The Complete Guide to Beholders

Supplemental material for this book is available in EN World Player's Journal #2.

There is free material for this book available on the Freebies page.

Behold: the ultimate resource for the ultimate monster. With enough material to sustain a campaign for years, the Complete Guide to Beholders offers a completely new perspective on this misunderstood monster. Far more than simply a book of new options, this work is a transformation of the beholder. It expands their social structure and cultural life in new ways, forever changing the way you play them. Inside you will find:

• A comprehensive look at the different varieties of beholders, including the nation-like Dominions by which they separate themselves, the differing ideologies of each Dominion, and stats for more than a dozen variants, including the Eyetouched template.
• An eye-opening look at beholder cultists and their infiltration of humanoid civilizations, including everything you need to play a cultist or one of the beholders' corrupted eyekin servants.
• A detailed guide to creating memorable beholder encounters, adventures, and long-term campaigns, covering tactical advice for combat, maps of common beholder lair designs, and new classes, feats, equipment, and magic items just for beholders.
• New player options for fighting against beholders, including new classes, spells, and organizations.

Preview: Learn more about the beholder cultist, the eyekin, and the new classes open to them! Click here for this 8-page preview of new character options from the Complete Guide to Beholders. (PDF, 500K)

Reviews:

• EN World: 5 stars. "If you're into Beholders or are thinking of something new to make as the main antagonist for the party, from low level to high levels, then you need to pick up the Complete Guide to Beholders."

Errata:

• On page 117, the Knight of Cleaning's special ability Resist the Unnatural should read as follows:
  Resist the Unnatural: Through strength of will, dedication, and divine grace, a knight of cleansing learns to resist the unclean powers of aberrations. For every two Knight of Purity levels, a character receives a +1 to all saving throws against the supernatural powers and spell-like abilities of aberrations. This does not provide any special protection against standard spells cast by an aberration.

Writers: Keith Baker, Neal Gamache, Matt Sprengeler
Cover Artist: Michael Erickson
Interior Artists: Thomas Denmark, Andy Hopp, William McAusland, Brad McDevitt, and Scott Purdy

GMG3004. 128 pages. $22.00.

Preview of Table of Contents and Interior Art

• Introduction
• Chapter One: Beholder Physiology
• Basic Anatomy
• The Sovereign
• Beholder Subspecies
• Reproduction
• Eye Rays and Their Uses
• Language
• The Eyekin
• Chapter Two: The Secret Life of Beholders
• The Dominions
• Beholder Hierarchy
• Geopolitics
• Myths
• Rites and Rituals
• Humanoid Interactions
• Beholder Cults
• War Between Dominions
• Conflicts with Other Species
• Chapter Three: The Tyrants in Battle
• Running Sovereigns
• General Strategies
• The Deadliness of the Sovereign
• Eye Rays in Combat
• The Antimagic Cone
• Adventurer Classes
• Beholders with Allies
• Multiple Sovereigns
• Chapter Four: Characters with Many Eyes
• Beholders as Player Characters
• Eyekin as a Character Race
• Character Classes
• Beholder Cultist
• Aberrant Warrior
• Eye of the Void
• Juggernaut
• Beholder and Eyekin Feats
• Metamagic Feats and Eye Rays
• Metamagic Feats and Eyebeams
• Chapter Five: Beholder Equipment
• Weapons
• Armor
• Special and Superior Items
• Magic Items
• Chapter Six: The Beholder Campaign
• Alternate Settings
• Conversing with Beholders
• Nine Dominions
• Consuming Eye
• Enigma
• Eternal Vigil
• Final Forge
• First Eye
• Flesh Reborn
• Poisoned Eye
• Revelations
• Watching Wheel
• Beholder Encounters
• The Endless Children
• The Experiment
• Subversion
• Chapter Seven: Beholder Architecture
• Traps
• Beholder Lairs
• Beholder Outposts
• The Eyehold
• The Citadel
• Urban Beholder Settlements
• Architecture and Dominion
• Cultist Temples
• Chapter Eight: Creature Statistics
• Beholder Sovereign
• Dominion of Enigma
• Dominion of Flesh Reborn
• Dominion of Revelations
• Beholder Monitor
• Beholder Overseer, Greater
• Beholder Overseer, Lesser
• Beholder Skirmisher, Greater
• Beholder Skirmisher, Lesser
• Besieger
• Incubator
• Laborer
• Observer
• Shaper
• Template: Eyetouched Creature
• Alternate Eye Rays
• Chapter Nine: Fighting the Tyrants
• Introduction
• Organizations
• The Cleansing Light
• The Second Eye
• The Unseen
• New Classes
• Knight of Cleansing
• Tyrant Hunter
• Skills
• Spells
• Purity Domain
• New Spells
• Tactics

The archetypal beholder.


The juggernaut, a beholder trained and equipped for close combat.


The monitor, a variant beholder bred for observation.


A beholder cult.


An eyekin adventurer.


Eyetouched dire wolves.