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Beholder's Eye Beams
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<blockquote data-quote="KarinsDad" data-source="post: 2987020" data-attributes="member: 2011"><p>I'll answer by comparing the 3E Beholder with the 3.5 Beholder:</p><p></p><p>3E</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>3.5</p><p></p><p> </p><p></p><p>WotC expressly removed the concept of facing with Beholders from 3E to 3.5.</p><p></p><p>So, I suspect some people are clinging to the 3E concept of Beholder facing when discussing 3.5. But, there is no Beholder facing in 3.5.</p><p></p><p></p><p>Wotc kept the concept of arcs for the rays. Since the Antimagic Cone is a cone (and hence 90 degrees) and the arcs are 90 degrees, it seems reasonable to limit the cone to one of the normal arcs (forward, back, up, down, left, or right).</p><p></p><p>This is not explicitly stated, but it seems like a reasonable adjudication. A DM could also have a different 90 degrees for the Cone and the Arcs, but this seems overly complex.</p><p></p><p>So in answer to your question, a Beholder since he has good maneuverability should be able to face its Center Eye up, down, right, left, forward, or back. But, that direction stays constant from the time it sets the directions of the arcs in round x until it changes it in round x+1. Ditto for whether the eye is opened or closed. Once set, it stays that way until changed the next round.</p><p></p><p></p><p>It is also reasonable to allow the x-axis / y-axis arcs to be whichever direction the Beholder wants with the exception of up and down. In other words, the left, right, forward, and back arcs can be spun around however the DM wants, but the Beholder gets the same number of squares in each arc. For example:</p><p></p><p>[code]</p><p> 4 4 4 4 3</p><p> 1 4 4 3 3</p><p> 1 1 B 3 3</p><p> 1 1 2 2 3</p><p> 1 2 2 2 2</p><p>[/code]</p><p></p><p>or</p><p></p><p>[code]</p><p> 1 4 4 4 4</p><p> 1 1 4 4 3</p><p> 1 1 B 3 3</p><p> 1 2 2 3 3</p><p> 2 2 2 2 3</p><p>[/code]</p><p></p><p>or</p><p></p><p>[code]</p><p> 1 1 4 4 4</p><p> 1 1 4 4 4</p><p> 1 1 B 3 3</p><p> 2 2 2 3 3</p><p> 2 2 2 3 3</p><p>[/code]</p><p></p><p>etc.</p><p></p><p>The reason for limiting this in the up and down directions is that adjudication of 3 dimensional arcs that spin (or tilt) only on the x-y axis is easy. But tilting on the x-z, y-z, or x-y-z axes is for most people, an adjudication nightmare (since we do not have 3D cubes like we have 2D squares).</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>But, my take is that there is no predefined forward arc for the cone in 3.5. The arc is whichever direction the Beholder decides for that round. In 3E, facing information was in the description, but that was yanked for 3.5. </p><p></p><p>From my understanding, the movement rules allow for "turning in place" and specify a direction of movement. But, this is only for movement and is different than specifying a facing (although, I suspect some people might equate it) or even changing facing. Nothing in the 3.5 rules precludes a Beholder from moving in one direction and firing its central eye in a totally different direction since there is no facing.</p><p></p><p>Hence, the Beholder can point 3 rays max per arc followed by the cone of the Antimagic Cone into the same arc (note: I'm changing my earlier stance to allow the Beholder to fire off 3 rays and follow it up with the AMC because nothing in the rules appears to limit this and in order to fire back into that arc the next round, he must either turn off the AMC or for an entire round change the arc of the AMC on the next round).</p><p></p><p>3 Rays per Arc max and no set facing for the AMC seems to both match the intent of the designers (as per the changes they made between 3E and 3.5) and the RAW.</p><p></p><p>Does this answer your questions?</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="KarinsDad, post: 2987020, member: 2011"] I'll answer by comparing the 3E Beholder with the 3.5 Beholder: 3E 3.5 WotC expressly removed the concept of facing with Beholders from 3E to 3.5. So, I suspect some people are clinging to the 3E concept of Beholder facing when discussing 3.5. But, there is no Beholder facing in 3.5. Wotc kept the concept of arcs for the rays. Since the Antimagic Cone is a cone (and hence 90 degrees) and the arcs are 90 degrees, it seems reasonable to limit the cone to one of the normal arcs (forward, back, up, down, left, or right). This is not explicitly stated, but it seems like a reasonable adjudication. A DM could also have a different 90 degrees for the Cone and the Arcs, but this seems overly complex. So in answer to your question, a Beholder since he has good maneuverability should be able to face its Center Eye up, down, right, left, forward, or back. But, that direction stays constant from the time it sets the directions of the arcs in round x until it changes it in round x+1. Ditto for whether the eye is opened or closed. Once set, it stays that way until changed the next round. It is also reasonable to allow the x-axis / y-axis arcs to be whichever direction the Beholder wants with the exception of up and down. In other words, the left, right, forward, and back arcs can be spun around however the DM wants, but the Beholder gets the same number of squares in each arc. For example: [code] 4 4 4 4 3 1 4 4 3 3 1 1 B 3 3 1 1 2 2 3 1 2 2 2 2 [/code] or [code] 1 4 4 4 4 1 1 4 4 3 1 1 B 3 3 1 2 2 3 3 2 2 2 2 3 [/code] or [code] 1 1 4 4 4 1 1 4 4 4 1 1 B 3 3 2 2 2 3 3 2 2 2 3 3 [/code] etc. The reason for limiting this in the up and down directions is that adjudication of 3 dimensional arcs that spin (or tilt) only on the x-y axis is easy. But tilting on the x-z, y-z, or x-y-z axes is for most people, an adjudication nightmare (since we do not have 3D cubes like we have 2D squares). But, my take is that there is no predefined forward arc for the cone in 3.5. The arc is whichever direction the Beholder decides for that round. In 3E, facing information was in the description, but that was yanked for 3.5. From my understanding, the movement rules allow for "turning in place" and specify a direction of movement. But, this is only for movement and is different than specifying a facing (although, I suspect some people might equate it) or even changing facing. Nothing in the 3.5 rules precludes a Beholder from moving in one direction and firing its central eye in a totally different direction since there is no facing. Hence, the Beholder can point 3 rays max per arc followed by the cone of the Antimagic Cone into the same arc (note: I'm changing my earlier stance to allow the Beholder to fire off 3 rays and follow it up with the AMC because nothing in the rules appears to limit this and in order to fire back into that arc the next round, he must either turn off the AMC or for an entire round change the arc of the AMC on the next round). 3 Rays per Arc max and no set facing for the AMC seems to both match the intent of the designers (as per the changes they made between 3E and 3.5) and the RAW. Does this answer your questions? [/QUOTE]
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