Hallicinatory Terrrain-like Spells and Wizard's Towers

[Crake]

Ok, so my DM just declared our characters have 15 days of downtime in our campaign, which is HUGE, its the first real downtime we've had recently, after spending literally weeks (if not months) stuck in some demiplane complex and whatnot. So I figured, along with crafting some items for my party, I'd get started on that wizard's tower I've been meaning to build.

I want to build it into the side of a mountain, BUT I don't want it in plain view from anyone around, so I was thinking of concealing it with some kind of spell. Now hallucinatory terrain only affects natural terrain, so it wouldnt be able to conceal my wizards tower, but before I go to my DM to research a custom spell to deal with it, does anyone know of any spells that could help?

Also any suggestions as to stuff I should include in my wizard's tower, and construction tips. I was thinking use wall of stone to make the basic foundation/walls/roof and then use fabricate to add the fine details. Then bring in some base materials for furniture and whatnot using maybe.. a bag of holding or the like, and fabricate that stuff together too, unless it's cheap and can fit into a bag of holding as is, in which case I can just haul it over. Or maybe polymorph into something really strong and just carry it over with a teleport?

Edit: Oh, I'm a level 7 wizard/level 3 Loremaster for reference, so level 5 spells is my max. My mages guild membership right now only gets me access to level 5 spells as well, so probably wont be able to grab level 6+ scrolls for any suggestions. Also core spells are generally readily available, but anything outside of core is entirely up to the DM

[rweird]

I think this spell (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/mirageArcana.htm)might do the trick, assuming you stay in the tower a lot, for longer times, I really don't know, maybe ask your DM if you can permanency (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/permanency.htm) it, use Mage's Private Sanctum (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/magesPrivateSanctum.htm) as the base for that (so it'd require CL 13 and 25,000 EXP), you could buy a scroll of permanency or two because you don't have the required CL without boosting it some.

[Crake]

I think this spell (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/mirageArcana.htm)might do the trick, assuming you stay in the tower a lot, for longer times, I really don't know, maybe ask your DM if you can permanency (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/permanency.htm) it, use Mage's Private Sanctum (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/magesPrivateSanctum.htm) as the base for that (so it'd require CL 13 and 25,000 EXP), you could buy a scroll of permanency or two because you don't have the required CL without boosting it some.

Huh, Mirage Arcana should do the trick actually.. I'm a little ashamed I didn't notice it. A spellclock or some other magic item firing it off should save me the trouble of being there to cast it when the duration runs out.

I'm a little low on xp myself right now (15 xp over the level 10 threshold) so I'll have to see if I can pick up an appropriate scroll of permanency to do the trick. That and if I use your starting point I'm also too low level to do it, so a scroll would probably be a better option anyway.

[Venger]

illusory wall (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/illusoryWall.htm) is permanent, so will save you a lot of time and money.

[Skysaber]

One of the adventures stuffed inside a splatbook, I want to say it was Lost Empires of Faerun, had a wizard's tower where one-way illusionary walls covered all of the windows, so the wizard inside could see out, but no one outside could see in.

Now I'm kicking myself for not making better note of where I'd found that.

For other spells, don't forget Improved Arcane Lock, found in Stronghold Builder's Guide, it allows you to key in a small number of people. So, say, your adventuring buddies could open your doors (like to the bathroom when you have them over for planning sessions).

For a core-only version, get something like a mephit for a familiar, the important part is it be something with hands, and Share Spells with it when you cast Arcane Lock, so either of you could open those doors. Then you have your mephit let your adventuring buddies in and out of the bathroom.

[rweird]

illusory wall (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/illusoryWall.htm) is permanent, so will save you a lot of time and money.

It only makes walls, it doesn't hide them.

Crake: Glad I could help, let us know how it goes.

[Malroth]

On said illusionary wall is a perfect painting of the mountian as it was before the tower was built.

[ArcturusV]

It seems you are already accounting for it with your original thoughts, but I'll mention as you get suggestions:

Mundane Redundancy.

This is something that is missing from a lot of plans like this. If you go completely magical for it, in such a way that it requires magic to operate, you end up with something that seems very strong, but also incredibly fragile if someone has a mind to deal with it.

Ideally whatever you create should be able to exist completely fine sans all magic. Magic is bracing and added security or ascetics.

I've seen about... I think right now it's 8 various Wizard Towers/Forts that have been made in campaigns I've been a part of which have been just RUINED by simple things like a rival spellcaster casting an Anti-Magic Shell and walking up to it, or a Disjunction, etc.

To borrow a quote (from Magic: The Gathering actually): "Do not become so enthralled with magic that you forget you can fly without it."

As for things you might need? The go-to that comes to mind is a triage room, particularly if you are still going to be adventuring. This is a relatively secure room, warded up to the hilt, and stocked with emergency kit like potions, rings of regeneration, etc. Set up contingency Teleports to get into this room.

[Jack_Simth]

Ok, so my DM just declared our characters have 15 days of downtime in our campaign, which is HUGE, its the first real downtime we've had recently, after spending literally weeks (if not months) stuck in some demiplane complex and whatnot. So I figured, along with crafting some items for my party, I'd get started on that wizard's tower I've been meaning to build.

I want to build it into the side of a mountain, BUT I don't want it in plain view from anyone around, so I was thinking of concealing it with some kind of spell. Now hallucinatory terrain only affects natural terrain, so it wouldnt be able to conceal my wizards tower, but before I go to my DM to research a custom spell to deal with it, does anyone know of any spells that could help?

Also any suggestions as to stuff I should include in my wizard's tower, and construction tips. I was thinking use wall of stone to make the basic foundation/walls/roof and then use fabricate to add the fine details. Then bring in some base materials for furniture and whatnot using maybe.. a bag of holding or the like, and fabricate that stuff together too, unless it's cheap and can fit into a bag of holding as is, in which case I can just haul it over. Or maybe polymorph into something really strong and just carry it over with a teleport?

Edit: Oh, I'm a level 7 wizard/level 3 Loremaster for reference, so level 5 spells is my max. My mages guild membership right now only gets me access to level 5 spells as well, so probably wont be able to grab level 6+ scrolls for any suggestions. Also core spells are generally readily available, but anything outside of core is entirely up to the DM

Hallucinatory Terrain does not do structures, correct.

However: There's nothing stopping you from making the illusion of a hollow mountain peak around and over your tower. Nor is there anything to stop you from putting a large gap in the existing rock face (Transmute Rock to Mud (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/transmuteRockToMud.htm) is great for digging such things out quickly ... provided you have somewhere to drain the mud to) and then making hallucinatory terrain of a cave roof over the gap... so it looks just like it did before.

Downside: Hallucinatory terrain isn't permanent. Illusory Wall or Permanent Image, though, will do the job (it just takes more castings).


It only makes walls, it doesn't hide them.
Exactly. You make an illusion of a cliff face over the dug-out entryway to your actual base. Make the illusion look exactly like the original cliff face did. Then hide stuff behind it, same as you would hide things behind a curtain. Make the entryway up a lot (at least 125 feet up the cliff to avoid True Seeing), so it's only accessible via climbing, flying, or teleporting... and even then, only if you have reason to know it's there. Then make an actual door out of Wall of Stone + Stone Shape (multiple castings to avoid the failure chance for things with moving parts... or Fabricate to get around that), and install a lock. It's all slightly behind the illusory wall. If someone dispells the illusion, well, they still have to get up there and get through the door.

[Crake]

the main problem with illusory wall, even if my DM would allow it is anyone who's seen the mountain before will see a sudden change in the mountain overnight and it would be really suspicious. Mirage arcana pretty much does what I want in that it obscures the fact that any change is going on at all. When/if I manage to combine it with mordenkainen's private sanctum (might not be so easy, because we're playing in the original greyhawk setting, so mordenkainen is actually alive and can be protective of some of his spells) then I'll probably be comfortable starting work on the tower. I'll have to discuss a permanencied mirage arcana with my DM, see what he thinks, but if I can manage to do that early, then it should be good.

[Jack_Simth]

the main problem with illusory wall, even if my DM would allow it is anyone who's seen the mountain before will see a sudden change in the mountain overnight and it would be really suspicious. Not if you do it right. You first subtract a section, then you add in the stuff you want there, then you cover it with an illusion of the original form.

[Crake]

Not if you do it right. You first subtract a section, then you add in the stuff you want there, then you cover it with an illusion of the original form.

hmm, that is an intriguing idea, I'll have to pose it to my DM, see if he would allow illusory wall to imitate a mountain side. If so, that would probably be the best option for visually hiding the tower

[Jack_Simth]

hmm, that is an intriguing idea, I'll have to pose it to my DM, see if he would allow illusory wall to imitate a mountain side. If so, that would probably be the best option for visually hiding the tower

You'll need a rather lot of castings - Illusory Wall only gives you a segment that is "1 ft. by 10 ft. by 10 ft" - so you'll probably want to tunnel into the mountainside in a small area, and carve out larger rooms inside that - but yes, "the illusion of a wall, floor, ceiling, or similar surface" should do for a smallish section well up the side of a cliff.

[Waker]

It would be a bit expensive, but the entrance could be a permancied phase door. Followed by a mundane door.

[Crake]

You'll need a rather lot of castings - Illusory Wall only gives you a segment that is "1 ft. by 10 ft. by 10 ft" - so you'll probably want to tunnel into the mountainside in a small area, and carve out larger rooms inside that - but yes, "the illusion of a wall, floor, ceiling, or similar surface" should do for a smallish section well up the side of a cliff.

15 days covers quite a few castings, assuming i use my 3 5th level spells for 2 teleports and an overland flight, I still have 4 4th level spells that i can use to cast it, so over 15 days that can cover 60 10x10 segments, which is more than I need by far, even accounting for any days that I might screw up my teleporting. I'm trying to think of a better way to hollow out sections than transmute rock to mud though. I have a druid friend i can take along to cast that if necessary (I don't have it in my spellbook) but my character has knowledge (architecture and engineering) whereas the druid does not, so he might end up making structurally unsound areas.

Disintegrate would work but I'm still a level off being able to cast that.

[ArcturusV]

Depending on how much your DM is willing to let you play?

Targeted and consecutive castings of Heat and Chill Metal. Granted, Rock =/= metal, of course. Thus the "Willing to play" with it. Rapid heating and cooling can just make some of the rock flake off quite well. I suppose if you wanted to make sure it worked RAW you'd have to find a bit of the mountain with an appropriate ore vein to use it on.

[Sr.medusa]

maybe you just can use Lesser Planar Binding (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/planarBindingLesser.htm) for calling some Thoqquas (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/thoqqua.htm) and start the tunneling. Cover your entrance to the mountain with an ilusionary wall and the same for the windows and other entrances. Remember Stone Shape and Wall of Stone are your friends too.

[Crake]

maybe you just can use Lesser Planar Binding (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/planarBindingLesser.htm) for calling some Thoqquas (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/thoqqua.htm) and start the tunneling. Cover your entrance to the mountain with an ilusionary wall and the same for the windows and other entrances. Remember Stone Shape and Wall of Stone are your friends too.

Hmm, having thoqquas just tunneling away while I do other stuff isn't a bad idea I suppose. I was planning on clearing out an area then constructing the facility with wall of stone/fabricate/stoneshape, that way I can ensure good structural integrity. I might be getting a Coure Eladrin familiar soon too, so I can get her to check the nearby rock structure in incorporeal form and assess the integrity of the nearby mountainside before I start excavating so I can ensure half the mountainside doesn't crumble as I'm working.