4th & Dragon : Dungeons and Dragons...and stuff

The Beholder Tree by Andorax

Erathagalis is not your typical beholder. Having decided to forsake his underground lair for a more naturalistic setting, Erathagalis seems to have settled in quite well. While it seems that Nature is starting to affect some changes on him, it’s equally clear that his own nature hasn’t changed, much to the PC’s woe.

This is the first entry I’ve read, based solely on it’s name. I really like the creativity here. I love introducing odd twists on highly recognizable creatures and throwing the party for a bit of a loop. The presentation is quite nice. I really love how things are broken, the beholder-like texture of the page and the provided map. A very professional appearance that has me eager to see what else has been submitted.

I do think that Erathgallis’s motivation could be much more interesting than simply eating the party or the random passer-by. The encounter gives us only a glimmer of what that might be and I think you could explore it further.

I’m also somewhat concerned with the balance of a beholder and the typical party that this encounter might be designed for. Erath’s reduced abilities are certainly a help, though I would fear a party missing some of the mystery if they were so high level as to instantly see through the disguise. That said, we really have no idea what stats for a beholder are like in 4e. Maybe it could be made to easily balance out?

Its a very interesting encounter and one with a lot of expansion potential. Chibby like.

Holy cow! I just saw that this was from Andorax! Welcome to the boards man. This definitely rings of your creativity. I’ve been trying to ignore the author names so I don’t inadvertently play favorites.

Thanks for the welcome...though I’ve been about for a while now. 

Oddly enough, even high level parties can be surprised if you play off of their assumptions.  The idea that this is some excessively powerful fey with unusual and unique powers could wind up having them guess wrong, make an assumption or two, and then you’ve got ‘em. 

As for the motivation...that’s actually intentional.  Far too many villains are obsessively preoccupied with being villains.  I was aiming for Erathagalis to be lazy and unmotivated...if anything, the Beholder Tree is him being on sabatical.  I liked the idea that if the PCs were to drive him out without killing him, they’d actually make the problem worse.

Still...it won’t necessarially work for everyone, but motivations are easy enough to change to suit a DM’s needs.  I’m definately glad you liked it!

Shhhh… dont tell anyone, but I like this one the best so far....

Our secret ok....

This is a cool idea. I don’t know why a beholder would live in a tree like this, though. That seems weird. Seems like he wouldn’t have much to do except sit inside and watch things go around him. I like the weird powers of the beholder, but how did he get them? My group wouldn’t like these new abilities and would complain about them.

My group likely would just stand back and shoot flaming arrows at the tree until it caught fire, then deal with him when he couldn’t get out.

These are really good maps. You must have spent a long time on them! Good luck.

You cannot set a normal live tree on fire with flaming arrows, at least if they are non-magical arrows.

Just one quick note...the tops of the tree are hollow.  It blows his cover, but he can just float out the top if threatened.