Beetle, Giant, Rhinoceros [671]

Climat/Terrain	Any jungle
Organisation	Solitary
Fréquence	Peu commun
Diète	Herbivore
Cycle d'activité	Any
Intelligence	0 - Non intelligent ou non mesurable
Trésor	Nil
Alignement	Neutre Absolu
Nombres	1-6
Classe d'armure	2
Mouvement	Au sol : 6'' Vol : - Classe de vol : Nage : Enfouissement : Web :
Dés de vie	12
Thac0	9
Nbre d'attaques	2
Dommage / attaques	3-18/2-16
Attaques spéciales	Nil
Défenses spéciales	Nil
Résistance à la magie	Nil
Taille	L - larger than man-sized ( 7+' to 12' ) (12’ long)
Morale	13-14 - Elite
Valeur en XP	4000 xp

Commentaires : Giant beetles are similar to their more ordinary counterparts, but thousands of times larger – with chewing mandibles and hard wings that provide substantial armor protection. Beetles have two pairs of wings and three pairs of legs. Fortunately, the wings of a giant beetle cannot be used to fly, and in most cases, its six bristly legs do not enable it to move as fast as a fleeing man. The hard, chitinous shell of several varieties of these beetles are brightly colored, and sometimes have value to art collectors. While their shells protect beetles as well as plate mail armor, it is difficult to craft armor from them, and a skilled alchemist would need to be brought in on the job. All beetles are basically unintelligent and always hungry. They will feed on virtually any form of organic material, including other sorts of beetles. They taste matter with their antennae, or feelers; if a substance tasted is organic, the beetle grasps it with its mandibles, crushes it, and eats it. Because of the thorough grinding of the mandibles, nothing eaten by giant beetles can be revived by anything short of a wish. Beetles do not hear or see well, and rely primarily on taste and feel. Except as noted below, giant beetles are not really social animals; those that are found near each other are competitors for the same biological niche, not part of any family unit. This uncommon monster inhabits tropical and subtropical jungles. They roam the rain forests searching for fruits and vegetation, and crushing anything in their path. The horn of a giant rhinoceros beetle extends about 6 feet.

Combat : The mandibles of this giant beetle inflict 3d6 points of damage on anyone unfortunate enough to be caught by them; the tremendous horn is capable of causing 2d8 points of damage by itself.

Ecologie : The shell of this jungle dweller is often brightly colored or iridescent. If retrieved in one piece, these shells are valuable to clerics of the Egyptian pantheon, who use them as giant scarabs to decorate temples and other areas of worship. It is a representation of this, the largest of all beetles, that serves as the holy symbol for clerics of Apshai, the Egyptian god whose sphere of influence is said to include all insects.