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The Complete Guide to Beholders
An 13-paged, Complete Guide to Beholders preview can be downloaded at the end of this page. The following text and illustrations are just a sample.
Beholders as Player Characters
Beholders are extremely powerful creatures with highly focused
minds. In addition to its natural inclinations, the Dominion
of a beholder plays a tremendous part in shaping its behavior. As
a result, beholders are generally unsuitable as player characters. It
is extremely unlikely that a beholder would abandon the goals of
its Dominion, and if it did, it would still have little in common
with the typical group of adventurers.
However, there are a variety of story possibilities for adventures
using beholder characters. It is possible to run a campaign
based around beholder and eyekin PCs; as members of the Dominion
of the Final Forge or the Dominion of the First Eye, characters
could fight the plans of other Dominions or evil denizens of
the underdark.
Most beholders rely on the power of their eyestalks as opposed
to following the paths of one of the traditional character
classes. Beholders generally advance in power by adding aberration
levels. The Void does not answer the call of clerics, and with
the power that they inherently possess few sovereigns feel the
need to study arcane magic (a lack of limbs also poses a problem
for would-be beholder spellcasters). However, a small handful develop
class levels. The beholders of the Final Forge and the Eternal
Vigil often acquire rogue levels, developing Charisma-based
skills to assist in their manipulation of humanoid civilizations.
Eyekin who rise to become beholders through the Rite of Full
Communion sometimes maintain the skills they developed in their
first lives. And then there are the prestige classes supplied in this
book: the eye of the void and the juggernaut.
A beholder is born with all of its powers, so a beholder character
begins with its full hit dice and abilities. However, the following
traits apply for purposes of personalizing the character.
Sovereign Beholder Racial Traits
- +4 Dexterity, +8 Constitution, +6 Intelligence, +4 Wisdom,
+4 Charisma. Beholders are tough, exceptionally intelligent
creatures with immensely powerful personalities.
- The saving throw DC for a beholder’s eye rays is 10 + 1/2 the
beholder’s hit dice + its Charisma modifier. Levels in Eye of
the Void or Juggernaut prestige classes are added to the creature’s
hit dice for purposes of determining the save DC.
- A sovereign beholder has (2 + Int modifier) skill points per
hit die, with quadruple skill points for the first hit die. The
following skills are considered to be class skills for beholder
characters: Hide, Intimidate, Knowledge (arcana), Listen,
Search, Spot, Survival. Each Dominion has additional class
skills that beholders can choose from initially or when adding
aberration levels; these can be found later in this chapter.
- All beholders receive Alertness as a bonus feat. A sovereign
should select one of the following feats, plus an additional
feat for every 3 hit dice that it possesses: Dodge, Farsighted,
Flyby Attack, Great Fortitude, Improved Flight, Improved
Initiative, Iron Will, Mobility, Nearsighted. A beholder must
meet a feat’s prerequisites. Asovereign may also choose feats
from the list provided with its Dominion in Chapter Six.
- For purposes of character advancement, an 11 HD sovereign
beholder is considered to be an 18th level character. Most beholders
progress in the aberration class, but exceptional beholders
may pursue other options.
- Abeholder that gains the ability to cast arcane or divine spells
will need to obtain and use the Still Spell feat in order to perform
any spell that requires somatic components. If the spell
requires material components, the gamemaster will have to
determine if the beholder can manipulate the items with its
telekinetic eye.
Eyekin as a Character Race
The raw power of a beholder makes it difficult to add beholder
PCs to an adventuring group. But the eyekin – the subraces
of humanity corrupted through long contact with beholders and
the Void – are an excellent choice for the player who wants a few
extra eyes on his character.
There are a few basic ways to work eyekin PCs into a campaign.
Depending on the nature of the party, the character could
be working on direct orders from his Dominion. While this is ideally
suited to a party of evil characters or amoral mercenaries, an
eyekin character in the service of the Dominion of Revelations or
the Final Forge could actually be sent on missions that could benefit
the humanoid world.
Another classic character option is the renegade – the eyekin
who has fled from his evil masters and who has turned his skills
and natural abilities against the tyrants. Or perhaps an entire community
of rebel eyekin has successfully overthrown the local sovereign
– and as one of the heroes of the community, the PC must
help his people find a place in the world.
The eyekin have the following traits and statistics.
Personality: The eyekin come from human stock, but they
have been tainted by centuries of contact with the Void. As a result,
their personalities are colored by the aspect of the Void associated
with their beholder masters. Eyekin serving the Dominion
of the Eternal Vigil tend to be furtive and paranoid, while the eyekin
of the First Eye are proud and haughty. However, this influence
is less pronounced in the eyekin than the beholders.
Most eyekin consider their race to be superior to all other humanoid
species; even if the eyekin are effectively slaves, they are
proud to serve their mighty masters and strive to prove their
worth. Almost all eyekin dream of one day ascending to become
beholders themselves. There are certainly exceptions to these
rules; the Dominion of the Poisoned Eye treats its slave populations
with great cruelty, and most eyekin rebellions have occurred
in the holds of the Poisoned Eye.
As a race, the eyekin are single-minded in their devotion to
the beholders. They have little interest in art, humor, or entertainment;
to the eyekin, work and the associated chance for advancement
are everything.
Physical Description: The bulk of the Eyekin populace is
identical to human beings – at least, to a casual glance. What distinguishes
the eyekin from their human ancestors are the many
eyes scattered randomly around their bodies. The average eyekin
has seven to thirteen extra eyes placed across his body. The color
and shape of these eyes do not match his facial features. These additional
eyes are covered with a tough, transparent membrane, allowing
an eyekin to walk with an eye on the sole of his foot. Generally
an eyekin can conceal his additional eyes with clothing, although
additional eyes on the face can be difficult to hide.
As an eyekin gains levels in the prestige classes presented in
this book, he becomes an eyekin aberration. Over time he will develop
more severe physical mutations. The most common effect is
the appearance of eyestalks on the character’s head, but a variety
of other mutations can occur.
Eyekin do not live as long as normal humans; their corrupted
physiology burns out quickly. An eyekin achieves maturity at 12
years, and rarely lives to be 60 years old. Eyekin aberrations live
far longer than their kindred; each level of beholder cultist or
aberrant warrior class adds 10 years to the maximum lifespan of
the character.
Relations: Eyekin are secretive creatures who rarely reveal
their true nature to outsiders. When they are not isolated in beholder
or eyekin communities, they are usually working undercover
in the service of the eye tyrants.
Alignment: Eyekin communities lean towards the alignment
of their associated Dominion.
Eyekin Lands: For the most part the eyekin serve in beholder
territories, which are typically subterranean. There are eyekin
communities scattered throughout human lands, but the true nature
of these communities is typically secret.
Religion: Most eyekin revere the Void and consider the sovereign
beholders to be the divine representatives of the Void. Eyekin
aspire to become beholders themselves. As the Void does not
respond to traditional prayer, there are few eyekin clerics. Instead,
eyekin mystics will follow the path of the sorcerer or pursue one
of the prestige classes presented in this chapter.
Language: Common and the language of the beholders.
Adventurers: Eyekin adventurers are either those who have
escaped from their masters or who are traveling through the world
at the request of their masters. It is rare to find an eyekin traveling
the world trying to find her place in it, but it is rarer still that she
will reveal her true nature. Some eyekin are trying to find the legendary
rebel eyekin who have successfully formed their own culture,
but most are simply trying to make their way in the world.
Even after they leave, however, eyekin still have personality traits
associated with the Dominion with which they grew up – Poisoned
Eye eyekin will often be violent, the Final Forge eyekin
tend to be organized, and the Enigma eyekin are secretive.
Eyekin Racial Traits
- +2 Intelligence, -2 Wisdom. While not as brilliant as their beholder
masters, the eyekin possess an uncanny ability to
process information. However, they are a slave race; over
generations, selective breeding and mental conditioning have
taken a toll on the willpower of the eyekin.
- Medium-size: As Medium-size creatures, eyekin have no special
bonuses or penalties due to their size.
- Eyekin base land speed is 30 feet.
- Darkvision: Eyekin can see in the dark up to 60 feet. Darkvision
is black and white only, but it is otherwise just like normal
sight, and eyekin can function just fine with no light at
all.
- +2 racial bonus to Spot and Search. Eyekin possess astonishing
visual acuity.
- All-Around Vision: An eyekin who is naked from the waist
up can see in all directions. While using all-around vision, the
character cannot be flanked and he receives a +2 bonus to
Spot and Search checks (which stacks with his normal racial
bonus). This prevents the use of normal armor and reveals the
inhuman nature of the eyekin. Eyekin can make use of this
ability while wearing leather eyeband armor, studded eyeband
armor, or chain veil armor; these new forms of protection
are described in Chapter Five.
- Prehensile Vision: Most eyekin have eyes on their arms or
legs. If these eyes are uncovered, an eyekin can look around
corners, peer in a pocket, or perform similar vision-related
feats. However, revealing these eyes can easily result in the
exposure of the character’s inhuman nature.
- Spell Malfunction: A trace of the power that shields a sovereign
beholder from magic flows through the eyekin’s blood.
Eyekin have a 5% chance of failure when casting divine or arcane
spells. This is added to any penalties resulting from encumbrance
or armor. It does not affect the use of psionics,
spell-like abilities, or the supernatural powers of the eyekin
prestige classes presented in this book.
- Knowledge (aberrations) is always considered to be a class
skill for eyekin. When the blood of aberrations flows through
your veins, it’s hard not to learn something about them.
- +2 save vs. spells and spell-like effects. While the eyekin may
have difficulty casting spells, they are highly resistant to hostile
magic.
- +3 racial bonus to Disguise checks made to pass as human.
An eyekin that covers his additional eyes is virtually indistinguishable
from a human.
- Eyekin Blood: All eyekin possess the Eyekin Blood feat.
- Automatic Languages: Common and Beholder. Bonus Languages:
Draconic, Dwarven, Gnome, Goblin, Orc, and Undercommon.
The majority of eyekin live beneath the earth,
and they are most likely to learn the languages of other subterranean
races.
- Favored Class: Beholder cultist. A multiclass eyekin’s beholder
cultist class does not count when determining whether
he takes an experience penalty for multiclassing.
Use the human listing on the random height and weight table
to determine the height and weight of an eyekin character. An eyekin
is an adult at 12 years of age, middle aged at 28, old at 40, and
venerable at 52. His maximum age is modified by adding 3d4.
However, for every level in beholder cultist or aberrant warrior,
the character’s old and venerable thresholds are increased by 10
years; thus a 5th level cultist is old at 90, venerable at 102, and
dies at 102 + 3d4 years. This increased lifespan will not remove
existing age penalties; if the character is already old he does not
regress to being middle aged, but he has a longer game before he
becomes venerable.
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