Converting "Real World" Animals and Vermin

[Shade]

Beetle, Giant, Stink
CLIMATE/TERRAIN: Temperate forest
FREQUENCY: Rare
ORGANIZATION: Solitary
ACTIVITY CYCLE: Any
DIET: Carnivore
INTELLIGENCE: Non- (0)
TREASURE: Nil
ALIGNMENT: Neutral
NO. APPEARING: 1-3
ARMOR CLASS: 5
MOVEMENT: 3
HIT DICE: 3+1
THAC0: 17
NO. OF ATTACKS: 1
DAMAGE/ATTACK: 1d6
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Stink
SPECIAL DEFENSES: Nil
MAGIC RESISTANCE: Nil
SIZE: S (3’ long)
MORALE: Steady (11-12)
XP VALUE: 120

The stink beetle is a dead ringer for the slicer beetle in appearance and behavior. However, its exoskeleton is not as hard, and it has no deadly special attack. When slain, the stink beetle discharges a noxious fluid from between its mandibles, soaking anything in front of it within 10 feet. The stench is awful, but harmless, though It doubles the chance of attracting other predators until it wears off—about 8 hours. This time can be reduced to as little as 1 hour if vigorous cleansing activity or cleansing magic of up to 3rd level is employed. For example, a wizard using cantrip for a full hour could completely scrub the stench from an affected comrade.

Originally appered in Monstrous Compendium Annual Volume Three (1996).

 

[freyar]

Giant bombadier beetle, but add one HD and replace the acid spray with a cone-shaped death throes? Not quite sure how to adjudicate that effect, though.

 

[Cleon]

It looks that way to me.

I agree, it looks fine.

 

[Cleon]

Giant bombadier beetle, but add one HD and replace the acid spray with a cone-shaped death throes? Not quite sure how to adjudicate that effect, though.

I agree, using the Giant Bombardier Beetle as a template was the first thing that came into my head.

By the way, does anyone know if this is based on a real-world beetle? It could give some useful pointers for a conversion. The Green Carab Beetle (Calosoma schayeri) seems a good match as far as its abilities go - it's a slow-moving carnivorous beetle that emits a noxious scent when mishandled - but it says it looks like a Slicer Beetle which, IIRC, is a jet black insect with oversized scimitar jaws, which doesn't match the Carab Beetle's pic at all. [EDIT]Here's wikipedia's entry on the Green Carab Beetle. There are a lot of other beetles with noxious secretions. Upon reflection, it's quite likely to be some kind of Tiger Beetles if it has scimitar-like jaws, although those animals tend to be quite fast there are always exceptions.[ENDEDIT]

As for the stink-spray, I'm not sure I like restricting it to a Death-Throes ability. Most insects which excrete repulsive chemicals don't wait until they're dead before using them!

I would rather have it as an ability it can use once/day as a standard action, but it can also use it as a once/day free action when it is brought to negative hit points.

As for the effects, how about one or more of:

1. Creatures hit by the stink-spray are sickened for X rounds if they have the scent special quality (the stink only sickens creatures with a keen sense of smell).
2. Creatures hit by the spray have a strong and distinctive scent for (8 hours?) which some predators find attractive.
3. Any creature trying to track a creature covered by the beetle's stink-spray has a +Y circumstance bonus on their Survival checks to track them, increased to +Z if they are tracking them by by scent.

 

[Cleon]

As for the rest of the stats, there are a fair number of differences between it and a Giant Bombardier Beetle (or "GBB")

The original is 3' long and Small, which doesn't match well with the SRD Vermin. I'd like to make them 6' Medium-sized creatures like a standard GBB.

The original is a lot slower (Move 3" vs the AD&D GBB's 9" => Speed 10 ft. in 3rd edition terms). I would like to either give it the SRD GBB's Speed 30 ft. or average the two to makeSpeed 20 ft. It's a carnivorous beetle, so it needs to be able to keep up with moving food! Presumably it specializes in ating slow creatures like giant insect larvae and baby giant slugs.

The original has a lower AC (AC5 vs the AD&D GBB's AC4 => drop the natural armour a point to NA +5?)

Its bite does 1-6 damage. The AD&D GBB's bite does 2-12 damage, but the SRD version only bites for 1d4. I think I prefer a 1d6 bite.

Do we want to tweak the GBB's stats a bit?

Giant Bombardier Beetle: Str 13, Dex 10, Con 14, Int --, Wis 10, Cha 9

I'd like to swap the Strength and Constitution around. The Stink Beetle has a weaker shell, and although it had an extra Hit Dice it has a smaller Hit Dice bonus (2+2 vs 3+1). The higher strength should help make it a more effective carnivore.

Giant Stink Beetle: Str 14, Dex 10, Con 13, Int --, Wis 10, Cha 9

Put that all together and we get:

Stink Beetle, Giant
Medium Vermin
Hit Dice: 3d8+3 (16 hp)
Initiative: +0
Speed: 20 ft. or 30 ft. ?
Armor Class: 15 (+5 natural), touch 10, flat-footed 15
Base Attack/Grapple: +2/+4
Attack: Bite +4 melee (1d6+3)
Full Attack: Bite +4 melee (1d6+3)
Space/Reach: 5 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: Stink ?
Special Qualities: Darkvision 60 ft., vermin traits
Saves: Fort +4, Ref +3, Will +1
Abilities: Str 14, Dex 10, Con 13, Int —, Wis 10, Cha 0

 

[Shade]

At first, I thought it was one of these:
Pentatomidae - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Particularly, this one:
Brown marmorated stink bug - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Which has:

The stinkbug's ability to emit a vile odor through holes in its abdomen is a defense mechanism meant to prevent it from being eaten by birds and lizards. However, simply jostling the bug, cornering it, scaring or injuring it, or attempting to remove it from one's house can "set it off," and the odor is extremely powerful, unpleasant, and long-lasting. It can make a whole room uninhabitable until aired out, and some people are even allergic to the smell. Squashing it is a surefire way of expelling its noxious odor, and most times the best way of extracting one from the inside of a house is to allow it to walk onto something like a newspaper and then simply take it outside. Another option is to gently collect it using a piece of tissue and flush it. One other method of disposal is killing it with an electric flyswatter. This kills them almost instantly without squashing them.

Granted, it looks nothing like a slicer beetle, but could become the basis of our conversion.

 

[freyar]

Keep Cleon's basic stats (with 20 ft speed)?

Still not sure what to do with the stink. Sickening is good, but just the tracking and attractiveness to predators don't seem quite enough. Maybe everyone is sickened, creatures with scent are nauseated? Sounds like we could justify that from real life.

 

[Cleon]

Keep Cleon's basic stats (with 20 ft speed)?

Still not sure what to do with the stink. Sickening is good, but just the tracking and attractiveness to predators don't seem quite enough. Maybe everyone is sickened, creatures with scent are nauseated? Sounds like we could justify that from real life.

Sickened for regular folk, nauseated for folk with good noses is a good idea. Maybe expand it so creatures with scent are nauseated for a few rounds and then sickened for a long period?

So what duration shall we give it?

A Troglodyte has 10 round stench, a Ghast's lasts 1d6+4 minutes, I'm thinking a Stink Beetle is more like the former.

1d6+4 rounds sickened for normal creatures, 1d6 rounds nauseated plus 2d6 minutes sickened for creatures with scent?

 

[Cleon]

At first, I thought it was one of these:
Pentatomidae - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Particularly, this one:
Brown marmorated stink bug - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Granted, it looks nothing like a slicer beetle, but could become the basis of our conversion.

I considered Pentatomidae as a model, but as well as being Bugs and not Beetles they are generally herbivorous and I'd like the insect model we pick to be a carnivore like the AD&D monster.

 

[freyar]

Sickened for regular folk, nauseated for folk with good noses is a good idea. Maybe expand it so creatures with scent are nauseated for a few rounds and then sickened for a long period?

So what duration shall we give it?

A Troglodyte has 10 round stench, a Ghast's lasts 1d6+4 minutes, I'm thinking a Stink Beetle is more like the former.

1d6+4 rounds sickened for normal creatures, 1d6 rounds nauseated plus 2d6 minutes sickened for creatures with scent?

That's reasonable enough.