Elder Manticore
Monstrosity
T3d8Sovereign
A scarred old manticore with a cruel, almost-human face, it hunts alone and remembers every party that has wounded it. Its tail bristles with iron-hard spikes, and it strikes from ambush before wading into melee with lion's claws.
Tier 3 · Role Sovereign · Pool Vigor 5 / Vitality 22 · AC 12 · ATK +5 · Save DC 15 · Dmg d8
| Stat | Score | Mod | Die |
|---|---|---|---|
| Body | 16 | +3 | d6 |
| Mind | 8 | -1 | -d3 |
| Sense | 18 | +4 | d8 |
| Heart | 14 | +2 | d4 |
| Cunning | 20 | +5 | d10 |
| Fate | 12 | +1 | d3 |
Passives
Human Cunning
Advantage on checks to track, ambush, or read prey. It is never surprised and always acts in the first round.
Maneuvers
Claw and Bite
Melee attack.
Rear-Guard Volley
Wings away up to its speed and fires a handful of tail spikes at a creature within 60 ft as it goes; standard ranged attack, provokes no opportunity attacks.
Declarations
Declared in the enemy tactical window and resolved at the start of its next turn. Any Vitality it loses first forces the disruption roll: on a 1 the telegraph is lost.
Spike Barrage
Launches a hail of tail spikes in a 20 ft cone. Each creature inside makes a Body save (DC 15) or takes 3 damage; on a success, 1 Vigor damage instead.
Reactions
Hunter's Retreat
When reduced to half Vitality or less, it may fly 30 ft away without provoking, resetting the fight on its own terms before diving back in.
Tactics
GM tactics
Opens with Spike Barrage from ambush or range, then closes only once the party is softened. Targets spellcasters and the wounded first, reading the fight with cruel intelligence. Breaks off with Hunter's Retreat rather than dying stupidly, circling back for another volley.
Running it
Rules
- Shield of Tier + Heart mod over a Vitality pool of 10 + 4 x Tier. Full Vigor at combat start; at the start of its turn it rolls 3 exploding d4s and regains 1 Vigor per 4. Dead at 0 Vigor and 0 Vitality.
- A hit rolls d8. A crit rolls two: 2d8.
- Crits on a natural 15+ (Cunning 20).
- Two or three attacks in a normal turn: multiattack is the threat scaler, and one swing a round makes it a mook.
- Sovereign: 2 Sovereign Actions a round, spent after other combatants' turns, on top of its attacks.
- Any Vitality lost while a telegraph is pending forces its disruption roll; on a 1 the telegraph is lost.
- Never checks morale: it fights to 0 Vitality or to the exit written into its lowest phase.
- NPCs never take wounds.