Monday, January 3, 2011

General Rules: Monsters - Beholderkin, Eyeball

Beholderkin, Eyeball (from Monsters of Færûn)
Tiny Aberration

Hit Dice: 1d8 - 1 (3 hit points)
Initiative: +3
Speed: 5 feet, fly 40 feet (good)
Armor Class: 18 (+3 Dexterity, +4 size, +1 natural)
BAB/Grapple: +0/-12
Attack: Eye ray +7 ranged touch (see below)
Full Attack: Eye ray +7 ranged touch (see below) or bite -3 melee (1d3-2, bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing, 20 x2)
Space/Reach: 1 foot by 1 foot/0 feet
Special Attacks: Eye rays
Special Qualities: Darkvision 60 feet, immunities, all-around vision, flight
Saves: Fortitude -1, Reflex +3, Will +2
Abilities: Str 6, Int 2, Wis 10, Dex 16, Con 9, Cha 10
Skills: Hide +15, Search +6, Spot +6
Feats: Skill Augmentation (Listen and Spot)
Environment: Underground
Organization: Solitary, pair, or pack (4)
Challenge Rating: ½
Treasure: None
Alignment: Usually neutral evil
Advancement: 2 - 3 Hit Dice (Tiny)

Eyeballs are 8-inch-wide relatives of the dreaded beholders. Normally they live as wild animals, but they can also be adopted as familiars by evil spellcasters.

Like their kin, the true beholders, eyeballs have a central eye and smaller eyestalks atop their orb. Eyeballs only have four smaller eyes and their central eye is only used for vision. Even so, eyeballs living in the wild are fierce underground predators, particularly in the rare circumstances when enough of them come together to hunt as a pack.

Eyeballs cannot be domesticated or trained in any fashion unless they are taken on as familiars by evil spellcasters.

Combat
Hunting in the wild, eyeballs relay upon their ray of frost. Wild eyeballs tend not to pick fights with creatures that are much bigger than they are unless the eyeballs are operating as a pack, in which case some will attempt to daze the target while others frost-burn it. Like normal animals, wild eyeballs will flee situations they feel they cannot win.

Eye Rays (Su): Unlike true beholders which can use all their eye ray attacks the same round, eyeballs can only use one of their four rays at a time. In addition, an eyeball that uses a daze ray or a ray of frost cannot use another daze ray or ray of frost for 2 rounds. Each eye's effect resembles a spell cast by a sorcerer (levels vary depending on the eye) but follows the rules for a ray.
  • Cause Fear: As the spell, with a range of 35 feet. The Will save DC is 10.
  • Daze: As the spell, with a range of 35 feet. The Will save DC is 10.
  • Mage Hand: As the spell cast by a 4th-level sorcerer, except that the eyeball can use the ray without having to use a move-equivalent action to move an unattended object weighing no more than 5 pounds up to 15 feet per round. The ray has a range of 35 feet.
  • Ray of Frost: As the spell, with a range of 35 feet.
Immunities (Ex): Eyeballs are immune to charm and command effects.

All-Around Vision (Ex): Eyeballs are exceptionally alert. Their many small eyes give them a +4 racial bonus on Spot checks and a +8 racial bonus on Search checks. Opponents gain no flanking bonuses when attacking an eyeball. Once an eyeball has acted during an encounter, its all-around vision negates any sneak attacks.

Flight (Ex): An eyeball's body is naturally buoyant. This buoyancy allows it to fly as the spell, as a free action, at a speed of 40 feet. This buoyancy also grants it a permanent feather fall effect with personal range.

Eyeballs as Familiars
Eyeballs can serve as familiars for characters eligible to obtain familiars including arcane engineers, hexblades, mind weavers, shadowsworn, sorcerers, and wizards. To do so, the character must be be within one alignment step of neutral evil, take the Improved Familiar feat, and be at least a 5th-level caster. One of the primary advantages of having an eyeball as a familiar is that the spellcaster can convert one of its eyes permanently into a spellray eye.

Spellray Eye (Su): A spellcaster can use their eyeball familiar as a vehicle for the delivery of a touch spell. The master casts the spell on her familiar and the next time the eyeball acts, it must attempt to strike another target with its spellray. If this ranged touch attack succeeds, the spell affects the ray's target as if the spellcaster had delivered the touch spell. If the eyeball does not discharge the spell on its next action, the spell is lost.

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