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View Full Version : I need to build a portable stable



Mauril Everleaf
2009-12-30, 08:15 PM
Like the title says, I need a portable stable. It needs to hold eight large creatures (specifically, three griffons, a giant owl, a dracolisk, a half-dragon frilled lizard, a pegasus and an unspecified mount) for an indefinite amount of time.

I was thinking about some trick using portable holes, bottles of air and create food and water traps, but 27500 gold per critter seems rather steep to me (since a portable hole is only large enough to hold one creature at a time).

If you all know of a way to get this done cheaper, I'd love to hear it. Thanks!

Tyndmyr
2009-12-30, 08:18 PM
Creation, fabricate, etc until completed, then animate the sucker?

Mauril Everleaf
2009-12-30, 08:22 PM
Ah. I guess I should specify that it needs to be concealable. A walking house is rather visible.

Tyndmyr
2009-12-30, 08:27 PM
Shrink.

Or for fun, apply the Invisible spell MM to the conjured materials. This doesn't make the creatures invisible, but it does provide some concealment of the stable itself as well as endless amusement.

taltamir
2009-12-30, 08:32 PM
forge the traps... put a 2000gp ring of sustenance on each one of them... this means they don't food or water ever again.

for 18k you can get an ioun stone that means you don't need air, for 7,250 gp you get a bottle of air... but the bottle is problematic, especially for animals... ideally you would find some other solution...

maybe craft it into a ring? based on the cost of the ioun stone (2x for being slotless), you could make it 9000gp per beast...

lets say it is a magic collar for 9000gp that means they don't need air. or a muzzle. or maybe you can just build a bottle of air into a muzzle for them.

Why do you even need to make a portable stable? are you trying to sneak them somewhere? if so, teleport them or use some temporary storage method or invisibility or something.

maybe rather then asking us how to make a stable, you should specificy what you actually want the stable FOR...

Mushroom Ninja
2009-12-30, 08:33 PM
Does the stable need to be portable while it's holding the creatures or can it be empty while it moves?

Mauril Everleaf
2009-12-30, 08:36 PM
I don't really know why we need it. It's not for me. It's for our griffon riding ranger (who is the captain of an aerial scout squad). I guess it's mostly so that, if we land somewhere and need to go inside, we don't have to keep the big critters outside. This is especially useful if we go out a different way than we entered.

Like I said, I don't know why we need it. I just know that I was asked to build it and I want to do it as well and cheaply as possible.

J.Gellert
2009-12-30, 08:43 PM
Polymorph them all into little birds or something, and keep them in a small cage.

Color-code the birds so that you can un-polymorph the creature you need as circumstances require.

taltamir
2009-12-30, 08:54 PM
while rope trick is insufficient to hold 8 large critters, many higher level "dwelling" type spells are good for it.

if it must be an item because you don't have a wizard with you:

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.

Mando Knight
2009-12-30, 09:00 PM
Polymorph them all into little birds or something, and keep them in a small cage.

That would also keep away villains who know what they're doing, if the guy wears a gray cloak everywhere...

olentu
2009-12-30, 09:10 PM
Hmm if one had consistent access to smoky confinement that could work.

herrhauptmann
2009-12-30, 09:17 PM
Polymorph them all into little birds or something, and keep them in a small cage.

Color-code the birds so that you can un-polymorph the creature you need as circumstances require.

I would recommend against doing this unless you've got some way to keep the birdies safe. Otherwise, they're either going to get hurt from AoE's aimed at the party, or the villain will figure out the trick and start aiming for them.

Perhaps polymorph and a Familiar's Pocket? Does the pocket specify familiars only, or just any animal/magic beast of appropriate size?

Slayn82
2009-12-30, 09:29 PM
Dont you have a wizard to cast a level 3 Tiny Hut spell? Or a level 4 Secure shelter. Or if all those things are flyers, there is always level 2 spell Rope Trick.

herrhauptmann
2009-12-30, 09:39 PM
Dont you have a wizard to cast a level 3 Tiny Hut spell? Or a level 4 Secure shelter. Or if all those things are flyers, there is always level 2 spell Rope Trick.

Rope trick has room for 8 medium creatures (8 squares?). Would need multiple castings to fit all 8 mounts.

taltamir
2009-12-30, 09:39 PM
Dont you have a wizard to cast a level 3 Tiny Hut spell? Or a level 4 Secure shelter. Or if all those things are flyers, there is always level 2 spell Rope Trick.

or an eternal wand of tiny hut.
or some item of secure shelter...

even a magnificent mansion item costs a 55000gp as I posted earlier... expensive... but cheaper than the portable hole solution...

Mauril Everleaf
2009-12-30, 10:32 PM
The only problem with Tiny Hut, Rope Trick, MMM and all those is that they aren't mobile. Once popped, they are stuck in place.

What he is looking for, if I understand him correctly, is something portable and mobile.

I'm thinking there might be a trick with pocket planes or something that will do what he wants but I'm not sure the best way to go about it.

Bibliomancer
2009-12-30, 10:42 PM
The only problem with Tiny Hut, Rope Trick, MMM and all those is that they aren't mobile. Once popped, they are stuck in place.

What he is looking for, if I understand him correctly, is something portable and mobile.

I'm thinking there might be a trick with pocket planes or something that will do what he wants but I'm not sure the best way to go about it.

Combine the bird cage idea (assuming you have access to polymorph or polymorph any object, with the latter being preferable) with a portable hole and a bottle of air. Throw in some birdfood and call it a day.

Side note: if the ranger might take offense, don't tell him/her that you're turning their fierce mounts into songbirds. Say 'You cannot comprehend the mysteries contained within safely, the DM said so,' or something along those lines.

Secondary side note: if you felt like it, you could wrap the portable hole around two joined hemispheres, one red and one white, and combine dismissing the polymorph effect with saying "______! I choose you!" (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0432.html)

taltamir
2009-12-30, 11:16 PM
The only problem with Tiny Hut, Rope Trick, MMM and all those is that they aren't mobile. Once popped, they are stuck in place.

What he is looking for, if I understand him correctly, is something portable and mobile.

I'm thinking there might be a trick with pocket planes or something that will do what he wants but I'm not sure the best way to go about it.

that doesn't make any sense... if he is looking for a stable in the middle of the dungeon for the night, then you use tiny hut. if you are looking to move them from point A to point B, then you ride them from point A to point B. if you want them to be invisible while moving from point A to point B, then you cast invisibility on them and then bring them along.

BTW, there is a deceptively simple solution... an item of teleportation... and a fixed location stable.
Teleport to stable, take the beasts,and teleport back when the need arises.

Mauril Everleaf
2009-12-31, 12:43 AM
Secondary side note: if you felt like it, you could wrap the portable hole around two joined hemispheres, one red and one white, and combine dismissing the polymorph effect with saying "______! I choose you!" (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0432.html)

This is basically what he is wanting, I think. I think he is going for the Portable Hole Stable.

taltamir
2009-12-31, 12:49 AM
aha! so he wants pokemon...
it basically needs to be a custom crafted item. Combine a portable hole with the cost for an air bottle and the cost of a ring of sustenance as per magic item crafting rules, DM fiat reduce price as appropriate.

remember though that you shouldn't make it too cheap, it is a pretty fantastical thing to do.

alternatively... spell thematics... they aren't really there, he is using conjuration spells to summon monsters and uses spell thematics to use a red and white sphere as a material component / focus...

or make some custom spells for storing an animal.

Cicciograna
2010-01-03, 10:00 AM
I'd say to go for a Living vault (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/epic/monsters/livingVault.htm), but I think it's a bit out of your league...

Sebastian
2010-01-03, 10:38 AM
I'd use something based on flesh to stone + shrink item or a variant thereof , of course reversable and (for shrink item) made permanent.

Maybe a magic item (a collar, for example) that applied to a creature turn him into a plushie-like or statuette-like form that can be easily stored into a normal bag or backpack, when you remove the collar it turn back to normal.

Of course the creatures could not like it, but that is another problem.

Tyrmatt
2010-01-03, 01:00 PM
I'd say homebrew a cut down version of Mordekainen's Magnificient Mansion with this specific intent.

Something that allows you to keep X mounts per caster level inside an item (I'm feeling a horseshoe) and allow them to feed and rest for 24 hours. While it does burn a potentially valuable casting per day, it's then something you could potentially load inside a wand or something.

E.G Upon casting, this spell causes a horseshoe planted in the earth to widen to a doorway that can admit large creatures. Inside is space for one mount per caster level (Max 15). Upon entering, the stable creates suitable food and water for the mount, as well as bedding suitable for a good night's rest. Invisible servants, as per Unseen Servant tend to the grooming and care of the mounts but they cannot be ordered to do anything else by the caster. The stable lasts for 24 hours from casting but the door can be opened and closed at any time during the duration to admit or retrieve a mount. when the spells' duration expires, if any mounts remain, the horseshoe expands, regardless of location and the servants immediately usher the mounts out before the horseshoe collapses down to it's normal dimensions. The horseshoe will expand at the end of the duration, regardless of it's location so it is possible for mounts to suffocate inside bags of holding or to be released in awkward places so plan accordingly.

Material Components for something well themed would be a horseshoe, stuck into the earth, a handful of oats sprinkled over the horseshoe during casting and a horn, used to release the mounts when you need them.

Alternatively, During a Warcraft campaign, our DM let us go on a big quest to make our mounts portable, a lá the items in WoW, which let us keep them as little dolls in our backpacks when we didn't need them. We needed something to make the doll out of, a piece of the mounts hair/scales/etc and then we did a whole bunch of questing around it, so the cost was nullified but it took time.