FREQUENCY: Rare
NO. APPEARING: 1
ARMOR CLASS: 3
MOVE: 11"
HIT DICE: 9
% IN LAIR: Nil
TREASURE TYPE: Nil
NO. OF ATTACKS: 4 clawed tentacles
DAMAGE/ATTACK: 1-10 (x4)
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Psionics; multiple attacks
SPECIAL DEFENSES: Psionics; immune to petrification, heat, will-force spells
MAGIC RESISTANCE: Standard
INTELLIGENCE: Average to high
ALIGNMENT: Neutral
SIZE: L (12' long)
PSIONIC ABILITY: 202
    Attack/Defense Modes: ABE / FG
LEVEL/X.P. VALUE: VII/1800 + 12/hp

    Killer beetles, or arathas, are thankfully
rare. These tireless hunters inhabit non-mountainous
warm or temperate regions,
avoiding heavily populated areas. Solitary
by nature, they live on creatures located by
thought and scent; they highly prize brain
moles, and are also partial to the flesh of
halflings and owlbears. In a pinch they will
eat any meat, and are greatly feared by
common folk because of their powers and
toughness.

    The massive, curved carapaces of arathas
resist squeezing and crushing, and the
beetles are immune to fire, other heat-related
attacks, and petrification. They are
also immune to will-force spells (see Players
Handbook, p. 11, under Wisdom Table 1),
but otherwise have standard magic resistance.
They attack prey by means of thier
four fearsome tentacles, and also have psionic
powers.

    Arathas use the following psionic disciplines
at the 9th level of mastery: animal telepathy,
body equilibrium, empathy,
molecular agitation, and suspend animation.
They employ these powers habitually
to avoid powerful foes (or to assault them
psionically if cornered), to locate and stalk
victims, and to strike when a victim is disoriented,
upset, confused, or injured. When
an aratha grows old and weak, it seeks out a
powerful enemy and attacks, so that it will
die in battle. Arathas mate once in life; 2-4
months after mating, one of the partners
bear 1-3 live young; the parent dying
afterward.
 
    Killer beetles grasp and hold prey by
means of four 20'-long tentacles. These
tentacles are retractable, collapsing to as
small as 8 feet in length. Each tentacle ends
in a pincerlike claw that closes with bone-crushing
strength. An aratha can reach in
any direction (including behind itself)
with great speed, and can "see" behind
itself by means of light- and movement-sensitive
organs (primitive "eyes") located
on its belly and back. An aratha has two eye
clusters at the front of the carapace, three
clusters on each side of its body, and a grinding,
irislike mouth at the front underside of its
body. An aratha does not bite opponents,
but merely chews flesh that is torn away
and conveyed to the mouth by the tentacles.
An aratha's carapace softens and rots after
the creature's death, but the claws can be
salvaged and fashioned into ever sharp,
unbreakable arrow and spear points.
 

by Ed Greenwood