- For other Beholder & Beholder-kin, see Beholder & Beholder-kin.
The legendary hive mothers are also called the Ultimate tyrants, or just Ultimates. They are twice the size of typical beholders, and differ in appearance as well.
Their mouths are larger, so large that they can gulp down a man-sized target on a natural die roll of 20. Once swallowed, the prey takes 5-20 points of damage (5d4) each round until it is dead or escapes. The beholder's mouth is not very deep, so a victim can escape by making a successful attack roll.
The ultimate has no eyestalks, but its magical eyes are protected by hooded covers in the flesh of the creature's body, so that they cannot be severed. The central eye has 15 hit points.
Roll | Location | AC | Hit Points |
---|---|---|---|
01-90 | Body | 0 | 20 HD |
91-00 | Central Eye | 7 | 15 hp |
The ultimate's true ability is in controlling the actions of large numbers of beholders and beholder-kin. A hive mother may have 5-10 ordinary beholders under its command, or 5-20 abomination or beholder-kin (see below), which it communicates with telepathically. A nesting hive mother spells disaster for the surrounding region, as it can apparently create a community of beholders, beholder-kin, and abominations. If destroyed, the beholders and beholder-kin will turn on each other, or seek their own lairs.
Hive mothers may be the ancestral stock of the better known beholder, the next step of its evolution, a magical mutation, or a separate species. The reality remains unknown.
Beholder Priestess[]
The Beholder Priestess is similar to a Hive Mother, but has the following powers:
- Spellcasting power as a 9th-level priest with access to up to four spheres (from all, astral, combat, divination, necromantic (rev), numbers, protection, thought, and time)
- A +2 bonus to saving throws against all spells from the four spheres they select
- The ability to command nonintelligent undead (in particular, skeletons and zombies) as a 9th-level priest until the priestess's powers disappear.
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