[Sazerac]

OK, here we are:

Living Wall

CLIMATE/TERRAIN: Any
FREQUENCY: Very Rare
ORGANIZATION: Solitary
ACTIVITY CYCLE: Any
DIET: Assimilation
INTELLIGENCE: Variable (3-18)
TREASURE: Variable
ALIGNMENT: Chaotic Evil
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NO. APPEARING: 1
ARMOR CLASS: 8
MOVEMENT: Nil
HIT DICE: 8 (Base)
THAC0: Variable
NO. OF ATTACKS: Variable
DAMAGE/ATTACK: Variable
SPECIAL ATTACKS: See Below
SPECIAL DEFENSES: See Below
MAGIC RESISTANCE: 20%
SIZE: L to G+ (Rectangular Area)
MORALE: Fearless (20)
XP VALUE: 2,000 - 100,000+

Living walls appear to be normal walls of stone or brick, although they radiate both evil and magic if detected. Infravision will not detect any peculiar patterns. However, a character who casts a true seeing spell or who peers through a gem of seeing will see past the illusion: the wall actually consists of graying and sinewy flesh—of faces, hands, broken bones, feet, and toes jutting from the surface. Characters within 5 yards of the wall can hear low moans of horror, pain, and sorrow issuing from it. Even if a silence spell is cast, the mans still rise.

A living wall contains the melded bodies of humanoids and monsters who died within 100 yards of the wall since its creation. Those who die fighting a living wall are absorbed into it and actually strengthen it. Characters and monsters captured by the wall retain all the abilities they had in life as part of the wall, but they become chaotic evil and fight any creature that approaches the wall to the best of their abilities.

If a wizard becomes melded with a living wall, his spellcasting abilities are retained and can be immediately used for attacks. The wizard retains any spells that were memorized at the time he was absorbed into the wall; these are renewed each day. If a warrior loses his life in combat with a living wall, his fighting abilities and his weapons come under control of the beast. The weapons are hidden within the wall until the wall attacks, then are pushed through the mass of graying flesh to the surface. A hand attaches itself to the weapon, and eyes jutting from the wall guide the attack of the weapon. If the wall absorbs characters with ranged weapons, the weapons become useless once all arrows, quarrels, or other projectiles are expended.

A living wall never initiates combat except against its creator, whom it despises. When such a wall is attacked, every creature that is part of the wall returns one attack per strike against the wall. If 12 creatures make up the wall and one creature lands a blow on the wall, the attacker is subject to 12 return blows from the wall.

All creatures in the wall fight according to their normal attack modes. These attacks can be magical, physical, or mental in origin. The type of attack and its damage often depend upon who or what is melded into the wall.

If a 10th-level fighter and a 6th-level fighter are absorbed into the wall, the wall attacks as one 6th-level fighter and one 10th-level fighter. For every mage or priest absorbed, the wall gains those spell attacks. The only spells that can be used, however, are those that the mage or priest had memorized at the time of absorption. If one absorbed mage has three fireball spells memorized and another one has one fireball spell memorized, then the wall can attack with four fireball spells per day. If the wall assimilates a paladin or a lawful good priest, all his/her special powers are reversed (e.g., detect good rather than detect evil, harm by laying on hands rather than heal, etc.)

Magical items absorbed grant the wall their spell effects, though items that grant AC improvement are less effective because of the wall’s size. The wall gains 1 point improvement in AC for every three points of magical improvement to AC. Thus, a ring of protection +3 lowers the wall’s AC by 1.

When a character is absorbed, his hit points at full health are added to the wall’s base hit points of 64.

Nonmagical armor, packs, and purses are lost by absorbed characters. The pile of loot at the base of the wall often attracts bystanders, bringing them close enough to be seized by the wall.

Though a living wall will not initiate an attack, characters who come within 2 feet of the wall may be weakly grabbed by its many beseeching hands, tugging at them and imploring them for deliverance. (Any character, regardless of strength, may break the hold.) Sometimes PCs who hear voices imploring “help me, pull me free, help me!” will grope about until they grab a hand. In this case, the character must roll a save vs. spell or be absorbed. If the save vs. spell succeeds, the character is able to break free. A character who views the absorption of any creature into the wall must make a horror check.

Once absorbed, characters are lost forever. A wish spell, worded carefully, can remove one or more trapped characters.

Passwall spells do not allow individuals to go through a living wall. Characters must either cut through or blast through using magic. This, however, allows the wall to return attacks. When cutting or blasting through the living wall, the stench that arises from the exposed underflesh is nauseating and horrifying. A saving throw vs. poison is required to avoid passing out from the smell. A successful saving throw indicates that the character is only nauseated.

Living walls are immune to all planar and temporal spells. Speak with Dead, ESP, and similar spells reveal a cacophony of tortured minds and voices. The caster learns nothing and must make a horror check.

Living walls never reproduce and always remain active until they are destroyed. Living walls found in the lairs of creatures often serve as part of a torture chamber or to cover the true openings of secret passageways and corridors.

No one knows whether these monstrosities are limited in size or longevity. Walls as large as 15 feet high, 30 feet long, and 10 feet thick have been reported. Living walls, however, do seem to be limited to one section of wall. Thus, a cemetery or castle could not be surrounded by one large living wall. Nor can a wall section spread beyond itself; a house with a living wall in its basement will not become a living house.

The wall desires, above all else, to slay the creature who created it. If it does so, or if the creature meets its end within 100 yards of a living wall, the corpse of the hated creator is assimilated and the other creatures trapped within are free to return to the peace of death. The wall reverts to being a structure of stone with the corpse of its creator trapped within.

Chaotic evil mages occasionally may create these monoliths. The exact method is unknown, but several years of preparation and spellcasting are required. A minimum of three corpses are necessary for the spells.

(from the AD&D Monstrous Manual)

-Sazerac