Diseased Giant Rat
Small Beast · · CR 1/8
- Beast
- Small
- Tier 1
Ranges across forest, swamp, underground, and urban; Diseased Giant Rat lists at CR 1/8 as a small beast (unaligned). Sourced from Monster Manual (5e 2014).
Stat Block
- Challenge Rating
- 1/8
- Type
- Beast
- Size
- Small
- Alignment
- —
- Speed
- —
- Habitats
- Forest, Swamp, Underground, Urban
- Sources
- Monster Manual (5e 2014)
Ecology
Diseased giant rats infest sewers, cellars, ruined catacombs, and fetid swamps, breeding rapidly in any environment with abundant filth. They eat refuse, corpses, and small living prey, and their teeth never stop growing. A single mating pair can produce sixty offspring per year. Their droppings poison wells, and their nests are woven from rags, hair, and the occasional knucklebone.
Behaviour
The diseased giant rat is bolder than its smaller cousins, willing to attack people in groups even in daylight. It is intensely social within its colony, sharing food and grooming, but viciously territorial against rival packs. Plague-touched individuals show matted fur, weeping eyes, and aggressive tremors; their bites carry a fever that can kill weeks after the wound has scabbed over.
Origin
Sages believe diseased giant rats arose from rats that fed on plague-corpses during a great urban outbreak centuries ago. The disease has bred true since, passing through the saliva of every generation. Rat-priests of certain dark cults venerate them as messengers of pestilent gods, breeding larger specimens in hidden warrens beneath cathedrals and palaces of careless rulers.
Related Monsters
Frequently Asked Questions about Diseased Giant Rat
- What is the challenge rating of Diseased Giant Rat?
- Diseased Giant Rat has a challenge rating of 1/8. It works against low-level groups.
- What type of creature is Diseased Giant Rat?
- By creature type, Diseased Giant Rat is a beast, small size.
- Where does Diseased Giant Rat live?
- In the bestiary, Diseased Giant Rat appears in Forest, Swamp, Underground, Urban.