Manticore

Manticores are large, aggressive, terrirorial, apex predators. They form close familial units until the cubs come of age when they are driven out into the deep woods to form mating pairs and rear their cubs for the first few years. After this they return to the lonely trees and form a perminant terratory. Sufficently successful linages of manticores can even form expanding territories inherited across generations. While formidable most manticores only raise one set of young in their lifetime, prefering to remain in their territory once established.

Manticores tend to have large litters, between 7 and 20 cubs at a time. They are asexual until adulthood, having narrower thorn-like spikes on their tails instead of the scorpion-like sacs of adults. 



Manticores 'natural' voice is pipe-like trumping (perhaps - some church scholars theorize - an echo of the ancient god Pan) but they are also capable of mimicing human speech, and faking tears to earn sympathy. 



Manitcores poison gets more potent as they age, fully mature manticores have a inexorably fatal poison (except for to elephants). Younger manticores, can, as a last resort stab all of their spikes into something threatening them, delivering a huge dose of poison and achiving the same lethality. 





Manticore female/male
Large Monstrosity, Lawful Evil
Armor Class 17/14 (natural armor)
Hit Points 68 -49(8d10 + 24)
Speed 30 ft., fly 80 ft. (must end fly on the ground)
STR+3/+4 DEX+4/+3 CON+3 INT+2 WIS-2 CHA-1
Senses Darkvision 60 ft., Passive Perception 11
Languages Common
Proficiency Bonus +2

Pipe-player: A manticore can both imitate human speech (this functions like mimicry) and make a noise that sounds exactly like pan-pipes

Tail Spike Regrowth. The manticore has 7-12 or 1 tail spikes. Used spikes regrow when the manticore finishes a long rest.

Actions
Multiattack. The manticore makes three attacks: one with its bite and two with its claws or three with its tail spikes.
Bite. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 7 (1d8 + 3)/(1d12+4) piercing damage. Male crits on a 17-20 and a crit (by either) auto-does devour flesh
Claw. Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 6 (1d6 + 4)/1d8+4 slashing damage
Tail Spike. Ranged Weapon Attack: +5/+5 (-5 to male unless take action to aim) to hit, range 100/200 ft., one target. Hit: 7 (1d8 + 3)/2d10+4 piercing damage and 3d6/5d6 poison dmg + 1d6/2d6 lingering until spine is removed (save ends end of turn) DC14 con save for half of all poison dmg and no poison condition. If you have 3 spines in you, or the big spine in you at any point you're stunned and auto take the poisoned condition (going down from manticore poison both paralizes and destabalizes you)

bonus actions:
devour flesh: the manticore makes a bite atk with disadvantage or gorges itself on a corpse, the target loses max HP equal to half the dmg delt and the manticore regains the same amount of HP, if the manticore preforms this action successfully 3 times it regains d6 spines or 1

female only, the manticore makes a tail-spine atk


reaction
plead (crocodial tears): the manticore makes a persuation check vs a wis save by the target giving the target disadvatage on their current course of action if they fail