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Yorrin
2010-05-07, 08:49 PM
Alright, so I'm constructing a stronghold ala the Stronghold Builder's Guidebook. The why isn't entirely relevant, though it's more for RP than mechanics. Price is no issue. I was planning to do this alone, but I figured I might as well see if the playground had any great ideas.

The owner of this stronghold is a wealthy and charismatic man. A man who is obsessed with the sea. His patron deity is Istishia- a lesser deity of water elementals. The stronghold will be his primary residence, and should thus reflect his strange obsession with the aquatic.

In terms of location, my first thought was to hide it behind a massive waterfall, for security reasons. The owner is a very private man- and the less actual people who find the building the better. I'm also trying to minimize the number of servants manning the place, if at all possible.

I'm still working out the floor plan, but a fun thought was to bind one or more Water Elemental Monoliths to various chambers throughout the castle. They could take some unusual shapes to double as water-art when not acting as guardians.

I want to keep visually magical effects to a minimum. And those that exist- I'd like to all be water-themed. So, besides the obvious chambers of water breathing, or whatever they're called (AFB), do you guys have any ideas?

tl:dr- Looking for water-themed stronghold stuff.

EDIT: No 3rd party. Dragon ok.

AslanCross
2010-05-07, 08:56 PM
1. Impressive fountains that double as traps---they can blast like the Decanter of Endless Water's geyser mode and flood rooms very quickly.

2. Multiple sources of fresh water and extensive magical purification systems. I'd think he would be obsessive about maintaining purity.

3. Various security puzzles related to water. No specifics at the moment.

4. Depending on how high the level of the party is, you could have a very big central pool where the only way across is via marble stepping stones, and there's a very big guardian monster in the water---could be a giant squid, elemental, or if the party is powerful enough, maybe even a kraken.

Akal Saris
2010-05-07, 08:57 PM
You could have some rooms built out of coral. For servants, some sirens or other water fey would be quite an eye-opener for visitors.

Instead of a garden, have a tidal pool in pack with various cultivated sea grasses, crabs, fish, and the like.

If he's a powerful spellcaster, Stormwrack has several nifty spells to use, like "Submerge Ship" so he could take visitors on tours around the seas of his island estate.

Of course, there are stronghold rules for simply building it underwater in a giant bubble, or even floating.

Yorrin
2010-05-07, 09:01 PM
I like the pet Kraken idea. And I had actually thought about the Decanters of Endless Water traps already and then forgotten them, so thanks for the reminder.

In terms of submersed ship tours- he doesn't expect any visitors. Ever. He goes "home" to retreat from the busy social life he leads. But aquatic servants are a great idea. Any specific suggestions for these?

The Tygre
2010-05-07, 09:07 PM
I think Stormwrack actually had rules for walls made out of solid water. Not ice, but like, perpetual waves.

Maybe a kind of Panama Canal system so water based creatures can move around the castle too?

What about little pet water elementals running around the place? Just tiny ones, Small at the largest.

Yorrin
2010-05-07, 09:11 PM
Yes, I suppose I should have mentioned I was planning to have a canal system underneath the main floors for some aquatic creatures to move about. Which fits nicely with the aquatic servants idea. And if Stormwrack has walls of water, I don't see why aquatic creatures couldn't swim up them, which allows movement between floors.

I also like the idea of random water elementals milling about the place, but it seems... boring to just have them walking about. Are there any flying water elemental creatures?

AslanCross
2010-05-07, 09:12 PM
Aquatic elves or Aventi (Stormwrack) would seem good candidates for aquatic servants. Being humanoid, they're adaptable, and can potentially cover more roles than monsters.

Now I actually like the submerging island/bubble idea. It goes well with the "retreat" idea, and could give the PCs interesting ways of interacting with the environment. There are chambers that flood as ballast, systems that recycle air, and defenses against unwanted sea life. The possibilities for aesthetic touches are endless.

To make things even more interesting and to add to his paranoid image---keep in mind that coral is a living organism. If the entire estate is built on coral, in essence the entire thing is alive.

There could be a central nexus (whether magical or biological) that controls the entire island's movement and security. Every little polyp could be part of an intricate detection system. Bypassing parts without alerting the whole could be a great challenge for intruders.

Yorrin
2010-05-07, 09:21 PM
While both interesting and creative, I think the coral idea is a bit extreme for him. He isn't paranoid- just private. Geographically obscure is good enough for him. But the bubble idea does indeed have some merit. It makes having powerful aquatic critters around easier too, since he can just build near to their lairs.

Aventi were among my first thought as well. And all the variations of aquatic core races. Can anyone think of something a touch more... exotic? It would be interesting to have water elementals as servants, but sadly they aren't terribly intelligent until they hit Elder.

The Tygre
2010-05-07, 09:35 PM
You said exotic servant, and my mind immediately turned to this;

http://www.goodman-games.com/images/GMG4001CoverLarge.jpg

The beastie on the cover is actually a kind of fey, the Manta Fey, to be exact. They maintain environments and are kind of like aquatic Brownies or Domovoi. If this house is built on coral, it makes sense that they'd maintain it as part of the environment.

http://www.goodman-games.com/images/cuttlefey.jpg

Maybe the original architects of the house were Alspir, the cuttle fey? They're renowned architects of the sea, able to craft coral like elves craft trees. Could be they don't want to leave their work behind, or they have a contract with the wizard.

Yorrin
2010-05-07, 09:39 PM
ooh. I wish. Sadly- no 3rd party material is usable here. Those Manta Fey look perfect.

Also- I can't find those walls of water in Stormwrack. can anyone point me in the right direction for these? Found a spell by the same name in Spell Compendium. Permanency ftw.

AslanCross
2010-05-07, 09:50 PM
If not a security system, then, the living coral could still work as an overall management/maintenance system for the estate. Motion, self-repair, decoration, camouflage--the coral serves many purposes that the PCs might still be able to manipulate.

Irreverent Fool
2010-05-08, 03:10 AM
So you're designing a dungeon? You don't really need sourcebooks for that, aside from some guidelines for setting applicable traps. Basic dungeon design techniques (http://arsludi.lamemage.com/) are important, of course.

To contribute:
Assuming the whole thing isn't simply going to be flooded (I've never seen a group of players enjoy roleplaying their characters flopping about underwater in D&D, though your group might be different), you absolutely must have the classic curved wall panorama view of the sea (like a James Bond villain). Possibly this view could be into an underwater cave, or it could be a permanent gate (covered in the SBG) to some part of the ocean. If it's not a gate, you could surprise the players while they inspect this room by having something lunge at the 'window' and have it pass through unhindered, beginning an encounter.

Permanency applied to walls of water is not a very secure method of construction. Permanency can be dispelled -- permanently. Wondrous architecture is better. So are automatic-reset, weight-sensitive magic device traps (SRD) and Energy Transformation Field (SpC).

obnoxious
sig

Shademan
2010-05-08, 04:33 AM
use the statue golem from Blue Magic. they tend to be statues in fountains that double as guards.
oh! and a large marble bathroom where the water is hovering in the air as a large ball of...water!

OH! and tiny tiny tiny boats with funny little watergnomes that row around, carrying messages for their master. they row REALLY fast!
or maybe they are not gnomes... they are talking, singing fish!

balistafreak
2010-05-08, 07:46 AM
While we're on the subject of water, I believe Riverine is relevant.

Riverine is basically water... permanently encased in Walls of Force. So it's like the wall's made of water, just INVINCIBLE.

Use it for high-security areas. If I recall correctly, the only thing that can break it is Disintegrate - not even Dispel Magic - and being a wall of force it's immune to most any physical duress.

Oh, and you can even use it to make weapons and armor, if you literally want the guards to kill people with water.

demidracolich
2010-05-08, 01:10 PM
While we're on the subject of water, I believe Riverine is relevant.

Riverine is basically water... permanently encased in Walls of Force. So it's like the wall's made of water, just INVINCIBLE.

Use it for high-security areas. If I recall correctly, the only thing that can break it is Disintegrate - not even Dispel Magic - and being a wall of force it's immune to most any physical duress.

Oh, and you can even use it to make weapons and armor, if you literally want the guards to kill people with water.

Actually, other spells like mordenkanen's disjunction would break it too but there are very few that can and those would break pretty much anything else anyways.