Good action for my Evil High Priest? (a bit long)

[coyote6]

I'm pretty sure it used to be possible for a beholder to get the "full blast" -- if not in 3.0, then in 1e or 2e.

So, NewJeffCT, did you decide to go with the pair of beholders, one big huge beholder, a resurrected paladin, or other?

 

[NewJeffCT]

I have not made my decision with 100% certainty yet. Plus, as my players are sometimes on the boards, I don't want to say for sure anyhows - even though they're good at not metagaming. I will post it for sure over the weekend as a follow-up.

 

[Theo R Cwithin]

I'm pretty sure it used to be possible for a beholder to get the "full blast" -- if not in 3.0, then in 1e or 2e.

The way those 90degree arcs work, I think there are "corners" where 3 arcs come together, for example the forward, upward and leftward arcs all touch. So with some careful aiming couldn't a beholder fire at a large creature with up to nine rays?

Unfortunately, I can't really explain the 3d geometry in a text post to make this a little clearer.


[edit] BTW, how do beholder rays interact with mirrors?

 

[Jhaelen]

The way those 90degree arcs work, I think there are "corners" where 3 arcs come together, for example the forward, upward and leftward arcs all touch. So with some careful aiming couldn't a beholder fire at a large creature with up to nine rays?

Unfortunately, I can't really explain the 3d geometry in a text post to make this a little clearer.


[edit] BTW, how do beholder rays interact with mirrors?

Yep, by twisting just the right way, it would be possible to aim three cones at a Large or larger creature. Just imagine at a cube (i.e. a d6) and point one corner at the center of the 2x2x2 cubes that form the creature's boundary box. Three faces of the die will be turned towards the creature.

Normal mirrors cannot be used to reflect eye rays. But I think beholders sometimes use specially enchanted mirrors to do this. I know for sure they were described in the 'I, Tyrant' accessory for 2e, they might also be in 'Lords of Madness'.

 

[coyote6]

I think the spirit of the rule would be that no target is going to get whacked by more than three rays. It's not like you assign particular rays to particular arcs (the math doesn't even work -- 10 eye rays, 3 rays per arc, six arcs), so I don't think saying "this spot covers part of three arcs -- nine rays!" works.

If something was so big and so close that it fully covered more than one arc, then I'd be okay with Mr. Big Eye getting more than three shots. But I doubt I'd ever be running the Battle of the Beholder vs. the Righteous Might-endowed Titan, so it's probably a moot question for me.

 

[NewJeffCT]

No, I would not target anybody with more than 3 rays, even though I think at this level, most of the PCs would make their "save or die" saves pretty easily.

 

[coyote6]

Given enough rolls, someone will eventually roll a 1, though.

That's one of those things that bring such amazing focus to PCs when they meet a beholder -- "How many saves per round? Kill it!"

 

[NewJeffCT]

Given enough rolls, someone will eventually roll a 1, though.

That's one of those things that bring such amazing focus to PCs when they meet a beholder -- "How many saves per round? Kill it!"

If I run a beholder, I might tweak a few of the eye rays, per the post from (I think) Frank the DM last month.