By Rite Publishing | January 12, 2010 at 12:56 AM EST | No Comments (0 new)
Illustration by Joe Calkins
The Stone of Insanity
By Bill Collins
A variable-level encounter for D&D or Pathfinder RPG.
Thunder blasts and lightning flashes and sparks. Those dark clouds weren’t there a moment ago, nor were those torrents of rain driving down. In the center of a crowd of screaming villagers towers a black monolith, with spiky protrusions. Its fearful name drops from the lips of a stunned old man: “The Stone of Insanity”.
The stone is a magic item that teleports once a day, displaying a symbol of insanity upon it when it reappears. The symbol disappears after an hour. No one knows the origin of the stone, but they know it is trouble. It moves about the landscape, spreading fear and terror.
This encounter pits PCs against innocent NPCs, driven to insanity (as per the spell, which is equal to permanent confusion). The Stone appears, riles up the locals, and vanishes. The PCs may ignore it of course, or they can step up.
Implementation
Use the Stone at any level. See the table below.
Low-level – the Stone vanishes within a minute of appearing. 1d8+1 confused villagers (Commoner 1-3) begin acting up, causing trouble for the PCs and everyone nearby.
Mid-level – the Stone lingers and can be destroyed physically. It has 10 Hardness and 900 hp. After it appears, 1d8+1 confusedvillagers per round begin to go crazy.
High-level – the Stone is sentient. Treat it as an ice devil with character levels as desired with a 1/day limited wish. Go wild. Mess with your players.
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