Roper (Dungeons & Dragons)

Infobox D&D creature
name=Roper
alignment=
type=Magical beast
subtype=
source=
first=
mythical=
based=
wizards_image_URL=http://www.wizards.com/dnd/images/MM35_gallery/MM35_PG215b.jpg
OGL_stats_URL=http://www.systemreferencedocuments.org/35/sovelior_sage/monstersOtoR.html#roper

In the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, the roper is a magical beast, though whether it could actually be classified as an animal is debatable.

Publication history

The roper was one of the earliest creatures introduced in the D&D game.

Dungeons & Dragons (1974-1976)

The roper first appeared in the official newsletter of TSR Games, "The Strategic Review" #2, May 1975.

Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 1st edition (1977-1988)

The roper appears in the first edition Monster Manual (1977), [Gygax, Gary. "Monster Manual" (TSR, 1977)] where it is described as a 50-foot long burrowing worm constantly in search of food, that can swallow human-sized creatures whole.

The storoper, a relative of the roper, first appeared in the module "Aerie of the Slave Lords" (1981) and later in the "Monster Manual II" (1983).

The roper was further detailed in "Dragon" #61 (May 1982).

The flame roper appeared in the adventure anthology "Tales of the Outer Planes" (1988).

Dungeons & Dragons (1977-1999)

This edition of the D&D game included its own version of the roper, which first appeared in the module "Quest For the Heartstone" (1984), and then in "Creature Catalogue" (1986). The roper appeared in the modules "City of the Gods" (1987) and "Duchy of Ten" (1987) for the Blackmoor campaign setting. The roper subsequently appeared in the "Creature Catalog" (1993).

Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd edition (1989-1999)

The roper appears first in the Monstrous Compendium Volume Two (1989), [Cook, David, et al. "Monstrous Compendium Volume Two" (TSR, 1989)] and is reprinted in the Monstrous Manual (1993) [Stewart, Doug, ed. "Monstrous Manual" (TSR, 1993)] along with the storoper.

The roper is further detailed in "Dragon" #232 (August 1996), in "The Ecology of the Roper." [*Richards, Jonathan M. "The Ecology of the Roper" Dragon #232 (TSR, 1996).]

The book "The Illithiad" (1998) [Cordell, Bruce R. "The Illithiad" (TSR, 1998)] introduced the illithid-roper crossbreed, the urophion.

Dungeons & Dragons 3.0 edition (2000-2002)

The roper appears in the Monster Manual for this edition (2000). [Cook, Monte, Jonathan Tweet, and Skip Williams. "Monster Manual" (Wizards of the Coast, 2000)]

Dungeons & Dragons 3.5 edition (2003-2007)

The roper appears in the revised Monster Manual for this edition (2003).

The prismatic roper appeared in "Monster Manual III" (2004). [Burlew, Rich, Eric Cagle, Jesse Decker, Andrew J. Finch, Gwendolyn F.M. Kestrel, Rich Redman, Matthew Sernett, Chris Thomasson, and P. Nathan Toomey. "Monster Manual III" (Wizards of the Coast, 2004)]

The urophion appeared again in the book "Lords of Madness" (2005). [Baker, Rich, James Jacobs, and Steve Winter. (Wizards of the Coast, 2005)]

Dungeons & Dragons 4th edition (2008-)

The roper appears in the Monster Manual for this edition (2008). [Mearls, Mike, Stephen Schubert, and James Wyatt. "Monster Manual" (Wizards of the Coast, 2008)]

Description

The roper resembles a conical structure of a stony organism, somewhat similar in appearance to a pile of rock, wrapped in coils of grey, rope-like tentacles. Concealed among the ropes is a mouth. The roper attacks by keeping its mouth shut, its tentacles wrapped around it, and staying very still, as to resemble a harmless stalagmite, and waits until prey comes near. When it does, it lashes out with its ropes, and either constricts the prey or pulls them back to the mouth.

The ropers described here are ones which dwell in caves and other such underground environments. Some varieties also dwell above ground, while another, known as the coral roper, dwells in the ocean. Another variation, the "stone roper", appeared in the original publication of "Monster Manual" II. The creature represented a statue of a roper, smaller in size than the original creature.

Despite possessing a mouth, ropers cannot speak.Fact|date=October 2008

They are regarded as neutral in alignment.Fact|date=October 2008

References