About Xaldinaar the Ancient
Advanced Manticore
XP 2,400
LE Large magical beast
Init +2; Senses darkvision 60 ft., low-light vision, scent; Perception +9
Defense
AC 24, touch 13, flat-footed 17 (+4 Dex, +8 natural, –1 size)
hp 69 (6d10+36)
Fort +11, Ref +9, Will +5
Offense
Speed 30 ft., fly 50 ft. (clumsy)
Melee bite +12 (1d8+7), 2 claws +12 (2d4+7)
Ranged 4 spikes +10 (1d6+7)
Space 10 ft.; Reach 5 ft.
Statistics
Str 24, Dex 19, Con 22, Int 9, Wis 14, Cha 13
Base Atk +6; CMB +16; CMD 28 (32 vs. trip)
Feats Flyby Attack, Hover, Weapon Focus (spikes)
Skills Fly –3, Perception +9, Survival +4 (+8 tracking); Racial Modifiers +4 Perception, +4 Survival when tracking
Languages Common
Ecology
Environment warm hills and marshes
Organization solitary, pair, or pride (3–6)
Treasure standard
Special Abilities
Spikes (Ex) With a snap of its tail, a manticore can loose a volley of four spikes as a standard action (make an attack roll for each spike). This attack has a range of 180 feet with no range increment. All targets must be within 30 feet of each other. The creature can launch only 24 spikes in any 24-hour period.
Manticores are fierce predators that patrol a wide area in search of fresh meat. A typical manticore is about 10 feet long and weighs about 1,000 pounds. Some have more human-like heads, usually with beards. Males and females look much alike.
Manticores eat any meat, even carrion, though they prefer human flesh and rarely pass up an opportunity for such a delicacy. They are smart and social enough to bargain with or bully evil humanoids into alliances or offering tribute, and more powerful creatures may hire or bribe them to guard or patrol a place or area. They like lairs in high places, such as hilltops and caves in cliffs.
Although manticores were likely a magical creation, they have long since established themselves as a naturally occurring species. Curiously, manticores seem strangely fecund, and can interbreed with a number of other similarly shaped creatures, including lions, dire lions, lamias, sphinxes, and even chimeras. The progeny of a manticore and an unusual mate is summarized on the table below.
Manticore's Mate Offspring
Lion Standard manticore
Dire lion Advanced manticore
Lamia Lamia with spiked tail and spikes special attack
Sphinx Sphinx with spiked tail and spikes special attack
Chimera Chimera with spiked tail and spikes
special attack+2 on all rolls (including damage rolls) and special ability DCs; +4 to AC and CMD; +2 hp/HD.
Giant Scorpion CR 3
XP 800
N Large vermin
Init +0; Senses darkvision 60 ft., tremorsense 60 ft.; Perception +4
Defense
AC 16, touch 9, flat-footed 16 (+7 armor, –1 size)
hp 37 (5d8+15)
Fort +7, Ref +1, Will +1
Immune mind-affecting effects
Offense
Speed 50 ft.
Melee 2 claws +6 (1d6+4 plus grab), sting +6 (1d6+4 plus poison)
Space 10 ft.; Reach 10 ft.
Special Attacks constrict (1d6+4)
Statistics
Str 19, Dex 10, Con 16, Int —, Wis 10, Cha 2
Base Atk +3; CMB +8 (+12 grapple); CMD 18 (30 vs. trip)
Skills Climb +8, Perception +4, Stealth +0; Racial Modifiers +4 Climb, +4 Perception, +4 Stealth
Ecology
Environment warm or temperate deserts, forests, plains, or underground
Organization solitary
Treasure none
Special Abilities
Poison (Ex) Sting—injury; save Fort DC 17; frequency 1/round for 6 rounds; effect 1d2 Strength damage; cure 1 save. The save DC is Constitutuion-based and includes a +2 racial bonus.
Giant scorpions are monstrous versions of the more common desert scorpion. They are likely to attack any creature that approaches. Giant scorpions usually charge when attacking, grabbing prey in their pincers, then lashing their segmented tails forward to kill their victim with injected venom.
Giant scorpions are just over 8 feet long from head to the base of the tail; the tail adds an additional 8 feet or so, although it is usually curled up over the scorpion's back. Giant scorpions weigh between 2,000 and 6,000 pounds.
Giant scorpions normally feed on other giant vermin, as well as large mammals that they paralyze with their venom, but they will attack and eat any living creature that ventures too close. In turn, giant scorpions are preyed upon by purple worms and other large predators.
Giant scorpions engage in complex courtship rituals when they mate, grasping each other's pincers, arching their tails, and performing a circular “dance.” Soon after mating, the male usually retreats to avoid being cannibalized by the female.
Female scorpions do not lay eggs; they give birth to live young in broods of a dozen or so. The mother carries her brood on her back until the young are old enough to fend for themselves and hunt their own prey.
Giant scorpions live in underground burrows, either as solitary hunters or in small colonies, and will sometimes take up residence in man-made ruins or dungeons if food is plentiful. Giant scorpion colonies are usually made up of scorpions from the same brood that have yet to strike out on their own.
Other species of scorpions exist as well, some smaller but most quite a bit larger and favoring different terrains, such as forests, plains, or even underground. You can adjust the stats for the giant scorpion by changing Hit Dice and size (adjusting Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution as appropriate) to represent a wide range of species. The following table lists the most common variants.
