Making a more Fun* and interesting Basalisk

[Blackhawk748]

Ok so i make it no secret that i think how gaze attacks work in DnD to be silly, but i also think Basalisks are cool so i need to find a way to make them more fun and interesting. So this is what i came up with.

Stone Gaze (Su):At the end of its turn the Basalisk projects a 30ft cone. Anyone who begins their turn in this cone must make a Fortitude Save or take a -2 penalty to their Dexterity. If they fail a second save they are slowed, as the spell. If they fail a third save they are paralyzed. And finally on a fourth failed save they are petrified, as flesh to stone. This attack follows all the rules for a gaze attack excepting its area.

*fun as in the context of Dwarf Fortress

[PraxisVetli]

This seems like it would take too long.
If you want to slow the process, the first round shouldSlow, the second should Flesh to Stone.

[Fiery Diamond]

This seems like it would take too long.
If you want to slow the process, the first round shouldSlow, the second should Flesh to Stone.

And that would be too fast. Seriously, what is people's obsession with Save or Die? The very concept is a bad one. Ever played Final Fantasy XII? What the OP is doing is not new. In FFXII, if you get hit by petrify, you get a countdown timer. You move increasingly slowly and are increasingly more resistant to damage as the timer decreases, until it hits zero and you are petrified. This is something similar. Besides, so long as your condition is permanent until somehow dispelled, it's still a yucky situation even if you don't get all the way to "flesh to stone." I like it.

[heavyfuel]

This seems like it would take too long.
If you want to slow the process, the first round shouldSlow, the second should Flesh to Stone.

Agreed! The Save-or-Die aspect of it what makes the creature a CR5 encounter, making it "save-or-try again, and again, and again, and again, or die" makes it incredibly weak, bringing it's CR to 2.

If you also ramp up the DC to 10+HD+Cha (instead of 10+1/2HD +Cha), maybe this makes the creature a CR3.

[nyjastul69]

You may get better responses in a more appropriate area such as homebrew.

[Blackhawk748]

Agreed! The Save-or-Die aspect of it what makes the creature a CR5 encounter, making it "save-or-try again, and again, and again, and again, or die" makes it incredibly weak, bringing it's CR to 2.

If you also ramp up the DC to 10+HD+Cha (instead of 10+1/2HD +Cha), maybe this makes the creature a CR3.

I was figuring upping the DC, considering it has a very low one at DC 13, i was think more along the lines of 10+1/2 RHD+Con and then making the Basilisk Large. That may keep it closer to CR 5