Tail Spine Regrowth. The manticore has thirty tail spines. Used tail spines regrow when the manticore finishes a long rest.
Legendary Resistance (3/Day). If the manticore fails a saving throw, it can choose to succeed instead.
Multiattack. The manticore can attack twice with its claws and once with either its bite or tail spines.
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +15 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 19 (2d10 + 9) piercing damage.
Claw. Melee Weapon Attack: +15 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 15 (2d6 + 9) slashing damage.
Stinger. Melee Weapon Attack: +15 to hit, reach 15 ft., one target. Hit: 17 (2d8 + 9) piercing damage plus the target must make a DC 19 Constitution saving throw, taking 48 (12d8) poison damage on a failed save, or half as much on a successful one.
Tail Spines. Ranged Weapon Attack: +15 to hit, range 150/250 ft., one target. Hit: 17 (2d8 + 9) piercing damage plus the target must make a DC 19 Constitution saving throw, being poisoned and knocked unconscious on a failed save, or not being knocked unconscious on a successful save.
The manticore can take 3 legendary actions, choosing from the options below. Only one legendary attack option can be used at a time and only at the end of another creatures turn. The manticore regains spent legendary actions at the start of its turn.
Sting. The manticore makes a stinger attack.
Awaken the Desert (Costs 2 Actions). The manticore turns 2d4 boulders that it can see into galeb duhr. The galeb duhr remain for 1 hour or until they're destroyed and do their best to defend the manticore.
Rumbling Dunes (Costs 3 Actions). The manticore roars and summons 1d4 purple worms to defend it. The worms take 1d6 rounds to arrive (always through their burrowing speed) and do their best to defend the manticore. If the manticore is slain the worms act as they normally would.
Description
The manticore is a monster of Persian origin with the head and body of a line, wings and size of a dragon, and tail of a scorpion. Within the heart of the Scorched Earth ark dwells this mythological beast lounging around like an oversized cat and occasionally hunting large game like wyverns, giant eagles, and elephants. It like all ark bound mega monsters it is a guardian meant to test those who show promise towards the overseer's grand goals of reclaiming Earth. The manticore in particular garnered worship by a civilization that used to live in cliffside villages and sprawling towns, the monster now roosts in the highest of their vertical settlements while the rest have fallen into disrepair or been overrun by other monsters such as wyverns and purple worms.
Lair and Lair Actions
The manticore dwells in the skeleton of a ruined city deep in the desert. Once a place where it was worshipped as a deity the cliffside ruins and surrounding mesas now sing with harsh winds and the crackling of temperamental storms.
Lair Actions
On initiative count 20 (losing initiative ties), the manticore takes a lair action to cause one of the following effects: the manticore can’t use the same effect two rounds in a row:
- A cloud of sand swirls about in a 20-foot radius sphere centered on a point the manticore can see within 120 feet of it. The cloud spreads around corners. Each creature in the cloud must succeed on a DC 15 Constitution saving throw or be blinded for one minute. A creature can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on a successful save.
- Lightning strikes from a darkening sky. A creature that the manticore can see must make a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw or take 12 (4d6) lightning damage, or half as much on a successful save.
Regional Effects
The desert surrounding the manticores lair is a sea of baking sun and collapsible dunes occasionally punctuated by dark clouds that billow forth from the ruined city.
- The air is insufferably hot within 5 miles of the lair. Each creature in that area gains a level of exhaustion for every hour spent in the open. Creatures immune to fire damage are shielded from this effect.
- Any rain that does occur within 5 miles of the lair is thick and torrential. Creatures in the open of medium or small size have their movement speed cut in half. Tiny creatures take 1 bludgeoning damage each turn not spent in cover.
If the manticore dies, these effects fade over the course of 1d10 days.
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