Unlike a ring of protection or similar, the scarab doesn't up your armor class. Rather, it absorbs certain evil magics, keeping them from harming the wearer. Specifically, it blocks curses and the "finger of death" spell.
Let's start with the latter. Finger of Death is the reverse of Raise Dead. That's a 5th level clerical spell and only certain clerics (i.e. evil/chaotic) are probably ever going to be casting that version. Despite the fact that this situation may not arise too often, having an item that just nullifies it is pretty amazing. Now, as the scarab has limited charges, I would probably allow the targeted PC their saving throw vs. Death Ray first, then -if they failed- take off the charge from the scarab.
What's slightly more likely to come up is the scarab's ability to absorb curses. The description specifies that the curse can be from "spell, scroll, or other effect." In other words, nearly anything. In a BX world where you have cursed magic items, the curse spell, and even certain creatures with the spell-like ability to curse PCs, being able to shrug such things off is not trivial. While the description doesn't specify, I would rule that it would even protect from things like picking up a cursed magic sword or similar, as such things usually require a remove curse to get rid of.
The scarab only comes with 2d6 charges, but there's no difference in cost for what it stops. So whether it's the Baleful Bishop casting finger of death at you, or a sprite giving you warts, it still costs one charge to block it. The spent scarab is useless and cannot be recharged.
It's important to note that the text says nothing about existing curses. Thus, it won't remove a curse that's already in place (just as it wouldn't resurrect someone already killed by finger of death). So putting the scarab on an afflicted character won't help.
This is another one of those magic items that could add a lot of flavor to an adventure or an NPC without drastically tipping power level with outrageous combat bonuses or similar. Likewise, a PC that finds one may be a bit underwhelmed initially, but as soon as that shaman's curse "bounces off" him, he'll be feeling differently about that little bit of bling.
Excellent! Might I also say that I like this series. Very nice item indeed, as my players learned a few months ago that it can be almost priceless when having a witch cast multiple curses on their party's cleric... :-)
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