Clacker Beetle Soldier

Small beast, unaligned

Armor Class 15 (natural armor)
Hit Points 18 (4d6 + 4)
Speed 20 ft., climb 20 ft.

STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA
8 (-1)	14 (+2)	13 (+1)	1 (-5)	7 (-2)	3 (-4)

Damage Resistances slashing from nonmagical attacks
Damage Immunities thunder
Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 8
Languages –
Challenge 1 (250 XP)

SPECIAL TRAITS

• Compact. A clacker beetle soldier can occupy the same 5-foot space as one other clacker beetle soldier.

ACTIONS

• Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 0 ft., one target in the beetle’s space. Hit: 11 (2d8 + 2) piercing damage.
• Clack. The beetle clacks its mandibles to create a small but dangerous sonic boom. All creatures in a 15-foot cone take 6 (1d10 + 1) thunder damage, or half damage with a successful DC 13 Constitution saving throw. When multiple beetles clack in the same turn and create overlapping cones, each affected creature makes just one Constitution saving throw with disadvantage and the result is applied against the total damage.

ABOUT

Clacker beetles are aggressive subterranean scavengers. Individually they aren’t much of a threat, but they’re never encountered individually. Worker clacker beetles and immature beetles form swarms, and soldiers always scavenge in groups.

The beetles get their name from the deadly clacking sound produced by their mandibles. They can hook their mandibles together and apply tremendous force to the pair, then snap them apart at greater than the speed of sound. The sonic boom this generates hits with the force of a sledgehammer. Clacker beetles use this attack to stun or kill potential prey. When they’re encountered in large groups, the rapid-fire clacking of their mandibles can quickly bring down creatures as large as trolls and ogres.

Clacker beetles nest by chewing holes into rock and rubble. A small cavern riddled with clacker beetle tunnels can house hundreds or thousands of the creatures.

They’re fond of shiny objects, much as crows and pack rats are. When clacker beetles infest ancient tombs or other sites where valuables are stored, they’ve been known to snatch nearly all the gold, silver, and jewels and drag it to their nesting site.