Wanted: Rat Bastard Beholder tricks

[Olgar Shiverstone]

In this thread, my players are asking for help with the situation they are currently in -- in mid combat with a beholder. The full situation is described in there, as below:

The beholder is about 10' from the hole it used to enter the chamber (hole in the floor), and about 15' from the nearest wall. The chamber is almost circular, 60' across, with an oval lake in the center; the Beholder is on the south side of the lake. Vlad (Rog5/Ftr4) is in melee with the beholder (wielding a +2 shock battleaxe). Sully (Sor 10) is about 20' to the beholder's left front at the 10 o'clock position (measured from the central eye). Fiddle (Rgr6/Rog4)is 25' away, also at 10 o'clock. Darian (Ftr2/Clr6/Mrnglord of Lathander 2), Alya (Brd8/Arc1, the only one with darkvision, but who is also armed with an oathbow), and Calrom (Rgr 10) are about 40' away, at 11, 12, and 1 o'clock respectively, in the beholder's central eye cone (and the lake is between those three and the beholder). Grishelm (class unknown), the hired Svirfbneblin guide, retreated down a side passage 80' to the beholder's 2 o'clock (east side of chamber). There is one additional exit on the west side of the chamber, now about 30' to Calrom's rear. The daylight spell is centered over the lake, and Fiddle's continual flame bullseye lantern is on the ground at Darian's feet -- both out due to antimagic. The beholder's central eye is currently open. Two characters's are wounded (Fiddle -8 hp, and Grishelm).

Last round, Sully cast a light spell on a coin that is on the floor to his front. The beholder is actually at the edge of the shadowy illumination area around the light radius (Sully and Calrom can both see it due to low-light vision).

We broke at the start of round four. Initiative order:

Fiddle
Darian
Alya
The Beholder
Sully
Calrom
Grishelm
Vlad

To maintain the balance (as a LN DM should), what Rat Bastard DMing tactics should the DM take?

Spoiler

No promises on using any of them.

 

[grodog]

I make it a point to mix up beholders from time to time, using the following info/table (which I'm quoting from my post at the Grognard's Tavern):

IMC, I revised the eye rays of beholders, providing a broader range of possible magical effects. All beholders have 7-10 eye stalks, and 1 central eye, all of which may produce magical effects.

The following powers are common to all beholders:

• death ray (5" range)
• charm monster (5" range, save at -2)
• anti-magic ray (6" range)
• fear (8" range)

Roll on the following table for the abilities of the other eyes:

• 1 - cause serious wounds (6" range, 3d8+3 damage, save vs. poison for half damage)
• 2 - telekinesis (8" range, 2700 gp weight plus 10gp weight per hit point above 55)
• 3 - flesh to stone (5" range, 25% of beholders can also use stone to flesh with this eye ray as well)
• 4 - disintegration (3" range, up to a 7'x10'x5' deep volume may be affected if targeted upon matter)
• 5 - slow (6" range, 1 target for a number of rounds equal to hit dice, no save)
• 6 - hold monster (5" range, save at -3, duration 1 round per hit die, plus 2-7 rounds)
• 7 - sleep (8" range, affects up to 6 HD creatures per Wotinar's Advanced Sleep)
• 8 - ray of enfeeblement (7" range, 35% loss plus 3% per hit die)
• 9 - illusion (4" range, as per spectral force; remains for 1 round per 2 hit dice after concentration ceases; 10% of beholders may create permanent illusions with this eye ray)
• 10 - light burst (4" range, as per Eye of the Deep; very useful against drow, illithids, duergar, intellect devourers, etc.)
• 11 - pyrotechnics ray (5" range, ignites combustibles only)
• 12 - blindness (6" range, permanent until cured; this will also negate the random power of a rival beholder's eye ray if the target beholder fails its saving throw)
• 13 - repulsion (4" range, lasta one round per HD, save at -1)
• 14 - fumble (7" range, lasts two rounds plus one round per two hit dice)
• 15 - vampiric ray (3" range, 3d8+6 damage, save vs. breath weapon for no damage [ray misses, and it may hit a secondary target]; if hit, victim rolls a second save vs. death magic or also loses one level; damage caused is transferred to the beholder as healing, and ten additional points of healing are transferred if the victim is energy drained; see the 4th level necromancer spell of the same name)
• 16 - ice ray (5" range, 5d4+8 damage, save vs. petrification for half damage)
• 17 - ray of rot (4" range, as per violet fungi touch, save vs. poison avoids the effects)
• 18 - reverse gravity (5" range, lasts on victim for 4 rounds + 1 round per HD of beholder)
• 19 - heat or chill metal (4" range, lasts for 8 rounds; 45% chance for either, 10% chance for both in the same eye)
• 20 - other DM nastiness (including ideas from the artifacts tables like transmute bones to jelly, transmute bones to green slime, animate dead, re-roll and increase range and save penalty on rolled power, change alignment to that of beholder, imprison, temporal stasis, plane shift to a random plane, geas, Iscladoc's Eyes of Amaurosis or ...Eyes of Agony, eyebite, etc., etc.)

Beholder eyes were also all randomly placed, so you couldn't count on disabling a beholder's anti-magic by hitting his central eye, for example.

Hopefully this may prove useful in your game

 

[Ry]

Aren't there some other monsters on the way or something? From the other post, at least your PCs sound like they're freaking out. If they're getting as desperate as those guys feel, I'd "even it up" by having some dirt fall down and get in the beholder's eyes, causing it to blink repeatedly.

 

[Berandor]

Telekinesis ray throws one PC into the next. Give the second PC a reflex save (DC of the rays) to avoid, otherwise both are prone and have to take two move actions total (each of them one m/a, or one of them two) to untangle.
Or, treat as bull rush, to get a different PC out of the antimagic cone. Throw one on, the other tumbles out.

 

[Evilhalfling]

# 1 RBDM tricks for use with beholder
use a freaken beholder !
2. give beholder max or near max hp
3. float out of melee range.
4. kill the archer 3-4 eyebeams should do it.

erm it seems like you are doing fine, assumig that -8 hp means KO and not flesh wound.

 

[Virel]

With Beholders, I like to throw in a 1st ed AD&D critter called as Gas Spore. I don't know if it has a 3e counter part.

IIRC

Basically a Gas Spore look and acts like a Beholder, but only has 1hp. When hit in combat it explodes for 6d6 worth of damage in a ~10 to 15 ft radius. Save for 1/2. Any character exposed and taking hp damage must have a cure disease cast on them with in a day or so, or they start sprouting little baby gas spores.

After the Gas Spore, follow up shortly with the REAL Beholder. Make sure they blunder into the real on at a range of 10 ft or so.

Sometimes the party will hesistate an allow a the Beholder a free round of attacks.

 

[Benben]

Get that melee guy off you as soon as possible. I would recommend disintegrating the floor beneath him and letting him fall through the floor. If you can create a slide to that 60' opening then all the better. If not, then fire the charm ray at him until he fails a save then, telekinetically lift him out and move him to attack a former ally.

 

[Voadam]

beholders are intelligent ranged weapon platforms with an OK bite.

Stay out of range of the melee grunts, just float up. I forget if beholders are big enough to have reach but staying above just out of reach and biting at the same time sounds like fun.

Antimagic suppresses magic weapon properties too, so melee magical axe should be caught in area otherwise.

Disintegrating under people is a fun trick for ones who would save.

Target apparent weaknesses, charms on roguish looking types and warriors, disintegrate on mages and rogues, etc.

If anybody has been blasting with magic keep antimagic pinned on them and blast everyone else.

Float over to threaten archers so they draw AoOs.

 

[Toras]

3 and 4 are going to be your bread and butter ones. (Target the more sickly looking ones first)

Charm works for larger people, as well as the ice beam.

Use the vampric when you get low on hit points.

 

[Heretic Apostate]

In the Book of Lairs, they had a beholder in a Hall of Mirrors. That could be fun.