HQ25 Petrify Spell Card

[torilen]

No idea what a nargle is...my sorry attempt at a harry potter joke.

[Gold Bearer]

Wasn't the medusa in Clash of the Titans a Gorgon then? Snake body, female torso, snake hair?

Gorgons have a snake body? So is a basilisk just a male gorgon? Maybe we should change the basilisk to a gorgon then, more people have heard of that, or is it something different?

No idea what a nargle is...my sorry attempt at a harry potter joke.

Oh sorry, I did try watching a Harry Potter film once and it was painful.

[TMU]

No idea what a nargle is...my sorry attempt at a harry potter joke.

I see what you did there

Wasn't the medusa in Clash of the Titans a Gorgon then? Snake body, female torso, snake hair?

Gorgons have a snake body? So is a basilisk just a male gorgon? Maybe we should change the basilisk to a gorgon then, more people have heard of that, or is it something different?

I've never heard of gorgon.

[Goblin-King]

The "real" Medusa was one of three gorgon sisters. The sisters had snakes for hair and horrible visages which turned people to stone.
Nowhere in mythology is she ever mentioned as having a snake tail/body.

That particular image (and her preferred weapon: the bow) was (if not created) popularized by Ray Harryhausen.
I guess he thought it looked cool.


The basilisk is a half reptile / half cockrel, often depicted with several pairs of legs. Notice the crest on it's head.




So...

Medusa = ugly humanoid with snake-hair
Basilisk = Snake/cockrel beast

[torilen]

Okay...TMU, I have to ask - how old are you?
You play HQ, you seem to have a good handle on fantasy stuff, but never heard of a gorgon?
I don't understand... ...

[TMU]

Okay...TMU, I have to ask - how old are you?
You play HQ, you seem to have a good handle on fantasy stuff, but never heard of a gorgon?
I don't understand... ...

17

[MrBigB]

Basilisk's Petrifying Gaze (Range attack)
If the basilisk turns its petrifying gaze at a target, both the target and basilisk roll one combat dice for each of their current mind points. Any undefended skulls result in the target becoming petrified. A petrified target can attempt to free itself once per turn by rolling a number under their full mind point value using a standard dice. A petrified target cannot be harmed in any way.

+ bump the Basilisk MP from 2 -> 3

[Gold Bearer]

Nice. It's got my vote.

[knightkrawler]

Basilisk's Petrifying Gaze (Range attack)
If the basilisk turns its petrifying gaze at a target, both the target and basilisk roll one combat dice for each of their current mind points. Any undefended skulls result in the target becoming petrified. A petrified target can attempt to free itself once per turn by rolling a number under their full mind point value using a standard dice. A petrified target cannot be harmed in any way.

+ bump the Basilisk MP from 2 -> 3

A tweak of Mr BigB's version, which I like very much:
The basilisk may opt to use its Petrifying Gaze against any one Hero it can "see" instead of an attack. The basilisk and the target hero roll a number of combat dice equal to their current Mind points. If the basilisk rolls more skulls, the Hero is immediately petrified. He may not move or take any action and is immune to attacks, spells, and potions. A petrified Hero can attempt to free himself once per turn by rolling a number under their current Mind point score on a red die. A square occupied by a petrified Hero blocks Line of Sight, but may be moved through counting 3 Movement points for that one square.

Maybe the part where it describes the effect of a petrified hero on board game play, could be taken over to the introduction part in the book. That is unnecessary, however, if it only comes to pass through the basilisk's special rule.
On the other hand, that description is quite f**king long for a card.
I opt for the card reading "Petrifying Gaze, cf. rulebook p.X" and putting full text under the new monster chart.

[Gold Bearer]

It needs to be their full mind point value or they'll be stuck if they've got 1MP. Also with an MP of two or three it's quite underpowered.

Nother tweak:
The basilisk may use its Petrifying Gaze against any target it can "see" instead of either moving or instead of attacking. The basilisk and the target roll the same number of combat dice equal as their current mind points. The target defends on black shields and any undefended skulls result in the target becoming petrified and unable to perform any action. A petrified target cannot be harmed and can attempt to free themselves once per turn by rolling under their full mind point value on a red dice. A petrified target blocks Line of Sight but doesn't block movement.