D&D General Beholders and anti magic

[werecorpse]

I’m building the lair of a beholder who is meant to be smart connected and powerful. I see that animated object monsters like flying swords have anti magic susceptibility but golems don’t. Does this mean that such a creature works as normal in an antimagic cone?

So the beholder could say disintegrate a room so it had a covered position 100’ above an entrance then loose a creature immune to non magic weapons (say a golem) and under an anti magic cone let it beat the party up?

how would you interpret anti magic Ray in this circumstance?

 

[DND_Reborn]

Interesting discussion!

Well, according to the text on golems, they are constructs but once created do not need to be considered magical. A DM could rule it that way, but then spells such as Dispel Magic would stop them (even if only for a round). Also, in this scenario, if golems are considered magical, obviously it would simply cease to function while in the beholder's anti-magic cone.

The other side applies to the weapons. Like the golem, once they are crafted they are magical. An anti-magic cone doesn't stop them from being magical, it merely suppresses their magical properties. They are still forged and crafted to be exceptional, etc. IMO.

As a DM, I would say that while in the anti-magic cone, the golem continues to function, the weapons are still magical for overcoming the golem's resistance, but the weapons obviously lose any pluses or other properties it has. So, a +1 battleaxe would lose the +1 to attack and damage rolls, but still do a full d8 weapon damage, not halved.

 

[Oofta]

Golems are elemental spirits in material form. Their creation may be magical, but they are not powered by magic. Otherwise it suppresses all magic, including items.

 

[TheSword]

I’m building the lair of a beholder who is meant to be smart connected and powerful. I see that animated object monsters like flying swords have anti magic susceptibility but golems don’t. Does this mean that such a creature works as normal in an antimagic cone?

So the beholder could say disintegrate a room so it had a covered position 100’ above an entrance then loose a creature immune to non magic weapons (say a golem) and under an anti magic cone let it beat the party up?

how would you interpret anti magic Ray in this circumstance?

You could. I would allow them a chance to get an adamantine weapon though so as not to ruin them. Or make the golem very slow.

This makes me think of an idea where the beholder uses its cone to make certain traps unable to overcome by magic... maybe there are Magical mirrors that focus the beam onto certain areas.

 

[werecorpse]

So

Golems are elemental spirits in material form. Their creation may be magical, but they are not powered by magic. Otherwise it suppresses all magic, including items.

So can you damage a golem with a magic weapon while in an anti magic field?

seems not raw

 

[Oofta]

So

So can you damage a golem with a magic weapon while in an anti magic field?

seems not raw

No. A magic sword in an anti-magic zone is just a sword. The golem on the other hand is powered by an elemental spirit and is therefore unaffected. The golem doesn't rely on external magical force any more than a dragon.

I think it could lead to kind of interesting quest. You know the BBEG is in a permanent anti-magic zone protected by golems so the party has to quest for special items and weapons that are not traditional and are instead powered by elemental spirits.

 

[DND_Reborn]

seems not raw

There's not much in 5E that is "RAW", as more stuff, especially like this, is up to interpretation.

I agree with @Oofta that such a scenario could make for an interesting challenge, but also it would be entirely reasonable to rule:

1. the golem won't function if the weapons don't;
2. the golem functions and the magic weapons can still override its resistance (but lose their features);
3. the golem functions and the weapons become completely mundane.

So, really it just depends on what sort of game you want to run/DM.

Finally, if you go with the need for adamantine weapons, you will have to come rules or a quest for how they can get them.

 

[Helldritch]

The golems will function. Just like a warforged would. Once given "life" magic no longer apply to the animation of the creature.
The golems, however, would not be able to use "magical" innate powers such as the "slow effect" from the stone golem. Otherwise, the golem is unaffected by an anti-magic zone.

 

[GMMichael]

The golems will function. Just like a warforged would. Once given "life" magic no longer apply to the animation of the creature.
The golems, however, would not be able to use "magical" innate powers such as the "slow effect" from the stone golem. Otherwise, the golem is unaffected by an anti-magic zone.

Golems are elemental spirits in material form. Their creation may be magical, but they are not powered by magic. Otherwise it suppresses all magic, including items.

Golems are elemental spirits in material form. That material form is a slab of clay, rock, iron, etc.* which have no capacity to move unless affected by an outside force. A golem doesn't cease to exist because it's in an anti-magic field, but the magical stuff it does, like moving, doesn't have much justification to happen there.

A warforged is a different story. These can be expected to have working parts, mechanical, chemical, or otherwise. The only magic that these would need is the spark of life, which an anti-magic field apparently doesn't snuff.

If the beholder is 100 feet up, dropping golems on the PCs from that height might have a better effect.

*Flesh golems have working parts. In theory. Send those into the anti-magic field and see what happens.

 

[Oofta]

Golems are elemental spirits in material form. That material form is a slab of clay, rock, iron, etc.* which have no capacity to move unless affected by an outside force. A golem doesn't cease to exist because it's in an anti-magic field, but the magical stuff it does, like moving, doesn't have much justification to happen there.

A warforged is a different story. These can be expected to have working parts, mechanical, chemical, or otherwise. The only magic that these would need is the spark of life, which an anti-magic field apparently doesn't snuff.

If the beholder is 100 feet up, dropping golems on the PCs from that height might have a better effect.

*Flesh golems have working parts. In theory. Send those into the anti-magic field and see what happens.

According to the rules:

Elemental Spirit in Material Form. The construction of a golem begins with the building of its body, requiring great command of the craft of sculpting, stonecutting, ironworking, or surgery. Sometimes a golem’s creator is the master of the art, but often the individual who desires a golem must enlist master artisans to do the work.​

​

After constructing the body from clay, flesh, iron, or stone, the golem’s creator infuses it with a spirit from the Elemental Plane of Earth. This tiny spark of life has no memory, personality, or history. It is simply the impetus to move and obey. This process binds the spirit to the artificial body and subjects it to the will of the golem’s creator.​

Feel free to rule differently, but there are other creatures that don't make sense from our understanding of physics. Giants would collapse under their own weight, gargoyles would just be statues, a clay golem would just be a lump of clay. It's the elemental spirit that powers the form, no external magic is required.