Can I breed and train an army of wild rats?
$begingroup$
I’m playing a blind (but with 60ft blind-sight) half-elf bard with animal handling and animal friendship in a D&D 5e game.
I'm interested in capturing two wild rats and breeding them into any army that scouts, attacks and defends on command.
Is this doable? I looked into litter sizes, gender ratios and gestation periods. I assume 600 rats in a year’s time.
dnd-5e animal training
edited Jan 20 at 0:07
V2Blast
22.8k372143
asked Jan 19 at 20:24
NastoNasto
291
$endgroup$
add a comment |
$begingroup$
I’m playing a blind (but with 60ft blind-sight) half-elf bard with animal handling and animal friendship in a D&D 5e game.
I'm interested in capturing two wild rats and breeding them into any army that scouts, attacks and defends on command.
Is this doable? I looked into litter sizes, gender ratios and gestation periods. I assume 600 rats in a year’s time.
dnd-5e animal training
edited Jan 20 at 0:07
V2Blast
22.8k372143
asked Jan 19 at 20:24
NastoNasto
291
$endgroup$
1
$begingroup$
True sight? Or is it blind sight?
$endgroup$
– Matteo Tassinari
Jan 19 at 20:35
$begingroup$
Maybe blind sight I can see though doors and walls depending on what they are made of to varying degrees of distance.
$endgroup$
– Nasto
Jan 19 at 20:40
$begingroup$
It's more like echo location than anything.
$endgroup$
– Nasto
Jan 19 at 20:40
$begingroup$
And limits my attack distances on everything.
$endgroup$
– Nasto
Jan 19 at 20:41
add a comment |
$begingroup$
I’m playing a blind (but with 60ft blind-sight) half-elf bard with animal handling and animal friendship in a D&D 5e game.
I'm interested in capturing two wild rats and breeding them into any army that scouts, attacks and defends on command.
Is this doable? I looked into litter sizes, gender ratios and gestation periods. I assume 600 rats in a year’s time.
dnd-5e animal training
edited Jan 20 at 0:07
V2Blast
22.8k372143
asked Jan 19 at 20:24
NastoNasto
291
$endgroup$
I’m playing a blind (but with 60ft blind-sight) half-elf bard with animal handling and animal friendship in a D&D 5e game.
I'm interested in capturing two wild rats and breeding them into any army that scouts, attacks and defends on command.
Is this doable? I looked into litter sizes, gender ratios and gestation periods. I assume 600 rats in a year’s time.
dnd-5e animal training
dnd-5e animal training
edited Jan 20 at 0:07
V2Blast
22.8k372143
asked Jan 19 at 20:24
NastoNasto
291
edited Jan 20 at 0:07
V2Blast
22.8k372143
asked Jan 19 at 20:24
NastoNasto
291
edited Jan 20 at 0:07
V2Blast
22.8k372143
edited Jan 20 at 0:07
V2Blast
22.8k372143
edited Jan 20 at 0:07
V2Blast
22.8k372143
22.8k372143
asked Jan 19 at 20:24
NastoNasto
291
asked Jan 19 at 20:24
NastoNasto
291
asked Jan 19 at 20:24
NastoNasto
291
291
1
$begingroup$
True sight? Or is it blind sight?
$endgroup$
– Matteo Tassinari
Jan 19 at 20:35
$begingroup$
Maybe blind sight I can see though doors and walls depending on what they are made of to varying degrees of distance.
$endgroup$
– Nasto
Jan 19 at 20:40
$begingroup$
It's more like echo location than anything.
$endgroup$
– Nasto
Jan 19 at 20:40
$begingroup$
And limits my attack distances on everything.
$endgroup$
– Nasto
Jan 19 at 20:41
add a comment |
1
$begingroup$
True sight? Or is it blind sight?
$endgroup$
– Matteo Tassinari
Jan 19 at 20:35
$begingroup$
Maybe blind sight I can see though doors and walls depending on what they are made of to varying degrees of distance.
$endgroup$
– Nasto
Jan 19 at 20:40
$begingroup$
It's more like echo location than anything.
$endgroup$
– Nasto
Jan 19 at 20:40
$begingroup$
And limits my attack distances on everything.
$endgroup$
– Nasto
Jan 19 at 20:41
1
1
$begingroup$
True sight? Or is it blind sight?
$endgroup$
– Matteo Tassinari
Jan 19 at 20:35
$begingroup$
True sight? Or is it blind sight?
$endgroup$
– Matteo Tassinari
Jan 19 at 20:35
$begingroup$
Maybe blind sight I can see though doors and walls depending on what they are made of to varying degrees of distance.
$endgroup$
– Nasto
Jan 19 at 20:40
$begingroup$
Maybe blind sight I can see though doors and walls depending on what they are made of to varying degrees of distance.
$endgroup$
– Nasto
Jan 19 at 20:40
$begingroup$
It's more like echo location than anything.
$endgroup$
– Nasto
Jan 19 at 20:40
$begingroup$
It's more like echo location than anything.
$endgroup$
– Nasto
Jan 19 at 20:40
$begingroup$
And limits my attack distances on everything.
$endgroup$
– Nasto
Jan 19 at 20:41
$begingroup$
And limits my attack distances on everything.
$endgroup$
– Nasto
Jan 19 at 20:41
add a comment |
2 Answers
2
active
oldest
votes
$begingroup$
Judging from this question, there are no rules for training animals, so right off the bat you are entering homebrew territory.
If your DM is willing, then maybe you could train rats to help you. You can use spells such as Beast Bond and Speak With Animals to try and communicate with them. Talk to them, bribe them, and train them using these spells. (Animal Friendship may not help much, other than to let you try to persuade it, which wouldn't work unless you are speaking with it.)
Disclaimer: A rat's INT score is 2. Training it may be very difficult.
All in all, it is up to your DM whether or not you can do this.
edited Jan 19 at 21:36
SevenSidedDie♦
207k31665941
answered Jan 19 at 21:03
JustinJustin
1,6361724
$endgroup$
add a comment |
$begingroup$
Whether your character can breed rats is a roleplaying question that there aren't really rules for. Even if you've done all the real-world rat-husbandry math, it'll be up to your Dungeon Master to decide how successful your character's efforts are.
For your character to have a rad army of fighting rats that follow your commands is a mechanical question, one that can have an effect on combat, so it's a balance issue.
The DMG describes a magical instrument, the Pipes of the Sewers (page 185), which seem intended to recreate the Pied Piper of Hamelin story but are extremely well-suited to a Rat King character. Merely being attuned to the pipes causes ordinary rats and giant rats to be indifferent to you. (Based on this property, I think there's an assumption that in Generic D&D World, ordinary rats and giant rats are naturally hostile toward adventurers.) Playing the pipes allows you to summon rat swarms and then charm them into obeying your commands.
The pipes are an uncommon magic item, so they're balanced for use by low-level characters. Part of the balancing is wrapped up in the resources you must spend to control rats: You have to expend the pipes' charges to summon swarms of rats, and you must continuously play the pipes (and win a Charisma versus Wisdom check) to make them obey you. Continuously playing the pipes uses your action on each round, so it'll be very difficult to do any fighting yourself while you marshal your army.
This might not be exactly what you had in mind, but it's an avenue for (semi-)reliably convincing rats to fight on your behalf and it's part of the official rules, an advantage that many similarly cool character concepts can't benefit from.
Asking your DM for an opportunity to acquire some Pipes of the Sewers is completely within your rights as a player, and I'd say it's a safer bet than asking your DM for general-purpose Rat King powers—because for the DM, it's just a matter of deciding whether to hook you up with an uncommon magic item.
edited Jan 20 at 2:29
V2Blast
22.8k372143
answered Jan 20 at 2:06
Ryan VeederRyan Veeder
2,5561122
$endgroup$
add a comment |
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2 Answers
2
active
oldest
votes
2 Answers
2
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
active
oldest
votes
$begingroup$
Judging from this question, there are no rules for training animals, so right off the bat you are entering homebrew territory.
If your DM is willing, then maybe you could train rats to help you. You can use spells such as Beast Bond and Speak With Animals to try and communicate with them. Talk to them, bribe them, and train them using these spells. (Animal Friendship may not help much, other than to let you try to persuade it, which wouldn't work unless you are speaking with it.)
Disclaimer: A rat's INT score is 2. Training it may be very difficult.
All in all, it is up to your DM whether or not you can do this.
edited Jan 19 at 21:36
SevenSidedDie♦
207k31665941
answered Jan 19 at 21:03
JustinJustin
1,6361724
$endgroup$
add a comment |
$begingroup$
Judging from this question, there are no rules for training animals, so right off the bat you are entering homebrew territory.
If your DM is willing, then maybe you could train rats to help you. You can use spells such as Beast Bond and Speak With Animals to try and communicate with them. Talk to them, bribe them, and train them using these spells. (Animal Friendship may not help much, other than to let you try to persuade it, which wouldn't work unless you are speaking with it.)
Disclaimer: A rat's INT score is 2. Training it may be very difficult.
All in all, it is up to your DM whether or not you can do this.
edited Jan 19 at 21:36
SevenSidedDie♦
207k31665941
answered Jan 19 at 21:03
JustinJustin
1,6361724
$endgroup$
add a comment |
$begingroup$
Judging from this question, there are no rules for training animals, so right off the bat you are entering homebrew territory.
If your DM is willing, then maybe you could train rats to help you. You can use spells such as Beast Bond and Speak With Animals to try and communicate with them. Talk to them, bribe them, and train them using these spells. (Animal Friendship may not help much, other than to let you try to persuade it, which wouldn't work unless you are speaking with it.)
Disclaimer: A rat's INT score is 2. Training it may be very difficult.
All in all, it is up to your DM whether or not you can do this.
edited Jan 19 at 21:36
SevenSidedDie♦
207k31665941
answered Jan 19 at 21:03
JustinJustin
1,6361724
$endgroup$
Judging from this question, there are no rules for training animals, so right off the bat you are entering homebrew territory.
If your DM is willing, then maybe you could train rats to help you. You can use spells such as Beast Bond and Speak With Animals to try and communicate with them. Talk to them, bribe them, and train them using these spells. (Animal Friendship may not help much, other than to let you try to persuade it, which wouldn't work unless you are speaking with it.)
Disclaimer: A rat's INT score is 2. Training it may be very difficult.
All in all, it is up to your DM whether or not you can do this.
edited Jan 19 at 21:36
SevenSidedDie♦
207k31665941
answered Jan 19 at 21:03
JustinJustin
1,6361724
edited Jan 19 at 21:36
SevenSidedDie♦
207k31665941
edited Jan 19 at 21:36
SevenSidedDie♦
207k31665941
edited Jan 19 at 21:36
SevenSidedDie♦
207k31665941
207k31665941
answered Jan 19 at 21:03
JustinJustin
1,6361724
answered Jan 19 at 21:03
JustinJustin
1,6361724
answered Jan 19 at 21:03
JustinJustin
1,6361724
1,6361724
add a comment |
add a comment |
$begingroup$
Whether your character can breed rats is a roleplaying question that there aren't really rules for. Even if you've done all the real-world rat-husbandry math, it'll be up to your Dungeon Master to decide how successful your character's efforts are.
For your character to have a rad army of fighting rats that follow your commands is a mechanical question, one that can have an effect on combat, so it's a balance issue.
The DMG describes a magical instrument, the Pipes of the Sewers (page 185), which seem intended to recreate the Pied Piper of Hamelin story but are extremely well-suited to a Rat King character. Merely being attuned to the pipes causes ordinary rats and giant rats to be indifferent to you. (Based on this property, I think there's an assumption that in Generic D&D World, ordinary rats and giant rats are naturally hostile toward adventurers.) Playing the pipes allows you to summon rat swarms and then charm them into obeying your commands.
The pipes are an uncommon magic item, so they're balanced for use by low-level characters. Part of the balancing is wrapped up in the resources you must spend to control rats: You have to expend the pipes' charges to summon swarms of rats, and you must continuously play the pipes (and win a Charisma versus Wisdom check) to make them obey you. Continuously playing the pipes uses your action on each round, so it'll be very difficult to do any fighting yourself while you marshal your army.
This might not be exactly what you had in mind, but it's an avenue for (semi-)reliably convincing rats to fight on your behalf and it's part of the official rules, an advantage that many similarly cool character concepts can't benefit from.
Asking your DM for an opportunity to acquire some Pipes of the Sewers is completely within your rights as a player, and I'd say it's a safer bet than asking your DM for general-purpose Rat King powers—because for the DM, it's just a matter of deciding whether to hook you up with an uncommon magic item.
edited Jan 20 at 2:29
V2Blast
22.8k372143
answered Jan 20 at 2:06
Ryan VeederRyan Veeder
2,5561122
$endgroup$
add a comment |
$begingroup$
Whether your character can breed rats is a roleplaying question that there aren't really rules for. Even if you've done all the real-world rat-husbandry math, it'll be up to your Dungeon Master to decide how successful your character's efforts are.
For your character to have a rad army of fighting rats that follow your commands is a mechanical question, one that can have an effect on combat, so it's a balance issue.
The DMG describes a magical instrument, the Pipes of the Sewers (page 185), which seem intended to recreate the Pied Piper of Hamelin story but are extremely well-suited to a Rat King character. Merely being attuned to the pipes causes ordinary rats and giant rats to be indifferent to you. (Based on this property, I think there's an assumption that in Generic D&D World, ordinary rats and giant rats are naturally hostile toward adventurers.) Playing the pipes allows you to summon rat swarms and then charm them into obeying your commands.
The pipes are an uncommon magic item, so they're balanced for use by low-level characters. Part of the balancing is wrapped up in the resources you must spend to control rats: You have to expend the pipes' charges to summon swarms of rats, and you must continuously play the pipes (and win a Charisma versus Wisdom check) to make them obey you. Continuously playing the pipes uses your action on each round, so it'll be very difficult to do any fighting yourself while you marshal your army.
This might not be exactly what you had in mind, but it's an avenue for (semi-)reliably convincing rats to fight on your behalf and it's part of the official rules, an advantage that many similarly cool character concepts can't benefit from.
Asking your DM for an opportunity to acquire some Pipes of the Sewers is completely within your rights as a player, and I'd say it's a safer bet than asking your DM for general-purpose Rat King powers—because for the DM, it's just a matter of deciding whether to hook you up with an uncommon magic item.
edited Jan 20 at 2:29
V2Blast
22.8k372143
answered Jan 20 at 2:06
Ryan VeederRyan Veeder
2,5561122
$endgroup$
add a comment |
$begingroup$
Whether your character can breed rats is a roleplaying question that there aren't really rules for. Even if you've done all the real-world rat-husbandry math, it'll be up to your Dungeon Master to decide how successful your character's efforts are.
For your character to have a rad army of fighting rats that follow your commands is a mechanical question, one that can have an effect on combat, so it's a balance issue.
The DMG describes a magical instrument, the Pipes of the Sewers (page 185), which seem intended to recreate the Pied Piper of Hamelin story but are extremely well-suited to a Rat King character. Merely being attuned to the pipes causes ordinary rats and giant rats to be indifferent to you. (Based on this property, I think there's an assumption that in Generic D&D World, ordinary rats and giant rats are naturally hostile toward adventurers.) Playing the pipes allows you to summon rat swarms and then charm them into obeying your commands.
The pipes are an uncommon magic item, so they're balanced for use by low-level characters. Part of the balancing is wrapped up in the resources you must spend to control rats: You have to expend the pipes' charges to summon swarms of rats, and you must continuously play the pipes (and win a Charisma versus Wisdom check) to make them obey you. Continuously playing the pipes uses your action on each round, so it'll be very difficult to do any fighting yourself while you marshal your army.
This might not be exactly what you had in mind, but it's an avenue for (semi-)reliably convincing rats to fight on your behalf and it's part of the official rules, an advantage that many similarly cool character concepts can't benefit from.
Asking your DM for an opportunity to acquire some Pipes of the Sewers is completely within your rights as a player, and I'd say it's a safer bet than asking your DM for general-purpose Rat King powers—because for the DM, it's just a matter of deciding whether to hook you up with an uncommon magic item.
edited Jan 20 at 2:29
V2Blast
22.8k372143
answered Jan 20 at 2:06
Ryan VeederRyan Veeder
2,5561122
$endgroup$
Whether your character can breed rats is a roleplaying question that there aren't really rules for. Even if you've done all the real-world rat-husbandry math, it'll be up to your Dungeon Master to decide how successful your character's efforts are.
For your character to have a rad army of fighting rats that follow your commands is a mechanical question, one that can have an effect on combat, so it's a balance issue.
The DMG describes a magical instrument, the Pipes of the Sewers (page 185), which seem intended to recreate the Pied Piper of Hamelin story but are extremely well-suited to a Rat King character. Merely being attuned to the pipes causes ordinary rats and giant rats to be indifferent to you. (Based on this property, I think there's an assumption that in Generic D&D World, ordinary rats and giant rats are naturally hostile toward adventurers.) Playing the pipes allows you to summon rat swarms and then charm them into obeying your commands.
The pipes are an uncommon magic item, so they're balanced for use by low-level characters. Part of the balancing is wrapped up in the resources you must spend to control rats: You have to expend the pipes' charges to summon swarms of rats, and you must continuously play the pipes (and win a Charisma versus Wisdom check) to make them obey you. Continuously playing the pipes uses your action on each round, so it'll be very difficult to do any fighting yourself while you marshal your army.
This might not be exactly what you had in mind, but it's an avenue for (semi-)reliably convincing rats to fight on your behalf and it's part of the official rules, an advantage that many similarly cool character concepts can't benefit from.
Asking your DM for an opportunity to acquire some Pipes of the Sewers is completely within your rights as a player, and I'd say it's a safer bet than asking your DM for general-purpose Rat King powers—because for the DM, it's just a matter of deciding whether to hook you up with an uncommon magic item.
edited Jan 20 at 2:29
V2Blast
22.8k372143
answered Jan 20 at 2:06
Ryan VeederRyan Veeder
2,5561122
edited Jan 20 at 2:29
V2Blast
22.8k372143
edited Jan 20 at 2:29
V2Blast
22.8k372143
edited Jan 20 at 2:29
V2Blast
22.8k372143
22.8k372143
answered Jan 20 at 2:06
Ryan VeederRyan Veeder
2,5561122
answered Jan 20 at 2:06
Ryan VeederRyan Veeder
2,5561122
answered Jan 20 at 2:06
Ryan VeederRyan Veeder
2,5561122
2,5561122
add a comment |
add a comment |
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1
$begingroup$
True sight? Or is it blind sight?
$endgroup$
– Matteo Tassinari
Jan 19 at 20:35
$begingroup$
Maybe blind sight I can see though doors and walls depending on what they are made of to varying degrees of distance.
$endgroup$
– Nasto
Jan 19 at 20:40
$begingroup$
It's more like echo location than anything.
$endgroup$
– Nasto
Jan 19 at 20:40
$begingroup$
And limits my attack distances on everything.
$endgroup$
– Nasto
Jan 19 at 20:41