My take on the beholder

[Kerrick]

Earth -- though this stony brown sphere hovers before you, you get a sense of great weight and mass.

Ouch. Just, ouch.

Air -- this pale orb is somehow gaunt and practically hums with magical energy.

Umm.. why does a flying creature have a Tumble bonus?

Death -- a giant floating cyclops skull with eye stalks like spinal cords.

Surprised you didn't just go with the death tyrant on this one. Granted, they're not OGC, but...

Nasty ones, all. Really cool ideas.

 

[Nifft]

Umm.. why does a flying creature have a Tumble bonus?

Don't flying PCs threaten in your games?

-- N

 

[Raven Crowking]

All I can say is that this thread is better than the article that spawned it.


RC

 

[anton1066]

Any one want to work up a Prismatic Beholder? I am thinking somthing like Seven rays; Fire, Acid, Electricity, Poison, Turned to Stone, Insanity and sent to another plane. Replace the big eye with a Prismatic sphere with a 24 hour durration usable once per day. Probably CR 21 or somthing?

 

[Nifft]

What, no more Beholder variants?

I'll see what I can come up with for Shadow and Prismatic later.

-- N

 

[Justin Bacon]

Here's a simple solution: the beholder can aim only half of its eyestalks in a given direction (front, left flank, right flank, rear) at any given time, meaning it can target a given person with only five rays - if there's a group in front of it, that means it can only bring six eyes (five stalks and the central eye) into play, limiting its options severely. The central eye can only be used against opponents to the front. It's all common sense, really.

That's almost identical to the existing mechanics. The only thing you've shuffled around is the number of eyestalks that can be pointing in a particular direction.

In general, you're probably better off just using standard mechanics: The antimagic eye is a cone effect that you point in a direction on your turn. The eyestalks are ranged touch attacks.

If you don't want the beholder to target more than X number of eyestalks on a single character for balance reasons, just make that the rule: A beholder can't target a single character with more than X number of eyestalks during a single turn.

Done. Why does it have to be more complicated than that?

Secondly, the antimagic cone. It affects even the beholder's own eye rays? You'd think evolution and natural selection would have weeded out that problem a LONG time ago.

Two points:

(1) You're assuming that the beholder CAN evolve an antimagic effect that doesnt affect its own eyestalks. I see no reason for making such an assumption. Arcanists, with the complete flexibility of independent research, have never managed to perfect a version of antimagic which leaves their own spells unaffected. Why should beholders have naturally evolved such a version of antimagic?

(2) If beholders frequently fight other beholders, I can think of a very good reason why they would want an antimagic eye that cancels the stalks of their kin, even if it meant cancelling their own abilities, too.

Sleep: This ray is completely useless against foes of equal level (and just about useless against even those of lesser level - it only affects 4 HD of creatures). Ditch it.

Can someone please explain to me why there aren't higher level sleep spells which are actually effective at knocking out higher level opponents? I really don't like the fact that, beyond the low levels, you lose the choice between killing and incapacitating.

Telekinesis: The problem doesn't lie with the beholder, but with the spell - that thing needs to be rewritten, badly. For purposes of this post, we'll say the beholder can either a) apply a sustained force to a single target; or b) pick up one object weighing up to 325 pounds and hurl it against a target within range.

The easiest fix for this spell is to simply allow the caster to manipulate objects at a distance as if they were physically handling them with two hands and Strength equal to 10 + the caster level. Again, why does it have to be complicated than that?

So we've gotten rid of four powers - charm person, finger of death, inflict moderate wounds, and sleep. But how to replace them?

Gauths get scorching ray, so let's give beholders polar ray in place of inflict moderate wounds. 13d6 cold damage is pretty scary - a good deal moreso than a piddly inflict wounds ray.

Good choice. The beholder really is lacking a straight-out "blast 'em" gun.

I'm rather partial to grease, for some reason - it's a great spell for a flying creature to have, and DC 17 is tough to beat for a heavily-armored fighter, which is what a beholder would be targetting with it. Grease and slow are a deadly combination. We'll put that in place of sleep.

I don't like grease. It doesn't feel like a ray spell. It gives me a visual of a beholder's eyestalk gushing greasy gunk all over the floor. It doesn't feel right.

Blindness/deafness is another good, low-level effect. Deaf spellcasters have trouble casting, and blind fighters can't see where they're going - combine this with slow, TK, or grease, and you've got yourself a real mess. We'll use this in place of charm person.

And finally, ray of enfeeblement - the perfect foil for the big fighter in the group.

Two strong choices.

 

[Nifft]

Beholders: let's start fresh. Here's the stats for an OGC-friendly Aberration. I'll use that as the base for the Beholder and Beholder-kin:
[sblock]

[b]Spirit Naga[/b]
Size/Type: 	Large Aberration
Hit Dice: 	9d8+36 (76 hp)
Initiative: 	+1
Speed: 	40 ft. (8 squares)
Armor Class: 	16 (-1 size, +1 Dex, +6 natural), touch 10, flat-footed 15
Base Attack/Grapple: 	+6/+14
Attack: 	Bite +9 melee (2d6+6 plus poison)
Full Attack: 	Bite +9 melee (2d6+6 plus poison)
Space/Reach: 	10 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks: 	Charming gaze, poison, spells
Special Qualities: 	Darkvision 60 ft.
Saves: 	Fort +7, Ref +6, Will +9
Abilities: 	Str 18, Dex 13, Con 18, Int 12, Wis 17, Cha 17
Skills: 	Concentration +13, Listen +14, Spellcraft +10, Spot +14
Feats: 	Ability Focus (charming gaze), Alertness, 
        Combat Casting, Eschew MaterialsB, Lightning Reflexes
Environment: 	Temperate marshes
Organization: 	Solitary or nest (2-4)
Challenge Rating: 	9
Treasure: 	Standard
Alignment: 	Usually chaotic evil
Advancement: 	10-13 HD (Large); 14-27 HD (Huge)

Relevant facts:

• Supernatural Ability DC: 17 +2 for Ability Focus
• At will ability 1: Charm Person (DC 19?)
• At will ability 2: Poison (DC 18, 1d8/1d8 Con)
• Best spell: 3rd level

[/sblock]