Sometime ago I made a Pest-Controller (sorry, I know the name is not metal enough, but it's official, kind of!) background package for that good old rat-catching in space, despite the absense of a loyal (and angry!) lil' cyberdog. So, the other day I was playing around with the Xeno Generator and created a race of small angry creatures with acid blood that were pretty a miniature version of the Alien (from, well, Alien), without claws or size and Psychic Powers. I forgot about it on my workshop.

Then, when eating soup the idea came to me. What if those creatures used its acid blood to pour open victims, eat their flesh and lay eggs in their still-warm bodies? What if they, like the Cranium Rats from Planescape, grew in intelligence and magical power as their numbers swelled? So I took those ideas, bashed them in the old head, decided I just had to let that loose in my players (not yet, not yet)... And share it with you lot.

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WARP-RAT (version 2.0)

The eyeless bipedal creatures known as Warp-Rats are similar to the common rodent species they are named after only in their characteristic teeth, matted fur and proportions. They plague ships through-out the entirety of the Calixis Sector and beyond and are known to be carnivorous and territorial.

They wouldn't be considered a matter of relevance for the Inquisition if it wasn't for their innate psychic abilities, a product of generations exposed to the warp, and the exponential growth of their psychic powers and apparent intelligence, when concentrated in numbers, thus requiring constant vigilance and a quelling of their numbers. Inquisitorial agents have uncovered reports of these creatures controlling the minds of crew members in rituals of self-flagellation and sacrifice. Navis folklore even goes as far as claim entire ships to have disappeared in the Warp after being taken over by the hive-mind of these creatures.

In small numbers, they are not particularly dangerous, feeding off other lesser creatures and protecting their breeding grounds. The profile below is that of an individual Warp-Rat.

WS 28
BS --
S 24
T 41
Ag 28
Int 17
Per 42
WP 27
Fel 10

Movement: 2/4/6/8 Wounds: 3
Skills: Awareness +10, Climb +10, Psynisciense, Silent Move +10
Traits: Acid Blood, Bestial, Blind, Puny, Unnatural Sense (30m)

Weapons: Acid Blood*;
Threat Rating: Xenos Minima

*If a Warp-Rat grabs hold of a target, it'll open sores on its own flesh, allowing for the acid blood to seep into its victim. Every turn that it remains attached will result in the loss of one armor protection in the area, and, eventually, 1d5+4 E damage each turn after the acid has spread and eaten through the armour. This is in addition to the normal effects of the Acid Blood trait presented on page 28 of the Gamemaster's Kit for Dark Heresy.

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Mostly, however, Warp-Rats attack in packs and attempt to outnumber opponents. Given their size and proximity to each other, a group of Warp-Rats can be treated as a single entity for the purpose of combat:

WS 30-50T
BS --
S 25-45T
T 42-62T
Ag 28
Int 17
Per 42
WP 25-45T
Fel 10

Movement: 2/4/6/8 Wounds: 3+T
Skills: Awareness +10, Climb +10, Psynisciense, Silent Move +10
Traits: Acid Blood, Blind, Disperse**, Fear 0/0/1/2, Puny(3)/Scrawny(4-10)/Average(11-20)/Hulking(20+)***, Unnatural Sense (30m).

The traits separated by a slash are dependent on the number of present Warp-Rats, Fear progresses in the same guideline numbered on the size traits.

Weapons: Acid Blood*;
Threat Rating: Xenos Majoris

**The creature can choose, as a full action, to disperse itself in a number of lesser creatures equal to its remaining wound levels. This happens automatically if it fails any Willpower Test or takes more than half its health levels in wounds from a single attack.

T:The number of Warp-Rats influence these stats. Add one to each of these stats for every Warp-Rat in the pack, up to the limit marked. As pack animals, they lend each other strength and resilience, but that only goes so far, except when it comes down to wound points, which go as far as the number of Warp-Rats present. Remember to reduce this value as the pack receives damage.

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THE WARP-RAT HOST
As Warp-Rats grow in number, their hive develops a collective consciousness, whose presence is distributed through every member of the hive and is the true source of their psychic powers. Warp-Rats are hermaphrodites and deposit eggs inside the hollowed out meat of bigger creatures, which may not be necessarily be dead for that to happen. In fact, more evolved hives seem to favour live hosts, this is the main objective of the host.

The Warp-Rat Host is capable of exerting its psychic might through (and over) any of the creatures as long as they are within a radius Psy Rating^2 Kilometers of the hive grounds. It's still limited by the number of actions one can normally take each turn, though it may use more than one psychic power if those are reactions or half-actions, in this case, however, the Host is only allowed one free action. Psychic Phenomena are centered on the Warp-Rat that has been used as a channel.

The Host is centered upon the Hive, which is an area specially prepared as a breeding ground and always contains at least half of its Warp-Rats. This area presents a frailty in the fabric of space and is considered to be always under the effects of the Weaken Veil psychic power (Corebook, page 16, it covers an area as large as a single percentage of the influence radius of the Host and can be sensed by any character in this radius with a challenging Psyniscience test.

A Hive may never be established planetside due to its connection to the Warp. Should a ship containing a Warp Host ever reach planetside the Warp-Rats will disperse and lose all but their most atavistic connections.

Use the following stats for the Warp-Rat-Host-Hive-Mind.

WS -
BS -
S -
T -
Ag -
Per 50
Int 42
WP 45
Fel 31

Skills: Awareness +10, Forbidden Lore (Warp), Scholastic Lore (Occult), Scrutiny, Search, Speak Language (Ship Dialect), Psyniscience +20.
Traits: Psy Rating (special).

The Host grows in power with each member, following the progression below. The numbers before the dash are the minimum benchmark for each rating:

Warp Rats/ Psy Rating
27/ I
81/ II
243/ III
729/ IV
2187/ V
6561/ VI
19683/ VII
59049/ VIII
177147/ IX
531441/ X

The effects of Psy Rating VII + mirror those of Psy Rating IV-VI. Warp-Hosts tend to favour powers from the Telepathy Discipline, though circunstances may dictate other needs for the hive-mind. Each degree of Psy Rating beyond the first adds 5 to each of the Host's present attributes and provides it with two skills/talents. The creatures belonging to the Host develop a new skill/talent at each level (or improve an existing skill) and gain a single mutation.

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This is a secondary draft, clearly, so we're still open to all sorts of interventions.