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Message: <blockquote data-quote="RangerWickett" data-source="post: 5082112" data-attributes="member: 63">There is an evil lurking in there, and it is our duty to destroy it.Are the PCs going in with that point of view? Or is it more for revenge? Or to investigate the lair and find evidence connected with a greater plot?Perhaps . . . the monsters is alien, so he doesn't quite get human thoughts. He thinks, "People care about each other, so they won't hurt other people." So when his feeders bring him food, he knocks them out and hangs them on chains as 'hostages,' even though they should by rights be enemies of the PCs. So you can have the added challenge of keeping these guys alive, with the reward that if the PCs save them, they get some valuable information, and maybe a grateful spy on the inside. (I don't recall what organization this is that they're dealing with, if anything.)Oh, and you've got to have it rig something that blocks off their retreat. It's seen them get away several times, so it must be annoyed with them. Maybe some sort of concealed rig that, when the beholder tugs a cable, swings a heavy door down over the exit. He could use this to cut the party off when they're only half in, or just to trap them all in if he thinks he can slaughter them. (I think outright collapsing tunnels is less fun, because it just removes options. This puts a challenge into the scenario. "Oh no, our buddies are in there with it. Let's get this damned door open!")Oh, and definitely, give the critter a few allies, something so that the opposing side has a few new tactical tricks up its multi-eyed sleeves. Alchemically exploding corpses are good. A few corpses animated to grab is good too (Oh, so you think you're the only bastard who can use tethercords?! Well mine have rotting infected teeth!)For added complication, maybe once the beholder gets bloodied, he sets off his 'big trap,' but it goes wrong. It's supposed to explode some sacs filled with sulfurous gas to suffocate the non-undead (I think gas is a better hazard than water because it doesn't slow movement), but the gas explodes and rocks the chamber, meaning both sides only have a few rounds to get out before the place collapses. At this point you can seal off the main entrance, so the only way out is to jump down its well. The beholder, of course, wants to get out too, so you have a great excuse to move the fight to a new 'stage.' If things have gotten boring in the same old cave full of chain-dangling dessicated corpses (if I had a nickle for every time I saw that one), you can switch to a multi-leveled cave/sewer complex with balconies, waterfalls, currents, and narrow hallways that PCs can duck down but the beholder can't follow them. But since sulfur gas is heavier than air (I say without checking the chemistry of it), all those hallways are full of poison that attacks PC fortitude, which keeps them from staying out of the monster's reach for too long. (The main thoroughfare would have airflow due to the running water of the sewer.)Hope some of those ideas come in handy. And thanks for the excuse to brainstorm, because now I'm going to steal some of this for my game too. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /></blockquote>

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