Unlike dragons and other fearsome foes in the Monster Manual, beholders are original to the world ofDungeons & Dragons. They make for a fearsome encounter, and if one of them makes an appearance in your campaign, it’s almost guaranteed that someone in the party is going to die.
This is a big moment for any new DM, but it’s easy to mess this up. Too many new DMs fall into the trap of running every monster the exact same way, denying their encounters the glory they deserve. Beholders are unique enemies, so here are some tips to run them that way.
7Beholders Hate (Almost) Everyone
Every Beholder’s True Love Is Themselves
The Monster Manual has several unflattering things to say about beholders, but none compare to the lengths it goes to describe their paranoid nature. Beholders are prone to assuming the worst of everyone they meet. Their psychic dreams also enable them to assume the worst of people they haven’t even met, so keep that in mind if you need a reason for a beholder to antagonize your group.
Of course, you’re able to always carve out a few exceptions to this rule. Forgotten Realms, for instance, does this with the beholder crime lord known as the Xanathar. While the Xanathar is just as self-absorbed as a stereotypical beholder, their love for their pet goldfish is a noted deviation from this rule. Just remember that every exception gives beholders more reason to suspect other people, who might threaten their friends.
6Go Wild With The Machinations
Every Ridiculously Circuitous Plan Is On The Table
In addition to their paranoia, most beholders believe themselves to be a perfect being. Their arrogance and love for overly complicated schemes can quickly get into cartoon villain territory, so have fun with it. Play into the worst excesses of a beholder’s mindset by concocting schemes too ridiculous for your other NPCs.
The best part about a beholder’s machinations is their ability to make sense to absolutely nobody but the beholder themselves. This is great if you need to retroactively justify decisions you previously made in your campaign that were madewhen flying by the seat of your pants. Just ensure this level of DM shenanigans doesn’t look too obvious.
5Customize The Eye Rays
The Eye’s The Limit
A beholder’s eye rays are its signature ability. From petrification to reducing your adventurers to dust, there are all sorts of ways for your party to meet a gruesome end. Every beholder can shoot an eye ray up to three times per turn, making each round a wild ride.
However, there’s no reason for you to feel constrained by the eye rays presented in the Monster Manual. If you’re feeling creative, try switching out one or more eye rays for different homebrew effects. To keep things balanced, try using effectsbased on sixth or seventh level spells. We recommend an Irresistible Dance ray to keep your party on their toes.
4Craft Unique Minions
Most Beholders Have At Least A Few
Every boss needs minions, and this goes doubly so for beholders. While beholders loathe and mistrust other creatures, they still make use of henchmen to do their dirty work. There are a few reasons why someone may want to serve a beholder. Maybe these henchmen are cultists worshipping Far Realm entities. Or maybe the beholder simply offers good pay and benefits.
There areendless beholder varieties, so do your research and choose minions that fit your specific monster. The Xanathar, for instance, chose minions from a diverse array of criminals that inhabited the cities of Waterdeep and Skullport. Meanwhile, a death tyrant might have an array of undead minions to serve its needs.
3Action Economy Is King
And Beholders Have Action Economy In Spades
While the beholder is listed as CR 13 in the Monster Manual, it tends to punch above its own weight class in terms of difficulty. It shares this feature in common with the hydra, a CR 8 monster that’s far less complex and has been the cause of many a TPK. What both of these creatures possess is the ability to take several actions per turn.
Each beholder can fire its eye rays three times per turn, and each eye ray has a unique and powerful ability. This is on top of several passive abilities a beholder typically has in effect, such as the antimagic effects of its central eye. If an encounter with a beholder ever seems unfair, you may try subtracting eye rays to make things easier…or add more to crank up the heat.
2Break Past Tired Old Tropes
Remember, Beholders Are Characters
Up until this point, we’ve said a few things that are meant more as general statements rather than hard and fast rules. Yes, most beholders are highly intelligent and self-absorbed. Yes, most of them are fixated on complex schemes. But this doesn’t mean you can’t create a memorable character.
Think about the standard lore and brainstorm ways to tweak the usual tropes into interesting story hooks. Perhaps your players encounter a city full of beholders, and must now explore a settlement full of highly powerful, malevolent beings. Or perhaps one of your players wants to romance the beholder NPC you made. The sky’s the limit.
1Put Special Effort Into Lairs
Beholders Are Like Onions
Beholders are monsters known for putting a special amount of effort into their lairs. While other monsters might be content with a simple cave or fortress, a beholder’s lair is typically labyrinthine in scale and layout. There’s a large amount of customization you’re able to do to fit your specific beholder, as long as the lair is sufficiently complex.
Take some time and make sure your beholder’s lair has all the traps, minions, and treasures it deserves. The lair should be a full-on dungeon crawl rather than a simple map that can be traversed in under one session. If you need a more in-depth guide,check out our articleon creating beholder lairs.
