Each student ready to move from the first year to the second would find a nice, neatly printed letter taped to their door inviting them to participate in a "Non-Mandatory-But-Highly-Recommended-Anyway Test" (or NMBHRAT for short). A location was provided at the bottom of the note (a section of the grounds, just near the forest), and beneath that the words "Come at anytime."
Upon arrival, you would first notice that a peculiar house has been erected. It's not large enough to overshadow any of the dorms by any means; in fact, it seems rather tiny and shabby in comparison, with the door half stripped of its paint, the windows cracked and smeared with dust, and everything looks as though the merest touch will make it collapse.
At first you wonder if you're in the right place at all, but then you notice a little box sitting just outside of the house. Closer examination would reveal a note, written in a loopy handwriting perhaps familiar to some:
Welcome welcome to the House
Please be quiet as a mouse
The House will tell if you are good
The House will tell if you are bad
Think you're up to face the thing?
If you pass it, all will sing
Do your best, oh fair student
I hope your deaths you do circumvent
THE EXAM
THE HOUSE OF HORRORS
The smell is what gets your attention first; like smoke and old wood, it wafts across the air towards you, enticing you onward, pulling you forward, and you reach the little shabby house and the door half hanging off its hinges, practically begging you to come inside.
A sign posted outside reads "Welcome to the House."
At first, you're mildly concerned but upon knocking stepping inside, you realize that the house in question appears deserted.
Well, that's just creepy. But trying to go backwards only results in failure - the door has locked behind you. You're trapped inside, and now you must figure out how to get through the house in order to continue on your quest.
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Quote:
TO GET THROUGH THE HOUSE:
There are THREE MAJOR ROOMS to the House of Horrors. In order to successfully pass through the House and receive your exam credit, you must navigate through all three rooms until you reach the exit, located after the very last room:
Cutthroat Kitchen
To get through the Cutthroat Kitchen, you need 10 steps. Roll 1d4 and add up the amount of steps you take (i.e. you roll a 3, that's 3 steps forward). You must get at least 10 steps. If you go over ten, that's fine, as long as it's at least 10.
Each number of steps rolled has it's own consequence:
1 - You open a door in the kitchen looking for the exit and promptly find yourself dunked by a bucket of icy water. Who left that there?
2 - You trip and fall into a vat of what looks like melted chocolate.
3 - You step in a pile of what looks like sticky glue on the floor and therefore get it stuck on the bottom of your foot/shoe for the rest of your trek through the House.
4 - For some reason, there is an entire bin of tiny bones that you somehow manage to knock over, which, of course, makes a terribly loud sound.
Lurking Library
In order to get through the Library, you'll have to find the right combination of books in order to find the combination. Roll 3d6, and follow the guidelines below:
- 1,1 OR 2,2 as two of the numbers - Looks like you've found some sort of...oops better put that back quickly before a certain cranky Librarian sees you looking at por - (try again)
- 3,3 OR 4,4 OR 5,5 OR 6,6 as two of the numbers - You pull out a book, and then another, and to your relief you see that the door beyond swings open for you to slip through! (success)
- 1,2,3 (doesn't have to be in order) - Somehow you get entangled in what looks like a long rope made of paper and spend several moments trying to break your way free, when you notice that in the process you've actually fallen out the door into the next room. How convenient! (success)
- 6,6,6 Is that a giant spi - quick run for it - (start back in the first room)
- 1,1,1 You try climbing a bookshelf, rather than pull books trying to find the secret switch, and wind up tumbling over the side rather ungracefully. But hey, look, the...nope, just a shadow (try again)
- If you didn't roll one of these numbers, it means you didn't find the right combination and have to try again! (reroll)
Bloodcurdling Bedroom
The Bloodcurdling Bedroom requires only one thing - picking the lock successfully to get through the door on the other side. Roll 1d100. You must get above a 65 to have successfully picked the lock. If you roll below, then your attempts were unsuccessful and you have to keep on truckin'.
Upon their exit from the house, a certain mischievous Trick or Treater can be found lounging in a tree on the other side, looking as happy as a pig in mud. He smiles down at you, his grin terribly self-satisfied, and tosses you a rolled up piece of parchment. Opening it, you see a certificate of Exam Completion.
"Congratulations," he says brightly, and flashes you a wink. "You're now a Knob."
