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I just received my copy of the new MM the other day. The new Carrion Crawler stat block has this ability

Paralyzing Tentacles. Dexterity Saving Throw: DC 12, one creature the carrion crawler can see within 10 feet. Failure: The target has the Poisoned condition and repeats the save at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success. After 1 minute, it succeeds automatically. While Poisoned, the target has the Paralyzed condition.

However, the Paralyzed condition has as one of its effects

Saving Throws Affected. You automatically fail Strength and Dexterity saving throws.

Which would mean that once you fail your first save, you are auto-paralyzed for the full minute, as you automatically fail the followup saves to free yourself from the effect.

Is that a typo?

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    \$\begingroup\$ Well, I believe that the next time they'll publish first the errata and then the new manual... \$\endgroup\$ Commented Feb 21, 2025 at 13:04

2 Answers 2

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There is an official errata for the 2024 Monster Manual.

Under the Monster Manual Updates section of D&D Beyond's changelog, one can find (scrolling a little bit down) the list of the errata for the new MM:

Errata: Please note that there is an errata with the release of the Monster Manual. These changes have been implemented in the game data listings and the compendium. You can find all the changes below:

  • [...]
  • Carrion Crawler (p. 66). In the Paralyzing Tentacles action, "Dexterity Saving Throw" is now "Constitution Saving Throw".
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It's a typo and should be a Constitution saving throw

As confirmed by the official errata that @Eddymage found, this ability should be using a Constitution saving throw.

This also makes sense when looking at the context: The 2014 version of the Carrion Crawler called for a Constitution saving throw:

Tentacles. Melee Weapon Attack: +8 to hit, reach 10 ft., one creature. Hit: 4 (1d4 + 2) poison damage, and the target must succeed on a DC 13 Constitution saving throw [...]

This used to be an ability that required the Carrion Crawler to make an attack roll. Upon a hit, the resulting Constitution saving throw does not have the issue that the Dexterity saving throw has, because being paralyzed did and does not mean that you automatically fail Constitution saving throws.

In the new version, the ability does not require an attack roll any more; instead, it was switched directly to an effect that requires a saving throw. Dexterity is the typical saving throw that is used to avoid being hit by attacks or spells to begin with, so it makes sense that for avoiding the initial hit, this would be switched for a Dexterity saving throw. But that then does not work any more when you have to repeat the saving throws.

An alternative solution could be to make the first saving throw a Dexterity one, to avoid being hit, and then use Constitution for the following saving throws, to shake off the Paralyzed condition. However, this does not work with the way the ability is templated. Narratively, you also can justify directly using Constitution, as you are not only trying to avoid being hit, you're also trying to avoid being affected by the tentacles' poisonous mucus when hit. So maybe there is no way to avoid being hit, but you still can resist the effect.

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    \$\begingroup\$ Given the link to errata, this answer is now good. \$\endgroup\$ Commented Feb 22, 2025 at 5:51
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    \$\begingroup\$ I think editing one's answer to include new evidence is a good thing to do once we discover a better evidence. Because the errata does confirm it's indeed an error. \$\endgroup\$ Commented Feb 22, 2025 at 14:00
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    \$\begingroup\$ @SeriousBri I also could just have deleted my answer, but I felt the considerations added some color and background that is abesent in Eddymages conclusive one. I explored the comments on DDB, where before they updated it, the community was of the opinion a mix of Dex/Con made sense, but I think ultimately what they did is simpler and better \$\endgroup\$ Commented Feb 22, 2025 at 15:10

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