1st Edition Spectator, Art from Forgotten Realms wiki

5th Edition Spectator, Art from Forgotten Realms wiki

Beholderkin are far more diverse than most people would be led to believe, and they are brought into the material plane through some wild methods. The Spectator for example is forcibly transported from its realm through a ritual summons that requires at least four eye stalks from a Beholder. When it is summoned it is beholden to its summoner and does what ever is commanded of it. Typically they are used to defend important locations or treasures. I think my favorite fact about the Spectator is that they will serve their master for 101 years and I am convinced that it is because that number kind of looks like a Spectator. That’s my head-canon and no one can convince me otherwise.

Like Beholders, Spectators have a variety of eye ray attacks at its disposal. From confusions rays to a good ol’ self explanatory wounding ray, but it has some tricks up its sleeves. As a reaction a Spectator can deflect a spell that it was the target of to another target, giving it the opportunity to quickly turn the tide if you miss it with that disintegrate. But the strangest of its abilities is that it can magically create food or water. I searched online and found some source saying in past editions this was one of its eye ray abilities. Now I have no clue if that’s tru, but I think they kept it around because first, it needs some sort of sustenance when it’s guarding a location for over a hundred years, and second, it’s just really random and funny.

Spectators are probably one of the more peculiar Beholderkin out there, mostly because I believe it is the only one that is lawful neutral. So you could conceivably come across one and actually have a pleasant afternoon of tea and biscuits that it magically conjures. These aberrations are all very unique and extremely alien, and that’s what I love about them. They are these massive floating eyes with tentacles that also have eyes, and giant mouths that fortunately do not have eyes, who are equally likely to fight you to the death as they are to feed you and share a story.

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