Homebrew Beholder-Born Species Details
Beholders are known create other beholders while they are sleeping. Sometimes, their dreams are influenced by creatures and adventurers they've burned, frozen, petrified, or disintegrated. When normally a new beholder would spring forth from its mind, a beholder may twist the memories of these past creatures and create something entirely new. Usually the beholder will wake up immediately after, whether by its own nightmares, or by its new creation attacking it. An aberration that has a semblance of sanity and is able to sneak away will wander the world as a beholder-born.
Most beholder-born are short and stout, from a distance appearing much like a dwarf. Closer inspection, however, will reveal physical traits reminiscent of any race. Some may have the longer ears of elves, or the shorter and pointed ears of gnomes. Some may be of a more hirsute, resembling bugbears or hobgoblins. Being a random memory of a monster encountered by all types of doomed spelunkers, a beholder-born can share the appearance of practically anyone. The most striking feature will be the number of eyes a beholder-born has.
A beholder-born will usually have 3-5 eyes. Rarely, some may have up to 8. Their eyes are usually set in their faces. Some eyes may be attached to short stalks that rise above their heads. A beholder-born with such eye stalks will either stay away from bigger cities. All that do venture into larger populations will go to great lengths to disguise their alien appearance.
Since they were created from a memory, a beholder-born will already have most of the gear their past counterpart did. Ones that have enough sanity and identity of self may try to live up to their appearance, but all are free to explore and train in different paths. For example, a beholder-born created from an elven bladesinger may find faith as a cleric, or go a more pastoral route as a druid.
Beholder-Born Traits
Unfortunately for many, a beholder-born shares some traits with its aberrant parent.Ability Score Increase
Due to the randomness of their creation, a beholder-born may add +1 to two ability scores of their choice, or +2 to one ability score.
Climbing Speed
Though unable to fly, beholder-born are gifted with enough of their parent's magical lightness that they excel at gaining new heights. They have a climbing speed of 20.
Perceptive
Due to their extra eyes, beholder-born have advantage on perception checks that rely on sight.
Eye Ray
A beholder-born doesn't have the many rays of its creator, but it usually has one. The beholder-born can use the eye ray as a bonus action a number of times equal to its Intelligence modifier, per long or short rest. The ray is a ranged spell attack using Intelligence as the modifier. You can choose what type of damage the ray deals from the table below, or roll on the table to determine it randomly.
- Hot Shot- Deals fire damage
- Breath of Winter- Deals cold damage
- Mind of Madness- Deals psychic damage
- Ride the Lightning- Deals lightning damage
- Packs a Punch- Deals force damage
- Weak in the Knees- Deals necrotic damage
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