Help with Encounter design and Deus Ex Machina

[CleanDeceit]

So I have an encounter prepared that basically takes place in three stages:
1 - a decent skirmish outside
2 - a tunnel with guardians
3 - a chamber with a big baddy

I prepared this scenario weeks ago and alluded to the area for my players to go seek it out. They are finally on there way there now but our game session for the week got canceled and I got to thinking more about this encounter design.

in section 2, there are basilisks waiting to be found. While these creatures seamed an interesting pet, befitting the setting, I began to wonder about the possible outcomes.
Petrifaction is cool and all but what if one my players actually fails the save?
They dont really have anything to pull out of their bag to deal with the situation and will effectively have to halt their adventure to leave the dungeon and return to town with their new statue, or continue on to what is meant to be a very challenging battle with one less PC.

Neither of these scenarios sounds fun, but Im not ready to pull the plug on the basilisk just yet. If a player is turned to stone, what should I script into the story to help the players out? Introducing an NPC to restore the character might be interesting, but I am looking for more creative and lore driven options... maybe something in the environment, a puzzle perhaps... something they would be motivated to go through in order to get out between a rock and a hard place.

Thanks in advance for the suggestions.

[Extra Anchovies]

My first thought is that you could make them "lesser basilisks", and replace their petrifying gaze with a Slow effect (fluffed as being "halfway petrified" or some such) or have the petrification wear off after a round or two, cribbing wording from the Basilisk Mask soulmeld.

[Mordaedil]

Put ointment of stone to flesh with the big baddy and scale the encounter with the big baddy down depending on how many were lost to basilisks.

Allow them to use a sneaky rogue to steal the ointment if he survives, but then assume the encounter as the full party.

[CharonsHelper]

If I had basilisks for pets - I'd sure as heck keep a few ways around to undo their petrification. (which the PCs can scavenge)

In addition - does the party know that there are going to be basilisks? If so - they should probably have brought something with them to begin with. Any of them have Blind-fight? They can just close their eyes. There are also smoky goggles to limit the chances of even needing a save.

[Gallowglass]

If I had basilisks for pets - I'd sure as heck keep a few ways around to undo their petrification. (which the PCs can scavenge)

In addition - does the party know that there are going to be basilisks? If so - they should probably have brought something with them to begin with. Any of them have Blind-fight? They can just close their eyes. There are also smoky goggles to limit the chances of even needing a save.

Even if the big bad DOES have ways of unpetrifying in a cabinet, there is no way for the PCs to know or guess that outside of a logical deductive leap that outstrips most dungeon crawl scenarios. So you end up at the same place. six PCs go in, even one gets petrified, the other five end up dragging him back to town to get unpetrified instead of going on to the next part of the encounter where they might find the unpetrify solution. Even if they are forced or conjoled into continuing on, then you have 1 player sitting on his thumbs for the rest of the night.

Here's what I would recommend. Put a lead up to the room with the basilisk. They find three dead bodies, two of which are reduced to crumbled stone, still recognizable as human like statues that have been pounded to rubble and the last a decaying corpse killed by claw and teeth wounds. He drug his way out of the chamber before succumbing to his wounds. He is wearing smoked goggles or similar defense and he has a single potion of stone to flesh or similar substance in a belt pouch. This serves to hint the PCs into what is in the next room and giving them access to some solution help. Then they can plan how to proceed.

[CleanDeceit]

Dam!

Gallowglass hit it right on the money. I love the idea of the dead guy with goggles (one of my players has goggles of night, which means they will have to make choices about who wares then) and I could put a bottle of stone to flesh on one of the enemies out side of the cave - before they encounter the basilisk.

Thanks for the help guys. You helped me correct what could have been a huge DM oversight going into this fight, and avoid a subsequent disappointing game night.

Cheers.