Many types of beetles inhabit the world, and, depending on the location and culture, they are used as food, companions, or beasts of burden by its people.
Forest Beetles. Giant bombardier beetles lurk on the forest floor. A placid herbivore content to go about its business, the beetle has a powerful defense mechanism in the form of a boiling liquid it can spray to scald would-be predators as it makes its escape.
Arctic Beetles. Giant snow beetles are carrion-eating beetles that inhabit the coldest parts of the world. They collect snow into large balls for use against their enemies, for protection for their lairs, and to house their eggs. When food is abundant, they pack extra carrion into snowballs, saving the food for later or for feeding freshly hatched larvae. When attacked, giant snow beetles fling any snowballs on-hand that don’t contain their young, often splattering attackers with frozen, rotten meat.
Underworld Beetles. Lantern and sniffer beetles live in the Underworld and feast primarily on the fungus that grows in the darkest caverns. Both lantern and sniffer beetles are docile, and they’re often trained by denizens of the Underworld as mobile light sources or for detecting particular scents. The glow of the lantern beetle’s abdomen is from the digestion of bioluminescent fungus, which reacts with the beetle’s gut to make the glow. Most often found in the fungal forests of the Underworld, the lantern beetle can inhabit any cavern where bioluminescent fungus is plentiful. The beetle can consume other fungi and plants, but its abdomen dims to a mild glow if the beetle consumes no bioluminescent fungi for more than a month.
Companions and Familiars. Forest rangers often train bombardier beetles as companions, valuing the beetle’s spray for its ability to deter beasts without setting fire to the forest. Lantern and sniffer beetles can be called to serve a spellcaster via the find familiar spell. The lantern beetle is a popular choice among junior wizards seeking a light source for late-night studying. The sniffer beetle sees a variety of uses on the surface world, with its most common use being as the eyes and nose for wizards with limited vision.
Giant Snow Beetle
Large beast, unalignedArmor Class 12 (natural armor)
Hit Points 45 (6d10 + 12)
Speed 30 ft.
| STR | DEX | CON | INT | WIS | CHA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17 (+3) | 10 (+0) | 14 (+2) | 1 (–5) | 10 (+0) | 4 (–3) |
Skills Athletics +5, Stealth +2
Damage Resistances cold
Senses tremorsense 30 ft., passive Perception 10
Languages —
Challenge 1 (200 XP)
Snowball Concealment. The giant snow beetle has advantage on Dexterity (Stealth) checks to hide if it is within 10 feet of a Large or larger snowball. It can attempt to hide even if another creature can see it clearly.
Snowball Roll. The giant snow beetle can spend 1 minute to roll up a ball of snow equal to its size.
Actions
Pincer. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one creature. Hit: 7 (1d8 + 3) bludgeoning damage.
Rotten Snowball Shove (Recharge 6). The giant snow beetle tosses one of its carrion-filled snowballs at a point it can see within 20 feet of it. Each creature within 5 feet of that point must make a DC 12 Dexterity saving throw. On a failure, a target takes 7 (2d6) bludgeoning damage and becomes poisoned for 1 minute. On a success, a target takes half the damage and isn’t poisoned. A poisoned creature can make a DC 13 Constitution saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the poisoned condition on itself on a success.
Snowball Shove. The giant snow beetle tosses one of its rolled snowballs at a point it can see within 20 feet of it. Each creature within 5 feet of that point must make a DC 12 Dexterity saving throw. On a failure, a target takes 7 (2d6) bludgeoning damage and is knocked prone. On a success, a target takes half the damage and isn’t knocked prone.