Hey there my name is AJ Pickett and I make videos about roleplaying games, and lots of
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Demons are loathsome creatures, sure, some wear a thin layer of seduction, but they really
are just disgusting, horrible and completely evil monsters that can never be trusted and
very rarely fully controlled.
My advice for anyone getting into the spell-slinging game is to avoid demons unless absolutely
no other option is available, and even then, incinerate all trace of the damned things
if they so much as twitch in a way that seems suspicious.
Today we are going to learn about a demon more commonly found outside of the ruinous
planes of the Abyss, as they are sent out like toadies and minions to fetch objects,
deliver messages and so on.
The Uridezu Tana'ri or Rat Demons are nasty, conniving, cowardly, rat fink bastards that
are everything you would expect from a rat demon and while you may think they are kind
of weakling, pathetic rodent monsters, up close and personal they are actually brutes
and they can be tremendously dangerous, it's just lucky that they are about as stupid as
a bag of rocks.
Uridezu stand around 6 feet tall, with a long torso and short legs, they are muscular but
hunch over, often squatting down and peering up with their head twisted to one side, sniffing
and drooling, always moving a little bit, their beady eyes glistening.
They don't tend to have a pelt of fur, more like patches of hair that honestly just serve
to make them look even more wretched and their skin is best described as leprous, covered
in sores and puss oozing lesions.
They smell like a sewer, they delight in filthy habits and they usually drag around their
very long, hairless tail which you should always keep an eye on, even though their tail
is not prehensile, it is deceptively strong and they can whip it around with quite a bit
of force, usually to knock a target prone before they lunge in with their claws and
fangs.
Rat Demons first appeared in the lore in a series of adventures I have wanted to run
for some time, the Marco Volo modules sound like a lot of fun and I hear they maintain
quite a hectic pace throughout the adventure.
They appeared in the Monstrous Compendium volume four for 2nd edition AD&D and in the
3rd edition manual of the planes they get a mention.
While they are described as having a low intelligence, there is also lore describing how a rat demon
was the captain of a planes travelling Chaos ship, so exceptions to the norm exist but
they are on average only marginally intelligent, capable of carrying out simple commands or
thinking up commands of their own, as rat demons are able to control and command both
ordinary and giant rodents whenever they encounter them, even though they are foul creatures
of the abyss, this ability to command rats on the prime material plane can be one of
their most powerful assets, with highly unusual rat activity being one of the sure signs one
of these monsters is operating nearby.
The listing in Planescape says that they can summon only rodents that were already in the
area, and typically this would be 4d6 ordinary rats or 2d6 giant rats and the controlled
rodents are no more intelligent than any others but may seem so as they perform tasks that
the rat demon has given them.
Back in the lower planes and the infinite ruination of the abyssal layers, Uridezu are
either suffering in miserable servitude to greater Tanar'ri or scuttling around, scavenging
and lurking in the shadows, grabbing scraps of food and attacking the other lesser tanar'ri
such as the twisted rutterkin and swarming dretches.
They are so low in the pecking order of demons that more powerful types just treat them as
punching bags and playthings for their cruel amusements, their mistreatment is so bad that
most uridezu crave any excuse to get out of the abyss and explore other planes of existence,
and in this, they turn out to be remarkably resilient compared to the other lesser tanar'ri.
Magic-users who first attempt to summon random demons are far more likely to summon an uridezu
than other types and will find them quite willing to serve mortal masters, who may also
be cruel, but nowhere near as demon masters tend to be.
An annoyed summoner is unlikely to slowly tear them limb from limb and eat those limbs
in front of the uridezu as they do so.
It's not even like the rat demons have to hunt down rifts to other planes, they have
the ability to stand motionless and very vulnerable and phase themselves out of one reality and
into another, it takes them at least a few minutes to do this and during that process,
they tend to get pulled into any active summoning magic in the area, otherwise, they will just
phase-out of one plane and into another.
Because they are motionless and vulnerable when they do this, they will typically seek
out only isolated areas to depart or arrive.
Deep caves, the upper Underdark and ancient city sewers are perfect examples of favoured
spots.
There is more to their plane shifting powers than though, and many of them seem to find
themselves trapped on the prime material plane for as much as centuries at a time.
The truth is, this is because often they are deliberately sent by greater demons to the
prime to serve mortals who have made bargains with them, and the greater demons will bind
the uridezu to the prime material plane as part of that, not caring that mortals only
live for short periods of time, they will brand uridezu with magical glyphs that block
their plane travel ability for hundreds of years and the uridezu are too stupid to know
how to rid themselves of the marks.
A rat demon's vital energy is maintained outside of the abyss by preying on other living creatures,
so while they command rodents, they also regularly summon them simply to gorge on their flesh
and consume their essence to sustain themselves, which is similar to a need to eat, but not
quite the same, they gain no nourishment unless they eat creatures that are still alive.
If they are killed on the prime material or other non-abyssal planes, like all other demons,
they will dissolve into a foul ichor that boils completely away within a matter of minutes.
reforming in the Abyss from one of the countless spawning pits.
More powerful abyssal masters such as the Succubi, Glabrezu and Balors find different
uses for them, the Balor whip them into packs of expendable slaves that they send in waves
to just grind down opponents with violence, gore and shocking disregard for their own
minions.
Gladrezu often use rat demons to send messages or fetch objects, with any mistake or failure
of the uridezu being rewarded with a cruel and certain death, usually disgusting torture
followed by being torn apart and eaten, their meek demonic essence being consumed by the
glabrezu to increase the greater demons own formidable power.
Succubi are no less cruel, though at least they don't tend to eat the uridezu as they
kill them, they may simply command the uridezu to leave the abyss and not return until they
have redeemed themselves through spreading chaos and destruction.
In combat, the rat demon will hide behind its rodent minions where possible, keeping
itself concealed yet able to observe its enemies and direct its rat minions to fight far more
viciously and cleverly than they would naturally do so.
Rat demons spend eons in a miserable existence where they are constantly hiding from far
stronger demons and other abyssal horrors of the countless twisted nightmare worlds
which each layer of the abyss is comprised of, each chunk of reality that the abyss has
devoured as it spreads through the multiverse.
This spineless behaviour is a survival instinct, but they are not cowering in fear, they are
waiting for their opportunity to strike from the darkness.
Uridezu prefer to disarm their victims or occupy them with their rat minions before
they dart in, deceptively fast, and lash out with their formidable bite.
The bite of a rat demon causes paralysis, they are +6 to hit with any of their physical
attacks, this includes a sweeping tail attack that causes 1d4+1 bludgeoning damage and will
force the target to make a DC 13 Dexterity saving throw or be knocked prone.
Remember, anyone knocked prone must spend half their movement to stand up again and
while prone they have disadvantage on the attacks they make, while an enemy has advantage
on their attack against them if the attack is within 5ft, otherwise attackers further
away instead suffer disadvantage on their attacks on the prone target, so the rat demon
will sweep and then make a bite attack on a prone target, or if the target remains standing,
they will usually make a pair of claw attacks instead, swapping damage for
Bitten victims must succeed on a DC 13 Constitution saving throw or be poisoned for 1 minute.
Until this poison ends, the target is paralyzed.
The target can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect
on itself on a success.
Saving against the bite does not confer immunity to further bite attack paralysis so it is
possible for rat demons to keep a victim immobile for quite some time, which is exactly what
they do when they abduct a victim back to their lair and feast on them while they are
still alive, along with their rat minions.
Uridezu have an armor class of 15 and 11d10+33 or between 44 and 143 with an average of 93
hit points, they have a speed of 40 ft and can swim at 30 ft per round, they are more
agile than they look, particularly when climbing and have 60 foot darkvision.
They are immune to natural fire, cold, lightning and poison plus, they are also deceptively
skilled hand to hand fighters who are exceptionally good at gaining the upper hand in combat.
In 5th edition, the rat demons have to use one of the optional combat rules, found in
the Dungeon Masters Guide, to disarm their opponent.
The rules state that a creature can use a weapon attack to knock a weapon or another
item from a target’s grasp.
The attacker makes an attack roll contested by the target’s Strength (Athletics) check
or Dexterity (Acrobatics) check.
If the attacker wins the contest, the attack causes no damage or other ill effect, but
the defender drops the item.
The attacker has disadvantage on its attack roll if the target is holding the item with
two or more hands.
The target has advantage on its ability check if it is larger than the attacking creature,
or disadvantage if it is smaller, rat demons are medium-sized so this is normally not much
of an issue for adventurers, but, it's handy to know.
A typical attack might start with movement from hiding to get advantage on that tail
sweep, then either biting a prone target, or attempting to disarm with a claw attack
if the target is still standing, if the target drops their weapon or shield or staff or whatever,
the rat demon will keep making bite and claw attacks, retreating defensively if it starts
to take heavy damage, they are stupid creatures, but do have a strong sense of self-preservation...
they are immortal unless destroyed, so it is much better to retreat and then attack
again much later... time is quite an ally for supernatural fiends.
Other than being loaned out by powerful demons to mortals who seek pacts and such, there
is not much else to say about rat demons.
They did give me some ideas about how to make a really hateable NPC cambion, a half-blooded
rat demon, the result of a revolting possession of a mortal which results in the spawning,
or birth, of a Rat Cambion.
I can picture a rat cambion ruling over a tribe of wererats and a swarm of thousands
of vicious rats deep in the sewers of an ancient city.
Thieves guilds run by mortal humanoid criminals is one thing, a den of wererats, rat demon
cambion and many, many rats who do their bidding is quite another sort of thing.
Next up in the demons series, let's take a look at another lesser demon, the manes!
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