weapons 
  or tools (requiring a successful attack roll vs AC 
  13), or by some other means at the GM’s 
  discretion.  
   
  In any event, the party are largely at the mercy of 
  the rat’s circulatory system, and might be hived 
  off into any location within the body. At the 
  GM’s option, riding a red blood cell (or by some 
  other means) might enable the PCs to “steer” 
  towards (or away from) specific locations, granting 
  a +1 bonus on the following 1d8 roll (max 8). 
  The party may not visit the same location twice 
  before visiting another new location (reroll).  
   
  1. No exit this time. The party is caught up 
  in a turbulent artery and suffers 1d10 
  damage due to bombardment (or must 
  make a check, as noted above).  
   
  2. As above, but instead of hp damage, each 
  PC must make a Con check or suffer 1 
  Str loss due to exhaustion. 
   
  3. The PCs are deposited into Area 5 – the 
  Heart. 
   
  4. The PCs are deposited into Area 8 – the 
  Brain.  
   
  5. The PCs are deposited into Area 6 – the 
  Lungs.  
   
  6. The PCs are deposited into Area 2 – the 
  Stomach.  
   
  7. The PCs are deposited into Area 3 – the 
  Digestive Tract.  
   
  8. The PCs are deposited into… roll 1d4: (i) 
  Area 1 (Mouth Cavity), (ii) Area 2 (Poop 
  Chute), (iii) Area 9 (Ear Canal) or (iv) 
  Area 10 (Nasal Cavity).  
   
  Area 5 – Heart 
  PCs deposited into the heart do so at microscopic 
  size, emerging into a gigantic chamber that 
  thrums with sound so loud it cannot be heard by 
  the party, only felt. The shockwave of the beating 
  heart causes nausea and disorientation, requiring 
  a Luck (Con) save to avoid 1d3 Str loss.   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
  
   
  7 
   
  Upon stabilising to the environment (as much as 
  that is possible), the adventurers find themselves 
  in a relatively stable corner of a lower chamber 
  near a partially blocked valve. The cause of the 
  blockage is immediately obvious: a black, slimy 
  looking cancerous growth. Within a few rounds, 
  the cancer detects the party and spawns 2d6 
  Cancer Cells to feed on them.  
   
  Cancer Cells, AC 15, HD 5, Cankerous Polyp 
  3d4+1, 19: special, S19 D9 C18 I- P9 W- Ch-, 
  L8, Mv 30 ft. Cancer cells appear as black, 
  misshapen growths with grasping polyps. They 
  seek to attach and meld with other living tissue, 
  then multiply out of control. On a 19+ attack roll, 
  a random body part is lost; transmuted into a new 
  cancer cell (1d6: (i) foot, (ii) below knee, (iii) 
  hand, (iv) below elbow, (v) arm, (vi) head), per 
  the Injuries & Setbacks table (loss of head causes 
  death). A Luck (Con) save resists this effect. 
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
  If the party fend off the cancer pods, they may 
  resume their travels through the circulatory 
  system (Area 4). The colossal source cancer 
  cannot detach itself from the valve it has melded 
  with, and has the equivalent of 30 HD, strikes for 
  4d10 damage, and Causes Injuries on a 17+ 
  attack roll.    
   
  Area 6 – Lungs  
  PCs deposited into the lungs do so at 
  microscopic level, floating through a vast void, 
  between sponge like cliffs that tower higher than 
  any mountain. The lungs spread out in all 
  directions; a honeycomb morass of pasty white 
  air sacks drawing in oxygen and expunging 
  carbon dioxide.  
   
  The atmosphere in the lungs is highly toxic, filled 
  with CO2. Whilst the PCs need not breathe, 
  mere skin exposure to this (relative) volume of 
  noxious gas requires a Luck (Con) check to avoid 
  4d6 damage.  
   
  Those that survive initial exposure are either 
  drawn into the sponge like air sacks when the rat 
  inhales (50%), or expelled into the mouth cavity 
  when the rat exhales (50%, see Area 1).  
   
  A PC sucked towards the air sacks may make a 
  Str or Dex check (their choice) to grab hold of a 
  stringy air sack web or lip, preventing them from 
  being drawn in. If drawn in however, the PC has 
  one round to be freed or braced by his/her allies, 
  else they are automatically bound by the sticky 
  fibres of the deep lungs (helpless). At this point, if 
  allies cannot come up with a plan to retrieve their 
  comrade, 2d6 White Blood Cells emerge from 
  nearby flesh walls in 3d6 rounds to annihilate the 
  foreign body. 
   
  Area 7 - Poop Chute 
  PCs entering the bowel pass through the flesh 
  wall in microscopic form, but swiftly grow to 
  about 1 mm tall. The lower digestive tract is a 
  revolting, feculent tunnel of discoloured flesh, 
  mostly filled with reeking excreta. Swimming 
  through the sloshing faeces is horrendous at best 
  and debilitating at worst, requiring a Luck (Con) 
  check to avoid contracting Vermin Palsy (causing 
  1 Dex loss within 1d4 hours, and over the course 
  of a week paralysis in one random limb. The 
  disease may be cured by an apothecary with the 
  right healing herbs).  
  
   
  8 
   
  As the PCs navigate the bowel, they come upon a 
  solidified island, upon which 3d6+20 strange, 
  mushroom like creatures are milling about. 
   
  The creatures are approximately 0.5 mm tall, 
  with mushroom like heads, twin eye stalks and leg 
  like tentacles. They are sentient, but without 
  language, making only a series of “Flurp” noises 
  as they scoop excrement into their undermaws. 
  The Flurps have never seen humans before, and 
  are highly territorial. Whether they can come to 
  some understanding with the party is up to the 
  GM. If not, the Flurps attack. 
   
  Flurp, AC 14, HD 1, Tentacle Slap 1d6+1, 19: 
  special, S12 D15 C10 I4 P10 W10 Ch6, L7, Mv 
  40 ft. Flurps employ a swift, loping movement, 
  flowing across terrain on their many tentacles. 
  They make excellent floaters due to their muffin 
  top bodies. On a 19+ attack roll the flurp’s gas 
  filled torso explodes, causing 1d8 damage in a 5 ft 
  radius and causing humans to gag uncontrollably 
  on nasty after fumes (helpless for one round, Con 
  check resists). During the explosion, miniscule 
  baby flurps scatter across nearby terrain like 
  dandelion puffs (some of which the party might 
  unwittingly carry into the outside world, enlarging 
  to 1 inch tall if so).  
   
  If the Flurps are defeated, it is only a matter of 
  time before the rat relieves itself, and the party is 
  released back into the world via a ghastly 
  commotion of excrement.  
   
  Area 8 - Brain  
  PC’s deposited into the brain press through the 
  protective membrane in microscopic form. The 
  brain landscape appears as an all-encompassing 
  field of white flesh, interlaced with huge, scarlet 
  red fissures of canyon like proportions.  Between 
  the brain and skull floats a colourless sea which 
  the PCs effectively float in; the cerebral fluid. 
  Movement in this area is effectively swimming.  
   
  The hazards of the brain include 3d6 White 
  Blood 
  Cells 
  (see Random 
  Encounter 
  1) 
  somewhere in the vicinity of the PCs (either 
  cleaning up some random toxin or “patrolling”), 
  and make a bee line for the party if they detect 
  them.  
   
  Secondly, the brain is constantly firing off and 
  receiving electrical nerve impulses, some of which 
  lose their way and escape into the brain fluid. 
  There is a 30% chance of this occurring every 
  1d10 rounds that the party spend here (causing 
  6d6 hp damage and rendering the target blind for 
  1d2 months (Luck (Dex) save for half and to 
  negate the blindness).  
   
  Being in the brain however allows the PCs to 
  orientate themselves with respect to three 
  possible exits: (i) the nasal cavity, (ii) the mouth 
  cavity, or (iii) the ear canals. If the party attempts 
  to move in one of these directions, a successful 
  Int (Apothecary) check steers them to veins that 
  will deposit them in the intended location. 
  Otherwise the party ends up back in the 
  veins/arteries at large (Area 4).  
   
  Area 9 – Ear Canal 
  When the party first emerge into the ear, they do 
  so at microscopic size, but quickly enlarge to a 
  height matching that of some black hairs lining 
  the canal. The enormous chamber magnifies 
  sounds many times over. A Perc (Detection) 
  check picks up a hint of odd clicking noises 
  coming from the outer ear.  
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
  Further along, in the outer ear canal, are 3d6 Ear 
  Mites. The bugs, slightly larger than the PCs, are 
  carrion feeders, gnawing on dead rat flesh or wax 
  
   
  9 
   
  covered hairs. They are easily spoked and 
  unlikely to respond favourably to the party, intent 
  on defending their feeding grounds. Intruders 
  such as the PCs must be killed or driven away.  
   
  Ear Mite, AC 16, HD 2, Bite 1d8+1, 19: special, 
  S16 D8 C14 I4 P10 W11 Ch5, L5, Mv 30 ft. 
  These scaly, beetle like insects have a hardened 
  carapace, six powerful legs and snapping, beakish 
  jaws. On a 19+ attack roll they crush their foe 
  beneath their rigid bulk, requiring a Luck (Con) 
  save to avoid rolling on the Injuries & Setbacks 
  table. 
   
  If the party defeats or bypasses the mites, they 
  may exit the rat’s body via the outer ear.  
   
  Area 10 – Nasal cavity 
  The party enters the nasal cavity in microscopic 
  form, floating in an immense space, the far walls 
  fading to black. Hairs the size of mountains poke 
  out from the flesh wall the party entered through, 
  but on the horizon is a bright light (either 
  daylight, moonlight or torchlight from beyond the 
  rat’s nostrils).  
   
  The rat’s back nasal passage is completely 
  blocked with mucus, so much so that it cannot 
  breathe through its nose. As a result of the 
  blockage, there is no chance the party will be 
  inhaled back down into the lungs.  
   
  Unfortunately it also means the adventurers must 
  “swim” through air towards the nostril exits using 
  their own motion, an ordeal that will take some 
  considerable time, sped along by outside breezes 
  circulating through the nasal cavity. At the GM’s 
  discretion, a random encounter check might be 
  called for. 
   
  Before the PCs may escape, there is one final 
  hazard to contend with. A cold virus has been 
  multiplying here, and millions of wriggling, 
  spasming virions (virus particles that have not yet 
  attached to a living cell) are tumbling in the air, 
  forming a kind of biological asteroid field.  
   
  Navigating the virions without incident requires 
  1d4 successful Dex checks. If failed, the PC and 
  some virus particles end up on a collision course. 
  A final Luck (Dex) save is permitted to avoid 
  being 
  engulfed. 
  If 
  failed, 
  the 
  PC 
  dies: 
  instantaneously transformed into a gloopy, 
  amoeba like virus cell, drifting down to implant in 
  the nasal cavity. If the virions are avoided, the 
  party may exit the rat’s body via the outer nostrils.  
   
  Aftermath  
  If the PCs make it out of the rat, they 
  immediately begin to revert to normal size, slowly 
  expanding until they reach their full proportions 
  (most likely soaked in various bodily fluids).  
   
  While this process is going on, the rat stands up 
  on its hind legs, pawing at the air, then hardens 
  back into a statue before vanishing in a flash of 
  golden fire. Whether the idol reappears 
  elsewhere in the game world is a matter for the 
  GM. 
   
  Although there is no obvious reward at the end of 
  this adventure (apart from perhaps a tall tale that 
  not even their grandchildren will believe), if the 
  party meet any rats, giant rats or dire rats in the 
  future, the verminous beasts are automatically 
  cowed by the PCs, bowing their heads in 
  submission before slinking away.  
   
  At the GM’s discretion, a single PC might 
  develop this ability further over time (similar to 
  additional magical item attunements). With study 
  and practice, the PC unravels the riddle of the 
  golden rat, learning to summon and control 
  vermin and vermin like monsters.  
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
  
   
  10 
   
  CREDITS 
  Author:  
   
  Stephen J. Grodzicki. Copyright © 2017. 
   
  Artwork: 
  Cover artwork © 2016 Luigi Castellani, used with permission. All rights reserved. 
  Page 2 artwork copyright 2017 Roman Mur aka S0ulafein, used with permission. See more of Soulafein’s art at: 
  https://s0ulafein.deviantart.com/ 
  Some artwork copyright 2017 Maciej Zagorski, The Forge Studios LLC, used with permission.  
  Some artwork copyright 2017 Gary Dupuis, used with permission. 
  Some artwork copyright 2017 Shutterstock, used with permission.  
  Some artwork copyright 2017 istock, used with permission.  
   
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SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Low Fantasy Gaming/Low Fantasy Gaming Adventures & Settings/Adventure Frameworks (LowFG)/Adventure Frameworks #29 Riddle of the Golden Rat [white] (LowFG).pdf