Giant Rat

Giant rats are scavengers, but will attack to defend their nests and territories. A giant rat can grow to be up to 4 feet long and weigh over 50 pounds. A single giant rat, or a small group of up to four, will generally be shy, but larger packs attack fearlessly, biting and chewing with their sharp incisors.

Any rat bite has a 5% chance of causing a disease. A character who suffers one or more rat bites where the die roll indicates disease will sicken in 3d6 hours. The infected character will lose one point of Constitution per hour; after losing each point, the character is allowed a save vs. Death Ray (adjusted by the current Constitution bonus or penalty) to break the fever and end the disease. Any character reduced to zero Constitution is dead. See Constitution Point Losses in the Encounter section for details on regaining lost Constitution.

Special Abilities

Disease — 5% chance of causing disease. Infected character sickens in 3d6 hours and loses one point of Constitution per hour. Save vs. Death Ray (adjusted by current Constitution bonus or penalty) after each point lost to break fever. Zero Constitution means death.

Pack Behavior — A single giant rat, or a small group of up to four, will generally be shy, but larger packs attack fearlessly.

Huge and giant rats are vicious, opportunistic omnivores often found in ruins and upper dungeon levels. Each successful bite from such a rat has a 5% chance of causing a disease (as the cleric spell cause disease) unless the victim passes a saving throw vs poison.

Special Abilities

Disease — Each successful bite has a 5% chance of causing a disease (as the cleric spell cause disease) unless the victim passes a saving throw vs poison.