HQ25 monster stats and abilities #5 the Basilisk

[Anderas]

which one?

Salamander


Halfblood


White Dragon

[knightkrawler]

The top one.
Seeing it so clearly, the stare is not really there. It's still the most generic lizardy of the three.
Not my decision, though...

[TMU]

The top one is fine with me.

[Anderas]

I will make that card tomorrow. Any last remarks?

[Anderas]

I was further advanced than this


Here, find my colored Basilisk. The black/white lineart original is free of use from wikimedia; I added Moon and Sky and colors and Gary Chalk like hatching.


If you're ok I would close this chapter and go on with three room tiles that follow me in my dreams since some days.

[Daedalus]

This is a good image, though the Basilisk appears small compared to other Monster Cards. Using the Giant Wolf as a size comparison, I'd force the Basilisk further into the foreground. Unfortunately, the moon gets lost in the cropping. If possible, the moon should be shrunk and lowered a bit.



While the red coloring is striking, aren't bright colors intended as defensive warnings? Hmm . . . tigers are orange, so not always. If the beast had striping or diamond patterning, I'd say okay. However, that will be difficult to add. What about a more swamp-neutral color like green or brown (or green/brown/purple)? Large reptilian hunters in swamps pretty much always rely on such coloring for camouflage. These are only considerations, however. I know we're dealing with a fantastic beast, so the look can be anything.

I support paralysis over the stone ability (both have 2 votes.) My reasoning is based on the Basilisk as a lone, hunting beast. What use is turning prey to stone if the victim can't be harmed? Like poison, it reasons the prey is first immobilized, then killed to be eaten--only paralysis allows that. Turning to stone only works defensively for its survival, but clearly the Basilisk is a carnivore. The ability should compliment its bite attack, in my opinion.

[Anderas]

I was thinking about a greenish yellow as contrast to the dark blue sky, or this one. I can try that greenish yellow next.
The moon is freely moveable.

I chose the perspective like I did so the the stone horse would be recognizable. Without it, it is just a multilegged lizard.

My first try was exactly your cut, by the way.

[knightkrawler]

I think all these colors need desaturating, whatever their tones may be.
And maybe you could widen the black areas ("Dunkle Bereich vergrößern" müsste das im deutschen Photoshop heißen).

[Daedalus]

Okay. The stone horse doesn't matter to me so much because of my paralysis-as-ability bias. What about zooming in partially to get a bit more size? Can you get "horse" from half of the head? To me, it helps that the Basilisk takes up a majority of the frame.



Am I off about the logic of a Basilisk being a meat-eater? Could it also eat stone, or survive in some other way? Does any of this matter to anyone else?

In game, there is a tactical difference. If a paralyzed Hero is caught alone or behind enemy lines, he is defenseless and in mortal peril from the Basilisk's bite (or other Monster attacks.) A stoned Hero merely need wait safely for reinforcements to arrive or break through a number of turns later. Is paralyzation too deadly, or is petrifaction too easy?

[Anderas]

Quickly - desaturated a bit the colors (I won't become grey); the basilisk got the other color I had in mind; and the cut has been changed. Also, knightkrawler, the dark lines have been widened.