Spectators are extraplanar beholderkin, notable for being one of most sane and approachable of their kind. Their bodies, when fully-grown, are 3 to 4-foot-wide, with four eyestalks, as opposed to the ten of eye tyrants. Two are located on either side of the upper half of the body. Like an eye tyrant, a spectator has a large central eye over a large and expressive mouth. A spectator's skin is highly variable. Thick, slick, lumpy, supple, rubbery, furry, plated or anything in between, spectators can come in any color or texture.
Tourists at Heart
Spectators are explorers, craving new sights and new thoughts. While originally from Nirvana, every spectator wants to seek out new horizons, and most find ways to travel widely. It's said that they bargained with an ancient trickster-god for the ability to travel, and were cheated out of what they wanted. Instead they became susceptible to being summoned by arcane means, typically to be trapped in place as guardians. Their desire for roaming led them to bondage.
When able to, spectators like to sight-see almost as much as they like to converse with others. A species without dexterous limbs, many focus on perfecting the art of conversation. Just as many like to spend time reading and philosophizing. This love of intellectual exercise is part of why spectators suffer psychological problems when bound to long periods of isolation as summoned guardians. Often, this damage is permanent.
Though they love conversation, their long tongues make it tiring. Most prefer to use their innate telepathy to converse with others.
Citizens of Mechanus
In Nirvana, spectator society was segregated into an upper and lower class. The lower, Bahma, class lived alone vertical caves in the modron disk. The upper, Tahma, class typically served as a guard corps for important modron, educated to uphold Mechanus law. The only way for a Bahma to become a Tahma was to deliver a rogue modron to Mechanus authorities.
Young spectators arise from the eyes of a recently deceased parent. Each is born with the ability to hover, and then, later, levitate, along with the ray-power of whatever eye-stalk they came from. Every 3-6 months a new eye power awakens as one of the eye-stalks' eye opens for the first time. After a millennia a spectator knows the end is near when its individual eye stalks begin to produce eye-buds.
Spectator Traits
Your spectator character has certain characteristics in common with all other spectators.
Ability Score Changes. Contemplative and philosophical, spectators add 2 to their Intelligence or Wisdom.
Age. Spectators reach maturity in their first year of life. The typically live to be a little over 1,000. Player Character Spectators are assumed to be infants at 1 level.
Alignment. Lawful Neutral in most cases.
Size. At 1 level Spectators are about one foot across in every direction, and about 50 pounds, and are Tiny. As they progress in levels they typically gain about one foot and 50 pounds every 3 levels. By level 6 their size becomes Small, and at level 12 they attain Medium size. Your Type is Aberration.
Speed. Young Spectators float about a two feet to 5 feet above the ground, moving 25 feet a turn. At level 6 this speed goes to 30 feet a turn and at 12 level their floating becomes proper levitation.
Beholderkin. Spectators cannot use weapons or armor, though their tongue is prehensile, if slow, and can otherwise manipulate tools. The Spectators bite does 1d6 piercing damage.
Eye Rays. Spectators begin play with a central eye and four closed 'eye-buds'. The eye emits a ray at will which can use one of the powers below. When the spectator would have the option of taking an ability score increase, they may instead choose to learn to use another of the rays below as a Feat. Of the rays they know how to use, they can use one of these, as an action, on any given turn. At 15 level they may use any two on a turn. These powers are;
Confusion Ray. The target must succeed on a DC 13 Wisdom saving throw, or it can't take reactions until the end of its next turn. On its turn, the target can't move, and it uses its action to make a melee or ranged attack against a randomly determined creature within range. If the target can't attack, it does nothing on its turn.
Paralyzing Ray. The target must succeed on a DC 13 Constitution saving throw or be paralyzed for one turn per level of the Spectator. The target can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success.
Fear Ray. The target must succeed on a DC 13 Wisdom saving throw or be frightened for one turn per level of the Spectator. The target can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, with disadvantage if the spectator is visible to the target, ending the effect on itself on a success.
Wounding Ray. The target must make a DC 13 Constitution saving throw, taking 1d8 necrotic damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. This damage increases by 1d8 at 8 level and by another 1d8 at 16. If the Spectator takes a class that would grant it access to Martial Weapons, the dice rolled for this Ray increase to d10s.
DeFaqRU? Spectators are not a normal site for most people, but most people have at least heard of Beholders. For that reason assume the average, unnamed NPCs will react to Spectators as if they were Beholders (badly). DMs can allow any PC or any NPC with an Arcana or History skill above 3 ranks to roll to see if they know the difference, and any such character with more than 7 ranks can be treated as knowing without a roll. This is mostly a roleplaying consideration, but it likely creates a constant problem in populated areas. The DM can rule that this stops happening with the inhabitants of wherever the Spectator settles with appropriate time and roleplaying.
Self-Sustaining. The spectator can caste Create Food & Water once per day.
Languages. You can speak, read and write Undercommon and Deep Speech. Spectators have a form of limited telepathy. They can communicate with anyone in line of site and under 30ft away. This telepathy doesn't overcome language barriers.
As a reaction, on a successful spell save, or a spell attack that misses you, you can choose another creature (including the spellcaster) within 30ft as the new target. The new target makes its own save, or the attack is rerolled against the new target using the original attacker's stats.
Spectator
Beholder-Cousins
Spectators are extraplanar beholderkin, notable for being one of most sane and approachable of their kind. Their bodies, when fully-grown, are 3 to 4-foot-wide, with four eyestalks, as opposed to the ten of eye tyrants. Two are located on either side of the upper half of the body. Like an eye tyrant, a spectator has a large central eye over a large and expressive mouth. A spectator's skin is highly variable. Thick, slick, lumpy, supple, rubbery, furry, plated or anything in between, spectators can come in any color or texture.
Tourists at Heart
Spectators are explorers, craving new sights and new thoughts. While originally from Nirvana, every spectator wants to seek out new horizons, and most find ways to travel widely. It's said that they bargained with an ancient trickster-god for the ability to travel, and were cheated out of what they wanted. Instead they became susceptible to being summoned by arcane means, typically to be trapped in place as guardians. Their desire for roaming led them to bondage.
When able to, spectators like to sight-see almost as much as they like to converse with others. A species without dexterous limbs, many focus on perfecting the art of conversation. Just as many like to spend time reading and philosophizing. This love of intellectual exercise is part of why spectators suffer psychological problems when bound to long periods of isolation as summoned guardians. Often, this damage is permanent.
Though they love conversation, their long tongues make it tiring. Most prefer to use their innate telepathy to converse with others.
Citizens of Mechanus
In Nirvana, spectator society was segregated into an upper and lower class. The lower, Bahma, class lived alone vertical caves in the modron disk. The upper, Tahma, class typically served as a guard corps for important modron, educated to uphold Mechanus law. The only way for a Bahma to become a Tahma was to deliver a rogue modron to Mechanus authorities.
Naming Convention
Traditional spectator names largely overlap with beholder names (see Volo's Guide p9) or use the online beholder name generator; https://www.fantasynamegenerators.com/dnd-beholder-names.php
Pars Peperit
Young spectators arise from the eyes of a recently deceased parent. Each is born with the ability to hover, and then, later, levitate, along with the ray-power of whatever eye-stalk they came from. Every 3-6 months a new eye power awakens as one of the eye-stalks' eye opens for the first time. After a millennia a spectator knows the end is near when its individual eye stalks begin to produce eye-buds.
Spectator Traits
Your spectator character has certain characteristics in common with all other spectators.
Ability Score Changes. Contemplative and philosophical, spectators add 2 to their Intelligence or Wisdom.
Age. Spectators reach maturity in their first year of life. The typically live to be a little over 1,000. Player Character Spectators are assumed to be infants at 1 level.
Alignment. Lawful Neutral in most cases.
Size. At 1 level Spectators are about one foot across in every direction, and about 50 pounds, and are Tiny. As they progress in levels they typically gain about one foot and 50 pounds every 3 levels. By level 6 their size becomes Small, and at level 12 they attain Medium size. Your Type is Aberration.
Speed. Young Spectators float about a two feet to 5 feet above the ground, moving 25 feet a turn. At level 6 this speed goes to 30 feet a turn and at 12 level their floating becomes proper levitation.
Beholderkin. Spectators cannot use weapons or armor, though their tongue is prehensile, if slow, and can otherwise manipulate tools. The Spectators bite does 1d6 piercing damage.
Eye Rays. Spectators begin play with a central eye and four closed 'eye-buds'. The eye emits a ray at will which can use one of the powers below. When the spectator would have the option of taking an ability score increase, they may instead choose to learn to use another of the rays below as a Feat. Of the rays they know how to use, they can use one of these, as an action, on any given turn. At 15 level they may use any two on a turn. These powers are;
Confusion Ray. The target must succeed on a DC 13 Wisdom saving throw, or it can't take reactions until the end of its next turn. On its turn, the target can't move, and it uses its action to make a melee or ranged attack against a randomly determined creature within range. If the target can't attack, it does nothing on its turn.
Paralyzing Ray. The target must succeed on a DC 13 Constitution saving throw or be paralyzed for one turn per level of the Spectator. The target can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success.
Fear Ray. The target must succeed on a DC 13 Wisdom saving throw or be frightened for one turn per level of the Spectator. The target can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, with disadvantage if the spectator is visible to the target, ending the effect on itself on a success.
Wounding Ray. The target must make a DC 13 Constitution saving throw, taking 1d8 necrotic damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. This damage increases by 1d8 at 8 level and by another 1d8 at 16. If the Spectator takes a class that would grant it access to Martial Weapons, the dice rolled for this Ray increase to d10s.
DeFaqRU? Spectators are not a normal site for most people, but most people have at least heard of Beholders. For that reason assume the average, unnamed NPCs will react to Spectators as if they were Beholders (badly). DMs can allow any PC or any NPC with an Arcana or History skill above 3 ranks to roll to see if they know the difference, and any such character with more than 7 ranks can be treated as knowing without a roll. This is mostly a roleplaying consideration, but it likely creates a constant problem in populated areas. The DM can rule that this stops happening with the inhabitants of wherever the Spectator settles with appropriate time and roleplaying.
Self-Sustaining. The spectator can caste Create Food & Water once per day.
Languages. You can speak, read and write Undercommon and Deep Speech. Spectators have a form of limited telepathy. They can communicate with anyone in line of site and under 30ft away. This telepathy doesn't overcome language barriers.
Optional Racial Feat; Spell Reflection – Prerequisite: 8 level.
As a reaction, on a successful spell save, or a spell attack that misses you, you can choose another creature (including the spellcaster) within 30ft as the new target. The new target makes its own save, or the attack is rerolled against the new target using the original attacker's stats.