Back to Sinister Secret, now that I've had time to read the adventure more carefully, here's what I've got.
1. Some treasure (including gemstones and books) will be burnt and/or lost. Too bad, so sad -- poverty is just as fun as wealth. The biggest losses here is probably the alchemist's spellbook and the plate armor; the armor may be recoverable, as might the pound of gold in the basement (likely melted into weird shapes; gold has a pretty low melting point).
2. Some monsters probably driven from their homes, such as giant insects, insect swarms, and stirges. Mostly I think these would just scurry off without incident. The undead are a bit harder to judge, but I think they'd mostly burn up and be crushed by rubble.
3. The smugglers would retreat to the caves, along with their valuables. They'd probably make a crude effort to barricade the entrance from the basement to the cave, hoping that they can still use the "haunted rubble" as part of their operation. (I'm assuming here that the basement ceiling is the wooden floor of the house above -- I can't see someone constructing a large wooden house but making the ground-level floor made of stone.)
4. Lots of clues would be destroyed.
Questions for the Council of Sages:
A. What steps would you see the smugglers taking to put out the fire? I'm assuming one or two would go upstairs and scout it out, especially if only one side of the house is burning. I don't think they have the resources to really put out a house fire, but could they collapse part of the house, saving the rest? What would that take? How likely would it be for the PCs to spot them at these activities?
B. If you were Ned, bound and gagged and locked in a room, and you smelt smoke, what would you do? I assume he'd try to escape, possibly through the fragile floor, but what then? How would he get out of the restraints? What would he tell the PCs if he does escape?
1. Some treasure (including gemstones and books) will be burnt and/or lost. Too bad, so sad -- poverty is just as fun as wealth. The biggest losses here is probably the alchemist's spellbook and the plate armor; the armor may be recoverable, as might the pound of gold in the basement (likely melted into weird shapes; gold has a pretty low melting point).
2. Some monsters probably driven from their homes, such as giant insects, insect swarms, and stirges. Mostly I think these would just scurry off without incident. The undead are a bit harder to judge, but I think they'd mostly burn up and be crushed by rubble.
3. The smugglers would retreat to the caves, along with their valuables. They'd probably make a crude effort to barricade the entrance from the basement to the cave, hoping that they can still use the "haunted rubble" as part of their operation. (I'm assuming here that the basement ceiling is the wooden floor of the house above -- I can't see someone constructing a large wooden house but making the ground-level floor made of stone.)
4. Lots of clues would be destroyed.
Questions for the Council of Sages:
A. What steps would you see the smugglers taking to put out the fire? I'm assuming one or two would go upstairs and scout it out, especially if only one side of the house is burning. I don't think they have the resources to really put out a house fire, but could they collapse part of the house, saving the rest? What would that take? How likely would it be for the PCs to spot them at these activities?
B. If you were Ned, bound and gagged and locked in a room, and you smelt smoke, what would you do? I assume he'd try to escape, possibly through the fragile floor, but what then? How would he get out of the restraints? What would he tell the PCs if he does escape?