![]() ![]() This thread is exclusively for enworlders that agree that D&D should be able to handle a good solo monster BBEG fight! Please note: the one piece of advice I am not soliciting is "add more monsters". Where the encounter design allows us poor DMs to actually stage a fight that reasonably extends long enough for the party to get "worn down" before they finally reach the Beholder for a final desperate showdown, trying to kill it before they all fall prey to its attacks? Are you aware of any especially clever encounters featuring a BBEG Beholder? What I'm asking for here is encounter design: what the lair looks like, any nifty traps or features to add, what monster tactics to use.?īut I'm looking for more. I'm also massively ignoring the limits on legendary actions, so the Beholder can shoot one ray after each and every adventurer's action without limits. Increasing monster hit points and upping the DC of the eye rays is one thing. Not so at double-digit levels - the second the antimagic cone isn't there, any single monster not of epic CR will simply be dead. It might even get away with playing around with the antimagic cone and play "fair". At low levels, a "plain" Beholder might be enough on its own and that's totally fair. That is, that the beholder will outgun the party at range (assuming party spellcasters can't escape antimagic).Ī complicating factor is that my party is 12th level. (I'm fine with the notion that a party of five archers will simply stand there and shoot the beholder out of the sky like a balloon) For the purposes of this thread, I will assume the party will need to close to melee in order to win the encounter. On the other and, few parties feature more than one competent archer. Then it needs mirrors or portals or somesuch to bring its eye rays to bear despite the antimagic, or it simply won't present an actual threat. This means that beholder nests tend to feature a vertical shaft, with the beholder at the top so gravity works in its favor, and flying and spellcasting is negated. ![]() But as I said, I have never understood how it is supposed to work.Ī beholder absolutely must have the means to zap the heroes at the same time it keeps its antimagic cone squarely on most if not all heroes. As I see it no beholder can become truly exciting (as a solo encounter) unless in cheats with its rays, plain and simple. ![]() The first order of business is the antimagic cone itself. If you want an exciting multi-stage combat encounter, where the heroes desperately dodge and absorb eye rays as they slowly come closer to actually getting to the monster, how do you do it? The issue remains - once the adventurers arrive, they rush the beholder and either stunlock it or simply shred it to pieces. I must admit I have never fully understood how to utilize these monsters, and I have perused both power gaming and monster tactics blogs, and looked at my fair share of beholder lairs. ![]() The beholder can't repeat an effect until they have all been used, and it can't use the same effect two rounds in a row.(Note: at the end of this post there are minor spoilers for Tomb of Annihilation) One random eye ray of the beholder shoots from that eye at a target of the beholder's choice that it can see. Escaping requires a successful DC 15 Strength (Athletics) or Dexterity (Acrobatics) check.Īn eye opens on a solid surface within 60 feet of the beholder. Each creature of the beholder's choice that starts its turn within 10 feet of such a wall must succeed on a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw or be grappled. Walls within 120 feet of the beholder sprout grasping appendages until initiative count 20 on the round after next. On initiative count 20 (losing initiative ties), the beholder can take one lair action to cause one of the following effects:Ī 50-foot-square area of ground within 120 feet of the beholder becomes slimy that area is difficult terrain until initiative count 20 on the next round. When fighting inside its lair, a beholder can invoke the ambient magic to take lair actions. ![]()
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