Beholder-Kin, Hive Mother |
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Huge Aberration
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| Hit Dice: 20d8+120 (204 hp) |
| Initiative: +6 |
| Speed: 5 ft (1 square), fly 20 ft (perfect) |
| Armor Class: 30 (-2 size, +2 Dex, +20 natural), touch 10, flat-footed 28 |
| Base Attack/Grapple: +15/+19 |
| Attack: Eye rays +16 ranged touch and bite +8 melee (2d4/19-20/x2) |
| Full Attack: Eye rays +16 ranged touch and bite +8 melee (2d4/19-20/x2) |
| Space/Reach: 15 ft/10 ft |
| Special Attacks: Eye rays, improved grab, swallow whole |
| Special Qualities: All-around vision, antimagic cone, control brood, darkvision 60 ft, flight, spawn abomination, spell resistance 12 |
| Saves: Fort +14,
Ref +8, Will +17
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| Abilities: Str 10,
Dex 14, Con 22,
Int 26, Wis 17,
Cha 23 |
| Skills: Bluff +28, Diplomacy +23, Hide +17, Intimidate +30, Knowledge (arcana) +29, Knowledge (any two) +25, Listen +26, Search +27, Sense Motive +24, Spot +26, Survival +22 (+2 following tracks) |
| Feats: Alertness (B), Flyby attack, Great Fortitude, Improved Critical (bite), Improved Initiative, Iron Will, Persuasive, Weapon Focus (eye rays) |
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| Environment: Any land and underground |
| Organization: Solitary, cluster (hive mother plus 1d3 beholders, or 1d6 orbi), or brood (hive mother plus 4-9 beholders or 3d6 examiners, directors, lensmen, overseers, or watchers) |
| Challenge Rating: 18 |
| Treasure: Double standard |
| Alignment: Always lawful evil |
| Advancement: 21-40 HD (Huge); 41-60 HD (Gargantuan) |
| Level Adjustment: --- |
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A bulbous orb, more than twice as wide as a human is tall, floats in the air before you. A central, unblinking eye dominates its body, and under the eye is a large maw filled with dagger-like teeth. Slits in the flesh of its body blink open, revealing additional, smaller eyes. The power of the creature is palpable.
Hive mothers are referred to as the Ultimate eye tyrants, or simply ?The Ultimate.? Each is the supreme ruler of an individual beholder ?kingdom.? Whether they are the ancestors of common beholders, the next step in their evolution, a magical mutation, or a separate species altogether is a complete mystery. A nesting hive mother has the ability to create a whole community of vile beholder-spawn. The hive mother rules its hive with a ruthless efficiency.
A hive mother is an orb twice the size of a typical beholder (16 feet wide). Unlike the normal beholder, a hive mother has no eyestalks. Its magical eyes are protected by hooded-lids in the flesh of its body.
COMBAT
Hive mothers usually let their servitor creatures do the fighting for them. They rarely fight for themselves, but when they do, they fight in a similar manner to standard beholders. If a hive mother is destroyed, the beholders and beholder-kin of its brood will turn on each other, or seek their own lairs.
Eye Rays (Su): An hive mother's eye rays function in exactly the same manner as those of standard beholders (see Monster Manual, p 25-26). Each of a hive mother?s ten eye rays resembles a spell cast by a 20th-level caster. Each eye ray has a range of 150 feet and a save DC of 26. The save DCs are Charisma-based.
Improved Grab (Ex): To use this ability, a hive mother must hit a Medium or smaller opponent with its bite attack. It can then attempt to start a grapple as a free action without provoking an attack of opportunity. If it wins the grapple check, it establishes a hold and can attempt to swallow the opponent in the following round.
Swallow Whole (Ex): A hive mother can try to swallow a grabbed opponent of Medium or smaller size by making a successful grapple check. The swallowed creature takes 4d4 points of crushing damage plus 4 points of acid damage per round from the hive mother?s gizzard.
A swallowed creature can climb out of the gullet with a successful grapple check. This returns it to the hive mother?s maw, where another successful grapple check is needed to get free. A swallowed creature can also cut its way out by using a light slashing or piercing weapon to deal 25 points of damage to the hive mother?s gut (AC 20). Once the creature exits, muscular action closes the hole; another swallowed opponent must cut its own way out.
The hive mother?s interior can hold 1 Medium, 4 Small, or 16 Tiny or smaller creatures.
Antimagic Cone (Su): A hive mother's central eye continually produces a 150-foot cone of antimagic. This functions just like antimagic field (caster level 20th). All magical and supernatural powers and effects within the cone are suppressed - even the hive mother's own eye rays. Once each round, during its turn, the hive mother decides whether the antimagic cone is active or not (the hive mother deactivates the cone by shutting its central eye).
All-Around Vision (Ex): Hive mothers are exceptionally alert and circumspect. Their many eyes give them a +4 racial bonus on Spot and Search checks, and they can't be flanked.
Control Brood (Su): All of the beholders and beholder-kin spawned by a hive mother are under her direct control, and she communicates with them telepathically at a range of 10 miles.
Flight (Ex): A hive mother's body is naturally buoyant. This buoyancy allows it to fly at a speed of 20 feet. This buoyancy also grants it a permanent feather fall effect (as the spell) with personal range.
Spawn Abomination (Su): A hive mother has the ability to reproduce asexually, randomly generating one beholder or one abomination beholder-kin per week. These abominations include directors, examiners, lensmen, overseers, and watchers. |
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1993 Wizards of the Coast, Inc.
Originally found in the Spelljammer: Adventures in Space boxed set (1989), and the Monstrous Manual (1993). |
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