2018.09.10 - Version 0.2
This procedure will govern how PCs will proceed through the catacombs beneath basilisk island in search of the blood of the legendary basilisk. The hope is that by getting enough of the stomach juices of the basilisk, the Castaways will be able to reverse the petrification effect on Sir Heston and help beat back the tides of the Masters.
Let’s start by reading something like this out loud:
| Following news of the petrification of Sir Roderick of Heston, Edwan dropped into a state of deep sadness. It was after all Heston who spared him from certain death at the hands of The Sultan. By sacrificing his future to keep his honor, Heston was out and stripped of his position. For that, Edwan Mirths would always be in Heston’s debt. |
| With the liberation of the monastery of Monax from the howling nightmare world of the “Danger Zone,” Edwan began to search for some sort of a remedy for his fallen friend. He came upon a recipe for a salve that might be used to cure petrification, but it requires a rare ingredient - the stomach acid of a basilisk. |
| Further research revealed the existence of just such a beast, known to live on a monstrous pockmarked island to the North known only as “Basilisk Island.” On it, a number of beastly creations from the time of Old Krondor roamed freely, hiding themselves within the many caves and tunnels below the surface of its volcanic wasteland. The research reveals the existence of a rare gem that was left in the basilisk’s nest that would give it additional power and immortality. Surely, the stomach acid of this basilisk could be found here. |
| Edwan gathered a team of the best adventurers of the Castaways. He promised a share of any treasure found on the desolate island, as well as a boon to be named in the future that Edwan would provide. The adventure unfolds as the Castaways step off the launch from the ship, and begin to search the island for their quarry. |
This step would be finding the lair of the basilisk. Edwan’s “locate object” spell could be used on the Basilisk’s gemstone so that we could use that to trace the exact entrance to the lair. However, there should be some sort of challenge or complication as the Castaways search through the ruined volcanic island looking for the lair. These random complications might also apply to any wandering encounters that might happen if the Castaways decide to take a long rest, so maybe we make some encounters that might provide some sort of boon as well?
For this step, let's add a quarter-sheet encounter marked “found the lair” into the pile after each completed encounter. That way, we randomly get “closer” to finding the lair as we progress.
Let's make most of these encounters lighter, perhaps giving PCs an obvious way to go around encounters using roleplaying or clever tactics.
There should be some sort of guardian at the entrance to the lair. This could be a puzzle or roleplay challenge or just some sort of monster at the entrance which we should randomize as well.
With the entire lair map drawn on big graph paper (BGP) we shouldn't need a single guardian, should we?
The lair itself will have a number of rooms, each with a random encounter. Each room has a crystal. Three crystals are needed to open the den of the basilisk. These could also be used as wandering monster encounters if the party should decide to take a rest in the lair. During these encounters, any KING drawn in initiative will trigger the basilisk to make an appearance. The basilisk can then be given their own initiative, or just act on the king. The basilisk will do its best to get within 30' of a PC to force them to avoid or make a save to glance it, then escape or move to the next PC (50%/50% chance of each).
After 8:30, the final encounter should be the den of the basilisk itself. It is here that the basilisk’s gem is located - an emerald easily worth 500gp times the number of PCs. This gem is the source of the basilisk’s special powers, so it takes very good care to disguise, hide, and defend it. There should be some randomness to this encounter as well. Perhaps several elements. Where is the gem hidden? What lair action(s) does the basilisk have? Which map is used for the den? What should the basilisk’s strategy be?
I think we should have two sets of stats for the basilisk. One for when it is found outside its lair, that looks like regular basilisk stats (except that it will blink back to its den when it reaches zero HP to regenerate) and another set for the basilisk in its lair. I’m going to submit these stats as the lair basilisk.