Need help with a Beholder

[freya]

I've never played a Beholder before, and don't remember coming up against any either, but there is one coming up in my campaign.

Can someone please tell me the best way to play one. Specifically with the eye rays. Is it best to roll a 10 sider to see which spell you're going to use? Can you continue to use Disintigrate 6x, since you're casting these at 13 level, or do you only use it once? Etc, etc.

Any help you can throw my way would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Chainsaw Mage]

I've never played a Beholder before, and don't remember coming up against any either, but there is one coming up in my campaign.

Can someone please tell me the best way to play one. Specifically with the eye rays. Is it best to roll a 10 sider to see which spell you're going to use? Can you continue to use Disintigrate 6x, since you're casting these at 13 level, or do you only use it once? Etc, etc.

Any help you can throw my way would be greatly appreciated.

I'm assuming you mean "play a Beholder" as in, "Using a Beholder for a monster my players will encounter." I don't even want to *think* of someone trying to make a Beholder PC. (shudder)

It would be helpful to know what your party consists of. What level, classes, make-up, etc.?

As for rolling randomly for spell selection--I never do that. I never roll for random encounters, either, but that's a different thread.

 

[Kyramus]

1) Beholders are intelligent. Play them as intelligent. They are not cannon fodder people. They send cannon fodder to keep people busy while it uses it's eyestalks.

2) It knows how effective his anti magic ray in front is. He might use illusion to make p's attack that while it moves into position to negate all spells on the party.

3) Eyestalks can fire 1/round. Figure what you want it to do, and do it. Disintegrate can cause roofs to collapse.

just some ideas.

 

[Sir Whiskers]

I've never played a Beholder before, and don't remember coming up against any either, but there is one coming up in my campaign.

Can someone please tell me the best way to play one. Specifically with the eye rays. Is it best to roll a 10 sider to see which spell you're going to use? Can you continue to use Disintigrate 6x, since you're casting these at 13 level, or do you only use it once? Etc, etc.

Any help you can throw my way would be greatly appreciated.

Just off the top of my head:

1. The beholder is intelligent, so it selects which rays to use each round, and against which opponents.

2. I've seen archers take down a beholder in one round. Target them first.

3. Even with its antimagic cone, tanks (clerics, fighters, paladins, etc.) can be dangerous. The beholder should avoid hand-to-hand combat at all costs.

4. Aim specific rays against targets that are weakest against their effects, e.g., Fort saves should target spellcasters, Will saves should target tanks. If a target type is unclear, give the beholder an Int check to get it right.

5. With disintegrate available, the beholder can customize its lair to a great degree. Include lots of passages that the beholder can pop out of, shoot at the party, then flee to another passage. Rinse and repeat. If the party pursues, they'll find the passages only large enough for one character at a time to pass through - in which case, the leading character is essentially dead meat to a beholder. Be sure to use lots of vertical shafts.

6. Any single creature can be ganged up on by a party. Give the beholder some weaker servants (kobolds, bugbears, ogres, trolls). The charm monster ray will help with this. These creatures can provide warning, create distractions, engage spellcasters and so forth.

7. Along these lines, a beholder lair can have numerous traps (built by creatures the beholder charmed). Make sure all the traps are triggered either by walking over them (the beholder levitates), or with a specific trigger (which the beholder can activate with its telekinesis ray).

 

[Ylis]

I don't know...I've never even considered running a beholder in any of my games as the general consensus for my group is "run awaaaaaaay" when they are mentioned

Of course, if I did run one, I would make sure to know their spells, etc backwards and forwards. I'd then run it like I would a PC that I was playing - simply due to their intelligence and power. I would definitely make it an encounter to remember

Good Luck!

 

[Liolel]

Remember their lair should be custom made to their own advantage. They have a perfect fly speed, and their lair should be filled with passages that go straight up or down, or angle steeply.

Nasty trick is to have the beholder have a escape passage that goes straight down, the party probably will climb or fly after it. Now note that IRRC a beholder is limited to 3 eye rays in any one specific arc unless that arc is directly overhead. So the first person to go down suddenly gets attacked by all 10 eye rays as the beholder was waiting for them.

 

[Silveras]

As suggested, get to know the abilities well.

Remember that the Beholder can use all 10 eye rays every round as free actions, any 3 in a given 90-degree arc. Beholders are NASTY that way.

The vertical shafts suggestion is especially good; the Beholder pops up, fires all 10 eye rays in different directions, then continues up or drops down (thanks to Flyby Attack).

The traps suggestion is also especially good.

Depending on where it is (close to a city, for example), it may have slaves that have told it the party is coming.

On the other hand, Beholders are arrogant. As noted in the MM, they tend to charge into groups of attackers so they can get their eye rays into best position. They are also hateful of all other races. These are weaknesses that should be present in their strategy to some degree -- overconfidence is a legitimate "role-playing element" for the monster. They are quite intelligent, but even the most intelligent creatures (and people) have blind-spots where they REFUSE to admit things are not what they expected/wanted.

 

[freya]

I'm assuming you mean "play a Beholder" as in, "Using a Beholder for a monster my players will encounter." I don't even want to *think* of someone trying to make a Beholder PC. (shudder)

*LOL* Yes I mean using a beholder for a monster in my campaign.

 

[JoeGKushner]

http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=2025&PHPSESSID=5479a4d4b87c90ba42258fbf90138a6f

http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=1483&PHPSESSID=5479a4d4b87c90ba42258fbf90138a6f

One 3rd edition, one 2nd edition sourcebook on the Beholder. Both are good reading.