```metadata
title: '[Mosnter] Polygaze, The Holder of Truth'
description: Oh my god, what have I done. A beholder with a TWO PAGE stat block!
tags: ''
systems:
- 5e
renderer: legacy
```
# Polygaze, The Holder of Truth
The dwarven mage looks about in aw at the immence size of the library. Tomes big and small, old and new, piled so high they left his sight! The winding halls and verticle shafts, filled with books and tablets and crystals of divination. He ran from book to book, trying to find one that was not better than the last. His party, they did not understand. The fighter kicked a pile of dusty scrolls that scattered across the polished, tile floor.
Then a sound, a deep voice that spoke in a toung of clacking teeth and slithering tongue. They looked up to see a beholder, gliding down from over a pile of books. His yellow eyes sparkled with terrifying knowledge, and the mouth opened with three jaws. The ranger screemed. The EYES! Six small beedy eyes opened up around the main one, and they locked onto the fighter with eerie accuracy.
Before he could draw his sword, he was thrown across the room by an eye ray. The mage looks on in horror as the beholder flurishes its eye stalks. All eleven of them. He could not beleive his eyes, a beholder with that many eyes??? He knew all beholders were different, but this was something else.
The rogue jumped off a bookshelf to land a sneeky hit. The eyestalks swiveled and turned him to stone before he hit the ground, shattering into bits. The mage turned to see the ranger, running for his life. He didn't make it far before being blasted into a pile of fine grey dust. The mage simply looked to the beholder and asked, would you be willing to make a trade?
It agreed...
**Creature of Knowledge.** Polygaze is a beholder of knowledge. He seeks to find all the truth. He doesn't jump to conclustions until he has seen all the facts. The greatest thing he dispises is lies. Tell a lie and he will smite you were you stand. Contrary to his normally open and inquisitive manner, it doesn't matter why you told him a lie. It was the act of lying that he punishes you for.
**Aberrant Aberration.** Like all other beholders, Polygaze has a unique shape which he dreamed up himeself. Just like the others, he believes his form to be the supreme form of beholders, and will engage other beholders in intalectual combat over the utility of their forms. Only after the other initiates the attack does he use force. And force does he use. The saving throws for his attacks are higher than most other beholders, and he has a stronger bite attack.
One of the two most notable things about his form that differ from others is the additional six eyes around his main eye. These eyes can focus in on up to two targets and grant Polygaze vision-based bonuses on those targets. The second trait is a little less knoticable. Polygaze has eleven eye stalks. Along with that, he's got an additional eye ray that activates on duplicates.
**Rain Judgement.** Polygaze's eleventh eye ray casts a ray of judgement upon the target, wherein Polygaze desides weather the creature is worthy enought to be spared (a good creature that helped him or gave him usefull information), or unworthy enough to be destroyed (an evil creature that lies and hurts). The resulting judgement beam is powerfull enough to shake the building, perhapse even causing a small earthquake!
**Drowning in Lore.** Like other beholders, Polygaze hoards books, tomes, scrolls, and tablets. Everything with information. Everything from spellbooks of powerful wizards to the most mundane peasant's journal. His lair is built in a great expance of maze-like halls and towers and passages, all made of books. Dissimilar to some of his kin, he is more open to talking with outsiders. Offer a trade, a test of whits, or a battle of inlilect, and he would surely strike a deal.
### Polygaze's Lair
Polygazes lair is a large, spacious library with high ceilings and small, organic hallways. Polygaze encountered in his lair has a challenge rating of 16 (15,000 XP).
#### Lair Actions
When fighting inside his lair, Polygaze can invoke the ambient magic to take lair actions. On initiative count 20 (losing ties), Polygaze can take on lair action to cause one of the following effects:
- A 50-foot cube becomes filled with flying and slicing paper. Any creature that is in the zone, that enters the zone for the first time on a turn, or starts its turn, must make a DC 17 Dexterity saving throw. The creature takes 21 (6d6) slashing damage on a failed save. The area is considdered difficult terrain, all ranged attacks though the zone are made with disadvantage, and the area is lightly obscurred.
- Books and scrolls on walls within 120 feet of Polygaze come to life and snap open and closed like hands until initiative count 20 on the round after next. Each creature of Polygaze's choice within 10 feet of such wall must succeed on a DC 17 Dexterity saving throw or be grappled. Escaping requires a successful DC 17 Strength (Athletics) or Dexterity (Acrobatics) check.
- Jaws appear on a solid surface within 60 feet of Polygaze. Make a bite attack against one creature within 5ft of the jaws. Then the jaws dissapear.
Polygaze can't repeat an effect until they have all been used, and it can't use the same effect two rounds in a row.
\page
#### Regional Effects
A region containing Polygaze's lair is warped by the creature's unnatural presence, which creates one or more of the following effects:
- Books, scrolls, and tablets within 1 mile of the lair dissapear. They can be found as part of the lair itself.
- When Polygaze sleeps, minor warps in reality occur within 1 mile or his lair and then vanish 24 hours later. Writings in books may change slightly, eerie proficies might appear in odd places, paper could fall from knoware, and so on.
If Polygaze dies, these effects fade over the course of 1d10 days.
> #### Note From the Author
> I'd like to thank [u/polygarf](https://www.reddit.com/user/polygraf/) for thier [amazing original](https://www.reddit.com/r/DnD/comments/cy8daw/art_ive_always_thought_beholders_looked_kind_of/) post (the art below) on the subreddit [r/DnD](https://www.reddit.com/r/DnD/).
>
> I'd also like to thank the community and [r/UnearthedArcana](https://www.reddit.com/r/UnearthedArcana/) for being such great communities for helping and encouraging DMs and players alike in their own quests.
```
```
___
> ## Polygaze
>*Large aberrant, lawful neutral*
> ___
> - **Armor Class** 18 (natural armor)
> - **Hit Points** 180 (19d10 + 76)
> - **Speed** 0ft., fly 20ft (hover)
>___
>|STR|DEX|CON|INT|WIS|CHA|
>|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|:---:|
>|16 (+3)|10 (+0)|18 (+4)|22 (+6)|15 (+2)|17 (+3)|
>___
> - **Saving Throws** Int +8, Wis +7, Cha +8
> - **Skills** Perception +14, Insight +12
> - **Condition Immunities** charmed, frightened, prone
> - **Senses** darkvision 120ft., passive Perception 24
> - **Languages** Deep Speech, Undercommon
> - **Challenge** 15 (13,000 XP)
> ___
> ***Antimagic Cone.*** Polygaze's central eye creates an area of antimagic, as in the *antimagic field* spell, in a 150-foot cone. At the start of each of its turns, Polygaze decides which way the cone faces and whether the cone is active. The area works against Polygaze's own eye rays.
>
> ***Eyelock.*** At the start of Polygaze's turn, he may choose up to two targets that he can see. While he can see a target, he gains truesight when looking at them, has advantage on saving throws from abilities or spells cast by the target, and - as a free action - force the target to make a DC 18 Charisma saving throw. Upon a failed save, the target is under the affects of the *zone of truth* spell until the start of Polygaze's next turn. If one of Polygaze's targets is no longer in his line of sight, Polygaze may choose a new target for free.
>
> ***Innate Spellcasting.*** Polygaze's innate spellcasting ability is Intelligence (save DC 19, +11 to spell attacks). He can innately cast the following spells, requiring no material components:
>
> *At will: identify, detect thoughts, see invisibility, sending, tongue*
>
> *3/day: polymorph, scrying, plane shift, symbol, hold person*
>
> *1/day: geas, modifiy memory, true seeing, feeblemind, foresight*
>
> ### Actions
> ***Bite.*** *Melee Weapon Attack:* +8 to hit, reach 5ft., one target. *Hit* 17 (4d6 + 3) piercing damage.
>
> ***Eye Rays.*** Polygaze shoots three of the following magical eye rays at random, choosing one to three targets it can see within 120ft. of him. If a duplicate is rolled, Polygaze uses its 11th ray, Judgement Ray.
>
> *(Continued on next page)*
\page
___
___
> - *1. Charm Ray.* The target must succeed on a DC 17 Wisdom saving throw or be charmed by Polygaze for 1 hour, or until Polygaze harms the creature.
>
> - *2. Paralyzing Ray.* The target must succeed on a DC 19 Constitution saving throw or be charmed by Polygaze for 1 minute. The target can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success.
>
> - *3. Fear Ray.* The target must succeed on a DC 17 Wisdom saving throw or be frightened for 1 minute. The target can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success.
>
> - *4. Slowing Ray.* The target must succeed on a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw. On a failed save, the target's speed is halved for 1 minute. In addition, the creature can't take reactions, and it can take either an action or a bonus action on its turn, not both. The target can repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success.
>
> - *5. Enervation Ray.* The target must succeed on a DC 19 Constitution saving throw, taking 36 (8d8) nerotic damage on a failed save, or half as much on damage on a successful one.
>
> - *6. Telekinetic Ray.* If the target is a creature, it must succeed on a DC 18 Strength saving throw or Polygaze moves it up to 30ft. in any direction. Is is restrained by the ray's telekinetic grip until the start of Polygaze's next turn, or until Polygaze is incapacitated.
>
> If the target is an object weighing 300 pounds or less that isn't being worn or carried, it is moved up to 30 ft. in any direction. Polygaze can also exert fine control on objects with this ray, such as manipulating a simple tool or opening a door or a container.
>
> - *7. Sleep Ray.* The target must succeed on a DC 17 Wisdom saving throw or fall asleep and remain unconscious for 1 minute. The target awakens if it takes damage or another creature takes an action to wake it. This ray has no effect on constructs and undead.
>
> - *8. Petrification Ray.* The target must succeed on a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw. On a failed save, the creature begins to turn into stone and is restrained. It must repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its next turn. On a successs, the effect ends. On a failure, the creature is petrified until freed by the *greater restoration* spell or other magic.
>
> - *9. Disintegration Ray.* If the target is a creature, it must succeed on a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw or take 45 (10d8) force damage. If this damage reduces the creature to 0 hit points, its body becomes a pile of fine grey dust.
>
>
> If the target is a Large or smaller non-magical object of creation of magical force, it is disintegrated without a saving throw. If the target is a Huge or larger object or creation of magical force, this ray disintegrates a 10-foot cube of it.
>
> - *10. Death Ray.* The target must succeed on a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw or take 55 (10d10) necrotic damage. The target dies if the ray reduces it to 0 hit points.
>
> - *11. Judgement Ray.* This ray cannot be rolled and can only be used if the d10 randomly desiding the other rays rolls a duplicate.
>
> The target must succeed on a DC 18 Charisma saving throw or be judged by Polygaze. Add up the following criteria that apply to that target and consolt the table below to see how Polygaze judges. Once a creature has been judged, they are immune to this effect for 24 hours.
>
> **-1** Cast a harmful status effect on Polygaze.
>
> **-1** Threatened Polygaze or given him worthless information.
>
> **-1** Succeeded on a save against Polygaze's eye ray.
>
> **-3** Have dealt damage to Polygaze.
>
> **-4** Alignment is evil.
>
> **-5** Told him a lie.
>
> **+2** Alignment is good.
>
> **+3** Told him the truth.
>
> **+5** Have healed Polygaze.
>
> **+5** Given Polygaze insightful/valuable information.
>
> If the total is a negative number, Polygaze fires a judgemental wave towards the target dealing 105 (10d20) force damage. This damage cannot be reduced or negated in any way. If the total is zero or higher, nothing happens.
>
> ### Legendary Actions
> Polygaze can take 3 legendary Actions, choosing from the options below. Only one legendary action option can be used at a time, and only at the end of another creature's turn. Polygaze regains spend legendary actions at the start of his turn.
>
> ***Eye Ray.*** Polygaze uses one random eye ray.
>
> ***Countermeasure (2 Actions).*** Polygaze may shift his antimagic cone and cast one spell.
>
> ***The Power of Truth (3 Actions).*** Polygaze may deselect all targets of his eyelock and select one creature to compell. The creature makes a Charisma (Deception) check, contested by Polygaze's Wisdom (Insight) check. If Polygaze wins, he learns that creature's alignment, remaining hit points, Intelligence, Wisdom, and Charisma scores, and the creature must declare a valid action that they must do on their next turn. If the creature cannot take the declared action, they take 22 (4d10) psychic damage.