How to Outsmart a Beholder: A Comprehensive Guide

Outsmarting a beholder isn’t about brute force; it’s about strategic thinking, exploiting their weaknesses, and leveraging their inherent paranoia against them. The key is to disrupt their perception, control the battlefield, and hit them where they’re vulnerable, both physically and psychologically.

Understanding Your Enemy: The Beholder’s Mindset

Before even thinking about tactics, you need to understand what makes a beholder tick. They are the embodiment of xenophobia, paranoia, and narcissism. Every beholder believes itself to be the pinnacle of perfection, viewing all other creatures (even other beholders) with contempt. This inflated ego and inherent distrust create significant vulnerabilities that clever adventurers can exploit.

Their primary defense, and often their undoing, is their antimagic cone. While devastatingly effective, it’s a double-edged sword. Understanding its limitations is crucial. Anything inside the cone is suppressed magically, including the beholder’s own magical items.

Tactical Approaches: Exploiting Weaknesses

Here are some tactical approaches to exploit the creature’s vulnerabilities:

• Mobility is Key: Beholders are surprisingly mobile in the air, but they can be outmaneuvered. Use spells and abilities that grant increased speed, teleportation, or flight to stay outside their line of sight and avoid the cone. A beholder caught off guard is a vulnerable beholder.

• Disrupt Their Vision: Beholders rely heavily on their eyes. Spells like Blindness/Deafness, Darkness, and Fog Cloud can severely hamper their ability to attack. Remember, a beholder that can’t see is significantly less dangerous.

• Exploit Weak Saves: While beholders have a strong Will save, their Fortitude and Reflex saves are comparatively weaker. Focus on spells and abilities that target these saves, such as Entangle, Grease, or effects that cause petrification.

• Control the Battlefield: Use terrain to your advantage. Funnel the beholder into tight spaces to limit its maneuverability or create obstacles that break line of sight. Spells like Wall of Stone or Forcecage can be incredibly effective.

• The Power of Distraction: Beholders are easily distracted by perceived threats. Use illusions or minor summons to draw their attention away from your primary attackers. Even a well-placed Mirror Image spell can buy you valuable time.

• Target the Anti-Magic Cone: The antimagic cone is the Beholder’s greatest strength, but it’s also a weakness. Once the cone is active, it suppresses the Beholder’s magic, rendering them unable to use magical items.

Psychological Warfare: Turning Paranoia Against Them

Beyond physical tactics, consider exploiting the beholder’s psychological vulnerabilities:

• Feed Their Ego: Use flattery (however insincere) to manipulate the beholder. Suggest that they are the most intelligent and beautiful creature you’ve ever encountered (even if you’re gagging). This might lower their guard, if only for a moment.

• Create Discord: If there are multiple beholders, sow seeds of distrust between them. Beholders are inherently paranoid and suspicious of each other. A well-placed rumor or illusion could turn them against each other.

• Threaten Their Lair: Beholders are fiercely protective of their lairs and hoards. Threatening to destroy their treasure or defile their lair might provoke them into making rash decisions.

Teamwork is Essential

Facing a beholder alone is almost suicidal. Effective teamwork is crucial. Coordinate your attacks, support each other, and use your individual strengths to compensate for your weaknesses.

• Bards and Paladins: Their auras and support abilities can provide crucial buffs and protection.
• Fighters and Barbarians: Their raw damage output can quickly overwhelm a beholder if it’s distracted or vulnerable.
• Rogues and Rangers: Their stealth and ranged attacks can be used to harass the beholder and exploit openings.
• Wizards and Sorcerers: Their diverse spell list provides a wide range of tactical options, from battlefield control to direct damage.
• Clerics and Druids: Their healing and support spells can keep the party alive, while their offensive spells can exploit the beholder’s weaknesses.

Remember, no two beholders are exactly alike. Adapt your tactics based on the specific situation and the beholder’s unique abilities. With careful planning, strategic execution, and a little bit of luck, you can outsmart even the most formidable beholder.

You can find useful game-related resources at the Games Learning Society: https://www.gameslearningsociety.org/ or at GamesLearningSociety.org.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

1. What level should my party be to fight a beholder?

It depends on the specific beholder and your party’s optimization. A standard beholder is a challenging encounter for a party of four level 10-12 characters. A more powerful variant, such as a death tyrant, might require a level 14+ party.

2. Can a beholder be surprised?

Yes, but it’s difficult. Their all-around vision makes them very hard to sneak up on. However, clever use of illusions or distractions could create an opportunity for a surprise attack.

3. Are beholders immune to any types of damage?

Beholders are generally not immune to any specific damage types, but they might have resistance to certain types depending on their specific abilities or environment.

4. Can a beholder use its eye rays on itself?

A beholder generally cannot target itself with its eye rays. The rays are designed to target other creatures and objects.

5. Does the beholder’s antimagic cone affect its own magical items?

Yes, that’s one of its biggest drawbacks. Any magical item within the cone is suppressed, including its own. Therefore, a beholder using the antimagic cone is often unable to use magical items.

6. What happens if you destroy a beholder’s central eye?

Destroying the central eye typically disables the beholder’s antimagic cone, but it might also have other consequences, depending on the specific beholder and the setting. Some might go berserk, while others might simply become weaker.

7. Can a beholder’s eye rays be reflected with a mirror?

While theoretically possible, it’s not a reliable tactic. Most of the beholder’s abilities target creatures and not objects, and beholders are intelligent enough to quickly realize that they are not affecting their target.

8. How do you deal with a beholder’s disintegration ray?

The best defense against a disintegration ray is avoidance. Stay out of its line of sight or use cover to protect yourself. Spells like Shield or Counterspell can also be effective.

9. Can you dispel magic a beholder’s eye rays?

No, a beholder’s eye rays are not considered spells and cannot be dispelled. They are magical effects, but not spells.

10. Can a beholder be charmed or dominated?

Yes, but their high Will save makes it difficult. Spells like Dominate Monster or Charm Monster could work, but they require a powerful spellcaster and a lucky roll.

11. What is the beholder’s preferred environment?

Beholders typically lair in dark, secluded places, such as underground caves, ancient ruins, or abandoned fortresses. They prefer environments where they can hoard treasure and control their surroundings.

12. Can you restrain a beholder?

Yes, spells that affect Strength or use webs can restrain a Beholder. You can grapple Beholder, and he will not be able to fly away.

13. Does blind work on a beholder?

Yes, blinding a beholder should make them unable to use their rays, as they rely on sight to target their attacks.

14. Are beholders greedy?

Yes, beholders are aggressive, hateful, and greedy. They dismiss all other creatures as lesser beings and are known to hoard magical items and treasures.

15. What creatures work with beholders?

Beholders can employ various creatures as thralls or slaves. These can include cultists, humanoids, hobgoblins, spellcasters, and more, depending on the beholder’s needs and power.