Agony Beetle

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Agony Beetle
CR 1 N Magical Beast

This beetle has ridges and wrinkles in its shell that resembles a human skull.

An agony beetle is a predator that feeds not on blood or meat, but on pain. They closely resemble harmless beetles, and noticing their sinister markings is possible usually when they are close enough to strike. An agony beetle has psychic powers that allow it to defend itself and overwhelm the defenses of a creature, whereupon it climbs onto a limb and bites down. The bite deals no direct damage, but overstimulates the nerves of a victim, causing them to be unable to do anything but scream and shudder.

Agony beetles typically feed for only a few rounds at a time, making their escape in the chaos of an attack. The longer they feed, the more psionic power they absorb from the pain, and agony beetles have some powers they are unable to use unless they have recently fed. The true danger of an agony beetle attack comes from other predators, attracted by the noise made by an agonized victim, or if the agony beetles are in numbers. An entire cluster of agony beetles can quickly kill a single target if they manage to overwhelm it.

Because of their supernatural feeding mechanism and skull-like markings, agony beetles are believed to be an artificial species. Perhaps they are the creations of a demon or divinity of pain, or they were engineered by a sorcerer-king with a fondness for torture. They only react to living creatures, and seem to prefer humanoids, although they can feed off the pain of animals indefinitely. Some undead intentionally collect agony beetles, keeping them in pits or even hurling them as ammunition to debilitate living enemies.

Agony Beetle            CR 1
XP 400

N Diminutive magical beast
Init
+2; Senses darkvision 60 ft., lifesense 30 ft., low-light vision, Perception +0
Defense
AC
16, touch 16, flat-footed 14 (+4 size, +2 Dex)
hp
10 (1d10+5)
Fort
+4, Ref +4, Will +0
Immune
pain
Offense
Speed
10 ft., climb 10 ft.
Melee
bite +7 (attach)
Space
1 ft.; Reach 0 ft.
Psychic Magic
CL 1st, concentration +1
2 PE—daze (1 PE, DC 12), false life (3 PE), inflict pain (3 PE, DC 14), mental barrier I (1 PE)
Special Attacks
agonize, pain eater
Statistics
Str
3, Dex 15, Con 14, Int 1, Wis10, Cha 12
Base Atk
+1; CMB -1 (+7 when attached); CMD 5 (13 when attached)
Feats
Toughness, Weapon Finesse (B)
Skills
Climb +10, Stealth +15; Racial Modifiers uses Dex to Climb
Ecology
Environment
warm plains
Organization
solitary or cluster (2-12)
Treasure
none
Special Abilities
Agonize (Su)
Each round that a creature begins its turn with an agony beetle attached, it takes 1 point of Constitution damage and must succeed a DC 13 Fortitude save or be stunned for 1 round. A creature that succeeds this save is sickened for 1 round instead. This is a pain effect, and the save DC is Constitution based.
Pain Eater (Su)
Each round it deals Constitution damage, an agony beetle gains 1 PE. It can gain PE beyond its usual maximum, but unspent PE are lost the next time the agony beetle rests.

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