Some of you might remember some questions regarding beholders that were discussed here a few weeks ago. I've received a reply from the sage, and I thought I'd share them:
Q: The MM entry states that a beholder can only fire 3 eyes at its front, left, right, rear, and bottom arcs, but it can fire all of its eyes upwardds. Can a beholder tilt its body upside down while hovering over a party and blast away with all eyes?
A: No.
Q: Are firing the eyes treated as a single free action, multiple free actions, one standard action, or something else? The MM entry states that the beholder can fire its eyes while moving full speed or making a bite attack. That doesn't exactly clarify the type of action using its eyes is considered. Is a beholder with only a partial action (e.g. during a surprise round or when slowed) able to move its speed and still fire off one or more eyebeams? Is a hasted beholder able to use its extra partial action to fire each of its eyes a second time within a round?
A: Using one or more eyes is a standard action of a beholder. A beholder reduced to partial actions can move or use eyes, but not both (except for a 5-foot step).
Q: Does it necessarily have to decide whether or not to open/close the central eye before it takes other actions, or can it do so later in the round? Would being hasted or slowed make a difference here?
A: The beholder decides once each turn whether its central eye is "on" or "off." This is not a matter of opening ot closing the central eye, its a matter of using or supressing the antimagic cone. It is esstially a free action, but the beholder must choose "on" or "off" at the beginning of its turn.
Q: The MM entry states that a beholder can only fire 3 eyes at its front, left, right, rear, and bottom arcs, but it can fire all of its eyes upwardds. Can a beholder tilt its body upside down while hovering over a party and blast away with all eyes?
A: No.
Q: Are firing the eyes treated as a single free action, multiple free actions, one standard action, or something else? The MM entry states that the beholder can fire its eyes while moving full speed or making a bite attack. That doesn't exactly clarify the type of action using its eyes is considered. Is a beholder with only a partial action (e.g. during a surprise round or when slowed) able to move its speed and still fire off one or more eyebeams? Is a hasted beholder able to use its extra partial action to fire each of its eyes a second time within a round?
A: Using one or more eyes is a standard action of a beholder. A beholder reduced to partial actions can move or use eyes, but not both (except for a 5-foot step).
Q: Does it necessarily have to decide whether or not to open/close the central eye before it takes other actions, or can it do so later in the round? Would being hasted or slowed make a difference here?
A: The beholder decides once each turn whether its central eye is "on" or "off." This is not a matter of opening ot closing the central eye, its a matter of using or supressing the antimagic cone. It is esstially a free action, but the beholder must choose "on" or "off" at the beginning of its turn.
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