The one I got (well, naruhoodie reminded me about it so I guess they actually “got it,” I’m just the messenger):
The College of Illusion subclass’ Improved Minor Illusion feature unsurprisingly includes an improvement for Minor Illusion.
When you cast minor illusion, you can create both a sound and an image with a single casting of the spell.
However, even though the capability to add that improvement through the subclass feature exists, it does not get added. Apparently the Additional Description field of the Spell subform for that subclass feature is blank.
The “maybe” (I don’t know if it’s a mistake by DDB or WotC, so that’s why it’s a maybe):
I was looking through some monsters and noticed something while I had this list up: 👉[click 🐀 me]. (Well, technically I noticed three somethings, but all about the same monster.)
The statblock for a Swarm of Rats (Diseased Variant) lists it as a “Medium swarm of Small beasts.” That seemed odd since a swarm of rats is a Medium swarm of Tiny beasts. I wasn’t sure if it was supposed to be a “swarm of diseased giant rats” or something, bur everything else matches a non-diseased swarm of rats, including the description of the Swarm special trait stating “the swarm can move through any opening large enough for a Tiny rat.”
I wanted to see if it the same in the source adventure when I discovered that monster is not listed in the Creature Appendix for TftYP. (I’m guessing this one at least is a WotC thing and not something DDB can address.) Then I looked into the specific module that includes that monster, The Hidden Shrine of Tamoachan. The statblock is not listed there either, at least not in the DDB digital compendium. All that compendium has is a link the the statblock I was trying to cross check in the first place. 🤨 And since I don’t have TftYP in print, I cannot confirm what WotC actually published or not. (I don’t even have the original one in my collection unfortunately, so I cannot check there either.)
That’s when I noticed that the name listed in the digital compendium reads as “swarm of rats (diseased, as giant rats)” and not “swarm of rats (diseased variant).”
So, after noticing those three somethings I am guessing that there is no actual statblock for the swarm from WotC at all, and that DDB had to generate one for its own system and the convenience of its customers. (Instead of expecting us to homebrew it for ourselves by copying the Swarm of Rats and adding the disease to the bite.) I am also guessing that whoever created it accidentally selected “Diseased Giant Rat” in the Swarm Monster Type dropdown instead of just “rat.”
Minor Illusion note: this is a good suggestion. So I've implemented it (but it will take a bit of time for the servers to cycle through its cache).
This is a bit of a weird one. Essentially, we had to create a variant statblock for the Swarm of Rats (Diseased Variant) as it's a possible encounter listed here: https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/tftyp/a3/the-hidden-shrine-of-tamoachan#RandomEncounters. In order for us to fully support this for the Encounter Builder/Combat Tracker, we have to create it as a variant monster so that users can select it should they need to run that encounter, so your guess is spot on in that regard. However, as the encounter specifically states:
swarms of rats (diseased, as giant rats)
We have to go with the interpretation that it is a Swarm of Diseased Giant Rats.
I can understand what you’re saying, but if I may:
It says “Swarm of Rats” specifically, not “Swarm of Giant Rats” nor “Swarm of Diseased Giant Rats.” Afterwords it says “(diseased, as giant rats)” which in English (according to every English professor I ever had) should be interpreted as “diseased, [the same] as giant rats [can be diseased].”
However, even if your interpretation is correct, and it is in fact supposed to be a “Swarm of Diseased Giant Rats,” then why is everything else about that statblock the same as a regular swarm of rats instead? Look at the Str, Dex, Cha, Attack and Damage bonuses, even the CR are all spot-on identical to the statblock for a normal swarm of rats, not at all akin to the diseased giant rat at all. Even the name used “swarm of rats (diseased variant)” indicates that the individual who made the statblock was under the impression that it was a normal swarm of rats that just happens to be diseased.
If it were in fact a “Swarm of Diseased Giant Rats” I would expect it to look more like this:
Keen Smell. The swarm has advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on smell.
Swarm Tactics. The swarm has advantage on attack rolls.
Swarm. The swarm can occupy another creature's space and vice versa, and the swarm can move through any opening large enough for a Small giant rat. The swarm can't regain hit points or gain temporary hit points.
Actions
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack:+4 to hit, reach 0 ft., one target. Hit: 9 (2d6 + 2) piercing damage, or 5 (1d6 + 2) piercing damage if the swarm has half of its hit points or fewer. 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.
Description
Some giant rats carry vile diseases that they spread with their bites.
Now, I understand your people cannot simply invent such statistics and abilities as I can. However, wouldn’t that lend even more credibility to the theory that it is in fact supposed to simply be a regular Swarm of Rats that happens to have the same “diseased” rider on their bite that the Diseased Giant Rat has? (Occam's Razor and all.)
The one I got (well, naruhoodie reminded me about it so I guess they actually “got it,” I’m just the messenger):
The College of Illusion subclass’ Improved Minor Illusion feature unsurprisingly includes an improvement for Minor Illusion.
However, even though the capability to add that improvement through the subclass feature exists, it does not get added. Apparently the Additional Description field of the Spell subform for that subclass feature is blank.
The “maybe” (I don’t know if it’s a mistake by DDB or WotC, so that’s why it’s a maybe):
I was looking through some monsters and noticed something while I had this list up: 👉[click 🐀 me]. (Well, technically I noticed three somethings, but all about the same monster.)
So, after noticing those three somethings I am guessing that there is no actual statblock for the swarm from WotC at all, and that DDB had to generate one for its own system and the convenience of its customers. (Instead of expecting us to homebrew it for ourselves by copying the Swarm of Rats and adding the disease to the bite.) I am also guessing that whoever created it accidentally selected “Diseased Giant Rat” in the Swarm Monster Type dropdown instead of just “rat.”
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D&D Beyond StaffMinor Illusion note: this is a good suggestion. So I've implemented it (but it will take a bit of time for the servers to cycle through its cache).
This is a bit of a weird one. Essentially, we had to create a variant statblock for the Swarm of Rats (Diseased Variant) as it's a possible encounter listed here: https://www.dndbeyond.com/sources/tftyp/a3/the-hidden-shrine-of-tamoachan#RandomEncounters. In order for us to fully support this for the Encounter Builder/Combat Tracker, we have to create it as a variant monster so that users can select it should they need to run that encounter, so your guess is spot on in that regard. However, as the encounter specifically states:
We have to go with the interpretation that it is a Swarm of Diseased Giant Rats.
Thank you in regards to the Illusionist subclass.
As to the vermin issue:
I can understand what you’re saying, but if I may:
It says “Swarm of Rats” specifically, not “Swarm of Giant Rats” nor “Swarm of Diseased Giant Rats.” Afterwords it says “(diseased, as giant rats)” which in English (according to every English professor I ever had) should be interpreted as “diseased, [the same] as giant rats [can be diseased].”
However, even if your interpretation is correct, and it is in fact supposed to be a “Swarm of Diseased Giant Rats,” then why is everything else about that statblock the same as a regular swarm of rats instead? Look at the Str, Dex, Cha, Attack and Damage bonuses, even the CR are all spot-on identical to the statblock for a normal swarm of rats, not at all akin to the diseased giant rat at all. Even the name used “swarm of rats (diseased variant)” indicates that the individual who made the statblock was under the impression that it was a normal swarm of rats that just happens to be diseased.
If it were in fact a “Swarm of Diseased Giant Rats” I would expect it to look more like this:
Keen Smell. The swarm has advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks that rely on smell.
Swarm Tactics. The swarm has advantage on attack rolls.
Swarm. The swarm can occupy another creature's space and vice versa, and the swarm can move through any opening large enough for a Small giant rat. The swarm can't regain hit points or gain temporary hit points.
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 0 ft., one target. Hit: 9 (2d6 + 2) piercing damage, or 5 (1d6 + 2) piercing damage if the swarm has half of its hit points or fewer. 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.
Description
Some giant rats carry vile diseases that they spread with their bites.
Now, I understand your people cannot simply invent such statistics and abilities as I can. However, wouldn’t that lend even more credibility to the theory that it is in fact supposed to simply be a regular Swarm of Rats that happens to have the same “diseased” rider on their bite that the Diseased Giant Rat has? (Occam's Razor and all.)
Creating Epic Boons on DDB
DDB Buyers' Guide
Hardcovers, DDB & You
Content Troubleshooting