General Rules: Monsters - Giant Beetle, Blister

Giant Blister Beetle (from Blackdirge's Dungeon Denizens)
Small Vermin

Hit Dice: 2d8+2 (11 hit points)
Initiative: +0
Speed: 30 feet
Armor Class: 16 (+1 size, +5 natural); touch 11, flat-footed 16
BAB/Grapple: +1/-3
Attack: Bite +2 melee (1d6, bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing, 20 x2)

Full Attack: Bite +2 melee (1d6, bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing, 20 x2)

Space/Reach: 5 feet by 5 feet/5 feet
Special Attacks: Blister spray, death spray

Special Qualities: Darkvision 60 feet, tremorsense 60 feet, poison immunity, vermin traits

Saves: Fortitude +4, Reflex +0, Will +0
Abilities: Str 11, Int -, Wis 10, Dex 10, Con 12, Cha 7

Skills: Hide +4 (+8 in heavy undergrowth or underground)

Feats: -
Environment: Warm forest and underground
Organization: Solitary, cluster (2 - 5) or click (4 - 9)
Challenge Rating: 1
Treasure: None
Alignment: Always neutral
Advancement: 3 - 6 Hit Dice (Small)

Giant blister beetles are gigantic cousins of the tiny vermin of the same name. They are scavengers and occasional predators that hunt the dense undergrowth of jungles or the subterranean passages of the underdark.

Giant blister beetles survive in temperate climes, specifically prairies and light woods. They adapt well to cultivation of the land, and indeed thrive in pastrues and crop fields where a steady diet of insects and nutrient-rich vegetation can be obtained. In fact, many farmers consider giant blister beetles a mixed blessing. They feed upon grasshoppers and locusts - both giant and mundane - and keep infestations of these destructive insectes to a minimum, but their diet also includes pollinating bees and many crops. Worse, blister beetles secrete an oily fluid which contaminates pastureland and feed, causing livestock to grow ill or die. On balance, they are generally considered a nuisance and exterminated.

Giant blister beetles don't inhabit arid environments, cold climes, or extremely moist areas such as jungles or marsh.

Individually, a giant blister beetle might lair in a log or hollow of a tree. When present in greater numbers, they creatre or assume a more permanent lair. Most often, these take the form of underground warrens, either excatvated by the beetles themselves or by weaker insects they evict. Giant blister beetles have also been known to inhabit natural caves, abandoned barns, or giant bee nests where they feed upon eggs, food stored in walls, and even adults.

Bees are a favored prey of giant blister beetles, but they also eat grasshoppers and locusts, either in normal or giant forms. Small fey, notably grigs, also fall victim to giant blister beetle predation. It is unknown whether the beetles mistake the vibrations of the grig's wings for those of a bee, or if they harbor some preference for the taste of the faeries, or whether they are simply opportunistic hunters. Whatever the reason, no grig community rests easy if a giant blister beetle colony establishes itself nearby. Vegetation also comprises a large portion of the blister beetle's diet.

Few creatures prey upon giant blister beetles, thanks to their ability to secrete foul-tasting black oils from their legs. Ankhegs, the voracious and undiscerning feeders that they are, seem to have no problem stomaching the beetles, and constitute a major check to their numbers.

Giant blister beetles have long, cylindrical, narrow bodies, often four times as long as they are wide. They range in color from solid gray to black, from yellow-striped to red-spotted. Unusual for beetles, their heads are wider than the first thoracis segment, giving them a distinctive "neck". Though giant blister beetles are omnivorous, their powerful mandibles have been perfectly designed to latch onto and quickly kill prey with vice-like strength.

The oily black liquid which blister beetles spit out as a weapon also nautally bleeds from pores in their legs. This liquid can foul livestock feed and pasture grass, killing sheep, cows, and even horses that ingest it (ingested poison, initial damage 1 Constitution, secondary damage 2d4 Constitution, Fortitude save DC 16 negates). The glands that produce this liquid can be extracted from dead beetles with a successful DC 12 Heal check, allowing the acid to be harvested. A failed check destroys the gland and its contents, but also results in the character splashing the oily liquid on themselves and suffering 1d3 points of acid damage. A single dose can be taken from an adult blister beetle. Some cultures, such as goblinoids, raise and harvest giant blister beetles and store the acid in dried gourds to be used as missile weapons. Mages have found the acid can be used as an additional material component to enhance Melf's acid arrow spells, when used as such, each missile deals 12d3 additional points of damage.

Blister beetles reproduce and mature quickly. Females lay 2d4 eggs and typically bury them under the earth or deposit them in a hole in the nest. The male covers the eggs with its blister spray, which both fertilizes them and acts as a deterrent to predation. Within three days, the eggs pop open and the young grubs, measuring about the size of a human hand, swarm out. These grubs feed on regurgitated matter provided by females, but are not helpless for long; they reach maturity in about three weeks. Giant blister beetles go into torpor during this winter months, hibernating until the soul warms again in spring.

Combat
When riled, a blister beetle releases a foul jet of inky black fluid that burns and blisters the skin of any creature it hits, Afterwards, it skitters in to finish off the weakened creature with its powerful mandibles.

Blister Spray (Ex): Once every four rounds, as a standard action, a blister beetle can shoot a stream of oily black liquid in a 20-foot line. All creatures within the area of effect must succeed on a DC 12 Reflex save to avoid the spray. On a failed save, the creature takes 1d3 points of acid damage and suffers a -2 modifier on attack rolls, ability checks, and skill checks for the next 10 rounds from painful blisters that appear on exposed skin. A DC 10 Heal check or any cure spell heals the blisters and negates the penltiues. The save DC is Constitution-based.

Death Spray (Ex): Whenever a killing blow is struck against a blister beetle, all creatures within a 5-foot radius must make a DC 12 Reflex save or be sprayed with the foul blistering liquid. On a failed save, the creature takes 1d3 points of acid damage and suffers a -2 modifier on attack rolls, ability checks, and skill checks for the next 10 rounds from painful blisters that appear on exposed skin. A DC 10 Heal check or any cure spell heals the blisters and negates the penltiues. The save DC is Constitution-based.

Vermin: Immune to all mind-affecting effects (charms, compulsions, phantasms, patterns, and morale effects).

Skills: Blister beetles gain a +4 racial bonus to Hide chgecks in areas of heavy undergrowth or underground.

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