Nolzur's Marvelous Unpainted Minis: Beholder

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Because the cone suppresses ongoing magical effects, the beholder might create a secure area in its lair behind a permanent wall of fire or wall of force, make use of an existing magical hazard (such as a pool that transforms any creature that touches it), or an area with magical guardians (such as an old shrine with a demon bound to it) that it c an bypass. Use Eye Rays to Best Effect

The lesser creatures known as beholder-kin bear a superficial resemblance to true beholders in that each has a floating spherical body with eyes. That’s where the simila rity ends. As a byproduct of their unique method of propagation, beholders in one part of the world tend to look similar, with variations becoming more pronounced the farther one travels from that area. Even a slight variation in the shape of an eyestalk or the texture of its skin is enough for one beholder to consider another a flawed abomination, which should be destroyed. The beholder’s ability to use legendary actions effectively doubles the number of times it can shoot rays in a round. Each legendary action a beholder takes gives it an opportunity to react to a change in circumstances, or to press an assault that it began on its turn. For instance, it might use its sleep ray as a legendary action against an enemy that has just been awakened. If no such opportunity presents itself, legendary actions are always useful for piling rays on the most dang erous foe. Use Traps and Minions

A beholder’s natural ability to fly is essential to many of its defenses and habits. Portions of its lair—especially the remote part where it sleeps—usually aren’t reachable on foot, which makes it harder for its minions to take over the lair, and forces intruders to find ways to overcome steep vertic al climbs. Covered Pit. Simple yet effective, a covered pit trap is a hole covered with a false floor and perhaps concealed by a sprinkling of dirt or gravel. The pit might be empty, be filled with mud (causing anything trapped in it to eventually drown), or have spikes at t he bottom. Gas Spores. One form of gas spore trap is nothing more than a small room or section of tunnel that contains one or more hovering gas spores. The passage leading to it is sealed off or constricted to prevent the fungus creatures from drifting into inhabited areas. Medium or smaller intruders can easily move through the passage but might have little warning about what lies ahead, especially if the passage has sharp turns that make it likely that the gas spore isn’t seen until the last moment. A beholder might use its telekinesis ray to forcibly push a gas spore into an opponent, making the gas spor e explode. A beholder’s greater minions are formidable opponents. In the lair, they might be stationed where they can catch intruders in an ambush, or they could be a last line of defense against foes that threaten the inne r sanctum. Pets

In addition to its lieutenants, the Xanathar has many minions with specific jobs. These underlings don’t have as much clout as the lieutenants do, but they do hold key roles in its guild and have some degree of influence in the organization. Among these are the beholder’s accountant, chamberlain, chief messenger, doctor, fish-keeper, fortune-teller, lawyer, master entertainer, monster trainer, trap-setter, and warden for its private prison. The individuals in these roles generally serve the Xanathar for months or years, because replacements that have the same specialized skills can be hard t o come by. What Others Know When a beholder sleeps, its body goes briefly dormant but its mind never stops working. The creature is fully aware, even though to an outside observer it might appear oblivious of its surroundings. Sometimes a beholder’s dreams are dominated by images of itself or of other beholders (which might or might not actually exist). On extremely rare occasions when a beholder dreams of another beholder, the act creates a warp in reality—from which a new, fully formed beholder springs forth unbidden, seemingly having appeared out of thin air in a nearby space. This “offspring” might be a duplicate of the beholder that dreamed it into existence, or it could take the form of a different variety of beholder, such as a death kiss or a gazer (see “Beholder-Kin”). It might also be a truly unique creature, such as could be spawned only from the twisted imagination of a beholder, with a set of magical abilities unlike that of its parent. In most cases, the process yields one of the three principal forms of the beholder: a solitary beholder, a hive, or a dea th tyrant. Solitary Beholders When the dreamer awakens, it treats the newborns as extensions of its own self in other bodies, and therefore isn’t consumed with an urge to kill them. This united group of identical beholders doesn’t truly have a hive intelligence, but their personalities and goals are so similar that they can predict and assume each others’ behavior, much as especially close human siblings can. The original beholder is usually the dominant one and takes a leadership role. A hive consists of three to ten beholders, plus whatever minions the y control. Death Tyrants In exceedingly rare cases, a beholder might experience a dream in which it sees itself in a mirror, or encounters several copies of itself, or imagines a sensation akin to what humanoids call multiple personalities. At such a time, the beholder’s dream-birthing creates a beholder hive—a group of “newborns” that are identical to its own shape bu t smaller.A death tyrant’s paranoia about its enemies tends to be related to how it fears it will be destroyed, and its plans take that fear into account. For example, a death tyrant who imagined it would eventually be slain by frost giants might relocate its lair to the inside of a volcano, send its minions to hunt down all frost giants within 100 miles, or take some other drastic measure to ensure that the fear never become s reality. Beholder-kin Use the following tables to produce a variety of different appearances for beholders. Beholder Body Diameter Using miniatures is as useful in modern roleplaying games and tabletop wargaming as it has always been. It gives both a visual and tactile element to playing and you get the chance to paint the miniatures, which for me I find quite therapeutic.