Suggestions for a templated roper

Voadam said:

Thanks but I don't have MMIII, FF, Libris, Comp Arc, MotP, or EH.
I have MMI, II, & IV and Fiendish Codexes I & II for WotC monster books, and lots of d20 other ones.

I do have tome and blood but a template to make a tentacled roper seems a little redundant as far as themes go.

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I wouldn't bother with templates. I'd give it class levels. A sorcerer-roper, warlock-roper, cleric-roper, rogue-roper or barbarian-roper would all be cool, and surprise the heck out of the players.

I read your title as tempted roper. As such, I think it would be a neat turn of events to have the PCs encounter an abnormally virtuous roper with a terrible moral quandary, have them advise it, and let them be on their way.

moritheil said:

I read your title as tempted roper. As such, I think it would be a neat turn of events to have the PCs encounter an abnormally virtuous roper with a terrible moral quandary, have them advise it, and let them be on their way.

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An abnormally virtuous roper lives in a cavern where plentiful Rothe are to be found munching on a magical stone eating fungus. He has lived a generally peaceable and solitary existance and has no desire to do more than play the predator in his corner of the eco-system. However, recently a nearby tribe of goblins and a nearby tribe of gnomes have begun to war with each other over the caverns resources, raiding the others herds and slaying the herdsman, fouling each others drinking water, and destroying the outlying communities of the other. The roper is worried that if one side or the other gains the upper hand, they will surely expand into his territory once the threat of the neighboring community is elimenated. This will surely eventually bring him into conflict with the victor. Moreover, if he doesn't intervene, then many innocents on one side or the other will surely die cruelly. But from his distant vantage point, he does not know which side of the struggle is truly in the wrong. He is very hesitant to choose to intervene on behalf of the gnomes, since he believes that chiefly he would be judging things by thier appearances, and he knows to well how others would judge him by his appearance.

The PC's desire access to a deeper layer of the cavern complex, but the only known tunnel is through the roper's lair. The roper will only allow the PC's to pass in peace if they solve his moral quandry, thereby proving themselves to have good intentions and wisdom. (Alternately, a sense motive DC 35 will reveal that the roper is bluffing, and would actually allow the PC's to pass without harm if they insist to the point of violence, since he has no real desire to shed blood over so trivial of a reason.)

I once used an advanced half illithid chaosomaton (basically a machine version of the creature from Chaositech) roper (well actually Urophion which is a half illithid roper from Lords of Madness). Basically a metal pillar with tentacles. Oh and it was load bearing.

Maybe use half earth elemental (I forget where that one is) and do the same thing. Or use this (might want to tone it down a bit):

Living Column CR 20
Advanced Chaosomaton Urophion Huge Construct
Init: +4; Sense: darkvision 60 ft., low light vision
AC 29 (-2 size, +21 natural)
hp 255 [30 HD]
Immune: construct immunities, electricity
Resist: cold 10, SR 30
Weakness: Fire
Fort +12 Ref +10 Will +17
Speed 10 ft F/R 15/15(60)
Melee 6 strands +20 touch (sticky)
and bite +31 (2d8+16)
Base Atk: +22 Grp: +41
Spell-Like Abilities: at will-detect thoughts (DC 11), suggestion (DC 12) as 30th level caster.
Attack Options: Mind Blast (Will DC 24, 3d4 rounds stun), Drag (Break DC 36, Escape DC 40, 10 hp), Extraction (if you are standing next to it, and it then succesfully bites, it then immediately grapples, next round you are dead), Weakness (Fort DC 25, 2d8 Str)
Abilities: S33, D11, C-, I-, W10, C9
SQ: telepathy 100 ft.
Feats: Alertness, Great Fortitude, Improved Initiative.
Skills: Sneak +33, Listen +35, Spot +35.
Description: A metallic column with a single baleful red eye.

Voadam said:

I'm planning a cavern challenge for my 16th level group with an advanced roper. Any suggestions on a fun template to apply to bump up the CR a little? This is in a tunnel beneath the gate city of Rigus on the Outlands that connects to the lawful (evil) plane of Acheron.

I don't have Advanced Bestiary but I do have the Book of Templates and Template Trove Books as well as a bunch of other monster books.

I house ruled the Outlands to negate alignment powers so fiendish smite good for example does not work here so I'm trying to avoid things dependant on alignment powers.

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Instead of an entire template, you might try just giving a few extra abilities. For example, Earth Glide and Tremoresense would make for some nasty surprise attacks.

Ethereal Jaunt and Greater Invisibility as supernatural abilties would have a similar effect, though not as powerful.

Change its tentacles so that, when not grappling, they shoot out supernatural rays, ala the beholder. One simple option is that each tentacle shoots out the equivalent of a prismatic spray, except that they are rays. Give it a natural antimagic field, centered on its body, if you really want to irritate the spellcasters.

Give it the displacement ability of a displacer beast and the confusion ability of an umber hulk.

A fiendish, vampiric, half-dragon, half-troll, lycanthropic roper...

Celebrim said:

An abnormally virtuous roper lives in a cavern where plentiful Rothe are to be found munching on a magical stone eating fungus. He has lived a generally peaceable and solitary existance and has no desire to do more than play the predator in his corner of the eco-system. However, recently a nearby tribe of goblins and a nearby tribe of gnomes have begun to war with each other over the caverns resources, raiding the others herds and slaying the herdsman, fouling each others drinking water, and destroying the outlying communities of the other. The roper is worried that if one side or the other gains the upper hand, they will surely expand into his territory once the threat of the neighboring community is elimenated. This will surely eventually bring him into conflict with the victor. Moreover, if he doesn't intervene, then many innocents on one side or the other will surely die cruelly. But from his distant vantage point, he does not know which side of the struggle is truly in the wrong. He is very hesitant to choose to intervene on behalf of the gnomes, since he believes that chiefly he would be judging things by thier appearances, and he knows to well how others would judge him by his appearance.

The PC's desire access to a deeper layer of the cavern complex, but the only known tunnel is through the roper's lair. The roper will only allow the PC's to pass in peace if they solve his moral quandry, thereby proving themselves to have good intentions and wisdom. (Alternately, a sense motive DC 35 will reveal that the roper is bluffing, and would actually allow the PC's to pass without harm if they insist to the point of violence, since he has no real desire to shed blood over so trivial of a reason.)

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Awesome. Due to the "temptation" bit, I was thinking more along the lines of:

An abnormally virtuous roper knows that there are no more of its kind around. Recently, a passing succubus took note of its virtue, and resolved to corrupt it and turn it around to the slaughter of hapless passerby. The roper wants to have offspring, but it does not want itself or its offspring to become the sort of aggressive monster that the rest of its kind is, doomed to know no better in life. The succubus knows that its failure to produce progeny due to its distance from its kind has embittered it, and regularly visits to drive home the point that now she and she alone can grant it progeny.

This encounter is thus a morality play; players get XP for defeating the succubus and driving it off, but more XP for forcing the roper to confront its inner demons and regrets and let go of them.

Actually, this would make one heck of a weird movie.


EDIT: It's up! I haven't run In Nomine in a while, so I decided to take this odd idea of mine and run with it.

moritheil said:

The succubus knows that its failure to produce progeny due to its distance from its kind has embittered it, and regularly visits to drive home the point that now she and she alone can grant it progeny.

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Interesting. Except I don't find it all that believable because among other things the Roper should surely realize that infernal offspring would be even worse of a risk than mating with one of its own.

How about this...

An abnormally virtuous Roper is living peaceably along side a Gnome community, raising a small knot of offspring. A magical plague has recently just destroyed the source of its food supply - the magical stone consuming fungi native to it's caverns. With the food supply destroyed the Rothe herds have died or moved away. As a result, both the Roper and the Gnomish community are starving. The gnomish community has decided that they must try to find another food source, before the last of thier meagre livestock dies of hunger, and is preparing to leave for a distant cavern complex where more food can be found. The roper however is too large and slow for such a journey, and will likely be left to die. The roper is faced with several complex moral decisions. He could probably steal some of the remaining livestock, but if he did so, then the gnomes might die of hunger at best and at worst might come to blows with him. If he doesn't, the roper and its offspring will likely die of starvation. As an alternative, the roper might send its younger more agile offspring out alone to fend for themselves, but without the parent ropers guidance the young ropers would likely revert to the unfeeling killers typical of thier race in a short time - in fact, mad with hunger, the young ropers are already showing signs of considering the gnomish friends plausible food. And, if the roper must die, it must also choose first whether to slay its own offspring lest the sole legacy of the roper be future terror.

Into the midst of this situation arrives the PC's, which provide a temptation in thier own right. The PC's learn of the roper's plight from the friendly gnomes. The PC's need access to a cavern complex that can only be reached through the roper's lair, but the Roper will only grant access if the PC's can find some way to solve the Roper's mortal delimma.

Very nicely written. On the believability issue, I think it's fair to declare that the roper is neither terribly bright nor possessed of accurate knowledge of fiends . . . maybe the succubus is just posing as a remaining roper that also survived the destruction of their kind. Maybe some deep, soul-burning urge to have progeny threatens to overwhelm its rational mind. Maybe even some combination thereof.

And now, since this is increasingly diverging from what Voadam wants, I think I'll stop posting in this thread. Good luck!

Andre said:

Instead of an entire template, you might try just giving a few extra abilities. For example, Earth Glide and Tremoresense would make for some nasty surprise attacks.

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I like this and the class levels idea. Rogue could be nasty and Bard or Monk could be... odd.

About the pseudonatural template.... if you make a creature with tentacles pseudonatural, does it gain arm-like limbs ending in hands?