thanks for this detailed comment. Almost all the questions you have are answered by reading the source material for this game which is linked in the game description. Since you put effort in writing this up ill give a quick reason for each point you’ve listed but just as a pre amble it mostly boils down to “because thats the way its works in BASILISK!”.
1. everything is randomly generated so this will always be an issue. I agree that there is a pretty high chance of this occurring but remember you have essentially 5 lives and its very quick to roll a new dungeon if you feel its unfair. I could fix this but won’t since it’s not worried about in the source text
2. Almost same as above. It’s part of the brutal nature of RNG. if my maths are right, there is 2.5% of hellvent occurring in any room which seems fine. If its a huge problem it can be combatted by leveling up AGI and getting luckier on rolls.
3. Firstly dusk troulls are tough monsters so they are supposed to be, well, tough. i. This is the unique feature of the monster ii. They cannot instantly crit anymore than any other creature. This can be alleviated by getting more STR or PRE depending on the weapon you are using. iii. All monster have a chance of following you. You can increase evasion by leveling up AGI iv. Its damage die is d6 which is actually mid tier damage.
With all that being said my tip for the troull is just try to run away or kill it before it spawns a friend. Running away is always the better option, alternatively use an item that deals damage without invoking a response (ie. bombs/ poison)
4. The arch cultist does not always insta kill. Every time he hits you have to pass a TOU test or die. He is essentially the last fight in the game and is punishingly so. Again try to use attacks that dont provoke responses before engaging in normal combat or level up TOU to have better luck on saves. He is not the final boss but is the final “fight”
5. You are 100% correct and thats how the rules are in the source text.
6. Just like traps, wick heads may or may not get a sneak attack on you depending on PRE check. Level up PRE if you want to have a better chance against them!
7. Cruel cannot keep pets and pariah prevents any trading with merchants.
8. This is actually a glitch. Good find, ill fix it next time im at my computer which may be a few weeks unfortunately.
Backup mandates are for the final encounter in the game. The encounter is RNG heavy and the backup item is meant to help with that. From the source text each character starts the dungeon with a mandate and it is not listed as equipment which i agree can be confusing.
In summary this was a quick project that i coded basically following BASILISK! Rules verbatim and under the assumption that you either read that text if you want to understand the systems or figure them out by playing the game and failing a lot which is kind of the old school way of doing things which is the vibe both the source text and this game are going for. It seems like you actually did a pretty good job figuring out what is happening behind the scenes all by yourself but im sorry to hear that it was more frustrating than enjoyable. Hopefully the new info helps out a lot and you can give it another go and meet the basilisk!