The House of Stone is alive! It is alive in a very strange way, and
it's body is unlike any other, but it is still a living creature. The
House has a body (the stone walls of the
building), eyes (8), ears
(8), a heart (movable and vulnerable), a digestive system (the pool in room 1-19), and a mouth.
The Fog A wreath of fog envelops the house at all times. It extends for
400' beyond the walls of the house and resists even the strongest wind.
If a spell is used to remove the fog, it will be limited in area (no
more than a 30' area per spell) and will return as soon as the spell
runs out. The fog swirls and blows in all different directions making
moving inside very confusing. Of course the fog is magical and will
detect strong magic.
The fog has a permaninte Dispel Magic cast by a 15th level caster.
Not only does the fog obscure vision, it acts as a Confusion spell cast
by a 15th level caster. In addition, it blocks out the sun so it is
dark inside making walking dangerous without a light. All lights are at
1/4 normal brilliance and open flame items must roll 10 or less on a
d20 every minute to avoid being blown out. Normal characters become
lost within 5 minutes. Ones with Survival need to roll against a DC 18
to avoid becoming lost. IF the party become lost, the DM can do
what he wants with the party regarding finding the house. If he wants,
he can lead them out of the fog again to have another go at getting in,
or he can lead them to any part of the HOS he wants.
Map Note:
There are items shown on the map that are not mentioned in the text of
the rooms and vice versa. The items shown on the map are fixtures that
can not be removed without destroying them. Anything mentioned in the
text and not shown may be removed. All items should be described to the
players even if they don't appear in the text.
The Walls
As the walls, ceilings and floors are all formed of the body of the
House, they all can act under the control of the Heart and
autonomically to protect itself. It is also able to "heal" damage done
to it.
The House of Stone is under the direct control of the heart of the
house. It can feel all parts of the building, but can only see in areas
where it has an eye and hear only where there is an ear. The house has
no sense of smell or taste.
Regeneration
The house can regenerate the stone which is it's body at the rate of
20hp per round. It has a total of 3400 HP! Thus, it will probably never
be killed in a normal way. The only practical way to kill the House of
Stone is to find it's heart and distroy it. Doors, windows and other
building features can be destroyed and are not regenerated.
It can react to things it sees, hears or feels in a number of ways, but
it's actions are very limited. See the chart below for the actions the
body of the House can take. In addition to volitional actions, things
sometimes happen at random without the will of the heart.
Actions of the House
Door dissappears
Door changes opening direction
10' of wall grows suddenly
A new 10' opening appears suddenly
A ceiling is lowered by 5'
A window dissappears or appears (It can not create new
windows-see building map)
An eye appears or disappears
An ear appears or dissappears
Walls,
Floors and Ceilings: All
walls, floors and ceilings unless noted otherwise are 18" thick and the
ceilings are 10' high. They are not mortered, but rather are huge
stones that fit together so closely they are air proof. The walls are
the body of the house. They are under it's direct control, but the
intelegence that controls it is mad and unpredictable. Any damage
to the walls or ceilings will focus attention on the area where it
"feels" something going on. This is generally bad as the house can
attack the players in a number of ways. Refs can roll 1d10 or pick from
the list below:
Grows Arms - The walls and ceiling sprout dozens of 5' long
clublike tenticles that pummel the party. They can make 1 attack each
per round. They are +10 attack bonus. They cluster around where
the characters are and will grow new ones to follow the movements of
the party. 4 of them sprout from each surface near the player. If
the player is near a wall, they can be attacked by 8. If in the center
of a 10' wide passage, the char can be attacked by 23 (4 from both
walls and 4 from the floor). The tenticles do 1d6+3 points of
blunt damage. Crit on 20. Attacks will continue until the players stop
moving for at least 10 rounds (a minute) or they move out of the room.
Grows Blades - These blades are 6' long and slash across the
area. They can make 1 attack each per round. They are anchored to the
floor or walls, and slash toward the center of the room. They are
+12 attack bonus. They cluster around where the characters are
and will grow new ones to follow the movements of the party. 4 of them
sprout from each surface near the player. If the player is near a
wall, they can be attacked by 8. If in the center of a 10' wide
passage, the char can be attacked by 12 (4 from both walls and 4 from
the floor). The blades do 1d8+6 points of slashing damage. Crit
on 19 or 20.
Attacks will continue until the players stop moving for at least 10
rounds (a minute) or they move out of the room.
Huge Fist - An enormouse fist-like extrusion from the wall
strikes out an the players. They are 5'x5' wide and can come from any
surface. It can attack once per round for each surface within 10' of a
player. It can extend up to 10' from the wall. It is so large that it
is difficult to avoid, and so has an attack bonus of +16. It does
2d12+6 points of crushing damage. Critical on 19 or 20.
Throws up - The floor suddenly moves 2' upward. This will throw
anyone off their feet and will interrupt most spells. Chars with skills
like tumbling can make a roll to land on their feet. Otherwise the
players must make a dexterity roll for DC 15 to avoid damage when they
hit the floor or wall. A fail indicates the char takes 1d8 points of
damage.
Heats - All the surfaces in the area/room begin to heat up as in
a Heat Metal spell cast at 10th level. Characters not in contact will a
surface take 1/2 damage as the air grows incredably hot as well.
Cools - All the surfaces in the area/room begin to grow cold as
in a Heat Metal spells cast at 10th level. Those not in contact with a
surface take no damage, but still get really cold.
Shits Oil - Disturbingly human spincters appear from all surfaces
and expell a flamable oily brown substance the consistancy of liquid
scat. It will cover all the surfaces in a single round, then the
spincters will dissappear. After that round, any open flame will ignite
the oil causing a confligration. It will burn for 5 rounds and do 3d8+3
points per round. It also makes all the surfaces slippery. Movement
faster than 1/4 will require a dex roll of DC 12 to complete without
falling down.
Oozes Blood - Knife wounds appear in all surfaces and blood
shoots from them like an arterial wound. Anyone within 6' of a wall are
covered with blood if they fail a dex roll with a DC of 12. The blood
stinks so badly that all must make a Fortitude save at DC 15 or at DC
20 if the character is covered with it. Failure indicates the character
is sickened by it and are incapacitated for 2 rounds. After 2 rounds
pass, make a second Fortitude roll. If this fails the player looses 2
points of Con.
Pees Pus - A boil appears in the wall then bursts in a stream of
pus that looks like curdled milk. This is a contact poisonous substance
(as Sasoon Leaf).
Anyone within 6' of a wall are covered with pus if they fail a dex roll
with a DC of 12.
Farts Gas - A spincter appears and there is a deep growling sound
is heard as a poisonous gas come out. It smells like methain, but is
really like Insanity
Mist.
Spells and Spell Like Effects Many of the abilities of the house act like spells. Any time a
spell is cast or a spell like effect is used it is done at 10th level.
Many permancy spells have been cast and these are always been cast at
the minimum level possible +1. The Eyes of the House
The eyes of the house are about 4" across. The lids of the eyes are
visible only when the eye is opened. Closed, the eye is only visible
when a spot is made at DC 30. Each of the eyes are a different color.
Each of the eyes has a different spell-like effect as shown in the
chart below:
Eye Color
Weapon
Red
Blue
Brown
Black
Green
Cats eye
Orange
Purple
Flaming Sphere
Daze
Ray of Enfeeblement
Acid Arrow
Burning Hands (Green Flame)
Scorching Ray
Color Spray
Obscuring Mist
The house has a total of 8 eyes. It can place them in any corredor, but
can not grow them in rooms. It can grow eyes at will, but when nothing
interesting is going on, they move about at random. There are never 2
in the same area, so it can not see in 3 dimensions. Although the house
can see through any eye, it can only focus on 2 eyes at any specific
time. The other eyes will only become focused when something unusual is
"seen". Then the house will focus on the eye. It can see as a normal
human and has Spot +20. It also has the ability to see the etherial
plane as it partially exists there.
Ears of the House
The house has 8 ears that it can place at will or at random. When in
use, the ears look like human "coliflower" ears; lumpy and misshapen.
The same focus effects apply to ears as it does to the eyes. They hear
as human ears and have Listen +20. When an ear is focused, it can
retract into the wall and become so hidden finding it is a DC 20. It
can not hear when hidden. All the ears look the same and have the same
effect. When focused, the ears can Sculpt Sound and change any sound
into any other sound.
The Mouth
The house can grow a single mouth at any time in any spot in the house,
even rooms. The house can speak to people, but can only hear if there
is an ear present (not possible in a room). Usually, the only thing the
house says are threats and mocking. Sometimes it will want someone to
do something, so it waits for the being to exit from a room so it can
hear the beings answers. It has no attacks. The voice sounds like that
of an old, cranky man tired of life and resentfull of those with
mobility.
The Stomach
The stomach of the house is on the ground floor in room 19. This room
contains what looks like a well. It is really the place where all the
refuse from the house is disposed of. The hole leads to a disgusting
pool of acid. The hole is a part of the body of the house and has the
same protections. Of course, there is a bunch of treasure in the pool
of acid as the acid only disolves organic material.
The Heart
The heart is also the brain of the house. It is very smart (Int 18) and
very cautious. It has the ability to move itself through the body of
the house at will at 30', so it can appear anywhere. It is the
only truly vulnerable part of the house and the only way it can be
killed. It has 120HP and can protect itself using the defences of the
walls, the effects of the eyes and it's ability to hide on the etherial
plane.
General Description of Common
Features:
Windows: Unless otherwise noted, all windows are actually a pair of
panes each 2' across with a 2" steel bar in the center. The glass is
set 4" back into the casement with the steel bar 4" behind the glass.
Each window has shutters that are lockable with a hasp that a padlock
can secure. Some of the windows shutters are badly worn where the outer
glass has been broken. Broken windows are not noted and this detail is
left for the ref to use or not. If used, the ref should make a mark on
the map to indicate which windows are broken. In general, a quarter of
the windows are broken, so to determine at random, roll 25% or less on
the ground floor, 10% on 2nd floor and 5% for all floors above 2nd for
a specific window to be broken. The stone that seperates the windows is
2' wide, so the shutters are 3' on each side.
Doors: Unless
otherwise noted, the doors are extra large at 5' across and 8' high.
They are nested hinged and are fitted into the stone frame so there is
a 2" lip around 3 sides (not the bottom). They can only be opened in
one direction. Because this lip is made of stone, the house can
reverse the direction that they open at will!
Stone doors are a part of the living house and are controled by the
house. Any attempt to open one will focus the attention of the house on
that opening.