2016 Beholder Notes
The Great Mother inhabits the 6th layer of the Abyss in the domain known as the Realm of a Million Eyes. The layer is made up of thousands of tunnels, the walls, ceilings, and floors of which the living eyes of the deity protrude. Every known kind of beholder and beholder-kin inhabits these tunnels, preying on one another and on any demons foolish enough to venture near. The Great Mother moves through the planes as it desires, laying the eggs that form Hive Mothers on many worlds.
The Great Mother inhabits the 6th layer of the Abyss in the domain known as the Realm of a Million Eyes. The layer is made up of thousands of tunnels, the walls, ceilings, and floors of which the living eyes of the deity protrude. Every known kind of beholder and beholder-kin inhabits these tunnels, preying on one another and on any demons foolish enough to venture near. The Great Mother moves through the planes as it desires, laying the eggs that form Hive Mothers on many worlds.
The Realm of a Million Eyes was discovered by the mind flayer Illionth using its mental powers. It considered the Realm to be the source of all corruption and foulness, and attempted unsuccessfully to destroy it.
The Great Mother exists to remake the multiverse in its image by filling it with its spawn, replacing all forms of life with monsters that resemble the Mother itself. It does not bother to acquire knowledge as Ilsensine andBoccob do, because it has always known all that it could ever need to know. However, it cannot or will not communicate this knowledge to lesser beings, including its own offspring. It neglects its children, not bothering with omens or portents. Sometimes it will allow beholders to be entirely wiped out on a given world, while other times it will become enraged when even a small beholder community is threatened.
The Great Mother exists to remake the multiverse in its image by filling it with its spawn, replacing all forms of life with monsters that resemble the Mother itself. It does not bother to acquire knowledge as Ilsensine andBoccob do, because it has always known all that it could ever need to know. However, it cannot or will not communicate this knowledge to lesser beings, including its own offspring. It neglects its children, not bothering with omens or portents. Sometimes it will allow beholders to be entirely wiped out on a given world, while other times it will become enraged when even a small beholder community is threatened.
The Beholder Ancients (or Elders) are said to have emerged from a cluster of cosmic eggs laid across the planes by the Great Mother. The Hive Mothers are their descendants, but the Great Mother devours her offspring when they displease her. It is said that Gzemnid only survived because of his powers of illusion.
self-image.
Elder Orb: One in every several hundred beholders
is born with amazing longevity. These beholders are known as elder
orbs, and the source of their longevity is hotly debated. The elder orbs
themselves believe that it is proof that they embody the primal purity
of the Great Mother. An elder orb is effectively immortal; it never
grows senile or infirm from age and can live forever unless it perishes
from violence or disease. Elder orbs have statistics similar to those of
standard beholders, although most have significantly advanced Hit Dice.
All elder orbs have at least six levels of sorcerer. They favor spells
without material components (or take the Eschew Materials feat), but
they can easily produce a spell's somatic components with their
eyestalks. Elder orbs never summon familiars. Naturally, they must close
their central eye when casting spells. When an elder orb reaches
venerable age, it stops losing physical ability score points for
increasing age but continues to gain mental ability score points. The
cumulative effect of middle age, old age, and venerable age therefore
modify the elder orb's ability scores as follows: -3 Str, -3 Dex, -3
Con, +3 Int, +3 Wis, and +3 Cha. Elder orbs have enough additional
racial Hit Dice that their size increases to Huge; this helps offset
their lower Strength and Constitution scores, but, in the end, elder
orbs are less agile than standard beholders.
Hive Mother: Even rarer than elder orbs are hive
mother beholders. Although their name implies a feminine gender, these
beholders are as gender- neutral as typical members of their species.
Their name stems more from the fact that they have the ability to
magically dominate other beholders. Hive mothers form large
communities of beholders to serve them. This is how beholder cities
originate; left to their own devices, beholders would rather slay their
kin than live in harmony with them. Hive mothers are universally larger
and fiercer than typical beholders. For hive mother statistics, see page
135.
Death Tyrant: These truly reprehensible creatures
are undead beholders akin to zombies, though they retain some innate
magical abilities. These creatures are used by powerful wizards as
guardians; they are almost never encountered near other beholders, who
find them abhorrent. Death tyrants are detailed on page 309 of the Forgotten RealmsCampaign Setting.
Beholderkin: A vast number of beholderkin exist.
Not true beholders, these creatures do not share the race's xenophobia,
although most are still quite evil and cruel in nature. True beholders
consider beholderkin to be abominations. The death kiss, eyeball, and
gouger are detailed in Monsters of Faerûn. The gauth is detailed in the Monster Manual. For statistics for the director, eye of the deep, overseer, and spectator, see Chapter 8.
Death Kiss: This creature's eyestalks are replaced with blood-draining tentacles, and its body roils with a powerful electric aura.
Director: A director is often found dwelling in a
beholder community led by a hive mother or an overseer. It has six
eyestalks and three clawed tentacles with which it bonds with monstrous
vermin mounts.
Eye of the Deep: An eye of the deep rarely comes
into conflict with true beholders, for this aquatic variant dwells deep
underwater. It has only two eyestalks, but its massive pinchers make it a
dangerous combatant.
Eyeball: An eyeball is a Tiny beholderkin with four eyestalks; they are popular familiars in some wizardly and sorcerous circles.
Gauth: Easily the most common of the beholderkin, a gauth has six eyestalks and a central eye that can stun its enemies.
Gouger: A gouger's ten eyestalks are magically
useless. Its central eye retains the antimagic properties of true
beholders, and four small legs hang from the creature's underside. A
gouger's most hideous feature, though, is its long, barbed tongue, which
is adept at temporarily neutralizing beholder eyestalks.
Overseer: An overseer is the most dangerous of
the known beholderkin. Rivaling the power of a hive mother, an overseer
resembles nothing so much as a large, fleshy tree with mouths on its
trunk and eyes on its branches.
Spectator: A spectator is an extraplanar
beholderkin with four eyestalks. Somewhat mild and even-tempered,
spectators have even been known to form friendships with other
creatures, a trait that no other beholderkin or true beholder ever
displays.
Beholders are often found occupying deep, underground caverns.
Frequently, these lairs are carved out by the beholders themselves,
using their eye rays to mold the environment for their purposes. Often,
these lairs are built vertically rather than horizontally like most
buildings, with beholder architecture frequently exhibiting a large
number of vertical shafts which beholders and other flying creatures can
use with ease, while walking creatures find their navigation hindered
Magic Items
The orbus is only found among spacefaring beholders. They are the means by which beholders move their ships through the void, channeling the energies of other beholders into motive force. Aboard a ship, they tend to be found near the hive mother, at the ship's deepest bowels.
Biologoal engine.
Links
e know.
Magic Items
The
Beholder Crown: semi-artifact
This unique item is a cap
fashioned from the upper half
of an infant beholder, including all of the eyes, and was treated with
Suppleskin before enchantment. The crown was first made by a drow
archmage who
sought to capture the powers of the beholder. In a difficult ritual the
powers
of a living elder orb, and a living queen beholder were drained into
the crown,
leaving the beholder subjects dead. The result was an extremely
powerful, but
flawed, item.
The wearer of the crown gains all of the eyestalk powers of a
standard beholder, but these powers are only usable once per day for
every 3
points of the wearer’s intelligence (the Telekinesis eyestalk can be
used for 4
rounds for every 3 points of intelligence). The antimagic ray of the
beholder’s
central eye functions differently than on a standard beholder. This ray
functions in the same way as a minor globe of invulnerability, but in a
cone
shape extending 20' in front of the wearer, 10' wide at the end. For
purposes
of what eystalks can be brought to bear on a target, treat it as if the
wearer
was a standard beholder. The wearer gains the ability to see through
the
eyestalks of the Crown, in effect gaining 360 degree vision This is
disorienting,
and unless the wearer makes a successful intelligence check every hour
that
this ability is used, the wearer will suffer Confusion, as the spell,
for 1d6
rounds for every point by which the intelligence check was failed. When
using
this vision, any thieves attempting to hide in shadows are at -20% to
their
chance to avoid the attention of the wearer.
Much like a hive mother, the
wearer can control 1d6+4 beholders, or 5d4 beholder abominations. To
first
establish control the wearer must be able to see the beholder, but once
controlled a telepathic bond allows the wearer to continue to exert
this
control from as far away as one mile per point of intelligence. If the
wearer
concentrates (the same level of concentration as is required to cast a
spell)
he can use the senses of any beholder under his control. This control
is not as
effective as the control of a hive mother, however, and each beholder
gains a
save vs. spells at -4 in order to resist this control. This saving
throw is
made every 5 hours, or any time the beholder is ordered into combat. A
beholder
who successfully saves will know the source of the attempted control,
and gains
a very brief (1-2 seconds) vision of the location of the controller, as
seen
through the controller’s eyes. The control ability works completely
differently
when attempted against hive mothers, elder orbs, or beholder mages.
Against
these beholder types it functions as the priest spell Command, but no
saving
throw is allowed. Unlike the control ability, which can be used as much
as
desired, the Command ability can be used 1 time per day for each point
of the
wearer’s intelligence.
An undesired side effect of the Crown allows a hive
mother to exert control over the wearer as if he was a beholder. The
wearer is
allowed a save vs. spells to avoid this, but if the throw is failed
this
control can only be broken by killing the hive mother. It should be
noted that
the chances of a hive mother actually thinking of controlling the
wearer of the
Crown in this manner are low indeed.
The Crown is dangerous to use, and can
only be safely handled by evil spellcasters. Any other character who
attempts
to hold the Crown will take damage as if hit by a Cause Serious Wounds
spell.
If the wearer of the crown is chaotic or neutral evil, his alignment
will
slowly shift towards lawful evil, at the rate of 1 step per month. Once
the
wearer is lawful evil (or immediately if the wearer was already lawful
evil) he
must make an intelligence check each month in which the Crown is used.
An extra
intelligence check must be made at any time when the wearer’s
intelligence
drops by 1 or more points. If the check is failed the wearer begins a
slow
transformation into a beholder. This transformation takes approximately
1
month, and can only be halted by a Remove Curse spell cast at 18th
level or higher. A second Remove Curse is required to reverse the
changes that
have already been made. The wearer will not desire the casting of these
spells.
Once the transformation is complete it can only be reversed by a Wish
spell.
When the transformation is complete the wearer has become a beholder in
body,
and mind.
The major aberration races include the following monsters:
Aboleths, or the deep masters, are the loathsome
lords of the underground seas. Perhaps the most alien and inscrutable of
all the major aberration races, the aboleths are mighty psions and
mages whose sinister influence wells up from the deepest places in the
earth.
Beholders, the terrible eye tyrants, command
fearsome innate magical power. With a single glance they kill, paralyze,
confuse, or enslave their foes. Rapacious and arrogant, a single
beholder can easily become the overlord of its own realm of evil.
Mind flayers, or illithids, are brilliant, cruel,
and terrifying creatures. Mind flayers might comprise the single most
dangerous threat to the dominion of humanoids in the daylight lands of
the surface world.
Neogi, the slave takers, are a race of greedy and sinister merchants who spin their webs of gold and misery across the human world.
Grell, or the eaters, are an alien race of
predators that haunt the wild and lonely places of the world. Armed with
an indecipherable admixture of alchemy and science, the fearsome grell
ruthlessly destroy all other races that blunder into their territory.
The Tsochari, or the wearers of the flesh, are a
race of invasive parasites that wear the stolen bodies of their victims
so that they can pass in human society. The six races mentioned here
pose the most widespread and virulent threats to humans and other good
races. They combine magical power, ruthless genius, and cold,
calculating malice; they are alien and inscrutable, things born of
madness and nightmare. Brave indeed are the heroes who venture into
their domains.
ORBUS
evel Adjustment: —
The bulbous creature floats before you, it's one enormous eye a milky
white. A handful of thin, atrophied stalks crowns its chalk-white body.
The orbus is only found among spacefaring beholders. They are the means by which beholders move their ships through the void, channeling the energies of other beholders into motive force. Aboard a ship, they tend to be found near the hive mother, at the ship's deepest bowels.
Biologoal engine.
Links
e know.
Spelljammer Sites
- Ad Astra Per Magica*
-
by Michael Bauser
Snippets of a Spelljammer campaign. - Ahzad Jinsai's Spelljammer Page*
-
by Ahzad Jinsai
Features a guide and maps to the Known Spheres along with breakdowns of the major Spelljamming organizations. - Ariel's Spelljammer Page
-
by Ariel Sibal
Lots of ships and magical devices. - BWafer's SJ Site*
-
by bwafer
A personal site with a mix of Spelljammer and non-Spelljammer material. - The Drawing Board
- Extra material from Beyond the Moons.
- House Enildarion*
-
by Tilaurin
Lots of varient Spelljammer material. - Knightfall's Spelljammer Cosmonomicon*
-
by Robert Blezard
A Shadow of the Spider Moon-friendly cosmology. - Krazy Ivan's "Spelljammer Anonymous"*
-
by Krazy Ivan
New monsters, ships and psionic abilities. - Random Crystal Sphere Generator*
-
by Scott J. Caldwell
Generate random sphere layots from the tables in the core books. - Port of Anacostia*
-
by Richard J. Pugh
Material from the first Spelljammer website. - Shadow of the Spider Moon
- New material to support the d20 article in Polyhedron #151 / Dungeon #92.
- The Shattered Fractine*
-
by Mark Doolan
The best, most complete conversion of Spelljammer to D&D 3e. - Tarkas Brain Lab IV
-
by Leroy Van Camp III
Ship rules, and more, for Spelljammer for D&D 3e.
Crystal Spheres & Campaigns
- Dawnspace*
-
by Piet Kramer
The Light of Dawn campaign, including some technology for AD&D. - Hyrkulspace*
-
by Patrick Stutzman
The Hyrkulspace crystal sphere, along with some additional goodies. - Magincia*
-
by Pscion
A campaign that's very inclusive pertaining to character classes, races, and optional rules. Makes heavy use of psionics. - Nilespace*
-
by Eric Timmers,
Rob Goedemans and
Hans van Dongen
A crystal sphere with heavy Egyptian influence.
Spelljammer PBeMs
- Celestials Play-By-e-Mail Game*
- by Patrick Stutzman
- Destiny's Blade Campaign*
- by Optimus
- Jammers PBeM Campaign
-
DMed by Paul Westermeyer
Archives and other material for the campaign. - Second Wind*
-
DMed by Noah Bonebrake
Turn summaries for the campaign written up in narrative form.
Indexes by Author
- Night Druid's Sanctum
- Index of Adam "Night Druid" Miller's work.
- Paul's Wildspace Parlor
- Index of Paul Westermeyer's work.
No comments:
Post a Comment