Paaridar, Manticore
"Manticore!" © Fur Affinity user iLeomaru, accessed at their gallery here
[It was awfully nice of Paizo to make a canonical way of making monster girls for Pathfinder 2e. The paaridar feels like it should be a template, and in fact should be multiple templates. I might go and do more at some point. So the CR 7 manticore paaridar that we get in Bestiary 3 is what I was aiming for, but you can make a whole monastery by using this template on a variety of different monk stat blocks. I didn't use the canon art for it because that art is missing the tail; maybe the art was commissioned before the stats were finalized]
Paaridar, Manticore CR +1 Acquired Template This woman has clawed hands, a long tail ending in multiple spines, and a pair of leathery wings. She grins resolutely with fang-like teeth.
Paaridus was a monk obsessed with shortcuts for gaining power. Rather than develop his own ki by focusing on his chakras and personal growth, he developed a technique to steal the ki from other organisms. Envious of various monstrous life and ashamed of the limitations of human flesh, he focused on monsters, and his followers, known as paaridars, have mastered the technique. But the more chakras are replaced, the more the mind of the original person is lost, replaced with a feral personality. The root, sacral and naval chakras are the ‘safe” ones, but even this is seen as a profane and disgusting act by most monks. The “donor” survives the process, barely, a husk of its former self, which is usually put out of its misery as an initiation ceremony for the new paaridar.
Different types of paaridars exist, each one drawing from the ki of a different magical beast or dragon. Each type of paaridar is its own template. These templates are similar to the template below, with the following adjustments. Most paaridars has one offensive ability, one defensive ability and one type of special movement. Swap out the claw attacks for another natural weapon, if appropriate, but retain Feral Combat Training as a bonus feat. A paaridar typically gains a +4 bonus to one physical ability score, a +2 bonus to another physical ability score, and a -2 penalty to a mental ability score (usually Intelligence or Charisma).
Creating a Manticore Paaridar “Manticore paaridar” is a template that can be added to any creature with a ki pool, typically a monk or ninja. CR +1 Alignment any non-good. A paaridar must still maintain the alignment requirements for its class (lawful for a monk, for example) Type change the creature’s type to monstrous humanoid if it is a humanoid. Do not recalculate HD, BAB or saves. Armor Class increase natural armor bonus by +2 Defenses/Qualities gains darkvision 60 ft. if the base creature doesn’t have it, and the following defensive ability: Sharp Disruption (Ex) a manticore paaridar can block an attack with its claws as an immediate action. It gains DR /- equal to its HD, and the creature that hits it takes slashing damage equal to the paaridar’s claw damage plus its Strength modifier. A manticore paaridar can use this ability once per day, plus an additional time per day per 3 HD. Weakness a manticore paaridar gains the following weakness Disrupted Ki (Su) whenever a manticore paaridar uses a ki point, it takes 1d6 points of damage. It cannot reduce the damage taken from this ability in any way. Speed the manticore paaridar gains a fly speed equal to ½ its land speed, and clumsy maneuverability. Its flight gains the following quality: Limited Flight (Ex) a manticore paaridar can fly consecutively without penalty for a number of rounds equal to its Constitution modifier. Unless it then lands and doesn’t fly for a number of minutes equal to the number of rounds it flew, it gains the fatigued condition. Melee the manticore paaridar gains 2 claw attacks that deal damage as if it were one size larger than its actual size category Ranged the manticore paaridar gains the following ranged attack: Spikes (Ex) With a snap of its tail, a manticore paaridar can loose a volley of spikes as a standard action (make an attack roll for each spike). A paaridar of CR 4 or lower can fire two spikes at a time, one of CR 5 to 10 can fire four spikes at a time, and one of CR 11 or higher can fire six spikes at a time. This attack has a range of 180 feet with no range increment and deal 1d6 damage (assuming a Medium paaridar) plus the paaridar’s Strength bonus on a successful hit. All targets must be within 30 feet of each other. The manticore paaridar can launch a number of spikes per day equal to 4x its Hit Dice. Ability Scores Str +4, Con +2, Int -2. Feats A manticore paaridar gains Feral Combat Training (claw) as a bonus feat. Skills A manticore paaridar gains Fly as a class skill.