Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Fearsome Critters from Lumberjack Tales
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Cleon" data-source="post: 4709541" data-attributes="member: 57383"><p><strong>Fearsome Critters from Lumberjack Tales - The Roperite</strong></p><p></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-size: 15px"><strong><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">Roperite</span></strong></span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"></span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">Medium Magical Beast</span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"></span><strong><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">Hit</span></strong><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"> <strong>Dice:</strong> 4d10+4 (26 hp)</span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><strong>Initiative:</strong> +4</span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><strong>Speed:</strong> 80 ft. (16 squares), climb 80 ft.</span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><strong>Armor</strong> <strong>Class:</strong> 19 (+4 Dex, +5 natural), touch 14, flat-footed 15 [<em>Lariat AC 27, touch 22, flat-footed 23</em>] [<em>Mobility gives +4 dodge vs opportunity attacks for AC23, touch 18, flat 15</em>]</span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><strong>Base</strong> <strong>Attack/Grapple:</strong> +4/+7 [<em>+17 to maintain an Adhesion hold or Beat or Rend foe</em>]</span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><strong>Attack:</strong> Lariat +8 melee (1d3+1 plus adhesion) or beak +7 melee (1d4+3) or kick +7 melee (1d6+4) or stomp +7 melee (1d4+3 plus adhesion) or claw +7 melee (1d4+1)</span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><strong>Full</strong> <strong>Attack:</strong> Lariat +8 melee (1d3+1 plus adhesion) or beak +7 melee (1d4+3) and kick +2 melee (1d6+4) or stomp +2 melee (1d4+3 plus adhesion) or 2 claws +2 melee (1d4+1)</span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><strong>Space/Reach:</strong> 5 ft./ 5 ft. (10 ft. with lariat)</span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><strong>Special</strong> <strong>Attacks:</strong> Adhesion, beat, drag, lariat, overwhelming force, rend, shove</span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><strong>Special</strong> <strong>Qualities:</strong> Cliff running, DR 6/magic, low-light vision, scent</span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><strong>Saves:</strong> Fort +5, Ref +8, Will +2</span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><strong>Abilities:</strong> Str 17, Dex 19, Con 13, Int 2, Wis 12, Cha 10</span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><strong>Skills:</strong> Climb +23, Jump +23, Hide +10, Listen +8, Spot +11</span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><strong>Feats:</strong> Alertness, Endurance, Improved Bull RushB, Improved OverrunB, MobilityB, RunB, Spring AttackB</span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><strong>Environment:</strong> Warm or temperate hills</span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><strong>Organization:</strong> Solitary</span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><strong>Challenge</strong> <strong>Rating:</strong> 4</span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><strong>Treasure:</strong> None</span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><strong>Alignment:</strong> Always neutral</span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><strong>Advancement:</strong> 5-7 (Medium); 8-12 HD (Large)</span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><strong>Level</strong> <strong>Adjustment:</strong> —</span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><em>Vaguely resembling a bipedal predatory dinosaur, this creature's most prominent feature is the upper bill of its sturdy beak which extends into rope-like lash it twists and coils like a lariat, the lower bill merely ends in a dagger-like point. Whatever this bizarre animal is, it's clearly not a reptile, for it has small pony-like ears, a mane of stiff hair and a beard, although it also has three great plumes sprouting from the back of its neck like some kind of bird. The beast has enormously muscled hindlegs with huge flippers for feet, while its forelimbs are a pair of sinewy arms with grasping hands and formidable talons. While its lariat-nose and flipper-feet, are creamy white and scaly, the rest of the creature's skin is brown-gray and leathery, resembling raw cowhide that's been left outdoors too long. Most of its hide is naked apart from a sparse coating of sandy fuzz which extends from just below its goggling eyes to the base of its tail, this fuzzy hair grows thicker over the animal's back, where a stiff ruff of dark hair runs down its spine. Finally, the creature concludes with a thin tail whose entire length is covered in rattles like a rattlesnake.</em></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><em></em></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">Faster than a thoroughbred racehorse. More powerful than a runaway wagon. Is it an ostrich? Is it a fiend? No, it's a Roperite!</span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">The above represents an average-sized young adult roperite, about 5 feet tall and 7 feet long, not including its 6-foot tail or its lariat, which stretches to 12 feet in length when unfurled. Such a specimen weighs some 250 pounds. The largest roperites reach almost half again that size – 7 feet high and 10 feet long, with 9-foot tails and 18-foot lariats – and weigh around 800 pounds.</span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">Roperites are among nature's most bizarre creations, but are frightening effective predators despite their goofy appearance. Fortunately, they are as rare as they are dangerous. These animals can run at terrifying speed over the roughest terrain. They are usually encountered in the foothills of mountains in areas of harsh scrub, which they blithely run through without any fear of injury. These monsters will happily attack any animal up to their own size, ensnaring it with their lariat beak and then running off, dragging their unfortunate victim behind them through piercing thorns and across jagged rocks so they are flayed alive.</span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"></span><span style="font-size: 12px"><strong><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">Combat</span></strong></span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">A roperite usually initiates combat by charging in and trying to seize one of its opponents, using its lariat's Adhesion ability. Its Mobility and Spring Attack feats help it avoid attacks of opportunity. If it succeeds in hitting its target it will then try to Drag them away across rough terrain, using its Shove ability and Improved Bull-Run and Improved Overrun feats to try to knock aside or run over any of the target's allies that get in its way.</span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">If the roperite fails to drag a victim away, either because it misses or its targets are too large or securely fastened together, it typically either tries hit-and-run attacks until it fells a victim or is driven away or, if it's particularly bold or desperate, just commences full attacks against its prey.</span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">The victim may be able to prevent or halt a Drag attack by clinging to a tree, boulder or similar obstacle. Roperites normally respond to such an eventuality by trying to Beat its lassoed foe into loosening their grip, so it can initiate or resume a Drag.</span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">Occasionally, a roperite Adheres to a victim that is difficult to injure with a Drag attack, usually because they have damage resistance. Against such foes, a roperite usually uses a Beat or kick attack combined with a Drag.</span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">A roperite reserves its Rend ability against particularly tough or stubborn targets. These monsters generally only uses this attack form when there are no other combatants within melee range, since it cannot manoeuvre at the same time.</span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">Roperites are tenacious combatants, but not suicidal ones. They will flee when seriously injured.</span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><strong>Adhesion (Ex)</strong></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">If a roperite hits with a lariat or stomp attack it can choose to automatically start a grapple as a free action without provoking an attack of opportunity. It can also start an Adhesion hold with a successful melee touch attack with its lariat or a foot, but this does no damage.</span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">The roperite gains a +10 racial bonus on any grapple check to maintain an Adhesion hold. It can release its Adhesion as a free action whenever it chooses to.</span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">A roperite using its lariat to Adhere to a target can use its other natural weapons without penalty. One using a foot to adhere to a target is considered flat-footed until it releases the Adhesion and may not use its kick attack, but may use any of its other natural weapons without penalty, including stomp.</span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">This Adhesion is neither glue, suction, nor magic. It makes no difference if the Adhered to object is covered in water, oil or similar liquid. If the target of Adhesion is easily broken or covered in some certain fragile or viscous materials, such as an adventurer wearing a fine silk shirt or thickly covered in grease mixed with sand, then the hold may fail because the portions the roperite Adheres to break off in its grip. [<em>A roperite's Adhesion exploits the Van der Waals force, the same principal as a gecko's feet</em>].</span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><strong>Beat (Ex)</strong></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">A roperite can inflict 1d4+3 damage on an opponent it has an Adhesion hold on by making a successful grapple check, including its +10 racial bonus from Overwhelming Force, by using its beak or foot to smash the foe against a nearby solid object. This is a standard action.</span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><strong>Cliff Running (Ex)</strong></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">A roperite's Adhesive feet mean it can easily move across walls and ceilings, provided they can support its weight. It can even Run across vertical surfaces, although it can not Run when upside down.</span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><strong>Drag (Ex)</strong></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">As a move action, a roperite can Drag any object up to its own size that it has Adhered to with its lariat. A roperite cannot use Drag when it has an object adhering to a foot, although it can Bull Rush, Beat or Rend such an object.</span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">To make a Drag attack, the roperite makes a Strength check against its opponent as if was taking the overrun or bull rush action. An average roperite has a +17 modifier on this Strength check due to its strength, size, feats and Overwhelming Force (see below). If the roperite wins the strength contest its foe is pulled prone and dragged at least one 5' square. The distance depends on the roperite's margin of success and their relative sizes. If the foe is the same size category as the roperite, they are dragged an additional 5' square for every 5 points of success, if the roperite is one size category larger the victim is dragged an additional 5' square for every 2 points of success, and if the roperite is two or more size categories larger the victim is dragged an additional 5' square for every single point of success.</span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">A roperite can use two move actions in a round on a Drag attack, this doubles the maximum distance it can drag its victim, and allows it to roll its Strength check twice and pick the best result. It does not make two Drag attacks against the target and apply the results separately.</span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">The victim can not be Dragged farther than the roperite's maximum movement (80 feet, or 160 ft. with a double move), and take 1d6 points of damage plus an additional 1d6 for every 30 feet they are dragged. Each of these dice of damage is considered a separate injury, so effects such as Damage Resistance or stoneskin count against them individually (e.g. a barbarian with DR2 who's been dragged 50' would take 1d6-2 damage two times).</span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">If the target can secure themselves to a large mass like a tree or boulder they are entitled to a circumstance bonus to their Strength check to resist being dragged. They may be able to grab hold of such an anchor if they are dragged past one. This would require a Reflex Save against a DC of 18, this DC being based on the roperite's Hit Dice and Dexterity, then they need to make a Strength check with a circumstance bonus against the roperite to halt the Drag.</span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><strong>Lariat (Ex)</strong></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">A roperite applies either its Dexterity or its Strength bonus to attack rolls with its lariat, whichever gives it the higher modifier, as if it was using the Weapon Finesse feat.</span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">A roperite's lariat can be cut through. It can take one quarter the hit points of the roperite (6hp for an average roperite) before being severed, but takes half damage from piercing weapons and is immune to bludgeoning weapons. It is also a very small and elusive target, with a +8 size bonus to its armour class, giving it AC 27, touch 22, flat-footed 23.</span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">Damage to the lariat does not affect the roperite's total hit points. A severed lariat regrows at a rate of one foot per day.</span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><strong>Overwhelming Force (Su)</strong></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">A roperite possesses unnaturally powerful legs which give it a +10 racial bonus on its Strength checks to bull rush or overrun any object or creature that obstructs its progress, or on similar actions such as its Drag ability. This gives an average roperite a +17 bonus on overrun / bull rush Strength checks (+3 Str,+4 feat plus +10 racial). This bonus does not apply to other applications of Strength, such as damage or attack rolls, even while charging.</span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">Overwhelming Force allows a roperite's to make Bull Rush or Overrun attacks against creatures up to two size categories larger than itself, instead of the standard upper limit of one size category larger than the attacker.</span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">This extraordinary leg-power allows a roperite to push or drag 16 times the normal weight of a creature of its size and strength (i.e. 40-160 × maximum load instead of 2½-10 × maximum load, or 10,400-41,600 pounds for a standard roperite, and 64,000-256,000 pounds for an average Large roperite!)</span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><strong>Rend (Ex)</strong></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">As a full-round action, a roperite that has an Adhesion grip on an opponent can grab them with both its feet and lariat and try to rip them apart. Making such a Rend attack is a full-round action which inflicts 2d4+6 damage if the roperite succeeds at a grapple check against its opponent, including its +10 racial bonus from Overwhelming Force. The roperite is flat-footed during a round it uses its Rend ability.</span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><strong>Shove (Ex)</strong></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">A roperite's supernatural strength allows it to force its way past creatures simply by moving into or over them. This is similar to a regular Bull Rush or Overrun but far more powerful.</span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">Roperites can make a Shove attack as a move action.</span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">Opponents in the path of a Shoving roperite may choose to make an attack of opportunity or leap aside. Leaping aside requires a successful DC16 Reflex save.</span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">Opponents that stand their ground against the roperite must make a Strength check to stop the roperite's progress, this Strength check is modified as if they were resisting a bull rush or overrun attack: +4 for every size category larger than medium, -4 for every size category smaller than medium, +4 for exceptional stability.</span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">If the opponent is the same size or smaller than the roperite and this Strength check fails to beat a DC equal to the roperite's Overwhelming Force bonus (DC 17 for a standard roperite), they are knocked prone and take 1d4+1 damage.</span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">If the opponent makes this DC with their Strength check, or is larger than the roperite, the roperite must roll a Strength check of its own to try to Shove through/over them. This is resolved as an Overrun attack (q.v.) against the result of the Strength check the opponent just made, except a roperite's Overwhelming Force allows it to make such attacks against creatures up to two size categories larger than itself. If the roperite's opponent loses the Strength contest they take 1d4+1 damage as well as falling prone. A roperite can make two such Shoving Overrun attacks each round by making a double move, it can make these attacks against the same opponent or two different foes.</span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">Shoving past an opponent costs the roperite an additional 5' of movement for every square it Shoves through, unless the opponent is more than two size categories smaller than the roperite (Diminutive or less for an average roperite), in which case the roperite can step over or kick aside the obstacle with negligible effort.</span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"></span><span style="font-size: 12px"><strong><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">Skills</span></strong></span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">A roperite has a +4 racial bonus on Hide, Listen and Spot checks and a +20 racial bonus on Climb checks. A roperite can always choose to take 10 on a Climb check, even if rushed or threatened.</span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"></span><span style="font-size: 12px"><strong><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">Lore Checks</span></strong></span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><strong>DC 17</strong> - A roperite looks like a nekkid demon turkey that's big as a pony, with a lasso fer a nose and a rattlesnake's tail. No, I ain't been drinking. That's just what the mountain folk say they looks like, ain't never laid eyes on one meself. They say them things can run up to a man fast as the wind, snare 'im with der rope-nose round and drag the poor fellow out of sight before you can take aim at the monster. The mountain folk legends is they ain't beasts, earthly or otherwise, but are the cursed ghosts of caballeros who dragged lassoed children to their deaths. They say that's why you never see a baby or young roperite, only full-grown ones. Sounds like a lot of hoo-haw to me.</span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><strong>DC 22</strong> - Did you know Squint-Eyed Jake? He was a wicked fella. One day, me and some compadres met Jake all chortling to himself like he were set to split with laughter. He said he'd met a party of tourists, and had spun them a line about roperites being in the hills they where heading for, and got them to cover themselves all over in grease and ashes, then tie themselves and their mules together three fold so the roperite couldn't drag anyone off. How he laughed at getting them to do such a dang fool thing just because of a nonexistant dangfool bugaboo. So Jack insisted we come along and see for ourselves how ridiculous these tourists look and we set off after them, only to find them being attacked by the weirdest looking varmint I'd ever clapped eyes on. It kept on trying to lasso a tourist or one of their mules with its beak, but its lasso just slipped off covered with grease, or the mules were too tied-together for it to pull one of them away.</span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">Then it catches sight of us, and charges up faster than a quarterhorse and snatches Jake clean off his feet. We all jumped in its way, but it knocked all four of us head over heels as easy as if we was bowling pins and races off into the rocks and thornbushes with Jake, leaving bits of him stuck to every sharp bit of scenery they passed. We heard Jake screaming long after we lost sight of him.</span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">Guess the joke was on Jake, after all.</span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><strong>DC 27</strong> - A roperite's nose isn't sticky or magical, but somehow it can fasten itself onto anything it touches with great strength. Most people don't know this, but roperites can fasten themselves onto things with their feet just as well, and this lets them run across cliffs and cave ceilings as easy as folk stroll down a street. That's why few people have ever seen a young roperite, for they go up into impassable mountains to breed, and the youngsters stay up there until they're pretty big.</span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"></span><span style="font-size: 12px"><strong><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">Ecology</span></strong></span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><strong>Lariat</strong></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">A roperite's lariat is a tube of tough leather that is animated by telekinetic impulses rather than muscle-power. It is a living organ with a sense of touch, which can do anything an elephant's trunk can and a lot more besides; as well as dragging victims to their doom, a roperite uses its lariat to pick up objects, drink, groom, sniff up scents, snorkel and many other duties. The lariat constantly grows from the base in the roperite's beak, allowing the roperite to quickly regenerate a severed lariat. A roperite can only animate a lariat of a certain length, when its lariat reaches this limit its growth rate dramatically slows and any excess length simply flakes away like dry skin.</span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><strong>Metabolism & Digestion</strong></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">Roperites have a supernatural metabolism, allowing them an incredibly active lifestyle on very little prey. They do not live on meat and drink alone, but must eat certain rare metal salts and exotic plants to maintain their bizarre physiologies, and may also require expose to the elemental forces emanating from the rocks of their home. The few roperites that have been captured and removed from their habitat have all sickened and died within weeks, despite clerical and druidic care.</span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">Since they lack teeth, roperite's can not bite or chew their meat, they grind up their food in a gizzard instead. A roperite uses its foreclaws to butcher its prey into pieces small enough to swallow, hoovering up any blood, juices or small fragments through their lariat.</span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">Roperites are not fussy about what animals they prey upon, eating any creature they can catch and overpower. Nor do they turn up their beaks at carrion when they are hungry, although they will not touch badly decayed meat.</span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><strong>Territoriality</strong></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">Fully grown roperites are solitary and highly territorial. The foothills they inhabit are barren, so each requires a large area to sustain itself, which they defend fiercely from other roperites.</span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">Border disputes are usually settled by "nose wrestling" – the competing roperites wrap their lariats together and try to pull their opponent off their territory. This tug of war proves which one is strongest, and the other will retreat. If one or both are desperate, usually due to hunger, they may fight with beak and claw for control of the territory, sometimes to the death.</span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><strong>Lifecycle</strong></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><strong></strong>Human sages know very little about roperite reproduction. Few people have even seen an immature roperite, since they are born and mature in the most inaccessible of mountains. This has led to many tall tales and outrageous myths about how roperites come to be, ranging from them being ghosts or demons, the creation of a mad slaad lord (as if there was any other kind of slaad lord), or the result of a sorcerer forcing a team of caballeros into an unnatural congress with ostriches.</span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">Roperite reproduction is a curious cross between the avian and the mammalian. Females are larger than males, typically weighing 50% more than a male of the same age. Dissection of female roperites has shown that they are ovovivaporous, producing a single shell-less but otherwise birdlike egg, which hatches internally and develops within a womb-analogue. The females also have mammaries to produce breast-milk.</span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><strong>Mating</strong></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><strong></strong>In late summer, the female roperites come in heat and emit a scent so attractive to nearby males they leave their territories to gather around her. Nose-wrestling matches between the males will force the weakest to leave, leaving only the strongest, who are closely matched in strength. After three or four days the female will run off, pursued by the males, in a "mating race" that may last over a day. The male with the greatest stamina is usually the winner, being able to keep close behind the female when she decides the race is over. Mating is short and perfunctory, after which the roperites return to their territories.</span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><strong>Infancy</strong></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">After carrying her young for around 7 months, a female roperite climbs into the mountains to give birth in a cave or beneath an overhanging cliff. A newborn roperite weighs around 20-25 pounds at birth, and is called a "foal". Roperite hatchlings have none of the supernatural strength or damage resistance of its parents, but can run as fast as a race horse within minutes of birth. Foals follow their mother around the mountains for the next 2 months, growing rapidly on her milk. Baby roperites spend a lot of their time riding on their mother's back, clinging on with their adhesive feet and lariat, they can even suckle from their mother's back by reaching around her body with their lariats.</span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">Infant roperites are quite precocious, capable of hunting for themselves by the age of four weeks, although they still need to nurse at their mother's breast for another month or so. Roperite milk contains vital nutrients its foal needs to develop its supernatural powers. If a baby roperite is taken from its mother and raised on the milk of other animals, it never develops the abilities of Overwhelming Force or Damage Resistance, although a roperite who loses its mother just before its weaned may manifest stunted versions of these powers, assuming it can survive by hunting for itself. In either case, such roperites always grow to be small and weak.</span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><strong>Adolescence</strong></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">As soon as it's weaned, the mother roperite abandons her offspring and returns to reclaim her territory. The juveniles live upon nigh-impenetrable mountainsides, eating rock-rats, birds and bats. Their favoured hunting grounds are colonies of nesting seabirds and roosting bats, they easily navigate the cliffs and cave-ceilings that protect such animals from ordinary predators. Immature roperites are not as territorial as adults, and several may share a particular bird or bat colony, provided there is enough food for them all.</span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">Juvenile roperites remain in the mountains until they've grown into young adults, then descend to the foothills to join the other adult population. This takes 5 years or more, by which time they're large enough to easily tackle the foothills' largest herd animals, deer and wild pigs. The new adults wander about trying to establish a territory, often being forced to eke out a living in the narrow borders between the land claimed by larger, more mature roperites.</span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><strong>Maturity</strong></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">Both males and female roperites may reach forty to sixty years of age in the wild before being overcome by senescence, though most fall prey to accident, disease or predation well before that. They can breed through their entire adult life, growing slowly as they age.</span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"></span><span style="font-size: 12px"><strong><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">Roperites of Different Sizes</span></strong></span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><strong>Hatchling Roperite</strong> </span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">(</span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">Small</span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"> Magical Beast, Hit Dice: 2d10 (11hp); Init: +5; Speed: </span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">60 ft. (12 squares), climb 60 ft.</span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">; AC: </span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">19 (+1 size, +5 Dex, +3 natural), touch 16, flat-footed 14</span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">; Base Attack/Grapple: </span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">+2/-1[<em>+9 to maintain an Adhesion hold</em>]</span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">; Attack: </span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">Lariat +8 melee (1d2 plus adhesion) or beak +4 melee (1d3+1) or kick +4 melee (1d4+1) or stomp +4 melee (1d3+1 plus adhesion) or claw +4 melee (1d3)</span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">; Full Attack: </span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">Lariat +8 melee (1d2 plus adhesion) or beak +4 melee (1d3+1) and kick -1 melee (1d4+1) or stomp -1 melee (1d3+1 plus adhesion) or 2 claws -1 melee (1d3)</span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">; Space/Reach: 5 ft./ 5 ft.; Special Attacks: </span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">Adhesion</span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">; Special Qualities: </span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">Cliff running, low-light vision, scent</span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">; Saves: </span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">Fort +3, Ref +8, Will +1</span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">; Abilities: </span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">Str 13, Dex 20, Con 11, Int 2, Wis 12, Cha 10</span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">; Skills: </span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">Climb +19, Jump +19, Hide +13, Listen +8, Spot +11</span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">; Feats: </span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">Alertness, Improved Bull RushB, Improved OverrunB, RunB</span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">; CR: 1)</span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"></span><strong><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">Juvenile Roperite</span></strong><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">(</span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">Small</span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"> Magical Beast, Hit Dice: 3d10 (16hp); Init: +5; Speed: </span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">80 ft. (16 squares), climb 80 ft.</span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">; AC: </span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">21 (+1 size, +5 Dex, +5 natural), touch 16, flat-footed 16</span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">; Base Attack/Grapple: </span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">+3/+0 [<em>+10 to maintain an Adhesion hold or Beat or Rend a foe</em>]</span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">; Attack: </span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">Lariat +9 melee (1d2 plus adhesion) or beak +5 melee (1d3+1) or kick +5 melee (1d4+1) or stomp +5 melee (1d3+1 plus adhesion) or claw +5 melee (1d3)</span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">; Full Attack: </span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">Lariat +9 melee (1d2 plus adhesion) or beak +5 melee (1d3+1) and kick +0 melee (1d4+1) or stomp +0 melee (1d3+1 plus adhesion) or 2 claws +0 melee (1d3)</span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">; Space/Reach: 5 ft./ 5 ft. (10 ft. with lariat); Special Attacks: </span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">Adhesion, beat (1d3+1), drag, lariat, overwhelming force [<em>+11 bull rush/overrun</em>], rend (2d3+2), shove (DC11, 1d3)</span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">; Special Qualities: </span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">Cliff running, DR 3/magic, low-light vision, scent</span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">; Saves: </span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">Fort +3, Ref +8, Will +2</span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">; Abilities: </span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">Str 13, Dex 20, Con 11, Int 2, Wis 12, Cha 10</span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">; Skills: </span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">Climb +19, Jump +19, Hide +13, Listen +8, Spot +11</span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">; Feats: </span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">Alertness, Endurance, Improved Bull RushB, Improved OverrunB, MobilityB, RunB, Spring AttackB</span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">; CR: 2)</span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"></span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><strong>Young Adult Roperite</strong> </span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">(</span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">Medium</span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"> Magical Beast, Hit Dice: 4d10+4 (26hp); Init: +4; Speed: </span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">80 ft. (16 squares), climb 80 ft.</span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">; AC: </span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">19 (+4 Dex, +5 natural), touch 14, flat-footed 15</span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">; Base Attack/Grapple: </span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">+4/+7 [<em>+17 to maintain an Adhesion hold or Beat or Rend foe</em>]</span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">; Attack: </span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">Lariat +8 melee (1d3+1 plus adhesion) or beak +7 melee (1d4+3) or kick +7 melee (1d6+4) or stomp +7 melee (1d4+3 plus adhesion) or claw +7 melee (1d4+1)</span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">; Full Attack: </span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">Lariat +7 melee (1d3+1 plus adhesion) or beak +7 melee (1d4+3) and kick +2 melee (1d6+4) or stomp +2 melee (1d4+3 plus adhesion) or 2 claws +2 melee (1d4+1)</span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">; Space/Reach: 5 ft./ 5 ft. (10 ft. with lariat); Special Attacks: </span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">Adhesion, beat (1d4+3), drag, lariat, overwhelming force [<em>+17 bull rush/overrun</em>], rend (2d4+6) , shove (Ref DC16, Str DC17, 1d4+1)</span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">; Special Qualities: </span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">Cliff running, DR 6/magic, low-light vision, scent</span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">; Saves: </span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">Fort +5, Ref +8, Will +2</span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">; Abilities: </span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">Str 17, Dex 19, Con 13, Int 2, Wis 12, Cha 10</span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">; Skills: </span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">Climb +23, Jump +23, Hide +10, Listen +8, Spot +11</span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">; Feats: </span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">Alertness, Endurance, Improved Bull RushB, Improved OverrunB, MobilityB, RunB, Spring AttackB</span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">; CR: 4)</span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><strong>Adult Roperite</strong> (Medium</span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"> Magical Beast, Hit Dice: 6d10+12 (45hp); Init: +8; Speed: </span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">80 ft. (16 squares), climb 80 ft.</span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">; AC: </span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">19 (+4 Dex, +5 natural), touch 14, flat-footed 15</span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">; Base Attack/Grapple: </span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">+6/+11 [<em>+21 to maintain an Adhesion hold or Beat or Rend foe</em>]</span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">; Attack: </span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">Lariat +11 melee (1d3+2 plus adhesion) or beak +11 melee (1d4+5) or kick +11 melee (1d6+7) or stomp +11 melee (1d4+5 plus adhesion) or claw +11 melee (1d4+2)</span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">; Full Attack: </span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">Lariat +11 melee (1d3+2 plus adhesion) or beak +11 melee (1d4+5) and kick +6 melee (1d6+7) or stomp +6 melee (1d4+5 plus adhesion) or 2 claws +6 melee (1d4+2)</span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">; Space/Reach: 5 ft./ 5 ft. (10 ft. with lariat); Special Attacks: </span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">Adhesion, beat (1d4+5), drag, lariat, overwhelming force [<em>+19 bull rush/overrun</em>], rend (2d4+10), shove (Ref DC17, Str DC19, 1d4+2)</span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">; Special Qualities: </span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">Cliff running, DR 6/magic, low-light vision, scent</span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">; Saves: </span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">Fort +7, Ref +9, Will +3</span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">; Abilities: </span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">Str 21, Dex 19, Con 15, Int 2, Wis 12, Cha 10</span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">; Skills: </span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">Climb +25, Jump +25, Hide +10, Listen +9, Spot +12</span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">; Feats: </span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">Alertness, Endurance, Improved Bull RushB, Improved Initiative, Improved OverrunB, MobilityB, RunB, Spring AttackB</span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">; CR: 5)</span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><strong>Mature Adult Roperite</strong> (Large</span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"> Magical Beast, Hit Dice: 8d10+24 (68hp); Init: +8; Speed: </span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">80 ft. (16 squares), climb 80 ft.</span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">; AC: </span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">20 (-1 size, +4 Dex, +7 natural), touch 13, flat-footed 16</span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">; Base Attack/Grapple: </span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">+8/+19 [<em>+29 to maintain an Adhesion hold or Beat or Rend foe</em>]</span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">; Attack: </span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">Lariat +14 melee (1d4+3 plus adhesion) or beak +14 melee (1d6+7) or kick +14 melee (1d8+10) or stomp +14 melee (1d6+7 plus adhesion) or claw +14 melee (1d6+3)</span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">; Full Attack: </span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">Lariat +14 melee (1d4+3 plus adhesion) or beak +14 melee (1d6+7) and kick +9 melee (1d8+10) or stomp +9 melee (1d6+7 plus adhesion) or 2 claws +9 melee (1d6+3)</span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">; Space/Reach: 10 ft./ 5 ft. (15 ft. with lariat); Special Attacks: </span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">Adhesion, beat (1d6+7), drag, lariat, overwhelming force [<em>+25 bull rush/overrun</em>], shove (Ref DC18, Str DC25, 1d6+3), rend (2d6+14)</span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">; Special Qualities: </span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">Cliff running, DR 6/magic, low-light vision, scent</span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">; Saves: </span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">Fort +9, Ref +10, Will +3</span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">; Abilities: </span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">Str 25, Dex 18, Con 17, Int 2, Wis 12, Cha 10</span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">; Skills: </span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">Climb +27, Jump +27, Hide +8, Listen +9, Spot +12</span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">; Feats: </span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">Alertness, Endurance, Improved Bull RushB, Improved Initiative, Improved OverrunB, MobilityB, RunB, Spring AttackB</span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">; CR: 7)</span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><strong>Elder Roperite</strong> (<strong>Maximized) </strong>(Large</span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"> Magical Beast, Hit Dice: 12d10+48 (114hp); Init: +8; Speed: </span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">80 ft. (16 squares), climb 80 ft.</span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">; AC: </span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">20 (-1 size, +4 Dex, +7 natural), touch 13, flat-footed 16</span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">; Base Attack/Grapple: </span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">+12/+23 [<em>+33 to maintain an Adhesion hold or Beat or Rend foe</em>]</span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">; Attack: </span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">Lariat +18 melee (1d4+3 plus adhesion) or beak +18 melee (1d6+7) or kick +18 melee (1d8+10) or stomp +18 melee (1d6+7 plus adhesion) or claw +18 melee (1d6+3)</span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">; Full Attack: </span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">Lariat +18 melee (1d4+3 plus adhesion) or beak +18 melee (1d6+7) and kick +13 melee (1d8+10) or stomp +13 melee (1d6+7 plus adhesion) or 2 claws +13 melee (1d6+3)</span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">; Space/Reach: 10 ft./ 5 ft. (15 ft. with lariat); Special Attacks: </span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">Adhesion, beat (1d6+7), drag, lariat, overwhelming force [<em>+25 bull rush/overrun</em>], rend (2d6+14), shove (Ref DC20, Str DC25, 1d6+3)</span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">; Special Qualities: </span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">Cliff running, DR 6/magic, low-light vision, scent</span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">; Saves: </span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">Fort +12, Ref +12, Will +7</span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">; Abilities: </span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">Str 25, Dex 18, Con 18, Int 2, Wis 12, Cha 10</span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">; Skills: </span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">Climb +27, Jump +27, Hide +8, Listen +11, Spot +14</span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">; Feats: </span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">Alertness, Endurance, Improved Bull RushB, Improved Initiative, Improved OverrunB, Iron Will, MobilityB, Power Attack, RunB, Spring AttackB</span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">; CR: 8)</span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><strong>Feat Progression:</strong> [1HD] Alertness, Improved Bull RushB, Improved OverrunB, RunB, [3HD] Endurance, MobilityB, Spring AttackB, [6HD] Improved Initiative, [9HD] Power Attack, [12HD] Iron Will?</span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><strong>Ability Progression:</strong> [4HD] +1 Dex, [8HD] +1 Dex, [12HD] +1 Con</span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"></span><span style="font-size: 12px"><strong><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">Notes</span></strong></span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">There are conflicting accounts of a roperite's appearance, although all agree on a rope-like bill/snout whose end can coil into a lasso. Other sources describe an animal with the size and shape of a pony whose nose extends in a whiplike snout above a mouthful of razorlike teeth. Instead of hooves, its feet end in pads resembling a sealion's flippers. It may retain the rattlesnake tail.</span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">If you prefer this variant, you only need to remove the claw attacks and change the beak attack to a bite with the same attack and damage values.</span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">The ability to Shove a Diminutive or smaller creature without a speed cost is based on tales of it kicking aside/running over roadrunners without slowing, since a roadrunner is ~18-24 inches beak to tail & 0.5-1.5 pounds it's closest to Diminutive in size.</span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"></span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"></span></span></span> <span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"><span style="font-family: 'Arial'">I gave it cliff-running because one of the story says a roperite can run across any obstacle, so it made a kind of sense to include vertical ones. It also led to my explanation as to why the <em><strong>Fearsome Creatures of the Lumberwoods</strong></em> says no one has ever seen a young roperite.</span></span></span><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px"></span></span></p><p><span style="font-family: 'Arial'"><span style="font-size: 10px">Oh, there's a nice picture of a roperite <strong><a href="http://loneanimator.elfwood.com/roperite.jpg.html" target="_blank">here</a></strong>, by Richard Svensson. It appears to be based on the illustration in <em><strong>Fearsome Creatures of the Lumberwoods</strong></em>, but with a bit more of the theropod to it, complete with the addition of teeth. The version I statted up takes after the older illustration in that it has a toothless, heron-like bill.</span></span></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Cleon, post: 4709541, member: 57383"] [b]Fearsome Critters from Lumberjack Tales - The Roperite[/b] [FONT=Arial][SIZE=2][SIZE=4][B][FONT=Arial]Roperite[/FONT][/B][/SIZE][FONT=Arial] [/FONT][FONT=Arial]Medium Magical Beast [/FONT][B][FONT=Arial]Hit[/FONT][/B][FONT=Arial] [B]Dice:[/B] 4d10+4 (26 hp) [B]Initiative:[/B] +4 [B]Speed:[/B] 80 ft. (16 squares), climb 80 ft. [B]Armor[/B] [B]Class:[/B] 19 (+4 Dex, +5 natural), touch 14, flat-footed 15 [[I]Lariat AC 27, touch 22, flat-footed 23[/I]] [[I]Mobility gives +4 dodge vs opportunity attacks for AC23, touch 18, flat 15[/I]] [B]Base[/B] [B]Attack/Grapple:[/B] +4/+7 [[I]+17 to maintain an Adhesion hold or Beat or Rend foe[/I]] [B]Attack:[/B] Lariat +8 melee (1d3+1 plus adhesion) or beak +7 melee (1d4+3) or kick +7 melee (1d6+4) or stomp +7 melee (1d4+3 plus adhesion) or claw +7 melee (1d4+1) [B]Full[/B] [B]Attack:[/B] Lariat +8 melee (1d3+1 plus adhesion) or beak +7 melee (1d4+3) and kick +2 melee (1d6+4) or stomp +2 melee (1d4+3 plus adhesion) or 2 claws +2 melee (1d4+1) [B]Space/Reach:[/B] 5 ft./ 5 ft. (10 ft. with lariat) [B]Special[/B] [B]Attacks:[/B] Adhesion, beat, drag, lariat, overwhelming force, rend, shove [B]Special[/B] [B]Qualities:[/B] Cliff running, DR 6/magic, low-light vision, scent [B]Saves:[/B] Fort +5, Ref +8, Will +2 [B]Abilities:[/B] Str 17, Dex 19, Con 13, Int 2, Wis 12, Cha 10 [B]Skills:[/B] Climb +23, Jump +23, Hide +10, Listen +8, Spot +11 [B]Feats:[/B] Alertness, Endurance, Improved Bull RushB, Improved OverrunB, MobilityB, RunB, Spring AttackB [B]Environment:[/B] Warm or temperate hills [B]Organization:[/B] Solitary [B]Challenge[/B] [B]Rating:[/B] 4 [B]Treasure:[/B] None [B]Alignment:[/B] Always neutral [B]Advancement:[/B] 5-7 (Medium); 8-12 HD (Large) [B]Level[/B] [B]Adjustment:[/B] — [I]Vaguely resembling a bipedal predatory dinosaur, this creature's most prominent feature is the upper bill of its sturdy beak which extends into rope-like lash it twists and coils like a lariat, the lower bill merely ends in a dagger-like point. Whatever this bizarre animal is, it's clearly not a reptile, for it has small pony-like ears, a mane of stiff hair and a beard, although it also has three great plumes sprouting from the back of its neck like some kind of bird. The beast has enormously muscled hindlegs with huge flippers for feet, while its forelimbs are a pair of sinewy arms with grasping hands and formidable talons. While its lariat-nose and flipper-feet, are creamy white and scaly, the rest of the creature's skin is brown-gray and leathery, resembling raw cowhide that's been left outdoors too long. Most of its hide is naked apart from a sparse coating of sandy fuzz which extends from just below its goggling eyes to the base of its tail, this fuzzy hair grows thicker over the animal's back, where a stiff ruff of dark hair runs down its spine. Finally, the creature concludes with a thin tail whose entire length is covered in rattles like a rattlesnake. [/I] Faster than a thoroughbred racehorse. More powerful than a runaway wagon. Is it an ostrich? Is it a fiend? No, it's a Roperite! The above represents an average-sized young adult roperite, about 5 feet tall and 7 feet long, not including its 6-foot tail or its lariat, which stretches to 12 feet in length when unfurled. Such a specimen weighs some 250 pounds. The largest roperites reach almost half again that size – 7 feet high and 10 feet long, with 9-foot tails and 18-foot lariats – and weigh around 800 pounds. Roperites are among nature's most bizarre creations, but are frightening effective predators despite their goofy appearance. Fortunately, they are as rare as they are dangerous. These animals can run at terrifying speed over the roughest terrain. They are usually encountered in the foothills of mountains in areas of harsh scrub, which they blithely run through without any fear of injury. These monsters will happily attack any animal up to their own size, ensnaring it with their lariat beak and then running off, dragging their unfortunate victim behind them through piercing thorns and across jagged rocks so they are flayed alive. [/FONT][SIZE=3][B][FONT=Arial]Combat[/FONT][/B][/SIZE][FONT=Arial] A roperite usually initiates combat by charging in and trying to seize one of its opponents, using its lariat's Adhesion ability. Its Mobility and Spring Attack feats help it avoid attacks of opportunity. If it succeeds in hitting its target it will then try to Drag them away across rough terrain, using its Shove ability and Improved Bull-Run and Improved Overrun feats to try to knock aside or run over any of the target's allies that get in its way. If the roperite fails to drag a victim away, either because it misses or its targets are too large or securely fastened together, it typically either tries hit-and-run attacks until it fells a victim or is driven away or, if it's particularly bold or desperate, just commences full attacks against its prey. The victim may be able to prevent or halt a Drag attack by clinging to a tree, boulder or similar obstacle. Roperites normally respond to such an eventuality by trying to Beat its lassoed foe into loosening their grip, so it can initiate or resume a Drag. Occasionally, a roperite Adheres to a victim that is difficult to injure with a Drag attack, usually because they have damage resistance. Against such foes, a roperite usually uses a Beat or kick attack combined with a Drag. A roperite reserves its Rend ability against particularly tough or stubborn targets. These monsters generally only uses this attack form when there are no other combatants within melee range, since it cannot manoeuvre at the same time. Roperites are tenacious combatants, but not suicidal ones. They will flee when seriously injured. [B]Adhesion (Ex)[/B] If a roperite hits with a lariat or stomp attack it can choose to automatically start a grapple as a free action without provoking an attack of opportunity. It can also start an Adhesion hold with a successful melee touch attack with its lariat or a foot, but this does no damage. The roperite gains a +10 racial bonus on any grapple check to maintain an Adhesion hold. It can release its Adhesion as a free action whenever it chooses to. A roperite using its lariat to Adhere to a target can use its other natural weapons without penalty. One using a foot to adhere to a target is considered flat-footed until it releases the Adhesion and may not use its kick attack, but may use any of its other natural weapons without penalty, including stomp. This Adhesion is neither glue, suction, nor magic. It makes no difference if the Adhered to object is covered in water, oil or similar liquid. If the target of Adhesion is easily broken or covered in some certain fragile or viscous materials, such as an adventurer wearing a fine silk shirt or thickly covered in grease mixed with sand, then the hold may fail because the portions the roperite Adheres to break off in its grip. [[I]A roperite's Adhesion exploits the Van der Waals force, the same principal as a gecko's feet[/I]]. [B]Beat (Ex)[/B] A roperite can inflict 1d4+3 damage on an opponent it has an Adhesion hold on by making a successful grapple check, including its +10 racial bonus from Overwhelming Force, by using its beak or foot to smash the foe against a nearby solid object. This is a standard action. [B]Cliff Running (Ex)[/B] A roperite's Adhesive feet mean it can easily move across walls and ceilings, provided they can support its weight. It can even Run across vertical surfaces, although it can not Run when upside down. [B]Drag (Ex)[/B] As a move action, a roperite can Drag any object up to its own size that it has Adhered to with its lariat. A roperite cannot use Drag when it has an object adhering to a foot, although it can Bull Rush, Beat or Rend such an object. To make a Drag attack, the roperite makes a Strength check against its opponent as if was taking the overrun or bull rush action. An average roperite has a +17 modifier on this Strength check due to its strength, size, feats and Overwhelming Force (see below). If the roperite wins the strength contest its foe is pulled prone and dragged at least one 5' square. The distance depends on the roperite's margin of success and their relative sizes. If the foe is the same size category as the roperite, they are dragged an additional 5' square for every 5 points of success, if the roperite is one size category larger the victim is dragged an additional 5' square for every 2 points of success, and if the roperite is two or more size categories larger the victim is dragged an additional 5' square for every single point of success. A roperite can use two move actions in a round on a Drag attack, this doubles the maximum distance it can drag its victim, and allows it to roll its Strength check twice and pick the best result. It does not make two Drag attacks against the target and apply the results separately. The victim can not be Dragged farther than the roperite's maximum movement (80 feet, or 160 ft. with a double move), and take 1d6 points of damage plus an additional 1d6 for every 30 feet they are dragged. Each of these dice of damage is considered a separate injury, so effects such as Damage Resistance or stoneskin count against them individually (e.g. a barbarian with DR2 who's been dragged 50' would take 1d6-2 damage two times). If the target can secure themselves to a large mass like a tree or boulder they are entitled to a circumstance bonus to their Strength check to resist being dragged. They may be able to grab hold of such an anchor if they are dragged past one. This would require a Reflex Save against a DC of 18, this DC being based on the roperite's Hit Dice and Dexterity, then they need to make a Strength check with a circumstance bonus against the roperite to halt the Drag. [B]Lariat (Ex)[/B] A roperite applies either its Dexterity or its Strength bonus to attack rolls with its lariat, whichever gives it the higher modifier, as if it was using the Weapon Finesse feat. A roperite's lariat can be cut through. It can take one quarter the hit points of the roperite (6hp for an average roperite) before being severed, but takes half damage from piercing weapons and is immune to bludgeoning weapons. It is also a very small and elusive target, with a +8 size bonus to its armour class, giving it AC 27, touch 22, flat-footed 23. Damage to the lariat does not affect the roperite's total hit points. A severed lariat regrows at a rate of one foot per day. [B]Overwhelming Force (Su)[/B] A roperite possesses unnaturally powerful legs which give it a +10 racial bonus on its Strength checks to bull rush or overrun any object or creature that obstructs its progress, or on similar actions such as its Drag ability. This gives an average roperite a +17 bonus on overrun / bull rush Strength checks (+3 Str,+4 feat plus +10 racial). This bonus does not apply to other applications of Strength, such as damage or attack rolls, even while charging. Overwhelming Force allows a roperite's to make Bull Rush or Overrun attacks against creatures up to two size categories larger than itself, instead of the standard upper limit of one size category larger than the attacker. This extraordinary leg-power allows a roperite to push or drag 16 times the normal weight of a creature of its size and strength (i.e. 40-160 × maximum load instead of 2½-10 × maximum load, or 10,400-41,600 pounds for a standard roperite, and 64,000-256,000 pounds for an average Large roperite!) [B]Rend (Ex)[/B] As a full-round action, a roperite that has an Adhesion grip on an opponent can grab them with both its feet and lariat and try to rip them apart. Making such a Rend attack is a full-round action which inflicts 2d4+6 damage if the roperite succeeds at a grapple check against its opponent, including its +10 racial bonus from Overwhelming Force. The roperite is flat-footed during a round it uses its Rend ability. [B]Shove (Ex)[/B] A roperite's supernatural strength allows it to force its way past creatures simply by moving into or over them. This is similar to a regular Bull Rush or Overrun but far more powerful. Roperites can make a Shove attack as a move action. Opponents in the path of a Shoving roperite may choose to make an attack of opportunity or leap aside. Leaping aside requires a successful DC16 Reflex save. Opponents that stand their ground against the roperite must make a Strength check to stop the roperite's progress, this Strength check is modified as if they were resisting a bull rush or overrun attack: +4 for every size category larger than medium, -4 for every size category smaller than medium, +4 for exceptional stability. If the opponent is the same size or smaller than the roperite and this Strength check fails to beat a DC equal to the roperite's Overwhelming Force bonus (DC 17 for a standard roperite), they are knocked prone and take 1d4+1 damage. If the opponent makes this DC with their Strength check, or is larger than the roperite, the roperite must roll a Strength check of its own to try to Shove through/over them. This is resolved as an Overrun attack (q.v.) against the result of the Strength check the opponent just made, except a roperite's Overwhelming Force allows it to make such attacks against creatures up to two size categories larger than itself. If the roperite's opponent loses the Strength contest they take 1d4+1 damage as well as falling prone. A roperite can make two such Shoving Overrun attacks each round by making a double move, it can make these attacks against the same opponent or two different foes. Shoving past an opponent costs the roperite an additional 5' of movement for every square it Shoves through, unless the opponent is more than two size categories smaller than the roperite (Diminutive or less for an average roperite), in which case the roperite can step over or kick aside the obstacle with negligible effort. [/FONT][SIZE=3][B][FONT=Arial]Skills[/FONT][/B][/SIZE][FONT=Arial] A roperite has a +4 racial bonus on Hide, Listen and Spot checks and a +20 racial bonus on Climb checks. A roperite can always choose to take 10 on a Climb check, even if rushed or threatened. [/FONT][SIZE=3][B][FONT=Arial]Lore Checks[/FONT][/B][/SIZE][FONT=Arial] [B]DC 17[/B] - A roperite looks like a nekkid demon turkey that's big as a pony, with a lasso fer a nose and a rattlesnake's tail. No, I ain't been drinking. That's just what the mountain folk say they looks like, ain't never laid eyes on one meself. They say them things can run up to a man fast as the wind, snare 'im with der rope-nose round and drag the poor fellow out of sight before you can take aim at the monster. The mountain folk legends is they ain't beasts, earthly or otherwise, but are the cursed ghosts of caballeros who dragged lassoed children to their deaths. They say that's why you never see a baby or young roperite, only full-grown ones. Sounds like a lot of hoo-haw to me. [B]DC 22[/B] - Did you know Squint-Eyed Jake? He was a wicked fella. One day, me and some compadres met Jake all chortling to himself like he were set to split with laughter. He said he'd met a party of tourists, and had spun them a line about roperites being in the hills they where heading for, and got them to cover themselves all over in grease and ashes, then tie themselves and their mules together three fold so the roperite couldn't drag anyone off. How he laughed at getting them to do such a dang fool thing just because of a nonexistant dangfool bugaboo. So Jack insisted we come along and see for ourselves how ridiculous these tourists look and we set off after them, only to find them being attacked by the weirdest looking varmint I'd ever clapped eyes on. It kept on trying to lasso a tourist or one of their mules with its beak, but its lasso just slipped off covered with grease, or the mules were too tied-together for it to pull one of them away. Then it catches sight of us, and charges up faster than a quarterhorse and snatches Jake clean off his feet. We all jumped in its way, but it knocked all four of us head over heels as easy as if we was bowling pins and races off into the rocks and thornbushes with Jake, leaving bits of him stuck to every sharp bit of scenery they passed. We heard Jake screaming long after we lost sight of him. Guess the joke was on Jake, after all. [B]DC 27[/B] - A roperite's nose isn't sticky or magical, but somehow it can fasten itself onto anything it touches with great strength. Most people don't know this, but roperites can fasten themselves onto things with their feet just as well, and this lets them run across cliffs and cave ceilings as easy as folk stroll down a street. That's why few people have ever seen a young roperite, for they go up into impassable mountains to breed, and the youngsters stay up there until they're pretty big. [/FONT][SIZE=3][B][FONT=Arial]Ecology[/FONT][/B][/SIZE][FONT=Arial] [B]Lariat[/B] A roperite's lariat is a tube of tough leather that is animated by telekinetic impulses rather than muscle-power. It is a living organ with a sense of touch, which can do anything an elephant's trunk can and a lot more besides; as well as dragging victims to their doom, a roperite uses its lariat to pick up objects, drink, groom, sniff up scents, snorkel and many other duties. The lariat constantly grows from the base in the roperite's beak, allowing the roperite to quickly regenerate a severed lariat. A roperite can only animate a lariat of a certain length, when its lariat reaches this limit its growth rate dramatically slows and any excess length simply flakes away like dry skin. [B]Metabolism & Digestion[/B] Roperites have a supernatural metabolism, allowing them an incredibly active lifestyle on very little prey. They do not live on meat and drink alone, but must eat certain rare metal salts and exotic plants to maintain their bizarre physiologies, and may also require expose to the elemental forces emanating from the rocks of their home. The few roperites that have been captured and removed from their habitat have all sickened and died within weeks, despite clerical and druidic care. Since they lack teeth, roperite's can not bite or chew their meat, they grind up their food in a gizzard instead. A roperite uses its foreclaws to butcher its prey into pieces small enough to swallow, hoovering up any blood, juices or small fragments through their lariat. Roperites are not fussy about what animals they prey upon, eating any creature they can catch and overpower. Nor do they turn up their beaks at carrion when they are hungry, although they will not touch badly decayed meat. [B]Territoriality[/B] Fully grown roperites are solitary and highly territorial. The foothills they inhabit are barren, so each requires a large area to sustain itself, which they defend fiercely from other roperites. Border disputes are usually settled by "nose wrestling" – the competing roperites wrap their lariats together and try to pull their opponent off their territory. This tug of war proves which one is strongest, and the other will retreat. If one or both are desperate, usually due to hunger, they may fight with beak and claw for control of the territory, sometimes to the death. [B]Lifecycle [/B]Human sages know very little about roperite reproduction. Few people have even seen an immature roperite, since they are born and mature in the most inaccessible of mountains. This has led to many tall tales and outrageous myths about how roperites come to be, ranging from them being ghosts or demons, the creation of a mad slaad lord (as if there was any other kind of slaad lord), or the result of a sorcerer forcing a team of caballeros into an unnatural congress with ostriches. Roperite reproduction is a curious cross between the avian and the mammalian. Females are larger than males, typically weighing 50% more than a male of the same age. Dissection of female roperites has shown that they are ovovivaporous, producing a single shell-less but otherwise birdlike egg, which hatches internally and develops within a womb-analogue. The females also have mammaries to produce breast-milk. [B]Mating [/B]In late summer, the female roperites come in heat and emit a scent so attractive to nearby males they leave their territories to gather around her. Nose-wrestling matches between the males will force the weakest to leave, leaving only the strongest, who are closely matched in strength. After three or four days the female will run off, pursued by the males, in a "mating race" that may last over a day. The male with the greatest stamina is usually the winner, being able to keep close behind the female when she decides the race is over. Mating is short and perfunctory, after which the roperites return to their territories. [B]Infancy[/B] After carrying her young for around 7 months, a female roperite climbs into the mountains to give birth in a cave or beneath an overhanging cliff. A newborn roperite weighs around 20-25 pounds at birth, and is called a "foal". Roperite hatchlings have none of the supernatural strength or damage resistance of its parents, but can run as fast as a race horse within minutes of birth. Foals follow their mother around the mountains for the next 2 months, growing rapidly on her milk. Baby roperites spend a lot of their time riding on their mother's back, clinging on with their adhesive feet and lariat, they can even suckle from their mother's back by reaching around her body with their lariats. Infant roperites are quite precocious, capable of hunting for themselves by the age of four weeks, although they still need to nurse at their mother's breast for another month or so. Roperite milk contains vital nutrients its foal needs to develop its supernatural powers. If a baby roperite is taken from its mother and raised on the milk of other animals, it never develops the abilities of Overwhelming Force or Damage Resistance, although a roperite who loses its mother just before its weaned may manifest stunted versions of these powers, assuming it can survive by hunting for itself. In either case, such roperites always grow to be small and weak. [B]Adolescence[/B] As soon as it's weaned, the mother roperite abandons her offspring and returns to reclaim her territory. The juveniles live upon nigh-impenetrable mountainsides, eating rock-rats, birds and bats. Their favoured hunting grounds are colonies of nesting seabirds and roosting bats, they easily navigate the cliffs and cave-ceilings that protect such animals from ordinary predators. Immature roperites are not as territorial as adults, and several may share a particular bird or bat colony, provided there is enough food for them all. Juvenile roperites remain in the mountains until they've grown into young adults, then descend to the foothills to join the other adult population. This takes 5 years or more, by which time they're large enough to easily tackle the foothills' largest herd animals, deer and wild pigs. The new adults wander about trying to establish a territory, often being forced to eke out a living in the narrow borders between the land claimed by larger, more mature roperites. [B]Maturity[/B] Both males and female roperites may reach forty to sixty years of age in the wild before being overcome by senescence, though most fall prey to accident, disease or predation well before that. They can breed through their entire adult life, growing slowly as they age. [/FONT][SIZE=3][B][FONT=Arial]Roperites of Different Sizes[/FONT][/B][/SIZE][FONT=Arial] [B]Hatchling Roperite[/B] [/FONT][FONT=Arial]([/FONT][FONT=Arial]Small[/FONT][FONT=Arial] Magical Beast, Hit Dice: 2d10 (11hp); Init: +5; Speed: [/FONT][FONT=Arial]60 ft. (12 squares), climb 60 ft.[/FONT][FONT=Arial]; AC: [/FONT][FONT=Arial]19 (+1 size, +5 Dex, +3 natural), touch 16, flat-footed 14[/FONT][FONT=Arial]; Base Attack/Grapple: [/FONT][FONT=Arial]+2/-1[[I]+9 to maintain an Adhesion hold[/I]][/FONT][FONT=Arial]; Attack: [/FONT][FONT=Arial]Lariat +8 melee (1d2 plus adhesion) or beak +4 melee (1d3+1) or kick +4 melee (1d4+1) or stomp +4 melee (1d3+1 plus adhesion) or claw +4 melee (1d3)[/FONT][FONT=Arial]; Full Attack: [/FONT][FONT=Arial]Lariat +8 melee (1d2 plus adhesion) or beak +4 melee (1d3+1) and kick -1 melee (1d4+1) or stomp -1 melee (1d3+1 plus adhesion) or 2 claws -1 melee (1d3)[/FONT][FONT=Arial]; Space/Reach: 5 ft./ 5 ft.; Special Attacks: [/FONT][FONT=Arial]Adhesion[/FONT][FONT=Arial]; Special Qualities: [/FONT][FONT=Arial]Cliff running, low-light vision, scent[/FONT][FONT=Arial]; Saves: [/FONT][FONT=Arial]Fort +3, Ref +8, Will +1[/FONT][FONT=Arial]; Abilities: [/FONT][FONT=Arial]Str 13, Dex 20, Con 11, Int 2, Wis 12, Cha 10[/FONT][FONT=Arial]; Skills: [/FONT][FONT=Arial]Climb +19, Jump +19, Hide +13, Listen +8, Spot +11[/FONT][FONT=Arial]; Feats: [/FONT][FONT=Arial]Alertness, Improved Bull RushB, Improved OverrunB, RunB[/FONT][FONT=Arial]; CR: 1) [/FONT][B][FONT=Arial]Juvenile Roperite[/FONT][/B][FONT=Arial]([/FONT][FONT=Arial]Small[/FONT][FONT=Arial] Magical Beast, Hit Dice: 3d10 (16hp); Init: +5; Speed: [/FONT][FONT=Arial]80 ft. (16 squares), climb 80 ft.[/FONT][FONT=Arial]; AC: [/FONT][FONT=Arial]21 (+1 size, +5 Dex, +5 natural), touch 16, flat-footed 16[/FONT][FONT=Arial]; Base Attack/Grapple: [/FONT][FONT=Arial]+3/+0 [[I]+10 to maintain an Adhesion hold or Beat or Rend a foe[/I]][/FONT][FONT=Arial]; Attack: [/FONT][FONT=Arial]Lariat +9 melee (1d2 plus adhesion) or beak +5 melee (1d3+1) or kick +5 melee (1d4+1) or stomp +5 melee (1d3+1 plus adhesion) or claw +5 melee (1d3)[/FONT][FONT=Arial]; Full Attack: [/FONT][FONT=Arial]Lariat +9 melee (1d2 plus adhesion) or beak +5 melee (1d3+1) and kick +0 melee (1d4+1) or stomp +0 melee (1d3+1 plus adhesion) or 2 claws +0 melee (1d3)[/FONT][FONT=Arial]; Space/Reach: 5 ft./ 5 ft. (10 ft. with lariat); Special Attacks: [/FONT][FONT=Arial]Adhesion, beat (1d3+1), drag, lariat, overwhelming force [[I]+11 bull rush/overrun[/I]], rend (2d3+2), shove (DC11, 1d3)[/FONT][FONT=Arial]; Special Qualities: [/FONT][FONT=Arial]Cliff running, DR 3/magic, low-light vision, scent[/FONT][FONT=Arial]; Saves: [/FONT][FONT=Arial]Fort +3, Ref +8, Will +2[/FONT][FONT=Arial]; Abilities: [/FONT][FONT=Arial]Str 13, Dex 20, Con 11, Int 2, Wis 12, Cha 10[/FONT][FONT=Arial]; Skills: [/FONT][FONT=Arial]Climb +19, Jump +19, Hide +13, Listen +8, Spot +11[/FONT][FONT=Arial]; Feats: [/FONT][FONT=Arial]Alertness, Endurance, Improved Bull RushB, Improved OverrunB, MobilityB, RunB, Spring AttackB[/FONT][FONT=Arial]; CR: 2) [/FONT][FONT=Arial] [B]Young Adult Roperite[/B] [/FONT][FONT=Arial]([/FONT][FONT=Arial]Medium[/FONT][FONT=Arial] Magical Beast, Hit Dice: 4d10+4 (26hp); Init: +4; Speed: [/FONT][FONT=Arial]80 ft. (16 squares), climb 80 ft.[/FONT][FONT=Arial]; AC: [/FONT][FONT=Arial]19 (+4 Dex, +5 natural), touch 14, flat-footed 15[/FONT][FONT=Arial]; Base Attack/Grapple: [/FONT][FONT=Arial]+4/+7 [[I]+17 to maintain an Adhesion hold or Beat or Rend foe[/I]][/FONT][FONT=Arial]; Attack: [/FONT][FONT=Arial]Lariat +8 melee (1d3+1 plus adhesion) or beak +7 melee (1d4+3) or kick +7 melee (1d6+4) or stomp +7 melee (1d4+3 plus adhesion) or claw +7 melee (1d4+1)[/FONT][FONT=Arial]; Full Attack: [/FONT][FONT=Arial]Lariat +7 melee (1d3+1 plus adhesion) or beak +7 melee (1d4+3) and kick +2 melee (1d6+4) or stomp +2 melee (1d4+3 plus adhesion) or 2 claws +2 melee (1d4+1)[/FONT][FONT=Arial]; Space/Reach: 5 ft./ 5 ft. (10 ft. with lariat); Special Attacks: [/FONT][FONT=Arial]Adhesion, beat (1d4+3), drag, lariat, overwhelming force [[I]+17 bull rush/overrun[/I]], rend (2d4+6) , shove (Ref DC16, Str DC17, 1d4+1)[/FONT][FONT=Arial]; Special Qualities: [/FONT][FONT=Arial]Cliff running, DR 6/magic, low-light vision, scent[/FONT][FONT=Arial]; Saves: [/FONT][FONT=Arial]Fort +5, Ref +8, Will +2[/FONT][FONT=Arial]; Abilities: [/FONT][FONT=Arial]Str 17, Dex 19, Con 13, Int 2, Wis 12, Cha 10[/FONT][FONT=Arial]; Skills: [/FONT][FONT=Arial]Climb +23, Jump +23, Hide +10, Listen +8, Spot +11[/FONT][FONT=Arial]; Feats: [/FONT][FONT=Arial]Alertness, Endurance, Improved Bull RushB, Improved OverrunB, MobilityB, RunB, Spring AttackB[/FONT][FONT=Arial]; CR: 4)[/FONT][FONT=Arial] [B]Adult Roperite[/B] (Medium[/FONT][FONT=Arial] Magical Beast, Hit Dice: 6d10+12 (45hp); Init: +8; Speed: [/FONT][FONT=Arial]80 ft. (16 squares), climb 80 ft.[/FONT][FONT=Arial]; AC: [/FONT][FONT=Arial]19 (+4 Dex, +5 natural), touch 14, flat-footed 15[/FONT][FONT=Arial]; Base Attack/Grapple: [/FONT][FONT=Arial]+6/+11 [[I]+21 to maintain an Adhesion hold or Beat or Rend foe[/I]][/FONT][FONT=Arial]; Attack: [/FONT][FONT=Arial]Lariat +11 melee (1d3+2 plus adhesion) or beak +11 melee (1d4+5) or kick +11 melee (1d6+7) or stomp +11 melee (1d4+5 plus adhesion) or claw +11 melee (1d4+2)[/FONT][FONT=Arial]; Full Attack: [/FONT][FONT=Arial]Lariat +11 melee (1d3+2 plus adhesion) or beak +11 melee (1d4+5) and kick +6 melee (1d6+7) or stomp +6 melee (1d4+5 plus adhesion) or 2 claws +6 melee (1d4+2)[/FONT][FONT=Arial]; Space/Reach: 5 ft./ 5 ft. (10 ft. with lariat); Special Attacks: [/FONT][FONT=Arial]Adhesion, beat (1d4+5), drag, lariat, overwhelming force [[I]+19 bull rush/overrun[/I]], rend (2d4+10), shove (Ref DC17, Str DC19, 1d4+2)[/FONT][FONT=Arial]; Special Qualities: [/FONT][FONT=Arial]Cliff running, DR 6/magic, low-light vision, scent[/FONT][FONT=Arial]; Saves: [/FONT][FONT=Arial]Fort +7, Ref +9, Will +3[/FONT][FONT=Arial]; Abilities: [/FONT][FONT=Arial]Str 21, Dex 19, Con 15, Int 2, Wis 12, Cha 10[/FONT][FONT=Arial]; Skills: [/FONT][FONT=Arial]Climb +25, Jump +25, Hide +10, Listen +9, Spot +12[/FONT][FONT=Arial]; Feats: [/FONT][FONT=Arial]Alertness, Endurance, Improved Bull RushB, Improved Initiative, Improved OverrunB, MobilityB, RunB, Spring AttackB[/FONT][FONT=Arial]; CR: 5)[/FONT][FONT=Arial] [B]Mature Adult Roperite[/B] (Large[/FONT][FONT=Arial] Magical Beast, Hit Dice: 8d10+24 (68hp); Init: +8; Speed: [/FONT][FONT=Arial]80 ft. (16 squares), climb 80 ft.[/FONT][FONT=Arial]; AC: [/FONT][FONT=Arial]20 (-1 size, +4 Dex, +7 natural), touch 13, flat-footed 16[/FONT][FONT=Arial]; Base Attack/Grapple: [/FONT][FONT=Arial]+8/+19 [[I]+29 to maintain an Adhesion hold or Beat or Rend foe[/I]][/FONT][FONT=Arial]; Attack: [/FONT][FONT=Arial]Lariat +14 melee (1d4+3 plus adhesion) or beak +14 melee (1d6+7) or kick +14 melee (1d8+10) or stomp +14 melee (1d6+7 plus adhesion) or claw +14 melee (1d6+3)[/FONT][FONT=Arial]; Full Attack: [/FONT][FONT=Arial]Lariat +14 melee (1d4+3 plus adhesion) or beak +14 melee (1d6+7) and kick +9 melee (1d8+10) or stomp +9 melee (1d6+7 plus adhesion) or 2 claws +9 melee (1d6+3)[/FONT][FONT=Arial]; Space/Reach: 10 ft./ 5 ft. (15 ft. with lariat); Special Attacks: [/FONT][FONT=Arial]Adhesion, beat (1d6+7), drag, lariat, overwhelming force [[I]+25 bull rush/overrun[/I]], shove (Ref DC18, Str DC25, 1d6+3), rend (2d6+14)[/FONT][FONT=Arial]; Special Qualities: [/FONT][FONT=Arial]Cliff running, DR 6/magic, low-light vision, scent[/FONT][FONT=Arial]; Saves: [/FONT][FONT=Arial]Fort +9, Ref +10, Will +3[/FONT][FONT=Arial]; Abilities: [/FONT][FONT=Arial]Str 25, Dex 18, Con 17, Int 2, Wis 12, Cha 10[/FONT][FONT=Arial]; Skills: [/FONT][FONT=Arial]Climb +27, Jump +27, Hide +8, Listen +9, Spot +12[/FONT][FONT=Arial]; Feats: [/FONT][FONT=Arial]Alertness, Endurance, Improved Bull RushB, Improved Initiative, Improved OverrunB, MobilityB, RunB, Spring AttackB[/FONT][FONT=Arial]; CR: 7)[/FONT][FONT=Arial] [B]Elder Roperite[/B] ([B]Maximized) [/B](Large[/FONT][FONT=Arial] Magical Beast, Hit Dice: 12d10+48 (114hp); Init: +8; Speed: [/FONT][FONT=Arial]80 ft. (16 squares), climb 80 ft.[/FONT][FONT=Arial]; AC: [/FONT][FONT=Arial]20 (-1 size, +4 Dex, +7 natural), touch 13, flat-footed 16[/FONT][FONT=Arial]; Base Attack/Grapple: [/FONT][FONT=Arial]+12/+23 [[I]+33 to maintain an Adhesion hold or Beat or Rend foe[/I]][/FONT][FONT=Arial]; Attack: [/FONT][FONT=Arial]Lariat +18 melee (1d4+3 plus adhesion) or beak +18 melee (1d6+7) or kick +18 melee (1d8+10) or stomp +18 melee (1d6+7 plus adhesion) or claw +18 melee (1d6+3)[/FONT][FONT=Arial]; Full Attack: [/FONT][FONT=Arial]Lariat +18 melee (1d4+3 plus adhesion) or beak +18 melee (1d6+7) and kick +13 melee (1d8+10) or stomp +13 melee (1d6+7 plus adhesion) or 2 claws +13 melee (1d6+3)[/FONT][FONT=Arial]; Space/Reach: 10 ft./ 5 ft. (15 ft. with lariat); Special Attacks: [/FONT][FONT=Arial]Adhesion, beat (1d6+7), drag, lariat, overwhelming force [[I]+25 bull rush/overrun[/I]], rend (2d6+14), shove (Ref DC20, Str DC25, 1d6+3)[/FONT][FONT=Arial]; Special Qualities: [/FONT][FONT=Arial]Cliff running, DR 6/magic, low-light vision, scent[/FONT][FONT=Arial]; Saves: [/FONT][FONT=Arial]Fort +12, Ref +12, Will +7[/FONT][FONT=Arial]; Abilities: [/FONT][FONT=Arial]Str 25, Dex 18, Con 18, Int 2, Wis 12, Cha 10[/FONT][FONT=Arial]; Skills: [/FONT][FONT=Arial]Climb +27, Jump +27, Hide +8, Listen +11, Spot +14[/FONT][FONT=Arial]; Feats: [/FONT][FONT=Arial]Alertness, Endurance, Improved Bull RushB, Improved Initiative, Improved OverrunB, Iron Will, MobilityB, Power Attack, RunB, Spring AttackB[/FONT][FONT=Arial]; CR: 8)[/FONT][FONT=Arial] [B]Feat Progression:[/B] [1HD] Alertness, Improved Bull RushB, Improved OverrunB, RunB, [3HD] Endurance, MobilityB, Spring AttackB, [6HD] Improved Initiative, [9HD] Power Attack, [12HD] Iron Will? [B]Ability Progression:[/B] [4HD] +1 Dex, [8HD] +1 Dex, [12HD] +1 Con [/FONT][SIZE=3][B][FONT=Arial]Notes[/FONT][/B][/SIZE][FONT=Arial] There are conflicting accounts of a roperite's appearance, although all agree on a rope-like bill/snout whose end can coil into a lasso. Other sources describe an animal with the size and shape of a pony whose nose extends in a whiplike snout above a mouthful of razorlike teeth. Instead of hooves, its feet end in pads resembling a sealion's flippers. It may retain the rattlesnake tail. If you prefer this variant, you only need to remove the claw attacks and change the beak attack to a bite with the same attack and damage values. The ability to Shove a Diminutive or smaller creature without a speed cost is based on tales of it kicking aside/running over roadrunners without slowing, since a roadrunner is ~18-24 inches beak to tail & 0.5-1.5 pounds it's closest to Diminutive in size. [/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Arial][SIZE=2][FONT=Arial]I gave it cliff-running because one of the story says a roperite can run across any obstacle, so it made a kind of sense to include vertical ones. It also led to my explanation as to why the [I][B]Fearsome Creatures of the Lumberwoods[/B][/I] says no one has ever seen a young roperite.[/FONT][/SIZE][/FONT][FONT=Arial][SIZE=2] Oh, there's a nice picture of a roperite [B][URL="http://loneanimator.elfwood.com/roperite.jpg.html"]here[/URL][/B], by Richard Svensson. It appears to be based on the illustration in [I][B]Fearsome Creatures of the Lumberwoods[/B][/I], but with a bit more of the theropod to it, complete with the addition of teeth. The version I statted up takes after the older illustration in that it has a toothless, heron-like bill.[/SIZE][/FONT] [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Fearsome Critters from Lumberjack Tales
Top