Netherese Enclave Design

[Skysaber]

Okay, quick background, we're playing in Netheril, party came across a huge surge of loot, and we built a pair of fortresses. On presenting our plans to the DM, he stated "I'm surprised you didn't build your enclaves out of it."

A Netherese Enclave is created by chopping a mountain in half, floating the top half, flipping it over, and building on the flat surface thus revealed. They are typically about a mile across. We're still seven levels too early to cast those spells, but our DM expects a lot out of us.

Anyway, short form is, we are now expected to begin planning and preparation for our eventual enclaves. Construction isn't hard, it's one spell, a mythallar, and enchanting one quasimagic item (the city itself, to fly).

No, the real hard part is theme.

Netherese citizens are a spoiled lot, used to ridiculous amounts of comfort, entertainment, and of course magic. They aren't going to move onto a piece of bare rock, even if it is floating around. So I not only must have a good rep as a mage, but I have to make it an interesting place to live.

Churning out millions of Continual Flame torches/rocks/etc is covered in just about every get rich quick thread, so I have no worry about street lighting (unless it could earn cool points, doing something nobody else did). I've got an angle on infinite hot/cold running water that's good, but not impressive.

About the only 'wowser' idea, though, is running Homunculi Shops. When building my fort I put in far too many golems to be considered sane, but I now have a fair amount of expertise at it, and a whole lot of construct labs and tools that are not doing anything right at the moment.

So I thought: Wonderous Architecture exists to grant Item Creation feats, we ran into that doing the Fortress of the Yuan-Ti adventure, but creation costs costs for those rooms are not given.

Still, A&EG p129 says that normal items that grant feats should cost about 4 to 10,000gp, with another 5 to 10,000gp per prerequisite feat. Consider that double for Item Creation, as rooms of this are so bizarrely useful, that's 20,000gp for an Item Creation feat that had no prerequisite feats. Craft Construct has 2 (Craft Arms & Armor as well as Craft Wonderous), so would run to 60,000gp. A room of this would be discounted by 75%, so would cost 15,000gp. Tools outfitting the construct laboratory adds another 500gp.

And there's your shop. Put models on display of styles, colors and body types we can mix up on a moment's notice, then rent out Wonderous Architecture Labs granting the Craft Construct feat to all within, make the appropriate spells available, and you've got it, homunculi for everyone with money. They walk in the front door with bags of gold, and out again with a companion.

So far I've been thinking of three types. One, the Expiditious Messenger (ECS p285), doesn't list a required caster level, so literally anyone could walk into my shops and make one, and it's master can send it up to a mile away and converse through it, sortuv like a flying phone.

Second, the Packmate (MoE p152), again no required caster level. Cute, and basically a walking backpack. I could see women literally commit murder to have a purse that carries itself, organizes everything, and can hand things to you just as you decide you need them. Color and all that could be entirely customizable, too.

Thirdly, the basic Homunculus (MM1 p154), but with skills and feats optimized as valets. They'll wake you at the appointed hour, draw your bath water, lay out your clothes, make your bed, trim your hair & beard, etc. A body servant totally dedicated to your health and welfare, and one who never requires a tip, or a day off, during his entire existence.

This is not an infinite wealth thread. I'm not after this to get rich, only to make my enclave interesting. Positively ridiculous amounts of magic are not only available, but expected. My DM frowns on beneficial traps, so no tippyverse, but anything else is fair game. He even insists that magic is neither good, nor evil, so we've seen paladins running around with their own undead they've animated as helpers.

So what kind of nonsense can you guys dream up?

[Matticussama]

Having seen your previous thread about what to do with the obscene amount of wealth you found, what about small buildings permanently enchanted with Mordenkainen's Magnificent Mansion? For a small tax each year, even a modest person gets to live in a mansion beyond most people's imagination. It may not break even for over 100 years, but it certainly grants you the prestige you're looking for. They get dozen's of unseen servants for their personal use, banquets provided daily, and of course an estate layout limited only by their own imagination. It also lets you fit more buildings into the enclave; you can fit 20 or more shanty-style buildings enchanted to act as mansions in the space that a single normal mansion would occupy.

Considering Netheril's magecentric focus, providing huge state-sponsored libraries for arcane research should work out to your benefit. The better the information that your libraries provide, the more prestige your character receives from sponsoring them. Promoting high quality research within your enclave also helps to give you more influence among the other archmages.

Beyond that, maybe you could recreate mythological elements that seem to permeate fantasy. For example, create fountains with continuously active remove disease and healing; sick people drink from the fountain and are healed of what ails them.

[Bonzai]

Having seen your previous thread about what to do with the obscene amount of wealth you found, what about small buildings permanently enchanted with Mordenkainen's Magnificent Mansion?

Heh, I had a similar idea with an Imaskari Portal Lord (cut class from Lost Empires of Faerun that was posted on candle Keep). My idea was to acquire a Halruulan flying ship, and make permanent mansions in each cabin. The worlds first luxury cruise line, LOL. You could make permanent mansions as part of your mythal effects.

[Matticussama]

Heh, I had a similar idea with an Imaskari Portal Lord (cut class from Lost Empires of Faerun that was posted on candle Keep). My idea was to acquire a Halruulan flying ship, and make permanent mansions in each cabin. The worlds first luxury cruise line, LOL. You could make permanent mansions as part of your mythal effects.

I could definitely see rich nobles from Waterdeep, Cormyr, Sembia, etc paying to travel in an airship luxury cruise. Especially if they also visit some of the more interesting extraplanar cities and sites (Sigil, City of Brass, etc).

[nyarlathotep]

An idea from the Scions of Patria would be a body modification studio. First of all this is assuming that your DM is putting sane limitations on manipulate form. Customers would pay a fee to be changed into a scaled one temporarily while a Sarruhk (bound or a polymorphed artist) changes their bodies in cosmetic and practical ways, much like a plastic surgeon in the real world. With DM homebrew this could be expanded considerably, folding the shapechange nonsense into a single spell that removes the need to be a scaled one entirely, call it "body modification" or something as a 6th level spell that can permanently change someone's form with limits. Another alternative would be asking if a fleshwarper would be allowed to do the same sort of minor changes in addition to adding full grafts.

[herrhauptmann]

Telephones?

There's a bard spell in 3.0 that lets you enchant a coin so that a matched hears whatever is said in the vicinity of the first.
Could definitely do a telephone switchboard type thing.
I've got coins that let me talk tot he switchboard, and let it talk to me.

When I want to call bob, I contact the switchboard and ask them to put my coin and bobs in the same spot. Let's assume a TINY extradimensional space, big enough for a few coins, because we dont' want to hear everyone elses conversations.

So I'm talking into my coin, which broadcasts into the extradimensional space. Bobs coin is also there, so he hears me. And can talk back.

More coins in the bag, and you get the Party-Line from the 80s.

I'm sure there's a RAW way to do telephone numbers.

[PairO'Dice Lost]

I'm sure there's a RAW way to do telephone numbers.

Whenever you create a pair of coins, engrave one of the two with a six-digit phone number in the format XX-XX-XX. Take a large square board and divide it into a grid with spaces large enough to hold one coin; make 100 of these boards and stack them so you have a 100 x 100 x 100 block of coin storage units. This is hosted in the "switchboard" building, and the phone number thus represents the coordinates of the coin of the person you want to talk to.

Create as many homunculi as necessary to support the desired number of simultaneous conversations, along with one eternal wand of unseen servant and one of zone of silence each. At the beginning of the day, each casts their spells to create a zone of silence around them and give them two unseen servants. They can connect a call by sending their unseen servants to grab the appropriate coins and bring them back to themselves, where the two (or more) coins can talk in privacy; when the homunculus hears a "goodbye" or similar it can put the coins back the same way.

Finally, each "phone" consists of a case holding the coin and a wand of sending. The user states his number and the target number ("Oh two three five nine nine calling four three three oh two six") and it sends that message to a central homunculus, the "switchboard operator," who assigns calls to unoccupied homunculi.

So from a user perspective, you dial the appropriate number, the switchboard operator connects you, the homunculus you're using rings a little bell or something to get the other person' attention until they answer, decline, or ignore it long enough, you talk until you're done, and when you say goodbye it hangs up for you.

[herrhauptmann]

Whenever you create a pair of coins, engrave one of the two with a six-digit phone number in the format XX-XX-XX. Take a large square board and divide it into a grid with spaces large enough to hold one coin; make 100 of these boards and stack them so you have a 100 x 100 x 100 block of coin storage units. This is hosted in the "switchboard" building, and the phone number thus represents the coordinates of the coin of the person you want to talk to.

Create as many homunculi as necessary to support the desired number of simultaneous conversations, along with one eternal wand of unseen servant and one of zone of silence each. At the beginning of the day, each casts their spells to create a zone of silence around them and give them two unseen servants. They can connect a call by sending their unseen servants to grab the appropriate coins and bring them back to themselves, where the two (or more) coins can talk in privacy; when the homunculus hears a "goodbye" or similar it can put the coins back the same way.

Finally, each "phone" consists of a case holding the coin and a wand of sending. The user states his number and the target number ("Oh two three five nine nine calling four three three oh two six") and it sends that message to a central homunculus, the "switchboard operator," who assigns calls to unoccupied homunculi.

So from a user perspective, you dial the appropriate number, the switchboard operator connects you, the homunculus you're using rings a little bell or something to get the other person' attention until they answer, decline, or ignore it long enough, you talk until you're done, and when you say goodbye it hangs up for you.
That's a good better description of how to implement the idea.
I just meant use phone numbers as a way to circumvent the need for a switchboard and operator entirely.

Currently, I'm trying to remember if sound through a given coin is two way or one. I was assuming 1 way when I mentioned th eneed for a pair of coins in each home.

[Arcanist]

I think we should let the Father of Netheril solve this one here :smallamused:


So what kind of nonsense can you guys dream up?

Oh a lot of stuff really... with Quasi-magical items, just think up a magical item and make it without hesitation. Since you don't have to worry about XP then you should be solid in the long run; Custom Magical items will be your friend.


Okay, quick background, we're playing in Netheril, party came across a huge surge of loot, and we built a pair of fortresses. On presenting our plans to the DM, he stated "I'm surprised you didn't build your enclaves out of it."

A Fortress would be a wasteful use of a Mythallar since militant Enclaves were a rarity back in the ages of the Empire; Hell, Xinlenal only orbited Seventon so that it might be able to better defend it should it come under attack (as it did near the end of the Mythallar Age), however during the Silver Age, when more Enclaves began to rise; Xinlenal began journeying across Netheril seeking Arcane Knowledge across the realm.

You would sincerely be better off actually building it as a City since a Netherese Enclave can double as a Fortress, a City, and a Warship if necessary. With the ability to craft magical weaponry using an assembly line City defense can literally be handled by the Mages training in your city and the Priest of whomever your City pays patronage too (not necessary, but I'd encourage it).


A Netherese Enclave is created by chopping a mountain in half, floating the top half, flipping it over, and building on the flat surface thus revealed. They are typically about a mile across. We're still seven levels too early to cast those spells, but our DM expects a lot out of us.

To be more accurate, it was originally created by means of a Yturn’s Levitation and Chronomancer’s Gravity Reversal. Eventually methods advanced to the point where the two would be combined into Proctiv's Move Mountain some years later... Unfortunately the spell is faulty since exposure to an Anti-Magic Field renders it inert (Permanent Duration). Thus making the use of that spell incredibly dangerous, especially after the Fall, when it would be impossible for long term usage since without the Mythallar it would fall in a matter of 2 weeks...


Anyway, short form is, we are now expected to begin planning and preparation for our eventual enclaves. Construction isn't hard, it's one spell, a mythallar, and enchanting one quasimagic item (the city itself, to fly).

Quite right as is expected :smallamused:


No, the real hard part is theme.

Netherese citizens are a spoiled lot, used to ridiculous amounts of comfort, entertainment, and of course magic. They aren't going to move onto a piece of bare rock, even if it is floating around. So I not only must have a good rep as a mage, but I have to make it an interesting place to live.

I take offense to this and expect a fully written apology at a later date! (3520 NY alright with you?).

As for attracting citizens to your city? Hmmm... WELL I recommend creating plenty of Wizard Colleges, a Priest Mosque, have dream like Architecture like gravity defying fountains, Life-like statues of the Founders of Netheril (Really, Stone Golems), Pacified Wind and Water Elementals that clean the streets throughout the week, The skies are literally the limits my friend. Magic has no true Alignment, sure we place labels like Good and Evil on it, but ultimately none of it is accurate in the slightest.

To be completely blunt your greatest threat to survival isn't the Phaerimm, isn't the Orcish Hoards, isn't a Dragon. It's the other Archwizards.


Churning out millions of Continual Flame torches/rocks/etc is covered in just about every get rich quick thread, so I have no worry about street lighting (unless it could earn cool points, doing something nobody else did). I've got an angle on infinite hot/cold running water that's good, but not impressive.

Continual Flame lighting was legitimately one of the first innovations of the Mythallar after the Mythallar itself and the Enclaves that followed after. Rings of Gate connected to the Elemental Plane of Water for watering the cities homes, Lighting contrived by a Magical item that casted a Light Spell immediately upon someone entering the room and then a dispel magic on the torch as soon as the room is emptied.


About the only 'wowser' idea, though, is running Homunculi Shops. When building my fort I put in far too many golems to be considered sane, but I now have a fair amount of expertise at it, and a whole lot of construct labs and tools that are not doing anything right at the moment.

I see, you plan to have your Enclave specialize in Construct production eh? The Unfortunate side effect of creating Golems as Quasi-magical items is that they cannot leave the confines of the Enclave making them more effective as a Police force of sorts.


So I thought: Wonderous Architecture exists to grant Item Creation feats, we ran into that doing the Fortress of the Yuan-Ti adventure, but creation costs costs for those rooms are not given.

Brilliant idea. Spread them across the city allowing for anyone to create any item in any location.


Still, A&EG p129 says that normal items that grant feats should cost about 4 to 10,000gp, with another 5 to 10,000gp per prerequisite feat. Consider that double for Item Creation, as rooms of this are so bizarrely useful, that's 20,000gp for an Item Creation feat that had no prerequisite feats. Craft Construct has 2 (Craft Arms & Armor as well as Craft Wonderous), so would run to 60,000gp. A room of this would be discounted by 75%, so would cost 15,000gp. Tools outfitting the construct laboratory adds another 500gp.

Hmm... After your city is set up, make a request to the State for a shipment of the Magicus Creare and the Maior Creare which should help you in construction. Ask if you can pick them up yourself, in person :smallannoyed:


And there's your shop. Put models on display of styles, colors and body types we can mix up on a moment's notice, then rent out Wonderous Architecture Labs granting the Craft Construct feat to all within, make the appropriate spells available, and you've got it, homunculi for everyone with money. They walk in the front door with bags of gold, and out again with a companion.

Yes, but unfortunately the Homunculi only functions inside of the Enclave, unless you are planning to legitimately make them True Magical Items (which double their price in Netheril).


So far I've been thinking of three types. One, the Expiditious Messenger (ECS p285), doesn't list a required caster level, so literally anyone could walk into my shops and make one, and it's master can send it up to a mile away and converse through it, sortuv like a flying phone.

Sounds annoying, but useful to everyone from a Commoner to an Adventurer.


Second, the Packmate (MoE p152), again no required caster level. Cute, and basically a walking backpack. I could see women literally commit murder to have a purse that carries itself, organizes everything, and can hand things to you just as you decide you need them. Color and all that could be entirely customizable, too.

Again, useful to everyone. Might cost a serious penny, especially if it as popular with the Nobles as expected.


Thirdly, the basic Homunculus (MM1 p154), but with skills and feats optimized as valets. They'll wake you at the appointed hour, draw your bath water, lay out your clothes, make your bed, trim your hair & beard, etc. A body servant totally dedicated to your health and welfare, and one who never requires a tip, or a day off, during his entire existence.

Free labor? Interesting... Any consideration for a Dedicated Wight to assist as a construction tool for the mass production of Quasi-Magical Items or the Regular magical items?


This is not an infinite wealth thread. I'm not after this to get rich, only to make my enclave interesting. Positively ridiculous amounts of magic are not only available, but expected. My DM frowns on beneficial traps, so no tippyverse, but anything else is fair game. He even insists that magic is neither good, nor evil, so we've seen paladins running around with their own undead they've animated as helpers.

Magic is morally neutral; It all depends how you use it my friend :smallwink: I must say, that I am loving a lot of the ideas in this thread especially for the Telephone :smallamused:

I always love a good Netherese thread :smallamused:

[Skysaber]

That's two brilliant ideas already that I can use (body mods I unfortunately can't, as one of the flaws I took was a religious prohibition against such things. So I could not, in good conscience, provide them to others).

Telephones? I am in awe. That system would work! And would certainly be the kind of thing to draw settlement to my enclave if that was provided for residents (and perhaps to nonresidents for a fee, or a slightly higher fee).

The only problem I could see is that such things tend to get used alot, and the way it is currently set up the switchboard could only provide one conversation per homonculi, so that's a half million homunculi for theoretical full usage of a million coin phones.

Not only is that a lot of space turned over to house that many, but anybody gets in to fireball that room and I just took 5 million damage. Ow.

Mord's Mansions? That's so beautiful! I could theoretically house my entire residential sector in extradimensional space! That's like half or two-thirds the volume of a city, isn't it?

And I hope you'll forgive me here, but I find it hard not to cast an eye toward the fall of Netheril from time to time, as even though it lies a thousand some odd years away (Karsus isn't even born yet) potentially these characters could still live to see it. And my understanding of portable holes and bags of holding is that when magic shuts off the entrance seals but the space itself remains intact.

So, going by that, should the fall of Netheril happen (it is not guaranteed by our rules) and magic shuts off, the enclaves fall, etc, I could have 100% survival rate of my enclave's population, or at least that portion that was in their x-dim houses at the time. Provided they have some means of egress, a teleporter or something they can use once magic turns back on, then I could have a very impressive survival rate, even should the enclave be destroyed.

And, being trollstone that regenerates even if totally destroyed, my enclave would gradually restore itself to full function, since it runs off of spells and true magic items, instead of quasimagical ones (and that really seems to have been the cut-off, Mystra shut off the sources for quasimagic, but the actual magic items appear to have continued to function just fine after the fall, those that survived anyway).

Which brings me to a question. I've read the description of Aurorum, and nowhere could I find a mention of it specifically restoring magic items made of it, yet everyone seems certain that it does. Is that stated explicitly somewhere?

Because if I could incorporate that into my wonderous buildings, then the Fall of Netheril could be a minor inconvenience.

[herrhauptmann]

Which brings me to a question. I've read the description of Aurorum, and nowhere could I find a mention of it specifically restoring magic items made of it, yet everyone seems certain that it does. Is that stated explicitly somewhere?

It says 'fully restored' right? And the enchantments normally break when the weapon/item breaks. So I'd say that the enchantments are restored too.
If they're not, and unsundering an item results in just a MW sword or whatever, then it's the most useless weapon material in existence. That includes bone or glass.
Doublecheck with your DM.

Hmm, for the homunculi, could make them quasimagic golems of some sort instead. It's not like they'll ever need to operate outside the confines of the enclave. It'll also let you go outside with the homunculi being destroyed.

Silverymoon's mythal helps to quell the casting of spells with certain descriptors (reduces the CL if I remember right). It also flat out negates the casting of certain types of spells within the region of the castle (bypassed by having a spell-token or something). So you could cover teh switchboard with that same ward. Better yet, seal the room entirely and cover it with protections from teleporting/scrying.
The only way to the room will be passwall.
And if you surround the room with a 3d maze of iron (or walls of force), then passwall will be ineffective unless someone knows the path through the maze.

[PairO'Dice Lost]

Telephones? I am in awe. That system would work! And would certainly be the kind of thing to draw settlement to my enclave if that was provided for residents (and perhaps to nonresidents for a fee, or a slightly higher fee).

The phones require sending wands to initiate a call, so allowing non-residents to use them for a nominal fee would be a way to defray that cost. (Or you could have residents sign up for monthly plans with Arcane Telephony & Telecommunication, but that might be a bit too meta. :smallwink:)


The only problem I could see is that such things tend to get used alot, and the way it is currently set up the switchboard could only provide one conversation per homonculi, so that's a half million homunculi for theoretical full usage of a million coin phones.

Not only is that a lot of space turned over to house that many, but anybody gets in to fireball that room and I just took 5 million damage. Ow.

The reason for the numerous homuculi is that zone of silence can only be cast on a creature; it would be possible to cut down on the number of them if you used a widened zone of silence and arranged them with overlapping volumes (like this (http://www.borderschess.org/CircleTess.gif), but in three dimensions) and used each smaller area for a conversation. That pattern, set up optimally, would cut your homunculus needs from 500,000 to ~1,130, and you can probably find an arrangement that's better by varying the orientation of the spheres; I just searched for a good image of tessellated circles.

There are other possible solutions as well--for instance, an evil Spellguard of Silverymoon (or other character who can cast Personal spells on others) in your employ could cast it on a collection of feebleminded and paralyzed humanoids whose needs are taken care of Matrix-style, solving your telephony and prison problems at the same time :smallamused:--but homuculi are the most self-sufficient, morally-acceptable, and loyal option.


Which brings me to a question. I've read the description of Aurorum, and nowhere could I find a mention of it specifically restoring magic items made of it, yet everyone seems certain that it does. Is that stated explicitly somewhere?

Because if I could incorporate that into my wonderous buildings, then the Fall of Netheril could be a minor inconvenience.

The trunamer's Rebuild Item utterance explicitly lets you restore magic to an item destroyed in the last round. If you keep a bunch of truenamers on your payroll with fast-travel capabilities, and incorporate safety features into important magic items that will time hop any destroyed items and notify your repair corps to give them time to respond to the problem, you could have a definitely-RAW-legal solution that would work on a small scale.

Any assault that would destroy more than [max time hop ML]*[# truenamers] (let's say 200 for the sake of argument) items in a single round would probably mean a Fall of Netheril scenario where aurorum wouldn't work either, since it requires someone to take a full-round action to restore each aurorum item and that probably wouldn't happen in combat conditions.

[Arcanist]

Because if I could incorporate that into my wonderous buildings, then the Fall of Netheril could be a minor inconvenience.

The easiest and most Epic (emphasis on "Epic") way of avoiding the Fall is by simply not being on Toril when it occurs. Hell, predicting (however vaguely) is a nice way of doing it as well...


Any number of contingencies would still hold up. Aumver's Living Zombies died as soon as the Fall occurred which was a minor inconvenience, forcing him to teleport into one of his secret laboratories underground and become a Lich... He still never grew out of the habit of making Living Zombies, despite not needing them anymore.

Telamont Tanthul's Enclave was pulled into the Plane of Shadow by the Goddess, Shar right before the Enclave fell. It should be noted that there is a lot of confusion about how the City of Shade survived the fall, however "Shar did it" is the most reasonably accepted one. :smallannoyed:

Larloch survived by means of a Contingency spell giving him a quick heads up and he just flew away on the back of a Dragon. Doesn't matter how Epic or how lame your survival is, as long as you survive.

Really this is all subjective since all I know about your Arcanist is that you really like Constructs and Homunculi :smalltongue:

[Skysaber]

Really this is all subjective since all I know about your Arcanist is that you really like Constructs and Homunculi :smalltongue:

Ok, I've been using him to try out a concept in a story I am writing, because nothing is truly optimized until it's had a shakedown cruise.

The following modifiers were put in place covering all prestige classes in this campaign-

Ignore alignment restrictions and background. A great many organizations won't exist for thousands of years, but we won't be learning class skills they have handed down for centuries, they instead learned it from scraps of knowledge passed down from what we learned from the Nether Scrolls.

Similarly, magic is prized and available in a flood. We aren't putting together barely remembered or half forgotten scraps to get our skills. So every class that has something equivalent to "+1 to existing class" but not at every level, ignore the first dropped level.

Ignore feat requirements not essential to a prestige class' abilities. One example: Prestige Paladins, though they get a mount, are not required to ride it/keep it/not trade it in for alternate abilities, etc, so they can ignore the requirement for the Mounted Combat feat. A Cavalier, however, would be required to take it.

Classes offering spellcasting off their own list up to 4th level can instead be taken as "+1 to existing class" every odd level.

After all that, drop any one requirement of your choice.

Any class, not just prestige classes, that has only one good save, can put that save on any one of their choice (but once changed, they are stuck with it).

And everybody is taking the Prestigious Combination feat out of Habololy Skills & Feats, that allows two prestige classes to be taken simultaneously.

Now, fair warning, this character has more cheese than a dairy.

Templates have where possible been added via ritual at every third level, then immediately paid off. So far he is a Divine Minion, Feral and 3.0 Half-Celestial. Half-Fey is probably next (which can't be fully paid off until lvl 15). The Feral int penalty was avoided via more cheese than I'd like to get into now, that also cost me the wis bonus from it.

Level 1: Arcanist 1 / Cloistered Cleric 1
Level 2: Arcane Heirophant 1 / Master Shifter 1
Level 3: War Weaver 1 / Prestige Paladin of Freedom 1
Level 4: War Weaver 2 / Prestige Paladin of Freedom 2
Level 5: War Weaver 3 / Prestige Paladin of Freedom 3
Level 6: War Weaver 4 / Weaver of Power* 1
Level 7: War Weaver 5 / 3.0 Templar 1
Level 8: Incantator 1 / Shaper of Form 1
Level 9: Fochlucan Lyrist 1 / Shiba Protector 1
Level 10: Initiate of the Sevenfold Veil 1 / Heartfire Fanner 1
Level 11: Initiate of the Sevenfold Veil 2 / Dragon Mage** 1
Level 12: Initiate of the Sevenfold Veil 3 / Dragon Mage 2
Level 13: Initiate of the Sevenfold Veil 4 / Reflecting Master*** 1

the above is what I already have, below is only proposed

Level 14: Initiate of the Sevenfold Veil 5 / Mourner 1
Level 15: Arcane Heirophant 2 / Master Shifter 2
Level 16: Arcane Heirophant 3 / Master Shifter 3
Level 17: Arcane Heirophant 4 / Master Shifter 4
Level 18: Arcane Heirophant 5 / Master Shifter 5
Level 19: Initiate of the Sevenfold Veil 6 / Dragon Mage 3
Level 20: Initiate of the Sevenfold Veil 7 /

And the last level on one side is still not yet chosen.

Stuff you should be aware of: Master Shifter is basically the 3.0 Shifter class out of Masters of the Wild with the best features of it's 3.5 replacement Master of Many Forms tacked on. Yes, it's cheesy. Don't forget I warned you. I take Arcane Heirophant at the same time so as not to lose any caster levels, but it also feeds its bonus to wild shape levels into Master Shifter, so I'll be done with that class in half the time, 5 levels instead of 10 (as all of its class features have been ruled to be wild shape abilities).

I sold my initial familiar as an Arcanist away for other class abilities, and got an Animal Companion via a feat from one of the elf guides. So Companion Familiar is going strong (currently a Dire Lion).

Incantator has its own story behind it. Because Arcanists in the Netheril boxed set are super-specialized, and it's mandatory, with one third of spells barred, one third minor access (meaning, they can cast, but not invent, spells in those categories) and one third greater access (meaning both cast as well as invent spells of that type) but they are listed by specific spell, not by school. The way we wound up converting that was allowing each player to pick three schools to be specialists in, pick any three to be barred (including Divination as a possibility), and two to have minor access to.

And it was established before play began that our three specialist schools had full specialist advantages, including bonus spells per day, or the ability to become Focused Specialists, if they wanted, getting a full two extra spells (three total) per specialist school at the cost of barring one more.

I am a Focused Specialist in Conjuration, Evocation and Transmutation, and the 3.0 Incantator ability also gave me Abjuration on top of that. Banned schools were all bought back via the Arcane Transfiguration feat, which was ruled to be available without prerequisites, and multiple times, since we now live in the era that it's 'forgotten lore' dates from.

*Weaver of Power prestige class is out of Complete Guide to Drow by Goodman Games that is focused on magic item creation, and gets a sweet first level ability that amounts to free spell storing in objects (that get destroyed when used, but still).

**Dragon Mage out of Spells & Magic by Bastion Press can be tweaked to provide full BAB, spellcasting in all armors, all good saves, or other goodies. But the one that concerns me is a second level ability that discounts the material component costs of all spells you cast by 100gp per Dragon Mage level.

***Reflecting Master is also out of Spells & Magic, and all of the important stuff is gotten at first level. The thing that particularly concerns me about it is its ability to cast any spell as a standard action, no matter how long it normally takes to cast. So the Create Homunculus spell (out of Secret College of Necromancy) that normally takes a week to cast, is now only a standard action. There are similar spells, normally taking 2-3 months, for certain golems.

And now, hopefully, you know why I was so reluctant to describe the build, as it literally takes pages of explanation.

[Arcanist]

And now, hopefully, you know why I was so reluctant to describe the build, as it literally takes pages of explanation.

Are you doing a direct rip of the Arcanist class or any other modification? I made an Arcanist variant of my own which is why I'm asking :smalltongue:

You're build is pretty easy to understand in that it is a Wild Shaping, Theurge, Gish, Super Wizard. Not to hard too understand. :smalltongue:

I must point out to you that your Style of Specialization looks to be a combination of Invention with Transmutation tacked on "4 teh lulz." I would have gone about it entirely differently; Specializing in Mentalism and minoring in Variation, but to each their own I suppose...

[Gavinfoxx]

Have you read this handbook, and the handbooks and such that it links to?

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

[Skysaber]

Are you doing a direct rip of the Arcanist class or any other modification? I made an Arcanist variant of my own which is why I'm asking :smalltongue:

A more or less direct rip, since we had the books and wanted to play the setting as it stood. Adding on options from other sources gave it more of that "Drunk on the flood of magic available" theme essential to Netheril.


You're build is pretty easy to understand in that it is a Wild Shaping, Theurge, Gish, Super Wizard. Not to hard too understand. :smalltongue:

Don't overlook that I sing, currently as well as a 14th level bard. :smalltongue: I have to. I am the party buffer.

And yet may I remind you what I said in an earlier post, on my other thread: We tend to carry half our party away, dead or close to it, from nearly every fight we've had.

Overpowered is relative, and the most developed parts on our character sheets are the elaborate contingency plans we've written up for getting out once the monsters overpower us.


I must point out to you that your Style of Specialization looks to be a combination of Invention with Transmutation tacked on "4 teh lulz." I would have gone about it entirely differently; Specializing in Mentalism and minoring in Variation, but to each their own I suppose...

So, shades of Karsus?

[Arcanist]

A more or less direct rip, since we had the books and wanted to play the setting as it stood. Adding on options from other sources gave it more of that "Drunk on the flood of magic available" theme essential to Netheril.

Just curious :smalltongue:


Don't overlook that I sing, currently as well as a 14th level bard. :smalltongue: I have to. I am the party buffer.

I'm just throwing this out there, but if properly expanded upon, you can be the parties everything :smalltongue:


And yet may I remind you what I said in an earlier post, on my other thread: We tend to carry half our party away, dead or close to it, from nearly every fight we've had.

... If you don't mind me asking, but "How?" :smallconfused:


Overpowered is relative, and the most developed parts on our character sheets are the elaborate contingency plans we've written up for getting out once the monsters overpower us.

I play Epic, trust me when I say I understand "Overpowered" :smalltongue:


So, shades of Karsus?

I was thinking more along the lines of Telamont Tanthul, more "Preserving an Empire" and less "Destroying an Empire" :smalltongue:

[Randomguy]

You want your people to really want to live in your enclave? Give them the internet, in all its glory.
To do this, you'd need to invent a powerful, permanant duration illusion spell (or possibly a dual school illusion/scrying spell) that covers your entire enclave.

Speaking a command word within the area of the illusion spell would make the illusion of a large sheet of paper appear in front of the speaker, who could then command that paper to look like whatever he wanted it to (thereby making a "web page") and give it a title. He could alternatively order that individual sheet to display any existing web page, or to bring up a page that contains a list of all existing pages.


As for telephones, you could probably use dedicated wights instead of homunculi as operators. Alternatively, you could make phone booths by making small rooms with an Energy Transformation Field linked to sending in it and a use activated magic item, probably an immovable rod (that was already stuck in place before the spell was cast). People could just mash the button on the rod to feed the field with spell levels and cast sending as many times as they need to say as much as they want.

[Skysaber]

Have you read this handbook, and the handbooks and such that it links to?

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

I have, and I was impressed by it. The Airships links gave me several ideas (such as making an effigy soarwhale), some even that I could use if my DM does not allow hollow effigies (all of those gears have to go somewhere).

The Transhuman guide is a subject I've been thinking on, but never written out, for a long time. I'm glad someone did it, but I might have a couple of ideas to offer. The Antennae Graft is awesome, but really the whole thing works because of nerve bundles at the base of hairs, right? Since the thread already implies DM approval, I'm sure you could suggest to your Illithid grafters to create an undercover variant that uses a human's existing head hair, without altering their appearance at all.

Also your transhumans lowest ability scores are their strength and constitution, which ties in nicely with an item I've had an eye on for some while, the Armbands of the Orcs out of the Kingdoms of Kalamar: Villain Design Handbook. They fit any medium sized humanoid, and provide an untyped +4 bonus to strength. That's the bait, they are a trap. What they really do is gradually transform the wearer into something identical to an orc, only they went about it backwards. Once a month, they raise or lower an ability score to match that of a typical orc - but you get constitution changed first, then strength, and can remove the bands at any time.

So you could give any arbitrary number of people 15 str and 11 con from this. But wait! There's more! If you go for your own custom version what is to stop you from having it based off a water orc? That's two extra points of con right there. Or, untold generations of orcs in Thay have had the Blooded One template applied to them, so when you create your custom armbands, base it off a Blooded Water Orc and you've got 17 str and 17 con to pass around to anyone!

And, better still, when they apply these armbands is entirely up to you, so it can be after taking mods that reduce con, but before templates and grafts and things that increase it. So your transhumans would have a 21 or higher con before Wishes.

Also, you can build feats into items. So build in the Pass For Human feat from one of the orc supplements, and you avoid any unpleasant appearance changes the armbands would otherwise apply.

For the scarcity, I'm not able to do Wish traps, or any of the Wish related schenanigans. But there are resources I've identified. For example, that spell in Stormwrack to summon a kraken?

According to the Slayer's Guide to Kraken, their ink is a preferred ingredient to use for creation of magical scrolls and penning spells into spellbooks, and w know how wizards are addicted to those. But getting it at all is hard, and even remotely pure is even harder. So an ounce is worth 2gp per percentage point of purity. But a summoned kraken has to obey your orders, and one of those orders can be "cosy up to this barrel and fill it with your ink".

Selling top quality ink to a kingdom filled with wizards sounds like a solid business plan to me, don't you think?

We can also use followers with the much-neglected Spider domain, and use that to command spiders, leaving us with a plentiful supply of silk.

[Gavinfoxx]

You'd need to use calling spells for particular creatures to actually stay, though... and that is a limited resource. You'd have to farm the creatures in question.

Also, the problem with Effigy Soarwhale is, um... the hit dice...

[Skysaber]

I'm just throwing this out there, but if properly expanded upon, you can be the parties everything :smalltongue:

And yet I wasn't kidding. I'm the one who stands in the back buffing the party because I am too weak and squishy to stand on the front lines with the real killers.


... If you don't mind me asking, but "How?" :smallconfused:

Well, when you routinely face enemies who have more bonuses to hit than you have AC, and do enough damage to take you down in a round, at most two, it tends to happen. It's not always that bad, but you should expect 5 out of every 6 monster attacks to hit you in this campaign.

And our ACs are mid-thirties. Except me. I'm the wimp. I only have a 27. So now you know why I am a Conjuration specialist - Abrupt Jaunt.

Also, whatever strategies we use, straight up attacks, illusions, attribute damage, battlefield control, or whatever, only work for a couple of fights before our enemies become immune to them. So a large amount of flexibility is required to keep changing tactics long enough for old strategies to become viable again.

It has been a tremendous challenge to our resourcefulness.

Anyway, let's not focus on that.

Pools and fountains of water that cure those who drink from them are great. I can set it up as items of Panacea bought as Wonderous Architecture.

I love the idea of having Pacified (? is that a template? or a spell?) water and air elementals doing my street cleaning. Something has to, and the constructs I found do it by spraying acid on things - not a good match on city streets that are immune to anything but acid or fire damage.

Bringing up the Silverymoon Mythal raises an interesting point, as I was able to acquire a scroll of the 10th level Netherese spell Weave Mythal with my hoard, but I've currently got no ideas for what properties that mythal is to have, outside of the obvious "keep people without a specific key out of the demiplane where I am building stuff."

Any thoughts?

[Arcanist]

Pools and fountains of water that cure those who drink from them are great. I can set it up as items of Panacea bought as Wonderous Architecture.

Seems legit. Each drink confers a Cure light wounds, once per day.


I love the idea of having Pacified (? is that a template? or a spell?) water and air elementals doing my street cleaning. Something has to, and the constructs I found do it by spraying acid on things - not a good match on city streets that are immune to anything but acid or fire damage.

Pacified is a fancy way of saying "Mindraped" :smalltongue: Have the Elementals deal non-lethal damage to clean everything up (which constructs and buildings are invulnerable to). Regardless, if a citizen gets harmed by one of the elements, it is their own fault since noticing that one is coming by with no intention to harm you is an act of idiocy that I'm sure even the most feebleminded NPC wouldn't perform.


Bringing up the Silverymoon Mythal raises an interesting point, as I was able to acquire a scroll of the 10th level Netherese spell Weave Mythal with my hoard, but I've currently got no ideas for what properties that mythal is to have, outside of the obvious "keep people without a specific key out of the demiplane where I am building stuff."

In my Signature is a spell under the monicker of "Ioulaum's Imbue Mythallar" which pretty much creates a Mythallar. You can add factors to adjust the Mythallar to confer certain bonuses to the creatures that inhabit it's area. I like the idea of it allowing internet access so simply granting it access to Vision would practically cover that :smalltongue:

[Skysaber]

You want your people to really want to live in your enclave? Give them the internet, in all its glory.
To do this, you'd need to invent a powerful, permanant duration illusion spell (or possibly a dual school illusion/scrying spell) that covers your entire enclave.

Speaking a command word within the area of the illusion spell would make the illusion of a large sheet of paper appear in front of the speaker, who could then command that paper to look like whatever he wanted it to (thereby making a "web page") and give it a title. He could alternatively order that individual sheet to display any existing web page, or to bring up a page that contains a list of all existing pages.

To me, the internet seems to require three things: VAST information storage and retrieval, as well communication. And while permanent illusions can do a bit of the first, and scrying a bit of the second and third, it falls short of the true glory. For one thing, the illusions take up physical space, and for another most scrying is of short duration and almost requires you to know it well before you can see it remotely.

However, while researching how to do this, I think I may have stumbled across how to do a magical medieval radio.

There is, in Quintessential Elf 2, a material called Song Crystal, and "Each song crystal may contain a single voice, song or other sound. Song crystals can record up to one hour of sound and play it back on command."

Now I'd always passed that off as useless until this project got me to thinking on what could store information (and sound is one form of information) and then it hit me that this could be your magic music CDs, and that all you'd require was a DJ and some method, like the telephone system already described, for people to listen in remotely, and you've got radio. There could even be different DJs playing different selections so you've got different channels to tune in to.

[Gavinfoxx]

The good ways of doing a Radio are that sand communication method in Sandstorm, and those mirrors in Complete Scoundrel... that gives you tons of communication methods...

Also, there was an article in Dragon Magazine about magical equivalents of modern items somewhere... Dragon Magazine 334 maybe?
*checks* no, not that one...

[herrhauptmann]

The good ways of doing a Radio are that sand communication method in Sandstorm, and those mirrors in Complete Scoundrel... that gives you tons of communication methods...

Also, there was an article in Dragon Magazine about magical equivalents of modern items somewhere... Dragon Magazine 334 maybe?
*checks* no, not that one...
The way you phrase it, it sounds like there's something unusual in #334...

Couldn't you just do a radio with the speaking coins you're using for the phone system?
Every radio comes with two receiving coins in it (need stereo sound), while the matched sending coins are stuck in a pile with all the others. Perhaps on a concave section of wall with good acoustic capabilities. Now you play your music crystals, or have announcers reporting on the weather, or whatever.
I'm tempted to alter a Abbot&Costello radio script. Maybe the Bela Lugosi's haunted mansion episode.

[Gavinfoxx]

334 has Earrings of the Wolf. But I can't, for the life of me, remember which Dragon Magazine had that article about the modern magic...

[Skysaber]

334 has Earrings of the Wolf. But I can't, for the life of me, remember which Dragon Magazine had that article about the modern magic...

Well, I delved into Dragon #334 and found to my surprise, new golems! Which are now all too likely to go into feeding my addiction (seriously, both are intelligent, cheap for their hit dice - almost astonishingly so, and one has a constant Discern Lies effect up, paired with ranks of Sense Motive, while the other moves around inside of walls and gets +36 to Hide to achieve surprise when popping out to attack someone).

Anyway, the article "Modern Magic" (I just looked it up) was in Dragon #327, and contained versions of a parcel service (32 grand is just too expensive for an item you effectively give away each time that it gets used), Internet Maps (now these are useful!) Horn of Recording (compact disks, costs more than Song Crystals but stores twice as much sound recording), Memory Crystal (single shot camera, a permanent image would probably be better, but then this is only 200gp). Video Phones, aka, Mirrors of Communication that are, in every way, worse than the Aspect Mirrors available in Complete Scoundrel, save for the fact that you can hook up to 18 of them together in a set rather than 5. And finally a Slate Folio, that records & displays up to 5 books.

And... someone kick me. I've got golems on the brain again and can't think how all these other things could be useful.

[Gavinfoxx]

http://community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/75882/19870786/Mechonomicon

Read that for GOLEMS GOLEMS GOLEMS!

Also, there are more badass templates than 'effigy' for Golems... several ways to make them sentient, including circle magic to bump that one feat, or just the methods I used in my airship handbook...

I wrote a homebrew golem, once...

http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=14974540

[Skysaber]

http://community.wizards.com/go/thread/view/75882/19870786/Mechonomicon

Read that for GOLEMS GOLEMS GOLEMS!

Also, there are more badass templates than 'effigy' for Golems... several ways to make them sentient, including circle magic to bump that one feat, or just the methods I used in my airship handbook...

I wrote a homebrew golem, once...

http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?p=14974540

"That one feat" isn't very descriptive. I've read your whole manual, again, and couldn't find which one you were referring to.

And now I've read the entire Mechonomicon. "Hi! My name is Skysaber, and I'm a golem addict."

Somebody help me!

Anyway, does anybody know of a list that has all of the constructs you can build out of the Dragon Magazines? I don't think there is, since the Mechanomicon didn't list any from that source, but felt I had to ask.

Anyway, there's a decent chance my DM will allow me to create Chaturan (the chessmen constructs from Dragon #358), a team of eight for the same price as an iron golem, since they have the same CR. And that would be awesome, because they can have class abilities.

Anyway, speaking on golems with classes, Remembrances are awesome. Constructs with all bard abilities? It's like building your own lvl 20 bard cohort, with no bag limit. So that got me to thinking on:

Organization

Remembrances are basically my spymasters, to put it bluntly, which they can accomplish nicely just by being very good gossips (and having maxed out Information Network feats). A hundred and twenty of them works out to ten per face of the dodecahedron, or two per section. I'll make another thirty to serve me personally. Secondary duties are to just be bards, hold performances, create art, etc. During construction they can be designing and decorating the living areas of the fort. Other official duties include keeping records using Distance Diary spells of all they learn. The ones serving me can collect and compile this, creating a history of this city, Netheril itself, as well as our neighbors, also biographies of persons of interest, and things like that, serving as my principal librarians, as well as entertainers.

One whole face of the dodecahedron can serve as my university. Build another 120 of Remembrances so they can serve as school teachers, and another 30 to expand my private staff to keep up with the records & administrative duties thus created.

Nimblewrights, with their perfect loyalty, skills, combat ability and Alter Self, make for the perfect secret police. Make two for each Remembrance, to serve as her assistants (whether that be as spies, servants, or as extra performers is entirely up to the Remembrance and what she needs at the moment).

Caryatid Columns, ten per Remembrance, to serve friends, confidants, assistants and bodyguards to her. Close support and protection where the Nimblewrights are more often detatched agents.

Paper Golems, ten per Remembrance, shaped as swans, geese, cranes, storks, etc, used as decoration, floating in ponds in parks, etc, which also makes them inconspicuous so they can be used as mobile listening devices as needed. Note: the Paper of Forms they are made of is the single most expensive part of their whole design, and says that they become 'real'. So, the question becomes, can they give eggs? Might be a menu item for my restaurants.

Chaturan (living chess piece constructs) to be the open and public police forces, one complete set per Remembrance at least. Provided I make them, they are perfectly loyal to me, and as constructs are immune to most of the things that could corrupt a normal police force. They cannot be bribed, flattered, seduced, etc. They are immune to mind control and never need to eat, sleep, or breathe, so don't need donut shops and can be on duty at all times. Between the bishops' clerical spells and the sorceress abilities of the queen, they even contain their own spellcasting support.

Clockwork Eunuchs, two per Remembrance but unlike most others, not actually assigned to them. These I can use as clerks in all of my stores (and perhaps academies and other institutions as well), not only for guarding protected areas (back of the shop, living areas above, etc) but because in those locations are unlikely to encounter combat so their low hit dice don't matter as much, but also because those spots make their continual Zones of Truth enormously useful. Add on appropriate skills like Appraise and Profession: Merchant, and you've got it. Assign them in pairs so they have some support. Also these guys would make for great customs inspectors, collecting duties from incoming ships and inspecting cargoes, as it doesn't much matter how many ranks in Bluff or Hide a smuggler may have if he fails his save vs the Zone of Truth before getting asked some probing questions.

If I can invent a spell to temporarily make a construct alive (rather than the current version, which is unfortunately permanent), I can have my Clockwork Eunuchs visit my own Homunculi shops, and get a couple of Iron Defender Homunculi assisting them, but also working as rat patrols, hunting down any magical vermin that get in.

Clockwork Menders are needed for construct maintenance and repair, but are normally really ugly. Luckily my Golem Master cohort's class ability should let her make some as pretty as she likes. I am thinking sparkiling, jewel-tone dragonflies, as they are mostly that shape already, and can blend into the decorative theme when not needed.

[Gavinfoxx]

Rudimentary Intelligence, Dragon Magazine #327. I believe it is mentioned SOMEWHERE in those guides, right??

Also, just put a magic item in the workings and make it sentient/intelligent per the DMG. Very cheap to do that...

http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicItems/intelligentItems.htm

Also, Elder Eidolon and Sacred Guardian are good templates for creating golems, and Tippy has a love affair with Shadesteel Golems...

[Sith_Happens]

Seriously, just build the whole enclave out of golems.

[Skysaber]

Rudimentary Intelligence, Dragon Magazine #327. I believe it is mentioned SOMEWHERE in those guides, right??

You know what? You guys here on this board scare me sometimes. Yes, the Rudimentary Intelligence feat is in there, and the thought of pairing that up with Circle Magic boosted caster levels makes me afraid I'm not building the Death Star, more like my fortress ought to be a cube and when I turn my back all my constructs will start calling themselves the Borg.


Also, Elder Eidolon and Sacred Guardian are good templates for creating golems, and Tippy has a love affair with Shadesteel Golems...

Eh, partly understandable. Mechanically, they've got no real weaknesses (getting buffed by both light or dark descriptor spells, and immune to everything else), get concealment up almost all of the time, and perfect flight, good AC and relatively cheap for their HD, plus they've got area effect damage as a free action - not to mention that bad boy skull motif going that so many find attractive.

On the other hand, they'd all of them die to a single bronze locust swarm. So, meh.

I prefer to avoid the 'all your eggs in one basket' approach, and frankly I just don't find shadesteel golems all that interesting. The strong intent is clear to pair them with undead, and frankly their abilities put in to support undead put them at a disadvantage facing against them.

So, a 130,000gp construct that, without active assistance from its creator on tactics, would lose to a couple of meat shield monstrous zombies because it keeps healing them? Just no.

Also, I am building a city, and using these as guards in a city filled with living people is insanity, as it's area effect would kill the very people it was put there to protect.

The templates, on the other hand. I've got a use for those. Also, did you see the Sacred Guardian template on the mechanonimicon? That is just wow.


Seriously, just build the whole enclave out of golems.

Actually, by making it a Guardian Ship out of Dragon Magazine #333, I sort of have. But that's the weird thing. You see, I'd never intended to go anywhere near as far as I have with constructs. Starting out, I viewed them as kind of the skeleton of what I'd eventually be building. They are strong, but rigid and inflexible, a lot like bones ought to be. Every ruler needs guards he can trust, and I thought golems fit the bill admirably. I told myself that once I had a framework of those laid out, I could flesh in the rest of it with Leadership and other creatures as needed.

Only I kept discovering more and more things I could do with the various constructs, and it got out of hand.

Frankly, now I am more than willing to make a break from them and branch out into more and different things. Stuff like using pacified elementals to clean my streets is ideal. I wish I could also go farther with this magic/modern stuff, but my brain just isn't cooperating on it.

On the other hand, now it isn't only my own enclave I'd like to be fleshing out. My DM has established that there will be xp awards for describing the other enclaves. Almost nothing is said of them in the sourcebooks, just the mechanics of what they are. But wizards are a varied (and often crazy!) lot, so there would be substantial variety, and he doesn't want the burden of filling out the background of dozens of these himself.

So far we have Sunnycrypt. Started out as a dwarven mountain fortress that got overrun by orcs, retaken and turned into a tomb for those honored dead who'd died there, then lifted up to form an enclave by a necromancy themed archwizard who had no respect for the dead of any race. Fittingly enough, that archwizard, named The Mortician, and all of his senior apprentices died in a massive explosion of negative energy doing experiments into the creation of intelligent undead that Orcus gave 'a little nudge' of extra help to. All that was left alive were comparatively minor apprentices, many of which had no particular interest in necromancy, but had been conscripted to serve anyway (often as experimental subjects).

The Mortician and his senior apprentices now all being near-mindless ghouls (the very first - their experiments succeeded!), it was his stock of barely trained students who took over. In well-meaning but somewhat misguided efforts to redeem the image of their enclave home, they are trying to pretty it up a bit with ribbons and other stuff pasted over the dark stone, gothic tomb look it always had.

We also have an enclave that, for reasons of his own, the wizard who created it used massive amounts of Stone Shape to sculpt it so it now appears to be a giant disk of earth (like all enclaves), only supported by four elephants all standing on the back of a giant turtle that swims through the air.

About another enclave the only thing that we have established is that it is one giant gear nearly two miles across that he stole from the plane of Mechanus.

He wants more ideas, so if anyone has any, shout em out.