Beholder-based encounters

[yougi]

(I start too many threads)

So I'm preparing my first encounter based on a Beholder villain. However, I'm relying on the playground's expertise to give me some hints of what to surround my Beholder with to make the encounter more than a "attack the Beholder; 10 saving throws; attack the Beholder; 10 saving throws".

I'm looking for an EL14 encounter, so EL10 or 11 for whatever to add to the Beholder.

My ideas so far are dire animals, which can fight in the Beholder's AMC and serve as "tanks", or maybe Umber Hulks to cause even more confusion (literally).

Also, how do you keep the Beholder alive when the team's Barbarian (who will have fly on in the first round) dishes out about 35dmg per attack, and 3 attacks per round (2 of which will most likely hit every round). If you focus the AMC on them to cancel the flying ability, you can't really attack them with the rays... I have problems with the strategy behind a Beholder's abilities.

[The Glyphstone]

Beholders benefit huge from environmental changes, and they have all the tools to use them. If you're just going to have them fight it on a flat plain, you're limited in options, but any sort of interior/enclosed area means plenty of time to set up properly. Dig tunnels and loops, vertical passages that only flying enemies can move through. Play ping-pong by hovering at the top of a shaft, blasting rays down, then swinging the AMC to cover anyone who magically flies up to fight it...Falling damage ho!

Earth Elementals or Xorns work well with this, using Earth Glide to attack without leaving usable tunnels behind. The only tunnels are the ones the Beholder made, and wants its enemies to be using.

[Gnomish Wanderer]

Give it 300hp. That's roughly 5 rounds of counterfire, assuming it gets barbarian'd every round.

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

Its central eye is a 150-foot cone, so it's 150-ft. wide at the end. It can point it a different direction whenever it moves. Of course it should start with the cone completely engulfing the entire area through which any opponents could approach it. I'd make it start up high, 150 ft. from the floor, in a recess in the ceiling with the cone pointed directly down. Note that it can use Disintegrate at will and thus it could create tunnels in solid rock one 10-ft. cube at a time. So it has a recess in the ceiling with paths going in at least two different directions, each forking multiple times and leading to multiple different openings into the room.

The Beholder has flyby attack, and it can take two 20-ft. move actions each round. That means it can fire eye rays, move and redirect its antimagic cone, fire eye rays a second time, move and redirect the cone again, fire eye rays a third time, move and redirect the cone yet again, and then fire eye rays a fourth time. A given eye ray can only be fired once per round, but it should be able to fire all of its eye rays each round regardless of opponents' positioning.

Its room can include manually-activated traps, such as a thin section of floor that can be disintegrated out from under opponents, or a reservoir of acid or lava or green slime (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/dungeons.htm#slimesMoldsAndFungi) or just a pile of big rocks in the ceiling that it can disintegrate the bottom out of to dump the contents onto intruders. It doesn't ever have to walk, so make the floor of the room extremely hazardous, such as lava or acid or yellow mold (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/dungeons.htm#slimesMoldsAndFungi). You could make the room flooded with murky water that's only a few feet deep, but include several deep pits that are impossible to detect, with a Monstrous Crab (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/fw/20040221a) lurking in each one ready to grab and devour anyone who stumbles in. Don't forget about drowning rules. Definitely fill its ceiling tunnels with yellow mold.

Get the layout of the room figured out, consider the Beholder's tactics, and then consider what adventurers could do to counter and defeat it, then adjust its tactics/environment to compensate. Repeat until it's probably not going to be outsmarted, because it's most certainly outsmarted countless adventurers in the past and prepared for every trick you can think of.

[Keld Denar]

Tomb Taint your beholder (feat in Libris Mortis). Beholders have an Inflict Critical ray he can turn on himself for quick healing, especially if it can retreat to a safe spot if heavily wounded.

Remember that unless folks have perfect fly, they can't charge upwards while flying. If the beholder is high enough, he can't be reached, or at least can't be full attacked. If anyone does get close to him, he can AM eye them and ground them so they have to spend another turn flying up to attack him, assuming the barb doesn't have Ex flight. This gets even more fun if you have some sort of underdarky bottomless hole he can float over. Put in a fair number of pillars or stalagmights that the party can seek cover behind, but that also block charge lanes. Remember, cover is only a disintegrate ray away from not being cover.

[yougi]

Tomb Taint your beholder (feat in Libris Mortis). Beholders have an Inflict Critical ray he can turn on himself for quick healing, especially if it can retreat to a safe spot if heavily wounded.

That would be a great investment.


Remember, cover is only a disintegrate ray away from not being cover.

Spoken like a true philosopher. I can see that on a mug somewhere.:smallbiggrin:



The Beholder has flyby attack, and it can take two 20-ft. move actions each round. That means it can fire eye rays, move and redirect its antimagic cone, fire eye rays a second time, move and redirect the cone again, fire eye rays a third time, move and redirect the cone yet again, and then fire eye rays a fourth time. A given eye ray can only be fired once per round, but it should be able to fire all of its eye rays each round regardless of opponents' positioning.


I'm not sure how that would work: you say it can move twice, but make it move 4 times in your example. Plus, is redirecting its AMC a free action?


Give it 300hp. That's roughly 5 rounds of counterfire, assuming it gets barbarian'd every round.

That would indeed make him tougher!


Play ping-pong by hovering at the top of a shaft, blasting rays down, then swinging the AMC to cover anyone who magically flies up to fight it...Falling damage ho!

That's an awesome idea! Thanks! :)

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

I'm not sure how that would work: you say it can move twice, but make it move 4 times in your example. Plus, is redirecting its AMC a free action?

In my example, he moves three times. Plus it doesn't specify what type of action it takes to redirect the antimagic cone, just whether it's open or closed.

He can spend a single move action to move part of his speed, fire an eye ray, and move part of his speed again, thus allowing him to redirect the antimagic cone before two shots with a single move. His second move can come either before or after that one.

I actually didn't consider that he can use flyby attack with each move, so he gets five chances to shoot (before, between, and after moving, and once during each move) and four chances to redirect the antimagic cone (twice per move, as each is split into two separate movements).

[The Glyphstone]

There's also the beholder's ability to fire all of its eye rays at a target that's directly above it. This can be used 'normally' by tunnels that lead to hidden pit traps or narrow bridges to let the monster get 'under' targets, but it also leads to a somewhat cheesy interpretation where the beholder flips its body so that 'up' is whatever direction it wants, such as down the tunnel or even directly below it once inverted.

[Treblain]

You could make the room flooded with murky water that's only a few feet deep, but include several deep pits that are impossible to detect, with a Monstrous Crab (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/fw/20040221a) lurking in each one ready to grab and devour anyone who stumbles in.

Nonsense! That crab is only CR 3, it couldn't be a threat. :smallbiggrin:

[The Glyphstone]

Nonsense! That crab is only CR 3, it couldn't be a threat. :smallbiggrin:

Run the numbers again when we give it an extra 28 HD.:smallcool:

[Valdis]

Throw a Bronze Serpent (http://gaming.corellonshand.com/monsters/BronzeSerpent.html)in there with the Beholder.... that will keep the Barbarian busy :smallsmile: (and the healer)

[Elvenoutrider]

Beholders are some of the few creatures that are at their deadliest when they are surrounded.

One of my favorites:

Beholder has a ring of invisibility. He is sitting right in the center of a large circular treasure room floating atop above a statue/throne/ pile of trapped gold. (needs to be something to grab the player's attention and have them not be worried about the beholder).

Bonus points if one of the beholder's dominated minions was just slain in the previous room after spouting off some evil plan to the pcs.

Now on the edges of the room are a number of statues, each of them appears to be a class similar to the pcs - each holds a magic item (find out what your players want most)

Each of these items is cursed but hopefully our players wont try to identify them. This leaves each of your players standing around the beholder holding a debilitating cursed item when it appears... and surrounds itself with a wall of fire preventing itself from being charged.

For my barbarian he found a weapon that caused him to attack indiscriminately if he couldn't find an enemy - one charm spell later he is attacking his friends

- now it is important to remember that beholders are smart - contnigencies in contingencies. Keep in mind - erase part of ceiling and run is always an option and any lair should keep this in mind.

For mine the creature's plans were:

1) disintigrate floor, pc falls into ooze
2) disintigrate wall - let in horrible monster
3) turn invisible (contingent illusion goes off showing beholder running through new hole in ceiling) (beholder heals itself while barbarian starts murdering allies)
4) all else fails? contingent teleport spell

[The Glyphstone]

Throw a Bronze Serpent (http://gaming.corellonshand.com/monsters/BronzeSerpent.html)in there with the Beholder.... that will keep the Barbarian busy :smallsmile: (and the healer)

I'd rather have 2 Elder Xorn, or one Elder Earth Elemental. The Elder Earth Elemental in particular would be a far better 'boss-tank'.

[Tvtyrant]

My Beholder's always kept zoos, which entertained them and provided them nourishment in lean times. A pit of snakes or scorpions with greased downwards ramped tunnels dropping into it that the Beholder uses as a moat for instance. Other critters in rooms that they are kept in by chains, and which the Beholder can dominate and then unchain in an emergency.

[Deox]

If one has access to the Book of Challenges (albeit 3.0), there is a very interesting trap called a "Beholder Dome".

Essentially, each trapped doorway emulates an eye from the creature when opened.

Also, as characters move about the room, the floor shifts with their weight causing balance checks. Should someone fail and slide down, well, use your imagination.

Throw in an actual beholder and let the fun times commence.