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.

Statistics (5e) for elemental variants

I did not provide statistics for the elemental variants in my last post, a correction I will make here. These monsters originally appeared in other sources, but I have reskinned them as the appropriate elemental variant. The pattern is black/earth/petrifying, red/fire/igniting, green/water/venomous, white/air/evaporating, blue/cold/freezing. It should be fairly easy to modify statistics to represent the other elements.

• Black Basilisk (petrifying gaze): http://www.5esrd.com/gamemastering/monsters-foes/monsters-by-type/monstrosities/basilisk/
• Black Cockatrice (petrifying bite): https://www.5esrd.com/gamemastering/monsters-foes/monsters-by-type/monstrosities/cockatrice/
• Blue Basilisk (freezing gaze): http://tomeofhorrors.com/monsters.php?mid=143
• Green Basilisk (poisonous gaze): https://d-infinity.net/game-content/heway-dd-5e-monster
• Red Cockatrice (immolating bite): https://campaignwiki.org/wiki/FifthEditionSRD/Pyrolisk
• White Basilisk (wounding gaze): https://campaignwiki.org/wiki/FifthEditionSRD/Basilisk%2c_Crimson

Hatching elemental variants

In my ecology of basilisks and cockatrices I mentioned that they are created by incubating a cock egg with a snake or toad and vice versa. I failed to explain how elemental variants are determined. For simplicity I will just steal the elemental platypuses from Chaos On Deponia:

• The black basilisk or cockatrice egg hatches in contact with soil, explaining why is it so common.
• The blue basilisk or cockatrice egg hatches in contact with ice or freezing water.
• The green basilisk or cockatrice egg hatches inside the mouth of a live zebra fish. Just kidding! It hatches within a leafy nest built in a forest environment.
• The red basilisk or cockatrice egg hatches in the heat of a campfire or oven.
• The white basilisk or cockatrice egg hatches when dropped from a great height... or at least when incubated in a nest built on a high aerie.

Non-elemental basic variants

There are several variants of the "traditional" basilisk and cockatrice, not limited to those listed here. Along with elemental variants, different features may be mixed and matched by creative GMs.

• Pliny's Basilisk: described by Pliny the Elder and J.K. Rowling, this legless basilisk looks like a snake with a white plume on its head. Statistics (5e): https://www.reddit.com/r/UnearthedArcana/comments/5ml313/monster_greater_basilisk/
• Aldrovandi's Basilisk: described by Ulisse Aldrovandi, this basilisk has the head of a cockatrice.
• Amphysian Cockatrice: this cockatrice has a second head at the end of its tail. It is suspected to hatch from a cock egg incubated by an amphisbaena or hoop snake. It appears in heraldry.
• Greater Basilisk: this larger cousin of the common basilisk is distinguished by its toxic breath and heightened aggression. Its breath is so toxic that flora and fauna will be sparse throughout its territory. Statistics (5e): https://campaignwiki.org/wiki/FifthEditionSRD/Basilisk%2C_Greater
• Abyssal Basilisk: this basilisk is found only on the Lower Planes and may be summoned by demonologists. It is otherwise similar to the greater basilisk. Statistics (3.x): http://www.d20pfsrd.com/bestiary/monster-listings/outsiders/basilisk-abyssal/
• Addendum 3/10/2020: basiliskets, megabasil, and coral basilisk. https://dmdave.com/basilisks-1/

Hybrids

The hybrid monsters are typically named with a portmanteau of their component creatures; this name consists of the first portion of the father's name followed by the last portion of the mother's name, although the concept of parents may not be applicable.

• Dracolisk: this basilisk is a hybrid of chromatic dragon. It is suspected to hatch from a chromatic dragon's egg incubated by a rooster, or through the coupling of a chromatic dragon and a basilisk. Statistics (5e): https://worldmakers.wordpress.com/2014/09/24/5th-edition-monsters-tome-of-horrors-edition-dracolisk/
• Henborn basilisk: this snakelike creature hatches from the eggs of birds fertilized by cockatrices (somehow?). While it cannot petrify prey, its venom is extremely potent. It is immune to petrification and poison. Statistics (3.x): http://www.seankreynolds.com/rpgfiles/monsters/henbornbasilisk.html
• Hydralisk: this hydra has the heads of basilisks, granting it the same petrifying gaze. The related hydratrice or cockahydra instead has the heads of cockatrices with petrifying venom. It is suspected to hatch from a cock egg incubated by a hydra. Statistics (5e): https://www.reddit.com/r/DnD/comments/52lcaj/basilisk_hydra_hydrilisk_or_basidra/
• Thessalisk: This basilisk has a mane of hydra heads, acidic spit, and often anterior forceps. The related thessalcockatrice or thessaltrix is instead a thessalhydra with its hydra necks ending in cockatrice heads. These are suspected to be born to a thessalmonster that consumes a basilisk or cockatrice. Statistics (3.x): http://www.d20pfsrd.com/bestiary/monster-listings/aberrations/thessalisk-tohc/