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Archives of Nethys

Archives of Nethys

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Skin Beetle

A typical skin beetle is 1-1/2 feet long and weighs 10 pounds—about the size of a house cat. Its oval-shaped body is covered in dull-colored scales, and short, club-like antennae stem from shallow grooves in its head.

Recall Knowledge - Animal (Nature): DC 20
Unspecific Lore: DC 18
Specific Lore: DC 15

Elite | Normal | Weak
Proficiency without Level

Skin BeetleCreature 3

Legacy Content

Uncommon N Tiny Animal 
Source Pathfinder #188: They Watched the Stars pg. 89
Perception +9; low-light vision
Skills Acrobatics +10, Medicine +9, Stealth +10
Str +1, Dex +4, Con +2, Int -5, Wis +2, Cha -2
Surgical Mandibles A skin beetle can use its mandibles as healer's tools.
AC 18; Fort +9, Ref +13, Will +7
HP 55
Speed 20 feet, burrow 15 feet, fly 15 feet
Melee [one-action] mandibles +13 [+9/+5] (agile, finesse), Damage 1d8+4 piercingRanged [one-action] spit +13 [+8/+3] (range 30 feet), Damage 1d6+4 acid plus anesthetic salivaAnesthetic Saliva (poison) A creature exposed to a skin beetle's saliva must succeed on a DC 19 Fortitude save or become clumsy 1 for 1 round.Harvest Flesh [two-actions] The skin beetle makes a mandibles Strike against an animal or humanoid. If the Strike deals damage, the beetle tears off a large portion of flesh, dealing an additional 1d6 persistent bleed damage.

All Monsters in "Skin Beetle"

NameLevel
Skin Beetle3
Skin Beetle Swarm8

Skin Beetle

Source Pathfinder #188: They Watched the Stars pg. 89
Skin beetles are found in most environments that can sustain life, from cold, dry steppes to dense, humid jungles. They use their complex multi-jointed mandibles to strip the skin and flesh from recently deceased creatures with almost surgical precision.

While skin beetles eat most of what they remove, they also preserve chunks for later by coating it in special salivary secretions similar to formaldehyde. The skin beetle rolls this coated flesh into a ball, then stores it under an exposed tree root or rock for leaner times. Signs of skin beetle activity include excoriated skeletons and the smell of the beetles' preservative saliva.

Sidebar - Related Creatures Umasi Beetle Masters

Though best known for flaying carrion, skin beetles can also heal gravely wounded individuals. Skin beetles can graft preserved flesh onto a dying animal or humanoid. The end result isn't pretty, but it sometimes works. From the perspective of the healed, the blessing can be mixed, as the beetle's surgery often transforms the subject into a patchwork aberration called an umasi.

Umasi created by skin beetles sometimes develop supernatural connections to their insectile saviors. Such umasi can command skin beetles to harvest more flesh to keep their decaying bodies intact.