Beholder 5e

Introduction

Beholders are one of the most iconic and fearsome creatures in the Dungeons & Dragons universe.

Imagine stumbling into the depths of an ancient dungeon, where the shadows cling to the corners like whispered secrets. Here, in this eerie silence, your torchlight catches on something extraordinary—a creature as enigmatic as the stars and as terrifying as your darkest nightmare.

This is no ordinary foe but a beholder, the epitome of otherworldly intelligence and fearsome power in the Dungeons & Dragons universe.

What secrets does this floating terror hold? Let's unfurl the scrolls of lore and delve into the mind-bending existence of these iconic beings.

Beholder Lore

Origins

Mystery shrouds the exact origins of Beholders, their bizarre physiology and dream-based reproduction suggesting an otherworldly or extraplanar origin.

Many believe that Beholders originated in the Far Realm, a plane of existence marked by its incomprehensible and alien nature, which likely shaped their aberrant physiology and abilities, as well as their unique reproduction process.

Beliefs and Religion

Beholders generally view themselves as the epitome of perfection, obsessed with their own superiority. Therefore, believing that all other creatures are inferior to them. They do not typically worship gods or have any religious beliefs. However, instances exist where Beholders venerate the Great Mother, an enigmatic entity believed by some to be the progenitor of all Beholders. Worship of the Great Mother is rare, but Beholders that follow her may receive additional powers or abilities.

Inhuman Intellect

Beholders are not just creatures of horrific appearance and devastating powers; they are beings of incomprehensible intellect. Think of the smartest person you know, someone who always has a plan, a backup plan, and a backup for the backup plan—now imagine that intellect magnified a hundredfold.

This is the mental prowess of a beholder. Their minds are fortresses, brimming with strategies and contingencies. Much like a grandmaster in chess, beholders anticipate moves far beyond the current play, their strategies unfolding with relentless precision and adaptability.

However, unlike human opponents, their planning isn't confined by human limitations or emotions, making them nearly unfathomable to us mere mortals.

Their ability to perceive every angle simultaneously isn't just a physical trait but a mental one, allowing them to concoct plans with a perspective that sees beyond the mere physical dimensions.

If you've ever tried to plan a surprise party for someone who always figures out the surprise, you know the frustration. Now, imagine trying to surprise a being that considers all potential outcomes as soon as it detects the first whisper of your plan.

Despotic Perspective

Now, let's explore the beholder's perspective—its worldview. A beholder does not simply see itself as a creature among many. No, in its eyes, it is the axis on which the world spins, a perfect creature above all others. This isn’t just arrogance; it's an ingrained belief that they are the pinnacle of evolutionary success.

To a beholder, all other creatures are either tools to be used or threats to be neutralized.

Imagine the most self-centered person you’ve ever met—now amplify that self-obsession to the degree where nothing else is valuable unless it serves their purpose. This is how a beholder views the world. It always calculates its interactions, forms temporary alliances, and displays kindness—a rare commodity—only if it furthers its own goals.

In the dance of power, a beholder doesn't just lead; it dictates every step, turn, and pause, expecting all to follow or fall aside.

A beholder's confidence is absolute, and its plans are expansive.

If a prideful leader might hesitate before an army, a beholder considers even the mightiest force merely an obstacle to outwit or overcome.

Their despotic rule within their domains is absolute, and their paranoia—though extreme—serves them well, keeping them ever vigilant against the constant machinations of real or imagined enemies.

Beholder Stats

Stepping into the realm of beholder stats is like deciphering an ancient arcane scroll—every number and feature reveals deeper secrets about these formidable foes. Beholders possess a variety of magical eye rays, each capable of unleashing horrors that range from mind control to outright obliteration.

Imagine having a Swiss army knife, but instead of tools, each fold-out is a different spell of destruction or manipulation—this is the arsenal of a beholder.

Their central eye emits an antimagic cone, a nullifying gaze that can extinguish the mightiest spells, rendering even the most powerful wizards as harmless as a library mouse.

This isn’t just a defensive trait; it’s a strategic asset that allows them to control the battlefield, making spellcasters rethink their usefulness and often their life choices.

Famous Beholders

There have been several famous or notable Beholders throughout the history of D&D. Some of these famous Beholders include:

• Xanathar: Xanathar is a crime lord and the leader of the Xanathar Thieves' Guild in the city of Waterdeep. Xanathar is not just one Beholder, but rather the Guild Master title. The title of Xanathar is passed down from one Beholder to another who takes control of the guild. Xanathar is known for its extensive network of spies and informants and its ruthless pursuit of power and influence within Waterdeep.
• Karazikar: Karazikar is a Beholder who dwells in the Underdark and is featured in the adventure "Out of the Abyss" (2015), which takes place in the Forgotten Realms setting. Karazikar is the ruler of a domain known as the Wormwrithings, where it commands a group of mind-controlled minions.

Greetings adventurers!

It is I, Xanathar, the mighty beholder and the proud owner of the Xanathar's Guide to Everything. As you may know, my guide is an indispensable tool for any Dungeon Master or player looking to expand their knowledge of the Dungeons and Dragons world.

Within its pages, you will find a wealth of information on character creation, spells, and rules for gameplay. But that's not all! My guide also includes new subclasses, magic items, and even entire adventures that will challenge even the most experienced adventurers.

Beholder Behavior and Ecology

Beholder's Habitat

Beholders choose to reside in locations that complement their strategic and paranoid nature. They favor dark, secluded lairs—often deep within the Underdark or in forgotten ancient ruins.

These lairs are fortified not just with physical traps. The very layout designed to benefit from their flying capability and eye rays.

For a beholder, its lair is both a sanctuary and a stronghold. The narrow corridors and high ceilings aren't just architectural choices; they are battle strategies.
They craft each passage and room to maximize their advantages in combat. Turning a simple corridor into a deadly gauntlet for any intruder.

Diet

Beholders aren’t just your typical carnivores; they are opportunistic predators with a taste for variety. They consume anything that provides sustenance, from the unlucky adventurer to the denizens of the dark.

This dietary flexibility further emphasizes their adaptability and survival instincts, crucial traits for the solitary rulers of their dark domains.

Beholder Reproduction

Perhaps the most bizarre aspect of a beholder’s existence is its method of reproduction, known as 'dream budding'. Imagine if every dream you had could manifest in reality. For beholders, dreams can spawn new beholders—literal nightmares come to life. In this process, a Beholder dreams of another Beholder. As a result, a smaller, identical Beholder "bud" forms on the original creature.

This bud eventually detaches and grows into a fully formed Beholder.

This process reflects their alien nature and adds a layer of unpredictability to their already enigmatic existence.

This method of reproduction can result in a wide variety of Beholder forms and abilities. The new Beholder is often a reflection of the parent Beholder's dreams and fears.

Social Behavior

Beholders are highly intelligent but are also extremely xenophobic and paranoid. However, they rarely form relationships with other creatures and usually only interact with others to manipulate or control them.

Beholders are especially distrustful of their own kind, as they view other Beholders as potential rivals or threats.

Although they may occasionally form alliances with other creatures, they do so only if it serves their immediate interests, and such alliances are typically short-lived.

Minions and Thralls

Although they are solitary creatures, Beholders may use their charm or other mind-affecting rays to dominate and control other creatures to serve as their minions or thralls. These minions can be anything from lesser monsters to powerful humanoids, depending on the Beholder's needs and whims. These minions are often used as a buffer between the Beholder and any potential threats or intruders. Using its minions to scout and defend its lair.

Enemies and Threats

Due to their powerful abilities and paranoid nature, Beholders have many potential enemies. Adventurers, rival Beholders, powerful Underdark denizens like the drow, mind flayers, and other subterranean creatures may all pose a threat to a Beholder. Their powerful anti-magic cone and deadly eye rays make them formidable opponents for any who dare to challenge them.

A beholder believes it is superior to all other entities. Unintelligent foes are regarded as food or pets. An intelligent creature is seen as food or a potential minion. A beholder’s true rivals are other beholders, for only another beholder has the intellect, power, and magic to threaten another of its kind.

Volo's Guide to Monsters- D&D Beyond

Beholder Combat Strategies

Beholders are not just creatures of nightmare fuel in appearance. Their combat strategies also reflect a cunning and tactical mind that can challenge the most seasoned adventurers.

Each encounter with a beholder is like a deadly chess game, where each move could be your last.

Lair and Terrain Advantage

Imagine walking into a spider’s web, where every strand is precisely placed to benefit its creator. That's a beholder's lair. These creatures meticulously design their hideouts to maximize their combat effectiveness.

The lairs are labyrinths of narrow tunnels and expansive chambers, all crafted to exploit their aerial abilities and the sweeping range of their deadly eye rays.

Adventurers must navigate this treacherous terrain, where the beholder is always several moves ahead.

Anti-Magic Cone

In the beholder’s arsenal, the anti-magic cone is its trump card. This ability allows the beholder to create a zone where magic ceases to exist.

For adventurers reliant on spells or magical items, this is akin to having their weapons turned to dust in the midst of battle.

The strategic use of this cone can dismantle an entire party's strategy, forcing them into desperate, often fatal, improvisations.

Prioritizing Targets

With its superior intelligence, a beholder quickly assesses which members of a party pose the greatest threat. Thus, focuses its formidable array of eye rays on neutralizing these individuals first.

Spellcasters might find themselves paralyzed or asleep before they can cast a single spell.

While warriors might be turned to stone or disintegrated before their blades can strike.

Utilizing Eye Rays

The beholder's eye rays are tools of precision and devastation. Each stalk can unleash a different catastrophic effect, chosen to counter the specific capabilities of its foes. The beholder’s ability to fire multiple (3) rays simultaneously makes it capable of taking on several adversaries at once. Quickly turning the tide of battle in a blink

Keeping Distance

Despite their fearsome arsenal, beholders are aware of their vulnerability in close combat. They use their flight to stay out of reach, often positioning themselves where they can use the full range of their eye rays while minimizing the risk to themselves.

They might use their telekinetic ray to manipulate the environment or create barriers, further enhancing their defensive strategies.

Minions and Thralls

No beholder goes to battle alone if it can help it. Their lairs are often populated with minions and thralls, charmed or coerced into service. These unfortunate souls are used as the first line of defense, wearing down intruders before they can even reach the beholder.

This use of cannon fodder allows the beholder to conserve its strength for the most dangerous foes.

Adaptability

Beholders are intelligent enough to adapt their tactics based on the actions of their enemies. If a particular strategy isn't working, they may switch to a different approach. By focusing on different targets, using different eye rays, or repositioning themselves to gain an advantage.

Escape and Regroup

If a Beholder finds itself outmatched or in danger, it may use its intelligence and cunning to escape and regroup. They might employ their eye rays or lair features to create obstacles or distractions. Thus, allowing them to flee and plan their next move. Beholders are not above retreating when necessary and may return later with a new strategy or additional minions to assist them.

Variants and Subtypes

Even within the terrifying category of beholders, there are variants that bring unique horrors to the table. Each subtype has adaptations that make it even more deadly and challenging to confront.

• Death Tyrant: The Death Tyrant is an undead beholder that has embraced the power of necromancy. This fearsome creature possesses the same eye rays as a standard beholder, along with additional necrotic abilities that can drain the life force of its enemies.
• Spectator: The Spectator is a lesser beholder-like creature often summoned to guard specific locations or treasures. While not as powerful as a true beholder. Spectators are still formidable opponents, capable of using a limited number of eye rays and resisting many forms of attack.
• Gauth: The Gauth is another lesser beholder-like creature, typically found in service to more powerful beholders. Gauths have fewer eye rays than a standard beholder but can absorb magical energy from their environment, using it to fuel their own abilities.

Encountering a Beholder

Encountering a beholder is not just a fight; it's an experience that can define an entire campaign.

These creatures are not mere beasts to be slain—each meeting is a story, a clash of wills, and a test of survival.

Creating Suspense

The journey to the beholder's lair should be tense and foreboding. Imagine traversing darker and more twisted paths, where the walls themselves might watch you with unseen eyes.

Dropping hints about the beholder’s influence, such as petrified adventurers or warped landscapes, builds anticipation and dread.

This buildup not only sets the stage. It also immerses players in a world where their opponent is not just physically but psychologically imposing.

Preparing for Combat

Advice to adventurers: do not enter a beholder’s lair unprepared. This means beyond stocking up on potions and sharpening swords. Think strategies, backup plans, and the potential need for a swift retreat.

Players should be aware that standard tactics might not suffice, and flexibility could be their greatest asset.

Tips for Dungeon Masters

Running a beholder encounter requires more than just tactical knowledge; it demands creativity and an understanding of dramatic tension.

Beholder Tactics

When running a beholder encounter, consider the creature's intellect and paranoia. A beholder will likely have contingency plans and escape routes in place, using its minions and lair to its advantage.

Remember to utilize the beholder's full range of abilities, including its anti-magic cone and eye rays, to challenge the players.

Integrating into Campaigns

Beholders can be powerful adversaries or intriguing plot devices in your campaign. They can serve as the mastermind behind a nefarious plot, a dangerous obstacle guarding a powerful artifact. Perhaps even an unlikely ally if the players can find a way to manipulate its paranoia.

Creating Memorable Encounters

To create a memorable beholder encounter, consider the creature's unique abilities. Imagine how they can be used to surprise and challenge the players. Design the environment to play to the beholder's strengths. Now, with plenty of opportunities for ambush and the use of its eye rays.

Use the Environment

Leverage the lair’s design to benefit the beholder. Narrow corridors, vertical shafts, and rooms with multiple levels can all play to the beholder’s ability to fly. Now, use ranged attacks while complicating the players’ ability to engage directly.

Play Up the Beholder’s Intelligence

A beholder isn’t just a monster waiting at the end of a dungeon.

It’s a schemer and a plotter.

Have it taunt the players, negotiate with them, or try to turn them against each other. Its actions should reflect its superior intellect and manipulative nature.

Dynamic Combat

Keep the combat with a beholder dynamic.

Change up its tactics as the fight progresses; use its minions creatively, and allow the beholder to retreat and regroup if needed.

This not only makes the fight more challenging but also more memorable.

Each beholder’s eye rays can cause different effects, which can drastically alter the battlefield.

One moment, characters might be fighting off minions. The next, they’re struggling against a charm ray or dodging a deadly disintegration beam.

The unpredictability adds excitement and peril to the encounter.

Beholder Encounter Ideas

Encountering a beholder can be a pivotal moment in any D&D campaign, offering not just a battle, but a deep, engaging story that players will remember for years to come.

As you design these encounters, consider not only the immediate challenge but also the lasting impact such a meeting might have on your campaign’s world and its characters.

A Disrupted Trade Route

The party is hired to investigate the sudden disappearance of traders and caravans along a critical trade route. As they explore the area, they discover a cave system that leads to the Beholder's lair. The Beholder has been using its charm and telekinetic rays to capture traders and their goods. Amassing a collection of valuable items and creating a network of enthralled minions. The party must navigate the cave system filled with traps, charmed minions, and other hazards to confront the Beholder and restore the trade route.

The Fragmented Artifact

An ancient and powerful artifact has been shattered into several pieces. Now, the party must retrieve them to prevent the artifact from falling into the wrong hands. One of the pieces is held by a Beholder who covets the artifact's power. The party must discover the location of the Beholder's lair and negotiate or fight their way through a series of challenges. Including illusions, puzzles, and minion-filled chambers, to retrieve the artifact fragment.

The Beholder's Frenemy

The party is approached by a rival Beholder who seeks their help in taking down the main antagonist Beholder. This rival shares valuable information about the enemy Beholder's lair and defenses but has its own ulterior motives. The party must navigate the dangerous web of Beholder politics and betrayal while dealing with the challenges and threats posed by the enemy Beholder.

The Stolen Spellbook

A powerful wizard's spellbook has been stolen by the Beholder, who seeks to expand its knowledge and magical abilities. The party must track down the Beholder's lair. Which is located in a magically-shifting maze filled with magical traps, puzzles, and summoned creatures. The party must retrieve the spellbook while dealing with the ever-changing maze. While the Beholder's attempts to use the stolen spells against them.

The Beholder's Art Gallery

The Beholder has become obsessed with collecting unique and powerful works of art, including magical items and petrified creatures. The party must infiltrate the Beholder's lair. Which has been transformed into a twisted art gallery, filled with trapped and cursed exhibits. The party must navigate the gallery, dealing with animated statues, cursed paintings, and the Beholder's minions. All while avoiding the Beholder's petrification ray, which it uses to add new "exhibits" to its collection.

These encounter ideas should provide an engaging and unique experience for your party as they confront the Beholder antagonist. Each encounter can be further customized and expanded upon to fit your specific adventure and campaign setting.

Conclusion

In the depths of the most shadowy dungeons and hidden within the intricate labyrinths of the Underdark, the Beholder stands as one of the most formidable and iconic entities in the Dungeons & Dragons universe.

This guide has taken you through the eerie corridors of the Beholder’s existence, shedding light on its complex nature and the terror it brings into any campaign. As we conclude, let's recap what you’ve learned and can now harness in your adventures:

• Mysterious Origins: Discover the enigmatic origins of Beholders, stemming from the bizarre and distant Far Realm.
• Inhuman Intellect: Understand how a Beholder's superior intelligence allows it to outmaneuver and outthink its adversaries with devastating precision.
• Despotic Perspective: Explore the unique worldview of Beholders, where their supreme egotism dictates their interactions and strategies.
• Diverse Abilities: Learn about the range of deadly eye rays a Beholder employs, from disintegration rays to mind-controlling charms, making each encounter uniquely perilous.
• Tactical Combat: Gain insights into the strategic use of a Beholder’s abilities in combat to dominate and dismantle opponents effectively.
• Beholder Ecology: Delve into the life of a Beholder, from its solitary lair setups to its interactions with minions and other dungeon denizens.
• Story Integration: Gather tips on how to weave Beholders into your campaigns, creating memorable encounters that enhance the narrative depth and challenge of your games.

By embracing the complexity and versatility of the Beholder, Dungeon Masters can craft thrilling encounters that test the mettle of their adventurers. Remember, in the world of D&D, understanding your enemy is as crucial as outfighting them.

Use this guide to bring the awe and fear that only a Beholder can inspire into your next session.

Happy adventuring!

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Looking to add more excitement and challenge to your Dungeons & Dragons games? Look no further than the Dungeons and Dragons Monster Manual 5e!

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