[3.5] Beholder Makeover Question

[Jergmo]

From the article Design & Development: Monster Makeover: The Beholder:

Inflict Moderate Wounds: This eye ray illustrates a subtle but important issue with the beholder. It either kills you outright, or zaps a 10th-ish level character for about 15 points of damage. That's simply not very interesting. It might be cool for a beholder to heal undead at range, but it seems a little pointless to saddle an eye ray with a spell of questionable flavor and utility. Let's replace this ray with one that inflicts 6d6 damage, no saving throw. That gives the beholder a useful, generic damaging blast. Let's make this a ray ability called blast ray, and the beholder can choose the ray's energy type.

Cool beans, and all. But this raises a question - it suggests the beholder can choose the energy type its blast ray utilizes. But should it be presumed that this includes Positive and Negative energy, considering this is replacing an ability that produces Negative energy?

[Tiki Snakes]

Beholder makover, you say? Hmmm.

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Er, anyway. I'd say that it's really whatever you prefer. I'd vote for One Energy-Type per beholder, or Random, personally. Probably the latter, for amusement.

Though it seems clear the original suggestion is implying it can choose from any energy-type.

[pffh]

Beholder makover, you say? Hmmm.

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What?..... Why?..... WHERE!?

[Tiki Snakes]

What?..... Why?..... WHERE!?

http://www.mikerayhawk.com/beholder.htm explains....well, goes some way to explaining, anyway.

It's a Swimsuit Edition Beholder, topping up his Tan. True story.