Help Our DM has gone Rat Bastard on us

[Enkhidu]

OK, here's a plan (note that its a plan, not the plan) that might work:

Have everyone delay actions until everyone can link arms hands (if you're close enough in the pitch darkness) and Alya can lead the bunch in the right direction - that direction is the middle of the chamber where the daylight spell is. At that point, you have protection from the beholder's rays. then the beholder has to shut its big eye to hit you with its lesser eyes. This should pose a problem for your opponent.

If the beholder drops the cone to fire its rays, then you will have light and magic again - use it, even if its only with readied actions because the thing shuts off the cone and then back on as soon as it can.

If instead the beholder decides to simply keep you ties up, work on getting non magical light sources lit in the safety zone and take the fight to the monster (with the grapple and sneak attack method - Darian looks like the is the prime candidate to grapple, as he's probably got some killer Fort and Will saves, failing that you ranger calrom fits the bill) - Fiddle and Vad should stay open to hit it with sneak attacks.

If you're somehow stuck in the middle with the cone on you and cannot get a light source, you've still got a chance before the flayer and grimlock swoop in to kick royal rump: Alya will have to play spotter. If your DM allows it (and its not too much of a stretch for her to play spotter for another character as a move equivelent action), Alya might be able to at least get the effectively blind PCs to fire missles/swing in the right area, which could allow for a 50% miss chance like fighting an invisible foe.

 

[Wulf Ratbane]

Tip #1: If you're standing in the dark, you're safe. Anti-magic merely suppresses that daylight spell, it doesn't dispel it. And he can't shoot his rays at you through his own anti-magic.

Tip #2: Remember all those torches and sunrods you bought at 1st level and never used? Now's the time.

Tip #3: The beholder is just a big bag of hit points. It's toe-to-toe time-- everybody. Even the wizard. Throw some daggers or something...


Wulf

 

[Berandor]

Those about to die, we salute you.

I side with Psion.

But it's correct that the zone where the daylight is centered is safe from Rays. Everybody save two characters shoujld get to the safe zone and pelt the Beholder with all they've got. The sorcere stands to one side, the lathander cleric on the other side. The cleric can cast light spells, so you get light. The beholder than has the choice of dispelling the sorcerer or the cleric. The other can cast all he's got. As soon as the daylight is back, melee all you can.

And good luck. Ao knows you'll need it.

 

[Saeviomagy]

The beholder will either
a) Keep the antimagic on you so the barbarian slaughters all of you

b) Fly out of reach and start laying into you with eye rays. If the DM is really a rat bastard, he'll target the sorceror first and anyone with skill with a bow second.

The best thing to do is probably to get a light going and then dump all of your damage causing effects into the beholder.

The second possibility is for your sorceror to slap down a resilient sphere around the beholder. Bam. It's out of combat.

Your DM will probably think that the beholder's eye cancels the sphere, but he'd be wrong. The sphere is mechanically identical to a wall of force except in shape, and a wall of force is immune to antimagic field.

edit: Oh, a big part of this plan is that the party have to run to get out of the anti magic field. Unless the beholder has his back in a corner (his loss), you should be able to get out of the cone in under a round.

 

[diaglo]

Tip #1: If you're standing in the dark, you're safe. Anti-magic merely suppresses that daylight spell, it doesn't dispel it. And he can't shoot his rays at you through his own anti-magic.

Tip #2: Remember all those torches and sunrods you bought at 1st level and never used? Now's the time.

Tip #3: The beholder is just a big bag of hit points. It's toe-to-toe time-- everybody. Even the wizard. Throw some daggers or something...


Wulf

Calrom has the torches and the 20 sunrods in a bag of holding...

i'm (fiddle) down to my last dagger and my small Longsword. twf ranger with one weapon ain't as effective. my other dagger is on the ground where we killed two drow female guards. so is my bullseye lantern with continual flame.

sully has charm monster. he also has glitterdust. sully is also the gnome with str 6 and dex 14 or so. not a melee guy at all.

and he and fiddle are currently in the wide open about 3 oclock. only alya and calrom are standing in the cone at 6 oclock. darian and vlad are near each other too just outside the cone at 430 or so. there is another light source on the ground but it is not far enough for me to see the beholder. sully can see the ball with his lowlight vision.

 

[LostSoul]

You wouldn't happen to have a lot of smokesticks, would you? That might help the beholder from being able to see you to zap you with those eye rays.

 

[BradfordFerguson]

Um, I don't think your DM has gone crazy on you, it just sounds like you all need to run...? Sounds like you're outclassed with little hope. Discretion is the better part of valor. Run like little babies! (or big babies) Maybe the DM is ticked that you guys don't run from combats, or maybe they're trying to capture the whole group.

 

[Doug McCrae]

I didn't realise you actually played 3rd ed. So what's with all the 'OD&D (1974) is the best thing ever and what's more it can cure cancer' bolloks?

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

The Npc had the right idea.

You can't say I didn't try to warn them .

With 6 characters of levels 9-10, they should rate one to two ELs higher than the book, so they should be able to handle a CR 13 Beholder with some smart play. Not that it might not smart a bit when it's all over, mind you. (Oh, yeah -- and earlier in this same session, the took a CR14 baddie, 1/2 dragon ftr/sor, down in one round. That wasn't supposed to be a combat encounter, but one of the low Cha characters got a bit ... surly. So I'm generally pretty confident in their combat ability, if not the consistent skill in talking their way out of problems. They did talk/diplomacy their way past a tribe of giants the same session, though.)

Edit: Just 'cause it's fun, here's the situation and the initiative order:

The beholder is about 10' from the hole it used to enter the chamber (hole in the floor), and about 15' from the nearest wall. The chamber is almost circular, 60' across, with an oval lake in the center; the Beholder is on the south side of the lake. Vlad (Rog5/Ftr4) is in melee with the beholder (wielding a +2 shock battleaxe). Sully (Sor 10) is about 20' to the beholder's left front at the 10 o'clock position (measured from the central eye). Fiddle (Rgr6/Rog4)is 25' away, also at 10 o'clock. Darian (Ftr2/Clr6/Mrnglord of Lathander 2), Alya (Brd8/Arc1, the only one with darkvision, but who is also armed with an oathbow), and Calrom (Rgr 10) are about 40' away, at 11, 12, and 1 o'clock respectively, in the beholder's central eye cone (and the lake is between those three and the beholder). Grishelm (class unknown), the hired Svirfbneblin guide, retreated down a side passage 80' to the beholder's 2 o'clock (east side of chamber). There is one additional exit on the west side of the chamber, now about 30' to Calrom's rear. The daylight spell is centered over the lake, and Fiddle's continual flame bullseye lantern is on the ground at Darian's feet -- both out due to antimagic. The beholder's central eye is currently open. Two characters's are wounded (Fiddle -8 hp, and Grishelm).

Last round, Sully cast a light spell on a coin that is on the floor to his front. The beholder is actually at the edge of the shadowy illumination area around the light radius (Sully and Calrom can both see it due to low-light vision).

We broke at the start of round four. Initiative order:

Fiddle
Darian
Alya
The Beholder
Sully
Calrom
Grishelm
Vlad

Good luck, guys!

 

[JoeBlank]

I play Sully, the gnome sor 10. This is the part that scares me:

We broke at the start of round four. Initiative order:

Fiddle
Darian
Alya
The Beholder
Sully
Calrom
Grishelm
Vlad

Good luck, guys!

Sully has never met a beholder before, and in character he is just now figuring out how dire the situation has become. He is outside the antimagic field, has identified himself as a spellcaster, has thrown a lighted coin between the beholder and himself, and acts after the eye tyrant.

To add to the problem, Sully's character concept is a fey-touched gnome who uses magic for every aspect of life, and so he is entirely dependent on magic. He threw his sling and crossbow away long ago, but does have one dagger he can throw. Beyond that, spells are his only offense and defense.

He has already made on Fort save against an eye beam, but is not optimistic about his chances of making another.

I'm liking this cliffhanger. Thanks for a great game, Olgar.