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Luthic

2019-08-23T05:07:21Z

2605:E000:7EC5:A000:B922:DF30:E1:C1DB:

{{dnd-stub}}

{{Infobox Deity
|Name = Luthic
|Symbol = Orcish Rune for "Home" or "Cave"
|Alignment = Evil (varies between Lawful, Neutral and Chaotic depending on edition)
|Divine Rank = Lesser God
|Pantheon = [[Orc]]
|Portfolio = Fertility, medicine, servitude, caves, healing, home, orc females, wisdom
|Domains = '''3E:''' Cavern, Evil, Family, Healing, Orc <br> '''4E:''' Earth, Protection, Moon <br> '''5E:''' Life, Nature
|Home Plane = '''[[Great Wheel]]:''' ''Nishrek'' ([[Acheron]]) <br> '''[[World Axis]]:''' ''[[Chernoggar]]''
|Worshippers = Female [[Orc]]s, Orc Midwives, Orc Healers, Orc [[Witch]]es, Orc [[Monk]]s, Orc Runecasters, [[Half-Orc]]s
|Favoured Weapon = Claws or a Clawed Bracer
}}

'''Luthic''' is the sole female member of the [[Orc]]ish pantheon in [[Dungeons & Dragons]]. Wife of [[Gruumsh]] and mother to [[Bahgtru]], she embodies the various aspects of female orc culture, such as it is in their oppressively patriarchal society, and serves as the mother-goddess figure of their brutal religion. Known as the ''Cave Mother'' and the ''Blood Moon Witch'', she is the protector of orcish women and children, guardian of their fertility, queen of caves and mistress of magic. She is depicted as a fertile orc matron with huge, razor sharp claws made from her overly long, sharpened, magically unbreakable fingernails.

She first appeared in the article "The Gods of the Orcs" in [[Dragon Magazine]] #62 for [[Advanced Dungeons & Dragons]] 1st edition. From there, she made it into the first [[Unearthed Arcana]] source book. In 2nd edition, she was detailed first in Monster Mythology, then in On Hallowed Ground. In 3e, she appeared in Faiths & Pantheons, whilst in 4e she made her return in Secrets of the Plane Above, and finally she returned in the Player's Handbook and Sword Coast Adventurer's Guide for 5th edition. Her religion was greatly fleshed out in Volo's Guide to Monsters for 5e as well.

Ironically, despite being the orcish goddess of sex and beauty, and thus the embodiment of everything that an orc female should be to be attractive, even with the growing popularity of orc [[monstergirls]], no fan has ever given her a similar make-over.

<gallery>
File:3e Orc Pantheon.jpg
File:ADnD Luthic.jpg
File:4e Luthic and Bahgtru.jpg
</gallery>

{{D&D-Nonhuman-Deities}}

Neogi

2019-08-23T04:51:41Z

2605:E000:7EC5:A000:B922:DF30:E1:C1DB: /* Neogi Religion */

{{NeedsImages}}
Born from the ''[[Spelljammer]]'' campaign setting, the race of [[aberration]]s known as the '''neogi''' are the most-loathed race in the cosmos. [[Beholder]]s might be dicks, but they mostly try to exterminate one another rather than anyone else, and get one on his own long enough and he'll turn into a pretty chill guy. [[Mind flayer]]s may eat literal brains, but they'll at least refrain from doing it ''in front of you'', and can be bought off with slaves or other valuable things.

But the neogi have no friends, for very good reason. Looking like an ugly, [[halfling]]-sized mixer of a moray eel and a wolf-spider, the neogi mind ''cannot'' conceive of any relationship between two other forms of sapient life that isn't owner and slave. Even aboard their own ships, there is a looooong human centipede of ownership that ends in slaves. Indeed, this is why they're less dangerous than they could be: it's ''really'' difficult for them to cooperate amongst themselves on any meaningful level without a whole lot of captains getting killed and eaten in brutal deathmatches for overlordship of multiple vessels.

Meanwhile, since they have no planet and probably blew their old one up, they jam around the universe voiping into crystal spheres to grab as many slaves as they can before voiping out. They don't even trade for them, because they ''can't'' conceive of the idea of two equal parties trading goods. The lone exception appears to be the illithids, and even ''they'' don't like hanging with the neogi.

Culturally, like mind flayers, they like palling around with [[Umber Hulk]]s. Every adult neogi has at least one umber hulk slave, because they ''are'' slaves until they can enslave a neogi of their own. Biologically, they reproduce every bit as horribly (and hilariously) as one would expect from such a disgusting race. Once one of them starts getting a bit senile, they ''fucking poison him'' until he's a bloated lobotomized wreck called a Great Old Master that can do nothing but eat and eat and eat, until he falls over dead and a couple-dozen newborn neogi explode out of him, eating up all his remains and then one another. How bloated? They go from Small sized to ''Huge'' sized.

Comically, this means lone neogi are almost always renegades who don't ''want'' to be turned into literal baby-factories, chased by ships full of their kinsmen out to make them do their duty to their race and make more neogi. Combat-wise, they mostly rely on their umber hulk body guards, though their bite carries a slowing poison and every one in a couple of them dabbles in magic. The Great Old Masters, meanwhile, are slow and dumb, but fire or slashing damage causes newborn neogi to explode out of them and attack their attackers. Their ships are the charmingly-named Deathspider and Mindspider, and are hard to get because everyone hates them and attacks them on sight.

==PC Material==
Amazingly, neogi were actually given something of a player character treatment in AD&D, despite how hideously evil they are! Precisely why PC stats for neogi appeared in [[Dragon Magazine]] #214's "Ecology of the Neogi" (a follow-up to Dragon #184's "Magic With An Evil Bite", which provided a brief selection of neogi-devised spells and magic items, as well as stats for the [[Umber Hulk]] [[Flesh Golem]]), who can say? In fact, they were so underdeveloped that it's perhaps more an example of 3e style "monster advancement" rules. Still, 1d4chan provides once again:

::Ability Score Adjustments: +2 Intelligence, +1 Dexterity, -3 Strength
::Class & Level Limits: [[Wizard]] (Generalist or Specialist) 12, [[Cleric]] 12
::Abhorred: Neogi suffer a -15 Charisma penalty for the purposes of Reaction Rolls.

The rest of their powers must be extracted from their monster writeup.

==Neogi Religion==
Despite their incredible arrogance, the "Ecology of the Neogi" in [[Dragon Magazine]] #214 states that neogi do have a form of religion, although it's a warped and brutal one. What that article says is shared below:

The only neogi fable of interest to sages details the neogi creation myth. Their legends claim the universe was created by a Being named '''''Ka’jik’zxi'''''. This deity constructed the Planes, Spheres, Flow, and the planets. Finally it created five more deities, each like itself only weaker. The five, named '''''Thrig’ki''''', '''''P’kk''''', '''''T’zen’kil''''', '''''Kr’tx''''' and '''''Kil’lix''''', each represent one of the desirable aspects of the neogi race. These deities squabbled over their areas of control until Ka’jik’zxi grew tired of their bickering and punished them. Furious, the five hatched a plot to kill Ka’jik’zxi. Concocting a fatal brew with the “foulest ingredients” (including friendship, mercy, and compassion) they poisoned their Creator. Ka’jik’zxi swelled up to a huge size, and the young deities hid, fearful of Ka’jik’zxi’s wrath. Suddenly, Ka’jik’zxi burst, spilling its entrails across the spheres. Some landed in the Outer Planes—the parts containing mercy and compassion became the gods of good. Some of Ka’jik’zxi landed in the Lower Planes and became the evil gods. Ka’jik’zxi’s brain landed in a forgotten Crystal Sphere.

After much searching, the neogi deities found the brain. There they were amazed to discover life—the first neogi had been “born.” The deities taught the neogi of the multiverse and their destiny to conquer. The neogi built ships and left their homeworld—referred to in legends as Ka’jk’z. They have never returned, but the neogi know their mission: to conquer all the Spheres.

One in 20 neogi has priestly abilities, and each spelljamming vessel is overseen by at least one priest. Priests are permitted to add the word '''''ki’zid''''' after their name, meaning “favored of deities.” The Powers of the neogi are referred to as “deity” and not “god’ or “goddess,” as there is no distinction between male or female amongst the sexless neogi. Deities are viewed as servants by the insolent neogi, who continually demand favor and good fortune. Neogi never pray, and rarely offer sacrifice, since they see themselves as more important.

Pronouncing the name of a neogi deity incorrectly is an invitation to be killed slowly and painfully. Humans, who tend to find neogi pronunciation difficult, are advised not to attempt saying deities’ names. There are five neogi deities:

'''Thrig’ki''' (lesser power), Align: NE, Plane: Karish (Abyss), Portfolio: “love” (envy/jealousy)
::Although the deity of “love,” Thrig is better translated as jealousy or hatred. To neogi, jealousy and love are the same. Thrig’ki appears as a neogi with writhing snakes for hair and twelve spidery legs.

'''P’kk '''(lesser power), Alignment: LE, Plane: Ki’pik (Baator), Portfolio: fear, tyranny.
::P’kk is the favorite deity of captains and neogi in positions of power who enjoy bullying and manipulating their lessers. P’kk is seen as an umber hulk with the head of a neogi.

'''T’zen’kil''' (lesser power, Alignment: NE, Plane: Karish, Portfolio: torture, pain, suffering.
::The name of T’zen’kil is invoked by neogi torturers and those in charge of the slave pens. Worshippers are tattooed with grotesque black symbols of pain. T’zen’kil looks like a black neogi with a whip for a tongue.

'''Kr’tx''' (lesser power), Alignment: CE, Plane: Jik’qu (Gray Waste), Portfolio: war, brutality, strength.
::Kr’tx is the neogi deity favored by umber hulk slaves, who delight in brutality and wanton destruction. The favor of Kr’tx is always demanded before a major battle. Kr’tx is seen as a red neogi with continually burning claws and hair.

'''Kil’lix''' (lesser power), Align: LE, Plane: Karish, Portfolio: death, murder, poison.
::Kil’lix is the patron of murderers and assassins in the neogi world, and is seen as the darkest of shadows. Its horrid laugh is high-pitched and whining, yet also deep and booming, and is said to be heard by those who are about to die.

All neogi priests gain access to the same spheres of spells. '''''Major access:''''' All, Astral, Charm, Combat, Elemental, Healing (reversed only), Necromantic, War. '''''Minor access:''''' Protection, Summoning.

==Neogi Magic==
In [[Dragon Magazine]] #184, the article "Magic With An Evil Bite" introduced a number of neogi-crafted magical spells and items, which 1d4chan is generous enough to repeat here for you.

===Spells===
'''''Venom bite (Evocation)'''''
::Level: 2
::Components: V,S
::Range: 5 yds. + 5 yds./lvl.
::CT: 1
::Duration: Instant.
::Save: Special
::Area of Effect: 10' square

This spell is the neogi version of a magic missile spell. When cast, the spell brings into being a small set of pointed teeth that are fired outward from the caster's body. One set of teeth is created for every two levels of experience beyond the 1st possessed by the caster (e.g., a 3rd-level caster would create two sets of teeth) to maximum of four sets of teeth. The teeth strike as 5-HD monsters; any creature struck by a set of teeth must save vs. spells or be slowed for 1-4 rounds. The caster can divide the sets of teeth among as many opponents as he desires so long as they are all within a 10' square selected as the focus for the spell. Hits from multiple sets of teeth require multiple saves, unless a save is failed and the victim is slowed. Further bites from the same casting of this spell have no effect once the victim has already been slowed.

'''''Spider gout (Conjuration)'''''
::Level: 2
::Components: V,S,M
::Range: 10 yds.
::CT: 2
::Duration: Instant.
::Save: ½
::Area of Effect: One creature

This spell creates a magical glob of spider venom in the caster's mouth, which the caster spits out at any single target within range. The caster may retain the venom for a number of rounds equal to half his level. If he retains it longer, he suffers the damage detailed below, without any saving throw. The caster can spit the venom up to 10 yards, whether he normally is capable of such an action or not. The caster must make a successful attack roll to strike the target (no range penalties apply). Failure indicates the venom glob missed, causing it to dissolve harmlessly. Creatures struck must save vs. poison or suffer 2d4 hp damage plus 1 hp per level of the caster to a maximum of +10 hp damage at 10th level. A successful save indicates only half damage. The material component is the neogi's own poisonous saliva.

'''''Arachnophobia (Illusion/Phantasm)'''''
::Level: 3
::Components: V,S
::Range: 5 yds./level
::CT: 3
::Duration: 1 rd./level
::Save: Neg.
::Area of Effect: Special

Upon casting this spell, the caster creates the illusion of thousands upon thousands of crawling spiders. Only a number of creatures equal to the level of the caster can be affected by this illusion, and all must be within a 10'-diameter sphere. Any creature targeted by the spell must save vs. spells, success indicating that the spell has no effect. Any creature who fails its initial save must save vs. spells again. Success now indicates the creature flees from the area at its fastest possible movement rate for 2-5 rounds. Those who fail are so frightened that they are unable to do anything except try to remove the spiders they believe are crawling all over their bodies.

The illusion this spell creates is different for each individual. It might be argued that, for example, umber hulks have little to fear from spiders. But when those spiders are 1' in diameter with armor-piercing fangs, there is much to fear. The neogi tend to use this spell to disrupt and disorganize enemy forces when boarding actions are taking place.

Note: Regarding the initial saving throw, DMs must decide whether the target creature has reason to believe that what he is witnessing is an illusion. It is not unreasonable to assign a beneficial modifier to the initial save roll if the target has reason not to believe in the illusory spiders.

'''''Identify race (Divination)'''''
::Level: 4
::Components: V,S
::Range: Touch
::CT: 4
::Duration: 1 rd./level
::Save: None
::Area of Effect: One creature

This unusual spell is used by the neogi to identify the capabilities of a newly encountered race. The spell provides for the caster the name of the race (as it is known to the creature itself), its general combat abilities, a brief knowledge of the creature's customs, and what the creature needs to survive. The spell can identify only one piece of information (e.g., the usual methods of attack) per round. The DM must decide if the information being sought is available. The spell will only identify with that particular creature's life, not the race as a whole, so different readings are possible. For example, the lifestyle and abilities of a human wizard of Thay from the FORGOTTEN REALMS® setting will differ greatly from those of a human Knight of Solamnia from Krynn of the DRAGONLANCE® saga.

This spell is used by the neogi to determine the abilities and needs of a potential slave without serious risk to the slave's life. Although this spell may seem somewhat trivial to other races, it has been witnessed that ships bearing neogi wizards capable of casting this spell have far more powerful slaves than those that do not.

'''''Lethal hatchling (Necromancy)'''''
::Level: 5
::Components: V,S
::Range: 10 yds
::CT: One round
::Duration: Special
::Save: Special
::Area of Effect: One creature

Upon utterance of this spell, the caster conjures up a small, 1 -diameter egg that fires outward from the caster and toward the target. The target is then entitled to a save vs. death magic. If the save succeeds, the spell has no effect. Failure indicates a most gruesome fate: The egg enters the victim's body and begins to grow. For the next four rounds, the target is entitled to another save vs. death magic each round at a -2 cumulative penalty (i.e., -2 on the first save after the egg enters the body, -4 on the second, etc.). Each failed save results in a loss of 25% of the target's original hit-point total. If the target makes a successful save during this time, the spell is halted and the egg's growth stops and then deteriorates. If the target dies, a newborn neogi erupts out of its body.

Some neogi wizards have been known to cast this spell to replace neogi lost in earlier combats. This is a rare occurrence, however, as it usually requires the sacrifice of a slave to do so.

===Magic Items===
'''''Charm of distraction'''''
This minor magical item is usually shaped as a pendant in the form of a neogi's head looped through a chain. The wearer of this magical item gains several benefits. First, the charm acts as a standard ring of protection +1. The charm also bestows upon the wearer an additional +1 (for a total of +2) on saves vs. enchantment/charm spells. Lastly, the charm provides the function of magically holding an opponent for one round. This can be done once per day and is otherwise similar to the wizard's hold person spell, cast at the 8th level of ability. The neogi can attempt this hold on any single target he can physically see. The target of the hold is entitled to a save vs. spells. If successful, the target is unaffected. If the save is failed, the target is unable to take any actions until the following round.
The neogi are very fond of this item, as it often buys them an extra moment to escape from the clutches of an enemy or distract the foe long enough for the neogi's umber hulks to rip them apart.
XP Value: Nil (cannot be made by PCs)

'''''Bands of the serpent'''''
Only neogi possessing magical ability can make use of this item. These metal bands, always found in pairs, are worn around the spiderlike legs of the neogi and bestow upon the wearer the following abilities:
::#: The wearer of the bands receives a +1 bonus on all saves vs. poison. This bonus is cumulative with other forms of protection.
::#: The wearer can communicate with any form of reptile through a limited form of telepathy. This includes lizard men and other sentient reptiles as well as the mundane forms. This telepathy does not give the neogi any ability to control reptiles, however.
::#: The wearer can transform himself into a giant poisonous snake. The wearer gains all of the abilities listed in the Monstrous Compendium under Snake: poison, giant. The wearer retains his own hitpoint total. The wearer can transform into snake form once per day, each change taking one round to complete and lasting up to six turns.
This item neither has nor requires charges. Neogi who possess these rare items will go to great lengths to keep them out of the hands of other neogi as well as adventuring parties.
XP Value: Nil (cannot be made by PCs)

'''''Bands of the arachnid'''''
These bands are always found in pairs and are very similar in appearance to the bands of the serpent. The bands are worn around the spiderlike legs of the neogi. Only those of that race who possess magical ability can make use of them. The wearer gains the following abilities:
::#: The wearer receives a +2 bonus on all saving throws vs. poison. This is cumulative with other forms of magical protection.
::#: The wearer is immune to the effects of any spell or spell-like ability that affects movement (e.g., slow, hold, etc.). This power is always in effect, regardless of the wishes of the wearer. A side effect of this ability is that the wearer can move freely through any web, magical or otherwise, as if he were an actual spider.
::#: The wearer can transform himself into a giant spider. The wearer gains all of the abilities listed in the Monstrous Compendium under Spider, giant. The wearer retains his own hit-point total. This transformation lasts a number of turns equal to the wearer's experience level. The wearer can transform into spider form once per day.
These items neither have nor require any charges. Neogi who possess these rare items will go to great lengths to keep them. Neogi cannot wear more than one type of magical bands at any time.
XP Value: Nil (cannot be made by PCs)

==Subsequent Editions==
They mostly got ignored once ''Spelljammer'' died, but [[Lords of Madness]] in 3e had a whole chapter on them with a mini-adventure, and they had both an appearance in the [[Monster Manual]] 2 and an Ecology article in [[Dragon Magazine]] in 4e. In 5e they were officially added back into the game with ''Volo's Guide to Monsters'', which statted them out, described their life-cycle (though they now lay their eggs on the Great Old Master rather than just having him suddenly die of pregnancy), and softened them just enough that they can now cooperate with other civilizations as evil and depraved as they are in situations where self-preservation overrides their natural desire to enslave and dominate. This makes them a bit less "enslave at all costs!" and more greed-driven space-slave-merchants.

[[Category:Dungeons & Dragons]][[Category:Monsters]]

Neogi

2019-08-23T04:51:25Z

2605:E000:7EC5:A000:B922:DF30:E1:C1DB: /* Neogi Religion */

{{NeedsImages}}
Born from the ''[[Spelljammer]]'' campaign setting, the race of [[aberration]]s known as the '''neogi''' are the most-loathed race in the cosmos. [[Beholder]]s might be dicks, but they mostly try to exterminate one another rather than anyone else, and get one on his own long enough and he'll turn into a pretty chill guy. [[Mind flayer]]s may eat literal brains, but they'll at least refrain from doing it ''in front of you'', and can be bought off with slaves or other valuable things.

But the neogi have no friends, for very good reason. Looking like an ugly, [[halfling]]-sized mixer of a moray eel and a wolf-spider, the neogi mind ''cannot'' conceive of any relationship between two other forms of sapient life that isn't owner and slave. Even aboard their own ships, there is a looooong human centipede of ownership that ends in slaves. Indeed, this is why they're less dangerous than they could be: it's ''really'' difficult for them to cooperate amongst themselves on any meaningful level without a whole lot of captains getting killed and eaten in brutal deathmatches for overlordship of multiple vessels.

Meanwhile, since they have no planet and probably blew their old one up, they jam around the universe voiping into crystal spheres to grab as many slaves as they can before voiping out. They don't even trade for them, because they ''can't'' conceive of the idea of two equal parties trading goods. The lone exception appears to be the illithids, and even ''they'' don't like hanging with the neogi.

Culturally, like mind flayers, they like palling around with [[Umber Hulk]]s. Every adult neogi has at least one umber hulk slave, because they ''are'' slaves until they can enslave a neogi of their own. Biologically, they reproduce every bit as horribly (and hilariously) as one would expect from such a disgusting race. Once one of them starts getting a bit senile, they ''fucking poison him'' until he's a bloated lobotomized wreck called a Great Old Master that can do nothing but eat and eat and eat, until he falls over dead and a couple-dozen newborn neogi explode out of him, eating up all his remains and then one another. How bloated? They go from Small sized to ''Huge'' sized.

Comically, this means lone neogi are almost always renegades who don't ''want'' to be turned into literal baby-factories, chased by ships full of their kinsmen out to make them do their duty to their race and make more neogi. Combat-wise, they mostly rely on their umber hulk body guards, though their bite carries a slowing poison and every one in a couple of them dabbles in magic. The Great Old Masters, meanwhile, are slow and dumb, but fire or slashing damage causes newborn neogi to explode out of them and attack their attackers. Their ships are the charmingly-named Deathspider and Mindspider, and are hard to get because everyone hates them and attacks them on sight.

==PC Material==
Amazingly, neogi were actually given something of a player character treatment in AD&D, despite how hideously evil they are! Precisely why PC stats for neogi appeared in [[Dragon Magazine]] #214's "Ecology of the Neogi" (a follow-up to Dragon #184's "Magic With An Evil Bite", which provided a brief selection of neogi-devised spells and magic items, as well as stats for the [[Umber Hulk]] [[Flesh Golem]]), who can say? In fact, they were so underdeveloped that it's perhaps more an example of 3e style "monster advancement" rules. Still, 1d4chan provides once again:

::Ability Score Adjustments: +2 Intelligence, +1 Dexterity, -3 Strength
::Class & Level Limits: [[Wizard]] (Generalist or Specialist) 12, [[Cleric]] 12
::Abhorred: Neogi suffer a -15 Charisma penalty for the purposes of Reaction Rolls.

The rest of their powers must be extracted from their monster writeup.

==Neogi Religion==
Despite their incredible arrogance, the "Ecology of the Neogi" in [[Dragon Magazine]] #214 states that neogi do have a form of religion, although it's a warped and brutal one. What that article says is shared below:

The only neogi fable of interest to sages details the neogi creation myth. Their legends claim the universe was created by a Being named '''''Ka’jik’zxi'''''. This deity constructed the Planes, Spheres, Flow, and the planets. Finally it created five more deities, each like itself only weaker. The five, named '''''Thrig’ki''''', '''''P’kk''''', '''''T’zen’kil''''', '''''Kr’tx''''' and '''''Kil’lix''''', each represent one of the desirable aspects of the neogi race. These deities squabbled over their areas of control until Ka’jik’zxi grew tired of their bickering and punished them. Furious, the five hatched a plot to kill Ka’jik’zxi. Concocting a fatal brew with the “foulest ingredients” (including friendship, mercy, and compassion) they poisoned their Creator. Ka’jik’zxi swelled up to a huge size, and the young deities hid, fearful of Ka’jik’zxi’s wrath. Suddenly, Ka’jik’zxi burst, spilling its entrails across the spheres. Some landed in the Outer Planes—the parts containing mercy and compassion became the gods of good. Some of Ka’jik’zxi landed in the Lower Planes and became the evil gods. Ka’jik’zxi’s brain landed in a forgotten Crystal Sphere.

After much searching, the neogi deities found the brain. There they were amazed to discover life—the first neogi had been “born.” The deities taught the neogi of the multiverse and their destiny to conquer. The neogi built ships and left their homeworld—referred to in legends as Ka’jk’z. They have never returned, but the neogi know their mission: to conquer all the Spheres.

One in 20 neogi has priestly abilities, and each spelljamming vessel is overseen by at least one priest. Priests are permitted to add the word '''''ki’zid''''' after their name, meaning “favored of deities.” The Powers of the neogi are referred to as “deity” and not “god’ or “goddess,” as there is no distinction between male or female amongst the sexless neogi. Deities are viewed as servants by the insolent neogi, who continually demand favor and good fortune. Neogi never pray, and rarely offer sacrifice, since they see themselves as more important.

Pronouncing the name of a neogi deity incorrectly is an invitation to be killed slowly and painfully. Humans, who tend to find neogi pronunciation difficult, are advised not to attempt saying deities’ names. There are five neogi deities:

'''Thrig’ki''' (lesser power), Align: NE, Plane: Karish (Abyss), Portfolio: “love” (envy/jealousy)
::Although the deity of “love,” Thrig is better translated as jealousy or hatred. To neogi, jealousy and love are the same. Thrig’ki appears as a neogi with writhing snakes for hair and twelve spidery legs.

'''P’kk '''(lesser power), Alignment: LE, Plane: Ki’pik (Baator), Portfolio: fear, tyranny.
::P’kk is the favorite deity of captains and neogi in positions of power who enjoy bullying and manipulating their lessers. P’kk is seen as an umber hulk with the head of a neogi.

'''T’zen’kil''' (lesser power, Alignment: NE, Plane: Karish, Portfolio: torture, pain, suffering.
::The name of T’zen’kil is invoked by
neogi torturers and those in charge of the slave pens. Worshippers are tattooed with grotesque black symbols of pain. T’zen’kil looks like a black neogi with a whip for a tongue.

'''Kr’tx''' (lesser power), Alignment: CE, Plane: Jik’qu (Gray Waste), Portfolio: war, brutality, strength.
::Kr’tx is the neogi deity favored by umber hulk slaves, who delight in brutality and wanton destruction. The favor of Kr’tx is always demanded before a major battle. Kr’tx is seen as a red neogi with continually burning claws and hair.

'''Kil’lix''' (lesser power), Align: LE, Plane: Karish, Portfolio: death, murder, poison.
::Kil’lix is the patron of murderers and assassins in the neogi world, and is seen as the darkest of shadows. Its horrid laugh is high-pitched and whining, yet also deep and booming, and is said to be heard by those who are about to die.

All neogi priests gain access to the same spheres of spells. '''''Major access:''''' All, Astral, Charm, Combat, Elemental, Healing (reversed only), Necromantic, War. '''''Minor access:''''' Protection, Summoning.

==Neogi Magic==
In [[Dragon Magazine]] #184, the article "Magic With An Evil Bite" introduced a number of neogi-crafted magical spells and items, which 1d4chan is generous enough to repeat here for you.

===Spells===
'''''Venom bite (Evocation)'''''
::Level: 2
::Components: V,S
::Range: 5 yds. + 5 yds./lvl.
::CT: 1
::Duration: Instant.
::Save: Special
::Area of Effect: 10' square

This spell is the neogi version of a magic missile spell. When cast, the spell brings into being a small set of pointed teeth that are fired outward from the caster's body. One set of teeth is created for every two levels of experience beyond the 1st possessed by the caster (e.g., a 3rd-level caster would create two sets of teeth) to maximum of four sets of teeth. The teeth strike as 5-HD monsters; any creature struck by a set of teeth must save vs. spells or be slowed for 1-4 rounds. The caster can divide the sets of teeth among as many opponents as he desires so long as they are all within a 10' square selected as the focus for the spell. Hits from multiple sets of teeth require multiple saves, unless a save is failed and the victim is slowed. Further bites from the same casting of this spell have no effect once the victim has already been slowed.

'''''Spider gout (Conjuration)'''''
::Level: 2
::Components: V,S,M
::Range: 10 yds.
::CT: 2
::Duration: Instant.
::Save: ½
::Area of Effect: One creature

This spell creates a magical glob of spider venom in the caster's mouth, which the caster spits out at any single target within range. The caster may retain the venom for a number of rounds equal to half his level. If he retains it longer, he suffers the damage detailed below, without any saving throw. The caster can spit the venom up to 10 yards, whether he normally is capable of such an action or not. The caster must make a successful attack roll to strike the target (no range penalties apply). Failure indicates the venom glob missed, causing it to dissolve harmlessly. Creatures struck must save vs. poison or suffer 2d4 hp damage plus 1 hp per level of the caster to a maximum of +10 hp damage at 10th level. A successful save indicates only half damage. The material component is the neogi's own poisonous saliva.

'''''Arachnophobia (Illusion/Phantasm)'''''
::Level: 3
::Components: V,S
::Range: 5 yds./level
::CT: 3
::Duration: 1 rd./level
::Save: Neg.
::Area of Effect: Special

Upon casting this spell, the caster creates the illusion of thousands upon thousands of crawling spiders. Only a number of creatures equal to the level of the caster can be affected by this illusion, and all must be within a 10'-diameter sphere. Any creature targeted by the spell must save vs. spells, success indicating that the spell has no effect. Any creature who fails its initial save must save vs. spells again. Success now indicates the creature flees from the area at its fastest possible movement rate for 2-5 rounds. Those who fail are so frightened that they are unable to do anything except try to remove the spiders they believe are crawling all over their bodies.

The illusion this spell creates is different for each individual. It might be argued that, for example, umber hulks have little to fear from spiders. But when those spiders are 1' in diameter with armor-piercing fangs, there is much to fear. The neogi tend to use this spell to disrupt and disorganize enemy forces when boarding actions are taking place.

Note: Regarding the initial saving throw, DMs must decide whether the target creature has reason to believe that what he is witnessing is an illusion. It is not unreasonable to assign a beneficial modifier to the initial save roll if the target has reason not to believe in the illusory spiders.

'''''Identify race (Divination)'''''
::Level: 4
::Components: V,S
::Range: Touch
::CT: 4
::Duration: 1 rd./level
::Save: None
::Area of Effect: One creature

This unusual spell is used by the neogi to identify the capabilities of a newly encountered race. The spell provides for the caster the name of the race (as it is known to the creature itself), its general combat abilities, a brief knowledge of the creature's customs, and what the creature needs to survive. The spell can identify only one piece of information (e.g., the usual methods of attack) per round. The DM must decide if the information being sought is available. The spell will only identify with that particular creature's life, not the race as a whole, so different readings are possible. For example, the lifestyle and abilities of a human wizard of Thay from the FORGOTTEN REALMS® setting will differ greatly from those of a human Knight of Solamnia from Krynn of the DRAGONLANCE® saga.

This spell is used by the neogi to determine the abilities and needs of a potential slave without serious risk to the slave's life. Although this spell may seem somewhat trivial to other races, it has been witnessed that ships bearing neogi wizards capable of casting this spell have far more powerful slaves than those that do not.

'''''Lethal hatchling (Necromancy)'''''
::Level: 5
::Components: V,S
::Range: 10 yds
::CT: One round
::Duration: Special
::Save: Special
::Area of Effect: One creature

Upon utterance of this spell, the caster conjures up a small, 1 -diameter egg that fires outward from the caster and toward the target. The target is then entitled to a save vs. death magic. If the save succeeds, the spell has no effect. Failure indicates a most gruesome fate: The egg enters the victim's body and begins to grow. For the next four rounds, the target is entitled to another save vs. death magic each round at a -2 cumulative penalty (i.e., -2 on the first save after the egg enters the body, -4 on the second, etc.). Each failed save results in a loss of 25% of the target's original hit-point total. If the target makes a successful save during this time, the spell is halted and the egg's growth stops and then deteriorates. If the target dies, a newborn neogi erupts out of its body.

Some neogi wizards have been known to cast this spell to replace neogi lost in earlier combats. This is a rare occurrence, however, as it usually requires the sacrifice of a slave to do so.

===Magic Items===
'''''Charm of distraction'''''
This minor magical item is usually shaped as a pendant in the form of a neogi's head looped through a chain. The wearer of this magical item gains several benefits. First, the charm acts as a standard ring of protection +1. The charm also bestows upon the wearer an additional +1 (for a total of +2) on saves vs. enchantment/charm spells. Lastly, the charm provides the function of magically holding an opponent for one round. This can be done once per day and is otherwise similar to the wizard's hold person spell, cast at the 8th level of ability. The neogi can attempt this hold on any single target he can physically see. The target of the hold is entitled to a save vs. spells. If successful, the target is unaffected. If the save is failed, the target is unable to take any actions until the following round.
The neogi are very fond of this item, as it often buys them an extra moment to escape from the clutches of an enemy or distract the foe long enough for the neogi's umber hulks to rip them apart.
XP Value: Nil (cannot be made by PCs)

'''''Bands of the serpent'''''
Only neogi possessing magical ability can make use of this item. These metal bands, always found in pairs, are worn around the spiderlike legs of the neogi and bestow upon the wearer the following abilities:
::#: The wearer of the bands receives a +1 bonus on all saves vs. poison. This bonus is cumulative with other forms of protection.
::#: The wearer can communicate with any form of reptile through a limited form of telepathy. This includes lizard men and other sentient reptiles as well as the mundane forms. This telepathy does not give the neogi any ability to control reptiles, however.
::#: The wearer can transform himself into a giant poisonous snake. The wearer gains all of the abilities listed in the Monstrous Compendium under Snake: poison, giant. The wearer retains his own hitpoint total. The wearer can transform into snake form once per day, each change taking one round to complete and lasting up to six turns.
This item neither has nor requires charges. Neogi who possess these rare items will go to great lengths to keep them out of the hands of other neogi as well as adventuring parties.
XP Value: Nil (cannot be made by PCs)

'''''Bands of the arachnid'''''
These bands are always found in pairs and are very similar in appearance to the bands of the serpent. The bands are worn around the spiderlike legs of the neogi. Only those of that race who possess magical ability can make use of them. The wearer gains the following abilities:
::#: The wearer receives a +2 bonus on all saving throws vs. poison. This is cumulative with other forms of magical protection.
::#: The wearer is immune to the effects of any spell or spell-like ability that affects movement (e.g., slow, hold, etc.). This power is always in effect, regardless of the wishes of the wearer. A side effect of this ability is that the wearer can move freely through any web, magical or otherwise, as if he were an actual spider.
::#: The wearer can transform himself into a giant spider. The wearer gains all of the abilities listed in the Monstrous Compendium under Spider, giant. The wearer retains his own hit-point total. This transformation lasts a number of turns equal to the wearer's experience level. The wearer can transform into spider form once per day.
These items neither have nor require any charges. Neogi who possess these rare items will go to great lengths to keep them. Neogi cannot wear more than one type of magical bands at any time.
XP Value: Nil (cannot be made by PCs)

==Subsequent Editions==
They mostly got ignored once ''Spelljammer'' died, but [[Lords of Madness]] in 3e had a whole chapter on them with a mini-adventure, and they had both an appearance in the [[Monster Manual]] 2 and an Ecology article in [[Dragon Magazine]] in 4e. In 5e they were officially added back into the game with ''Volo's Guide to Monsters'', which statted them out, described their life-cycle (though they now lay their eggs on the Great Old Master rather than just having him suddenly die of pregnancy), and softened them just enough that they can now cooperate with other civilizations as evil and depraved as they are in situations where self-preservation overrides their natural desire to enslave and dominate. This makes them a bit less "enslave at all costs!" and more greed-driven space-slave-merchants.

[[Category:Dungeons & Dragons]][[Category:Monsters]]

Neogi

2019-08-23T04:46:31Z

2605:E000:7EC5:A000:B922:DF30:E1:C1DB:

{{NeedsImages}}
Born from the ''[[Spelljammer]]'' campaign setting, the race of [[aberration]]s known as the '''neogi''' are the most-loathed race in the cosmos. [[Beholder]]s might be dicks, but they mostly try to exterminate one another rather than anyone else, and get one on his own long enough and he'll turn into a pretty chill guy. [[Mind flayer]]s may eat literal brains, but they'll at least refrain from doing it ''in front of you'', and can be bought off with slaves or other valuable things.

But the neogi have no friends, for very good reason. Looking like an ugly, [[halfling]]-sized mixer of a moray eel and a wolf-spider, the neogi mind ''cannot'' conceive of any relationship between two other forms of sapient life that isn't owner and slave. Even aboard their own ships, there is a looooong human centipede of ownership that ends in slaves. Indeed, this is why they're less dangerous than they could be: it's ''really'' difficult for them to cooperate amongst themselves on any meaningful level without a whole lot of captains getting killed and eaten in brutal deathmatches for overlordship of multiple vessels.

Meanwhile, since they have no planet and probably blew their old one up, they jam around the universe voiping into crystal spheres to grab as many slaves as they can before voiping out. They don't even trade for them, because they ''can't'' conceive of the idea of two equal parties trading goods. The lone exception appears to be the illithids, and even ''they'' don't like hanging with the neogi.

Culturally, like mind flayers, they like palling around with [[Umber Hulk]]s. Every adult neogi has at least one umber hulk slave, because they ''are'' slaves until they can enslave a neogi of their own. Biologically, they reproduce every bit as horribly (and hilariously) as one would expect from such a disgusting race. Once one of them starts getting a bit senile, they ''fucking poison him'' until he's a bloated lobotomized wreck called a Great Old Master that can do nothing but eat and eat and eat, until he falls over dead and a couple-dozen newborn neogi explode out of him, eating up all his remains and then one another. How bloated? They go from Small sized to ''Huge'' sized.

Comically, this means lone neogi are almost always renegades who don't ''want'' to be turned into literal baby-factories, chased by ships full of their kinsmen out to make them do their duty to their race and make more neogi. Combat-wise, they mostly rely on their umber hulk body guards, though their bite carries a slowing poison and every one in a couple of them dabbles in magic. The Great Old Masters, meanwhile, are slow and dumb, but fire or slashing damage causes newborn neogi to explode out of them and attack their attackers. Their ships are the charmingly-named Deathspider and Mindspider, and are hard to get because everyone hates them and attacks them on sight.

==PC Material==
Amazingly, neogi were actually given something of a player character treatment in AD&D, despite how hideously evil they are! Precisely why PC stats for neogi appeared in [[Dragon Magazine]] #214's "Ecology of the Neogi" (a follow-up to Dragon #184's "Magic With An Evil Bite", which provided a brief selection of neogi-devised spells and magic items, as well as stats for the [[Umber Hulk]] [[Flesh Golem]]), who can say? In fact, they were so underdeveloped that it's perhaps more an example of 3e style "monster advancement" rules. Still, 1d4chan provides once again:

::Ability Score Adjustments: +2 Intelligence, +1 Dexterity, -3 Strength
::Class & Level Limits: [[Wizard]] (Generalist or Specialist) 12, [[Cleric]] 12
::Abhorred: Neogi suffer a -15 Charisma penalty for the purposes of Reaction Rolls.

The rest of their powers must be extracted from their monster writeup.

==Neogi Religion==
Despite their incredible arrogance, the "Ecology of the Neogi" in [[Dragon Magazine]] #214 states that neogi do have a form of religion, although it's a warped and brutal one. What that article says is shared below:

The only neogi fable of interest to sages details the neogi creation myth. Their legends claim the universe was created by a Being named '''''Ka’jik’zxi'''''. This deity constructed the Planes, Spheres, Flow, and the planets. Finally it created five more deities, each like itself only weaker. The five, named '''''Thrig’ki''''', '''''P’kk''''', '''''T’zen’kil''''', '''''Kr’tx''''' and '''''Kil’lix''''', each represent one of the desirable aspects of the neogi race. These deities squabbled over their areas of control until Ka’jik’zxi grew tired of their bickering and punished them. Furious, the five hatched a plot to kill Ka’jik’zxi. Concocting a fatal brew with the “foulest ingredients” (including friendship, mercy, and compassion) they poisoned their Creator. Ka’jik’zxi swelled up to a huge size, and the young deities hid, fearful of Ka’jik’zxi’s wrath. Suddenly, Ka’jik’zxi burst, spilling its entrails across the spheres. Some landed in the Outer Planes—the parts containing mercy and compassion became the gods of good. Some of Ka’jik’zxi landed in the Lower Planes and became the evil gods. Ka’jik’zxi’s brain landed in a forgotten Crystal Sphere.

After much searching, the neogi deities found the brain. There they were amazed to discover life—the first neogi had been “born.” The deities taught the neogi of the multiverse and their destiny to conquer. The neogi built ships and left their homeworld—referred to in legends as Ka’jk’z. They have never returned, but the neogi know their mission: to conquer all the Spheres.

One in 20 neogi has priestly abilities, and each spelljamming vessel is overseen by at least one priest. Priests are permitted to add the word '''''ki’zid''''' after their name, meaning “favored of deities.” The Powers of the neogi are referred to as “deity” and not “god’ or “goddess,” as there is no distinction between male or female amongst the sexless neogi. Deities are viewed as servants by the insolent neogi, who continually demand favor and good fortune. Neogi never pray, and rarely offer sacrifice, since they see themselves as more important.

Pronouncing the name of a neogi deity incorrectly is an invitation to be killed slowly and painfully. Humans, who tend to find neogi pronunciation difficult, are advised not to attempt saying deities’ names. There are five neogi deities:

'''Thrig’ki''' (lesser power), Align: NE, Plane: Karish (Abyss), Portfolio: “love” (envy/jealousy)
::Although the deity of “love,” Thrig is better translated as jealousy or hatred. To neogi, jealousy and love are the same. Thrig’ki appears as a neogi with writhing snakes for hair and twelve spidery legs.

'''P’kk '''(lesser power), Alignment: LE, Plane: Ki’pik (Baator), Portfolio: fear, tyranny.
::P’kk is the favorite deity of captains and neogi in positions of power who enjoy bullying and manipulating their lessers. P’kk is seen as an umber hulk with the head of a neogi.

'''T’zen’kil''' (lesser power, Alignment: NE, Plane: Karish, Portfolio: torture, pain, suffering.
'''''The name of T’zen’kil is invoked by
neogi torturers and those in charge of the slave pens. Worshippers are tattooed with grotesque black symbols of pain. T’zen’kil looks like a black neogi with a whip for a tongue.

'''Kr’tx''' (lesser power), Alignment: CE, Plane: Jik’qu (Gray Waste), Portfolio: war, brutality, strength.
::Kr’tx is the neogi deity favored by umber hulk slaves, who delight in brutality and wanton destruction. The favor of Kr’tx is always demanded before a major battle. Kr’tx is seen as a red neogi with continually burning claws and hair.

'''Kil’lix''' (lesser power), Align: LE, Plane: Karish, Portfolio: death, murder, poison.
::Kil’lix is the patron of murderers and assassins in the neogi world, and is seen as the darkest of shadows. Its horrid laugh is high-pitched and whining, yet also deep and booming, and is said to be heard by those who are about to die.

All neogi priests gain access to the same spheres of spells. '''''Major access:''''' All, Astral, Charm, Combat, Elemental, Healing (reversed only), Necromantic, War. '''''Minor access:''''' Protection, Summoning.

==Neogi Magic==
In [[Dragon Magazine]] #184, the article "Magic With An Evil Bite" introduced a number of neogi-crafted magical spells and items, which 1d4chan is generous enough to repeat here for you.

===Spells===
'''''Venom bite (Evocation)'''''
::Level: 2
::Components: V,S
::Range: 5 yds. + 5 yds./lvl.
::CT: 1
::Duration: Instant.
::Save: Special
::Area of Effect: 10' square

This spell is the neogi version of a magic missile spell. When cast, the spell brings into being a small set of pointed teeth that are fired outward from the caster's body. One set of teeth is created for every two levels of experience beyond the 1st possessed by the caster (e.g., a 3rd-level caster would create two sets of teeth) to maximum of four sets of teeth. The teeth strike as 5-HD monsters; any creature struck by a set of teeth must save vs. spells or be slowed for 1-4 rounds. The caster can divide the sets of teeth among as many opponents as he desires so long as they are all within a 10' square selected as the focus for the spell. Hits from multiple sets of teeth require multiple saves, unless a save is failed and the victim is slowed. Further bites from the same casting of this spell have no effect once the victim has already been slowed.

'''''Spider gout (Conjuration)'''''
::Level: 2
::Components: V,S,M
::Range: 10 yds.
::CT: 2
::Duration: Instant.
::Save: ½
::Area of Effect: One creature

This spell creates a magical glob of spider venom in the caster's mouth, which the caster spits out at any single target within range. The caster may retain the venom for a number of rounds equal to half his level. If he retains it longer, he suffers the damage detailed below, without any saving throw. The caster can spit the venom up to 10 yards, whether he normally is capable of such an action or not. The caster must make a successful attack roll to strike the target (no range penalties apply). Failure indicates the venom glob missed, causing it to dissolve harmlessly. Creatures struck must save vs. poison or suffer 2d4 hp damage plus 1 hp per level of the caster to a maximum of +10 hp damage at 10th level. A successful save indicates only half damage. The material component is the neogi's own poisonous saliva.

'''''Arachnophobia (Illusion/Phantasm)'''''
::Level: 3
::Components: V,S
::Range: 5 yds./level
::CT: 3
::Duration: 1 rd./level
::Save: Neg.
::Area of Effect: Special

Upon casting this spell, the caster creates the illusion of thousands upon thousands of crawling spiders. Only a number of creatures equal to the level of the caster can be affected by this illusion, and all must be within a 10'-diameter sphere. Any creature targeted by the spell must save vs. spells, success indicating that the spell has no effect. Any creature who fails its initial save must save vs. spells again. Success now indicates the creature flees from the area at its fastest possible movement rate for 2-5 rounds. Those who fail are so frightened that they are unable to do anything except try to remove the spiders they believe are crawling all over their bodies.

The illusion this spell creates is different for each individual. It might be argued that, for example, umber hulks have little to fear from spiders. But when those spiders are 1' in diameter with armor-piercing fangs, there is much to fear. The neogi tend to use this spell to disrupt and disorganize enemy forces when boarding actions are taking place.

Note: Regarding the initial saving throw, DMs must decide whether the target creature has reason to believe that what he is witnessing is an illusion. It is not unreasonable to assign a beneficial modifier to the initial save roll if the target has reason not to believe in the illusory spiders.

'''''Identify race (Divination)'''''
::Level: 4
::Components: V,S
::Range: Touch
::CT: 4
::Duration: 1 rd./level
::Save: None
::Area of Effect: One creature

This unusual spell is used by the neogi to identify the capabilities of a newly encountered race. The spell provides for the caster the name of the race (as it is known to the creature itself), its general combat abilities, a brief knowledge of the creature's customs, and what the creature needs to survive. The spell can identify only one piece of information (e.g., the usual methods of attack) per round. The DM must decide if the information being sought is available. The spell will only identify with that particular creature's life, not the race as a whole, so different readings are possible. For example, the lifestyle and abilities of a human wizard of Thay from the FORGOTTEN REALMS® setting will differ greatly from those of a human Knight of Solamnia from Krynn of the DRAGONLANCE® saga.

This spell is used by the neogi to determine the abilities and needs of a potential slave without serious risk to the slave's life. Although this spell may seem somewhat trivial to other races, it has been witnessed that ships bearing neogi wizards capable of casting this spell have far more powerful slaves than those that do not.

'''''Lethal hatchling (Necromancy)'''''
::Level: 5
::Components: V,S
::Range: 10 yds
::CT: One round
::Duration: Special
::Save: Special
::Area of Effect: One creature

Upon utterance of this spell, the caster conjures up a small, 1 -diameter egg that fires outward from the caster and toward the target. The target is then entitled to a save vs. death magic. If the save succeeds, the spell has no effect. Failure indicates a most gruesome fate: The egg enters the victim's body and begins to grow. For the next four rounds, the target is entitled to another save vs. death magic each round at a -2 cumulative penalty (i.e., -2 on the first save after the egg enters the body, -4 on the second, etc.). Each failed save results in a loss of 25% of the target's original hit-point total. If the target makes a successful save during this time, the spell is halted and the egg's growth stops and then deteriorates. If the target dies, a newborn neogi erupts out of its body.

Some neogi wizards have been known to cast this spell to replace neogi lost in earlier combats. This is a rare occurrence, however, as it usually requires the sacrifice of a slave to do so.

===Magic Items===
'''''Charm of distraction'''''
This minor magical item is usually shaped as a pendant in the form of a neogi's head looped through a chain. The wearer of this magical item gains several benefits. First, the charm acts as a standard ring of protection +1. The charm also bestows upon the wearer an additional +1 (for a total of +2) on saves vs. enchantment/charm spells. Lastly, the charm provides the function of magically holding an opponent for one round. This can be done once per day and is otherwise similar to the wizard's hold person spell, cast at the 8th level of ability. The neogi can attempt this hold on any single target he can physically see. The target of the hold is entitled to a save vs. spells. If successful, the target is unaffected. If the save is failed, the target is unable to take any actions until the following round.
The neogi are very fond of this item, as it often buys them an extra moment to escape from the clutches of an enemy or distract the foe long enough for the neogi's umber hulks to rip them apart.
XP Value: Nil (cannot be made by PCs)

'''''Bands of the serpent'''''
Only neogi possessing magical ability can make use of this item. These metal bands, always found in pairs, are worn around the spiderlike legs of the neogi and bestow upon the wearer the following abilities:
::#: The wearer of the bands receives a +1 bonus on all saves vs. poison. This bonus is cumulative with other forms of protection.
::#: The wearer can communicate with any form of reptile through a limited form of telepathy. This includes lizard men and other sentient reptiles as well as the mundane forms. This telepathy does not give the neogi any ability to control reptiles, however.
::#: The wearer can transform himself into a giant poisonous snake. The wearer gains all of the abilities listed in the Monstrous Compendium under Snake: poison, giant. The wearer retains his own hitpoint total. The wearer can transform into snake form once per day, each change taking one round to complete and lasting up to six turns.
This item neither has nor requires charges. Neogi who possess these rare items will go to great lengths to keep them out of the hands of other neogi as well as adventuring parties.
XP Value: Nil (cannot be made by PCs)

'''''Bands of the arachnid'''''
These bands are always found in pairs and are very similar in appearance to the bands of the serpent. The bands are worn around the spiderlike legs of the neogi. Only those of that race who possess magical ability can make use of them. The wearer gains the following abilities:
::#: The wearer receives a +2 bonus on all saving throws vs. poison. This is cumulative with other forms of magical protection.
::#: The wearer is immune to the effects of any spell or spell-like ability that affects movement (e.g., slow, hold, etc.). This power is always in effect, regardless of the wishes of the wearer. A side effect of this ability is that the wearer can move freely through any web, magical or otherwise, as if he were an actual spider.
::#: The wearer can transform himself into a giant spider. The wearer gains all of the abilities listed in the Monstrous Compendium under Spider, giant. The wearer retains his own hit-point total. This transformation lasts a number of turns equal to the wearer's experience level. The wearer can transform into spider form once per day.
These items neither have nor require any charges. Neogi who possess these rare items will go to great lengths to keep them. Neogi cannot wear more than one type of magical bands at any time.
XP Value: Nil (cannot be made by PCs)

==Subsequent Editions==
They mostly got ignored once ''Spelljammer'' died, but [[Lords of Madness]] in 3e had a whole chapter on them with a mini-adventure, and they had both an appearance in the [[Monster Manual]] 2 and an Ecology article in [[Dragon Magazine]] in 4e. In 5e they were officially added back into the game with ''Volo's Guide to Monsters'', which statted them out, described their life-cycle (though they now lay their eggs on the Great Old Master rather than just having him suddenly die of pregnancy), and softened them just enough that they can now cooperate with other civilizations as evil and depraved as they are in situations where self-preservation overrides their natural desire to enslave and dominate. This makes them a bit less "enslave at all costs!" and more greed-driven space-slave-merchants.

[[Category:Dungeons & Dragons]][[Category:Monsters]]

Neogi

2019-08-23T04:44:28Z

2605:E000:7EC5:A000:B922:DF30:E1:C1DB:

{{NeedsImages}}
Born from the ''[[Spelljammer]]'' campaign setting, the race of [[aberration]]s known as the '''neogi''' are the most-loathed race in the cosmos. [[Beholder]]s might be dicks, but they mostly try to exterminate one another rather than anyone else, and get one on his own long enough and he'll turn into a pretty chill guy. [[Mind flayer]]s may eat literal brains, but they'll at least refrain from doing it ''in front of you'', and can be bought off with slaves or other valuable things.

But the neogi have no friends, for very good reason. Looking like an ugly, [[halfling]]-sized mixer of a moray eel and a wolf-spider, the neogi mind ''cannot'' conceive of any relationship between two other forms of sapient life that isn't owner and slave. Even aboard their own ships, there is a looooong human centipede of ownership that ends in slaves. Indeed, this is why they're less dangerous than they could be: it's ''really'' difficult for them to cooperate amongst themselves on any meaningful level without a whole lot of captains getting killed and eaten in brutal deathmatches for overlordship of multiple vessels.

Meanwhile, since they have no planet and probably blew their old one up, they jam around the universe voiping into crystal spheres to grab as many slaves as they can before voiping out. They don't even trade for them, because they ''can't'' conceive of the idea of two equal parties trading goods. The lone exception appears to be the illithids, and even ''they'' don't like hanging with the neogi.

Culturally, like mind flayers, they like palling around with [[Umber Hulk]]s. Every adult neogi has at least one umber hulk slave, because they ''are'' slaves until they can enslave a neogi of their own. Biologically, they reproduce every bit as horribly (and hilariously) as one would expect from such a disgusting race. Once one of them starts getting a bit senile, they ''fucking poison him'' until he's a bloated lobotomized wreck called a Great Old Master that can do nothing but eat and eat and eat, until he falls over dead and a couple-dozen newborn neogi explode out of him, eating up all his remains and then one another. How bloated? They go from Small sized to ''Huge'' sized.

Comically, this means lone neogi are almost always renegades who don't ''want'' to be turned into literal baby-factories, chased by ships full of their kinsmen out to make them do their duty to their race and make more neogi. Combat-wise, the mostly rely on their umber hulk body guards, though their bite carries a slowing poison and every one in a couple of them dabbles in magic. The Great Old Masters, meanwhile, are slow and dumb, but fire or slashing damage causes newborn neogi to explode out of them and attack their attackers. Their ships are the charmingly-named Deathspider and Mindspider, and are hard to get because everyone hates them and attacks them on sight.

==PC Material==
Amazingly, neogi were actually given something of a player character treatment in AD&D, despite how hideously evil they are! Precisely why PC stats for neogi appeared in [[Dragon Magazine]] #214's "Ecology of the Neogi" (a follow-up to Dragon #184's "Magic With An Evil Bite", which provided a brief selection of neogi-devised spells and magic items, as well as stats for the [[Umber Hulk]] [[Flesh Golem]]), who can say? In fact, they were so underdeveloped that it's perhaps more an example of 3e style "monster advancement" rules. Still, 1d4chan provides once again:

::Ability Score Adjustments: +2 Intelligence, +1 Dexterity, -3 Strength
::Class & Level Limits: [[Wizard]] (Generalist or Specialist) 12, [[Cleric]] 12
::Abhorred: Neogi suffer a -15 Charisma penalty for the purposes of Reaction Rolls.

The rest of their powers must be extracted from their monster writeup.

==Neogi Religion==
Despite their incredible arrogance, the "Ecology of the Neogi" in [[Dragon Magazine]] #214 states that neogi do have a form of religion, although it's a warped and brutal one. What that article says is shared below:

The only neogi fable of interest to sages details the neogi creation myth. Their legends claim the universe was created by a Being named '''''Ka’jik’zxi'''''. This deity constructed the Planes, Spheres, Flow, and the planets. Finally it created five more deities, each like itself only weaker. The five, named '''''Thrig’ki''''', '''''P’kk''''', '''''T’zen’kil''''', '''''Kr’tx''''' and '''''Kil’lix''''', each represent one of the desirable aspects of the neogi race. These deities squabbled over their areas of control until Ka’jik’zxi grew tired of their bickering and punished them. Furious, the five hatched a plot to kill Ka’jik’zxi. Concocting a fatal brew with the “foulest ingredients” (including friendship, mercy, and compassion) they poisoned their Creator. Ka’jik’zxi swelled up to a huge size, and the young deities hid, fearful of Ka’jik’zxi’s wrath. Suddenly, Ka’jik’zxi burst, spilling its entrails across the spheres. Some landed in the Outer Planes—the parts containing mercy and compassion became the gods of good. Some of Ka’jik’zxi landed in the Lower Planes and became the evil gods. Ka’jik’zxi’s brain landed in a forgotten Crystal Sphere.

After much searching, the neogi deities found the brain. There they were amazed to discover life—the first neogi had been “born.” The deities taught the neogi of the multiverse and their destiny to conquer. The neogi built ships and left their homeworld—referred to in legends as Ka’jk’z. They have never returned, but the neogi know their mission: to conquer all the Spheres.

One in 20 neogi has priestly abilities, and each spelljamming vessel is overseen by at least one priest. Priests are permitted to add the word '''''ki’zid''''' after their name, meaning “favored of deities.” The Powers of the neogi are referred to as “deity” and not “god’ or “goddess,” as there is no distinction between male or female amongst the sexless neogi. Deities are viewed as servants by the insolent neogi, who continually demand favor and good fortune. Neogi never pray, and rarely offer sacrifice, since they see themselves as more important.

Pronouncing the name of a neogi deity incorrectly is an invitation to be killed slowly and painfully. Humans, who tend to find neogi pronunciation difficult, are advised not to attempt saying deities’ names. There are five neogi deities:

'''Thrig’ki''' (lesser power), Align: NE, Plane: Karish (Abyss), Portfolio: “love” (envy/jealousy)
::Although the deity of “love,” Thrig is better translated as jealousy or hatred. To neogi, jealousy and love are the same. Thrig’ki appears as a neogi with writhing snakes for hair and twelve spidery legs.

'''P’kk '''(lesser power), Alignment: LE, Plane: Ki’pik (Baator), Portfolio: fear, tyranny.
::P’kk is the favorite deity of captains and neogi in positions of power who enjoy bullying and manipulating their lessers. P’kk is seen as an umber hulk with the head of a neogi.

'''T’zen’kil''' (lesser power, Alignment: NE, Plane: Karish, Portfolio: torture, pain, suffering.
'''''The name of T’zen’kil is invoked by
neogi torturers and those in charge of the slave pens. Worshippers are tattooed with grotesque black symbols of pain. T’zen’kil looks like a black neogi with a whip for a tongue.

'''Kr’tx''' (lesser power), Alignment: CE, Plane: Jik’qu (Gray Waste), Portfolio: war, brutality, strength.
::Kr’tx is the neogi deity favored by umber hulk slaves, who delight in brutality and wanton destruction. The favor of Kr’tx is always demanded before a major battle. Kr’tx is seen as a red neogi with continually burning claws and hair.

'''Kil’lix''' (lesser power), Align: LE, Plane: Karish, Portfolio: death, murder, poison.
::Kil’lix is the patron of murderers and assassins in the neogi world, and is seen as the darkest of shadows. Its horrid laugh is high-pitched and whining, yet also deep and booming, and is said to be heard by those who are about to die.

All neogi priests gain access to the same spheres of spells. '''''Major access:''''' All, Astral, Charm, Combat, Elemental, Healing (reversed only), Necromantic, War. '''''Minor access:''''' Protection, Summoning.

==Neogi Magic==
In [[Dragon Magazine]] #184, the article "Magic With An Evil Bite" introduced a number of neogi-crafted magical spells and items, which 1d4chan is generous enough to repeat here for you.

===Spells===
'''''Venom bite (Evocation)'''''
::Level: 2
::Components: V,S
::Range: 5 yds. + 5 yds./lvl.
::CT: 1
::Duration: Instant.
::Save: Special
::Area of Effect: 10' square

This spell is the neogi version of a magic missile spell. When cast, the spell brings into being a small set of pointed teeth that are fired outward from the caster's body. One set of teeth is created for every two levels of experience beyond the 1st possessed by the caster (e.g., a 3rd-level caster would create two sets of teeth) to maximum of four sets of teeth. The teeth strike as 5-HD monsters; any creature struck by a set of teeth must save vs. spells or be slowed for 1-4 rounds. The caster can divide the sets of teeth among as many opponents as he desires so long as they are all within a 10' square selected as the focus for the spell. Hits from multiple sets of teeth require multiple saves, unless a save is failed and the victim is slowed. Further bites from the same casting of this spell have no effect once the victim has already been slowed.

'''''Spider gout (Conjuration)'''''
::Level: 2
::Components: V,S,M
::Range: 10 yds.
::CT: 2
::Duration: Instant.
::Save: ½
::Area of Effect: One creature

This spell creates a magical glob of spider venom in the caster's mouth, which the caster spits out at any single target within range. The caster may retain the venom for a number of rounds equal to half his level. If he retains it longer, he suffers the damage detailed below, without any saving throw. The caster can spit the venom up to 10 yards, whether he normally is capable of such an action or not. The caster must make a successful attack roll to strike the target (no range penalties apply). Failure indicates the venom glob missed, causing it to dissolve harmlessly. Creatures struck must save vs. poison or suffer 2d4 hp damage plus 1 hp per level of the caster to a maximum of +10 hp damage at 10th level. A successful save indicates only half damage. The material component is the neogi's own poisonous saliva.

'''''Arachnophobia (Illusion/Phantasm)'''''
::Level: 3
::Components: V,S
::Range: 5 yds./level
::CT: 3
::Duration: 1 rd./level
::Save: Neg.
::Area of Effect: Special

Upon casting this spell, the caster creates the illusion of thousands upon thousands of crawling spiders. Only a number of creatures equal to the level of the caster can be affected by this illusion, and all must be within a 10'-diameter sphere. Any creature targeted by the spell must save vs. spells, success indicating that the spell has no effect. Any creature who fails its initial save must save vs. spells again. Success now indicates the creature flees from the area at its fastest possible movement rate for 2-5 rounds. Those who fail are so frightened that they are unable to do anything except try to remove the spiders they believe are crawling all over their bodies.

The illusion this spell creates is different for each individual. It might be argued that, for example, umber hulks have little to fear from spiders. But when those spiders are 1' in diameter with armor-piercing fangs, there is much to fear. The neogi tend to use this spell to disrupt and disorganize enemy forces when boarding actions are taking place.

Note: Regarding the initial saving throw, DMs must decide whether the target creature has reason to believe that what he is witnessing is an illusion. It is not unreasonable to assign a beneficial modifier to the initial save roll if the target has reason not to believe in the illusory spiders.

'''''Identify race (Divination)'''''
::Level: 4
::Components: V,S
::Range: Touch
::CT: 4
::Duration: 1 rd./level
::Save: None
::Area of Effect: One creature

This unusual spell is used by the neogi to identify the capabilities of a newly encountered race. The spell provides for the caster the name of the race (as it is known to the creature itself), its general combat abilities, a brief knowledge of the creature's customs, and what the creature needs to survive. The spell can identify only one piece of information (e.g., the usual methods of attack) per round. The DM must decide if the information being sought is available. The spell will only identify with that particular creature's life, not the race as a whole, so different readings are possible. For example, the lifestyle and abilities of a human wizard of Thay from the FORGOTTEN REALMS® setting will differ greatly from those of a human Knight of Solamnia from Krynn of the DRAGONLANCE® saga.

This spell is used by the neogi to determine the abilities and needs of a potential slave without serious risk to the slave's life. Although this spell may seem somewhat trivial to other races, it has been witnessed that ships bearing neogi wizards capable of casting this spell have far more powerful slaves than those that do not.

'''''Lethal hatchling (Necromancy)'''''
::Level: 5
::Components: V,S
::Range: 10 yds
::CT: One round
::Duration: Special
::Save: Special
::Area of Effect: One creature

Upon utterance of this spell, the caster conjures up a small, 1 -diameter egg that fires outward from the caster and toward the target. The target is then entitled to a save vs. death magic. If the save succeeds, the spell has no effect. Failure indicates a most gruesome fate: The egg enters the victim's body and begins to grow. For the next four rounds, the target is entitled to another save vs. death magic each round at a -2 cumulative penalty (i.e., -2 on the first save after the egg enters the body, -4 on the second, etc.). Each failed save results in a loss of 25% of the target's original hit-point total. If the target makes a successful save during this time, the spell is halted and the egg's growth stops and then deteriorates. If the target dies, a newborn neogi erupts out of its body.

Some neogi wizards have been known to cast this spell to replace neogi lost in earlier combats. This is a rare occurrence, however, as it usually requires the sacrifice of a slave to do so.

===Magic Items===
'''''Charm of distraction'''''
This minor magical item is usually shaped as a pendant in the form of a neogi's head looped through a chain. The wearer of this magical item gains several benefits. First, the charm acts as a standard ring of protection +1. The charm also bestows upon the wearer an additional +1 (for a total of +2) on saves vs. enchantment/charm spells. Lastly, the charm provides the function of magically holding an opponent for one round. This can be done once per day and is otherwise similar to the wizard's hold person spell, cast at the 8th level of ability. The neogi can attempt this hold on any single target he can physically see. The target of the hold is entitled to a save vs. spells. If successful, the target is unaffected. If the save is failed, the target is unable to take any actions until the following round.
The neogi are very fond of this item, as it often buys them an extra moment to escape from the clutches of an enemy or distract the foe long enough for the neogi's umber hulks to rip them apart.
XP Value: Nil (cannot be made by PCs)

'''''Bands of the serpent'''''
Only neogi possessing magical ability can make use of this item. These metal bands, always found in pairs, are worn around the spiderlike legs of the neogi and bestow upon the wearer the following abilities:
::#: The wearer of the bands receives a +1 bonus on all saves vs. poison. This bonus is cumulative with other forms of protection.
::#: The wearer can communicate with any form of reptile through a limited form of telepathy. This includes lizard men and other sentient reptiles as well as the mundane forms. This telepathy does not give the neogi any ability to control reptiles, however.
::#: The wearer can transform himself into a giant poisonous snake. The wearer gains all of the abilities listed in the Monstrous Compendium under Snake: poison, giant. The wearer retains his own hitpoint total. The wearer can transform into snake form once per day, each change taking one round to complete and lasting up to six turns.
This item neither has nor requires charges. Neogi who possess these rare items will go to great lengths to keep them out of the hands of other neogi as well as adventuring parties.
XP Value: Nil (cannot be made by PCs)

'''''Bands of the arachnid'''''
These bands are always found in pairs and are very similar in appearance to the bands of the serpent. The bands are worn around the spiderlike legs of the neogi. Only those of that race who possess magical ability can make use of them. The wearer gains the following abilities:
::#: The wearer receives a +2 bonus on all saving throws vs. poison. This is cumulative with other forms of magical protection.
::#: The wearer is immune to the effects of any spell or spell-like ability that affects movement (e.g., slow, hold, etc.). This power is always in effect, regardless of the wishes of the wearer. A side effect of this ability is that the wearer can move freely through any web, magical or otherwise, as if he were an actual spider.
::#: The wearer can transform himself into a giant spider. The wearer gains all of the abilities listed in the Monstrous Compendium under Spider, giant. The wearer retains his own hit-point total. This transformation lasts a number of turns equal to the wearer's experience level. The wearer can transform into spider form once per day.
These items neither have nor require any charges. Neogi who possess these rare items will go to great lengths to keep them. Neogi cannot wear more than one type of magical bands at any time.
XP Value: Nil (cannot be made by PCs)

==Subsequent Editions==
They mostly got ignored once ''Spelljammer'' died, but [[Lords of Madness]] in 3e had a whole chapter on them with a mini-adventure, and they had both an appearance in the [[Monster Manual]] 2 and an Ecology article in [[Dragon Magazine]] in 4e. In 5e they were officially added back into the game with ''Volo's Guide to Monsters'', which statted them out, described their life-cycle (though they now lay their eggs on the Great Old Master rather than just having him suddenly die of pregnancy), and softened them just enough that they can now cooperate with other civilizations as evil and depraved as they are in situations where self-preservation overrides their natural desire to enslave and dominate. This makes them a bit less "enslave at all costs!" and more greed-driven space-slave-merchants.

[[Category:Dungeons & Dragons]][[Category:Monsters]]

Umber Hulk

2019-08-23T04:43:58Z

2605:E000:7EC5:A000:B922:DF30:E1:C1DB: If there is some form of irony here, I'm not seeing it.

{{dnd-stub}}
[[File:Monster Manual 5E - Umber Hulk.jpg|thumb|300px|right]]
'''Umber Hulks''' are an ancient breed of monster in the many worlds of [[Dungeons & Dragons]]. These iconic [[aberration]]s resemble a massive hybrid of gorilla and beetle, combining a generally ape-like hulking physique with prominent horizontal mandibles, a hide armored in chitinous plates, massive digging claws and four eyes. Whilst they are mostly deadly burrowing bruisers, they have a unique gaze attack that can cause confusion, something that makes them a much greater threat. They are often associated with another aberration species, the [[Neogi]], who use them as their preferred slaves.

Umber Hulks are one of a handful of monsters in the 3E Monster Manual designated "Product Identity" and not included under the [[Open Game License]]. They are probably the least missed of any such monsters since they're a replaceable brute.

[[Category:Dungeons & Dragons]]
[[Category:Monsters]]

Neogi

2019-08-23T04:14:43Z

2605:E000:7EC5:A000:B922:DF30:E1:C1DB:

{{NeedsImages}}
Born from the ''[[Spelljammer]]'' campaign setting, the race of [[aberration]]s known as the '''neogi''' are the most-loathed race in the cosmos. [[Beholder]]s might be dicks, but they mostly try to exterminate one another rather than anyone else, and get one on his own long enough and he'll turn into a pretty chill guy. [[Mind flayer]]s may eat literal brains, but they'll at least refrain from doing it ''in front of you'', and can be bought off with slaves or other valuable things.

But the neogi have no friends, for very good reason. Looking like an ugly, [[halfling]]-sized mixer of a moray eel and a wolf-spider, the neogi mind ''cannot'' conceive of any relationship between two other forms of sapient life that isn't owner and slave. Even aboard their own ships, there is a looooong human centipede of ownership that ends in slaves. Indeed, this is why they're less dangerous than they could be: it's ''really'' difficult for them to cooperate amongst themselves on any meaningful level without a whole lot of captains getting killed and eaten in brutal deathmatches for overlordship of multiple vessels.

Meanwhile, since they have no planet and probably blew their old one up, they jam around the universe voiping into crystal spheres to grab as many slaves as they can before voiping out. They don't even trade for them, because they ''can't'' conceive of the idea of two equal parties trading goods. The lone exception appears to be the illithids, and even ''they'' don't like hanging with the neogi.

Culturally, like mind flayers, they like palling around with [[Umber Hulk]]s. Every adult neogi has at least one umber hulk slave, because they ''are'' slaves until they can enslave one of their own. Biologically, they reproduce every bit as horribly (and hilariously) as one would expect from such a disgusting race. Once one of them starts getting a bit senile, they ''fucking poison him'' until he's a bloated lobotomized wreck called a Great Old Master that can do nothing but eat and eat and eat, until he falls over dead and a couple-dozen newborn neogi explode out of him, eating up all his remains and then one another. How bloated? They go from Small sized to ''Huge'' sized.

Comically, this means lone neogi are almost always renegades who don't ''want'' to be turned into literal baby-factories, chased by ships full of their kinsmen out to make them do their duty to their race and make more neogi. Combat-wise, the mostly rely on their umber hulk body guards, though their bite carries a slowing poison and every one in a couple of them dabbles in magic. The Great Old Masters, meanwhile, are slow and dumb, but fire or slashing damage causes newborn neogi to explode out of them and attack their attackers. Their ships are the charmingly-named Deathspider and Mindspider, and are hard to get because everyone hates them and attacks them on sight.

==PC Material==
Amazingly, neogi were actually given something of a player character treatment in AD&D, despite how hideously evil they are! Precisely why PC stats for neogi appeared in [[Dragon Magazine]] #214's "Ecology of the Neogi" (a follow-up to Dragon #184's "Magic With An Evil Bite", which provided a brief selection of neogi-devised spells and magic items, as well as stats for the [[Umber Hulk]] [[Flesh Golem]]), who can say? In fact, they were so underdeveloped that it's perhaps more an example of 3e style "monster advancement" rules. Still, 1d4chan provides once again:

::Ability Score Adjustments: +2 Intelligence, +1 Dexterity, -3 Strength
::Class & Level Limits: [[Wizard]] (Generalist or Specialist) 12, [[Cleric]] 12
::Abhorred: Neogi suffer a -15 Charisma penalty for the purposes of Reaction Rolls.

The rest of their powers must be extracted from their monster writeup.

==Neogi Religion==
Despite their incredible arrogance, the "Ecology of the Neogi" in [[Dragon Magazine]] #214 states that neogi do have a form of religion, although it's a warped and brutal one. What that article says is shared below:

The only neogi fable of interest to sages details the neogi creation myth. Their legends claim the universe was created by a Being named '''''Ka’jik’zxi'''''. This deity constructed the Planes, Spheres, Flow, and the planets. Finally it created five more deities, each like itself only weaker. The five, named '''''Thrig’ki''''', '''''P’kk''''', '''''T’zen’kil''''', '''''Kr’tx''''' and '''''Kil’lix''''', each represent one of the desirable aspects of the neogi race. These deities squabbled over their areas of control until Ka’jik’zxi grew tired of their bickering and punished them. Furious, the five hatched a plot to kill Ka’jik’zxi. Concocting a fatal brew with the “foulest ingredients” (including friendship, mercy, and compassion) they poisoned their Creator. Ka’jik’zxi swelled up to a huge size, and the young deities hid, fearful of Ka’jik’zxi’s wrath. Suddenly, Ka’jik’zxi burst, spilling its entrails across the spheres. Some landed in the Outer Planes—the parts containing mercy and compassion became the gods of good. Some of Ka’jik’zxi landed in the Lower Planes and became the evil gods. Ka’jik’zxi’s brain landed in a forgotten Crystal Sphere.

After much searching, the neogi deities found the brain. There they were amazed to discover life—the first neogi had been “born.” The deities taught the neogi of the multiverse and their destiny to conquer. The neogi built ships and left their homeworld—referred to in legends as Ka’jk’z. They have never returned, but the neogi know their mission: to conquer all the Spheres.

One in 20 neogi has priestly abilities, and each spelljamming vessel is overseen by at least one priest. Priests are permitted to add the word '''''ki’zid''''' after their name, meaning “favored of deities.” The Powers of the neogi are referred to as “deity” and not “god’ or “goddess,” as there is no distinction between male or female amongst the sexless neogi. Deities are viewed as servants by the insolent neogi, who continually demand favor and good fortune. Neogi never pray, and rarely offer sacrifice, since they see themselves as more important.

Pronouncing the name of a neogi deity incorrectly is an invitation to be killed slowly and painfully. Humans, who tend to find neogi pronunciation difficult, are advised not to attempt saying deities’ names. There are five neogi deities:

'''Thrig’ki''' (lesser power), Align: NE, Plane: Karish (Abyss), Portfolio: “love” (envy/jealousy)
::Although the deity of “love,” Thrig is better translated as jealousy or hatred. To neogi, jealousy and love are the same. Thrig’ki appears as a neogi with writhing snakes for hair and twelve spidery legs.

'''P’kk '''(lesser power), Alignment: LE, Plane: Ki’pik (Baator), Portfolio: fear, tyranny.
::P’kk is the favorite deity of captains and neogi in positions of power who enjoy bullying and manipulating their lessers. P’kk is seen as an umber hulk with the head of a neogi.

'''T’zen’kil''' (lesser power, Alignment: NE, Plane: Karish, Portfolio: torture, pain, suffering.
'''''The name of T’zen’kil is invoked by
neogi torturers and those in charge of the slave pens. Worshippers are tattooed with grotesque black symbols of pain. T’zen’kil looks like a black neogi with a whip for a tongue.

'''Kr’tx''' (lesser power), Alignment: CE, Plane: Jik’qu (Gray Waste), Portfolio: war, brutality, strength.
::Kr’tx is the neogi deity favored by umber hulk slaves, who delight in brutality and wanton destruction. The favor of Kr’tx is always demanded before a major battle. Kr’tx is seen as a red neogi with continually burning claws and hair.

'''Kil’lix''' (lesser power), Align: LE, Plane: Karish, Portfolio: death, murder, poison.
::Kil’lix is the patron of murderers and assassins in the neogi world, and is seen as the darkest of shadows. Its horrid laugh is high-pitched and whining, yet also deep and booming, and is said to be heard by those who are about to die.

All neogi priests gain access to the same spheres of spells. '''''Major access:''''' All, Astral, Charm, Combat, Elemental, Healing (reversed only), Necromantic, War. '''''Minor access:''''' Protection, Summoning.

==Neogi Magic==
In [[Dragon Magazine]] #184, the article "Magic With An Evil Bite" introduced a number of neogi-crafted magical spells and items, which 1d4chan is generous enough to repeat here for you.

===Spells===
'''''Venom bite (Evocation)'''''
::Level: 2
::Components: V,S
::Range: 5 yds. + 5 yds./lvl.
::CT: 1
::Duration: Instant.
::Save: Special
::Area of Effect: 10' square

This spell is the neogi version of a magic missile spell. When cast, the spell brings into being a small set of pointed teeth that are fired outward from the caster's body. One set of teeth is created for every two levels of experience beyond the 1st possessed by the caster (e.g., a 3rd-level caster would create two sets of teeth) to maximum of four sets of teeth. The teeth strike as 5-HD monsters; any creature struck by a set of teeth must save vs. spells or be slowed for 1-4 rounds. The caster can divide the sets of teeth among as many opponents as he desires so long as they are all within a 10' square selected as the focus for the spell. Hits from multiple sets of teeth require multiple saves, unless a save is failed and the victim is slowed. Further bites from the same casting of this spell have no effect once the victim has already been slowed.

'''''Spider gout (Conjuration)'''''
::Level: 2
::Components: V,S,M
::Range: 10 yds.
::CT: 2
::Duration: Instant.
::Save: ½
::Area of Effect: One creature

This spell creates a magical glob of spider venom in the caster's mouth, which the caster spits out at any single target within range. The caster may retain the venom for a number of rounds equal to half his level. If he retains it longer, he suffers the damage detailed below, without any saving throw. The caster can spit the venom up to 10 yards, whether he normally is capable of such an action or not. The caster must make a successful attack roll to strike the target (no range penalties apply). Failure indicates the venom glob missed, causing it to dissolve harmlessly. Creatures struck must save vs. poison or suffer 2d4 hp damage plus 1 hp per level of the caster to a maximum of +10 hp damage at 10th level. A successful save indicates only half damage. The material component is the neogi's own poisonous saliva.

'''''Arachnophobia (Illusion/Phantasm)'''''
::Level: 3
::Components: V,S
::Range: 5 yds./level
::CT: 3
::Duration: 1 rd./level
::Save: Neg.
::Area of Effect: Special

Upon casting this spell, the caster creates the illusion of thousands upon thousands of crawling spiders. Only a number of creatures equal to the level of the caster can be affected by this illusion, and all must be within a 10'-diameter sphere. Any creature targeted by the spell must save vs. spells, success indicating that the spell has no effect. Any creature who fails its initial save must save vs. spells again. Success now indicates the creature flees from the area at its fastest possible movement rate for 2-5 rounds. Those who fail are so frightened that they are unable to do anything except try to remove the spiders they believe are crawling all over their bodies.

The illusion this spell creates is different for each individual. It might be argued that, for example, umber hulks have little to fear from spiders. But when those spiders are 1' in diameter with armor-piercing fangs, there is much to fear. The neogi tend to use this spell to disrupt and disorganize enemy forces when boarding actions are taking place.

Note: Regarding the initial saving throw, DMs must decide whether the target creature has reason to believe that what he is witnessing is an illusion. It is not unreasonable to assign a beneficial modifier to the initial save roll if the target has reason not to believe in the illusory spiders.

'''''Identify race (Divination)'''''
::Level: 4
::Components: V,S
::Range: Touch
::CT: 4
::Duration: 1 rd./level
::Save: None
::Area of Effect: One creature

This unusual spell is used by the neogi to identify the capabilities of a newly encountered race. The spell provides for the caster the name of the race (as it is known to the creature itself), its general combat abilities, a brief knowledge of the creature's customs, and what the creature needs to survive. The spell can identify only one piece of information (e.g., the usual methods of attack) per round. The DM must decide if the information being sought is available. The spell will only identify with that particular creature's life, not the race as a whole, so different readings are possible. For example, the lifestyle and abilities of a human wizard of Thay from the FORGOTTEN REALMS® setting will differ greatly from those of a human Knight of Solamnia from Krynn of the DRAGONLANCE® saga.

This spell is used by the neogi to determine the abilities and needs of a potential slave without serious risk to the slave's life. Although this spell may seem somewhat trivial to other races, it has been witnessed that ships bearing neogi wizards capable of casting this spell have far more powerful slaves than those that do not.

'''''Lethal hatchling (Necromancy)'''''
::Level: 5
::Components: V,S
::Range: 10 yds
::CT: One round
::Duration: Special
::Save: Special
::Area of Effect: One creature

Upon utterance of this spell, the caster conjures up a small, 1 -diameter egg that fires outward from the caster and toward the target. The target is then entitled to a save vs. death magic. If the save succeeds, the spell has no effect. Failure indicates a most gruesome fate: The egg enters the victim's body and begins to grow. For the next four rounds, the target is entitled to another save vs. death magic each round at a -2 cumulative penalty (i.e., -2 on the first save after the egg enters the body, -4 on the second, etc.). Each failed save results in a loss of 25% of the target's original hit-point total. If the target makes a successful save during this time, the spell is halted and the egg's growth stops and then deteriorates. If the target dies, a newborn neogi erupts out of its body.

Some neogi wizards have been known to cast this spell to replace neogi lost in earlier combats. This is a rare occurrence, however, as it usually requires the sacrifice of a slave to do so.

===Magic Items===
'''''Charm of distraction'''''
This minor magical item is usually shaped as a pendant in the form of a neogi's head looped through a chain. The wearer of this magical item gains several benefits. First, the charm acts as a standard ring of protection +1. The charm also bestows upon the wearer an additional +1 (for a total of +2) on saves vs. enchantment/charm spells. Lastly, the charm provides the function of magically holding an opponent for one round. This can be done once per day and is otherwise similar to the wizard's hold person spell, cast at the 8th level of ability. The neogi can attempt this hold on any single target he can physically see. The target of the hold is entitled to a save vs. spells. If successful, the target is unaffected. If the save is failed, the target is unable to take any actions until the following round.
The neogi are very fond of this item, as it often buys them an extra moment to escape from the clutches of an enemy or distract the foe long enough for the neogi's umber hulks to rip them apart.
XP Value: Nil (cannot be made by PCs)

'''''Bands of the serpent'''''
Only neogi possessing magical ability can make use of this item. These metal bands, always found in pairs, are worn around the spiderlike legs of the neogi and bestow upon the wearer the following abilities:
::#: The wearer of the bands receives a +1 bonus on all saves vs. poison. This bonus is cumulative with other forms of protection.
::#: The wearer can communicate with any form of reptile through a limited form of telepathy. This includes lizard men and other sentient reptiles as well as the mundane forms. This telepathy does not give the neogi any ability to control reptiles, however.
::#: The wearer can transform himself into a giant poisonous snake. The wearer gains all of the abilities listed in the Monstrous Compendium under Snake: poison, giant. The wearer retains his own hitpoint total. The wearer can transform into snake form once per day, each change taking one round to complete and lasting up to six turns.
This item neither has nor requires charges. Neogi who possess these rare items will go to great lengths to keep them out of the hands of other neogi as well as adventuring parties.
XP Value: Nil (cannot be made by PCs)

'''''Bands of the arachnid'''''
These bands are always found in pairs and are very similar in appearance to the bands of the serpent. The bands are worn around the spiderlike legs of the neogi. Only those of that race who possess magical ability can make use of them. The wearer gains the following abilities:
::#: The wearer receives a +2 bonus on all saving throws vs. poison. This is cumulative with other forms of magical protection.
::#: The wearer is immune to the effects of any spell or spell-like ability that affects movement (e.g., slow, hold, etc.). This power is always in effect, regardless of the wishes of the wearer. A side effect of this ability is that the wearer can move freely through any web, magical or otherwise, as if he were an actual spider.
::#: The wearer can transform himself into a giant spider. The wearer gains all of the abilities listed in the Monstrous Compendium under Spider, giant. The wearer retains his own hit-point total. This transformation lasts a number of turns equal to the wearer's experience level. The wearer can transform into spider form once per day.
These items neither have nor require any charges. Neogi who possess these rare items will go to great lengths to keep them. Neogi cannot wear more than one type of magical bands at any time.
XP Value: Nil (cannot be made by PCs)

==Subsequent Editions==
They mostly got ignored once ''Spelljammer'' died, but [[Lords of Madness]] in 3e had a whole chapter on them with a mini-adventure, and they had both an appearance in the [[Monster Manual]] 2 and an Ecology article in [[Dragon Magazine]] in 4e. In 5e they were officially added back into the game with ''Volo's Guide to Monsters'', which statted them out, described their life-cycle (though they now lay their eggs on the Great Old Master rather than just having him suddenly die of pregnancy), and softened them just enough that they can now cooperate with other civilizations as evil and depraved as they are in situations where self-preservation overrides their natural desire to enslave and dominate. This makes them a bit less "enslave at all costs!" and more greed-driven space-slave-merchants.

[[Category:Dungeons & Dragons]][[Category:Monsters]]

Lords of Madness

2019-08-23T04:12:46Z

2605:E000:7EC5:A000:B922:DF30:E1:C1DB: /* Chapter 8: New Monsters */

'''Lords of Madness: The Book of [[Aberration]]s''' is a [[Splatbook]] for Dungeons and Dragon 3.5 edition. The book goes into great detail about the fluff about several of the game's most famous aberrations and introduces some new ones, as well as introducing some new [[Prestige Classes]] for fighting against aberrations, and tons of useful stuff for DMs wanting to run aberration-based campaigns.

== Chapter 1: What is an Aberration? ==

Discusses what defines an aberration and where they come from.

== Chapter 2: The Deep Masters ==

All about [[Aboleth]]s. Includes new variants of the aboleth: amphibious aboleth, uobilyth (aerial aboleth), and stygian aboleth. Also has a prestige class specifically for aboleths called the aboleth savant which specializes in the creation of magical aboleth glyphs, several feats for aboleths, and a short sample aboleth adventure ''The God in the Lake''.

== Chapter 3: The Eye Tyrants ==

All about [[Beholder]]s. Includes the elder orb beholder variant, and the infamously overpowered beholder mage class, several beholder feats, magic items made for beholders, plenty of fluff, and two short adventures: ''Sekarvu's Lair'' and ''Cult of the Hungry Eye''.

== Chapter 4: The Mind Flayers ==

[[Illithid]]s! Includes magic items for illithids and the sample adventure ''The Lair of Sarkt''.

== Chapter 5: The Slave Takers ==

A chapter about the [[Neogi]] a race that mostly only apears in the [[Spelljammer]] setting. Includes the stats the standard neogi adult, neogi spawn, and neogi great old master, and also includes several neogi variants, dwarf neogi, neogi defiler, neogi slavemaster, and neogi sorcerer. Also include the adventure ''Wreck of the Mindspider''.

== Chapter 6: The Eaters ==

On the [[Grell]]. Includes stats for the standard grell, grell philosopher, grell hatchling, grell juvenile, and grell patriarch, as well as grell magic items, and the adventure ''Sangkon Bhet''.

== Chapter 7: The Wearers of Flesh ==

The first appearance of a new aberration race called the [[Tsochar]]i. Includes the stats for standard tsochar and toschar strand, and also tsochar spells and items, and the adventure ''The House of Deros Frist''.

== Chapter 8: New Monsters ==

Even more awesome and terrifying aberrations for players to encounter.
* [[Beholder]]kin
** Hive Mother
** Director
** Eye of the Deep
** Overseer
** Spectator
* Cildabrin: an aberation resembling both a giant spider and a giant scorpion.
* Shadowcloak elder: A more powerful variant of the [[Cloaker]]
* Elder Brain: The final stage of the illithid life cycle and rulers of illithid society.
* Elder Eidolon (template): A powerful construct build in ancient times based on another monster. Includes the Elder Eidolon Kraken as an example.
* Gas Spore: A floating [[Fungus]] that mimics the appearence of a [[Beholder]].
* [[Gibbering Mouther]]
* Half-Farspawn (template): A hybrid of a outsider from the [[Far Realm]] and a more familiar monster. Includes the Half-Farspawn Grey Render as an example.
* Hound of the Gloom: A large tentacled dog monster that may be related to the [[Displacer Beast]].
* Illithidae: These creatures are to illithids what normal animals are to humans. These are monsters distantly related to illithids that came with them from the same world. All of them have several psionic abilities.
** Embrac: A large lumpy sack of flesh with many legs, eight tentacles, and a beak like mouth.
** Kigrid: A cat like monster with red eyes that are placed underneath its jaws.
** Saltor: A small ape-like scavenger with a beard of tentacles. They are capable of speech and able to use weapons and tools.
* [[Illithid|Mindflayer]]
** Alhoon: Also known as the illithilich. An illithid that has become a [[Lich]].
** Ulitharid: A more powerful varient of the illithid with six tentacles instead of four.
** Vampire Illithid: An undead illithid that drinks blood. They are not true vampires and lose their intelligence, becoming feral.
* Psuedonatural creature (template): A horrifying outsider from an alien plane that resembles a more familiar creature. A more powerful version of this template previously appeared in the [[Epic Level Handbook]]. Includes the Psuedonatural Hippogryph as an example.
* [[Psurlon]]: A race of psionic abberations resembling worms with many legs and eyes. This book makes some changes to their origins, which have varied over the editions they appeared in.
** Average Psurlon
** Elder Psurlon
** Giant Psurlon: A psurlon with a mutation that causes it to grow larger than normal, but does not gain the abilities of an elder.
* Shaboath: A construct created by an aboleth made of water and slime that takes the form of a several liquid tentacles.
* Shadow creature (Template): A monster from the plane of shadow that is a counterpart of something from the material plane. Includes the Shadow Choker as an example.
* Silthilar: It looks like a monster with four upper limbs ending in long spines, and four lower limbs ending in hands, and a head of tentacles, but it actually is a swarm of tiny creatures sharing one mind. These creatures once were a race that had mastered the art of [[Fleshcrafting]] but when they accidentally unleashed a plague they escaped by shattering their bodies and minds into pieces. Surprisingly, they actually are usually Chaotic Good.
* Urophion: A [[Roper]] that has undergone the same process used to turn humans into illithids.
* Zeugalak: A strange quadruped with stinger tail and a three tentacled mouth. It uses electric attacks, and when hit with electricity it takes no damage and can teleport to the source of the attack. It likes to catch natural lightning bolts to teleport into the sky and feather fall back down.

== Chapter 9: The Aberation Hunter ==

Discusses how to fight the various kinds of aberrations. Describes gods worshiped by aberrations and their cults: [[Ghaunadaur]], The [[Great Mother]], [[Ilsensine]], [[Mak Thuum Ngatha]], [[The Patient One]], and [[Tharizdun]]. Lists several feats for those who fight aberrations, and those with aberration blood, or have been influcent by aberrations in some way. Also includes several new [[Prestige Class]]es.
* [[Abolisher]]: One who fights to exterminate all aberrations for the sake of protecting nature. Although isn't required that the player be a [[Druid]], it is designed to work best if the player is one. Can join the Circle of the True.
* [[Darkrunner]]: Specializes in surviving and exploring underground. Works well with the [[Ranger]] class. Must join the Darkrunner Guild.
* [[Fleshcrafter]]: A spellcaster that specializes in [[Fleshcrafting]]. You modify your familiar and gain great skill in grafting.
* [[Keeper of the Cerulean Sign]]: Specializes in protecting the world from aberrations and cultists who worship them. Skilled at infitrating cults and makes heavy uses of the spell ''Invoke the Cerulean Sign'', which weakens aberrations. This class is difficult to qualify for without multiclassing except as a [[Bard]]. They do not have an organization, but are friendly with both the Circle of the True and the Topaz Order.
* [[Sanctified Mind]]: Specializes in fighting against evil [[Psionics]] users. It can work with either divine caster classes or manifesting classes and can gain the abilities of either as it levels up, but most of the class's own abilites are focused on melee combat, and you must have at least some psionic ability. You are taught by the Society of the Sanctified Mind.
* [[Topaz Guardian]]: Specializes in fighting against aberrations, with a special hatred for monsters that enslave humanoids with magic. Works best with the [[Paladin]] class. Must Join the Topaz Order.
The chapter also lists several spells, including some that previously apeared in the [[Book of Vile Darkness]] and several new magic items and grafts. The book concludes with describing several organizations that fight against aberrations.
* Circle of the True: Dedicated to protecting nature from the aberrant. Most members are Abolishers.
* The Darkrunner Guild: Profits off of exploring the underground. Most are Darkrunners.
* Society of the Sanctified Mind: Dedicated to fighting evil psionics users. Is affiliated with the church of [[Saint Cuthbert]].
* The Topaz Order: Fights against mind controlling aberrations. Many of them are Topaz Guardians. Affiliated with the church of [[Heironeous]].
[[Category:Roleplaying]]
[[Category:Dungeons & Dragons]]
[[Category:Game Books]]
[[Category:Splatbook]]

Lords of Madness

2019-08-23T04:09:22Z

2605:E000:7EC5:A000:B922:DF30:E1:C1DB: /* Chapter 2: The Deep Masters */

'''Lords of Madness: The Book of [[Aberration]]s''' is a [[Splatbook]] for Dungeons and Dragon 3.5 edition. The book goes into great detail about the fluff about several of the game's most famous aberrations and introduces some new ones, as well as introducing some new [[Prestige Classes]] for fighting against aberrations, and tons of useful stuff for DMs wanting to run aberration-based campaigns.

== Chapter 1: What is an Aberration? ==

Discusses what defines an aberration and where they come from.

== Chapter 2: The Deep Masters ==

All about [[Aboleth]]s. Includes new variants of the aboleth: amphibious aboleth, uobilyth (aerial aboleth), and stygian aboleth. Also has a prestige class specifically for aboleths called the aboleth savant which specializes in the creation of magical aboleth glyphs, several feats for aboleths, and a short sample aboleth adventure ''The God in the Lake''.

== Chapter 3: The Eye Tyrants ==

All about [[Beholder]]s. Includes the elder orb beholder variant, and the infamously overpowered beholder mage class, several beholder feats, magic items made for beholders, plenty of fluff, and two short adventures: ''Sekarvu's Lair'' and ''Cult of the Hungry Eye''.

== Chapter 4: The Mind Flayers ==

[[Illithid]]s! Includes magic items for illithids and the sample adventure ''The Lair of Sarkt''.

== Chapter 5: The Slave Takers ==

A chapter about the [[Neogi]] a race that mostly only apears in the [[Spelljammer]] setting. Includes the stats the standard neogi adult, neogi spawn, and neogi great old master, and also includes several neogi variants, dwarf neogi, neogi defiler, neogi slavemaster, and neogi sorcerer. Also include the adventure ''Wreck of the Mindspider''.

== Chapter 6: The Eaters ==

On the [[Grell]]. Includes stats for the standard grell, grell philosopher, grell hatchling, grell juvenile, and grell patriarch, as well as grell magic items, and the adventure ''Sangkon Bhet''.

== Chapter 7: The Wearers of Flesh ==

The first appearance of a new aberration race called the [[Tsochar]]i. Includes the stats for standard tsochar and toschar strand, and also tsochar spells and items, and the adventure ''The House of Deros Frist''.

== Chapter 8: New Monsters ==

Even more awesome and terrifying aberrations for players to encounter.
* [[Beholder]]kin
** Hive Mother
** Director
** Eye of the Deep
** Overseer
** Spectator
* Cildabrin: an aberation resembling both a giant spider and a giant scorpion.
* Shadowcloak elder: A more powerful variant of the [[Cloaker]]
* Elder Brain: The final stage of the illithid life cycle and rulers of illithid society.
* Elder Eidolon (template): A powerful construct build in ancient times based on another monster. Includes the Elder Eidolon Kraken as an example.
* Gas Spore: A floating [[Fungus]] that mimics the appearence of a [[Beholder]].
* [[Gibbering Mouther]]
* Half-Farspawn (template): A hybrid of a outsider from the [[Far Realm]] and a more familiar monster. Includes the Half-Farspawn Grey Render as an example.
* Hound of the Gloom: A large tentacled dog monster that may be related to the [[Displacer Beast]].
* Illithidae: These creatures are to illithids what normal animals are to humans. These are monsters distantly related to illithids that came with them from the same world. All of them have several psionic abilities.
** Embrac: A large lumpy sack of flesh with many legs, eight tentacles, and a beak like mouth.
** Kigrid: A cat like monster with red eyes that are placed underneath its jaws.
** Saltor: A small ape-like scavenger with a beard of tentacles. They are capable of speech and able to use weapons and tools.
* [[Illithid|Mindflayer]]
** Alhoon: Also known as the illithilich. An illithid that has become a [[Lich]].
** Ulitharid: A more powerful varient of the illithid with six tentacles instead of four.
** Vampire Illithid: An undead illithid that drinks blood. They are not true vampires and lose their intelligence, becoming feral.
* Psuedonatural creature (template): A horrifying outsider from an alien plane that resembles a more familiar creature. A more powerful version of this template previously appeared in the [[Epic Level Handbook]]. Includes the Psuedonatural Hippogryph as an example.
* [[Psurlon]]: A race of psionic abberations resembling worms with many legs and eyes. This book makes some changes to their origins, which have varied over the editions they appeared in.
** Average Psurlon
** Elder Psurlon
** Giant Psurlon: A psurlon with a mutation that causes it to grow larger than normal, but does not gain the abilities of an elder.
* Shaboath: A construct created by an aboleth made of water and slime that takes the form of a several liquid tentacles.
* Shadow creature (Template): A monster from the plane of shadow that is a counterpart of something from the material plane. Includes the Shadow Choker as an example.
* Silthilar: It looks like a monster with four upper limbs ending in long spines, and four lower limbs ending in hands, and a head of tentacles, but it actually is a swarm of tiny creatures sharing one mind. These creatures once were a race that had mastered the art of [[Fleshcrafting]] but when they accidentally unleashed a plague they escaped by shattering their bodies and minds into pieces. Surprisingly, they actually are usually Chaotic Good.
* Urophion: A [[Roper]] that has undergone the same process used to turn humans into illithids.
* Zeugalak: A strange quadruped with stinger tail and a three tentacled mouth. It uses electric attacks, and when hit with electricity it takes no damage can can teleport to the source of the attack. It likes to catch natural lightning bolts to teleport into the sky and feather fall back down.

== Chapter 9: The Aberation Hunter ==

Discusses how to fight the various kinds of aberrations. Describes gods worshiped by aberrations and their cults: [[Ghaunadaur]], The [[Great Mother]], [[Ilsensine]], [[Mak Thuum Ngatha]], [[The Patient One]], and [[Tharizdun]]. Lists several feats for those who fight aberrations, and those with aberration blood, or have been influcent by aberrations in some way. Also includes several new [[Prestige Class]]es.
* [[Abolisher]]: One who fights to exterminate all aberrations for the sake of protecting nature. Although isn't required that the player be a [[Druid]], it is designed to work best if the player is one. Can join the Circle of the True.
* [[Darkrunner]]: Specializes in surviving and exploring underground. Works well with the [[Ranger]] class. Must join the Darkrunner Guild.
* [[Fleshcrafter]]: A spellcaster that specializes in [[Fleshcrafting]]. You modify your familiar and gain great skill in grafting.
* [[Keeper of the Cerulean Sign]]: Specializes in protecting the world from aberrations and cultists who worship them. Skilled at infitrating cults and makes heavy uses of the spell ''Invoke the Cerulean Sign'', which weakens aberrations. This class is difficult to qualify for without multiclassing except as a [[Bard]]. They do not have an organization, but are friendly with both the Circle of the True and the Topaz Order.
* [[Sanctified Mind]]: Specializes in fighting against evil [[Psionics]] users. It can work with either divine caster classes or manifesting classes and can gain the abilities of either as it levels up, but most of the class's own abilites are focused on melee combat, and you must have at least some psionic ability. You are taught by the Society of the Sanctified Mind.
* [[Topaz Guardian]]: Specializes in fighting against aberrations, with a special hatred for monsters that enslave humanoids with magic. Works best with the [[Paladin]] class. Must Join the Topaz Order.
The chapter also lists several spells, including some that previously apeared in the [[Book of Vile Darkness]] and several new magic items and grafts. The book concludes with describing several organizations that fight against aberrations.
* Circle of the True: Dedicated to protecting nature from the aberrant. Most members are Abolishers.
* The Darkrunner Guild: Profits off of exploring the underground. Most are Darkrunners.
* Society of the Sanctified Mind: Dedicated to fighting evil psionics users. Is affiliated with the church of [[Saint Cuthbert]].
* The Topaz Order: Fights against mind controlling aberrations. Many of them are Topaz Guardians. Affiliated with the church of [[Heironeous]].
[[Category:Roleplaying]]
[[Category:Dungeons & Dragons]]
[[Category:Game Books]]
[[Category:Splatbook]]

Beholder

2019-08-23T03:33:40Z

2605:E000:7EC5:A000:B922:DF30:E1:C1DB: /* 5th Edition */

[[Category:Dungeons & Dragons]][[Category:Monsters]]
[[Image:Beholder_balloon.jpg|thumb|right|Drow clowns make a different kind of balloon animal]]

A '''beholder''' is a giant lumpy... thing that looks like a floating octopus with a giant eye in the middle. The tentacles also have eyes at the end of them. Yuck.

Beholders, like [[Illithid|Mind Flayer]]s, are considered "intellectual property" of <s>TSR</s> Wizards of the Coast, so they aren't allowed to be used in third party D&D supplements or in [[Pathfinder]] as they were not covered under the [[OGL|Open Gaming License]]. This naturally doesn't stop [[ChapterHouse Studios|weirdly]] [[Original character, do not steal|similar]] creatures from appearing in various [[weeaboo]] JRPGs and related works, where they're usually called "gazers" or similar. Yes, this includes [[Monstergirls]]. Of course one game even used the name beholder, but we all excuse it, because this game is [[Heroes of Might and Magic|THE GAME. THE LEGEND.]]

==Personality and Characteristics==
Beholders are selfish bastards who love to manipulate and enslave any races considered beneath themselves (i.e. every other species). They are extremely [[Imperium|xenophobic]] even going so far as to kill other individuals of their species that look even ''slightly'' different from themselves, though they always go after the more extreme divergences first; two beholders will gang up on the "freak" with scales and fiery eyes before trying to kill each other over the differences in their numbers of teeth. Soooo basically the D&D equivalent of a [[Doctor Who|Dalek]].

Despite this, or perhaps because of it, the beholder race has a lot of genetic variety (as evidenced by the number of Beholder variants, all of whom hate each other, as listed below). They are greedy, often living in dungeons stuffed with valuables. They can cast magic from their eyes and often rule over unwilling souls through domination. One even runs the Thieves' Guild of Skullport, the most recent of several beholders to have done so.

Beholders worship the [[Great Mother]] and due to their massive egos, each beholder is convinced that not only does the Great Mother look exactly like itself, but also that it's ''literally'' their mother (false memories are funny like that). Beholders also have another god named [[Gzemnid]] who is associated with gases and deception.

Much information about their biology and culture was revealed in the book [[Lords of Madness]]

==Notable Variants==
===2nd & 3rd Edition===
* Beholder: Your basic beholder. A central eye that projects an anti-magic cone and ten smaller eyes that each fire a different ray, such as charm person, disintegrate, and flesh to stone.
* Gauth: basically, babby's first beholder, with only 6 eyestalks of doom and a reduced ability to disintegrate everyone.
* Eyeball: tiny beholder, best used as a familiar. Pretty damn adorable for a beholder, still Neutral Evil.
* Death Tyrant: basically, a Beholder lich. Yeah, you're probably fucked.
* Death Kiss: instead of dispensing death-beams from its eyestalks, they use them to suck your blood.
* Astereater: giant space-faring asteroid beholderkin with no eyestalks that eats your ship. For some reason it likes to enslave [[Giff]] to use as soldiers. [[Spelljammer]] was weird. Beholders and other beholderkin insist that they have no relation to them.
* Examiner: Four eyestalks, four limbs, and no central eye. Their limbs let them use tools and weapons, and they can create magic items. They also regenerate 1 hit point every round.
* Lensman: The lowest of all beholderkin. Looks like a cross between a starfish and an ape with a single eye, which may have one of six different powers.
* Watcher: the second lowest of beholderkin. Has three normal eyes around its body and a large compound eye on the top surrounded by six eyespots, and a single tentacle on the bottom which can inflict electric shocks. Its three regular eyes each have two different powers, and the compound eye can use three of those powers. Can cast the message and tounges spells. They are cowardly and mainly act as scouts for their more powerful cousins.
* Elder Orb: A larger beholder with a much longer than normal lifespan. Always has at least 6 levels of sorcerer.
* Hive Mother/[[Hive Tyrant]]: The highest ranked of all beholders and beholderkin. basically a bigger meaner beholder that holds beholders and beholderkin under its sway.
* Spectator: true neutral beholderkin. It's actually pretty swell, as far as beholders go. Remember that one beholder in Baldur's Gate? They can be summoned with a ritual using four beholder's eyestalks
* Overseer: a beholderkin that looks like a giant fleshy tree trunk with thirteen eyestalk branches, tentacles for roots, and several mouths at the base. Yes, I realize that it looks nothing like a beholder, but the book says it is so fuck it, let's call it a beholder. Like the hive mother, it also has the ability to dominate other beholders.
* Eye of the Deep: it's like a beholder BUT UNDERWATER! And it tastes oddly of shrimp. Also, it's got little arms with crab-pincers. Only has two eye stalks and the central eye can flash blinding light. Also can cast the spell persistent image, which it uses to create [[Trap|illusion of mermaids]] and other things to lure victims closer.
* Director: a beholderkin with three bottom tentacles that it uses to ride vermin, usually giant centipedes. Because haven't we all wanted to ride a giant centipede like a pony up and down the streets... SHUT UP, I DON'T JUDGE YOU! Has six eye stalks and its central eye generates a protective forcefield around itself and its mount.
* Beholder mage: when the DM wants the entire party to die horrible deaths but doesn't feel like using rocks. This is a special character class that only true beholders can take, which requires them to remove their anti-magic eye, and whenever they gain a the ability to cast a new level of spells must sacrifice one of their eye powers to turn that eyestalk into a spellstalk which casts spells of that level. At level 10, it's empty eye socket can absorb spells to heal it. All the cheese of a wizard with more spells per day, the ability to blast 10 spells at once at you as free actions, and fucking spontaneous casting. Even munchkins shit their pants in fear when they hear of these things. One of the unholy trinity of fuck off broken PCs that you can technically enter, the others being tainted scholars and Illithid Savants. And that's before you start optimizing the bastard because the fucker can still take ten more levels before becoming epic.
* Gouger: A beholderkin created to fight beholders. It does not have any eye powers other than the antimagic eye. It attacks with a long barbed tongue which it uses to disable other beholder's eyes. Larger than regular beholders and has four small legs hanging off of their body.
* Gorbel: A clawed beholder with no eye powers that likes to explode.
* Orbus: A spellcasting beholder with no eyes other than the anti-magic central eye.
* Doomsphere: A ghost beholder created by a magical explosion.
* Kasharin: A disease carrying zombie beholder.

===4th edition===
4e made use of quite a few different kinds of beholder, though almost all of them were pretty rapetastic, being made for higher levels. Most kinds of beholders had a Telekinesis Ray that they could use to slide enemies about, though for most that's all they do.

* Gauth - Pretty much the same as old editions, this is the pitiful little baby of the beholder family in 4e, and something you can toss at low-level parties to scare them without killing them. Level 5 Elites that can shoot fire, sleeping rays and exhaustion rays, and immobilise with its central eye.
* Bloodkiss - Another carry-over, and the second-weakest beholder statted, this one got the Undead subtype for some reason (guess they didn't read up and thought it was "just" a beholder vampire). Level 9 Solo Controller that relies on its blood-sucking tentacles to rip up anything in reach, though it also packs a psychic + dazing effect Death Scream attack and can hit people a lot of times.
* Eye of Shadow - Beholders who spent too long in the shadowfell, dissolving into a blot of darkness and hate. Fairly puny (level 12 Elite), but seriously trolling, with blinding rays, thundering rays, freezing rays, and the ability to pull off a "teleport 20 squares and then be invisible" trick.
* Eye of Flame - A beholder that specialises in burninating shit. Central eye gives vulnerability to fire and causes fire attacks to do ongoing, eyestalks blast foes with fire and fear effects. A low-Paragon tier (level 13 Elite) foe.
* Eye of Frost - We got a burn-your-ass beholder, so evidently we need a freezinating beholder. Slightly tougher (1 level higher) than its counterpart. Central eye means cold damage can immobilise those it looks at... weirdly, its got two kinds of freezing rays; one that does a lot of cold damage, one that does less cold damage but freezes your ass solid.
* Beholder Spawn - Baby beholders wanna eat your face, too. Level 15 Minions that can bite or do elemental damage with their eye-rays.
* Death Tyrant - Zombie Eye Tyrants, pretty much. Way weaker than their older namesakes (level 15 Solo). Central eye can strip away necrotic resistance (guess what kind of damage it does most) and slow you, and eyebeams focused on kill-you-dead. Choice is whether it just necrotic damages you to death, petrifies you, makes you die, or makes you die and then come back as a ghoul. Oh, and it has a fear ray too.
* Ghost Beholder - Dead Eye Tyrant who came back as a ghost. A level weaker and only an Elite, but still pretty nasty. Freezing eye rays and the ability to possess and mind control your dudes: not a lot of fun if your Will is shitty.
* Eye Tyrant - Your basic beholder for this edition, and pretty damn nasty (level 19 Solo). Can daze you with its central eye, or use its eyestalks to cause radiant and necrotic damage, put you to sleep, paralyze you, confuse you, terrify you, petrify you, disintegrate you or kill you outright.
* Eye of Chaos - Now we're getting into the big guns. Level 25 Elites that will drive you almost as crazy as themselves, with the ability to lock you down to at-will powers only with their central eye and hit you with rays of force, blinding, confounding, madness, fear or teleportation.
* Ultimate Tyrant - They ain't fucking kidding when they named this bastard. Level 29 Solo - there are ancient dragons that aren't this nasty! Central eye locks you down, other eyes can drive you mad, unravel you, dissolve you, burn you, freeze you, drag you around, petrify you, disintegrate you, pull you closer or hurl you away.
* Eternal Tyrant - Because even the Ultimate Tyrant isn't ultimate enough. This bastard is an undead version of the Ultimate Tyrant that comes in a pair of linked entities; the Shell, a beholder [[golem]] (Level 31 Elite Brute) and the Essence, a hyper-powerful beholder [[ghost]] (level 33 Elite Artillery). These assholes are literally god-tier monsters - you had damn well better know what you're doing when you fight an Eternal Tyrant!

===5th Edition===
5e's first Monster Manual provides three forms of beholder; common beholder (or Eye Tyrant), Death Tyrant, and Spectator. The first two variants are what 5e calls Legendary creatures, meaning they have extra powers in their lairs that they can trigger on Initiative Count 20, certain specific effects mark the regions in which they lair, and they have special Legendary Actions that they can perform outside of the normal turn sequence. Their legendary ego has been given up a serious boost; now, beholders mutate at random just by accidentally thinking too hard, their ego is that overpowering. This is also how they reproduce now: by sleeping and dreaming of other beholders, bending reality in that way.

* Beholder: You know it, you hate it. Challenge level 13. Has its old antimagic cone central eye back, a bite attack for piercing damage, and ten eye rays, of which it can use three each round, rolling randomly to determine which three it has. Charm ray, paralyzing ray, fear ray, slowing ray, enervation ray, telekinetic ray, sleep ray, petrification ray, disintegration ray and death ray. It can burn one of its three legendary actions at the end of another creature's turn to blast somebody with a random eye ray. Its lair effects consist of three options; change a 50ft square up to 120ft distant into slimy difficult terrain, make any walls within 120ft sprout flailing appendages that'll grapple anyone within 10ft who can't beat a DC 15 Strength (Athletics) or Dexterity (Acrobatics) check, or cause an eye to pop up on any solid surface within 60ft that can then shoot a random eye ray at any enemy within its sight. For region effects, they're all fluffy; creatures within 1 mile sometimes feel they're being watched, or minor reality warps that affect inanimate objects (markings changing on a wall, slime coating a statue, etc) pop up whilst the beholder is sleeping. Volo's Guide to Monsters introduced a table of potential alternate eye rays, in case your party was feeling complacent.
* Death Tyrant: A beholder who dreamed of living forever. So it died in its sleep and became an undead beholder skull with ghostly eyes. It trades the antimagic cone for a negative energy cone (creatures can't regain hitpoints, humanoids that die in its area of effect become zombies under the death tyrant's command on the next turn). It has the same eye rays and legendary actions as the beholder. Its lair actions are variants of the beholder's - its grabbing walls are DC 17 and reach into the Ethereal Plane, it creates a 50ft cube of lightly obscured difficult terrain, and it can create a spectral eye at any point within 50ft, which can also target foes on the Ethereal Plane. It has one crunchy regional effect; a creature that is both hostile to the death tyrant and aware of its existence must roll a D20 if it finishes a long rest within 1 mile of the death tyrant's lair. On a 10 or less, it gets zapped with a random eye ray.
* Spectator: A lesser beholder variant with only four eye stalks, conjured from another plane of existence via a ritual that requires four beholder eyestalks as material components. It's only Challenge level 3 and it's Lawful Neutral, rather than the Lawful Evil of the others. It has a Confusion Ray, a Paralyzing Ray, a Fear Ray and a Wounding Ray, and it can magically create all the food and water it needs to sustain itself each day. It's a fool's gambit to attack it with spells thanks to its Spell Reflection reaction, which lets it retarget a spell that missed the spectator, or which forced a save that the spectator passed, against another creature within the spectator's line of sight and that is at least 30 feet from the spectator.
* Beholder Zombie: Much weaker than a living beholder. Loses most of its eye rays and its anti-magic cone.
* Death's Kiss: A Beholder who had nightmares about bleeding out spawns a vampiric tentacle monster, using toothy mouth-stalks to voraciously suck the blood from other creatures. It also bleeds lightning, for some reason. Not as smart as a normal beholder, but for this reason not as egotistical or paranoid. Added in Volo's Guide to Monsters.
* Gauth: A smaller beholder who sometimes shows up if you screw up the ritual to summon a spectator; it's got six eyestalks, four tentacles, and smaller eyes all around its central eye, so it's hard to understand how wizards can get confused when it lies and claims to be the real deal. The issue is that Gauths are magic eaters, sucking the juice from magical items to sustain themselves, so you can see why that makes them pretty piss-poor guards for a wizard's lair. They're weaker than true beholders and also less xenophobic. Also, they explode when you kill them.
* Gazer: A ridiculously adorable and weak little beholder (only Challenge 1/2 - that is, a ''twenty-sixth'' of the strength of a true beholder) that is sometimes dreamed into being. They're so amusingly pathetic that even pure beholders often keep them as pets, and they have the same sadistic ego of a full beholder in miniature. Have caused a lot of argument over whether the sidebar on gazer familiars is intended for PCs as well or just for mage NPCs, and if so if house rules should be used to slot them in as Chain Pact warlock familiars, let them take the action to fire their eye-rays, etc.
* Mindwitness: A beholder converted into an [[illithid]]-like creature via ceremorphosis. Now that those of you who aren't currently running from your computers in terror have stopped screaming, the end result is less "terrifying perfect marriage of beholder eye-rays with illithid mind rape and the combined egotism of both" and more "quasi-lobotomized docile [[Adeptus Astra Telepathica#Astropaths|glorified psionic email server]]," though still smarter than the average human. Notably, if the illithids and elder brains they serve are slaughtered and they survive, mindwitnesses tend to drift around looking for other psionic creatures to serve, taking on the alignments and worldviews of those they meet, be they kindly [[flumph]]s or evil [[demon]]s. Four of their eyestalks become tentacles, but they have six kinds of eyerays: fear, telekinetic, and slowing rays like those of their normal cousins, but also aversion rays that cause disadvantage on attack rolls, stunning rays that stun creatures, and a psychic ray that just causes a pile of psychic damage.

==Similar Monsters==
Beholders are not the only monsters that look like floating orbs with eyes.
* Gas Spore: Not a true beholder or beholderkin, but a [[fungus]] that resembles a beholder. May have been created by a beholder mage, or may be a fungus that took on the form of the beholder that it fed on, or maybe it's just mundane evolutionary mimicry.
* Thagar: Also known as the Beholdereater, it is predator that eats beholders. Is a giant orb covered in eyes with several mouths on the ends of stalks. It does not have any eye powers, but it is immune to mind affecting magic and highly resistant to it's body being physically affected by magic, so there isn't much a beholder can do against it.
* Deep spawn: An orb with six large tentacles and several retractable eye stalk. Three of it's tentacles end in mouths, and the other three can wield weapons. It has the ability to give birth to loyal clones of creatures it has previously eaten, making them useful for villains who want to populate their dungeons with a variety of monsters. Relation to beholders unknown.
* Gibbering Orb: An epic version of the [[Gibbering Mouther]]. An amorphous orb covered in mouths and eyes, which have eye rays similar to a beholder. Possibly is the common ancestor of beholders and gibbering mouthers
* Lurking strangler: These creatures are to beholders what monkeys are to humans. A tiny aberration that looks like a pair of flying eyeballs connected by a cord of muscle. It likes to strangling sleeping enemies to death, and it can put enemies to sleep with one of its two eye rays. Beholders sometimes keep these things as pets.
* Fihyr: A living manifestation of nightmares that forms when a large number of people in an area all have nightmares in one night. It has a roughly spherical body covered in eyes, mouths, and tentacles. No relation to beholders.
* [[Astral Dreadnought]]: A huge predator that lives in the [[Astral Plane]] that has a single eye with anti-magic abilities similar to a beholder's central eye. Relation to beholders unknown.

==Notable Beholders==
*That beholder head of the thieves' guild who was the first major boss in [[Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance]]
*Another beholder head of another thieves' guild who was the final boss of the first Eye of the Beholder game.
*That funny spectator you kept running into and quasi-befriended in [[Baldur's Gate|Baldur's Gate II]]
*That blind death tyrant boss you had to get a special god-killing magic wand to kill in [[Baldur's Gate|Baldur's Gate II]]
*That beholder in [[Dungeons and Dragons: Heroes]]
*That beholder in Futurama who's there for no apparent reason (was meant to be guarding some passage in the Central Bureaucracy but fell asleep on the job)
*Xanathar, the writer of "Xanathar's guide to everything" and head of Skullport's Thieves' Guild, which includes new options for classes and backgrounds, along with his snide comments running throughout. Apparently he's only one of many beholders to have used the title since the first one seized power. He really loves his pet goldfish. It is kind of adorable. What he doesn't know is that his beloved goldfish has been replaced several times by the Thieves' Guild since goldfish don't live very long and he would [[RAGE|not be happy if he ever found out]].

==Beholders as Monstergirls==
[[File:Gazer.jpg|200px|thumb|right|No, you're not dreaming, this is a Beholder in monstergirl form.]]{{Monstergirls}}

[[rule 34|The proof that nothing, ab-so-lu-te-ly nothing is sacred,]] even Beholders got anthropomorphised into a sexy almost-human female by [[/d/|those irremediably insane weebs]]. Goddamit, Japan!

Gazers (as they are typically known due to copyright) are often depicted as arrogant, selfish beings that do not hesitate to use their eye ray powers to get what they want. Of course, fitting for a [[monstergirl]]s setting, their powers are [[PROMOTIONS|less destructive]] than that of a D&D Beholder, going more toward charm, hypnotism and mind control.

Still, beholder-girls are a rarity, simply because there's something rather counter-intuitive about turning a floating head full of teeth and eyes into a monstergirl. Perhaps the most well known example of them on /tg/ is the Gazer of the [[Monster Girl Encyclopedia]], whose smug grin currently adorns this section of the page. Described as spiteful and full of themselves, their deepest secret is that this is mostly bluster to cover up feelings of insecurity about their looks. They specialize in hypnotic spells, mostly to brainwash men into falling in love with them.

==Gallery==
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Beholder

2019-08-23T03:32:40Z

2605:E000:7EC5:A000:B922:DF30:E1:C1DB: /* Personality and Characteristics */

[[Category:Dungeons & Dragons]][[Category:Monsters]]
[[Image:Beholder_balloon.jpg|thumb|right|Drow clowns make a different kind of balloon animal]]

A '''beholder''' is a giant lumpy... thing that looks like a floating octopus with a giant eye in the middle. The tentacles also have eyes at the end of them. Yuck.

Beholders, like [[Illithid|Mind Flayer]]s, are considered "intellectual property" of <s>TSR</s> Wizards of the Coast, so they aren't allowed to be used in third party D&D supplements or in [[Pathfinder]] as they were not covered under the [[OGL|Open Gaming License]]. This naturally doesn't stop [[ChapterHouse Studios|weirdly]] [[Original character, do not steal|similar]] creatures from appearing in various [[weeaboo]] JRPGs and related works, where they're usually called "gazers" or similar. Yes, this includes [[Monstergirls]]. Of course one game even used the name beholder, but we all excuse it, because this game is [[Heroes of Might and Magic|THE GAME. THE LEGEND.]]

==Personality and Characteristics==
Beholders are selfish bastards who love to manipulate and enslave any races considered beneath themselves (i.e. every other species). They are extremely [[Imperium|xenophobic]] even going so far as to kill other individuals of their species that look even ''slightly'' different from themselves, though they always go after the more extreme divergences first; two beholders will gang up on the "freak" with scales and fiery eyes before trying to kill each other over the differences in their numbers of teeth. Soooo basically the D&D equivalent of a [[Doctor Who|Dalek]].

Despite this, or perhaps because of it, the beholder race has a lot of genetic variety (as evidenced by the number of Beholder variants, all of whom hate each other, as listed below). They are greedy, often living in dungeons stuffed with valuables. They can cast magic from their eyes and often rule over unwilling souls through domination. One even runs the Thieves' Guild of Skullport, the most recent of several beholders to have done so.

Beholders worship the [[Great Mother]] and due to their massive egos, each beholder is convinced that not only does the Great Mother look exactly like itself, but also that it's ''literally'' their mother (false memories are funny like that). Beholders also have another god named [[Gzemnid]] who is associated with gases and deception.

Much information about their biology and culture was revealed in the book [[Lords of Madness]]

==Notable Variants==
===2nd & 3rd Edition===
* Beholder: Your basic beholder. A central eye that projects an anti-magic cone and ten smaller eyes that each fire a different ray, such as charm person, disintegrate, and flesh to stone.
* Gauth: basically, babby's first beholder, with only 6 eyestalks of doom and a reduced ability to disintegrate everyone.
* Eyeball: tiny beholder, best used as a familiar. Pretty damn adorable for a beholder, still Neutral Evil.
* Death Tyrant: basically, a Beholder lich. Yeah, you're probably fucked.
* Death Kiss: instead of dispensing death-beams from its eyestalks, they use them to suck your blood.
* Astereater: giant space-faring asteroid beholderkin with no eyestalks that eats your ship. For some reason it likes to enslave [[Giff]] to use as soldiers. [[Spelljammer]] was weird. Beholders and other beholderkin insist that they have no relation to them.
* Examiner: Four eyestalks, four limbs, and no central eye. Their limbs let them use tools and weapons, and they can create magic items. They also regenerate 1 hit point every round.
* Lensman: The lowest of all beholderkin. Looks like a cross between a starfish and an ape with a single eye, which may have one of six different powers.
* Watcher: the second lowest of beholderkin. Has three normal eyes around its body and a large compound eye on the top surrounded by six eyespots, and a single tentacle on the bottom which can inflict electric shocks. Its three regular eyes each have two different powers, and the compound eye can use three of those powers. Can cast the message and tounges spells. They are cowardly and mainly act as scouts for their more powerful cousins.
* Elder Orb: A larger beholder with a much longer than normal lifespan. Always has at least 6 levels of sorcerer.
* Hive Mother/[[Hive Tyrant]]: The highest ranked of all beholders and beholderkin. basically a bigger meaner beholder that holds beholders and beholderkin under its sway.
* Spectator: true neutral beholderkin. It's actually pretty swell, as far as beholders go. Remember that one beholder in Baldur's Gate? They can be summoned with a ritual using four beholder's eyestalks
* Overseer: a beholderkin that looks like a giant fleshy tree trunk with thirteen eyestalk branches, tentacles for roots, and several mouths at the base. Yes, I realize that it looks nothing like a beholder, but the book says it is so fuck it, let's call it a beholder. Like the hive mother, it also has the ability to dominate other beholders.
* Eye of the Deep: it's like a beholder BUT UNDERWATER! And it tastes oddly of shrimp. Also, it's got little arms with crab-pincers. Only has two eye stalks and the central eye can flash blinding light. Also can cast the spell persistent image, which it uses to create [[Trap|illusion of mermaids]] and other things to lure victims closer.
* Director: a beholderkin with three bottom tentacles that it uses to ride vermin, usually giant centipedes. Because haven't we all wanted to ride a giant centipede like a pony up and down the streets... SHUT UP, I DON'T JUDGE YOU! Has six eye stalks and its central eye generates a protective forcefield around itself and its mount.
* Beholder mage: when the DM wants the entire party to die horrible deaths but doesn't feel like using rocks. This is a special character class that only true beholders can take, which requires them to remove their anti-magic eye, and whenever they gain a the ability to cast a new level of spells must sacrifice one of their eye powers to turn that eyestalk into a spellstalk which casts spells of that level. At level 10, it's empty eye socket can absorb spells to heal it. All the cheese of a wizard with more spells per day, the ability to blast 10 spells at once at you as free actions, and fucking spontaneous casting. Even munchkins shit their pants in fear when they hear of these things. One of the unholy trinity of fuck off broken PCs that you can technically enter, the others being tainted scholars and Illithid Savants. And that's before you start optimizing the bastard because the fucker can still take ten more levels before becoming epic.
* Gouger: A beholderkin created to fight beholders. It does not have any eye powers other than the antimagic eye. It attacks with a long barbed tongue which it uses to disable other beholder's eyes. Larger than regular beholders and has four small legs hanging off of their body.
* Gorbel: A clawed beholder with no eye powers that likes to explode.
* Orbus: A spellcasting beholder with no eyes other than the anti-magic central eye.
* Doomsphere: A ghost beholder created by a magical explosion.
* Kasharin: A disease carrying zombie beholder.

===4th edition===
4e made use of quite a few different kinds of beholder, though almost all of them were pretty rapetastic, being made for higher levels. Most kinds of beholders had a Telekinesis Ray that they could use to slide enemies about, though for most that's all they do.

* Gauth - Pretty much the same as old editions, this is the pitiful little baby of the beholder family in 4e, and something you can toss at low-level parties to scare them without killing them. Level 5 Elites that can shoot fire, sleeping rays and exhaustion rays, and immobilise with its central eye.
* Bloodkiss - Another carry-over, and the second-weakest beholder statted, this one got the Undead subtype for some reason (guess they didn't read up and thought it was "just" a beholder vampire). Level 9 Solo Controller that relies on its blood-sucking tentacles to rip up anything in reach, though it also packs a psychic + dazing effect Death Scream attack and can hit people a lot of times.
* Eye of Shadow - Beholders who spent too long in the shadowfell, dissolving into a blot of darkness and hate. Fairly puny (level 12 Elite), but seriously trolling, with blinding rays, thundering rays, freezing rays, and the ability to pull off a "teleport 20 squares and then be invisible" trick.
* Eye of Flame - A beholder that specialises in burninating shit. Central eye gives vulnerability to fire and causes fire attacks to do ongoing, eyestalks blast foes with fire and fear effects. A low-Paragon tier (level 13 Elite) foe.
* Eye of Frost - We got a burn-your-ass beholder, so evidently we need a freezinating beholder. Slightly tougher (1 level higher) than its counterpart. Central eye means cold damage can immobilise those it looks at... weirdly, its got two kinds of freezing rays; one that does a lot of cold damage, one that does less cold damage but freezes your ass solid.
* Beholder Spawn - Baby beholders wanna eat your face, too. Level 15 Minions that can bite or do elemental damage with their eye-rays.
* Death Tyrant - Zombie Eye Tyrants, pretty much. Way weaker than their older namesakes (level 15 Solo). Central eye can strip away necrotic resistance (guess what kind of damage it does most) and slow you, and eyebeams focused on kill-you-dead. Choice is whether it just necrotic damages you to death, petrifies you, makes you die, or makes you die and then come back as a ghoul. Oh, and it has a fear ray too.
* Ghost Beholder - Dead Eye Tyrant who came back as a ghost. A level weaker and only an Elite, but still pretty nasty. Freezing eye rays and the ability to possess and mind control your dudes: not a lot of fun if your Will is shitty.
* Eye Tyrant - Your basic beholder for this edition, and pretty damn nasty (level 19 Solo). Can daze you with its central eye, or use its eyestalks to cause radiant and necrotic damage, put you to sleep, paralyze you, confuse you, terrify you, petrify you, disintegrate you or kill you outright.
* Eye of Chaos - Now we're getting into the big guns. Level 25 Elites that will drive you almost as crazy as themselves, with the ability to lock you down to at-will powers only with their central eye and hit you with rays of force, blinding, confounding, madness, fear or teleportation.
* Ultimate Tyrant - They ain't fucking kidding when they named this bastard. Level 29 Solo - there are ancient dragons that aren't this nasty! Central eye locks you down, other eyes can drive you mad, unravel you, dissolve you, burn you, freeze you, drag you around, petrify you, disintegrate you, pull you closer or hurl you away.
* Eternal Tyrant - Because even the Ultimate Tyrant isn't ultimate enough. This bastard is an undead version of the Ultimate Tyrant that comes in a pair of linked entities; the Shell, a beholder [[golem]] (Level 31 Elite Brute) and the Essence, a hyper-powerful beholder [[ghost]] (level 33 Elite Artillery). These assholes are literally god-tier monsters - you had damn well better know what you're doing when you fight an Eternal Tyrant!

===5th Edition===
5e's first Monster Manual provides three forms of beholder; common beholder (or Eye Tyrant), Death Tyrant, and Spectator. The first two variants are what 5e calls Legendary creatures, meaning they have extra powers in their lairs that they can trigger on Initiative Count 20, certain specific effects mark the regions in which they lair, and they have special Legendary Actions that they can perform outside of the normal turn sequence. Their legendary ego has been given up a serious boost; now, beholders mutate at random just by accidentally thinking too hard, their ego is that overpowering. This is also how they reproduce: by sleeping and dreaming of other beholders, bending reality in that way.

* Beholder: You know it, you hate it. Challenge level 13. Has its old antimagic cone central eye back, a bite attack for piercing damage, and ten eye rays, of which it can use three each round, rolling randomly to determine which three it has. Charm ray, paralyzing ray, fear ray, slowing ray, enervation ray, telekinetic ray, sleep ray, petrification ray, disintegration ray and death ray. It can burn one of its three legendary actions at the end of another creature's turn to blast somebody with a random eye ray. Its lair effects consist of three options; change a 50ft square up to 120ft distant into slimy difficult terrain, make any walls within 120ft sprout flailing appendages that'll grapple anyone within 10ft who can't beat a DC 15 Strength (Athletics) or Dexterity (Acrobatics) check, or cause an eye to pop up on any solid surface within 60ft that can then shoot a random eye ray at any enemy within its sight. For region effects, they're all fluffy; creatures within 1 mile sometimes feel they're being watched, or minor reality warps that affect inanimate objects (markings changing on a wall, slime coating a statue, etc) pop up whilst the beholder is sleeping. Volo's Guide to Monsters introduced a table of potential alternate eye rays, in case your party was feeling complacent.
* Death Tyrant: A beholder who dreamed of living forever. So it died in its sleep and became an undead beholder skull with ghostly eyes. It trades the antimagic cone for a negative energy cone (creatures can't regain hitpoints, humanoids that die in its area of effect become zombies under the death tyrant's command on the next turn). It has the same eye rays and legendary actions as the beholder. Its lair actions are variants of the beholder's - its grabbing walls are DC 17 and reach into the Ethereal Plane, it creates a 50ft cube of lightly obscured difficult terrain, and it can create a spectral eye at any point within 50ft, which can also target foes on the Ethereal Plane. It has one crunchy regional effect; a creature that is both hostile to the death tyrant and aware of its existence must roll a D20 if it finishes a long rest within 1 mile of the death tyrant's lair. On a 10 or less, it gets zapped with a random eye ray.
* Spectator: A lesser beholder variant with only four eye stalks, conjured from another plane of existence via a ritual that requires four beholder eyestalks as material components. It's only Challenge level 3 and it's Lawful Neutral, rather than the Lawful Evil of the others. It has a Confusion Ray, a Paralyzing Ray, a Fear Ray and a Wounding Ray, and it can magically create all the food and water it needs to sustain itself each day. It's a fool's gambit to attack it with spells thanks to its Spell Reflection reaction, which lets it retarget a spell that missed the spectator, or which forced a save that the spectator passed, against another creature within the spectator's line of sight and that is at least 30 feet from the spectator.
* Beholder Zombie: Much weaker than a living beholder. Loses most of its eye rays and its anti-magic cone.
* Death's Kiss: A Beholder who had nightmares about bleeding out spawns a vampiric tentacle monster, using toothy mouth-stalks to voraciously suck the blood from other creatures. It also bleeds lightning, for some reason. Not as smart as a normal beholder, but for this reason not as egotistical or paranoid. Added in Volo's Guide to Monsters.
* Gauth: A smaller beholder who sometimes shows up if you screw up the ritual to summon a spectator; it's got six eyestalks, four tentacles, and smaller eyes all around its central eye, so it's hard to understand how wizards can get confused when it lies and claims to be the real deal. The issue is that Gauths are magic eaters, sucking the juice from magical items to sustain themselves, so you can see why that makes them pretty piss-poor guards for a wizard's lair. They're weaker than true beholders and also less xenophobic. Also, they explode when you kill them.
* Gazer: A ridiculously adorable and weak little beholder (only Challenge 1/2 - that is, a ''twenty-sixth'' of the strength of a true beholder) that is sometimes dreamed into being. They're so amusingly pathetic that even pure beholders often keep them as pets, and they have the same sadistic ego of a full beholder in miniature. Have caused a lot of argument over whether the sidebar on gazer familiars is intended for PCs as well or just for mage NPCs, and if so if house rules should be used to slot them in as Chain Pact warlock familiars, let them take the action to fire their eye-rays, etc.
* Mindwitness: A beholder converted into an [[illithid]]-like creature via ceremorphosis. Now that those of you who aren't currently running from your computers in terror have stopped screaming, the end result is less "terrifying perfect marriage of beholder eye-rays with illithid mind rape and the combined egotism of both" and more "quasi-lobotomized docile [[Adeptus Astra Telepathica#Astropaths|glorified psionic email server]]," though still smarter than the average human. Notably, if the illithids and elder brains they serve are slaughtered and they survive, mindwitnesses tend to drift around looking for other psionic creatures to serve, taking on the alignments and worldviews of those they meet, be they kindly [[flumph]]s or evil [[demon]]s. Four of their eyestalks become tentacles, but they have six kinds of eyerays: fear, telekinetic, and slowing rays like those of their normal cousins, but also aversion rays that cause disadvantage on attack rolls, stunning rays that stun creatures, and a psychic ray that just causes a pile of psychic damage.

==Similar Monsters==
Beholders are not the only monsters that look like floating orbs with eyes.
* Gas Spore: Not a true beholder or beholderkin, but a [[fungus]] that resembles a beholder. May have been created by a beholder mage, or may be a fungus that took on the form of the beholder that it fed on, or maybe it's just mundane evolutionary mimicry.
* Thagar: Also known as the Beholdereater, it is predator that eats beholders. Is a giant orb covered in eyes with several mouths on the ends of stalks. It does not have any eye powers, but it is immune to mind affecting magic and highly resistant to it's body being physically affected by magic, so there isn't much a beholder can do against it.
* Deep spawn: An orb with six large tentacles and several retractable eye stalk. Three of it's tentacles end in mouths, and the other three can wield weapons. It has the ability to give birth to loyal clones of creatures it has previously eaten, making them useful for villains who want to populate their dungeons with a variety of monsters. Relation to beholders unknown.
* Gibbering Orb: An epic version of the [[Gibbering Mouther]]. An amorphous orb covered in mouths and eyes, which have eye rays similar to a beholder. Possibly is the common ancestor of beholders and gibbering mouthers
* Lurking strangler: These creatures are to beholders what monkeys are to humans. A tiny aberration that looks like a pair of flying eyeballs connected by a cord of muscle. It likes to strangling sleeping enemies to death, and it can put enemies to sleep with one of its two eye rays. Beholders sometimes keep these things as pets.
* Fihyr: A living manifestation of nightmares that forms when a large number of people in an area all have nightmares in one night. It has a roughly spherical body covered in eyes, mouths, and tentacles. No relation to beholders.
* [[Astral Dreadnought]]: A huge predator that lives in the [[Astral Plane]] that has a single eye with anti-magic abilities similar to a beholder's central eye. Relation to beholders unknown.

==Notable Beholders==
*That beholder head of the thieves' guild who was the first major boss in [[Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance]]
*Another beholder head of another thieves' guild who was the final boss of the first Eye of the Beholder game.
*That funny spectator you kept running into and quasi-befriended in [[Baldur's Gate|Baldur's Gate II]]
*That blind death tyrant boss you had to get a special god-killing magic wand to kill in [[Baldur's Gate|Baldur's Gate II]]
*That beholder in [[Dungeons and Dragons: Heroes]]
*That beholder in Futurama who's there for no apparent reason (was meant to be guarding some passage in the Central Bureaucracy but fell asleep on the job)
*Xanathar, the writer of "Xanathar's guide to everything" and head of Skullport's Thieves' Guild, which includes new options for classes and backgrounds, along with his snide comments running throughout. Apparently he's only one of many beholders to have used the title since the first one seized power. He really loves his pet goldfish. It is kind of adorable. What he doesn't know is that his beloved goldfish has been replaced several times by the Thieves' Guild since goldfish don't live very long and he would [[RAGE|not be happy if he ever found out]].

==Beholders as Monstergirls==
[[File:Gazer.jpg|200px|thumb|right|No, you're not dreaming, this is a Beholder in monstergirl form.]]{{Monstergirls}}

[[rule 34|The proof that nothing, ab-so-lu-te-ly nothing is sacred,]] even Beholders got anthropomorphised into a sexy almost-human female by [[/d/|those irremediably insane weebs]]. Goddamit, Japan!

Gazers (as they are typically known due to copyright) are often depicted as arrogant, selfish beings that do not hesitate to use their eye ray powers to get what they want. Of course, fitting for a [[monstergirl]]s setting, their powers are [[PROMOTIONS|less destructive]] than that of a D&D Beholder, going more toward charm, hypnotism and mind control.

Still, beholder-girls are a rarity, simply because there's something rather counter-intuitive about turning a floating head full of teeth and eyes into a monstergirl. Perhaps the most well known example of them on /tg/ is the Gazer of the [[Monster Girl Encyclopedia]], whose smug grin currently adorns this section of the page. Described as spiteful and full of themselves, their deepest secret is that this is mostly bluster to cover up feelings of insecurity about their looks. They specialize in hypnotic spells, mostly to brainwash men into falling in love with them.

==Gallery==
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File:Awesome Beholder.png
File:The-bard-and-the-beholder.jpg
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Beholder

2019-08-23T03:32:08Z

2605:E000:7EC5:A000:B922:DF30:E1:C1DB: /* Personality and Characteristics */

[[Category:Dungeons & Dragons]][[Category:Monsters]]
[[Image:Beholder_balloon.jpg|thumb|right|Drow clowns make a different kind of balloon animal]]

A '''beholder''' is a giant lumpy... thing that looks like a floating octopus with a giant eye in the middle. The tentacles also have eyes at the end of them. Yuck.

Beholders, like [[Illithid|Mind Flayer]]s, are considered "intellectual property" of <s>TSR</s> Wizards of the Coast, so they aren't allowed to be used in third party D&D supplements or in [[Pathfinder]] as they were not covered under the [[OGL|Open Gaming License]]. This naturally doesn't stop [[ChapterHouse Studios|weirdly]] [[Original character, do not steal|similar]] creatures from appearing in various [[weeaboo]] JRPGs and related works, where they're usually called "gazers" or similar. Yes, this includes [[Monstergirls]]. Of course one game even used the name beholder, but we all excuse it, because this game is [[Heroes of Might and Magic|THE GAME. THE LEGEND.]]

==Personality and Characteristics==
Beholders are selfish bastards who love to manipulate and enslave any races considered beneath themselves (i.e. every other species). They are extremely [[Imperium|xenophobic]] even going so far as to kill other individuals of their species that look even ''slightly'' different from themselves, though they always go after the more extreme divergences first; two beholders will gang up on the "freak" with scales and fiery eyes before trying to kill each other over the differences in their numbers of teeth. Soooo basically the D&D equivalent of a [[Doctor Who|Dalek]].

Despite this, or perhaps because of it, the beholder race has a lot of genetic variety (as evidenced by the number of Beholder variants, all of whom hate each other, as listed below). They are greedy, often living in dungeons stuffed with valuables. They can cast magic from their eyes and often rule over unwilling souls through domination. One even runs the Thieves' Guild of Skullport, the most recent of several beholders to have done so.

Beholders worship the [[Great Mother]] and due to their massive egos, each beholder is convinced that not only does the Great Mother look exactly like itself, but also that it's ''literally'' their mother. Beholders also have another god named [[Gzemnid]] who is associated with gases and deception.

Much information about their biology and culture was revealed in the book [[Lords of Madness]]

==Notable Variants==
===2nd & 3rd Edition===
* Beholder: Your basic beholder. A central eye that projects an anti-magic cone and ten smaller eyes that each fire a different ray, such as charm person, disintegrate, and flesh to stone.
* Gauth: basically, babby's first beholder, with only 6 eyestalks of doom and a reduced ability to disintegrate everyone.
* Eyeball: tiny beholder, best used as a familiar. Pretty damn adorable for a beholder, still Neutral Evil.
* Death Tyrant: basically, a Beholder lich. Yeah, you're probably fucked.
* Death Kiss: instead of dispensing death-beams from its eyestalks, they use them to suck your blood.
* Astereater: giant space-faring asteroid beholderkin with no eyestalks that eats your ship. For some reason it likes to enslave [[Giff]] to use as soldiers. [[Spelljammer]] was weird. Beholders and other beholderkin insist that they have no relation to them.
* Examiner: Four eyestalks, four limbs, and no central eye. Their limbs let them use tools and weapons, and they can create magic items. They also regenerate 1 hit point every round.
* Lensman: The lowest of all beholderkin. Looks like a cross between a starfish and an ape with a single eye, which may have one of six different powers.
* Watcher: the second lowest of beholderkin. Has three normal eyes around its body and a large compound eye on the top surrounded by six eyespots, and a single tentacle on the bottom which can inflict electric shocks. Its three regular eyes each have two different powers, and the compound eye can use three of those powers. Can cast the message and tounges spells. They are cowardly and mainly act as scouts for their more powerful cousins.
* Elder Orb: A larger beholder with a much longer than normal lifespan. Always has at least 6 levels of sorcerer.
* Hive Mother/[[Hive Tyrant]]: The highest ranked of all beholders and beholderkin. basically a bigger meaner beholder that holds beholders and beholderkin under its sway.
* Spectator: true neutral beholderkin. It's actually pretty swell, as far as beholders go. Remember that one beholder in Baldur's Gate? They can be summoned with a ritual using four beholder's eyestalks
* Overseer: a beholderkin that looks like a giant fleshy tree trunk with thirteen eyestalk branches, tentacles for roots, and several mouths at the base. Yes, I realize that it looks nothing like a beholder, but the book says it is so fuck it, let's call it a beholder. Like the hive mother, it also has the ability to dominate other beholders.
* Eye of the Deep: it's like a beholder BUT UNDERWATER! And it tastes oddly of shrimp. Also, it's got little arms with crab-pincers. Only has two eye stalks and the central eye can flash blinding light. Also can cast the spell persistent image, which it uses to create [[Trap|illusion of mermaids]] and other things to lure victims closer.
* Director: a beholderkin with three bottom tentacles that it uses to ride vermin, usually giant centipedes. Because haven't we all wanted to ride a giant centipede like a pony up and down the streets... SHUT UP, I DON'T JUDGE YOU! Has six eye stalks and its central eye generates a protective forcefield around itself and its mount.
* Beholder mage: when the DM wants the entire party to die horrible deaths but doesn't feel like using rocks. This is a special character class that only true beholders can take, which requires them to remove their anti-magic eye, and whenever they gain a the ability to cast a new level of spells must sacrifice one of their eye powers to turn that eyestalk into a spellstalk which casts spells of that level. At level 10, it's empty eye socket can absorb spells to heal it. All the cheese of a wizard with more spells per day, the ability to blast 10 spells at once at you as free actions, and fucking spontaneous casting. Even munchkins shit their pants in fear when they hear of these things. One of the unholy trinity of fuck off broken PCs that you can technically enter, the others being tainted scholars and Illithid Savants. And that's before you start optimizing the bastard because the fucker can still take ten more levels before becoming epic.
* Gouger: A beholderkin created to fight beholders. It does not have any eye powers other than the antimagic eye. It attacks with a long barbed tongue which it uses to disable other beholder's eyes. Larger than regular beholders and has four small legs hanging off of their body.
* Gorbel: A clawed beholder with no eye powers that likes to explode.
* Orbus: A spellcasting beholder with no eyes other than the anti-magic central eye.
* Doomsphere: A ghost beholder created by a magical explosion.
* Kasharin: A disease carrying zombie beholder.

===4th edition===
4e made use of quite a few different kinds of beholder, though almost all of them were pretty rapetastic, being made for higher levels. Most kinds of beholders had a Telekinesis Ray that they could use to slide enemies about, though for most that's all they do.

* Gauth - Pretty much the same as old editions, this is the pitiful little baby of the beholder family in 4e, and something you can toss at low-level parties to scare them without killing them. Level 5 Elites that can shoot fire, sleeping rays and exhaustion rays, and immobilise with its central eye.
* Bloodkiss - Another carry-over, and the second-weakest beholder statted, this one got the Undead subtype for some reason (guess they didn't read up and thought it was "just" a beholder vampire). Level 9 Solo Controller that relies on its blood-sucking tentacles to rip up anything in reach, though it also packs a psychic + dazing effect Death Scream attack and can hit people a lot of times.
* Eye of Shadow - Beholders who spent too long in the shadowfell, dissolving into a blot of darkness and hate. Fairly puny (level 12 Elite), but seriously trolling, with blinding rays, thundering rays, freezing rays, and the ability to pull off a "teleport 20 squares and then be invisible" trick.
* Eye of Flame - A beholder that specialises in burninating shit. Central eye gives vulnerability to fire and causes fire attacks to do ongoing, eyestalks blast foes with fire and fear effects. A low-Paragon tier (level 13 Elite) foe.
* Eye of Frost - We got a burn-your-ass beholder, so evidently we need a freezinating beholder. Slightly tougher (1 level higher) than its counterpart. Central eye means cold damage can immobilise those it looks at... weirdly, its got two kinds of freezing rays; one that does a lot of cold damage, one that does less cold damage but freezes your ass solid.
* Beholder Spawn - Baby beholders wanna eat your face, too. Level 15 Minions that can bite or do elemental damage with their eye-rays.
* Death Tyrant - Zombie Eye Tyrants, pretty much. Way weaker than their older namesakes (level 15 Solo). Central eye can strip away necrotic resistance (guess what kind of damage it does most) and slow you, and eyebeams focused on kill-you-dead. Choice is whether it just necrotic damages you to death, petrifies you, makes you die, or makes you die and then come back as a ghoul. Oh, and it has a fear ray too.
* Ghost Beholder - Dead Eye Tyrant who came back as a ghost. A level weaker and only an Elite, but still pretty nasty. Freezing eye rays and the ability to possess and mind control your dudes: not a lot of fun if your Will is shitty.
* Eye Tyrant - Your basic beholder for this edition, and pretty damn nasty (level 19 Solo). Can daze you with its central eye, or use its eyestalks to cause radiant and necrotic damage, put you to sleep, paralyze you, confuse you, terrify you, petrify you, disintegrate you or kill you outright.
* Eye of Chaos - Now we're getting into the big guns. Level 25 Elites that will drive you almost as crazy as themselves, with the ability to lock you down to at-will powers only with their central eye and hit you with rays of force, blinding, confounding, madness, fear or teleportation.
* Ultimate Tyrant - They ain't fucking kidding when they named this bastard. Level 29 Solo - there are ancient dragons that aren't this nasty! Central eye locks you down, other eyes can drive you mad, unravel you, dissolve you, burn you, freeze you, drag you around, petrify you, disintegrate you, pull you closer or hurl you away.
* Eternal Tyrant - Because even the Ultimate Tyrant isn't ultimate enough. This bastard is an undead version of the Ultimate Tyrant that comes in a pair of linked entities; the Shell, a beholder [[golem]] (Level 31 Elite Brute) and the Essence, a hyper-powerful beholder [[ghost]] (level 33 Elite Artillery). These assholes are literally god-tier monsters - you had damn well better know what you're doing when you fight an Eternal Tyrant!

===5th Edition===
5e's first Monster Manual provides three forms of beholder; common beholder (or Eye Tyrant), Death Tyrant, and Spectator. The first two variants are what 5e calls Legendary creatures, meaning they have extra powers in their lairs that they can trigger on Initiative Count 20, certain specific effects mark the regions in which they lair, and they have special Legendary Actions that they can perform outside of the normal turn sequence. Their legendary ego has been given up a serious boost; now, beholders mutate at random just by accidentally thinking too hard, their ego is that overpowering. This is also how they reproduce: by sleeping and dreaming of other beholders, bending reality in that way.

* Beholder: You know it, you hate it. Challenge level 13. Has its old antimagic cone central eye back, a bite attack for piercing damage, and ten eye rays, of which it can use three each round, rolling randomly to determine which three it has. Charm ray, paralyzing ray, fear ray, slowing ray, enervation ray, telekinetic ray, sleep ray, petrification ray, disintegration ray and death ray. It can burn one of its three legendary actions at the end of another creature's turn to blast somebody with a random eye ray. Its lair effects consist of three options; change a 50ft square up to 120ft distant into slimy difficult terrain, make any walls within 120ft sprout flailing appendages that'll grapple anyone within 10ft who can't beat a DC 15 Strength (Athletics) or Dexterity (Acrobatics) check, or cause an eye to pop up on any solid surface within 60ft that can then shoot a random eye ray at any enemy within its sight. For region effects, they're all fluffy; creatures within 1 mile sometimes feel they're being watched, or minor reality warps that affect inanimate objects (markings changing on a wall, slime coating a statue, etc) pop up whilst the beholder is sleeping. Volo's Guide to Monsters introduced a table of potential alternate eye rays, in case your party was feeling complacent.
* Death Tyrant: A beholder who dreamed of living forever. So it died in its sleep and became an undead beholder skull with ghostly eyes. It trades the antimagic cone for a negative energy cone (creatures can't regain hitpoints, humanoids that die in its area of effect become zombies under the death tyrant's command on the next turn). It has the same eye rays and legendary actions as the beholder. Its lair actions are variants of the beholder's - its grabbing walls are DC 17 and reach into the Ethereal Plane, it creates a 50ft cube of lightly obscured difficult terrain, and it can create a spectral eye at any point within 50ft, which can also target foes on the Ethereal Plane. It has one crunchy regional effect; a creature that is both hostile to the death tyrant and aware of its existence must roll a D20 if it finishes a long rest within 1 mile of the death tyrant's lair. On a 10 or less, it gets zapped with a random eye ray.
* Spectator: A lesser beholder variant with only four eye stalks, conjured from another plane of existence via a ritual that requires four beholder eyestalks as material components. It's only Challenge level 3 and it's Lawful Neutral, rather than the Lawful Evil of the others. It has a Confusion Ray, a Paralyzing Ray, a Fear Ray and a Wounding Ray, and it can magically create all the food and water it needs to sustain itself each day. It's a fool's gambit to attack it with spells thanks to its Spell Reflection reaction, which lets it retarget a spell that missed the spectator, or which forced a save that the spectator passed, against another creature within the spectator's line of sight and that is at least 30 feet from the spectator.
* Beholder Zombie: Much weaker than a living beholder. Loses most of its eye rays and its anti-magic cone.
* Death's Kiss: A Beholder who had nightmares about bleeding out spawns a vampiric tentacle monster, using toothy mouth-stalks to voraciously suck the blood from other creatures. It also bleeds lightning, for some reason. Not as smart as a normal beholder, but for this reason not as egotistical or paranoid. Added in Volo's Guide to Monsters.
* Gauth: A smaller beholder who sometimes shows up if you screw up the ritual to summon a spectator; it's got six eyestalks, four tentacles, and smaller eyes all around its central eye, so it's hard to understand how wizards can get confused when it lies and claims to be the real deal. The issue is that Gauths are magic eaters, sucking the juice from magical items to sustain themselves, so you can see why that makes them pretty piss-poor guards for a wizard's lair. They're weaker than true beholders and also less xenophobic. Also, they explode when you kill them.
* Gazer: A ridiculously adorable and weak little beholder (only Challenge 1/2 - that is, a ''twenty-sixth'' of the strength of a true beholder) that is sometimes dreamed into being. They're so amusingly pathetic that even pure beholders often keep them as pets, and they have the same sadistic ego of a full beholder in miniature. Have caused a lot of argument over whether the sidebar on gazer familiars is intended for PCs as well or just for mage NPCs, and if so if house rules should be used to slot them in as Chain Pact warlock familiars, let them take the action to fire their eye-rays, etc.
* Mindwitness: A beholder converted into an [[illithid]]-like creature via ceremorphosis. Now that those of you who aren't currently running from your computers in terror have stopped screaming, the end result is less "terrifying perfect marriage of beholder eye-rays with illithid mind rape and the combined egotism of both" and more "quasi-lobotomized docile [[Adeptus Astra Telepathica#Astropaths|glorified psionic email server]]," though still smarter than the average human. Notably, if the illithids and elder brains they serve are slaughtered and they survive, mindwitnesses tend to drift around looking for other psionic creatures to serve, taking on the alignments and worldviews of those they meet, be they kindly [[flumph]]s or evil [[demon]]s. Four of their eyestalks become tentacles, but they have six kinds of eyerays: fear, telekinetic, and slowing rays like those of their normal cousins, but also aversion rays that cause disadvantage on attack rolls, stunning rays that stun creatures, and a psychic ray that just causes a pile of psychic damage.

==Similar Monsters==
Beholders are not the only monsters that look like floating orbs with eyes.
* Gas Spore: Not a true beholder or beholderkin, but a [[fungus]] that resembles a beholder. May have been created by a beholder mage, or may be a fungus that took on the form of the beholder that it fed on, or maybe it's just mundane evolutionary mimicry.
* Thagar: Also known as the Beholdereater, it is predator that eats beholders. Is a giant orb covered in eyes with several mouths on the ends of stalks. It does not have any eye powers, but it is immune to mind affecting magic and highly resistant to it's body being physically affected by magic, so there isn't much a beholder can do against it.
* Deep spawn: An orb with six large tentacles and several retractable eye stalk. Three of it's tentacles end in mouths, and the other three can wield weapons. It has the ability to give birth to loyal clones of creatures it has previously eaten, making them useful for villains who want to populate their dungeons with a variety of monsters. Relation to beholders unknown.
* Gibbering Orb: An epic version of the [[Gibbering Mouther]]. An amorphous orb covered in mouths and eyes, which have eye rays similar to a beholder. Possibly is the common ancestor of beholders and gibbering mouthers
* Lurking strangler: These creatures are to beholders what monkeys are to humans. A tiny aberration that looks like a pair of flying eyeballs connected by a cord of muscle. It likes to strangling sleeping enemies to death, and it can put enemies to sleep with one of its two eye rays. Beholders sometimes keep these things as pets.
* Fihyr: A living manifestation of nightmares that forms when a large number of people in an area all have nightmares in one night. It has a roughly spherical body covered in eyes, mouths, and tentacles. No relation to beholders.
* [[Astral Dreadnought]]: A huge predator that lives in the [[Astral Plane]] that has a single eye with anti-magic abilities similar to a beholder's central eye. Relation to beholders unknown.

==Notable Beholders==
*That beholder head of the thieves' guild who was the first major boss in [[Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance]]
*Another beholder head of another thieves' guild who was the final boss of the first Eye of the Beholder game.
*That funny spectator you kept running into and quasi-befriended in [[Baldur's Gate|Baldur's Gate II]]
*That blind death tyrant boss you had to get a special god-killing magic wand to kill in [[Baldur's Gate|Baldur's Gate II]]
*That beholder in [[Dungeons and Dragons: Heroes]]
*That beholder in Futurama who's there for no apparent reason (was meant to be guarding some passage in the Central Bureaucracy but fell asleep on the job)
*Xanathar, the writer of "Xanathar's guide to everything" and head of Skullport's Thieves' Guild, which includes new options for classes and backgrounds, along with his snide comments running throughout. Apparently he's only one of many beholders to have used the title since the first one seized power. He really loves his pet goldfish. It is kind of adorable. What he doesn't know is that his beloved goldfish has been replaced several times by the Thieves' Guild since goldfish don't live very long and he would [[RAGE|not be happy if he ever found out]].

==Beholders as Monstergirls==
[[File:Gazer.jpg|200px|thumb|right|No, you're not dreaming, this is a Beholder in monstergirl form.]]{{Monstergirls}}

[[rule 34|The proof that nothing, ab-so-lu-te-ly nothing is sacred,]] even Beholders got anthropomorphised into a sexy almost-human female by [[/d/|those irremediably insane weebs]]. Goddamit, Japan!

Gazers (as they are typically known due to copyright) are often depicted as arrogant, selfish beings that do not hesitate to use their eye ray powers to get what they want. Of course, fitting for a [[monstergirl]]s setting, their powers are [[PROMOTIONS|less destructive]] than that of a D&D Beholder, going more toward charm, hypnotism and mind control.

Still, beholder-girls are a rarity, simply because there's something rather counter-intuitive about turning a floating head full of teeth and eyes into a monstergirl. Perhaps the most well known example of them on /tg/ is the Gazer of the [[Monster Girl Encyclopedia]], whose smug grin currently adorns this section of the page. Described as spiteful and full of themselves, their deepest secret is that this is mostly bluster to cover up feelings of insecurity about their looks. They specialize in hypnotic spells, mostly to brainwash men into falling in love with them.

==Gallery==
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File:Awesome Beholder.png
File:The-bard-and-the-beholder.jpg
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Tanar'ri

2019-08-23T00:40:40Z

2605:E000:7EC5:A000:B922:DF30:E1:C1DB: /* True Tanar'ri */

{{Dnd-stub}}
'''Tanar'ri''' are the [[Alignment|chaotic evil]] supernatural badguys, in [[2nd Edition Dungeons and Dragons]]. After TSR got their new CEO [[Lorraine Williams]] and [[Gary Gygax]] left in disgust, Williams said "no more demons, or any of that junk". In [[3e]] they wisely decided to use "demon" again, but kept the term "tanar'ri" as a subtype of demon. Since TSR bothered to register "tanar'ri" [[Open_Gaming_License#Parts_of_D.26D_that_are_not_Open_Game_Content|as a trademark]], you will not find this demon subtype in [[Open Gaming License]] materials like the D20SRD.

They are the archetypical chaotic evil outsiders, seeking to destroy all order and plunge creation into mad, violent chaos in different ways. They are one of the two major factions in the ideological [[Blood War]], the other being their lawful evil counterparts, the [[baatezu]], or devils.

''Fiendish Codex II - Tyrants Of The Nine Hells'' states that Devils call all demons Tanar'ri for short, which is strange considering that in the same book it says that in the devils' language "only one correct way exists to construct any given statement in Infernal." and "Devils, except when in disguise, they find the urge to correct errors in spoken or written Infernal nearly impossible to resist." This may be a hint as to the origin of Lorraine Williams, since she also insisted on using the term "tanar'ri" instead of "demon."

==Types of Tanar'ri==
There are many types of Tanar'ri, one more terrible than the next. There is something of a degree of power that seperates the various demons, but this is not absolute. There are five categories that divide them however, and each group is more powerful than the ones below it.

Tanar'ri can ascend to a new form if they believe they have what it takes to do so (mainly based on how deadly it is) and can prove this to those around them. While ascending step by step though the ranks is the most common way to do this, particularly powerful or intelligent Tanar'ri can skip one or more forms.

===Least Tanar'ri===
*'''Manes''': The lowest of the Tanar'ri and barely worth the name, Manes are a source of food and cannon fodder, herded at the enemy to tire them before the main forces strike. This is what a mortal beomes if they end up in the Abyss when they die, or depending on edition, the first form they take upon being promoted from Maggots, which are the forms that all petitioners take in the [[Lower Planes]].
*'''Dretches''': Barely above the Manes, the Dretches are real Tanar'ri, albeit the lowest in rank. They suck up to the more powerful members of their race (pretty much all of them), and are treated as such in reply.
*'''Rutterkin''': Vicious and despised by all other Tanar'ri, the Rutterkin are the preferred targets of higher-ranking demons for harassment, torture and murder. In return a Rutterkin will attack anything that they think can kill without much risk to them.

===Lesser Tanar'ri===
*'''[[Alu-fiend]]s''': The female child of a Succubus and a mortal, Alu-fiends can only be born into their rank. They are not physically powerful but they are powerful spellcasters and physically attractive, which makes them useful to the high-ups in the Abyss.
*'''[[Cambion]]s''': The opposite of their Alu-fiend sisters, Cambions are the children of a Tanar'ri and a female mortal. A major Cambion is born when the father is a Lesser or Greater Tanar'ri, while a True Tanar'ri sires a Baron or Marquise Cambion, who are significanlty more powerful than their lesser kin.
*'''Armanites''': The [[centaur]]s and [[bariaur]]s of the Abyss. They band together as mercenary groups and hire themselves out to whoever pays the most.
*'''Maurezhi''': These Tanar'ri have the strange ability to gain the memories and experiences of whoever they eat. They can only be created by Abyssal Lords for specific missions, but can grow to new forms as usual.
*'''[[Succubus]]''': You know them, you love them.
*'''[[Yochlol]]''': The handmaidens of [[Lolth]], the Yochlol are shapeshifters who can freely change between their [[drow]] form, a spider form or that of [[slime|a great mass of yellow ooze with a single staring eye]]. They enjoy Lolth's protection from other demons and act like it, but they'll get brutally murdered if another demon thinks it can get away with it.
*'''Bar-lgura''': Gorilla-like Tanar'ri trained in guerilla warfare, they are brutish, dumb, slow of mind and can casually rip your arm off.
*'''Bulezau''': Rocking a traditional Satan-esque look, the Bulezau are powerful, elite soldiers who want nothing less than murder all their enemies within sight.

===Greater Tanar'ri===
*'''[[Nabassu]]''': Gargoyle-shaped things serving as the heralds of the Abyss, seducing humanoids to the service of the Abyss.
*'''[[Chasme]]''': Huge fly-like things that seek out deserters of the [[Blood War]]. They mostly stay out of the affairs of others to carry out their duties.
*'''[[Babau]]''': The recruiters for the [[Blood War]]. Or rather than recruiting they press-gang other demons to fight. If they don't meet their quotas however they have to fight themselves.
*'''Goristroi''': 20' [[Minotaur|bullmen]] that serve as living siege engines to topple walls and crush enemies below their feet.
*'''Wastrilith''': Great serpent-like monsters who stick to the waters of the Abyss, mainly the waters of the Styx which they can navigate unharmed. They serve as the guardians for the waterways of the Abyss, eager to devour anything that gets near.

===True Tanar'ri===
*'''[[Vrock]]''': Humanoid vultures that serve as elite soldiers in the [[Blood War]].
*'''[[Hezrou]]''': Frog-shaped Tanar'ri possess a cool, sharp intellect that allows them to perform their duties in the [[Blood War]] with precision and dedication.
*'''[[Glabrezu]]''': The primary summoning material, they are skilled at tempting their summoners and giving them plenty of gifts of power, only to withdraw said power at the worst possible moment to get them killed and pulled into the Abyss.
*'''Alkilith''': Oozes that can corrupt anything and anyone with a mere touch. They don't fight in the Blood War, mainly for practical reasons on account of them being oozes.
*'''[[Marilith]]''': [[Lamia|Attractive women with the lower body of a snake]] and six arms, they are the tacticians of the Abyss. They have keen minds, anticipate what the forces of Law are going to do and act upon it, much to the rage of the Baatezu who cannot understand the plots of the Marilith.
*'''[[Nalfeshnee]]''': The pig-ape judges of the Abyss. All petitioners that enter the Abyss pass by a Nalfeshnee who judges them based on their lives and appoints them a new form. At least sometimes: other times they hand out forms at random. They also determine who gets to be in charge of the armies and who gets to be promoted, demoted or removed from (as in: destroyed) its ranks.
*'''[[Balor]]''': The dreaded kings of the Abyss, Balors are the most powerful of the Tanar'ri, serving as lords, generals and leaders, inspiring and threatening others into fighting for the cause. A mix of passion and reason, they are as intelligent and sharp as they are evil and chaotic. These are ''exactly'' the same as the [[Bloodthirster]] of Warhammer, right down to the flaming whips and being literally made evil and chaos (or [[Chaos]]) with the sole difference being that they use swords instead of axes. They like to eat doggies and beat up Pit Fiends in their spare time.

===Guardian Tanar'ri===
*'''Molydeus''': The only Tanar'ri within this rank, a Molydeus stands outside of the ranks of the other Tanar'ri, making sure that their kind stays true to the ideals of the Blood War. While they report to the Balors, a Molydeus will not hesitate to turn on their leader if they are not showing sufficient zeal. So in essence they are axe-wielding, dog-faced [[Commissar]]s with a snake growing out of the back of their heads.

==Demon Lords==
The first amongst the demons, the lords of the Tanar'ri (more commonly known as Demon Lords) are some of the most powerful, dangerous, cunning and deadly beings in existence. They attained their position by strength of arms and cleverness (mostly the former) to rule over their servants. Those who wish to challenge their lords are quickly struck down as an example and to keep the other minions in line.

{{D&D-Outsiders}}