Saw Beetle

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Saw Beetle(CR 3)

Saw Beetles are a type of giant insect that are often harmless...and often not harmless. Saw Beetles usually feed on vegetation, brush, and wood, but they are opportunistic omnivores. They like eating carrion and are more than capable of killing quite large game. Sadly, they are abysmally stupid and will consider humans perfectly acceptable foodstuffs. Saw beetles live in forests, swamps, plains, deserts, and often infest ruins. They are remarkably hardy, and given their size and the strength of their jaws, their limited ability to fly is a potent advantage against many other predators.

GENERAL

CR 3 Hit Dice 4

XP 800

N, medium, vermin

Init +2; Senses Scent, Perception +5

DEFENSE

AC 18, touch 12, flat-footed 16 (+4 armor, +2 dex, +2 natural, +0 deflection)

hp 37

Fort +6, Ref +2, Will +2

Aura: -

SR: -

Special Defenses: Vermin traits, mindless

Immunities: -

Weaknesses: -

OFFENSE

Speed 30 ft., fly 20 ft. (perfect)

Space / Reach: 5 ft. / 5 ft.

Single Melee Bite +6 (1d6+1/x2)

Full Melee 2x Bite +6 (1d6+1/x2)

Ranged -

Special Attacks Blundering Flight

Action Points 0

STATISTICS

Str 16, Dex 10, Con 14, Int -, Wis 8, Cha 14

Base Atk +3; CMB +5; CMD 17

Feats -

Skills -

Languages -

SPECIAL ABILITIES

Blundering Flight

Saw beetles may, once per encounter as a move action, fly at their enemies and batter and carom their way across the battlefield. Their blurring wings, armored carapace, and erratic motion render this movement so hard to predict that they do not provoke opportunity attacks. The Saw beetle may move up to their Fly speed (20 feet). Any enemy they move adjacent to they may attack with a Bite attack (+6 to hit) which inflicts (1d6+1/x2) points of damage.

TREASURE

sell value of approximately 750 gp

COMBAT TACTICS

Saw beetles may be vermin, but they like the taste of fresh meat. As a result, they will usually close the range on the ground and then rise up on buzzing wings and plunge into the midst of a group of enemies using Blundering Flight. They will then land again as close as possible to multiple foes and perform savage full-action bite attacks. They will never try to flee, being too dumb to recognize peril. Despite their size, saw beetles are good flyers, although slow. They can hover, fly backwards, and swoop through the air with perfect grace, even though their Bumbling Flight power looks clumsy.