Instant Fortress, can you furnish it?

[Arravis]

I'm trying to find out if it is possible to furnish an Instant Fortress, and reduce it's size with the furnishings and items inside. The SRD mentions "It cannot be deactivated unless it is empty." I'm not sure if that means people or items. I can't imagine that the spirit of the rules mean that it cannot be furnished and reduced, but I could be wrong. Any ideas on this guys? Thanks!

Here is the SRD entry on Instant Fortress:

"Instant Fortress: This metal cube is small, but when activated by speaking a command word it grows to form a tower 20 feet square and 30 feet high, with arrow slits on all sides and a crenellated battlement atop it. The metal walls extend 10 feet into the ground, rooting it to the spot and preventing it from being tipped over. The fortress has a small door that opens only at the command of the owner of the fortress—even knock spells can’t open the door.
The adamantine walls of instant fortress have 100 hit points and hardness 20. The fortress cannot be repaired except by a wish or a miracle, which restores 50 points of damage taken.
The fortress springs up in just 1 round, with the door facing the device’s owner. The door opens and closes instantly at his command. People and creatures nearby (except the owner) must be careful not to be caught by the fortress’s sudden growth. Anyone so caught takes 10d10 points of damage (Reflex DC 19 half ).
The fortress is deactivated by speaking a command word (different from the one used to activate it). It cannot be deactivated unless it is empty.
Strong conjuration; CL 13th; Craft Wondrous Item, mage’s magnificent mansion; Price 55,000 gp."

 

[Jack Simth]

Well, furnishings you bring in must be removed - it has to be empty.

However, nothing at all is mentioned about the inside of the fortress - with the size, you are talking three or four floors (plus the battlement), and the height pretty much requires a staircase. Beyond that? I'd probably rule that the creator of the Fortress gets to assign some amount of furnishings (made of the same material as the rest of the fortress) that are a part of the fortress itself - desks, benches, internal doors (unremoveable without damaging the fortress; fortress keeps were traditionally designed so that defenders could fall back up the tower and have another highly defensible position), bedframes, and the like, but that it couldn't be changed after creation.

But that's just me with house rules....

 

[wuyanei]

By the RAW, I would say that the fortress has to be empty -- as in, an empty tower. Nothing except floor boards, wooden ladder, and the shutters at the windows.

House-rule wise, I would just rule the 'empty' to mean 'empty of any creatures'. Yes, it would serve as a very good portable hole, but I don't really consider it overpowering....

 

[Ogrork the Mighty]

While I would personally rule that it must be empty, I think this is one of those things that the DM should decide based on whether he wants the fortress to be an ongoing base of operations for the PCs. If not, then make it as spartan as possible. If so, then allow them to bring in new furnishings and maybe even renovate... (This Old Fortress ?).

 

[Treebore]

I've always ruled, in every edition of the game, that it had to be empty of living and/or organic creatures and items. Dead organics are OK, such as arrow/spear shafts and necromantic materials. Vampires, liches, flesh golems, etc... were too alive to be left inside.

Be kind of stupid to make a portable tower that you have to furnish every time you open it, and then have to empty out every time you want to close it and move it.

 

[Ogrork the Mighty]

Maybe it's like a garbage compactor

 

[RuminDange]

I've always ruled, in every edition of the game, that it had to be empty of living and/or organic creatures and items. Dead organics are OK, such as arrow/spear shafts and necromantic materials. Vampires, liches, flesh golems, etc... were too alive to be left inside.

Be kind of stupid to make a portable tower that you have to furnish every time you open it, and then have to empty out every time you want to close it and move it.

I've ruled the same way over the years for just about the same reasons. Only difference is that constructs can stay inside but undead and living creatures cannot.

RD

 

[Treebore]

I actually allow constructs too, as long as they don't have flesh on them.

 

[RuminDange]

I actually allow constructs too, as long as they don't have flesh on them.

Haven't really thought about allowing or disallowing Flesh golems as I've never had a player interested in making or keeping one, and I don't use them as often as I probably should. I'd probably agree that flesh golems or ones like them wouldn't be allowed to stay inside either. When I have used flesh golems the players treat it more as a super zombie, they'll fight'em, stone and iron all day, but mention clay and they run the other way, no matter their level.


RD

 

[Henry]

I've always ruled, in every edition of the game, that it had to be empty of living and/or organic creatures and items. Dead organics are OK, such as arrow/spear shafts and necromantic materials. Vampires, liches, flesh golems, etc... were too alive to be left inside.

Be kind of stupid to make a portable tower that you have to furnish every time you open it, and then have to empty out every time you want to close it and move it.

The negative aspect of this ruling is that it features the World's Largest Treasure Storage Facility, which some DM's will be loath to offer as an aspect. You'd never need a bank, or protection on your valuables, as you can just carry them with you, and expand the tower in appropriate conditions. With this and bags of holding, you store your most accessible valuables in a Haversack or 'Bag, and anything else you need you store in one of these. Even conservatively, that's anywhere from 5,000 to 10,000 cubic feet of weightless space that cannot be punctured as a 'Bag or 'Haversack can, with enough space left over to live and rest in handily. If I had one of these on an adventure, I'd fill it with everything I could out of the PHB, from foodstuffs to every master craftsman kit, to wagons, carts, and wheelbarrows, and a few thousand feet of rope.

AND, it's an offensive weapon.