I got Beholder info from the MM "wink wink nodge nodge knowaddaImean, come again ahh?

[AuraSeer]

Anti magic cone from the beholder does it in 3e give no save? Is all magic in the gunny?

Right, no save. All magic in the cone is suppressed, as long as the central eye is open. Read the description of antimagic field to see how it works.

LIke a +2 sword is just a sword, the +2 doesnt work in the cones field no save?

No save. The magic is suppressed, leaving behind an ordinary masterwork sword. Note that because it is a masterwork weapon, it still gets +1 to hit, but no bonus to damage. (All magic weapons must also be masterwork.)

How is it vs contigency spells? The wizards has like 6 contigency spells via the contigency feat on him self...how would they be effected???

They are magic, so they are suppressed. Inside the antimagic area, the contingency is shut off; it never sees its triggering condition and cannot fire. However, after the wizard leaves the antimagic area, it will work normally.

 

[MerakSpielman]

Remember also that a beholder can't fire it's own eye beams into its anti-magic cone area. Sometimes it's really the safest place to be.

 

[Hammerhead]

Beholders work best when you team them up with big toughs that don't use a lot of magic. Like, say, Giants. Keep the party in the huge antimagic cone while a team of giants beats them down. If any PC gets out of the cone, hammer him with every eye ray you got. Also, levitating will prevent any melee character from reaching the monster, and being invisible is also fun (as long as the beholder doesn't look at itself)

 

[monboesen]

Straight from Contingency spell describtion in the SRD.

You can use only one contingency spell at a time; if a second is cast, the first one (if still active) is dispelled.

So that Wizard ain't going to have more than one contingencied spell at any time.

 

[Numion]

Blindness is a good spell vs. beholders. They have a weak save, and a blind beholder is zero offense, zero defense creature.

Levitating is nice, but at the levels they are supposed to be encountered, what party doesn't have flight or airwalks themselves? (A dead party .. I guess )

 

[Patryn of Elvenshae]

So that Wizard ain't going to have more than one contingencied spell at any time.

That's the Contingency spell.

Complete ... Arcane? ... includes a new creation feat Craft Contingent Spell, which allows you to have multiple contingencies active (but with an XP and GP cost).

 

[monboesen]

ahh

OK

 

[Testament]

Never just rush a Beholder down. Always, always go in with a plan if you can.

Invert most of your normal tactics, don't scatter, or the monster will dissect the party, piece by piece. Keep the casters protected if at all possible, and the rogue would appreciate it too, since getting a sneak attack off on them is frickin' hard. And most importantly, it bears repeating...kill it first. It's true, no other enemy can sling that many SoD effects in a round, or that many crippling effects. Unless it's minions are breathing down your neck, ready to deliver mad beatdown, ignore them. The floating ball of doom is the threat! Always have some dispels handy, it charming or dominating your fighters is also hella bad.

Beholders have one huge weakness, and that's the fact that they have no defence whatsoever. They're the magical equivalent of a frenzied beserker, no defence, and can shoot themselves in the foot easily. Get right in their face, it's the safest place to be.

Oh, and never take one on in its lair if you can. A Beholder making pop-up (or down!) attacks from it's holes is a real nightmare.

I've only ever fought two beholderkin in my D&D career, both in Living Greyhawk. The first was a Gauth, and it was a real tough fight (damned Exhaustion ray!). The second was a true Beholder, but a first round Murderous Mist and a failed save reduced it to a flying medicine ball with teeth (For those unaware, Murderous Mist causes permanent blindness on a failed save. Who cares about 2D6 damage?!).

I know for a fact though, that both of those modules traumatised and killed a LOT of parties. They are awesomely dangerous foes.

Saeviomagy, that idea is...incredible. Why have I never thought of it?!

 

[Caliban]

Blindness would not make the beholder unable to shoot it's eye rays. It would just be shooting blind (guess the square, 50% miss chance, etc.)

 

[Fieari]

Ugh, the title of this thread is making me wince everytime I see it.

Anyway, you aren't, in fact, actually safe from those eye rays in the Antimagic cone. Because the beholder can "Blink"... that is, to close it's eye... as a free action without limit. So you're in the cone, on your turn you can do nothing magical, you lose all kinds of bonuses and buffs and whatnot, and then on IT'S turn, it blinks, fires something at you (you get your bonus back for a moment) and then opens the eye again.

Devestatingly effective if the beholder is attacking at the same time as something else, and it's not unreasonable to assume that the beholder has enslaved some meat shields or whatever to go melee for it. It can cast spells at the party and STILL keep the party from attacking back with magic.

Readied actions set to go off when the behold blinks may or may not work, depending on DM adjucation... I know there's some controversy about whether you can use a readied action to interrupt a free action... I mean, when the free action happens, you do what you want to do, but the free action -happens- (or partially happens) meaning that the anti-magic cone may come back up before you can do anything with it.