Nunda
Image © @a-book-of-creatures​, accessed at A Book of Creatures here
[The nunda is yet another African mythological creature (Swahili this time) that is sorely misrepresented in the West. This is despite several solid English translations being available for more than a hundred years. It appears as its actual self (a giant, non-magical cat capable of swallowing people whole) in The Violet Fairy Book by Lang, for example. But, under the name mngwa, it became more demythologized by colonial British forces, reflecting their anxieties about dangerous animals in East Africa (the cryptid mngwa is larger than a lion, not larger than an elephant). This mngwa is made into a supernatural assassin by Pathfinder 1e, which is a cool monster that is only related to the original by being in the shape of a cat. And JK Rowling brought it into the original Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (back when that was just a charity booklet and not an increasingly deranged franchise attempt), where it kept its enormity, but became venomous. And, for some reason, had a name change from “nunda” to “nundu”.Â
In an attempt to give my version a mechanical niche beyond “hey, it’s a cat, but bigger!”, I gave it sound mimicry, inspired by the discovery that margays, and maybe other cats as well, mimic the sounds of small animals to lure their prey in. If you want a Fantastic Beasts style “nundu”, change these stats to a magical beast, and give it a breath weapon in a 30 foot cone 3/day that acts as burnt othur fumes (Con based DC). That would make it a CR 12 creature.]
Nunda CR 11 N Animal This creature resembles a cat larger than an elephant. It has stocky legs and a thick tail. Its coat is blotched and striped.
A nunda is a massive big cat, large enough to prey on just about any mundane animal, and many monstrous and magical ones as well. Because of their great size and stout limbs, they are rather slower than other cats. Instead of relying on speed to hunt, nundas use deception. They are remarkably good at imitating the cries of other animals, and so attract curious, distressed or amorous creatures to meet their fate. They also know enough to use these calls to attract humans, and lure in hunters with the sound of a wild pig, antelope or even of a mundane cat.
A nunda requires an enormous home range, and thus are typically solitary. The males are larger than the females and have larger territories that encompass the territories of multiple females, but females still try to avoid or repel males unless they are in heat. Females give birth to only one cub at a time, which they raise diligently until they are about the size of a leopard, at which point they are chased from the territory. At this stage, they may be mistaken for a more mundane feline, and even adopted as pets by the wealthy and privileged, leading to a rude surprise when a prized leopard keeps growing, and keeps demanding more and more meat.
Nunda as Animal Companions Use the statistics for a big cat animal companion for a nunda, except that it has a move speed of 30 feet, sound mimicry (animals) as a 1st level companion, and gains swallow whole instead of pounce at 7th level. Characters with a nunda animal companion sometimes become mammoth riders.
