Beholder (Hack'EM)

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This article is about the boss in Hack'EM. For the boss in SLASH'EM, see Beholder (SLASH'EM).
For other implementations of the monster, see Beholder.

The Beholder, e, is a unique monster that appears in Hack'EM. It is a large, mindless eye monster that is a much stronger version of its incarnation from SLASH'EM and SlashTHEM, with several traits adapted from the beholders of EvilHack.

The Beholder serves the same role as quest nemesis of the Neutral Quest and guardian of the Key of Neutrality. It possesses flight, regeneration, has infravision, will pick up magical items, and can follow a player character to other levels if it is adjacent.

The Beholder will attempt to cast one clerical monster spell during each of its turns, and also has a sleep-inducing gaze, a disintegration gaze, a stoning gaze, a canceling gaze, and a powerful bite attack. The Beholder possesses cold resistance, shock resistance, poison resistance, and stoning resistance. Though the Beholder is covetous towards the Book of the Dead, it lacks any means to steal it from you directly.

Generation

The Beholder is always generated meditating and hostile within the northwestern-most room in the Neutral Quest, with the Key of Neutrality in its possession and several gas spores surrounding it.

The Beholder does not leave a corpse upon death: if the Beholder is killed in a manner that would ordinarily leave a corpse, it will instead drop The Eye of the Beholder.

Strategy

The Beholder is far more difficult than its previous incarnation, with stronger bite and gaze attacks alongside access to all clerical spells: blinding yourself (especially with a blindfold or towel) or the beholder can prevent gaze instadeaths, but its mindlessness will render it invisible to you without the warning property, and you must still weather its assault of powerful bites and spells that include fire pillar, curse items, vulnerability, and a variation of summon insects that surrounds you with eyes and spheres.

Origin

The beholder is a well-known creature from Dungeons & Dragons, and is one of the franchise's most iconic original creations. 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.

Messages

All that remains is a single eye...
The Beholder was killed and dropped The Eye of the Beholder.

Encyclopedia entry

The beholder (A.K.A the eye tyrant, the sphere of many eyes)
is most frequently found deep underground, although infrequently
it will lair in desolate wilderness.  The globular body of this
monster is supported by levitation, and it floats slowly about
as it wills.  Atop the sphere are ten eyestalks, while in its
central area are a great eleventh eye and a large mouth filled
with pointed teeth.  Each of the eyes is said to have a different
magical property, all of which are deadly or malicious.  The
beholder is hateful, tricky, and avaricious and is known to have
a fondness for both traps and artifacts.

[ Adapted by Ben Lehman from Monstrous Manual, by TSR, Inc. ]