WoTC Rich: Beholder!

[Mentat55]

I realize they are now phrased as solo monsters, but how often were they run otherwise in D&D, they are kind of like dragons you usually expect to fight only one.

Funny story. The only time I battled a beholder in 3E, our party faced off against a hive mother, not less than three or four normal beholders, and then some gauths for good measure, I think. They had these solid stone towers, open in the top so they could fly in and out, with arrow (eye ray) slits cut into them. It was actually really fun, because we were prepared but it still felt quite dangerous.

The best part was when our arcane trickster deliberately let himself get swallowed whole by the hive mother, used ghost form inside, and then whacked her with a slay living (good ole 3.0 Spell Focus and Greater Spell Focus, plus an insane Int).

 

[Lonely Tylenol]

Lets see the mage could of just lost initiative or even got a mirror image off then what multiple rays can chew up a lot of mirror images and lets face it you can alway hit the real caster with really small amounts of luck. Its fairly easy to waste a mage with a beholder, clerics much harder given there good in both save or die saves situation, monks even harder still. But a mage with there fort saves one hit on a touch attack and unless you were specifically prepared for that type of attack you be dead.

I had a wizard in my group who was also one of the "unkillable wizard" types. He always had mirror image going. He made sure he did because it rendered him a very difficult target for all spells and effects that needed a target. Extend spell, persistent spell, quicken spell...

If that wizard had any idea there would be a fight coming up, he was buffed to the gills, and it worked out very well. Any wizard worth his salt over above 7th level should never need to worry about a random SoD spell killing him, and he should usually win initiative anyway.

 

[lukelightning]

I'd like to know what they did about the beholder's anti-magic cone.

 

[Stalker0]

I'd like to know what they did about the beholder's anti-magic cone.

My guess:

Antimagic Aura: 5 squares.
All spell and prayer powers that occur within the aura receive a -4 to attack rolls.

I doubt antimagic will completely shut off magic now, that doesn't seem to be how 4e rolls. Instead it will be a big penalty.

 

[JohnSnow]

I'd like to know what they did about the beholder's anti-magic cone.

Which, I'd like to point out, is why even the most prepared wizard is meat to a beholder. If you weren't zapping the spellcaster, you weren't playing the beholder right.

 

[lukelightning]

Which, I'd like to point out, is why even the most prepared wizard is meat to a beholder. If you weren't zapping the spellcaster, you weren't playing the beholder right.

Why pick on the poor spellcasters? Now all classes are virtually spellcasters. Is there going to be some "anti-martial" aura that nerfs fighters' abilities too? This was one of my gripes about the Book o' Nine Swords things; D&D had all these built-in counters to magic (spell resistance, spell immunities, need for concentration checks, attacks of opportunity, verbal/somatic/material components, etc. — but martial maneuvers seemed to lack most of these weaknesses.

 

[LostInTheMists]

Why pick on the poor spellcasters? Now all classes are virtually spellcasters. Is there going to be some "anti-martial" aura that nerfs fighters' abilities too?

Yep. It's called Armor Class.

 

[Satori5000]

We fought a beholder in one of my home games at the appropriate level (i think the EL might have been higher because there were minions all over the place). It was a somewhere between a challenge and basic encounter. If i remember correctly, this was the 3rd encounter of the day. We had a balanced party plus a cohort sorcerer for artillery/control (empowered fireballs and wall of force). The cone doesnt really work to a beholders advantage because, if i remember correctly, shuts down its own eye rays(I dont have my MM in front of me, so i am not 100% on this). But a tattoo of synisthete works....


I cant wait to fight one in the next edition, they sound so much more powerful.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

oh, maybe this time it is a real fight between beholder and players... all i remember from fights is all characters charging at the beholder, in hope to win iniative and killing it before it gets a single spell out...

 

[Sir Brennen]

Yep. It's called Armor Class.

Or I could see eye-attacks as immediate actions (either as interrupts or reactive attacks, like the dragon's tail slap) against a character closing for melee.

I shudder to think what happens when a beholder reaches "bloodied"...