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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Carnifex" data-source="post: 680293" data-attributes="member: 227">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!</blockquote>

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