Dungeons and Dragons Lore : Manticore
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- čas přidán 5. 09. 2024
- A typical manticore is about 10 feet long and weighs about 1,000 pounds. Manticores can speak, but you are generally not going to like what they have to say... In this video, I will talk about why Manticore's prefer to hunt Humans and sweet, sweet info on where to find them, how they operate and what sort of social organisation they have.
I seem to recall a dragon magazine article about a rich baron who raised one of these from birth as a flying mount. He was killed by it on accident however; it brought up its tail to fire spikes at his foes instinctively during their first battle together, and put all of them in his back, killing him instantly. With its master dead, it went on a rampage, killing friend and foe. Afterwards, it ate his corpse, and took off.
Sounds about right.
ya, I'd never try this shit with a manticore
Shouldve worn some adamantine armor
You can tame them, but its just as hard as gryphons,
Should’ve been a dwarf. Too short to get hit and not as tasty.
2 things I never knew:
1) Tail spikes are limited
2) Need to eat metal
I tend to plan story tree campaigns based on player actions. In one area, Manticores were more or less kept in check by the nearby Sphynx population. Some locals in Sphynx territory had trouble with them. My players went on many missions to address the issues. They were fun with lots of riddles and some combat. The player with the Paladin decided to "eradicate the Sphynx threat" and turned the mission focuses on fighting the Sphynxes. Through lots of struggles and near defeats, they won enough fights against the Sphynxes to make them go into hiding. They stopped even attempting to talk to the PC party early on as a chat was never a thing with them since the near beginning. I even warned the Paladin's character through his god's word to him that he is on a risky path but he ignored it.
Story trigger: Manticore scourge. The heroic party quickly became the cause of the devastation, Manticores became an almost common random encounter. Despite them doing great work against the Manticores, they were still seen as pariahs for "causing it in the first place" despite how they saw the Sphynxes as a problem before it. The populous was like typical real-world populous, hindsight is 20/20. "Oh, we had it better before when they were a problem. You fixing that problem made things worse." in subtext. When a player said I was being a jack^ss about the story, I showed him my plot tree and triggers. I rarely did that, show the plot tree. I used to plan the whole thing. No, I wasn't story obsessed or anything (yeah, I was).
I remember reading something in one of the bestiaries that talked about what it's like to have a manticore as an ally. They like to brag about how superior they are and how easily they could slay you if they so chose. Like, "With the merest flick of my tail I could bat you you from these stairs, and set you tumbling... How delicious it would be to see your brains splashed on the stones far below, and lap the marrow from your cracked bones." This is the sort of banter a manticore has with his *friends*.
All in a falsetto growl, so, imagine the wicked witch shrieking "I'll get you my pretty!" with a deeper rumble under that from the chest, and a bit more band saw gravel to it, plus a LOT of frothy spittle.. and that is the Manticore. So, they can speak, sure.. but nobody wants them to.... Nobody... "I am the Best predator, I'm the only one who is the best, and you ask anyone I have killed, you can't, I killed them first, see, you know I am best, just look at you, has anyone really denied I am the best, well, they are liars, obviously, it is plain that I am the best predator, everyone knows it, I am well known to be the best of those who have not been killed by me yet".
My campaign world has a decadent, declining empire of catfolk. Many other cat-hybrid creatures live among them, each with their place in society - wemics, tibbits, rakshasa, etc. They worship sphinx as living gods, and regard manticores as devils.
That sounds remarkably similar to a large area of my campaign world! I wish the players would go there and have a look see, but they are chasing the Rod of Seven Parts at the moment.
Manticore spikes make excellent daggars once carved and polished then enchanted! Nice artwork at 2:56,i like the stinger tail as opposed to the "standard" spikes. That's a great variant! Also a good way to suprise a party used to hunting a standard type!
Just done my very first session of dnd. I somehow managed a manticore to owe his life to me and will help out for one time when I am in need. Looking forward to what tomfoolery I can do with this one time manticore summon.
Unless I missed it, you did not address the common variant seen even in much of the art you used: The idea of a manticore with a scorpion-like tail sting. Granted, that may not work too well with the idea of the tail spike species requiring an iron diet. Perhaps the poison sting species would tend to live more remotely since it could have a more diverse diet, having a lowered need for iron intake.
See, this is the kind of comment I absolutely love.. you just provided a ton of extra scope to the ecology of these creatures, and gave a perfectly logical reason why we might find a prevalence of stinger tail versions further away from civilisation (or in settings where there is not much metal being used, such as Dark Sun). Brilliant!
James Habermehl what if it uses a metallic poison for the venom in it's scorpion stinger the breed you also speak of has poison in their claws and fangs also I hear.
Jacob Weatherford Call it a “Mercurial Manticore” and make it inject mercury into its victims. Kind of a “Dodge or Die” type of attack. Seems like a good Underdark variant for the manticore, but they could work on a few of the elemental planes as well.
Jungles, swamps, and deserts = poison.
Basically, all the usual places you'd find scorpions.
Kudos to you for addressing this comment on a variant of the manticore!!! You beat me four years ago. I believe the last manticore image is the Crimson Manticore from MAGIC: the Gathering CCG. Awesome image of a scorpion tailed manticore!!!
Love the Voyage of the Bassett reference. Was it weird that I thought the sphinx was hot as a kid? Yes..as a kid....
Yes but your probably not alone
Had a vengeful Manticore in my campaign who was hell bent on getting back at his former misstress who had chained him for 100 years as a shrine guard in one spot on an obscure island.
What did he eat?
@@AJPickett
The shrine was a tomb that other pirates would come and leave offerings at so it was loaded with ill gotten treasure.
(Party hired by a merchants guild on a retrevial mission)
To pass the guardian they'd bring a sacrifice and trinkets.
At first he liked it but he was getting pretty jack pf the role after he realised it was going to be a perpetual thing until he died. (Which given he had been given a magically extended life span meant he most likely was going to starve to death once the pirates disbanded)
He was also sick of the constant local lizardmen trying to kill him to get rid of the pirate presence on the island.
The party had the choice of freeing him or battling him.
They freed him amd he immediately went amd took revenge on the lizardmen ( who had helped the party) and them flew off to take vengeance on his mistress. A future tale if I ever get to run it haha
The party were suitably sheepish about that act haha
They can be tamed, if raised from birth, provided the babe is taken in the first week as not imprint on its parents, alternatively those raised in captivity, the second is far safer, once the imprint is done its matter of training it, you will need the beast handler help here unless you have that perk, keep in mind the first 2 - 3 months it needs milk, they have a pack mentality, with an alpha pair in charge of the group, solo's are things but mostly a result of them being over hormonal and thus stay away from others, they will go back once they calmed down, they are omnivores, throw in some greens with its beef and it will do, the imprint effect also works if your married or have kids like gryphons, so friends, family and lovers are safe, they do well in warm climates then cold ones, they are adept hunters both during the day and night, however, as they get older and they're hair turns grey, they mostly hunt during the day, they mate for life life gryphons, during matting the males howl and sing in attempt to woue the females, gestation last 4 to 6 months and they can have a litter of 6 to 4, they are born naturally unless in captivity and medical complications arise, then surgery is needed or they are part of reservation, one of the few places you could buy one, it would cpt 500 gold pieces in total,
Their hides are just as good as a basilisk, however, they are used more for furniture, poaching them is very frowned upon, and considered a death penalty in certain parts,
One of the first mythical beasts I learned of as a kid. My grandfather (still living) used to tell me stories about monsters.
That might explain why I enjoy your channel.
From a DM's perspective, I love the Manticore as an enemy for lower levels. This is a great video that gives me a lot of ideas for how I'm going to use one preying on a trade route and working with a group of gnolls.
Manticores are one of my top favorite monsters of all time whether it be Dungeons & Dragons or Fighting Fantasy
Fighting Fantasy rocks :)
AJ Pickett I haven't even beaten the books myself yet but I hope to sometime
Love it! Hadn't thought of about 90% of those points - gives a richness to possible encounters with them... particularly having Prides of Manticores - super cool. And the idea that their hides and claws/spines are valuable.
In a large city, with alchemists and enchanters, leather workers and highly skilled smiths, a Manticore corpse could be worth easily over a thousand gold :)
AJ Pickett It makes for a great carrot... and a bloody big stick. Also, the fact that they go for the guys in metal - brilliant! Technically, divesting yourself of all metal _might_ give them a distraction long enough for you to escape... or give you a decoy for a trap!
There's just so much there to work with. I can imagine having to choose... do I drop my chainmail on the ground and lure them to go and eat it, then spring an ambush (that may not be very effective beyond the first round in D&D, but for Immersion it would be a legit tactic!), or do I keep my chain and hope it protects me?
Great stuff man :)
AJ Pickett I would imagine the spines would be in high demand for spiked armor an the like.
I am going to implement a crafting system in my campaign called The Iron Keep, so this is great inspiration
Sounds like having a polymorphed dragon in your party would be a great benefit if you're expecting to encounter manticores, the party would have a better chance of killing them and harvesting the hude and metal from the carcass and could probably make a good amount of money and perhaps have armor and weapons made from those parts as well
Getting a quest to capture a manticore alive to use as a source fore high quality steal for magical items would work. The adventurers would need to figure out way to sedate and transport it.
I couldn't decide which I liked better, so I gave my manticore both: a giant, venomous scorpion tail and steel spines on it's hackles that it launched as a defense against creatures that tried to get behind it.
I put manticores right behind goblins, kobolds, and dragons as most likely to appear as an enemy in my game.
Thanks AJ.
Such a cool and terrifying monster
5e REALLY put the kid gloves on a lot of monsters
I see my new, little villiage harraser!
I wonder if they were set in the bronze or copper age if that would affect the composition of its tail spikes
Eg. High grade bronze and not steel
For a piece of fan fiction im working on I’ve come up with a drow version. The spellplague is the source of its creation. Its a displacer beast with the head and front limbs of a drow priestess and two snakes for its tentacles. It hunts down drow to get at the drow poison drow carry to refill its snake-a-cles. She also spits webbing, cuz spiders
Pickman model is the best😊
Just re-watched 'cause i'm planning to use a Manticore, but get a new inspiration also. There was a creature that prefere to eat halflings seems to me (now don't remember wich), so there maybe can be a human country and an halfling one in cold war that produce those creature to disturb each one's border... maybe a ranger organition act as mercenary in those places and track down the worst ones.... and about dragons that kill manticore on sight i've immaginated an ancient manticore who devoured one dragon's treasure and now his spikes contain gold :P
Manticores in the real world were inspired by tiger sighting and attacks.
I could see a manticore leading a pair of dragonnes.
Thanks for the vid sir.👍🏼👍🏼
Can u attempt to cut it's tail and wings of during battle
Absolutely.
Hack off the tail for a boss weapon
Who would win Chimera or Manticore
In situations where the Manticore can make full use of it's flight and ranged attack, it might win, otherwise the Chimera would tear it a new one.
Manticore would win
Technically speaking, not AD&D speaking, the general term "chimera" applies to Manticores. In Middle-Eastern cultures, chimeras are living things that are multiple life forms in single beings to put it simply. Also chimeras: Bullywugs, minotaurs, owlbears, dragon turtles, ettins, broken ones, flesh golems, some demons, sphinxes, Tiamat, Yuan-ti, were-creatures, etc.
Tarkus.
I don't know if you actually addressed this and I missed it, but what is their lore origin?
Ancient mythology, The Manticore myth was of Persian origin. It passed into European folklore first through a remark by Ctesias, a Greek physician at the Persian court of King Artaxerxes II in the fourth century BC, in his book Indica
@@AJPickett I mean in-universe origin :)
@@Maelum_ I know this is an old comment but he said it is unknown in the video.
I've always been fascinated by the Xag-ya and Xeg-yi, any chance of a Monster Ecology on them?
There is an equally positive, and negative chance... roll initiative.
AJ Pickett Lotta god a 20 does me with my flat-footedness and 3 dexterity.
I have 18 in everything else, I'm a heroically strong, preternaturally wise, handsome, genius who also happens to be a clumsy oaf. :-D
Well, we can't have everything, but we can have custom monster ecology videos.. added to the list!
AJ Pickett You're a good man, AJ. I truly appreciate all the great work you do.
I imagine that they eat a lot of fish and liver. Bc of higher iron in them
You know, humans have got pretty big livers. Just sayin
Love your videos but god your vids are full of adds. There was five adds in this 13 half min video
Dungeons and Dragons Lore: Chimera
Already made that video.
OK, I get it. they need metal.
can somebody make a compilation of "metal" in this video :D
metal, metal, metal, metal, metal, metal, metal, metal, metal. :)
Gnarly.
Likely not going to win any popularity contests. Or beauty pageants.
I tamed one of these...
The monster with the head of a lion (Leo) and tail of a scorpion (Scorpio) became the biblical Israel. The four sons of Ham (heat) are, in birth order, Leo, Virgo, Libra, and Scorpio. This monster called Israel represents the ancient season of summer, when the year was divided into three seasons of Winter/Shem/Nahor aka Sagittarius thru Pisces. Spring/Japheth/Abram = Aries thru Cancer. Summer/Ham/Haran = Leo thru Scorpio. Isaiah 9.14-15.
so that's what a iron rich diet can do to you! :-)
A manticore would love the idea of a Gym.
LOL.
after each question is asked, they re-grow, depending on the answer, heheh
What about elf’s or hobbi.... I mean halflings
Everybody wants to eat the hobbits, they are delicious.
Can a manticore be tamed?
Not by most humanoids, no.
AJ Pickett I figured as much you'd probably have to be something like a war forged or thri kreen due to the natural armor both possess although the warforge might still end up eaten due to being all metal.
I think maybe something could. I imagine a halfling that only wears robes? Because it wouldn't be worth eating. Especially if you brought in an offering of a human in armor? idk, up to the DM really but you'd have a hell of a time because its a chaotic evil creature that eats almost exclusively humans. You're not gonna be making many friends.
Awakened Consciousness Mystic Underground actually in 5th edition they're lawful evil now
AJ Pickett I imagine if you had the means to keep it well fed with metal and meat it'd be possible to tame one.
the wingspan a manticore needs would be tremendously irrational to lift its weight.
Their metabolism includes metal.. who knows, maybe the flight is partially assisted by an electromagnetic hovering boost?
i guess.. its really just accepting everyone can fly but the fighter and rogue.
Rogue/Monk.. who needs to fly when you can snap kick a mountain right in the boulders?
I wouldn't say fly but glide
Magic
I don't know how there not extinct with army's y wouldn't you wipe them out on the first notice
I got a manticore mini from heroquest or dragonquest board game or whatnot the mini is plastic and red
0:38 "Well, there's actually a really good reason."
It does that because it's a dick.
Audio is painful.
Vid is 5 years old, I got better :)
Duuude re upload these and fix rhe audio that intro was so fucking loud
You're right, you're right, I shall get around to hiring someone to do that stuff one day....
@@AJPickett haha fair enough. That intro blew me away, I was like half asleep when it kicked off 😅🤣
First
how many forms and faces your video can show man ,too many kind of manticores ,no such rubish actually existed.
I'm flattered but this is just bad propaganda... Try reading serious books and no children fairy tales
You should try reading the original brother's Grimm tales.