Congratulations! Your LIZARD evolved into BASILISK!

In previous posts I've talked about "monster evolution," the concept of monsters evolving into other monsters and non-monsters evolving into monsters. This concept has roots in real life myth, particularly qi cultivation by animals in Eastern beliefs (and I'll have a post on that someday). Right now I wanted to apply the idea to the basilisk (and cockatrice, assuming they're not the same).

Traditionally, the basilisk is believed to hatch from a cock egg incubated by a snake or some such. Of course, how often does that actually happen? Are alchemists the only ones responsible for the basilisks running around? Setting aside the messiness of the folklore, one suggestion I saw was that ordinary lizards could become basilisks by growing large enough. This is not unlike stories in East Asia of koi and snakes becoming dragons by achieving sufficient feats (which I discussed in a previous post), and coincidentally by some accounts the basilisk is a dragon itself.

Why do I like this idea? Well, I don't always like the idea of inventing pseudo-naturalistic ecologies for fantasy genre monsters. It always has weird assumptions and cascade effects. What niche does the monster occupy? Is the monster an invasive species or a native species whose demise harms the ecology? How do magical powers interact with natural selection? And so forth. I prefer to sidestep all that.

Have a nice day!

The science of eye-beams and the basilisk's stare

It may come as a surprise that the ancients devised scientific explanations of how seemingly magical creatures operated. Their magical powers had logical basis behind them, rather than being purely inexplicable. For example, the philosophers believed that the eyes saw by sending out beams that touched the environment and relayed its qualities back to the viewer.

This played in the deadly gaze of the basilisk. In medieval bestiaries the basilisk was highly venomous, not necessarily petrifying. The basilisk's stare was harmful because its eye-beams carried its characteristic venom, which would travel through the eyes to the brain and from there be circulated to the heart and the rest of the body. This is why mirrors were effective, as the basilisk would envenom itself when the eye-beams were reflected back at it.

The 3pp Lost Lore: Ecology of the Basilisk posits that the basilisk's eyes release a form of radiation, which is basically the same idea.

Oddly enough, these kinds of eye-beams did exist at one point in the D&D lore. According to the AD&D article "Infravision & Your Fantasy Hero," the 90' and 120' forms of infravision worked by sending out infrared beams.

This concept of eye-beams could be speculated as the basis of gaze attacks, like those of the catoblepas, gorgon, medusa, vampire, etc. Do all creatures have eye-beams of sorts, or only some, or only during certain instances? This seems like a fertile field of study.

Infravision links

• https://www.pvv.ntnu.no/~leirbakk/rpg/adnd/society/adnd_society_infravision.html
• https://web.archive.org/web/20161009085709/https://www.frontiernet.net/~jamesstarlight/Infravision.html
• http://www.seankreynolds.com/rpgfiles/rants/infravision.html

Random generation tables for the basilisk and cockatrice

Since I made random generation tables for the manticore, I decided I might as well do tables for the basilisk and cockatrice. I wrote these tables to reflect the sheer variety of basilisk and cockatrice depictions in medieval and modern art and literature. Such as the inset image:

"Eating Chips and Salsa" @BlueBroxton

I counted all the different depictions I could remember together, so these tables should provide results that were never depicted before. Even so, I doubt I accounted for every possibility so you should feel free to change these tables up at your leisure.

I didn't include any specific mechanical effects because I don't know what rules you'd be using, so any mechanical effects are suggestions only. Feel free to introduce your own mechanics or treat the results as purely cosmetic. If nothing else, then it might come in handy if you are drawing.

These tables are organized by head, body, tail, and special attack.

Head features

Species. Roll 1d5 to determine general species of the head

1. Rooster
2. Lizard
3. Snake
4. Dinosaur
5. Multiple heads. Roll 1d4 to determine species, then roll 1d3 to determine number of heads.

Crown. Roll 1d6 to determine the appearance of the crown.*

1. Diamond pattern
2. Feathery plume. Bonus to first impression.
3. Rooster's comb. Charisma bonus against hens.
4. Antlers or horns. Gains gore attack.
5. Vestigial wings. Gains wing buffet attack.
6. Literal crown. This crown counts as treasure, possibly even magic (GM's discretion).
7. Roll 1d6 twice, ignore nonsensical results.
8. Roll 1d6 thrice, ignore nonsensical results.

Tongue. Roll 1d4 to determine the appearance of the tongue.*

1. Normal pointed
2. Forked like snake. Gains scent ability.
3. Spade ended. Bonus to bite damage.
4. Has two tongues, one forked and one spade.

Neck. Roll 1d8 to determine the appearance of the neck.*

1. Smooth scales
2. Rooster waddle. Charisma bonus against hens.
3. Feathery mane. Bonus to cuteness.
4. Movable frill. Bonus to intimidation when unfurled and hissing.
5. Patterned cobra hood. Bonus to intimidation.
6. Long serpentine neck
7. Roll 1d6 twice, ignore nonsensical results.
8. Roll 1d6 thrice, ignore nonsensical results.

*Roll once for each head, if more than one.

Body features

Size. Roll 1d3 to determine the monster's size.

1. Small
2. Medium
3. Large

Body covering. Roll 1d5 to determine the appearance of the skin.

1. All scaled like snake or lizard. Charisma bonus against reptiles.
2. Feathered body with scaly legs like rooster. Charisma bonus against birds.
3. Smooth pinkish skin like a plucked turkey. Charisma penalty against everyone.
4. Patchy mix of scales, skin and feathers
5. Roll 1d4, and this time it is covered in eyes. Cannot be flanked. The eyes sleep in shifts, so it can't be surprised that way.

Movement. Roll 1d3 to determine stance and locomotion.

1. Serpentine slithering without legs. Cannot be tripped.
2. Walking on two or more pairs of legs*
3. Serpentine slithering, with two or more pairs of legs*

*Roll 1d4 to determine the number of pairs of legs, if any. Each leg past the first pair boosts resistance to tripping.

Limbs. Roll 1d4 to determine appearance of the legs and feet, if any.

1. Scaly like lizard
2. Talons and spurs like rooster. Gains claw/stab attack.
3. Feathered like second pair of wings. Gains bonus to flight rolls.
4. Vestigial legs. Relies on serpentine slithering anyway.

Wings. Roll 1d8 to determine the presence and appearance of wings

1. Wingless
2. Bird wings
3. Bird wings with talons. Gains claw attack. Allows climbing.
4. Bat wings. Allow hopping and climbing.
5. Feathery bat wings
6. Pterodactyl wings. Allow walking and climbing.
7. Feathery pterodactyl wings
8. Flightless fan-like fins. Allow swimming.

Tail features

Length. Roll 1d6 to determine the length and appearance of the tail.

1. Long reptilian tail
2. Long reptilian tail covered in feathers. Gains tickle attack.
3. Long colorful pheasant tail feathers. Gains bonus to first impression.
4. Long reptilian tail covered in fan-like feather. Gains bonus to flight.
5. Short feathered fan tail. Do not roll for tail's tip.
6. Vestigial or absent reptilian tail. Do not roll for tail's tip.

Tip. Roll 1d6 to determine the appearance of the tail's tip, if any.

1. No special tip
2. Spaded tip. Gains stab attack.
3. Feathered plume. Gains bonus to first impression.
4. Snake's head. Gains venomous bite attack.
5. Cockatrice's head. Gains petrifying bite attack.
6. Basilisk's head. Gains petrifying gaze attack.

Special attacks

Type. Roll 1d3 to determine the general nature of the special attack. Roll once for each head, if any.

1. Gaze attack
2. Bite attack
3. Breath weapon (same dimensions as a gorgon's breath)

Effect. Roll 2d4−1 to determine the effect of the attack and the monster's coloration.

1. Petrify. Black coloration.
2. Immolate. Red, yellow, and orange coloration.
3. Liquefy. Sea green coloration.
4. Evaporate. White coloration.
5. Freeze. Blue coloration.
6. Hemorrhage. Blood-red coloration.
7. Poison. Forest green coloration.

Basilisk and cockatrice lore

In a previous post I gave a brief ecology of the basilisk and cockatrice, explaining their origins, elemental variants and idiosyncrasies. In this post I will go into a more detailed listing of various basilisk and cockatrice lore and thoughts that occurred to me.

ichneumon, or, “assassin's bane”

The ichneumon, meaning "tracker," is a fabulous account of the very real mongoose. The ichneumon is the enemy of reptiles, especially venomous predators like the basilisk, cockatrice and javelin snake. It hunts venomous serpents and crawls into the bellies of sleeping crocodiles to feast on their innards.

©1998 Jonathan Hunt

From here I’m going to speculate on possible uses in a gaming context. I take inspiration from the "assassin's bane" in Creature Collection Revised.

The ichneumon specializes in poison control because it is immune to poison and sniffs out nearby poisons. When it smells poison, even within a plant or animal, it becomes visibly agitated. The beast is quite popular among the nobility for this reason, much like drinking horns made from griffin talons, and is colloquially called the “assassin's bane.”

The ichneumon might be taken as a familiar or companion by druids, wizards and similar professions.

Links:

• http://bestiary.ca/beasts/beast272.htm
• http://bestiary.ca/beasts/beast541.htm
• http://www.reshafim.org.il/ad/egypt/bestiary/civet.htm
• https://books.google.com/books?id=7PYWDAAAQBAJ&pg=PA166&lpg=PA166&dq=ichneumon
• http://warriorsofmyth.wikia.com/wiki/File:Dbs_Jonathan_Hunt_Bestiary_11_Ichneumon.jpg

Basilisk and cockatrice variants

In my previous post on basilisk and cockatrice ecology I mentioned that basilisks and cockatrices come in elemental variants, with the famous petrifying variants being the black scaled variety. In this post I will list and explore more variants beyond the elemental variety.

Ecology of the basilisk and cockatrice, revisited

The basilisk and the cockatrice originate from ancient mythology. D&D depicts them as being a natural part of the fantasy ecology, engaging in foraging and courtship like any other lizard or bird. In this post, I will be exploring their bizarre mythological origins.