Mantigriffs? Mantigriffs.

So, this came to me at about 1:00 A.M. a few days ago, and the idea has refused to leave my brain ever since. I'm gonna call it a joke race, 'cause even I can't take it seriously.

Mantigriff
The offspring of a griffon and a manticore (say, now there's a nauseating thought), mantigriffs are large, grim-looking creatures with the head and talons of an eagle, leathery wings with occasional raggedy patches of feathers, the hindquarters of a lion, and the tail of an oversized scorpion. Since the conception of a mantigriff involves by definition a non-sentient participant, the resulting offspring usually lives with the burden of powerful social stigma (or, at the very least, chronic embarrassment for existing in the first place).

Clumsy Wings (1)
Your wings look like they aren't quite sure whether they're supposed be eagle-like or bat-like, and the indecision sure isn't helping your flying ability. You can fly with terrible maneuverability (you suffer a -10 penalty to precision and brawn skills while flying).

Bestial Heart (3)
You can communicate with animals as easily as you verbally communicate with other creatures. Speak to them as you would any NPC.

The Manti-Roar (2) – 1/Day
Preparation Time: 5 Seconds
Scaring ponies? That's easy. You can let out a terrifying roar, which grants you (for the next 10 minutes) a +5 bonus to persuasion checks involving intimidation and a +10 bonus to convincing other creatures that you’re evil.

Where is Thy Sting? (2)
You cannot be harmed by naturally occurring poisons or venoms (though magical poisons or venoms and similar can still harm you in combat). Also, 3 times per day, you may use your tail to fling an envenomed barb at a single creature. Outside of combat, this venom will cause the the victim to fall asleep within 90 seconds. Anyone put to sleep in this manner may make a DC 20 Endurance check once every hour to make the venom's effects wear off, although the victim will wake up on its own after 8 hours.

...What has science done?!

This
Needs
To
Be
Made
Official
On
The
Basis
on
Being
Awesome

While it's creation/birth is a little squick, it is an interesting combination of abilities.

Are you sure it's not Grifficores?

And what about Ponycores? Or Mantiponies? Or Hippocores, and Minocores/Mantitaurs?  

And yeah, that origin description is kinda squick - and while it makes for an interesting backstory/roleplay, I doubt many would want to play what is essentially a rape-child (half-orcs and such get a pass because of reasons). Wouldn't "magic weirdness" or "discordian mix-and-match" or "SCIENCE!" be a better origin story?

Yeah, the original idea was born from the revelation that in Pathfinder, manticores can interbreed with pretty much anything partly lion-shaped (which explains why I singled out the griffons and not any other race), but I'll admit that considering the more lighthearted setting, the mantigriffs' origin could use a major overhaul. Due to it still being a prototype, non-official race, nothing's set in stone about it, but the flavor is especially mutable. Hmm, maybe a mix of "magic weirdness" and "SCIENCE!"... a great deal of monsters in RPGs already exist due to a literal application of "A Wizard Did It", after all...

On a tangentially related note, I'm somewhat unsure of the final ability. Does "Where is Thy Sting?" seem overpowered/underpowered to anyone, or is it fine as-is?

Another idea, origin-wise, is to simply assume some manitcores can be sentient / intelligent / can talk (like the cows/griffons/ponies/minotaurs are) / are dapper enough to wear monocles. In some mythologies, they have "humanoid heads", and can talk (like Sphinxes). 
Also, fun fact: The name of Manticore comes for the words "Man+Eater". Why would they be called that way, in a setting without men/humans, unless...?

The sting is kinda hard to tell as far as usefulness and practicality goes - If you have to sting someone, you're pretty much guaranteed to enter combat, so it's kinda hard to make it non-combat. And if you enter combat with someone who's blinded (delaying/running them for 5 minutes, using kindness)... Are they still blinded? That's pretty much a non-combat-ability that gives you a combat advantage.

I think the sting could use some practical use / balance tweaks:

- A stealth component to it, by making it non-obvious you did the sting, by giving the tail manipulation stealth bonuses, or by making the sting more akin to a mosquito bite (stings that tend to be noticed only after they've started itching/swelling)...
- Needs to have the 5 minutes reduced for practical purposes (cause there are really very few situations where you need/benefit from someone blinded after five minutes, especially since the sting is guaranteed to stinged creature)...
- Give it a nausea-inducing, drowsyness, or other "you're feeling ill from poison" effect immediately, so it has functionality if you can't wait 5 minutes...
- Have the blind replaced with a "fall asleep" or "numbing/tranquilizer dart" effect, to make it function better in regards to combat (since fighting someone who's blinded is pretty much a direct combat advantage from a non-combat ability. Fighting someone who's asleep either wakes them up or gives you a very minor initiative advantage)...
- Have the sting be usable remotely by throwing a spike/dart from a range, but with a x/day limit (since they have to "re-grow" the spikes again)...

Edited "Where is Thy Sting?" to make it a ranged, 3/day ability with a shortened delay and a sleep effect.

Zarhon wrote:Another idea, origin-wise, is to simply assume some manitcores can be sentient / intelligent / can talk (like the cows/griffons/ponies/minotaurs are) / are dapper enough to wear monocles. In some mythologies, they have "humanoid heads", and can talk (like Sphinxes). 

This may be all that's needed.  Seems like it would work well enough considering all the stuff that can talk in the franchise.  Plus, the red dragon in Dragonshy seemed animalistic at first but could carry on a conversation.

I think the venom stinger needs a bit of clarification on its venom use - there isn't anything preventing the player from "draining" their venom for later use (which can bypass the daily limit on their spikes by applying venom to darts of own make).

Maybe have the venom limited by how much you can get out of it (volume, or per day - venom glands can produce venom only so fast, after all)?

Or make its daily uses be "venom charges" (which can be used either for poisoning purposes, or antivenom creation, or whatever else you need knockout green goo for), whilst the ranged "throw spikes/darts" component is a  2/day or 1/day?

ZamuelNow wrote:This may be all that's needed.  Seems like it would work well enough considering all the stuff that can talk in the franchise.  Plus, the red dragon in Dragonshy seemed animalistic at first but could carry on a conversation.

And the reverse applies, of course!  Those poor manticores...

Nah, I much prefer the "A Wizard Did It" origin. If they can make owl-bears, tiger-sharks, sea-monkeys, wolf-spiders, and even stupider things, a freakish sentient race isn't that far off.