Beholder's Eye Ray - how much do you choose?

[Specter]

From the Monster Manual:

"Eye Ray: The beholder shoots three of the following magical eye rays at random (reroll duplicates), choosing one to three targets it can see within 120 feet of it"

So let's assume Rogue, Barbarian and Wizard are facing the beholder. Which of the two things happen:

a) The beholder chooses the targets, and then random rays are assigned to each of them;
or
b) The beholder randomizes the rays, and then chooses what target will get each beam (targeting STR for the rogue, WIS for the Barbarian and CON for the Wizard, for example?

[iTreeby]

From the Monster Manual:

"Eye Ray: The beholder shoots three of the following magical eye rays at random (reroll duplicates), choosing one to three targets it can see within 120 feet of it"

So let's assume Rogue, Barbarian and Wizard are facing the beholder. Which of the two things happen:

a) The beholder chooses the targets, and then random rays are assigned to each of them;
or
b) The beholder randomizes the rays, and then chooses what target will get each beam (targeting STR for the rogue, WIS for the Barbarian and CON for the Wizard, for example?
I'd say b) because the beholder isn't really suprised about it, it just overthinks its tactics so it seems random

[DMThac0]

I recently used a Spectator, and I had a simple double roll: 1d6 to choose the player and 1d4 to choose the ray. This kept it random on the rays at first, however as the fight settled in, I'd have one ray on the 'threat' and the other rays as control.

They are intelligent creatures, though nightmarish ones, so you can either go with chaotic intelligence (randomness before tactics) or you can go with sadistic intelligence (tactics before randomness). Depends on the feel you want the monster to have.

[Erys]

From the Monster Manual:

"Eye Ray: The beholder shoots three of the following magical eye rays at random (reroll duplicates), choosing one to three targets it can see within 120 feet of it"

So let's assume Rogue, Barbarian and Wizard are facing the beholder. Which of the two things happen:

a) The beholder chooses the targets, and then random rays are assigned to each of them;
or
b) The beholder randomizes the rays, and then chooses what target will get each beam (targeting STR for the rogue, WIS for the Barbarian and CON for the Wizard, for example?

I always pick B.

[JoeJ]

I haven't used a beholder yet, but I think I would roll for the rays and then assign them as tactically as possible. Beholders are highly intelligent creatures, so I'd say that the randomness just reflects a recharge time.

[SociopathFriend]

My DMs chose the rays when we last faced a Beholder- luckily we responded by splitting the party in half to evade the big eye followed by whatever side it wasn't looking at nuking the crap out of it with everything we had. Luckily we had cannon fodder soldiers with us depending on our Faction that took some of the nastier ones.

[Unoriginal]

Beholders were described as demigod-tier tacticians by Mearls, and the books do say they are incredible at that kind of thinking.

I would say it depends how Serious(TM) the Beholder has gotten.

If it thinks the PCs are little to no threat, it can "do stuff and see what happens". The Beholder knows that all its eye rays are dangerous, it's just a question of degrees and details in the end result, so it could pull a "Surprise me, me!" and then be annoyed if the result is too expected.

If the PC did anything that pissed off the Bejolder or made rhem threatening, you can bet they'll select which of their three random eye rays goes on whom.


A point of note: if the Beholder get the Telekynesis ray, it is EXTREMELY likely it's going to use the ray to grab a weapon or something heavy and throw it at whoever is in its Anti Magic Cone. A Sorcerer smashed by a statue or a treasure chest is less of a threat than a non-smashed Sorcerer.

[erok0809]

I've always run it as A, but I don't think I ever even thought about B as an option to use. I always figured the beholder just picked a target, rolled for its ray, picked a new target if necessary, and so on. I might even roll for a target if the beholder doesn't have any target preference yet. I think running it randomly is fun, but I like that style. I might have to try B if the beholder is being more serious and truly tactical, like others have said already.

[carrdrivesyou]

Every Beholder I have run has a certain way about using their rays (I roll a d4 to pick which one to use). They are devilishly smart and cunning after all, so why not put that to good use?

Option 1:
Pinpoint Precision. The Beholder observes how each PC fights and picks the ray that it thinks will be the most effective against that type of person. I.e. charm the fighter, disintegrate the cleric, keep the AMF on the wizard, etc.

Option 2:
Total chaos. Rays start shooting every direction and every which way. I just roll at random and whoever gets whatever.

Option 3:
Focused power. The Beholder estimates which PC is the greatest threat and brings all of their impressive arsenal to bear on the unlucky target. Once it is down, pick a new target.

Option 4:
With Friends Like These. Put that Charm/Dominate Person and winning INT to work. After all, a beholder needs servants right?

[WOTC_GM]

I run beholders all the time, and i've only ever run them as per A, and have never even considered B.

I would always declare the target, then roll to see which eye ray it used, and just assumed that the beholder could never use the same eye ray twice in a turn. However after considering option B, that might be the better choice in the future, even if it's a lot more deadly for my players.

[Ganymede]

Volo's says this about a beholder's eye rays.

"As described in the Monster Manual, a beholder's use of its eye rays in combat is random, governed by die rolls instead of by choice. This rule is an abstraction, designed to keep the beholder's opponents unsure of what rays will be coming next (and, not incidentally, to prevent the monster from using its most lethal eye rays at every opportunity). The rule also makes the creature easier to run."

That gives us three priorities: keeping the beholder unpredictable, preventing the beholder from being too strong, and keeping the beholder easy to run.

The most relevant priority is the first, that the random rays are meant to prevent the PCs from predicting which rays will come next. Allowing the beholder to randomly determine its eyes rays and then choose its targets freely aligns with this priority without disrupting any of the others.

[Davrix]

Volo's says this about a beholder's eye rays.

"As described in the Monster Manual, a beholder's use of its eye rays in combat is random, governed by die rolls instead of by choice. This rule is an abstraction, designed to keep the beholder's opponents unsure of what rays will be coming next (and, not incidentally, to prevent the monster from using its most lethal eye rays at every opportunity). The rule also makes the creature easier to run."

That gives us three priorities: keeping the beholder unpredictable, preventing the beholder from being too strong, and keeping the beholder easy to run.

The most relevant priority is the first, that the random rays are meant to prevent the PCs from predicting which rays will come next. Allowing the beholder to randomly determine its eyes rays and then choose its targets freely aligns with this priority without disrupting any of the others.


I stick to this logic for most of the fights when I run one, though depending on how much time the Beholder had to prepare vs how much the party decided to plan dictates what I do as the fight goes on as i see the beholder as the book stats, choosing to be random to keep its opponent off guard until it has a tactical plan and then will focus the beams for it to win. So in essence the longer the fight goes on, the more dangerous it becomes for the party.