Beetle, Mind
| Statistic | Value |
|---|---|
| Climate/Terrain | Any |
| Frequency | Uncommon |
| Organization | Solitary |
| Activity Cycle | Any |
| Diet | Scavenger |
| Intelligence | Non (0) |
| Treasure | nil |
| Alignment | Neutral |
| No. Appearing | 1 |
| Armor Class | 8 |
| Movement | 6 |
| Hit Dice | 1-1 |
| THAC0 | 20 |
| No. of Attacks | 1 |
| Damage/Attack | 1d2 |
| Special Attacks | See below |
| Special Defenses | nil |
| Magic Resistance | nil |
| Size | T (1”) |
| Morale | Average (9) |
| XP Value | 35 |
| Psionics | nil |
Description
Mind Beetles are used by the guards of Sorceror-Kings and or slave owners to prevent their captives or slaves who exhibit psionic powers to use their psionics to escape. In the wild, they are commonly found embedded in the skins of animals.
The Mind Beetle is matt black in colour and it's shell is shaped like a bell. Its head and limbs are underneath the shell and cannot be seen without lifting the beetle up. The mouthpiece of the Mind Beetle is a retractable straw which is 2" long that it injects deep into the flesh to feed. The Mind Beetle does not have wings and cannot fly, it can, however, scurry around quite fast for something its size.
Combat
In the wild, it usually latches onto large creatures by tearing a small wound in the skin of the creature with its legs(1d2 damage). It then proceeds to crawling into the skin. This process takes 6 hours before the Mind Beetle is full embedded in the skin. The end result is a swelling lump marking the beetle's whereabouts.
Mind Beetles are very sensitive to Psionics. They can innately detect PSP points being expended. If the host of the Mind Beetle is the creature expending the PSP points, the Mind Beetle immediately injects a poison into the creature. Medium Sized creatures have to Save vs. Poison or be knocked unconscious for 1d4 rounds. If they pass the save, they would still receive 1d6 points of damage.
Without a host, the Mind Beetle would run towards the creature who used the psionic power and tear at it with the hope of embedding itself and eventually injecting the poison. It cannot inject the poison until it is fully embedded under the host's skin.
Captors and guards place the Mind Beetle at the base of the skull of the captives and secure the captive for 6 hours allowing the Mind Beetle to crawl in. Host with the Mind Beetle embedded at the base of the skull suffer a -4 to their Save vs. Poison.
Mind Beetles can be carefully removed with a spoon like contraption without doing any damage. The beetle has to be pulled out carefully so as not to damage the mouthpiece and leaving it behind in the host.
Habitat/Society
Once a year, each Mind Beetle would leave its host in search of a mate. Together, the couple to search for a carcass and nest witin it. Mind Beetles use their long mouthpiece to suck small amounts of blood and water to sustain itself. They do not do any more damage once they have broken the skin of the creature. They could live within the host for an entire year until they need to mate or if they are removed.
Ecology
Mind Beetles make little significance in the whole scheme of things except causing the occasional death of their host who needed to use psionics to defend itself. They are however extremely valuable to slave owners. A matured Mind Beetle can cost around 50cp. Not a heavy price to control a slave who shows psionic potential. Mind Beetles are actively used in Gladiator Arenas to prevent Psionicist and Gladiators with Psionic Wild Talents to escape. Poison gleamed from the beetles can be used to stun victims for 1d4 rounds, regardless of dosage. Mind Beetles have not been known to be a delicacy.