Basilisk (Dungeons & Dragons)

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Dungeons & Dragons creature
Basilisk
Alignment
Type	Magical beast
Source books
First appearance
Mythological origins	Basilisk
Image	Wizards.com image
Stats	OGL stats

In the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game, the basilisk is a reptilian magical beast that turns creatures to stone by meeting their gaze.

Contents 1 Creative origins 2 Physical description 3 Society 4 Basilisks in Eberron 5 Variant Basilisks 5.1 Greater Basilisk 5.2 Salt Basilisk 5.3 Crimson Basilisk 5.4 Dracolisk 5.5 Glassilisk 5.6 Ice Basilisk 5.7 Rhaumbusun 6 See also 7 Footnotes 8 References

[edit] Creative origins

The basilisk is based on the basilisk of greek mythology and the basalisk in Poul Anderson's "Three Hearts and Three Lions." ^[1]

It should be noted that while Basilisks in myth are generally bird-like relatives of the Cockatrice, the Basilisk in D&D is completely distinct from the Cockatrice (which also appears in D&D) aside from them both having a petrification attack. The Basilisks of myth are a hybrid of a serpent and bird, but the Basilisk of D&D, however, is a giant lizard with numerous legs.

[edit] Physical description

A basilisk looks like a giant, six (sometimes eight)-legged brown lizard. The creatures aren't very intelligent, and therefore always neutral in alignment. Their eyes glow a pale green, and they grow to around six feet long (excluding the tail).

[edit] Society

Basilisks usually live in deserts, in small colonies of 3-6, though they are sometimes encountered singly. However, they can be found in any climate. Their lairs are little more than shallow caves or burrows in the ground, usually marked by victims of their petrifying gaze. It is possible to raise one as a guard animal, provided one has the wherewithal to do so.

[edit] Basilisks in Eberron

In the Eberron campaign setting, the basilisk is the heraldic beast of the dragonmarked House Medani.

[edit] Variant Basilisks

As with many of the standard, archtypal D&D creatures, variants of the standard Basilisk species exist. These Include:

[edit] Greater Basilisk

Larger and meaner than their cousins, these can grow up to 30 feet in length.

[edit] Salt Basilisk

Like its relatives, this creature can stop prey with a gaze, but their prey is turned to salt, not stone. They lair in caves and burrows, or simply bury themselves beneath the sand of the desert.

[edit] Crimson Basilisk

Stocky, eight-legged, crimson scaled reptiles with a row of spines jutting down the length of their back and eyes that glow ghostly blue. These variants of the common basilisk are able to disintegrate any material with their acidic bites and can cause creatures to spontaneously bleed uncontrollably with their gaze.

[edit] Dracolisk

A rare crossbreed of dragon and basilisk. Dracolisks, in addition to their petrification attack, also have the breath-weapon of their parent dragon. E.G, a dracolisk with a red dragon parent would have fiery breath, and a dracolisk with a black dragon parent would have acidic breath.

[edit] Glassilisk

A an unusual relative of the basilisk, these beasts' gaze turns wide areas of sand to glass, which they can easily walk across but their prey cannot.

[edit] Ice Basilisk

Serpents which move across the tundra like snakes. Its dread gaze can paralyze a creature with cold.

[edit] Rhaumbusun

From the Forgotten Realms campaign setting. A small, reptilian creature that is distantly related to the basilisk. It has eight legs and dorsal spikes. They are herbivores, but are still feared for their paralyzing gaze.

[edit] See also

• Basilisks in fantasy fiction and games
• Boalisk - a basilisk hybrid

[edit] Footnotes

1. ^ DeVarque, Aardy. Literary Sources of D&D. Retrieved on February 23, 2007.

[edit] References

• Cook, David, et al. Monstrous Compendium Volume Two (TSR, 1989).

• Greenwood, Ed. "The Ecology of the Basilisk." Dragon #81 (TSR, 1984).

• Gygax, Gary. Monster Manual (TSR, 1977).

• Stewart, Doug, ed. Monstrous Manual (TSR, 1994).

• Ward, Kyla. "The Petit Tarrasque and Other Monsters" Dragon #329 (Paizo Publishing, 2005).

• Williams, Skip, Jonathan Tweet, and Monte Cook. Monster Manual (Wizards of the Coast, 2000).

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