Help with beholder non-combat encounter!

[Carnifex]

The PC's in my online game are currently starting out on a journey into mountainlands, in order to investigate an old arcanists tower and recover the designs for some technomagical objects from the place, and I have a string of encounters planned for the trip. These encounters all serve a particular purpose; one is to introduce a particular NPC who they'll be encountering again in the future (a knight errant who they can help out), another is at a monastery where they'll meet a couple of other adventuring bands and have to help defend the place, to give them the idea that there are other bands like themselves out there.

The other encounter, and in terms of time-line the one that'll probably happen first, is designed to be a non-combat encounter where it's non-combat because taking on the monster involved simply isn't an option,.

The party is mostly lvl 4 apart from an NPC, and they'll encounter a subspecies of beholder, a solar beholder - it spends it's days up in mountains eating rocks, and absorbing sunlight. ALl its attacks are fire or light based but it's still easily powerful enough to toast the party if they rile it. Solar beholders are NE but not in a kind of active way, they generally just spend their time basking in the sun and seeking out particularly tasty rock outcrops rather than carrying out plans of world domination; but they don't like their territory being invaded and tend to take exception at being disturbed. This one'll be disturbed since the party won't realise the bugger's not a big rock until its too late.

Thing is, solar beholders are generally lazy and this one's a bit bored - it *could* obliterate them easily but that involves effort and besides they could provide it with some fun. I want to have it pose a non-combat challenge for them, one that's not too tough, with the threat of violence to give them inspiration to do it. Something like a riddle or a tricky question or puzzle, or something like that.

But I'm just not sure what the beholder can pose as a task for 'em. Please, wise board members, aid me!

 

[Phasmus]

Solar beholder eh? Nifty concept...
A combination of issues of stone and light makes me think of obsidian mirrors. Some sort of mirror-alignment puzzle, perhaps?

i.e. "Direct the rays of the sun into my secret underground lair before sundown... Or face your DOOM!"

 

[Aloïsius]

The Beholder may simply ask them to make a "good" theatre play ? Since he is evil, he may choose something comical/humiliating for the PC.

 

[Carnifex]

Check this out.

Right now, my PCs are looking for a "poisoned hole" in a dungeon. The "poisoned hole" is actually the entrance to an ancient lair created by the gods to house a very powerful artifact that is needed to free the human race. SO... the hole is guarded by a VERY powerful creature of my own devising. He was PUT THER by the gods to ward it. Yeah, so he's powerful.

It was meant to be a non-combat, roleplaying encounter. I wanted them to talk to him and persuade him to let them pass. I showed the PCs just how powerful he was with a few displays of magic and ability. They got the hint... all except for the half orc.

What did she do?

The party was talking up a storm with the creature, asking him questions and the like. So while they have him busy, she takes it upon herself to run and jump into the hole.

Arg. All hell broke loose.

The moral of the story is, if you're going to go status quo from the DUNGEON MASTER'S Guide, don't be afraid to use it. If you are afraid, don't put anything there the PCs can't defeat.

I will not pull any punches, plus I have two NPC'as in the party to use as demonstrations to keep the others in line; but tanyway the band is a bunch of *excellent* rp'ers and I reckon they'll not do anything so dumb as attacking a beholder. The first thing the NPC ranger/fighter will say is 'there's no way we can fight this thing'. I just now need a way to make the encounter still an encounter but just with the solution not being combat.

Phasmus; the obsidian mirrors sound an interesting idea, but how to turn that into a doable game concept? It wouldn't be fun to render something that would be an intersting challenge in real life down to, say, a few dice rolls, I want something that is a challenge in rp'ing terms and I'm not sure how I ccould dp taht with aligning mirrors.

Aloisius: Another interesting idea! I'll think on that, though I'll have to develop it quite a lot... Maybe a play involving the Great Necromancer from my setting, a figure I intend to feature prominently later on (he's supposed to be dead, but you can'ty trust death with them damn necromancers. He's also supposed to have been an evil human, a common misconception that should shock the players when they find out the truth ).

Any more ideas?

 

[Sir Whiskers]

If the beholder's as lazy as you say, maybe it just wants to be left alone. In that case, have it threaten to wipe out the party unless they come up with some way to stop people from wandering into its territory and such. The party could promise to do all sorts of things to help, which they may or may not do. The beholder (if it's smart) will challenge their ideas, the party suggests something else, etc. One thing the beholder won't allow is for the party to tell anyone that it's there. Given the opportunity, a group of players might come up with something really novel that you can fit into a later adventure.

One idea that popped into my head was the party starts rumors intended to scare people away from this particular area - maybe that it's haunted by dwarven ghosts who don't like trespassers. A few months later another adventuring group is asked by locals to "save" them from the ghosts. The beholder gets ticked off when "heroes" keep showing up. Or maybe the party has to try to buy the deed to the land where the beholder lairs, then hire guards to keep trespassers out. Or....you get the idea.

 

[ced1106]

The Beholder may simply ask them to make a "good" theatre play ? Since he is evil, he may choose something comical/humiliating for the PC.

rotfl

Beholder: "DANCE, FLESHY ONES!" (zapzapzapzapzapzap)

Munchkin: "Hey! It says in the MM that a beholder can use each of his eyestalks only three times per day! He's outta charges!"

Beholder: "ZAP."


Cedric.
aka. Washu! ^O^

 

[Gez]

Heheheh...
Beholder: "I'm not a MM beholder." *ZAP*


Well. I've made the same thing, basically, forcing non-combat encounters with monsters. But some of my players are quite vindicative, so I had to make the first steps myself.

For example, they were in a strange "tower" (actually, a demiplane whose entry is in that tower), trying to plunder the richesses of a lich. Said lich was a bit special -- the wizard was not powerful enough to become a lich by his own means, so he struck a deal with a fiendlord (guess who) to be turned into one. In exchange, the archfiend asked only his shadow in return; but didn't said the lichefication process he would use would put all spellcasting capacity inside the shadow.

So, we had an intelligent skeleton who was majorly pissed out by the fact it could not cast any spell. Especially annoying since a spell - a mere cantrip, but a spell - was necessary to move in and out the portals of his demiplane. When his servants told him a group of intruder were strolling in his realms, he wanted to seize that opportunity to put them on a quest to slay his shadow, which would probably give him his powers back - or so he think.
He still had at his disposal some magic items, and several servants (notably an army of homemade beholderkins). Since the PCs were level 2 or 3, they hadn't the slightiest chance against them.

As I felt the PCs were in a "kill them all, they're evil, and it's what we're supposed to do" mode, when the PCs finally found the door to the lich's laboratory, it greeted them by these words: "Enter in, foutremerde, since you've come here" (I won't translate the compound swearword). This was sufficient to put the players in talk mode.

So, don't give the initiative to the PCs if you're not sure of them. Show them the creature is willing to talk.

 

[Ashwyn]

Make me some glasses!

 

[Ashy]

Hurm....why not take the easy route? The beholder is lazy and likes to eat rocks, ya? Well, maybe there's a BIG pile of rocks WAAAAAYYY up on the mountain that he has just been slavering over for some time. He's too lazy to go up and get them though. He tasks the party with bringing them down, and of course, they must not be placed in any shadow, or it will spoil their "solar ripeness". To add fuel to the fire, have some storm coulds rolling in on the horizon.

 

[RangerWickett]

Buy a half-dozen cheap shaving mirrors. The solar tyrant wants to explore a cave that has some interesting stalagmites at the bottom, but he doesn't like getting out of the sun. He tells the PCs to use those mirrors over there to make sure the sun will stay shining on him, or else he'll kill them. It's the price they pay for intruding on his territory (and his nap time).

First, this works best during the day when the sun's out, but you can always substitute a really bright halogen lamp instead.

You add up the total Dexterity of the party. That's how many seconds they have to readjust the mirrors whenever the 'beholder' moves. In truth, you start outside the house (or near the halogen lamp), and move through the house one room at a time. For each room, they have so many seconds to make sure the light is shining in your eyes. Once they get it there and keep it there for at least a few seconds, you move on to the next stage. Make sure you have at least two more mirrors than the number of party members, which gives them the options of mounting mirrors on furniture or using the floor to reflect light.

This way, you get some nice tension. When the beholder is further underground, his powers should be a little weaker, but the party will be strung out farther apart that way, and thus they should be even less likely to try to take him on.

And at the bottom of the cave, maybe find some treasure that would've been impossible to find without sunlight. The beholder can't use it, so he might give it to the PCs if they promise not to bother him anymore.