Basilisk

Monster Manual (2025) p. 32

Size
Medium
Type
monstrosity
Alignment
unaligned
AC
15
Initiative
-1
Hit Points
52 (8d8+16)
Speed
walk 20 ft.
Senses
darkvision 60 ft.
Passive Perception
9
Challenge
3
Environment
mountain, underdark
STR
16
+3
DEX
8
−1
CON
15
+2
INT
2
−4
WIS
8
−1
CHA
7
−2

Traits

Proficiency Bonus

+2

Treasure

Any: The monster's treasure hoard can include monetary treasure and any kinds of magic items.

Actions

Bite

Melee Attack Roll: +5, reach 5 ft. Hit: 10 (2d6 + 3) Piercing damage plus 7 (2d6) Poison damage.

Petrifying Gaze (Recharge 4-6) (Bonus Action)

Constitution Saving Throw: DC 12, each creature in a 30-foot Cone. If the basilisk sees its reflection within the Cone, the basilisk must make this save. First Failure: The target has the Restrained condition and repeats the save at the end of its next turn if it is still Restrained, ending the effect on itself on a success. Second Failure: The target has the Petrified condition instead of the Restrained condition.

recharge

D4

Other data

description

Basilisks are ponderous predators with eight clawed legs, crystalline spines, and mighty jaws. Rather than chasing prey, they use their supernatural gaze to turn creatures to stone and then consume these victims at their leisure. While basilisks are most comfortable in subterranean lairs, many are captured and kept by unscrupulous folk seeking guardians for their treasures. The remains of Petrified creatures litter the area where a basilisk hunts. These might be mundane creatures or more unusual beings that had dire encounters with a basilisk. Roll on or choose a result from the Petrified Basilisk Victims table to inspire the statues that might appear in a basilisk's hunting grounds. There is a 50 percent chance that any of these statues are missing limbs or broken into pieces.

Petrified Basilisk Victims:

1d8A Basilisk Used Its Gaze to Petrify...
1An adventurer with an ornate key hanging around their neck.
2Animals like bats, bears, deer, or goats.
3A climber clinging to a stalactite.
4Itself using a large mirror or shiny surface.
5A mimic disguised as a chest full of treasure.
6A monster such as an umber hulk or a troglodyte.
7Someone caught in a comic pose or making a regrettable face.
8A victim now being used as a nest for insects or other vermin.