Rockjaw Panther
Image from Bone, © Jeff Smith
[Sponsored by @glarnboudin, who wanted a conversion of Roque Ja from the fantasy comic Bone. Roque Ja/Rock Jaw is a relatively minor character in the grand scheme of the plot, but one of the most memorable ones. The look is very clearly inspired by Disney's take on Shere Khan, and like Shere Khan, Roque Ja acts like a sophisticate but is really a self-centered bully. Like my previous take on the Rat Creatures, my challenge here was in giving Rock Jaw a mechanical niche. I built off of his enmity with dragons to inspire some of his defensive traits, and codified the most striking thing he pulls off (or in this case out) in combat as a special attack. Size in Bone is kind of impressionistic; Roque Ja could be Huge or Gargantuan depending on what panel you're basing it off of. I went with the largest interpretation.
If you'd like to join @glarnboudin in sponsoring monsters, see bonus kaiju and monster girls, or just want to chip in a few bucks to keep the lights on, head on over to the Creature Codex Patreon here]
Rockjaw Panther CR 12 NE Magical Beast This creature looks like a mountain lion with an especially prominent jawline, except that it is the size of a house.
Rockjaw panthers are enormous magical cats with a territorial streak and an inflated sense of self. They will gladly talk to their prey, trying to convince it that resistance is hopeless, and dismissing values such as love and friendship as delusions meaningless in the cosmic sense. Despite their philosophical pretensions, rockjaw panthers respect strength—they impose it on those who are weaker and kowtow to those who are stronger. The exception to this rule comes with dragons. Rockjaw panthers despise dragons for their arrogance and are jealous of their magical gifts, and attempt to kill younger dragons whenever possible.
Rockjaw panthers have a stony hide hidden beneath their pelts, and they can ignore blows from mundane predators and many weapons. They can alter their scent and magical aura to more closely resemble stone, allowing them to stalk even enemies with supernatural senses such as dragons. Despite these gifts, a rockjaw panther fights much like its lesser kin at a grander scale—they pounce on prey from hiding before tearing it to pieces with claws and teeth. If a rockjaw panther cannot get a grip on a victim, it will attempt to shove it over the side of a cliff or into some other environmental hazard. If they can get a grip, the rockjaw panther will force open its prey’s mouth in order to pull out its tongue as a further humiliation. Rockjaw panthers strongly value their own lives, and tend to flee when badly injured.
A rockjaw panther will often proclaim themselves the guardian of a mountain range in order to extract tribute from those living there or crossing through. This tribute can be in the form of food or treasure; even though rockjaw panthers have little use for gold and gems, they value them as bribes to buy their own life if need be, and take grim satisfaction from keeping lucre out of the clutches of dragons. Even when serving as a vassal to a stronger evil, rockjaw panthers expect to be treated with respect. An evil overlord who insults or abuses one of these creatures is setting themselves up for a spiteful betrayal.
