D&D 5E Worst Metagame Anti Player Creature Design?

[Helldritch]

Doesn't the anti magic turn off the eye ray?

Yes and no.
As an interaction, on its turn, the beholder can close its central eye. Go crazy with eye rays and reopen its central eye when things are done. Remember the anti-magic property of the central eye cease as soon as someone leaves the area of effect or the central eye is closed. Blinking an eye is not against the rule and this is how beholders have been played like forever. What the beholder must choose is what will the area of effect be. Nothing more, nothing less. And even with the central eye closed, the beholder is never blind. So if players start to "ready action" to use spells as the central eye closes, the beholder will notice how the characters are acting and will simply keep an eye on the casters, and shoot.

Of course you can always rule that the casting is occurring during the character's initiative and thus the spell would be ruined anyways. (And I think that later statement is RAW, but I am far from my books and can't check to be sure).

 

[Zardnaar]

Yes and no.
As an interaction, on its turn, the beholder can close its central eye. Go crazy with eye rays and reopen its central eye when things are done. Remember the anti-magic property of the central eye cease as soon as someone leaves the area of effect or the central eye is closed. Blinking an eye is not against the rule and this is how beholders have been played like forever. What the beholder must choose is what will the area of effect be. Nothing more, nothing less. And even with the central eye closed, the beholder is never blind. So if players start to "ready action" to use spells as the central eye closes, the beholder will notice how the characters are acting and will simply keep an eye on the casters, and shoot.

Of course you can always rule that the casting is occurring during the character's initiative and thus the spell would be ruined anyways. (And I think that later statement is RAW, but I am far from my books and can't check to be sure).

I would have to reread the 5E beholder but PCs have figured out to ready actions when it "blinks".

 

[Helldritch]

I would have to reread the 5E beholder but PCs have figured out to ready actions when it "blinks".

And the beholder is intelligent not to blink when players are readying action.
Also.
To cast a spell and release it as a readied action, you need to cast it when it is your turn. PHB p.193
"When you ready a spell, you cast it as normal but
hold its energy, which you release with your reaction
when the trigger occurs. To be readied, a spell must
have a casting time o f 1 action, and holding onto the
spell’s magic requires concentration (explained in
chapter 10). If your concentration is broken, the spell
dissipates without taking effect. For example, if you are
concentrating on the web spell and ready magic missile,
your web spell ends, and if you take damage before
you release magic missile with your reaction, your
concentration might be broken."

This means that casters are effectively shut down by beholder. They will have to rely on "mundane" equipment to survive and/or do damage.

 

[Zardnaar]

And the beholder is intelligent not to blink when players are readying action.
Also.
To cast a spell and release it as a readied action, you need to cast it when it is your turn. PHB p.193
"When you ready a spell, you cast it as normal but
hold its energy, which you release with your reaction
when the trigger occurs. To be readied, a spell must
have a casting time o f 1 action, and holding onto the
spell’s magic requires concentration (explained in
chapter 10). If your concentration is broken, the spell
dissipates without taking effect. For example, if you are
concentrating on the web spell and ready magic missile,
your web spell ends, and if you take damage before
you release magic missile with your reaction, your
concentration might be broken."

This means that casters are effectively shut down by beholder. They will have to rely on "mundane" equipment to survive and/or do damage.

Beholders is intelligent not to blink true but its not doing much to hurt PCs without minions.

I've always kinda played them the antimagic is on when it's convenient for the beholder and off when it's not.

 

[James Gasik]

Beholders can rotate in mid-air if they so choose, allowing them to fire all their secondary eye rays at targets in front of them, without employing their main eye at all.

 

[Zardnaar]

Beholders can rotate in mid-air if they so choose, allowing them to fire all their secondary eye rays at targets in front of them, without employing their main eye at all.

Yeah but you can ready actions for that.

 

[James Gasik]

Yeah but you can ready actions for that.

Oh I wasn't saying you couldn't, but just that a Beholder need not blink their eye to accomplish this goal. They can simply turn about (which is weird in a game that doesn't have facing, mind, lol).

Most Beholders carefully use their disintegrate eyes to carve out murder holes and arrow slits in their lairs so they can employ their eye rays from unexpected directions to catch the party off guard, and maximize their maneuverability. Got to put that 17 Intelligence to work, you know!

 

[Zardnaar]

Oh I wasn't saying you couldn't, but just that a Beholder need not blink their eye to accomplish this goal. They can simply turn about (which is weird in a game that doesn't have facing, mind, lol).

Most Beholders carefully use their disintegrate eyes to carve out murder holes and arrow slits in their lairs so they can employ their eye rays from unexpected directions to catch the party off guard, and maximize their maneuverability. Got to put that 17 Intelligence to work, you know!

Yeah the old 2E Eye Tyrant covered beholder tactics.

 

[Stormonu]

The Gazebo of Vecna?