Thylacine

Known too as the mantiger or jumping tiger, the thylacine is a bold, tiger-sized predator with a knack for illusion; its coat is a smudged, smoky gray blotched with irregular patches of other shades, and its eyes are black. It has infravision to 120 yards, and its keen hearing and nose let it track with 80% success.

It leaps onto prey to bite and tear, its claws dealing 1d4 each and its fangs 2d4. From a standing start it can jump 20 feet up or 50 feet forward, or 65 feet with a run, and a fall of any height costs it only 1 point of damage.

If it surprises a victim with a pounce, its front claws gain +2 to hit. When both front claws connect, it can also rake with its hind claws for 1d4 each and bite at +4; such a bite deals maximum damage every round until the cat is killed or thrown off, and prying it loose requires a bend bars/lift gates success. While it simply hangs on, its front claws deal their minimum damage each round automatically.

Holding still among trees or against rock, it goes unnoticed 70% of the time. Charm, fear and other spells that control or sway the mind do not affect it, and it can be neither detected nor summoned by magic. One thylacine in five can, once a day, cloak itself in an illusion of a human for 1d3 rounds, to shake off pursuers or get close to wary prey; observers save against it at +2.

A shrewd hunter, it steers clear of big, clever-looking groups and picks loners or small, weak parties. It knows wizards and magic for the threats they are, and it sets out on purpose to maim spellcasters and to wreck potions, scrolls and other magic.

Thylacines live alone in rocky country and deep forest. Rather than a lair, each keeps several resting spots, ideally high ledges or hidden caves, otherwise thickets or ruins, and it hides the remains of its kills. It gathers no treasure but sometimes uses valuables as bait to draw humanoids into an ambush. Each roams a range about 30 miles across, taking big grazers, lesser predators and humanoids alike while keeping clear of settlements and roads.

They come together only to breed, once every 12 years, when instinct sends mature adults to remote forests and arctic lands. Gathered in prides of 10-40, they hunt together for months, howling loudly as they go. The males then leave; six months after mating, each bears one to three cubs, which stay in the pride until fully grown at three years, then the group disperses. A thylacine can live 70 years, though most die much sooner.

Thylacines may ally with other intelligent cats or feline monsters against a shared threat. Weretigers are the nearest to them in temperament, and the two sometimes share hunting grounds, and they loathe dogs, wolves and their monstrous kin. The camouflaged pelt is prized for cloaks and is worth 1d3 gp. The brain is an ingredient in the magical ink used to scribe mind blank and sells for 25-50 gp.