Talk:Basilisk

Old forum comments

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Thoughts? --gwyn (talk) 2010-12-12 13:48:13

AHA! Intriguing idea from Viv: Basilisks don't just stop you scanning for X seconds, they reprogram your mind in interesting ways. For example, on scanning a bad code, you might get:

"BASILISK! Stand absolutely still for 30 seconds. (And you just lost ten points)"

- actually, this one could be a big visible one on the wall

Or

"BASILISK! Act joyful, tell everyone you just got 500 points. (And you just lost ten points)"

Or

"BASILISK! Go wash your hands. (And you just lost ten points)"

Or

"BASILISK! You cannot walk forwards for the rest of the game. (And you just lost ten points)" --gwyn (talk) 2010-12-12 14:12:05

This is wonderful, and the Basilisk effects definitely make the difference. And you could support the deduction element by scattering a few clues in the safe codes - bits of world-building rumours and cryptic advice (in the same kind of style as the original Langford story, I suppose).

I'm impressed by the potential of the browser side of it - it wouldn't take much to allow the moderator to bring up a list of all scores and Basilisk-effects at any time, so that there's an easy threat of "if the moderator sees you ignoring a Basilisk effect, you will be penalised or eliminated".

And I really want to see players speculatively faking Basilisk effects before they even know which effects exist. (Although I'm not sure if that would spoil the mood a little, if the optimum strategy was always, when scanning a code, to look disappointed and then start doing something bizarre. So long as all the effects definitely make your life harder - and the players know this from the start - then I suppose there'll always be a cost to bluffing.) --Kevan (talk) 2010-12-15 10:38:02