A nasty trick I'm considering

[Lord Zack]

In the Monster Compendium Monsters of Faerun there is a beholderkin monster called the Eyeball, a CR 1/2 miniature beholder basically. What I'm thinking of doing is by some means, illusion or some such, tricking my players into thinking it's a full-sized beholder (albeit one with only four eyestalks, which could be a clue). As I said, I could use illusion, but I'd prefer a more clever means (if such a thing can be devised).

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

Mirrors. Fun-house mirrors projecting its image so that it appears larger (and in a different place) than it is. Or perhaps a large magnifying lens looking into the room it is in.

Though frankly if you want to really freak your players out, you need to introduce them to gas spores.

 

[Sorrowdusk]

I agree on the Gas Spores. Check them out, they're old school too.

 

[Pbartender]

In the Monster Compendium Monsters of Faerun there is a beholderkin monster called the Eyeball, a CR 1/2 miniature beholder basically. What I'm thinking of doing is by some means, illusion or some such, tricking my players into thinking it's a full-sized beholder (albeit one with only four eyestalks, which could be a clue). As I said, I could use illusion, but I'd prefer a more clever means (if such a thing can be devised).

Why not Enlarge it?

Otherwise... Yeah, I've got agree with the other guys. Gas Spores are the classic Beholder bait-and-switch.

 

[Lord Zack]

Mirrors. Fun-house mirrors projecting its image so that it appears larger (and in a different place) than it is. Or perhaps a large magnifying lens looking into the room it is in.

Though frankly if you want to really freak your players out, you need to introduce them to gas spores.

How would the mirrors have to be set up to achieve the desired effect?

The reason I'm not using gas spores, is because I want the players to overestimate the threat posed and, probably, flee. Whereas the point of a gas spore is to deceive the player into thinking there is a monster to attack, when, in fact doing so is a bad idea.

 

[Leif]

How about if, shortly before they see the Eyeball, you contrive to somehow shrink the party members down to one-half or one-third their normal size? Then they would think that the "beholder" fell victim to the same trap (or whatever) and got itself shrunk down, too.

 

[nedjer]

Thought you said a nasty trick? Take one part beholder, one part Lich, mix the two for three centuries and . . . now they've got a problem

 

[thedungeondelver]

Make him aquatic and put him in a tank made of Fresnel-lens glass on every side - he'd look HUGE.

Also? GAS SPORES.

 

[SkredlitheOgre]

In Lords of Madness (3.5), there's a beholder magic item called a Sphere Mirror.

"This large pane of glass measure 10 feet tall by 5 feet wide. The item's name, which seems at odds with it's rectangular shape, actually refers to the spherical shape of a beholder's body.
The glass surface of the mirror does not reflect light, and viewed under normal circumstances, it seems like little more than an empty metal frame. The magic of the glass perfectly reflects the image of any beholder that looks into it, up to a range of 60 feet. The image is so perfect that it is very likely to be mistaken for a live beholder; a DC 30 Spot check reveals the truth but offers no addition protection from the beholder's eye rays.
A beholder can reflect and amplify any of its eye rays off of the surface of the mirror, effectively firing the ray from the location of the mirror rather than from its eye. The beholder needs line of sight to the mirror, but not line of effect. If it fires a ray at an object it cannot see from its actual location or the mirror's location, the target gains the benefit of total concealment. It is possible for a beholder to redirect its eye ray attack around corners if multiple sphere mirrors are used, as long as no two mirrors are more than 60 feet apart."

This goes along with the fun house mirror concept Olgar mentioned. Imagine a twisty complex with your "eye ball" at one end with a dozen sphere mirrors. Each time the group "kills" the "beholder," the walk another 60 or so feet only to encounter another "beholder." And since the mirrors are magic items, you can also enchant then with other magic, like enlarge image or alter image, so that each "beholder" they encounter looks different.

 

[Haltherrion]

You could try the LOTR movie trick they used to make the hobbits seem small though played by full sized folks- camera angles and over-sized props. If the beholder wants folks to think he is a full sized beholder, maybe they see him first through a window or another restrictive view and he is sitting among tables and chairs sized as if he was a full sized beholder. They'd figure that out soon as they saw the miss-sized objects more clearly but maybe you can contrive a room where this isn't readily apparent (they are separated by some obscuring mist for instance).

I might run it something like this, were I try to it:

• PCs come to a wall with 3-4 1x1 foot openings.
• They look through one and see the beholder. It is the small beholder in a small room with furnishings (tables, chairs, etc.) sized as if it was a normal sized beholder.
• The beholder casts a darkness.
• Out of one of the 1x1 openings comes the beholder.
• The players will likely think he shrunk himself to get to them and run away.
• Perhaps there is another way to the beholder's room of mis-sized objects where they can enter and discover he was never a full sized beholder...

As a ref, I'm not sure I'd try this without a good reason for the beholder playing this game but for the right type of campaign, such a reason could be constructed. Might be fun if handled right.