Forgotten Realms Wiki
Register
Advertisement
Forgotten Realms Wiki

Manticorehunted

A manticore being hunted.

A manticore was a large, magical beast with the body of a lion, dragon-like wings, and a somewhat humanoid head. Its long tail had a cluster of deadly spikes, which the creature could launch at its foes as weapons. It had incredibly tough claws and fangs.[1]

Description[]

Manticores were true monsters. They were giant beasts with the bodies of lions, the wings of a dragon, the head of a man, and a tail that ended in a mass of deadly spikes.[1] The coloration of these various body parts was similar to that of their base creature.[5]

The mouth of a manticore was full of rows and rows of razor-sharp teeth, similar to that of a great white shark. It used these teeth to feed upon any creature the manticore could catch, be it animal or human.[1]

Personality[]

Manticores were known to be savage man-eaters and allies of evil creatures. Manticores were intelligent creatures and often worked beside other evil beings to bring strife and suffering to the world.[1]

Combat[]

Some manticores had tail spikes that carried lethal or paralytic venom. Often, these manticores would have tails that were similar in appearance to that of a scorpion's stinger.[1]

History[]

In the Year of the Groaning Cart, 1267 DR, manticores, along with harpies and perytons, destroyed the city of Lis in the Moonsea region in what was known as the Flying Plague.[6]

Ecology[]

Manticore young

A manticore and its young.

Diet[]

Manticores were carnivorous creatures. Though they happily settled for the flesh of most any creature, they preferred the flesh of humans most of all.[7][5]

Lairs[]

Manticores were typically known to make their lairs underground or within caves, particularly ones that other races would consider to be very dismal.[5]

Habitats[]

These creatures could be found in almost any climate.[5] However, they far preferred to live in warm habitats.[3][5]

In Northwest Faerûn, they could be found within the Delimbiyr Vale.[8]

In West Faerûn, they could be found within the land of High Moor.[9]

Uses[]

Manticore hide was valued among some creatures for its use in furniture, such as chairs.[10]

A unique enchanted cloak, the Skin of the Manticore was created out of the beast's hide with the tail still attached. The enchantments placed on it allowed the wearer to control the venomous spiked tail of the cloak.[11]

Appendix[]

See Also[]

Notes[]

  1. The 2nd edition Monstrous Manual states that manticores occur in any climate or terrain.

Gallery[]

Appearances[]

Adventures
Under IllefarnWaterdeepDungeon #28: "The Pipes of Doom"Dungeon #28: "Visitors from Above"Dungeon #40: "Khamsa's Folly"Dungeon #57: "The Rose of Jumlat"Storm King's Thunder
Novels
The Fallen FortressSwordmage
Comics
Advanced Dungeons & Dragons (#15)
Video Games
Curse of the Azure BondsGateway to the Savage FrontierTreasures of the Savage FrontierNeverwinter Nights: Shadows of UndrentideNeverwinterIdle Champions of the Forgotten Realms
Referenced only
Neverwinter Nights: Tyrants of the Moonsea
Board Games
Battle for Faerûn
Card Games
AD&D Trading CardsMagic: The Gathering (AFR)

Further Reading[]

References[]

  1. 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 1.8 Mike Mearls, Jeremy Crawford, Christopher Perkins (2014-09-30). Monster Manual 5th edition. Edited by Scott Fitzgerald Gray. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 213. ISBN 978-0786965614.
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 Mike Mearls, Stephen Schubert, James Wyatt (June 2008). Monster Manual 4th edition. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 184. ISBN 978-0-7869-4852-9.
  3. 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 3.5 3.6 3.7 3.8 Skip Williams, Jonathan Tweet, Monte Cook (July 2003). Monster Manual v.3.5. (Wizards of the Coast), pp. 79–80. ISBN 0-7869-2893-X.
  4. Doug Stewart (June 1993). Monstrous Manual. (TSR, Inc), p. 246. ISBN 1-5607-6619-0.
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 Gary Gygax (December 1977). Monster Manual, 1st edition. (TSR, Inc), p. 65. ISBN 0-935696-00-8.
  6. John Terra (January 1995). “Player's Guide”. In Allison Lassieur ed. The Moonsea (TSR, Inc.), p. 32. ISBN 978-0786900923.
  7. Elaine Cunningham (November 2003). “Rite of Blood”. In Philip Athans ed. The Best of the Realms (Wizards of the Coast), p. 13. ISBN 0-7869-3024-1.
  8. Steve Perrin (1987). Under Illefarn. Edited by Rick Swan. (TSR, Inc), pp. 21–22. ISBN 0-88038-489-1.
  9. Random encounters table included in Ed Greenwood (1989). Waterdeep (adventure). (TSR, Inc). ISBN 0-88038-757-2.
  10. Dave Gross (February 2003). Lord of Stormweather. (Wizards of the Coast), p. 11. ISBN 0-7869-2932-4.
  11. Ossian Studios (August 2019). Designed by Luke Scull. Neverwinter Nights: Tyrants of the Moonsea. Beamdog.

True Felines
Mundane felines: CheetahHouse catJaguarLeopardLionMountain lionOcelotPantherRed tigerSaber-toothed tigerSand catSnow leopardSnow tigerSpotted lionTiger
Giant felines: Dire lionDire tigerGiant lynx
Magical felines: Cath sheeCrag catElven catJaguar lordJana-nimrJana-qitatLuck eaterSabu lordSwamplight lynxTressymWater cat
Planar felines: Fey pantherSpectral panther

Related Creatures
Smallwikipedialogo This page uses content from Wikipedia. The original article was at Manticore (Dungeons & Dragons). The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with Forgotten Realms Wiki, the text of Wikipedia is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 License. Additional terms may apply. See Wikia licensing policy and Wikimedia projects Terms of Use for further details.
Advertisement