Ruin Scarab

Large undead, neutral evil

Armor Class 15 (natural armor)
Hit Points 136 (16d10 + 48)
Speed 30 ft., burrow 15 ft., climb 15 ft., fly 15 ft. (hover)

STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA
17 (+3)	14 (+2)	16 (+3)	3 (–4)	14 (+2)	4 (–3)

Skills Stealth +5
Damage Immunities poison, thunder
Condition Immunities charmed, frightened, poisoned, restrained
Senses blindsight 90 ft. (blind beyond this radius), passive Perception 12
Languages —
Challenge 6 (2,300 XP)
Proficiency Bonus +3

SPECIAL TRAITS

• Flesh-Eating Aura. When a creature that doesn’t have all of its hp starts its turn within 10 feet of the scarab, the creature takes 2 (1d4) necrotic damage. In addition, any magical healing within 10 feet of the scarab is halved.
• Silent Steps. No sound emanates from the ruin scarab, whether moving, attack, or ripping into a corpse. It has advantage on Dexterity (Stealth) checks, and each creature within 5 feet of the scarab is deafened.
• Undead Nature. The ruin scarab doesn’t require air, food, drink, or sleep.
• Unstoppable. Moving through difficult terrain doesn’t cost the ruin scarab extra movement, and its speed can’t be reduced.

ACTIONS

• Multiattack. The ruin scarab makes two Bite attacks. It can replace one attack with a use of Gut Rip.
• Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, reach 5 ft., one creature. Hit: 14 (2d10 + 3) slashing damage plus 5 (2d4) necrotic damage, and the target must make a DC 14 Strength saving throw. On a failure, the target is forced prone or pushed 5 feet away, the scarab’s choice.
• Gut Rip. The ruin scarab tears into one prone creature within 5 feet of it. The target must make a DC 15 Constitution saving throw. On a failure, the target takes 11 (2d10) slashing damage and 5 (2d4) necrotic damage and is incapacitated for 1 minute. On a success, the target takes half the damage and isn’t incapacitated. An incapacitated creature can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success.

REACTIONS

• Relentless Pursuit. When a creature within 10 feet of the ruin scarab moves away from it, the scarab can move up to half its speed toward that creature.

ABOUT

The large beetle is bone white and moves in eerie silence, carving into a pile of corpses with incredible speed.

Ruin scarabs are undead preparers of the dead, stripping meat from bones with cleaver-like mandibles and sorting of dead matter for their masters.

Undead Pets. These undead beetles were created by lords of undeath with just enough intelligence to be trainable. They butcher corpses with ease and determination, they clean the bones, and they sort and store the various vital bits for later use. The scarabs make fine guards, and every so often, they employ both sets of skills simultaneously when unwanted intruders stop by. They are commonly found roaming important mausoleums and necropolises as guards and cleaners, and they serve as guards deterrents in the demesne of undead lords.

Rare Parts Retrieval. Occasionally, a necromancer needs a very specific component for a ritual, or for a fine supper—maybe an aasimar spleen, a basilisk eye, a certain drake’s wing, or a giant oyster’s pearl. Whatever the need, ruin scarabs make excellent retrievers, going straight to the source for the freshest of specimens.