Delver (Dungeons & Dragons)

In the Dungeons and Dragons fantasy role-playing game a delver is a gigantic, stony, slug-like aberration. The creature resembles an enormous cross between a centipede and a slug. It is roughly 15 feet long, 12 feet tall, and 10 feet wide, and big and bulbous. It is a gritty brown color, and has a huge stony mouth and slits for eyes. Coming from its shoulders are giant, spongy, flipper-like arms, each of which ends in six black digging nails.

Publication history

The delver first appeared in the third edition Monster Manual (2000),^[1] and in the 3.5 revised Monster Manual (2003).

Characteristics and habits

The delver uses its two giant hands with their chitinous nails and a mucus-like acidic substance it produces to dig large networks of honeycombed caves beneath the earth. Being a mostly peaceful and neutral creature (sometimes even wise and benevolent), it attacks only when it feels it or its home are threatened. It can close its eyes and mouth, solidify its hide, and move its arms to its body to resemble a boulder, completely blended in withs its cavernous environment, and then either simply wait until an offender leaves, or wait until it comes near and then lash out and pummel the attacker with its heavy arms. It can also tunnel beneath its current cave network, make a space underneath the opposer, and then dissolve its cover to attack from beneath.

Delvers speak both Terran and Undercommon.

They are neutral in alignment.

Other publishers

The delver is fully detailed in Paizo Publishing's book Misfit Monsters Redeemed (2010), on pages 10–15.^[2]

References