Wererat 5e: Stats, Forms and Running a Sewer Ambush

A wererat is a CR 2 lycanthrope that lives as an ordinary person, fights as a rat-headed hybrid with a hand crossbow, and spreads its curse with a bite. The 2014 wererat has AC 12, 33 hit points and immunity to bludgeoning, piercing and slashing damage from nonmagical attacks not made with silvered weapons, which makes it close to invulnerable to a level 2 party without spells. The 2024 wererat drops that immunity entirely, nearly doubles its hit points to 60, gains a 30-foot climb speed and darkvision in every form, and is now a Monstrosity instead of a Humanoid.

Table of Contents

• •Wererat Stat Block (2014)
• •Wererat Forms Compared
• •The Wererat in the 2024 Rules
• •How Wererats Fight
• •How Many Wererats for Your Party?
• •How Players Beat Wererats
• •Wererat Encounter Ideas
• •Frequently Asked Questions

Wererat Stat Block (2014)

SRD 5.1 prints one wererat stat block with form notes on each action. The three blocks below split it by form; the hybrid is the one you'll use in most fights.

Its offense is thin: +4 to hit, 5 damage from a shortsword or hand crossbow and 4 from the bite. A level 2 party survives that easily. The CR comes from the defensive line. Immunity to bludgeoning, piercing and slashing from nonmagical attacks not made with silvered weapons means the fighter's longsword does nothing. SRD 5.1 prices silvering at 100 gp for one weapon or ten pieces of ammunition.

Keen Smell gives Advantage on Perception checks that rely on smell. With Perception +2, that's an effective 17 passive score against anything it can smell, which in a sewer is most things. Stealth +4 lets it set the ambush rather than walk into one.

Wererat Forms Compared

The wererat's true form is humanoid. It reverts to that form when it dies (2014). Its statistics are the same in every form except size and what it can attack with.

Two practical points. A 2014 wererat in rat form makes one bite a turn, so rat form is for sneaking and escaping, not fighting. And only rat and hybrid forms can bite, so a wererat that wants to spread the curse has to change shape first. In 2014 that costs its whole action; in 2024 it shifts and bites in the same turn.

The Wererat in the 2024 Rules

The 2024 wererat (SRD 5.2.1) stays at CR 2 and 450 XP.

The curse is now a combat effect. SRD 5.1 says only that a Humanoid that fails the save is "cursed with wererat lycanthropy." The rules for what that does to a character are in the 2014 Monster Manual, not the SRD. The 2024 bite spells it out: on a failed DC 11 Constitution save the target is cursed, and if it drops to 0 hit points it becomes a Wererat under the GM's control with 10 hit points. On a success, it's immune to that wererat's curse for 24 hours.

The trade-off at the table is the same one the werewolf makes, scaled down a tier. The 2014 wererat is a puzzle: the party can't hurt it until they find silver or magic. The 2024 wererat is a straight fight it's more likely to win, with twice the hit points and better attacks, but any sword can cut it.

Type matters for spells. Hold Person and Charm Person can target the 2014 wererat in any form, because its creature type stays Humanoid. They can't target the 2024 Monstrosity.

How Wererats Fight

A werewolf hunts in the open with a pack. A wererat fights from somewhere the party can't easily reach: a sewer ledge, a rafter, a gap in a cellar wall. The stat block points that way. It has a ranged weapon, Stealth, and in 2024 a climb speed equal to its walking speed.

Damage per round against AC 15:

Averages use the dice (shortsword 1d6 + 2 = 5.5, bite 1d4 + 2 = 4.5 in 2014; Scratch 6.5, Bite 2d4 + 3 = 8 in 2024). Neither version kills quickly. The danger is the curse and the time it buys.

Shoot from height, then drop in to bite (2024). A 2024 wererat climbs 30 feet up a wall, shoots twice with the hand crossbow, and on a later turn climbs down and uses its Bonus Action to shift to hybrid form before biting. Against a character with Constitution +2, each bite has about a 22% chance to curse (55% to hit, then 40% to fail DC 11). A cursed character who goes down mid-fight gets back up as an enemy with 10 hit points.

Rely on immunity (2014). A 2014 wererat should engage the party's weapon users and ignore their attacks. It only needs to avoid spellcasters and anyone holding silver. When the cleric starts casting, it changes to rat form and slips into a drain.

Escape as a rat. In both editions the rat form is the exit plan. Both editions make the rat form Small (the 2014 text calls it a giant rat). Either one runs through tunnels a party in armor can't follow quickly, and the wererat comes back the next night as the friendly dockhand.

Bring the rats. Pair wererats with giant rats or a swarm of rats. The rats soak attacks and hold the party in place while the wererat shoots from cover.

How Many Wererats for Your Party?

A wererat is worth 450 XP. Using the 2024 SRD 5.2.1 budget for four characters:

Giant rats are CR 1/8 (25 XP). Under the 2014 Dungeon Master's Guide guidelines that our encounter difficulty calculator uses, one wererat is an Easy fight for four level 3 characters (450 XP against an Easy threshold of 300 and Medium of 600). Two wererats are 900 XP, multiplied by 1.5 for a pair to 1,350, which is Hard.

Adjust for the immunity. The 2014 numbers assume the party can damage it. If nobody has a magic weapon, silver or a damage spell, the encounter isn't Easy. It can't be won by fighting. Give the party a way to learn what they're facing before the fight, or use the 2024 stat block.

How Players Beat Wererats

• •Silver, magic or spells (2014). Silvered weapons and magic weapons ignore the immunity, and so does every damage spell. Magic Missile never misses and a wererat at 33 hit points takes three or four castings to drop.
• •Moonbeam pins its form. Moonbeam works on both versions. Under 2014 rules a shapechanger saves with Disadvantage, and on a failure it reverts to its true form and can't change while in the light. In 2024 a shape-shifted creature that fails reverts and can't shape-shift until it leaves the Cylinder. A wererat stuck in human form has no bite and can't escape as a rat.
• •Hold it (2014 only). A 2014 wererat is a Humanoid with Wisdom +0, so Hold Person paralyzes it on a failed save. The 2024 wererat is a Monstrosity and can't be targeted.
• •Cut off the drains. Close or guard the gaps a rat can use, and fight in rooms with one exit. A wererat that can't flee has to fight it out with its modest damage.
• •Heal the cursed early (2024). A character who failed the save is safe until they hit 0 hit points. Keep them up, then find someone who can cast Remove Curse, which ends all curses on a creature in both editions.
• •Aim at Charisma and Wisdom. Its Charisma save is -1 and its Wisdom save +0 in both editions, with no Magic Resistance, so spells that call for those saves land most often.

Wererat Encounter Ideas

The rat-catcher's guild. A city has hired the same rat-catchers for a generation, and the rat problem never gets better. The guild is a wererat family that keeps the sewers infested on purpose, because the job gives them keys to every cellar in the city. The party is hired to find out why a rival rat-catcher was found dead in a drain.

The bitten clerk (2024). A clerk in the harbor office was bitten during a robbery and failed the save. Nobody knows. Weeks later, during a fight with smugglers on the docks, he drops to 0 hit points and stands up as a wererat with 10 hit points, now working for the smugglers' boss. The party has to decide whether to fight him or knock him out and find Remove Curse.

The tithe of silver. A temple's silver plates and candlesticks are stolen one at a time. The thief is a 2014 wererat, and it isn't selling the silver. It's melting it down so nobody in the district can afford to silver a weapon. The party's job is the theft; the real problem is what the wererat plans to do once the city has no silver left.

Lycanthropes are best when the party learns the truth over several sessions. Loreify records your sessions and keeps track of every NPC so you can find the line the dockhand said three weeks ago.

Frequently Asked Questions

What CR is a wererat in 5e?

A wererat is CR 2 (450 XP) in both the 2014 and 2024 rules. The 2014 wererat has 33 hit points and AC 12; the 2024 wererat has 60 hit points and AC 13.

What is a wererat immune to?

The 2014 wererat is immune to bludgeoning, piercing and slashing damage from nonmagical attacks not made with silvered weapons. The 2024 wererat has no damage immunities.

How does wererat lycanthropy work?

A Humanoid bitten by a wererat in rat or hybrid form makes a DC 11 Constitution save or is cursed. In 2024, a cursed creature that drops to 0 hit points becomes a wererat under the GM's control with 10 hit points. SRD 5.1 only says the target is cursed with wererat lycanthropy; Remove Curse ends the curse in both editions.

What's the difference between a wererat and a werewolf?

The wererat is CR 2 and fights from cover with a hand crossbow, climbing and hiding. The werewolf is CR 3, hits harder and in 2024 hunts in packs with Pack Tactics. Both curse with their bite, and both lost their silver-weapon immunity in the 2024 rules.

Can a wererat climb walls?

The 2024 wererat has a 30-foot climb speed in every form. The 2014 wererat has only a 30-foot walking speed and no climb speed.

Stat blocks: System Reference Document 5.1 (2014) and 5.2.1 (2024), Wizards of the Coast, CC-BY-4.0. Tactics, encounter math and ideas are Loreify's own.