Manticore 5e
Guide by Sam West, @CrierKobold
From Greek myth to the pages of the Monster Manual, Manticores have come a long way. These winged lion scorpion hybrids have terrorized the table since Dungeon & Dragons’ inception and will continue to terrorize for years.
Here, you’ll find all the ins and outs of using Manticores in D&D 5e- how to run them, beat them, and build worlds with them. Let's dive in!
Running Manticores
Manticores take the fundamental models beast stat blocks offer and mix the highlights to create a low-tier apex predator.
Their 50 ft. fly speed and tail spikes give them a clear play pattern- fly around and shoot spikes. Brushing up on the flight rules can be handy, as they lack the hover trait, so if they want to remain in the air, they’re going to need to keep moving.
Player Level
CR 3 sets up Manticores as singular threatening monsters for level 2 or 3 parties when they’re on equal footing. Some groups will get decimated by a tactical manticore hunting in its domain, though, as it can easily float around the group, harrying it with tail spikes until an isolated target is ready for execution.
Three or four can remain deadly for mid-tier groups that can’t within range- three tail spikes per round will shred down lower AC characters.
Defining Gameplay to Work With
100/200 ft. Tail Spikes paired with their 50 ft. fly speed defines every encounter a manticore has. Their Darkvision is lower than their tail spike range, making them still prefer hunting in daylight.
Stack this range and speed advantage with the three attacks per round they get and you’re set up with a lone monster that can handle a group of low-tier adventurers. Three attacks per round is a ton for a CR 3 creature- both in melee and over a distance these things are putting out over twenty damage a round divided as they please.
Mentality and Tactics
Manticores fit between bear and man from an intelligence perspective with an Int of 7. I’d expect them to fall for complex traps with ease still, but have fantastic hunting intuition and an excellent understanding of how best to approach groups of armed adversaries.
They want to hover around an open region and launch tail spikes from above, weakening their marks until it's safer to descend and finish the job. When their backs are in the corner, they can still put up a fight with tooth and claw, but their comparatively fragile AC and hit-point pool make them drop quickly once they're grounded.
Combating the Monster
While simple, there are some core ideas that you’ll want to think about when engaging manticores.
Methods of Engagement
Your primary objective is to ground them. If they can leverage their high fly speed and long-ranged attacks, many party members aren’t going to be able to participate in the fight.
If you don’t have the tools to get them on the ground, cover is your best friend. The ranged characters can take shots at it when it goes out for a volley, and other characters may want to use terrain to protect themselves from attacks, attempting to goad it to the ground.
Elements to Target
Their low Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma make them susceptible to save or dies- in particular, Hideous Laughter thrashes them, as it drops them prone, usually resulting in fall damage paired with removing their primary advantage in the fight.
Other ways to remove its flight are helpful as well- Ensnaring Strike stands out as a tool that can facilitate that in the lower tiers. Grappling can do a similar thing if you’re able to get on top of it, but its large size and high strength make the odds of a successful grapple slim.
Otherwise, Manticores only have an AC of 14, meaning most attacks are more likely to hit it than miss, and it has only 68 hit points which can vanish over a few rounds of hits.
Traps also can target its low intelligence- setting up nets or wire to tangle it up mid-flight will reward groups who plan ahead.
Classes That Shine Against It
Spellcasters that target its mental ability scores shine brightly here- Bards, Warlocks, Sorcerers, and Wizards all fit this criteria, as do classes with excellent high-range attacks like Rangers and Rogues.
Paladins, Barbarians, and Monks all can struggle to participate in encounters where Manticores get to leverage their aerial advantage. Clerics and Druids surprisingly lack a lot of the tools the other spellcasters have to challenge the monstrosity’s mental stats, making them instead rely on ranged spell attacks or summoned winged allies.
The World Around It
Manticores are at the top of the local food chain. They are just smart enough to bargain with humanoids but are still primarily apex predators that crave blood and food.
As the Main Antagonist
I can see a Manticore capping off a two or three-level adventure as a villainous force- the players are introduced to it by seeing the terror it can cause over farms and villages in the early sessions, maybe even resulting in the party having to take cover to hide from its onslaught from above. As the adventurers grow in strength, they get clues to its mountaintop lair, fight their way through its conscripted lackeys, and finally put down the terror in a climactic, dangerous battle in the air.
It isn’t going to be smart enough, nor strong enough, to go that much deeper, though. Its a low tier villain at most- something to be hunted as a part of a “monster of the week” style game, but in that environment, perfect.
Underling Tables
Given their raw power, dumber or weaker creatures could bargain with a Manticore for survival. The following table offers some ideas for underlings to pair with a manticore villain to sculpt an adventure around.
Manticore Underling Table
| d6 | Underlings |
|---|---|
| 1 | 1d6+1 cultists who view the manticore as a demigod to a greater slaughter god |
| 2 | 1d4+2 goblins who offer captives as tribute to the monster to pass through its domain |
| 3 | 1d6 skeletons bound the boneyard where the manticore ambushes its prey |
| 4 | 1d4+1 gnolls who send one of their own out as a tithe to the manticore and trial for them |
| 5 | A pair of rust monsters who pick at the metal weapons the manticore’s prey leaves |
| 6 | A pair of harpies whose song draws in enough prey to keep the manticore occupied |
As a Supplementary Monster
Where Manticores shine brightest to me is as supplementary threats- monsters you pair with another big bad in higher-tier encounters. They know their place in the world- they’re scary hunting machines, sure, but clearly can tell when they’re outclassed by a dragon or other massive predator.
In this space, they can look like monstrous flying hyenas- capable predators in their own right that eagerly scavenge the leftovers from bigger threats.
Environments
Manticores like high elevations with treacherous terrain. They can traverse the skies no problem- grounded creatures that have to struggle their way through sharp rocks and slippery surfaces are prime targets manticores can rip apart with ease.
The following table has some sample environments Manticores can excel at hunting at, and may choose to make their lair near.
Manticore Hunting Ground Table
| d6 | Hunting Ground |
|---|---|
| 1 | A deep, long gully in a dry desert realm |
| 2 | Atop mountainous peaks bridged by shoddy wooden walkways |
| 3 | Sheer cliffs on a coast with open waters below |
| 4 | Wide, sprawling plains looked over by a ruined watchtower, now the monster's lair |
| 5 | A massive cavernous cave with hanging stalactites they use for cover while hunting |
| 6 | A ruined city with a central chapel overlooking the ruin |
Quest Hooks
Manticores are terrors to the world around them. People want them dead, so quests to hunt them down are super easy to make.
Manticore Quest Hook Table
| d4 | Quest Hook |
|---|---|
| 1 | Herds of cattle are being shot with barrages of long tail spikes- find and slay the culprit |
| 2 | A band of goblins is claiming a recent razing of a town; they have a secret weapon that they may be unable to control for much longer |
| 3 | A noble has put the head of a manticore on the bounty board for killing their heir |
| 4 | A ship was found wrecked just outside of the port peppered with spikes and missing its treasures |
Associated Loot
As hunters, I wouldn’t expect them to collect trinkets and baubles in the same way dragons do. The loot I’d expect to find near their lair would be on their prey- what their prey has can make for great loot to reward groups who slay the beast.
Manticore Loot
| d8 | Magic Items |
|---|---|
| 1 | A grey Bag of Tricks on a half-eaten druid |
| 2 | A Cloak of Protection with a tail-spike-shaped hole through the hood |
| 3 | A set of Eyes of the Eagle on a loose skeletal head |
| 4 | An Immovable Rod barricading in an adventurer who succumbed to starvation |
| 5 | A Ring of Jumping on a corpse who mostly made a jump across a wide chasm |
| 6 | Rope of Climbing attached still attached to where the last band of hunters climbed up |
| 7 | A Wind Fan with a single tail spike lodged in its center |
| 8 | Winged Boots on the bottom half of a creature whose top half landed far away |
The Hunt is On
If you’re looking to run a classic monster hunting session, Manticores are a perfect choice. They're just smart enough to be threatening, yet despicably evil with no redeeming moral qualities. Just make sure you’re prepared, else the hunters will quickly become the hunted.
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