Keen Smell. The rat has advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on smell.
Pack Tactics. The rat has advantage on an attack roll against a creature if at least one of the rat's allies is within 5 ft. of the creature and the ally isn't incapacitated.
Actions
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 4 (1d4 + 2) piercing damage. If the target is a creature, it must succeed on a DC 10 Constitution saving throw or contract a disease. Until the disease is cured, the target can't regain hit points except by magical means, and the target's hit point maximum decreases by 3 (1d6) every 24 hours. If the target's hit point maximum drops to 0 as a result of this disease, the target dies.
How many giant rats (diseased) for a fight?
A giant rat (diseased) is worth 25 XP. Using the 2024 encounter budgets (SRD 5.2), this is how many giant rats (diseased) fit each difficulty for a party of four characters of the same level. A dash means even one would be over the budget.
Party level
Low
Moderate
High
1st
8
12
12+
Budgets add up every monster’s XP, so you can swap some for other creatures of the same total. Try other party sizes and mixes in the encounter calculator.
How the giant rat (diseased) compares at CR 1/8
Against the 18 other challenge 1/8 monsters in the SRD 5.1, the giant rat (diseased) has more hit points than 5 of them, which makes it a little frailer than most at its CR. See every CR 1/8 monster.
