Building a Home Base

[MrRigger]

I'm in the middle of a campaign right now, and one of my longer term goals is to rise to the top of the Wee Jas church hierarchy. According to the rules in Complete Champion, one of the better ways to increase your affiliation score with the Wee Jas church is to found a school of magic dedicated to both arcane and divine magic. So that's what my next character goal is. Building a school of magic.

I've perused the Stronghold Builder's Guide, and there's plenty of good stuff in there, but I like planning for the future. What sort of things should I include in the construction? I plan on using a Lyre of Building and judicious use of Stone Shape and Wall of Stone once I get the rest of the capital raised (about to go on a dungeon dive for just that purpose), but I've never had a game explore the use of a mage's academy, and I wanted a second opinion.

Initially, I'm planning on it being relatively small, but with room to grow as I acquire more prestige and money, hopefully becoming a major destination. It'll be just on the outside of a town (they were just under siege and I'll be getting the land for cheap), likely serving as the town's Magic District once it's all built and expanses a bit.

But I'm wondering, what are some "must haves" for a wizard's tower/magic academy like this?

MrRigger

[Madara]

Extra-Dimensional space would be a good way to save on space. What level are you right now? How much cash do you have to spend?

Are you going to Hire people(Like hirelings) to teach? Or use leadership?

I suggest getting people with skill ranks in perform(oratory) because that's going to have a better effect than just having powerful teachers. Make sure to have the temple portion to Wee Jas, and you should get magic traps to provide infinite food and drink. Don't go for super large, just high quality. It will save you money, but have the same effect on your position.

[Vizzerdrix]

Well, as an academy you'll need classrooms, dorms, cafeterias, a decent library... Anything you'd find at a university. On top of that, you may want to add a few things such as a maze (Good for divination practice), a menagerie (field trips to other planes can get hectic) and facilities for non standard races.

[Vaz]

Portals to locations with otherwise hard to get materials, possibly limited in access depending on how high you are into the College hierarchy.

For example, a cavern containing a lot of Onyx for a Necromancer with Raise Undead focus could be useful as for a Permanent Portal.

Scrying Rooms, hidden areas for Phylacteries of Liches (like the Wizards Towers in Dragon Age Games).

Self reseting Summon Monster Traps to allow training for your characters.

Collective Libraries for Spellbooks (obviously); award monetary returns for Spells created and then submitted to the Library. Requiring actual gold payment to become a member of said college can pay for that; so not only as a wizard do you get free money to feather the nest so to speak, but also you get free spells without having to spend time away from adventuring to research them or locate in a spellbook.

You could have some of your personal supporters and paid faculty members research/teach said spells as well; if you make it more official hire your students out to local armies for money, favours or cheap mundane protection. "Here take a Fireball Wizard to blow stuff up, meanwhile gimme money". Hiring Party Faces; either magical or non magical could help here, while allowing some decent non-combat opportunities to other party members; alternatively allow them to go off and adventure while you build your citadel. "You want guards and money? Sure, just clear out this burial ground for me".

Set up a dedicated Hospital; offer either free treatment to all members of nearby town/military for a portion of tax (gets you in good graces with the populace; very own NHS), of have a pay for use hospital.

[avr]

The most important part of starting a school of magic is attracting staff. You can do some of that with nice facilities (especially a library) and living quarters, but you need more; if it's a dangerous area provide protection for them and their family/hangers-on perhaps, or set up teleportation circles or build it on a planar gateway or something. Some point of difference which would make people with some power and self-importance settle there.

[MrRigger]

Extra-Dimensional space would be a good way to save on space. What level are you right now? How much cash do you have to spend?

Are you going to Hire people(Like hirelings) to teach? Or use leadership?

I suggest getting people with skill ranks in perform(oratory) because that's going to have a better effect than just having powerful teachers. Make sure to have the temple portion to Wee Jas, and you should get magic traps to provide infinite food and drink. Don't go for super large, just high quality. It will save you money, but have the same effect on your position.

I am currently a level 8 Archivist. Also available are a Level 8 Cleric and a Level 8 Rogue.

Looking through SBG, I'm thinking of building most of the initial construction underground for space saving and free hewn stone walls + Stone Shape discount. Right now cash is tight, and not really enough for everything I want to build. However, I'm working on rectifying that now.

I will be picking up Leadership at level 9, and I should have a Leadership Score of at least 14, with an Artificer Cohort (already DM approved).

As far as extra-dimensional space goes, would a command activated item of Mage's Magnificent Mansion works for expansion? Minimum caster level has it lasting for 26 hours, so if I have a follower activate it every day, would that replace the duration, or create a new Magnificent Mansion (I realize this is likely a DM call, but I want input anyways)? My math has a 1/day command item of MMM has it come out to 32,760 gp.

I hadn't thought of resetting magic traps, though I know the theory. A trap of Create Food and Water would be 7500 gp by my calculations.


Portals to locations with otherwise hard to get materials, possibly limited in access depending on how high you are into the College hierarchy.

For example, a cavern containing a lot of Onyx for a Necromancer with Raise Undead focus could be useful as for a Permanent Portal.

Scrying Rooms, hidden areas for Phylacteries of Liches (like the Wizards Towers in Dragon Age Games).

Self reseting Summon Monster Traps to allow training for your characters.

Collective Libraries for Spellbooks (obviously); award monetary returns for Spells created and then submitted to the Library. Requiring actual gold payment to become a member of said college can pay for that; so not only as a wizard do you get free money to feather the nest so to speak, but also you get free spells without having to spend time away from adventuring to research them or locate in a spellbook.

You could have some of your personal supporters and paid faculty members research/teach said spells as well; if you make it more official hire your students out to local armies for money, favours or cheap mundane protection. "Here take a Fireball Wizard to blow stuff up, meanwhile gimme money". Hiring Party Faces; either magical or non magical could help here, while allowing some decent non-combat opportunities to other party members; alternatively allow them to go off and adventure while you build your citadel. "You want guards and money? Sure, just clear out this burial ground for me".

Set up a dedicated Hospital; offer either free treatment to all members of nearby town/military for a portion of tax (gets you in good graces with the populace; very own NHS), of have a pay for use hospital.

And this is why I love coming to the Playground, I wouldn't have thought of this stuff.

Portals are something I hadn't thought of, but looking at them in the SBG, they're out of my price range for the moment.

Summon Monster Traps would be good training, especially for starting evokers/conjurers and front line clerics.

The money-making ideas are ones I hadn't considered either, and I really like the collective library idea. As an Archivist, I'm all about the spell access.

MrRigger

[BowStreetRunner]

Rune Circles (RoS p 167) can emulate the effects of many magic items, but since they are immobile they cost only 1/4 as much. I particularly like the idea of the Healing Circle on page 169 and other, similar Metamagic Circles could help apprentices practicing their magic.

Travel on the cheap for an Archivist can be found in a well-planted garden. In particular, if you include plants from all over the world (use Plant Growth once a year to enrich their growth) you can use the garden as the basis of a Transport via Plants hub. Archivists and Druids could use the plants to travel anywhere similar plants are found, and would only need to find a plant of one of these species somewhere else in the world to have access to return to the school.

[TuggyNE]

Rune Circles (RoS p 167) can emulate the effects of many magic items, but since they are immobile they cost only 1/4 as much. I particularly like the idea of the Healing Circle on page 169 and other, similar Metamagic Circles could help apprentices practicing their magic.

Ugh, this somehow reminded me of Acorn of Far Travel cheese. Probably better off not even considering that, though. :smallsigh:

[Gavinfoxx]

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1aG4P3dU6WP3pq8mW9l1qztFeNfqQHyI22oJe09i8KWw/edit

That gets you more than wall of stone and stone shape and lyre of building...

You have Craft Wondrous Item and Inscibe Rune and Craft Rune Circle?

[Seerow]

Make sure to get creative with the Wondrous Architecture rules. One poster above mentioned self resetting traps of summon monster, but I'm pretty sure that a room that is built as a training ground with wondrous architecture of summon monster is even cheaper. If you have enough money, things like rooms built with time stop where you can go study as long as you like and exit the same instant should also be possible.

[MrRigger]

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1aG4P3dU6WP3pq8mW9l1qztFeNfqQHyI22oJe09i8KWw/edit

That gets you more than wall of stone and stone shape and lyre of building...

You have Craft Wondrous Item and Inscibe Rune and Craft Rune Circle?

I'll have access to Craft Wondrous Item once construction actually begins. Inscribe Rune and Craft Rune Circle are less likely, but possible once I get to the higher levels, as I'll have a floating feat to change every day, so I could use those in down time. Given that the sample Rune Circles seem to have high caster level requirements, this would work out nicely.

MrRigger

[The Gilded Duke]

I once set a wizard college in the Astral Plane. The Astral Plane has many useful advantages over other planes of existence. Time doesn't pass in the plane itself, the plane has subjective gravity, and spells are automatically quickened. To add on to that, you get to fight Githyanki who are some of the best enemies ever.

With the addition of Astral Color Pools, and perhaps a Dimensional Sextant, you can access pretty much anywhere from the Astral Plane. Perhaps you could even build your college around an Astral Color Pool. (making it out of artificially created stone of course)