Constructing a mage's mansion

[Mark Rand]

Hi all,

 

One of the characters I'm working on is a lady mage. She wants to convert her family mansion into a fastness and was given the spell to do so by her mentor.

 

What would happen when such a spell was cast?

 

If possible, I'd like there to be non-threatening hauntings and gates to pocket dimensions, most of which would be extra rooms. One, however, would contain buildings and, possibly, people and objects, from an Earth (or more than one Earths) where all life died out but there still is an atmosphere. Is this possible?

 

Any ideas on what buildings to place here?

 

Comments and suggestions are requested.

 

Yours,

 

Mark Rand

[Hermit]

Do you have the 4th Edition Mystic Masters? It had a good write up on one sample fastness with weird things as well as the guys who constructed it.

[Mark Rand]

Ah, the Mobius. I know it well, Hermit.

 

I was hoping to use a mansion that started out normal, then became magical instead of one that was magical from the beginning.

 

If all else fails, I'll create my own version of it, with gates, hauntings and other weird stuff.

[Lightray]

It is a mansion that a super-mage grew up in. That, by definition, is not a "normal" mansion. So I don't think you need an explanation.

 

Would it make the campaign more interesting? I'd think so. So go for it.

 

If you have Mystic Masters you've got a good handle on what statistics to give the base. I'd recommend that a few Skills - Lockpicking, Security Systems, System Operations - for the base make for a cheap "haunting" effect ("Why is this door locked?" Who set off the security alarm again?" "Why do I always get a busy signal when I'm trying to call home?").

 

Add in some No Conscious Control powers - Environmental Control, Extradimensional Movement - to flavor ("Why is this room always so cold?" "Wait - what world are we in?").

 

For ideas on what to have in your lifeless world, I'd recommend The Magician's Nephew by C.S. Lewis, which you're liable to have anyway, and which has a dying-if-not-dead world therein where they find the White Witch. Steal from that and you're gold.

 

Finally, one of the old Adventurer's Clubs has an excellent adventure, The House That Jack Built, IIRC. It's about the mansion of the supermage in the Protectors (from To Protect And Serve), and has fun hijinks involving evil pot-luck dinner dishes. I'm sure someone else here will remember which issue it was in.

[Hermit]

Originally posted by Mark Rand

Ah, the Mobius. I know it well, Hermit.

I was hoping to use a mansion that started out normal, then became magical instead of one that was magical from the beginning.

If all else fails, I'll create my own version of it, with gates, hauntings and other weird stuff.

 

Okay, gotcha.

For a gradual thing... I'd look at what was in the House before that might have an effect or react to the magic. Did someone leave an old booklet of "Bloom County" comics around?

 

Have the closet that was in that room produce images of the anxieties of whoever opens it.

 

Did anyone die in the House before? Having a reason for your haunting's particular ghost might be cool.

[Mark Rand]

The mansion had been in the Ward family for generations. When she was 18, Lisa Ward and her best friend, Donna Thomas, the daughter of her family's housekeeper, were doing homework while Donna's mother helped Lisa's get ready for a society party. Suddenly, the door was kicked in and a group of masked thugs entered. They kidnapped Lisa and Donna and murdered their mothers in front of them. The thugs proved to be cultists and they planned to sacrifice the two girls.

 

As all seemed lost, Dr. Arcane arrived as did a spirit that possessed Lisa. Once the cultists were defeated, the spirit left Lisa, explained that she had the potential to become a sorceress. She accepted the challange and, when she was ready, Lisa, known to some as Warder, cast the spells needed to turn her house into a fastness. Now, Donna cares for the house as her mother once did.

 

Lisa's mother, Angela, a beautiful woman, wearing an evening gown and long gloves, and Donna's mother, Sarah, still in her black, white-trimmed uniform and white apron, haunt the mansion. They're pleasant ghosts and easy to talk to.

 

Lightray, I'll look for that C.S. Lewis book you mentioned and my copy of The House that Jack Built is in the next room.

[Mark Rand]

If there were dolls in the house, the magic could've animated them. Would they grow to live size and have the skills their real-life counterparts would have or just stay their original size?

[Vanderbilt_Grad]

A couple of ideas

 

Maybe the spell is partially shaped by her unconscious fears and desires (either at the time of casting or a permanent link). The house will offer her the opportunity to learn about herself and grow as both a person and a mage.

 

Who created the spell? Perhaps they put in ‘back doors’ so to speak that would give them control of the house should they need it. Or it could have other unintended effects, for instance if the spell is created by lizard like race it might be constantly warm. If the spell draws upon a particular being or plane for power then it might reflect that.

 

Perhaps there was *already* something special about the house. It could have been haunted, an old Native American sacred spot, or some such … this existing anomaly interfered with her spell somewhat producing some unexpected results.

 

Have fun!

[Mark Rand]

Oh, I will.

 

Some of the extra-dimentional rooms are haunted, too.

 

Several geisha haunt the Japanese garden that's attached to the library.

 

When the ballroom, that's attached to the living room, isn't in use, an orchestra and waltzing couples haunt it. All the men, including those in the orchestra, are in white ties, tail coats and white gloves while the women are in white evening gowns and opera-length white gloves. If a hero enters while the ghosts are dancing s/he will be met by a partner of the opposite sex and asked to dance. The ghost will feel solid and be a good dancer.

 

All ghosts mentioned are pleasent.

[Mark Rand]

The C. S. Lewis book mentioned is on order.

 

Thus far, the extradimentional world is a pocket dimension (sp) consisting of a two by two block area.

 

Block one is a hotel that, according to a sign, is hosting a convention of Islamic women.

 

Block two has, from left to right, a funeral home, a church, a receration center and a doctor's office. A sign in the church foyer indicates that a blood drive is taking place in the basement.

 

The third block is a university gymnasium building with five gymnasiums, a pool, a weight room, a mat room and a multi-purpose room.

 

The fourth block consists of bars and restaraunts.

 

Each building is from a different city and, according to newspapers found in various buildings, the incident that killed the people occurred in the late 1960s.

[Mark Rand]

As I reread my last few posts, I noted that I forgot a few things.

 

The team's PRIMUS liaison, Beth James, a PRIMUS intelligence agent and former CIA black-bag expert, would've notified the agency about the extradimentional areas and they would've insisted on an investigation with everything brought back and anyone who went through isolated for testing. Beth and Christine Hunter, the team's tech expert and a ninja, dressed like cat burglars, went through. Once it was found to be safe, they went through again for a more detailed look.

 

The hotel, block one, was from the Chicago area in 1969. They found a group of UAL stewardesses staying there and an Islamic woman's group having a conference.

 

The church and rec center, block two, were from the Detroit area in 1973. A health fair was going on in the basement. Uniformed nurses and student nurses were working there. All were wearing white caps with their uniforms.

 

The bars and restaraunts, block three, were all from the Dallas area in 1978. All the waitress were all in uniform. One bar had a Western theme. It's waitresses, or bar maids, dressed like working cowgirls, somplete with wrist-length, black-leather gloves, toy revolvers and bandanas that they could pull up over their faces. Another bar, a Greek one, had belly dancers there.

 

The fourth block held only a water tower.

 

Donna, the team's housekeeper, wears black uniforms from the hotel.

 

Toni, the team's nurse, after trying a white uniform and cap on and finding that she liked them better than her scrubs, wears either a white uniform or, occasionally, a student nurse's uniform. Either way, she always wears a white cap.

 

Comment is invited.

[Mark Rand]

I'm still doing a bit of tweeking on the mansion's ghosts, extra-dimensional rooms, and the world beyond the gate.

 

Since the extra-dimensional rooms are attached to the house, PRIMUS wasn't worried about them. The world beyond the gate, a curtain of blue light, however, was a different story.

 

More to come.

[Mark Rand]

I just finished the book, The Magician's Nephew, that Lightray suggested. He's right. It's good. For those of you who don't know it, it's the first book of C. S. Lewis's The Chronicles of Narnia series. I assume the world you're talking about is Charn and the White Witch is Queen Jadis.

 

My dead world is actually a pocket reality created by the Powers That Be to hold buildings and objects from versions of Earth where people died out. Of course, before they let the heroes have access to it, they made sure all harmful agents were destroyed.

[Lightray]

That's the place. Even if you're not going that direction for your otherworldly other world, Charn is great on the atmosphere of a dead world. I think that's because Lewis wrote it for children, so the images are vivid.

 

... And The Magician's Nephew is only the first Narnia novel chronologically; The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe is the first novel in Lewis' series. Some modern publisher rearranged the order, and it wasn't an improvement.

 

So. I assume that by referencing "The Powers That Be" that you've got your supermystic metaphysics all thought out ahead of time. Good show.

[Mark Rand]

Thanks, Lightray. As I recall, The Powers That Be, also known as The Higher Powers and The Elders, are often mentioned in stories and TV programs with a metaphysical bent.

 

I chose to have most of the buildings in the otherworldly other world come from the late 1960s and early 1970s because, in those days, nurses and waitresses in casual-dining restaraunts actually wore uniforms, not what they wear today, and gloves were an intregal part of an airline stewardess's uniform. Since the clothing was removed from the bodies before they were cremated and then cleaned, the heroes and staff have access to them and may even claim what they want.

 

The team's nurse, who started out wearing scrubs, decided to try on a nurse's uniform that was her size and, finding that she liked the look, claimed the uniforms that were her size, three identical white caps, and a red-lined, navy-blue cape. Now, she wears them instead of her scrubs.

 

Beth, the PRIMUS liaison, and Christine, the techie/ninja, have laid claim to stewardess uniforms from that era as well as other clothes.

[Mayday]

Many sorcerers have a Familiar, perhaps one (or many) come with the spell. Black cats come from miles around to be at the house, ravens, or more mystical beings like faeriekin.

 

Atmospheric effects like fog are nice, and I remember the thing I liked best about Dr Stranges house was that if you werent a mage it didnt exist for you.

 

Other possibilities include a hedge maze where the hedge creatures are alive, or the statuary. Faeries can play on the grounds or in the vegetable garden, since theres not alot of places left they can go anymore. Will o'the wisps. A fountain at the center can harbor a mermaid or nereid or selkie. Trees can harbor dryads and everyone whos played D&D knows Dryads are useful for explaining why a character was here one session then missing the next.

 

Does Time work the same way inside a magical residence?

 

Even if it means nothing, I'd beware seeing a snake on the premises especially one near an apple tree or pomegranate.

 

There is a house in California I saw a documentary on once. The owner was an heiress and obsessed with ghosts. The house is a maze of rooms with doors that open to empty air or to blank walls. Staircases that may lead nowhere. All to confuse the spirits or something like that.

 

While her house may not need to be that weird, new rooms might appear from time to time. Maybe the basement becomes this huge Venice-in-a-cave like place of pillars that you navigate by boat to the various rooms of.

 

The room Id be most interested in would be the one leading to the Lady of the Lake, or Merlins cave where he sleeps in a magical coma.

 

Lastly, strange things can happen and not all need to make sense. I read a story about a Saint who journeyed to Hell in the hopes of bringing Satan to God again. As he crossed the water in Charon's boat he deliberately left behind a perfect white rose, intending to give the trapped souls hope or a memory of good things or something like that. None of that matters so much, but if you had the gondola caves in the basement and the sorceress decided to take a boat ride, perhaps she will pass a single perfect white rose floating on the water and not have a clue where you got that from.

[Lightray]

Originally posted by Mayday

There is a house in California I saw a documentary on once. The owner was an heiress and obsessed with ghosts. The house is a maze of rooms with doors that open to empty air or to blank walls. Staircases that may lead nowhere. All to confuse the spirits or something like that.

That would be the Winchester mansion. The heiress was the daughter of the guy who made a fortune selling Winchester rifles in the days of the Wild West. The spirits she was afraid of were those of all the native americans killed by her father's rifles. I've always wanted to go on a tour of that place, but have never got to travel near it on business yet.

[Arkham]

Originally posted by Lightray

That would be the Winchester mansion. The heiress was the daughter of the guy who made a fortune selling Winchester rifles in the days of the Wild West. The spirits she was afraid of were those of all the native americans killed by her father's rifles. I've always wanted to go on a tour of that place, but have never got to travel near it on business yet.

 

Actually, that would be Sarah Winchester, the Wife

of said Winchester Arms millionaire. And the spirits

are of everyone killed by her husband's rifles, not

just the natives.

 

Mrs. Arkham and I took the flashlight tour for our

anniversary on Oct 31... We live in the same city

as the Winchest Mystery House, so we try to make

a point of getting back there fairly regularly...

 

http://www.aboutfamouspeople.com/article1231.html

[Mark Rand]

The lady mage has a familiar, a screech owl named Amber that has adapted to her bondmate's sleep paterns.

 

Two families of black cats also call the mansion home and many birds and small animals show up in the back yard. Of course, the various feeders in the yard may have something to do with this, too.

 

Time passes at the same rate inside and outside the house.

 

A mage's house is, by tradition, larger inside than outside. Since it didn't start out as a mage's house, we have to add rooms where we can. There are two such rooms on the second floor, each larger than the house. One is an English hedge maze. The other is a Japanese garden complex around a large lake that might contain something beside fish.

 

The otherworld, so far, has a hotel, a church, a medical clinic, a rec center with a pool and a school bus from USC positioned around the Washington Monument. More stuff will be added as I decide what it will be. Any suggestions?

[Mayday]

A group of children playing in a 1950's bomb shelter.

 

A car on the Orient Express.

 

A turn of the century Worlds Fair. The hall of the Future?

 

A carnival.

 

A theatre (movie or live performance)

 

An elevator in the Empire State Building.

 

On a dirigible during their brief heyday prior to the hindenburg.

 

The Hindenburg.

 

A mansion belonging to a once famous actress long forgotten.

 

A 1920s Prohibition SpeakEasy.

 

A patent office with a clerk named Albert.

[Caped Crusader]

Here's an idea...

 

The last time I built a mage's manse I laid a blessed silver pentagram in the ground surrounding it. (Takes a whole LOT of silver...) This assures that whatever comes out of those extra-dimensional doorways has to stay in the mansion, and not bother the neighbors.

[Mark Rand]

Good ideas from Mayday and Caped Crusader. Thank you.

 

I've decided to make the mansion a benign (sp) version of The House that Jack Built. Thanks to Lightray for mentioning it.

 

The spells that changed the house keep whatever comes through the doorways inside the mansion.

The living room and parlor are haunted by a beautiful female ghost wearing an evening gown and long gloves. She's kind, easy to talk to and a good chess player.

 

The ghosts in the ballroom are still there, but they dance every Sunday, instead of each full moon. Anyone who comes in while the ghosts are dancing will find themselves approched by a ghost of the opposite sex who will ask them to join the dance. If they agree, the ghost will feel solid and be a good dancer.

 

The gate in the sitting room leads to the team's underground base, which is based on the Wayne Foundation Batcave.

 

The tower steps will lead to five portals. Some of Mayday's suggestions will be used for them, if I can find floor plans. I also have to find the statue to hide the switch to the door in.

 

The other floors will be revealed later.

[Mark Rand]

First off, since it's December 25, I'd like to wish everyone Happy Holidays.

 

Onto the tower. Instead of an Amazon warrior in full battle dress, with spears and a boar, we have a female D&D paladin in armor. The switch is by the toe of her right boot. The tower stairs don't grant entry to the Netherworld and the tower isn't haunted. Instead, the stairs allow entry to a lighthouse on a steep-sided, windsewpt rock the size of a city block. Surrounding the island, as far as the eye can see, is water and a few jagged rocks that are sometimes occupied by mermaids.

 

The two second floor gates don't open onto the graveyards and the Dream Zone. Instead, they open onto city blocks. One block is occupied by a medical clinic, the other by a rec center, complete with an indoor pool, locker rooms, a gymnasium, a multi-purpose room and a weight training room.

 

There are no statues in the hall under the dome and The Hallway of One Hundred Horrors has been replaced by the more pleasent Hallway of Infinity that only the lady mage herself can open.

 

We visit the third floor and the otherworld next.

[Mark Rand]

The stairs to the third floor come out in a small shed-like building in the otherworld. It's one of the buildings surrounding the Washington Monument.

 

There's a Japanese garden complex, an English hedge maze garden, the Black Diamond Hotel which was near Chicago Midway Airport. Newspapers in the gift shop put the date there as October 1969. A notice board in the hotel that lists current conferences indicates that a regional Islamic women's organization is meeting there.

 

A church from Michigan is there, too. Signboards in the lobbies indicate that a blood drive is in progress in the fellowship hall and the food back and County Health Department screenings are being held in the basement classrooms. The robes used by the church choir are still in the robing room and the custodian's apartment has a Western feel.

 

The Castle Theater, a live-performance theater, is there, too as is a county fair a parking lot with vehicles from USC and a maid service, a mansion that had a formal party in progress, and a block of commercial buildings. One side of the block had a fast-food place, a beauty shop and a convenience store. The other side had a diner, pizza place, a Western bar and a Greek bar.

 

I'd like to put a funeral parlor with cremation facilities there, but I can't find the plans anywhere. Anyone know where I can find them?

 

All clothing was removed from the bodies prior to cremation. They were then cleaned and placed in the hotel's ground-floor rooms so that anyone can claim them. The team's nurse has claimed some of the white uniforms and two nurse's caps. Our two lady explorers have claimed some flight attendent uniforms.

 

Comment is invited.

[Mayday]

Crematorium floorplans from Google Image Search :

 

http://ukar.org/98020007.html

 

http://www.uitvaart.nl/vc/

 

http://www.humanitas-international.org/holocaust/bpash03.htm

 

http://www.auschwitz-muzeum.oswiecim.pl/html/eng/historia_KL/krematorium_komora_1_ok.html

 

If you dont have a church consider this building ( http://www.kirkjugardar.is/kgrpensk/fossv/balfarir/balstofaens.htm ) with vineyards around it.