“I buried me an ol’ fogey who was stung by one o’ these creeps. Next week, bunch o’ larvae wiggled out o’ the ground near the tombstone. Good eatin’, those larvae…”

-Fletch

Medium beast, unaligned

Armor Class 13

Hit Points 28 (5d8+5)

Speed 10 ft., fly 60 ft.

STR: 10 (+0)

DEX: 16 (+3)

CON: 12 (+1)

INT: 1 (-5)

WIS: 12 (+1)

CHA: 6 (-2)

Senses passive Perception 11

Languages —

Challenge 1 (200 xp)

Multiattack. The bull jacket makes two claw attacks or one stinger attack.

Single Stinger. If the bull jacket makes a ranged attack with its sting, it cannot use its stinger attack again until it finishes a long rest.

ACTIONS

Claw. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one creature. Hit: 6 (1d6+3) slashing damage, and the target is grappled (escape DC 13). The bull jacket has two claws, each of which can grapple only one target.

Sting. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft. or range 30/90 ft., one creature. Hit: 7 (1d8+3) piercing damage, and the target must make a DC 12 Constitution saving throw, taking 12 (4d6) poison damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. If the poison damage reduces the target to 0 hit points, the target is stable but poisoned for 1 hour, even after regaining hit points, and is paralyzed while poisoned this way.

Red and black with a rigid spine, the bull jacket is an aggressively defensive predator that lives in the wilderness. It attacks with its stinger from afar, then drags unconscious prey to its nest to eat in safety. Bull jacket and regular bees will form symbiotic relationships: the bull jacket defending beehives in exchange for honey. Bull jacket also lay their eggs in paralyzed prey, sometimes allowing a victim to wake up and flee only to have bull jacket larva hatch from within.