Giant Beetle

Giant beetles are ordinary beetles blown up thousands of times over, with grinding mandibles and two pairs of hard wings that act as armor. Luckily those wings cannot lift them, and on six bristly legs most cannot outrun a fleeing man. Shells protect like plate mail, and bright ones interest art collectors, but making armor from them needs a skilled alchemist.

Mindless and always hungry, a beetle tastes with its antennae and crushes and eats anything organic, other beetles included. The mandibles grind so thoroughly that nothing a giant beetle eats can be revived by less than a wish. Unless noted, beetles found together are rivals for the same food, not family.

Found above ground in woodlands, it piles up carrion and offal in which to lay eggs. Attacked or disturbed, it has a 50% chance each round to swing its rear around and blast an 8-foot sphere of stinking red acid vapor that deals 3d4 damage per round to those inside. The bang has a 20% chance to stun any hearing creature within 15 feet for 2d4 rounds, followed by 2d4 rounds of deafness, and a separate 20% chance to deafen those not stunned for 2d6 rounds. It can fire every third round, but at most twice in eight hours.

The blast comes from two internal chemicals mixed in a third organ. If one dies before firing both shots, the chemicals can be cut out and, with the right equipment, made into a small explosive or used to launch a projectile; alchemists pay 50 gp per dose.

These eat rotting wood and similar matter, living alone in huge trees or in great numbers in tunnel complexes. Their bite can deal up to 20 points of damage. One beetle is no brighter than any other, but a whole nest is rumored to share a group mind with roughly human reasoning, and such nests hoard treasure and magic taken from victims.

Underground they farm molds, slimes and fungi on waste, especially shriekers, which are both a treat and an alarm. Intruders who set one off are swiftly killed, sometimes eaten, and used as compost.

The smallest giant beetle is still dangerous, its mandibles dealing up to triple a dagger's damage in one bite. Despite the name it has no fire attack. Mostly nocturnal, it lives both above and below ground. Two glands over its eyes and one near its tail glow red, and once removed they keep shining for 1d6 days, lighting a 10-foot radius. The light is cold, and mages dream of unlocking it for a safe lamp that might in theory burn forever.

This rare beetle roams tropical jungles eating fruit and trampling whatever is in its path. Its mandibles deal 3d6 damage and its horn, roughly 6 feet long, adds 2d8. As the largest of all beetles, its bright or iridescent shell is valued intact by temples of an ancient desert pantheon as a giant scarab ornament, and its likeness is the holy symbol of priests of that pantheon's insect god.

A woodland grain-eater and farm raider, it fights when attacked or when it finds food. Its two horns, rarely shorter than 8 feet, each deal up to 10 damage. A raid strips a farm fast, panics livestock into stampedes, and may end with the animals eaten.

It lives only in fresh water at least 30 feet deep. Clumsy on land but fast when swimming, it hunts by scent and vibration and will eat almost anything, though it prefers animals. In navigable waters it sinks boats to reach the people inside. It breathes air, staying under for long spells by trapping a bubble beneath its wings, and it can stash that bubble in an underwater cave as an air supply.