Roper's Cave
Cunning ambush predators, ropers lie in wait pretending to be stalagmites so their prey blunder too close to escape.
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Outside the Lair
Bones, rubbish and discarded, broken equipment litter the approaches to the roper’s lair.
Strange, wide marks—the roper’s tracks—mar the ground. Strange drag marks lead toward the roper’s lair.
Craggy rock walls hide many shadow-filled niches; several are large enough to potentially hide the roper.
A burst of dried blood and gore mars the floor, walls and ceiling; it looks like something literally exploded here.
What’s Going On?
The roper is sleeping and is unaware of the intruders. Its tendrils quiver slightly as it snores.
Fresh blood and gore cover the floor and walls; the roper is pulling apart its next meal.
Shamming sleep, the cunning roper hopes its prey comes too far into its lair to escape.
The roper stands motionless—appearing to be nothing more than a normal stalagmite.
Major Lair Features
A 15-foot-wide, 20-foot-deep chasm filled with rubbish and detritus cuts across the lair.
A crumbling 30-foot-high escarpment cuts the lair in half. Some of the rocks on the escarpment are precariously balanced, and the roper can use its strands to push them down onto troublesome intruders.
The ceiling is almost 60-foot above the floor. High up on one wall, a ledge runs around part of the room; a skeleton surrounded by adventuring gear lies thereon.
The floor is broken and uneven; a set of broad and shallow natural steps rise upward into the lair. Two cracked and broken statues of dwarven warriors flank the entrance.
Minor Lair Features
Rubble and tiny shards of rock cover the floor; a large scorch mark mars one wall.
Four small stalagmites grow from the floor. The four glisten with water dripping through the ceiling.
Crushed and broken bones along with bent, torn and broken equipment lie scattered about the lair.
Upright shards of stalagmite stand amid a sea of rubble.
Roper’s Appearance
The roper’s tendrils have a mottled red and grey pattern on their undersides. The creature has stood still for so long, a tiny stalactite has actually formed atop its head.
Splintered fangs fill the roper’s gaping maw. The beast has red, bloodshot eyes. Its strands flick and writhe with nervous energy.
Red sores and pustules festoon the roper’s long, sinuous tendrils. Its body is similarly discoloured. The creature looks like a sickly stalagmite which might clue alert characters to the lurking danger.
Mottled yellow/grey hide covers the roper’s body; its tendrils are of a similar hue. The smell of rotting flesh surrounds the creature.
Treasure
Several deformed lumps of platinum the size of squashed coins are scattered about the lair.
A skeletal hand yet grasps the hilt of an ornately wrought bastard sword. The sword is wickedly sharp; dried greenish blood covers its blade.
Thin, strong black elven rope fills an oversized belt pouch. The pouch can be accessed through the top like normal or opened completely flat.
A rusting lantern lies buried under a pile of bones and other rubbish; the permanent magical light cast into the lantern decades ago yet endures.
Trinkets & Trash
A horribly bent steel shield under half its normal diameter serves as a tray; four skulls rest atop it.
Splintered shards of painted wood that once comprised a tower shield lie in a haphazard pile.
A hollow in the floor hides a confused, tangled mass of bones and rubbish.
A mule’s skeleton lies crushed and broken under its owner’s similarly damaged remains.
Credit
This is a short system-neutral extract from Monstrous Lair #24: Roper’s Cave by Robert Manson.
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