Beholder (SLASH'EM)
e Beholder 
| |
|---|---|
| Difficulty | 24 |
| Attacks |
Gaze 1d4 instadeath, Gaze 3d8 physical, Gaze 1d3 stun, Gaze 1d3 confusion, Gaze 1d4 sleep |
| Base level | 15 |
| Base experience | 538 |
| Speed | 9 |
| Base AC | −4 |
| Base MR | 70 |
| Alignment | 0 (neutral) |
| Frequency (by normal means) | Unique |
| Genocidable | No |
| Weight | 500 |
| Nutritional value | 100 |
| Size | Large |
| Resistances | None |
| Resistances conveyed | None |
|
The Beholder:
| |
| Reference | SLASH'EM_0.0.7E7F2/monst.c#line4590 |
- This article is about the boss in SLASH'EM. For the boss in Hack'EM, see Beholder (Hack'EM).
- For other implementations of the monster, see Beholder.
The Beholder, e, is a unique monster that appears in SLASH'EM and SlashTHEM. It is an eye monster that serves as the quest nemesis of the Neutral Quest and guards the Key of Neutrality. The Beholder possesses flight, regeneration, can be seen via infravision, and can follow a hero to other levels if it is adjacent. The Beholder is covetous and capable of warping across the level: though it desires the quest artifact of the hero's role, the invocation items and the Amulet of Yendor, it lacks any means to steal them directly.
The Beholder has an instadeath gaze, a physically-damaging gaze, a stun-inducing gaze, a confusion-inducing gaze, and a sleep-inducing gaze.
Generation
The Beholder is always generated hostile, and is not a valid form for polymorph. As it is guaranteed to appear in the Neutral Quest, it will not appear in bones files.[1]
The Beholder is generated meditating within the northwestern-most room of the Neutral Quest at level creation, with the uncursed Key of Neutrality in its possession and a chest and several piles of gold on its square.
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
Despite the deadly potential of its attacks, the Beholder is generally considered the easiest of the alignment quest bosses to defeat: blinding yourself (especially with a blindfold or towel) before entering its room or drawing it to your position will neutralize all of its gaze attacks, and it has no other form of offense. Reflection only protects against the gaze of death, but only if the Beholder can see you ordinarily, and has no effect on its other attacks.[2]
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.
