Beholder Zombie

Monster Manual (2025) p. 347

Size
Large
Type
undead
Alignment
neutral evil
AC
15
Initiative
-1
Hit Points
93 (11d10+33)
Speed
walk 5 ft., fly 20 ft. (hover)
Saving Throws
Wis +2
Immunities
poison
Condition Immunities
exhaustion, poisoned, prone
Senses
darkvision 60 ft.
Passive Perception
9
Languages
understands Deep Speech and Undercommon but can't speak
Challenge
5
Lineage
Zombie
Environment
planar (shadowfell), underdark, urban
STR
14
+2
DEX
8
−1
CON
16
+3
INT
3
−4
WIS
8
−1
CHA
5
−3

Traits

Proficiency Bonus

+3

Undead Fortitude

If damage reduces the zombie to 0 Hit Points, it makes a Constitution saving throw (DC 5 plus the damage taken) unless the damage is Radiant or from a Critical Hit. On a successful save, the zombie drops to 1 Hit Point instead.

Actions

Multiattack

The zombie uses Eye Rays twice.

Bite

Melee Attack Roll: +5, reach 5 ft. Hit: 16 (4d6 + 2) Piercing damage.

Eye Rays

The zombie randomly shoots one of the following magical rays at a target it can see within 120 feet of itself (roll 1d4; reroll if the zombie has already used that ray during this turn):

Beholder Rays:

d4Ray
1Paralyzing Ray: Constitution Saving Throw: DC 14. Failure: The target has the Paralyzed condition and repeats the save at the end of each of its turns, ending the effect on itself on a success. After 1 minute, it succeeds automatically.
2Fear Ray: Wisdom Saving Throw: DC 14. Failure: 13 (3d8) Psychic damage, and the target has the Frightened condition until the end of its next turn.
3Enervation Ray: Constitution Saving Throw: DC 14. Failure: 10 (3d6) Necrotic damage, and the target has the Poisoned condition until the end of its next turn. While Poisoned, the target can't regain Hit Points. Success: Half damage only.
4Disintegration Ray: Dexterity Saving Throw: DC 14. Failure: 27 (5d10) Force damage. If the target is a nonmagical object or a creation of magical force, a 10-foot Cube of it disintegrates into dust. Success: Half damage. Failure or Success: If the target is a creature and this damage reduces it to 0 Hit Points, it disintegrates into dust.

Other data

description

Zombies are unthinking, reanimated corpses, often gruesomely marred by decay and lethal traumas. They serve whatever supernatural force animates them—typically evil necromancers or fiendish spirits. Zombies are relentless, merciless, and resilient, and their dead flesh can carry on even after suffering grievous wounds. While they can follow simple orders, they rely on primal drives rather than thought. They fulfill commands by working tirelessly or battering through foes, but they are easily stymied by barriers or unexpected circumstances. Zombies are usually created from Humanoid corpses, but the remains of other creatures can also become zombies. Such monstrous zombies might possess the strength they had in life or a measure of their supernatural abilities, but they employ such abilities haphazardly at best.

Beholder Zombie: Zombies animated from the corpses of beholders retain some use of those monsters' magical eyestalks. These hovering corpses rely on their magic to destroy impediments and paralyze foes, allowing them to savage foes with their rotting maws. Magic-using beholders typically raise these abominations from the corpses of defeated rivals.