Beholder (monster)
e beholder 
| |
|---|---|
| Difficulty | 11 |
| Attacks |
Gaze 0d0 slow, Gaze 2d25 sleep, Gaze 0d0 disintegrate, Gaze 0d0 petrification, Gaze 2d4 cancellation, Bite 2d4 physical |
| Base level | 6 |
| Base experience | ? |
| Speed | 3 |
| Base AC | 4 |
| Base MR | 0 |
| Alignment | −10 (chaotic) |
| Frequency (by normal means) | 2 (Quite rare) |
| Genocidable | Yes |
| Weight | 10 |
| Nutritional value | 10 |
| Size | medium |
| Resistances | cold resistance |
| Resistances conveyed | none |
|
A beholder:
| |
| Reference | monst.c#line337 |
- For other implementations of the monster, see Beholder.
The beholder, e, is a deferred monster in the source code of NetHack. It is a monster in the eye or sphere monster class that is breathless, mindless, capable of flight, and can be seen via infravision.[1]
A beholder has a slowing gaze attack, a sleep-inducing gaze, a disintegration gaze, a gaze that inflicts stoning, a cancellation gaze, and a bite attack. Beholders possess cold resistance.
Contents
Generation
As a deferred monster, beholders are not generated at all, but have rules governing their generation like any other monster.
Randomly generated beholders will always be created hostile, and they are not a valid target for polymorph.
History
The beholder's data first appears in NetHack 3.2.0.
Origin
The beholder is a well-known creature from Dungeons & Dragons, one of the franchise's most iconic original creations. As described in the SLASH'EM encyclopedia entry (taken from a D&D manual), beholders have spherical bodies with a single large eye, ten smaller eyes on stalks above it, and a mouth full of teeth. The smaller eyes are used for offense or defense; each one has a different magical ability. Beholders are typically hostile to other creatures, and often hostile to one another.
Variants
Several variants of NetHack fully implement the beholder and its gaze attacks, while granting the monster additional traits and abilities depending on the variant.
