Copyright 2008 Wizards of the Coast

Basilisks are another traditional D&D monster that’s been around since at least the days of Basic. Here they’re Large natural beasts, in the form of beefy grey eight-legged lizards with copious spines running down their backs. Basilisks appear in both the Monster Manual and the Monster Vault.

The Lore

The Monster Manual is surprisingly spare on basilisk lore. It says here they’re strangely evolved drakes that use their deadly gazes to hunt for food. The same gaze makes them highly feared. It is possible to tame and train them, though, like other members of the drake family.

The Monster Vault is a lot more poetic about it. Most people know very little about basilisks because most civilians who meet one don’t survive to tell the tale. The beast isn’t malicious and doesn’t actively seek out sapient prey, but it will literally kill you as soon as it looks at you. If a settlement begins to have trouble with people going into the woods and disappearing, it could be because a basilisk made its lair nearby.

Well, that’s nice and atmospheric and all, but this is D&D. “People have been going missing in the woods” doesn’t really narrow it down at all. There are dozens of monsters that could be responsible for it.

Anyway, there are several separate varieties of basilisk, each with a different (but still unpleasant) gaze. Some are solitary, some are pack hunters. They’re a rare case of a fantastic animal that originated in the world and managed to spread to the Feywild, so you can find them there as well.

People who manage to tame a basilisk usually employ it as a guard animal in an area where no other allies are present. Well, no allies that are not expendable or immune to the gaze. Common basilisk tamers include demons, who keep them as pets or use them as muscle in incursions to the world.

The Numbers

The signature trait of all basilisks is of course the gaze, which is an area attack whose effect varies by specific monster.

The Venom-Eye Basilisk is level 10 artillery and has 87 HP and Speed 6. It’s AC is surprisingly tough for a monster of its role and level (27 in the MM, 24 in the MV), and its Fortitude is only slightly less beefy. Its other defenses are average.

Its bite is relatively weak, and its gaze does poison damage plus ongoing 5 poison damage on a hit. Anyone taking ongoing damage from this gaze also causes 2 poison damage to anyone next to them. Hit or miss, the gaze attack also causes targets to take a -2 penalty to their attacks for a turn.

The MM version is completely immune to poison, while the MV version has poison resistance 5. I get the idea behind the immunity - they want the basilisk to be immune to its own gaze, which is vital if you want to make them pack hunters. I think that’s still supposed to be the case in the MV versions, but you could still hit it with different poisons and have those be effective if they’re strong enough.

The Stone-Eye Basilisk is the classic model, called only a Basilisk in the Monster Vault. The MM version is a level 12 soldier and the MV version a level 12 controller. Both have 126 HP and similar traits aside from that.

This basilisk is of course immune to petrification, and has a Baleful Gaze that slows for a turn anyone within 5 squares that attacks the basilisk. That’s automatic, no attack roll involved. Closing your eyes won’t prevent this either, since it happens when it sees you. The actual gaze attack is a close blast 3, and it sets off a chain reaction: Slowed -> Immobilized -> Petrified, with the condition worsening on each failed save. I believe this model of gradually worsening conditions was one of 4e’s big mechanical innovations. In previous edition, attacks like these would just be save-or-die; now you have time to panic.

The basilisk also has a strong bite, which the lore specifically notes makes it capable of eating creatures petrified by its gaze.

These first two are actually two versions of the basilisk legend! In some stories it would turn you to stone, in others it just kills you.

The Monster Vault has two additional basilisk varietals: the wilt-eye is a level 11 controller with 117 HP, with a gentler gaze that gives you a penalty to your attacks and knocks you out on the first failed save.

And then there’s the Abyssal Basilisk who is a Chaotic Evil elemental beast instead of natural and unaligned. This is the one demons raise in the Abyss. It’s level 13 artillery, and its gaze drives one mad with horror. The chain goes: 10 ongoing psychic damage -> make a basic attack against your closest ally -> 10 ongoing psychic damage and you’re dominated.

The suggested encounters in the MM are a level 11 against 2 venom-eyes and 2 mezzodemons, and a level 12 against 2 stone-eyes, a fey choker, and a dryad witch. The mezzodemons aren’t bothered by the poison gaze, but the fey duo are not immune to petrification, so they should watch their positioning.

Final Impressions

What can I say? It’s a classic for a reason, and even the MV didn’t see fit to change its workings other than fixing the damage). I did like the addition of the wilt-eye basilisk - that’s an encounter a commoner could actually survive! I mean, if basilisks behave like normal wild animals, then they’re rarely people-eaters. They’d be killing people either by accident (can’t stop the gaze) or in self-defense. A wilt-eye would just knock the commoner out and leave.

That goes for the natural versions, of course. The Abyssal one has been turned into a standard attack-on-sight-fight-to-the-death monster by the hard work of generations of demon breeders.