We are teaming up with incredible indie creators to celebrate the arrival of the new Monster Manual and all the new storytelling opportunities it offers by gifting a collection of exclusive tokens, maps, animations, and one-shot adventures to players who purchase the D&D 2024 Core Rulebook Bundle on Roll20. Each week, we’ll also be exploring what changes have been made to the four iconic creatures we’ve curated bonus collections around and chatting with the creators who have partnered with us on them. Our third bonus, available starting this week, is the ultimate Eye of the Beholder collection, which players have until February 18 to order and unlock.
The beholder, one of Dungeons & Dragons‘ most iconic monsters, has received significant updates in the 2025 Monster Manual. These changes aim to enhance gameplay and storytelling while staying true to its fearsome reputation. From new beholder variants to streamlined stat blocks and expanded lore, the 2025 edition breathes fresh life into this legendary creature, offering Dungeon Masters even more ways to terrify and challenge their players.
The 2025 Monster Manual introduces several notable updates to the beholder compared to its 2014 counterpart:
- Variant Beholders: The new manual expands the beholder family by introducing or refining variants to offer a broader range of challenge ratings. This includes the Beholder Spectator, a lesser variant, and the Death Tyrant, an undead version that has been updated to align with the new stat block format.
- Expanded Lore!
- The 2025 edition provides enriched background information and behavioral traits for the beholder, offering deeper insights into its ecology and interactions within the game world. The new lore emphasizes that beholders are products of their own dreams. When a beholder sleeps, it might accidentally create a new beholder or even spawn other aberrations from its subconscious terrors, highlighting their ability to shape reality through their alien minds.
- It ties beholders more closely to the multiverse, suggesting that their bizarre physiology and powers are influenced by the strange laws of the Far Realm. It also explores how they interact with other aberrations, such as mind flayers and aboleths, as both rivals and reluctant allies.
- The new lore delves deeper into the paranoia and self-centered nature of beholders. It expands on how they view themselves as the pinnacle of perfection, leading them to hoard knowledge, treasure, and power while ruling over lairs filled with enslaved minions.
The beholder’s stat block has been revised to fit the updated format in the 2025 Monster Manual, enhancing clarity and usability for Dungeon Masters.
Check back here after Feb. 4th for some stat block comparisons.
Beholders have captured the fear and awe of several generations of Dungeons & Dragons players, so we wanted to make sure you could bring their obsession with arcane discovery and the sites of great magic to life on Roll20. Let’s dig into the details from our creators behind the Eye of the Beholder bonus collection.
Ruins Atop Dream Hill Animated Map Pack by Angela Maps
This animated map pack offers three variants of mysterious ruins featuring swirling mist, shimmering arcane sigils, and plenty of interesting terrain features for your players to strategically hide from eye stalk attacks. We included this offering because the new Monster Manual specifically calls out ruins as place Beholders can sometimes be found! Let’s hear from Angela Maps:
What was your thought process when creating this particular offer for the marketplace?
I always enjoy making ruins. I made this map pack back in 2023 and remember thinking about making a ruined staircase which later evolved in to the whole hill being steps up to the ruins.
What inspired you to start creating maps/tokens?
I was looking to move away from App development. I have always been creative and my DM suggested to me that I try making battle maps. I gave it a shot and realized I enjoy making them very much. I have release a new map pack every week for over 4 years now.
What do you think is unique about your style and what tone do you hope to set at the table?
I hope that my maps feel alive to people. Whether that means the shadows feel right, the light and dark contrast, or just the richness of color. Animating my maps is one way I help them feel alive on the table.
Do you have any particular memories or experiences with beholders from your own table?
We played a modified version of Waterdeep Dragon Heist, and managed to kill Xanathar in his lair. I think we got quite lucky that noboy was disintegrated! After the main campaign we moved onto Dragonbowl (by Duncan Rhodes) and fought Xanathar again (this time a zombie beholder, as he was already dead in our world!) and even when he tried to flee we chased him down and finished him off.
What things are you most curious and/or excited about as the new Monster Manual for D&D 2024 arrives?
I have read that the new monster manual will have over 500 monsters in it. While I look forward to the new and updated stat blocks, I am most looking forward to seeing all the new artwork in the book. I love looking at the ways different artists can bring these creatures to life.
What is your favorite item you’ve made on our marketplace?
It’s hard to pick a favorite, but if you like ruins you should check out my Mysterious Ruins map pack. I like the way the shadows feel, and it was fun to animate and setup to be dynamic on R20.
Mage’s Room Map Pack by Nerdy Maps
Inspired by the beholder’s obsession for the arcane, we wanted to provide you occult themed rooms featuring a sorcerer’s lab, summoning circle, and mystical tomes! We’ll let Nerdy Maps tell you more…
What was your thought process when creating this particular offer for the marketplace?
I find inspiration for my maps in many places. Sometimes they just come to mind or I have to really think about possible ideas, while other times I see a particular map, or I even pull some inspiration from my most recent DnD session or a movie I watched. In this case, I wanted to create an interior scene that showed a busy and chaotic mage’s room. I also wanted to convey a story, starting with the normal room, a ritual, and the unfortunate outcome of such a foolish magical mishap.
What inspired you to start creating maps/tokens?
I’ve always liked drawing in different shapes and forms. As a kid I’d draw comic books but that was just for fun. Later on I found drawing buildings and top down city maps fun and relaxing. It wasn’t until a few years ago that after watching a couple of tutorials online, I decided to draw my very first big and detailed fantasy map, originally as a christmas present for someone. People started saying it looked very good, so I kept drawing and improving, and now here I am, creating maps as a living but also enjoying every moment of it.
What do you think is unique about your style and what tone do you hope to set at the table?
Well, not sure about “unique”, but I love creating smaller but very detailed maps. Some older classical maps are more functional, showing the layout of the room and maybe a couple pieces of furniture. In my case, I prefer to add lots of detail and clutter, hiding a few secrets here and there to be discovered by the DM and the players so maybe they can create their own stories around them.
Do you have any particular memories or experiences with Beholders you want to share with the community from your own table?
Sadly I did not start playing DnD until very recently. It is not easy to find DnD players where I live, and for the past couple of years I could never find the time to play due to unique work schedules. I finally got to join a campaign but so far the closest thing we have encountered is a slimy kraken hidden in an underground lake. So the only real encounter with a Beholder for me has been in the recent masterpiece that is Baldur’s Gate 3!
What things are you most curious and/or excited about as the new Monster Manual for D&D 2024 arrives?
Now that I get to play DnD, I love the system, all the complexity, the variety, the different combinations… but in all honesty, the thing I am the most excited about the new 2024 books is the art. I could spend hours looking at the amazing art on the 2024 PHB. And the best part is that I do follow and I have talked or interacted online with some artists that have created art for the official DnD books, including an extremely talented artist that drew the 2024 PHB cover.
What is your favorite item you’ve listed on our marketplace and why?
That’s a tough question! I do love drawing taverns and inns, but I think my favorite item would be either the Dwarven Forge (since it was my very first Dwarven inspired map), or probably the Lake Temple. That Mesoamerican inspired lake temple was one of the most ambitious maps I ever made, and it forced me to be inventive with the assets. It was hard to make, but also very fun and rewarding, and I am proud of the result.
Eye Tyrants token pack by Yasashii Kyojin Studio
This art pack includes 64 beholder-kin tokens with front, top down and bordered variants both with and without outlines. With the expanded beholder options, this pack provides classic Beholders, Spectators, Death Kiss, and Death Tyrants to bring all your aberrations to life. We caught up with Yasashii Kyojin Studio to learn more.
What was your thought process when creating this particular offer for the marketplace?
After completing all the sculpts for one of the most well known D&D monsters, putting together a pack of those variants was a no brainer!
What do you think is unique about your style and what tone do you hope to set at the table?
The unique aspect of my work is that each design is actually 3d sculpted, digitally painted and rendered.
What inspired you to start creating maps/tokens?
I wanted my 3d sculpt designs to see more uses within the gaming space.
What things are you most curious and/or excited about as the new Monster Manual for D&D 2024 arrives?
Definitely keen to see all the new monsters!
We hope you’ve enjoyed our third spotlight on the marketplace creators who have contributed to our bonuses for the D&D 2024 Core Rulebook Bundle.
Check back next week to learn about the final creature, bonus collection, and its creators. Until then, happy adventuring!