Yeah, a Beholder is a mid tier 3 monster, so going by the numbers I'd argue it'd take a threat that approaches tier 4 to subdue and contain one. But that's by the numbers, you can always fudge circumstances to fit your story if you want.
Eh. I'd consider it a high tier 2 monster, personally. That's about where I've seen it used most and it's gone fine most of the times, with little impact from magic items. Party comp is relevant of course.
I was going by CR, which TBF is "party can reliably win against as one of a series of encounters per day"; skews the difficulty lower than people expect when they hear "Challenge".
Upon thinking about the original scenario, if it's just NPCs who captured the beholder when the PCs weren't around, you don't actually need an explanation, just handle it by GM's fiat. Just say that they had a single-use magic item that was crafted specifically to neutralize a beholder's powers, or they got it super-drunk or something.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
I probably should have mentioned that I don't see this antagonist group as having lot of magical resources, and I definitely see them as punching above their weight class even trying to capture a beholder.
In a different forum medical adhesive strips were mentioned for keeping eyes closed, which I feel like could be done once you've actually captured it. Maybe not for the central eye. Mulling that over.
If they're not using magic, the antimagic cone is a non-issue. That really just leaves the Beholder's Eye Rays as a major threat; if it can't see, it's left with only its mediocre Bite attack. Because of the way obscurement works in 5e, there's a way to cheese this fairly easily. The capture party will need 2 Smoke Grenades; one for themselves, and one for the Beholder. The hardest part of this plan is approaching the Beholder; I freely admit most attempts would probably fail at this stage. The Beholder's Perception is very good, and if it spots you before you're in position, it'll just fly away. But if you can overcome this hurdle, the rest is fairly simple. Once you're close enough to run up on the Beholder, the party should throw one Smoke Grenade at it and drop the second at their feet. This provides Heavy Obscurement, which automatically inflicts the Blinded condition on any creature trying to see into the area. As long as all members of the capture team remain in the smoke for the duration, they cannot be targeted by the Beholder's Eye Rays.
The Beholder can fly, but it's not especially fast and its Strength and Dexterity are just okay. Since it's only a Large creature, a Medium creature can grapple the Beholder, reducing its speed to 0; ideally the Grappler would be durable enough to weather repeated Bite attacks and perhaps have the Grappler feat, which allows them to Restrain any target they're Grappling. A Grapple check replaces an Attack, but it's not an Attack roll and thus doesn't take disadvantage from Heavy Obscurement. One or more members of the capture team should run from their smoke cloud to the Beholder's in order to Grapple and ideally Restrain it; if it's Restrained, the disadvantage their allies take from making attacks into Heavy Obscurement is nullified by the advantage they gain from attacking a Restrained creature.
Since the Beholder's Str is +0 and its Dex is +2, it's unlikely to shake off a strong Grappler, let alone two or more. If you've got this far, the remaining members of the capture party can proceed to beat the snot out of the Beholder until it falls unconscious. After that, just move it to a prison cell that's totally dark and you're good to go. I don't mean to make this sound easy, because it would not be. But it is theoretically possible and doesn't require any magic, so if you need to explain how a bunch of chuckleheads got a bound Beholder in their basement, they could have done something like this (and gotten very, very lucky).
That works pretty well for what I have in mind, because the antagonist group is a crazy cult who has a habit of surviving things they really shouldn't. Much of the trouble the PCs are going to be encountering because of this group is going to be of the 'You thought this was a good idea?' variety.
Hide behind a rock and make like a delicious brain ... no, wait - that's mind flayers. What do beholders even like? Nothing much? Anyways, I agree with the above suggestion: Sneak up on it, pull a big sack over it's head, pummel it into unconsciousness. Although a really clever beholder might have a way of producing a Gust of Wind.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Blanket disclaimer: I only ever state opinion. But I can sound terribly dogmatic - so if you feel I'm trying to tell you what to think, I'm really not, I swear. I'm telling you what I think, that's all.
Curse it. All of its magic (and anti-magic) abilities removed until such time as a Paladin or Priest of a LG deity forgives it for it's past transgression...
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Playing D&D since 1982
Have played every version of the game since Basic (Red Box Set), except that abomination sometimes called 4e.
To post a comment, please login or register a new account.
Yeah, a Beholder is a mid tier 3 monster, so going by the numbers I'd argue it'd take a threat that approaches tier 4 to subdue and contain one. But that's by the numbers, you can always fudge circumstances to fit your story if you want.
Eh. I'd consider it a high tier 2 monster, personally. That's about where I've seen it used most and it's gone fine most of the times, with little impact from magic items. Party comp is relevant of course.
I was going by CR, which TBF is "party can reliably win against as one of a series of encounters per day"; skews the difficulty lower than people expect when they hear "Challenge".
Upon thinking about the original scenario, if it's just NPCs who captured the beholder when the PCs weren't around, you don't actually need an explanation, just handle it by GM's fiat. Just say that they had a single-use magic item that was crafted specifically to neutralize a beholder's powers, or they got it super-drunk or something.
Find your own truth, choose your enemies carefully, and never deal with a dragon.
"Canon" is what's factual to D&D lore. "Cannon" is what you're going to be shot with if you keep getting the word wrong.
Blunderbuss full of eye patches.
Creating Epic Boons on DDB
DDB Buyers' Guide
Hardcovers, DDB & You
Content Troubleshooting
If they're not using magic, the antimagic cone is a non-issue. That really just leaves the Beholder's Eye Rays as a major threat; if it can't see, it's left with only its mediocre Bite attack. Because of the way obscurement works in 5e, there's a way to cheese this fairly easily. The capture party will need 2 Smoke Grenades; one for themselves, and one for the Beholder. The hardest part of this plan is approaching the Beholder; I freely admit most attempts would probably fail at this stage. The Beholder's Perception is very good, and if it spots you before you're in position, it'll just fly away. But if you can overcome this hurdle, the rest is fairly simple. Once you're close enough to run up on the Beholder, the party should throw one Smoke Grenade at it and drop the second at their feet. This provides Heavy Obscurement, which automatically inflicts the Blinded condition on any creature trying to see into the area. As long as all members of the capture team remain in the smoke for the duration, they cannot be targeted by the Beholder's Eye Rays.
The Beholder can fly, but it's not especially fast and its Strength and Dexterity are just okay. Since it's only a Large creature, a Medium creature can grapple the Beholder, reducing its speed to 0; ideally the Grappler would be durable enough to weather repeated Bite attacks and perhaps have the Grappler feat, which allows them to Restrain any target they're Grappling. A Grapple check replaces an Attack, but it's not an Attack roll and thus doesn't take disadvantage from Heavy Obscurement. One or more members of the capture team should run from their smoke cloud to the Beholder's in order to Grapple and ideally Restrain it; if it's Restrained, the disadvantage their allies take from making attacks into Heavy Obscurement is nullified by the advantage they gain from attacking a Restrained creature.
Since the Beholder's Str is +0 and its Dex is +2, it's unlikely to shake off a strong Grappler, let alone two or more. If you've got this far, the remaining members of the capture party can proceed to beat the snot out of the Beholder until it falls unconscious. After that, just move it to a prison cell that's totally dark and you're good to go. I don't mean to make this sound easy, because it would not be. But it is theoretically possible and doesn't require any magic, so if you need to explain how a bunch of chuckleheads got a bound Beholder in their basement, they could have done something like this (and gotten very, very lucky).
That works pretty well for what I have in mind, because the antagonist group is a crazy cult who has a habit of surviving things they really shouldn't. Much of the trouble the PCs are going to be encountering because of this group is going to be of the 'You thought this was a good idea?' variety.
imprisonment
Hide behind a rock and make like a delicious brain ... no, wait - that's mind flayers. What do beholders even like? Nothing much? Anyways, I agree with the above suggestion: Sneak up on it, pull a big sack over it's head, pummel it into unconsciousness. Although a really clever beholder might have a way of producing a Gust of Wind.
Blanket disclaimer: I only ever state opinion. But I can sound terribly dogmatic - so if you feel I'm trying to tell you what to think, I'm really not, I swear. I'm telling you what I think, that's all.
Curse it. All of its magic (and anti-magic) abilities removed until such time as a Paladin or Priest of a LG deity forgives it for it's past transgression...
Playing D&D since 1982
Have played every version of the game since Basic (Red Box Set), except that abomination sometimes called 4e.