Lesser Basilisk

Lesser Basilisk
Record
Type	Monster
Gender	Neither
Race	Basilisk
Class	Lesser basilisk
Alignment	LG NG CG LN TN CN LE NE CE
Involvement
Allegiance	Enemy
Area	Area East of Temple, Durlag's Tower
Ability scores
Level	6
Hit points	45; 49
XP value	1400
Str	14
Str	14
Dex	9
Dex	9
Con	9
Con	9
Int	9
Int	9
Wis	9
Wis	9
Cha	9
Cha	9
Total scores	59
Morale	10
Break	5
Recovery	45
Combat basics
Natural AC	4
Base THAC0	14
Base APR	1
Saving throws
Dth	11
Wand	13
Poly	12
Brth	13
Spell	14

A Lesser Basilisk is an eight-legged reptilian creature. It is of a pale greenish-yellow in color and has dark bands around the tail. With its gaze the creature is capable of turning party members to stone. Defeating one is worth 1400 XP. In the original Baldur's Gate, lesser basilisks can be found in Mutamin's Garden, also known as the Area East of Temple.

Combat

It is recommended to keep Gorion's Ward out of their reach, as the game will end if the party's leader is petrified. It is also highly advisable to purchase a number of Stone to Flesh scrolls, available from the Temple near Beregost, prior to encountering any basilisks.

Effective means to protect the party from the petrifying gaze include:

• Potions of Mirrored Eyes
• Protection From Petrification
• Using Undead summons, as undead are immune to petrification
• Korax, the temporary Ghoul (undead) companion in the area
• A mage familiar that is immune to petrification
• Prevent them from using their gaze by stunning / disabling them, e.g. Command, Blindness...

Both of the Lesser Basilisk's attacks (melee and ranged petrification) have a speed factor of 3. That means a party coming out of hiding/invisibility and using low speed factor weapons (eg +2 daggers with speed factor 0) should be able to get one attack (or more) in before the Basilisk is able to make an attack itself. Unlike Greater Basilisks, the Lesser Basilisks can only attack once per round.

Moreover, considering the fact they start with their ranged "weapon" equipped, that means melee attackers will get both a -4 THAC0 and +4 damage bonus against the Basilisk until the creature decides to switch to their melee "weapon". As such, a properly-equipped party with access to invisibility and/or hide-in-shadows (available not just for Thieves, but also Monks and Rangers) could take down an isolated Basilisk even without access to any form of protection against petrification. And that's especially the case if there are any backstabbers involved, as that +4 damage bonus against the Basilisk is factored into backstabs.

Finally, their ranged petrification attack comes with a massive 32767 bonus to hit, meaning it effectively cannot be avoided unless the Basilisk rolls a 1. So targeted characters are almost guaranteed to have to roll a save vs petrification (that carries a hefty -4 penalty).

Trivia

• The offical website for the original game, now archived, had the following information about lesser basilisks:

  These reptilian monsters possess a gaze that enables them to turn any fleshy creature to stone.
  
  Although it has eight legs, its sluggish metabolism allows only a slow movement rate. A basilisk is usually dull brown in color, with a yellowish underbelly. Its eyes glow pale green.

Gallery

Promotional screenshot

External links

• Basilisk on the Forgotten Realms Wiki, a wiki for the Dungeons & Dragons campaign setting Forgotten Realms.