The beholder shoots three of the following magical eye rays at random (reroll duplicates), choosing one to three targets it can see within 120 feet of it:

Melee Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. The area works against the beholder's own eye rays. At the start of each of its turns, the beholder decides which way the cone faces and whether the cone is active. The beholder's central eye creates an area of antimagic, as in the antimagic field spell, in a 150-foot-cone. Senses Darkvision 120 ft., Passive Perception 22Īntimagic Cone. Consider the actual beholder as the apex and use the other “lesser beholders” if you want a beholder style encounter at earlier levels.ġ0 (+0) 14 (+2) 18 (+4) 17 (+3)15 (+2)17 (+3) These are the statistics for the standard “beholder” though there are several wonderful variations that cover lower level threats like the Gazer, the Spectator, the Gauth, or the horrifying Death Kiss. Beholders view everyone else as lesser beings, at best to be utilized as minions or at worse as food. Each beholder believes that beholders are the superior species, and that they themselves are the superior beholder. This usually results in them fighting to the death though, as there’s nothing in this world more paranoid and ingenious than a beholder.īeholders are incredibly intelligent and universally arrogant. When a beholder dreams of another beholder, a new one pops into existence. Beholder magic warps reality around them in weird ways, especially in their dreams. Their true origins have remained mysterious, but they fleshed out the way we get more of them. Monsters are just there because there are monsters. Want to grow your hoard? Check out our dice subscriptions!īeholders harken back to a time before thorough backgrounds for all the monsters. But just what makes these ocular aberrations so interesting? Follow us deep into the beholder’s lair and be sure to compliment him as we go through everything you need to know. There’s so much more to these monsters than meets the EYE (I’ll stop, I swear). Nothing quite says D&D like a horrifying floating eyeball monster, and they’ve remained as a tentpole of every bestiary since the very first edition. There is no creature more iconic and more unique to Dungeons & Dragons as the beholder.

Zombie beholder art