Roper, with a handlebar mustache, gripping the wheel of a 1970's Dodge Charger, one tendril out the window firing a pistol, Piercer, sitting in the passenger seat, wearing a Hawaiian shirt with excessive lapel, a frosted donut fitted over his pointed top, with a bite taken out of it. Car Leaps over sick drop of San Francisco street, one hubcap flying loose as an explosion occurs behind them, with title springing up on screen, bongo drums and chicawahwah guitar music with brass section playing opening title riff...
@@AJPickett😎 The captain will have their gun and badges for this one but they can't help but enjoy the ride. I'm working on the script already this is going to be dungeons & dragons meets every 80's/90's action movie ever.
Yay So since they create a pseudo shell using stalactites and stalagmites The minerals that make up that shell would determine how strong it is For example if there's a lot of iron and it it would probably be more resistant than if it was limestone By that same token if it was heavily laden with mithril ore or adamantine ore It would have different properties
My party has a roper who loves them. We bring it food whenever we return from our adventures and it eats anyone who tries to sneak into our base from the back door.
Seamus wuz here. The misses finished university today. Everyone's in my apartment. Seamus is not happy. They're all touching my stuff. One of the children found my dice bag. I've hidden in the bathroom. Send help.
I have the fool proof Outgoing Introvert escape plan.. go in and ask everyone if they want a cool thing that you currently don't have, DON'T TELL THEM YOU DON'T HAVE IT! When they say "Yay thing!" inform them you just have to pop out and get enough of the Thing for Everyone.. then you can leave, LIKE A HERO! You can even take along a buddy for absolutely no reason. (sure, you have to come back with a thing, but for a while there.. sweet sweet freedom, and when you get back, they will be more relaxed and happy to see you)
Hey AJ, just wanted to make a suggestion for some videos. Lycanthrops, there is a hole zoo "pun intended" of them with unique lore on each type. Keep up the good fight, your doing great mate!
I’m thinking of using these in a Jungle habitat. Just sitting there, looking like a termite mound or dead tree, it’s tentacles strewn about the foliage around it, blending in with the vines that hang from the canopy and coil their way up the trunks of nearby trees. The shade of the forest floor, though much brighter than the Underdark, provides relief from direct sunlight, and their Piercer offspring can hang safely on the boughs of the trees above, disguised as oddly conical beehives, while waiting for a nice squishy critter to wander below them.
AJ Pickett That thorn idea made me think of a Micro-Piercer. Basically just a mix of a Tick and a Piercer, hangs out on rose stems and thorny vines, and shoots into creatures to drink blood. Oh god, a jungle of creatures descended from Ropers would be a terrible place.
Hey AJ, I can't tell you how many monks & thieves (rouge) I have lost to these "things" (cloakers, ropers, piercer, etc.) My advice, dont be curious of whats in that cave, especially alone! Thanks AJ & have a great day.
Considering that humanity's whole thing is putting unwarranted effort into figuring out how to make barely edible stuff good, piercer is probably sold somewhere
The decomposers of the Underdark must put on quite a morose show when "cleaning up" the many messy deaths that occur down there. Carrion Crawlers, Oozes/Slimes/Jellies, Fungi, Gelatinous Cubes, All types of humanoid scavengers like Trogs and Grimlocks too. All those niches filled yet it's still a dark, dank slimy place.
Fought piercers in a recent session. Most of them ended up splattering on the cave floor because the DM's dice betrayed her. Natural 1 after natural 1 from dice that typically roll high when she's a player.
Another inspiring and though provoking episode. Thank you A.J! I like the idea of piercers crawling out of their shells and migrating en masse like sea cucumbers, invading towns in coordination with sinister purposes. Adventure awaits! Cheers!
Speaking of the gas propelled piercer, I had a thought of a roper holding a small boat or vessel in place (or having a small group to hold a larger vessel) as piercers destroy the ship, freeing up the humanoid cargo
It is tied into the secret lore the Allip was whispering in the background of that ecology video, which was revealed exclusively to Patrons. It is mind-bending stuff, well worth the wait.
The infamous Roper! 1.) If they cannot manipulate its ropes like tentacle how do they restrain their victims and what other things can they do with them (like moving the creature other that towards itself)? 2.) Dose the cerimorphasized variant have more tentacles, and do they have the mouth tentacles, or do they have another way of extracting the brain? 3.) Dose the mind flayer roper (I am not even going to attempt to spell that) still eat the body or just the brain? Also, dose it know all of the mind flayers psychic abilities (you could have it leading a small colony of enthralled ropers that it gives the bodies to afterwards)?
DragonTurtle I’m not sure about 2 & 3 but the answer to 1 is that it can manipulate its tentacles, just not with a great amount of manual dexterity. They can wrap it around a body and pull, but can’t use it to manipulate a doorknob or wield a weapon.
1.) They can target and shoot the tendril out, they can lay it on the ground and they can twitch it and reel it back in, that is all. The tendrils are very sticky but don't stick to the Roper. 2.) The brain extraction is performed with the teeth of the Mindflayer, which are very similar to the Roper's teeth, and they have a regular amount of tendrils, plus four tentacles around the mouth. 3.) They just eat the brains, and yes, they have all the usual mental capabilities as an illithid, but none of the usual training, so, just raw psionic ability.
I like the idea that a piercer can only become a roper, if it manages to skewer an animal of some sort (Including humanoids). Otherwise it will simply die.
The first thing I do when I gaze upon any previously unknown monster is this.I take the monster magnify its power and influence and make it a god.Next I build a city around it personalized to the monsters needs wants and flaws.Then I fill it with zealous worshippers willing to die for it.This is a good way to create monstrous villains for stories I write or players to make war on.Oh the possibilities with this creature.I see a city in the depths of the sea built around an ancient dire Roper from another world or dimension.I see insane mer people that protect it and its offspring with religious fervor.I see heroes discover the terrible truth being forced to rally armies against them.What an interesting tale this could be.
You couldn’t have dropped this at a better time! My players are venturing into the Underdark for their (and my) first time. I’m pleased to know more about the roper (and underdark) ecology before I use it.
Think half life out of ammo and you can only watch the mouth get closer as it reels you in. In that instance ironically... the wizard was the only one who saved. And since they don't have much hit dice... The fight lasted two rounds with everyone dead.
Ropers are also one of my favorite monsters. I'm currently running a horror D&D game. Ropers are perfect for this since the PC's walk into a normal looking cavern and see blood pools on the ground and splatters all over the walls. They begin looking behind stalagmites and stalactites for whatever is lurking in the room, only to have tentacles launch out from all around them. I may have almost TPKed them, but they pulled through.
I played Hord of the Dragon Queen and my party fought the roper in the hatching cave. Let me tell you that one Roper was the closest I have ever came to a TPKing my group in my years of DMing. They never look at caves the same again and I can make them jump by saying "What was your passive perception again?" when they get close to any rock formation. I am evil sometimes.
Ha! i was just talking about how cephalopods and octopoda would evolve in the Underdark. "Fauna of the Underdark. What are people doing for non-combat fauna? Lots of fish of course. The Lizdard Folk flooded the Underdark in the Days of Thunder to defeat the phaerim. Fish have been in the Underdark for millennia. There are lots and lots of types of fish. Most are blind. Some stay where there is light. Others are bioluminescent. Everything that goes for fish also goes for cephalopods and octopoda. Both are considerably smarter than fish and have evolved in to a number of niches. For example, we know that roctopuses exist. Insects. The get everywhere. Every fungus grove has evolved a different bunch. A biologists wet dream. Spiders. Lots of spiders use non-visual hunting strategies. And there are so many insects to eat. So lots of normal sized spiders. Rats. They eat everything and get everywhere. They came with the Drow and Duergar if nothing else. Unless they have evolved darkvision they stick to settlements and fungus groves with light. Bats have a lot of advantages in the Underdark, and have speciated widely. Fungus eating bats. Insect eating bats. Fish eating bats. Bat eating bats. Giant riding bats. Rothe, cows with darkvision. They're canonical. I guess it's another one to chalk up to "wizards on cocaine". Giant lizards. Komodo dragons - pack hunting lizards who eat a lot of fish. Lots of island colonies around the Darklake."
Bleh! See, *this* is exactly the sort of thing that makes me consider taking Mephistopheles as a warlock patron. Regular fire just isn't sufficient here.
My character in one of my recent games nearly died for good when a roper used her head for a chew toy. It was... something else. Thank goodness the cleric had prepared Gentle Repose, or I would have been rolling up a new character...
AJ love your videos man. But i have to say I prefer this style where you have graphics and pictures over the ones you do where you are just speaking into the camera. The artwork really adds to the videos. Keep up the good work !
That's easy. Spectral dragon turtle. It can fucking fly, and has all the hit points and damage plus breath weapon, all it's attacks bypass armor, and do ability score damage. If you think it may somehow get killed, have the undead kraken that is it's master rise up and aid it. It can remain submerged and heal the spectral dragon turtle. "Ghost Dragon Turtle" or throw in a few spectral aquatic trolls. They heal just like living trolls and do not fear fire at all, because only magical fire can hurt them, but only 50% damage and a 50% of it totally passes through them leaving them unharmed.
Great video AJ. The Roper religious association with the Drow is because of Lloth. She has demonic servants that are very similar to Ropers (her Handmaidens). They are sent to the prime material plane during some Lolth rituals. They can transform beings with touch, oversee sacrifices, etc. The Spider Mage had his face transformed to be covered by living spider legs by one slapping him in the face. Oh, and before later editions, I home-brewed my Piercers and Ropers as being different stages of the same monster. I love it when later (post 2nd Ed) editions do something I did in the 80s and 90s. I do have aquatic Piercers. They were called "Rock Squids." They moved on the floor of the body of water via their almost slime-like pseudopods, usually immobile. With tiny prey, they tip over and attack like a Roper in the direction of the exposed self. For larger prey, they gas-propelled themselves... usually upwards. If the party is walking on the floor of said body of water, they might be alarmed by the pointy thing tipping right over at them before a bubble explosion launches it. I have them doing 6d6 pts of damage, losing one damage die per 10' of travel. They cannot launch over 60'. Also, once they break the water surface, they cannot go beyond another 10'. They can clumsily swim, but they are too heavy to do it well (move about as fast as a human infant, choppy bobbing as well). I never made them attack any sea vessel larger than something larger than a 4-man rowboat. Unlike other Piercers, they do gang up on prey. They can also dislodge themselves immediately if the prey is not killed and fighting back. They are created by Piercers who are born from other Rock Squids or they fall into the water in such a bad situation that they drown. Drowned piercers have a 5% chance of not dying but going into a coma while it metamorphosizes into a Rock Squid. Rock Squids tend to do their best to go back to the water if stranded dry, but they don't die when dried out. They become normal Piercers with the ability to become Rock Squids 100% of the time should they be "drowned" again. Alchemists use their "black gland" to create Potions of Waterbreathing and lust about any anti-poison item. Their slime pseudopods (goo they use to form them) can be used as a rub-on preservative for organic things as well as waterproofing. It's toxic if consumed as it contains a LOT of Jellyfish and Stingray poison from many of its meals. Oh... and I'm going through some withdrawals of you guys' gaming sessions. Please tell me you haven't hit writer's block... those creative derails suck.
If it were not for the fact that Both ropers & piecers can cling to ceilings , i would think the change from piercer into a roper would be brought on by the fact the roper is to heavy to hoist itself into a ceiling
@@AJPickett the roper and piercer also remind me of sea squirts (tunacates) which start life as a mobile sea swimming larva only to root themselves to the sea floor and form a tough shell-like body and filter feed from there.
How big could a roper get? I'm thinking of a colossal sized roper that's been dormant for a few centuries living in a big stalactite hanging above the central cavern of a relatively new drow town... I wonder what might happen if it was "somehow" woken up? :)
This was excellent, thank you AJ. On the subject of the greater slimey boi, I am curious if you think there may have been some inspiration taken from D&D, involving the making of the Elder God of the Legacy of Kain series. (Voiced by the great Tony Jay himself.)
acroper could also go about using itself to impale enemys by lifting the target over there heand and then pulling the target down on top of there spike reventualy splitting the victim in two
I'm going to make a 20ft trench and put ropers at the edge, jutting out towards the otherside like a bridge. When a creature tries to cross the roper is drops and starts trying to eat them
Something i love about your videos is the implication that you have been an evil bastard to your group, ie pool full of chuul and not telling them its an ilythid roper. Delightful evil
If that wasn't weird enough for you, you won't believe what my sorcerer put in every room and the basement. Little mimics small enough to not be a dire threat to larger beings but lethal to rodents. And a dragon that convinced my sorcerer to sign a contract and co-own the manor as long as their hoard was in the basement and that they held parties after renovating the place (it took 5 months since bandits kept raiding and halting everything.) Basically, it went from half rotting wereroper infested dump to a mimic infested but exquisite lair for our party and a dragon. Can't argue with that partnership. If only that chaotic stupid rogue would quite trying to break into the basement...
Mimics making themselves into small chunks of cheese. Btw after a few years of this it sounds like the most epic mouseguard game ever! Maybe an Eldrich Rat of NIHM finds a small band of humble mice to help him raid the richest of pantries! Glory and food stuff is yours!!!
Sum Arbor one mimic did help us catch a killer by mimicking the decorative box the victim carried. That particular mimic was nippy with people. So when the killer stuck his hand into the mimic instead of the real deal, he kinda lost his hand. Fastest murder mystery ever.
Hey AJ! I'm curious of where you hid all those ropers in your campaigns. I've tried using them a handful of times but never in a way I've felt was clever enough.
Well, that mention of a petrified tree in a desert? Used that one, the players were chasing an NPC and went through this stand of petrified trunks, when suddenly some enemy was throwing ropes at them from out of sight, and they had no idea it was Ropers until they were about to get hauled into the maw like branches into a wood chipper. I most recently put a bunch of them in the center of a round room, like the hub of a wheel, the area had giant spiders and the players thought the sticky strands were spider webs. Another option is to have the Ropers on a shelf above a room that has a door midway up two walls, and the only way across a sickening drop into infested murk or razor-sharp spikes is to swing across some hanging ropes, most of which are.. you guessed it.. Roper tendrils. Try attacking the party twice with Cave Fishers, and then attack them with a Roper, better yet, chase them into the encounter using ravenous, rot grub infested Ghouls.
@@AJPickett Facinating, I especially like the tendrils as ropes, a nice subversion of the real threat with the terrifying drop below. I also though the idea of ropers who resemble more urban structures was really interesting, like clinging to a gothic church overhang or lurking above a back alley to scoop up drunks and transients at night.
Why not make it so each tentacle costs 1 hp? That way a party could wittle it down by slicing their tentacles off but it would be quite slow, I think this makes the tactical decision of whether the roper is concerned with how many arms it's had to regrow much more interesting. Also could it be possible for a roper to wield divine magic?
That intro, just in general stead clear of yellow text and/or gradient text or 3D text. Also it wasn’t clear wether or not you thought slugs and worms were cephalopods - just a consequence of weird sentence structure I’m sure.
*“In all of my universe I have seen no law of nature, unchanging and inexorable. This universe presents only changing relationships which are sometimes seen as laws by short-lived awareness. These fleshy sensoria which we call self are ephemera withering in the blaze of infinity, fleetingly aware of temporary conditions which confine our activities and change as our activities change. If you must label the absolute, use its proper name: Temporary.”* ― Frank Herbert, God Emperor of Dune
Piercer and Roper sound like an 80's action movie duo. They frustrate the captain with their wild ways but they always solve the case.
Roper, with a handlebar mustache, gripping the wheel of a 1970's Dodge Charger, one tendril out the window firing a pistol, Piercer, sitting in the passenger seat, wearing a Hawaiian shirt with excessive lapel, a frosted donut fitted over his pointed top, with a bite taken out of it. Car Leaps over sick drop of San Francisco street, one hubcap flying loose as an explosion occurs behind them, with title springing up on screen, bongo drums and chicawahwah guitar music with brass section playing opening title riff...
@@AJPickett😎 The captain will have their gun and badges for this one but they can't help but enjoy the ride.
I'm working on the script already this is going to be dungeons & dragons meets every 80's/90's action movie ever.
@@thelaughingstormbornagain1297 Best Idea Ever.
Cleaning up the mean streets of the Underdark
_Micheal Bay Wants To Know Your Location_
A roper makes a great living sacrificial alters. The underdark god of healing only wants to hug the world with its tentacles of love.
Why are Ropers sacred to the Drow?
Because Lolth is in to tentacle stuff.
Story checks out.
Yay
So since they create a pseudo shell using stalactites and stalagmites
The minerals that make up that shell would determine how strong it is
For example if there's a lot of iron and it it would probably be more resistant than if it was limestone
By that same token if it was heavily laden with mithril ore or adamantine ore
It would have different properties
Ropers with 30% more murder.
My party has a roper who loves them. We bring it food whenever we return from our adventures and it eats anyone who tries to sneak into our base from the back door.
Seamus wuz here.
The misses finished university today.
Everyone's in my apartment.
Seamus is not happy. They're all touching my stuff.
One of the children found my dice bag.
I've hidden in the bathroom. Send help.
I have the fool proof Outgoing Introvert escape plan.. go in and ask everyone if they want a cool thing that you currently don't have, DON'T TELL THEM YOU DON'T HAVE IT! When they say "Yay thing!" inform them you just have to pop out and get enough of the Thing for Everyone.. then you can leave, LIKE A HERO! You can even take along a buddy for absolutely no reason. (sure, you have to come back with a thing, but for a while there.. sweet sweet freedom, and when you get back, they will be more relaxed and happy to see you)
@@AJPickett I'm gonna do it!
Hey AJ, just wanted to make a suggestion for some videos.
Lycanthrops, there is a hole zoo "pun intended" of them with unique lore on each type.
Keep up the good fight, your doing great mate!
When Ropers inhabit a jungle or swamp like environment they are absolutely lethal, they're the ultimate ambush predator...
Tarzan is in for a nasty surprise.
😆Amen AJ!
Don't forget that punk Mowgli either!😆
I’m thinking of using these in a Jungle habitat. Just sitting there, looking like a termite mound or dead tree, it’s tentacles strewn about the foliage around it, blending in with the vines that hang from the canopy and coil their way up the trunks of nearby trees. The shade of the forest floor, though much brighter than the Underdark, provides relief from direct sunlight, and their Piercer offspring can hang safely on the boughs of the trees above, disguised as oddly conical beehives, while waiting for a nice squishy critter to wander below them.
Piercers that look like big thorns would also be cool, or they just look like seed pods.
AJ Pickett That thorn idea made me think of a Micro-Piercer. Basically just a mix of a Tick and a Piercer, hangs out on rose stems and thorny vines, and shoots into creatures to drink blood.
Oh god, a jungle of creatures descended from Ropers would be a terrible place.
@@Im-Not-a-Dog Just walking along and "THIP".. OW! Was that a blow dart?! "THIP THIP THIP" ... Run For Your Lives!!
Hey AJ, I can't tell you how many monks & thieves (rouge) I have lost to these "things" (cloakers, ropers, piercer, etc.) My advice, dont be curious of whats in that cave, especially alone!
Thanks AJ & have a great day.
,,I'VE SEEN ENOUGHT HENTAI TO KNOW WERE THIS IS GOING,,-😳 it's whiping a dead horse i know but it fits😆
"THEY KNEW THE RISKS!" I will forever say this anytime my adventures go into the underdark.
Considering that humanity's whole thing is putting unwarranted effort into figuring out how to make barely edible stuff good, piercer is probably sold somewhere
Woah I made it in the first 5 minutes. Man I love these videos.
The decomposers of the Underdark must put on quite a morose show when "cleaning up" the many messy deaths that occur down there. Carrion Crawlers, Oozes/Slimes/Jellies, Fungi, Gelatinous Cubes, All types of humanoid scavengers like Trogs and Grimlocks too. All those niches filled yet it's still a dark, dank slimy place.
Greenscyth22 You ever seen film of what happens when a whale dies and sinks to the ocean floor? That’s basically what I imagine it’s like.
Fought piercers in a recent session. Most of them ended up splattering on the cave floor because the DM's dice betrayed her. Natural 1 after natural 1 from dice that typically roll high when she's a player.
Can't wait to use these things. Thanks for another one AJ!
3:09 snicker snicker,"landmind" 😂😂😂
Another inspiring and though provoking episode. Thank you A.J! I like the idea of piercers crawling out of their shells and migrating en masse like sea cucumbers, invading towns in coordination with sinister purposes. Adventure awaits! Cheers!
Speaking of the gas propelled piercer, I had a thought of a roper holding a small boat or vessel in place (or having a small group to hold a larger vessel) as piercers destroy the ship, freeing up the humanoid cargo
13:00. Please don’t leave us hanging like a Piercer.
It is tied into the secret lore the Allip was whispering in the background of that ecology video, which was revealed exclusively to Patrons. It is mind-bending stuff, well worth the wait.
8:13 "Grappled and Burning to Death" is going to be title of my next Thrasher Metal Album.
The infamous Roper!
1.) If they cannot manipulate its ropes like tentacle how do they restrain their victims and what other things can they do with them (like moving the creature other that towards itself)?
2.) Dose the cerimorphasized variant have more tentacles, and do they have the mouth tentacles, or do they have another way of extracting the brain?
3.) Dose the mind flayer roper (I am not even going to attempt to spell that) still eat the body or just the brain? Also, dose it know all of the mind flayers psychic abilities (you could have it leading a small colony of enthralled ropers that it gives the bodies to afterwards)?
DragonTurtle I’m not sure about 2 & 3 but the answer to 1 is that it can manipulate its tentacles, just not with a great amount of manual dexterity. They can wrap it around a body and pull, but can’t use it to manipulate a doorknob or wield a weapon.
@@Im-Not-a-Dog That makes scene, they just have no fine motor control in them but can otherwise still generally do whatever with them.
1.) They can target and shoot the tendril out, they can lay it on the ground and they can twitch it and reel it back in, that is all. The tendrils are very sticky but don't stick to the Roper.
2.) The brain extraction is performed with the teeth of the Mindflayer, which are very similar to the Roper's teeth, and they have a regular amount of tendrils, plus four tentacles around the mouth.
3.) They just eat the brains, and yes, they have all the usual mental capabilities as an illithid, but none of the usual training, so, just raw psionic ability.
@@AJPickett 1.) Dose that mean that they restrain you by sticking to you like a rope of fly paper?
@@dragonturtle7645 yes
I like the idea that a piercer can only become a roper, if it manages to skewer an animal of some sort (Including humanoids). Otherwise it will simply die.
*gives ropper the sentanial feat*
Oasis ooze and roper in the desert with quicksand nearby. Tpk my entire group of 4 18th level characters.
Yet again another wonderful video. I always come away with tons of devious ideas for a campaign. Thanks!
The first thing I do when I gaze upon any previously unknown monster is this.I take the monster magnify its power and influence and make it a god.Next I build a city around it personalized to the monsters needs wants and flaws.Then I fill it with zealous worshippers willing to die for it.This is a good way to create monstrous villains for stories I write or players to make war on.Oh the possibilities with this creature.I see a city in the depths of the sea built around an ancient dire Roper from another world or dimension.I see insane mer people that protect it and its offspring with religious fervor.I see heroes discover the terrible truth being forced to rally armies against them.What an interesting tale this could be.
You knew the job was dangerous when you took it. Bakaa!
You couldn’t have dropped this at a better time!
My players are venturing into the Underdark for their (and my) first time. I’m pleased to know more about the roper (and underdark) ecology before I use it.
NOOO IM LATE, great content AJ, as always
Hank Hill Damn it Bobby!
@@Im-Not-a-Dog propane and propane accessories
Computers don't make mistakes Hank
what they do they do on purpose
im doped out of my gourd!
I love that theremin background music! :3
Also another example of a creature that you dont mix with ghouls. If you don't want a TPK.
Think half life out of ammo and you can only watch the mouth get closer as it reels you in. In that instance ironically... the wizard was the only one who saved. And since they don't have much hit dice... The fight lasted two rounds with everyone dead.
Ropers are also one of my favorite monsters. I'm currently running a horror D&D game. Ropers are perfect for this since the PC's walk into a normal looking cavern and see blood pools on the ground and splatters all over the walls. They begin looking behind stalagmites and stalactites for whatever is lurking in the room, only to have tentacles launch out from all around them.
I may have almost TPKed them, but they pulled through.
Holy shit. So many cool Roper scenarios. Very cool video A.J.
I played Hord of the Dragon Queen and my party fought the roper in the hatching cave. Let me tell you that one Roper was the closest I have ever came to a TPKing my group in my years of DMing. They never look at caves the same again and I can make them jump by saying "What was your passive perception again?" when they get close to any rock formation. I am evil sometimes.
Yes teach me of the nope noodle rocks !!
More like murder hobo bane
Ha! i was just talking about how cephalopods and octopoda would evolve in the Underdark.
"Fauna of the Underdark. What are people doing for non-combat fauna?
Lots of fish of course. The Lizdard Folk flooded the Underdark in the Days of Thunder to defeat the phaerim. Fish have been in the Underdark for millennia. There are lots and lots of types of fish. Most are blind. Some stay where there is light. Others are bioluminescent.
Everything that goes for fish also goes for cephalopods and octopoda. Both are considerably smarter than fish and have evolved in to a number of niches. For example, we know that roctopuses exist.
Insects. The get everywhere. Every fungus grove has evolved a different bunch. A biologists wet dream.
Spiders. Lots of spiders use non-visual hunting strategies. And there are so many insects to eat. So lots of normal sized spiders.
Rats. They eat everything and get everywhere. They came with the Drow and Duergar if nothing else. Unless they have evolved darkvision they stick to settlements and fungus groves with light.
Bats have a lot of advantages in the Underdark, and have speciated widely. Fungus eating bats. Insect eating bats. Fish eating bats. Bat eating bats. Giant riding bats.
Rothe, cows with darkvision. They're canonical. I guess it's another one to chalk up to "wizards on cocaine".
Giant lizards. Komodo dragons - pack hunting lizards who eat a lot of fish. Lots of island colonies around the Darklake."
Yeah I ran into both of these on Wednesday in a campaign at the same time.
Damn Professor. :) you got a little bit of a cruel streak in there dont you?
I needed some crazy guardians for a mages tower. Two ropers stationed as pillars at his front door and others scattered throughout. Muahahaha
Bleh! See, *this* is exactly the sort of thing that makes me consider taking Mephistopheles as a warlock patron. Regular fire just isn't sufficient here.
I want to see an 80's horror movie set in a deep mine where miners swear they see stalagmites and stalagtites with eyes.
I remember the first time I came across a Piercer. It was in the cave system in the A 1-4 series. Very nasty to toss in.
My character in one of my recent games nearly died for good when a roper used her head for a chew toy. It was... something else. Thank goodness the cleric had prepared Gentle Repose, or I would have been rolling up a new character...
Thinking of planar ropers...and the river Styx...
can a dwarf distinguish piercer and roper from normal stone? do they count as anomalys in stone?
Easy, rocks don't try to eat you for mining them.
AJ love your videos man. But i have to say I prefer this style where you have graphics and pictures over the ones you do where you are just speaking into the camera. The artwork really adds to the videos. Keep up the good work !
Agreed! Thanks for the feedback Rob 👍
How about a gargantuan reef Roper that can attack ships, just in case I want to TPK my nautical adventurers.
That's easy. Spectral dragon turtle. It can fucking fly, and has all the hit points and damage plus breath weapon, all it's attacks bypass armor, and do ability score damage. If you think it may somehow get killed, have the undead kraken that is it's master rise up and aid it. It can remain submerged and heal the spectral dragon turtle. "Ghost Dragon Turtle" or throw in a few spectral aquatic trolls. They heal just like living trolls and do not fear fire at all, because only magical fire can hurt them, but only 50% damage and a 50% of it totally passes through them leaving them unharmed.
Roper's and Otyugh's work well together. and hook horror's, depending how mean you want you be.
Ghouls, ghasts, ghosts, wights, shadows. Any 2 of them.
Great video AJ. The Roper religious association with the Drow is because of Lloth. She has demonic servants that are very similar to Ropers (her Handmaidens). They are sent to the prime material plane during some Lolth rituals. They can transform beings with touch, oversee sacrifices, etc. The Spider Mage had his face transformed to be covered by living spider legs by one slapping him in the face. Oh, and before later editions, I home-brewed my Piercers and Ropers as being different stages of the same monster. I love it when later (post 2nd Ed) editions do something I did in the 80s and 90s. I do have aquatic Piercers. They were called "Rock Squids." They moved on the floor of the body of water via their almost slime-like pseudopods, usually immobile. With tiny prey, they tip over and attack like a Roper in the direction of the exposed self. For larger prey, they gas-propelled themselves... usually upwards. If the party is walking on the floor of said body of water, they might be alarmed by the pointy thing tipping right over at them before a bubble explosion launches it. I have them doing 6d6 pts of damage, losing one damage die per 10' of travel. They cannot launch over 60'. Also, once they break the water surface, they cannot go beyond another 10'. They can clumsily swim, but they are too heavy to do it well (move about as fast as a human infant, choppy bobbing as well). I never made them attack any sea vessel larger than something larger than a 4-man rowboat. Unlike other Piercers, they do gang up on prey. They can also dislodge themselves immediately if the prey is not killed and fighting back. They are created by Piercers who are born from other Rock Squids or they fall into the water in such a bad situation that they drown. Drowned piercers have a 5% chance of not dying but going into a coma while it metamorphosizes into a Rock Squid. Rock Squids tend to do their best to go back to the water if stranded dry, but they don't die when dried out. They become normal Piercers with the ability to become Rock Squids 100% of the time should they be "drowned" again. Alchemists use their "black gland" to create Potions of Waterbreathing and lust about any anti-poison item. Their slime pseudopods (goo they use to form them) can be used as a rub-on preservative for organic things as well as waterproofing. It's toxic if consumed as it contains a LOT of Jellyfish and Stingray poison from many of its meals.
Oh... and I'm going through some withdrawals of you guys' gaming sessions. Please tell me you haven't hit writer's block... those creative derails suck.
Stop motion piercer and roper would be epic
There should be a goggles that is able to see them in the dark on the roof and on the ground.
Sounds like a good Wondrous Item to find in the Underdark.
If it were not for the fact that Both ropers & piecers can cling to ceilings , i would think the change from piercer into a roper would be brought on by the fact the roper is to heavy to hoist itself into a ceiling
I would have otherwise had totally agreed with you.
@@AJPickett the roper and piercer also remind me of sea squirts (tunacates) which start life as a mobile sea swimming larva only to root themselves to the sea floor and form a tough shell-like body and filter feed from there.
Piecers and Ropers.....my titan necromancer uses them for BDSM fun. True story 😋
How big could a roper get? I'm thinking of a colossal sized roper that's been dormant for a few centuries living in a big stalactite hanging above the central cavern of a relatively new drow town... I wonder what might happen if it was "somehow" woken up? :)
My favorite monster to use as a DM. Love these awful things.
This was excellent, thank you AJ.
On the subject of the greater slimey boi, I am curious if you think there may have been some inspiration taken from D&D, involving the making of the Elder God of the Legacy of Kain series.
(Voiced by the great Tony Jay himself.)
Ah, the _D&D_ monster of which the Japanese have the most fascination.
HenriFaust I would have figured it was Mind Flayers.
acroper could also go about using itself to impale enemys by lifting the target over there heand and then pulling the target down on top of there spike
reventualy splitting the victim in two
I'm going to make a 20ft trench and put ropers at the edge, jutting out towards the otherside like a bridge. When a creature tries to cross the roper is drops and starts trying to eat them
good video AJ
Thanks Chris :)
9:30 I thought the tendrils didn’t have a brain and that’s why they’re immune to physic damage.
Sounds logical.
I found out I'm a killer GM when I caught myself putting a Roper in a place my players would have to go through before the reached Lv.3
Something i love about your videos is the implication that you have been an evil bastard to your group, ie pool full of chuul and not telling them its an ilythid roper. Delightful evil
.... Fair
not only fuled by your video, but a growing desire to humble and humiliate the players.
A family of wereropers.
This was what my sorcerer had to kill in order to claim an abandoned manor. Yeah, homebrew is a helluva game style.
If that wasn't weird enough for you, you won't believe what my sorcerer put in every room and the basement.
Little mimics small enough to not be a dire threat to larger beings but lethal to rodents.
And a dragon that convinced my sorcerer to sign a contract and co-own the manor as long as their hoard was in the basement and that they held parties after renovating the place (it took 5 months since bandits kept raiding and halting everything.)
Basically, it went from half rotting wereroper infested dump to a mimic infested but exquisite lair for our party and a dragon. Can't argue with that partnership. If only that chaotic stupid rogue would quite trying to break into the basement...
Mimics making themselves into small chunks of cheese.
Btw after a few years of this it sounds like the most epic mouseguard game ever!
Maybe an Eldrich Rat of NIHM finds a small band of humble mice to help him raid the richest of pantries! Glory and food stuff is yours!!!
Sum Arbor one mimic did help us catch a killer by mimicking the decorative box the victim carried. That particular mimic was nippy with people. So when the killer stuck his hand into the mimic instead of the real deal, he kinda lost his hand. Fastest murder mystery ever.
Will you do a new video on the troll please?
Yes.
@@AJPickett thank you
AJ Pickett Don't forget your troll serum, that was quite the show in *The Theatre of the Mind* *™* .
Odd off topic question but how powerful is pelor in dnd?
Lol, where'd you find how they taste. That's amazing.
Hey AJ! I'm curious of where you hid all those ropers in your campaigns. I've tried using them a handful of times but never in a way I've felt was clever enough.
Well, that mention of a petrified tree in a desert? Used that one, the players were chasing an NPC and went through this stand of petrified trunks, when suddenly some enemy was throwing ropes at them from out of sight, and they had no idea it was Ropers until they were about to get hauled into the maw like branches into a wood chipper. I most recently put a bunch of them in the center of a round room, like the hub of a wheel, the area had giant spiders and the players thought the sticky strands were spider webs. Another option is to have the Ropers on a shelf above a room that has a door midway up two walls, and the only way across a sickening drop into infested murk or razor-sharp spikes is to swing across some hanging ropes, most of which are.. you guessed it.. Roper tendrils. Try attacking the party twice with Cave Fishers, and then attack them with a Roper, better yet, chase them into the encounter using ravenous, rot grub infested Ghouls.
@@AJPickett Facinating, I especially like the tendrils as ropes, a nice subversion of the real threat with the terrifying drop below. I also though the idea of ropers who resemble more urban structures was really interesting, like clinging to a gothic church overhang or lurking above a back alley to scoop up drunks and transients at night.
Why not make it so each tentacle costs 1 hp? That way a party could wittle it down by slicing their tentacles off but it would be quite slow, I think this makes the tactical decision of whether the roper is concerned with how many arms it's had to regrow much more interesting. Also could it be possible for a roper to wield divine magic?
You could give them a recharge roll, like a Dragons breath weapon.
For regrowing tentacles or casting divine magic?
Regrowing tendrils.
Maybe allow them to regrow 1d4+1 tendrils on a recharge?
Shit ropers.cause I'm in the bathroom.I'll finish vid later
Lol
Lol
The comic
The Piercer is truly the most sad dnd creature.
Oh, I don't know, they throw some pretty sick darts contests.
Hey this video played well on my Roku 4k box, if you changed something thank you..
It was an issue with the editor software, I loaded the unexpectedly rapid update the company released and hey presto, problem solved.
maybe official but not in my world i just don't see it
That is totally fine Gregory, nobody can or should tell you how to run your own games.
That intro, just in general stead clear of yellow text and/or gradient text or 3D text. Also it wasn’t clear wether or not you thought slugs and worms were cephalopods - just a consequence of weird sentence structure I’m sure.
Thanks, good feedback, I appreciate it.
Roper kill-killed my goblin wizard when I was 9 xp from level 4...
What's is name will be avenged.
@@AJPickett for the life of me I can't remember. He was cut off before greatness and my divine soul sorcerer, Brosephus, replaced him in my heart.
your dm group must hate you sometimes lol
The larval slug looks like a leech to me.
Make them into amazon leaches. Have the 3" probascus and everything.
@@Giganfan2k1 interesting.
First like
*“In all of my universe I have seen no law of nature, unchanging and inexorable. This universe presents only changing relationships which are sometimes seen as laws by short-lived awareness. These fleshy sensoria which we call self are ephemera withering in the blaze of infinity, fleetingly aware of temporary conditions which confine our activities and change as our activities change. If you must label the absolute, use its proper name: Temporary.”*
― Frank Herbert, God Emperor of Dune
AJ Pickett I know this already brother AJ by the way has thoust seen monster hunter world iceborn?
Time is the fire in which we burn. Delmore Schwartz
Matt Nerdy Indeed it is
@@Vairy_2972 I have not yet seen Monster Hunter World Iceborn.. It that a sequel in the monster hunter game series?
и снова накрутка просмотра и комментария для алгоритмов ;) ! лайк прилагается 3
We are One and The Same homie. Roper Rights Awarenes lmao
Are clokers a sub species of preciers and ropers?
Adam Welch no, they’re something completely different