WERERAT BOY TIME!!!
You all meet up with Prince Nicholas at the gates of castle. He is flanked by the usual 4 high-ranking guards, and they all walk with you as Prince Nicholas leads the group to Hajim's Sailing Goats. Once there, he waves the guards off and they begrudgingly depart. He shows you a section of a pasture that has been closed off from the goats. There is one trail of blood coming from the closed off area that lead into the nearby forest, and its on top of some dirt as opposed to grass. (west). [a lot of the fence has been replaced and there are patches of turned dirt leading to the forest, both evidence of covering up the murders of more goats.]
What would you like to do?
trees in forest are 30-50 feet tall
[TRACK. SOME. BLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD.
While tracking blood, there is a 25% chance of a random encounter. Encounter will have 2 Phase spiders (https://roll20.net/compendium/dnd5e/Phase%20Spider#content). Nicholas Holloway and Pov will help them.
If they are unable Nick will just solve it for them because I do not trust Croth not to get weird n shit]
You are able to track the trail to a small, abandoned camp in the woods. Here, there are the rotting skeletons of what you would presume to be a couple more goats, picked clean of any meat. However, I would like for you all to roll perception.
[DC 14 ~ show them a picture of Rodney and say they see him in the buses, crouched, and watching.]
If no one sees Rodney, survival to track will lead them to the bush. Upon investigation, Rodney will spring from the bushes, and has a 25 percent chance of hitting a player. If he does, he'll do 1d8 bludgeoning damage. If he doesn't hit them, he will go to the other side of the camp, turn around, and take a defensive position. (Ready action - trigger = player moving to attack him, reaction = attack the player)
If they ask him questions, moral dilemma ensues. Do they kill him for murdering goats? Or do they let him live since his condition was not his choice? Up to the players!!!! Please for the love of god will they actually role play today? Here's hoping.
What my rat boy knows:
He was bitten by another wererat (who he does not know the name of) a couple of months before the PC's find him. All he knows is that it is really painful to change back and Rodney is a hungry boy stuck in his half rat hybrid shape.