Fortress/Hideout .. help me organize it..

[Kerilstrasz]

My Players Stay Out






Ok.. short story..
My players are going to discover an ancient outpost/library/headquarters of an ancient cult. They will be recognized by the Construct Guardian of the place as the new owners. I want them to use this place as HQ, so i want to equip it as good as possible but not gamebreaking...

List Of Rooms:
Main/Big Room: Library/Meeting Area
(actually a well stocked library that gives nice bonuses to users)

"Wondrous" Rooms:
1) A room with an altar that "Identifies" any magic item placed on it.
(up to +6 modifier) If a cursed,legend or artifact item placed on it it registered as "Unknown Magic".
2) A room with a marble bed. If a person rest for 8 hours on it, he gets all Hp & Ability Dmg healed, dispel/cures any harmfull effect up to 5 spell lvl.
3) A room with a Device that can be used as "radio" to communicate with any1 that posses the 2nd half of the device(players will found the 2nd part) over any distance while on the same plane.

"Craft" Rooms:
2 rooms fully equipped that give +5 to any craft, alchemy,descipher, UMD, spellcraft, (and some more) skills.

Utility Rooms:
1 Armory room.
2 Bedrooms.
1 Storage Room. (the "built-in-wall" crates faction as b.o.h. // 8 crates)

Teleport Room:
A room that can send (or receive) to a platform outside the building anything in it. It can only be activated by a mechanism outside the room. Usually the Construct Guardian operates it.

Construct Guardian:
A Kolyarut! http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/inevitable.htm

So..
The above are already fixed, drawn on a map and considered. Anything more?
No need to suggest only from books... that ancient arcane cult could probably make almost anything they might need.

PS: 3,5 campaign. (group of 4; lvl 4 each; cleric,pala,warmage,rogue)
PS2: Any suggestions on the already "fixed" rooms welcome...

[QuintonBeck]

An armory? Cool place to display their weapons and armor and such? Obviously displaying is sorta silly in a D&D game but if this is going to be their HQ might as well describe it intricately and allow them to picture their stuff hanging up on the walls. Heck, maybe there's even some of the whoever-bult-this-place's stuff hanging around.

More bedrooms? You have 4 players, why bunk?

Players always have new ideas they'll want to implement and expand (and heck, sometimes us DMs think of good things to add later) so maybe have some defunct/empty rooms for expansion and utility later down the road.

That's all I can think of for now. So far it seems like a badass HQ to have. I'd like it as a player.

[BowStreetRunner]

A map room with a large illusory map of the world that can scroll and zoom. Around the periphery of the map are scrying stations that can be used to 'update' the map. At the time the PCs find it, the map is horribly out of date. But a spell-caster can use any scrying spell (has to provide his own spell) while seated at one of the stations and the map will automatically update the information it shows accordingly.

[Xervous]

Snip

I picture the wizard sitting down and working his magic as his companions look on in awe. A massive region of the map is updated... and then the rogue finds the zoom feature. Two seconds later, they have a single pinpoint that has been updated.

[BowStreetRunner]

I picture the wizard sitting down and working his magic as his companions look on in awe. A massive region of the map is updated... and then the rogue finds the zoom feature. Two seconds later, they have a single pinpoint that has been updated.

Well, I was actually going off the spell Scry Location which states "your vantage and range of vision being the same as if you were actually at that place" and "You can rotate the sensor as you wish, seeing in any direction you desire." The idea here is that they couldn't update areas they hadn't visited, but bit by bit they could fill in areas by choosing to scry locations they had visited that also gave good vantage points for surrounding areas.

[Cicciograna]

Check the Stronghold Builder's Guidebook for inspiration and rules for your situation. I seem to recall that it does indeed describe one or two of the magic trinkets you require.

3rd Edition material, though.

[Gildedragon]

The ability damage healing room is unnecessary. Cult means they had clerics, clerics get restoration, wands of restoration, etcetera.

Crafting rooms: add a forge of thautam (ros), giving them the Craft magic arms and armor feat

Runecircles: A holdfast ring (ros) or a healing circle (ros) may be good additions, the former in a defense bastion, the latter in the chapel.

Instead of an inevitable as servant; which is a mite odd fluffwise (why isn't it on its prowl for oathbreakers?) giving them a golem (Tin dr 341, or bronze, or stained glass) or a caryatid, or effigy wouldn't be too bad. There is this one in Dragon Magazine, the Tomb Guardian, which is cool as it turns into wall paintings. Having them bound to the fort allows you to have more than one in a dormant state, and one smarter awakened one as butler.

Altar of identification: have it take a day, or a casting of detect magic, or merely have it forego the cost of identify. If they don't have identify on hand: a minor schema (MoE IIRC) of identify

More bedrooms; have 3d6 bedrooms, it's an HQ.

What sort of cult was it? Work on that for the flavor (again, nice thing of golems and effigies: make 'em look however ya want 'em to)

Indoor garden of exotic plants (check dragon magazine 357 for ideas)

Com-room: either earrings of the wolf (walkie talkies) or a large aspect mirror; its counterpart is one or more compact mirrors.

[unseenmage]

Instead of an inevitable as servant; which is a mite odd fluffwise (why isn't it on its prowl for oathbreakers?) giving them a golem (Tin dr 341, or bronze, or stained glass) or a caryatid, or effigy wouldn't be too bad. There is this one in Dragon Magazine, the Tomb Guardian, which is cool as it turns into wall paintings. Having them bound to the fort allows you to have more than one in a dormant state, and one smarter awakened one as butler.
Agreed. (And also, Tomb Guardian that turns into a painting? Do you know which Dragon?)

I was just designing a Hordificer hideout yesterday and as it happens I found that Effigys from Complete Arcane can be made Intelligent with either the Augmented Intelligence upgrade from Dragon 327 or the brain-in-it's-chest-style upgrade from Pathfinder.
http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/prd/ultimateMagic/magic/buildingAndModifyingConstructs.html

After that you give them the Open Minded feat for a nice dose of 5 Skill Points that makes them fairly functioning servants. Using the same Pathfinder page you can p one of their ability scores by 2 points for 5,000gp each time. Just remember that it's probably cheaper to either a) Just raise Int for the skill points, or b) Just pay 10,000gp to enchant the Effigy with an additional instance of the Open Minded feat and 5 more skill points.

Seriously, I'm designing one for each staff member suggested by the Stronghold Builder's Guide. I'm even lumping their costs into the Stronghold's cost because that's the only purpose they're gonna serve. 1 racial HD Effigys work best; they're cheapest. And they retain their racial class skills. I'm still working out which 1HD critter to use for mine though.

Hope that helps.


Edit:

I picture the wizard sitting down and working his magic as his companions look on in awe. A massive region of the map is updated... and then the rogue finds the zoom feature. Two seconds later, they have a single pinpoint that has been updated.

And then they discover that the old map info was the only means of locating the Lich's hometown and through it his ancestral bloodline and through that the destined whatever yadda yadda.

It'd just be funny for them to then have to quest for the Teleport Scry Through Time spell to offset their overzealous zooming.

[Kerilstrasz]

An armory?
actually a vault that they can store, keep weaps and arms they found/create/


so maybe have some defunct/empty rooms for expansion and utility later down the road.
Hmm.. i had in mind the i could add some secret doors (insanely high DC for finding it) that lead to new rooms that they can utilize as the campaigns continues (as a hangar for theirs flying machine) etc etc.. *more on this later on the construct.


A map room
I don't really want them to have a map :) Even outdated. At least not yet.. im planning for them to find another "lighthouse/outpost" later that will have that kind of utility (prolly connected with this HQ via teleport room)


Check the Stronghold Builder's Guidebook for inspiration and rules for your situation.
Well... that's maybe my favorite book :P



The ability damage healing room is unnecessary. Cult means they had clerics, clerics get restoration, wands of restoration, etcetera.
Well.. its not only ability dmg.. its hp dmg, and all harmfull effects up to lvl5 spells.


Crafting rooms: add a forge of thautam (ros), giving them the Craft magic arms and armor feat
Im going to give them for free some feats at lvl 5 or 6 (incuding craft feats, scribe, leadership etc etc) so i think i dont need this.. just the bonus is enough.


Runecircles: A holdfast ring (ros) or a healing circle (ros) may be good additions, the former in a defense bastion, the latter in the chapel.
I look into these but since it wont have any def positions (it is underground, and people dont know about this place. The only in and out will be from the Teleport room. (scry/ethereal proof)


Instead of an inevitable as servant;
Well... the servant.. i picked this cause of its SLA... it can discern lies and has bonus on sense motive. If players leave the HQ and decide to return, they ll have to contact the guardian via Comm room, and ask him to activate the Tele Room. So the Guardian has to be able to tell if the Call is actually from them. *More about the servant later.


Altar of identification: have it take a day, or a casting of detect magic, or merely have it forego the cost of identify. If they don't have identify on hand: a minor schema (MoE IIRC) of identify
I don't actually get what you proposing here.. the altar wont need a casting.
It is a at will "Identify" wondrous item(architecture). They trigger is just to place the item on it. Maybe i could have it work 3/day instead of "at-will" ???


What sort of cult was it? Work on that for the flavor Actually that is half of their goal.. to find out about them :)


Indoor garden of exotic plants (check dragon magazine 357 for ideas)
Hmm... sounds nice.. i ll definetely look into this.


Com-room: either earrings of the wolf (walkie talkies) or a large aspect mirror; its counterpart is one or more compact mirrors.
I don't know the items you are proposing.. i check em.. but the idea is:
A tabletop mirror, and 1 portable smaller mirror that they can carry in their bags as the walkie talkie part.


About the servant.
-He has to be a construct for obvious reasons.
-He has to have some fighting abilities.
-He knows everything about the HQ. (where everything is/does).
-He can operate anything in the HQ.(for example the TP room.)
-He can activate HQs defenses. (a lot of things to describe here- and as DM i know they will not need em, at least for a long time)
-He has no will/ability to read advanced documents so he can't help with the library. Players have to do all the research.
-He will never propose anything, even in a crisis. Players have to ask him.

So..
Feedback?

Also...
I was thinking to give the servant some funny flaws.. like.. hmm... pronounce names and things a bit funny.. foe example, if a player is called Fred , he would call him Bread. Or miss-pronounce words in general, like "As you can see this an Altir of Edentify." but that just doesn't feel quite right...
Dunno... think about it and maybe propose something.

[unseenmage]

Quote:
Originally Posted by Guigarci View Post
Instead of an inevitable as servant;
Well... the servant.. i picked this cause of its SLA... it can discern lies and has bonus on sense motive. If players leave the HQ and decide to return, they ll have to contact the guardian via Comm room, and ask him to activate the Tele Room. So the Guardian has to be able to tell if the Call is actually from them. *More about the servant later.


About the servant.
-He has to be a construct for obvious reasons.
-He has to have some fighting abilities.
-He knows everything about the HQ. (where everything is/does).
-He can operate anything in the HQ.(for example the TP room.)
-He can activate HQs defenses. (a lot of things to describe here- and as DM i know they will not need em, at least for a long time)
-He has no will/ability to read advanced documents so he can't help with the library. Players have to do all the research.
-He will never propose anything, even in a crisis. Players have to ask him.

So..
Feedback?

Also...
I was thinking to give the servant some funny flaws.. like.. hmm... pronounce names and things a bit funny.. foe example, if a player is called Fred , he would call him Bread. Or miss-pronounce words in general, like "As you can see this an Altir of Edentify." but that just doesn't feel quite right...
Dunno... think about it and maybe propose something.

Just stumbled across a funny quirky construct that might fit the bill. The Clockwork Eunuch (Dragon 334 pg 38). It has a constant aura of lie detection, can be programmed to ignore certain kinds of visitors, and has scimitars for hands (which give it a bonus to grapple with the dull sides of their scimitar hands even).

Give it an Amulet of Freedom of Speech (Icy Heart adventure module) and it's good to go.

[themourningstar]

Is an effigy the intelligent permanent illusion? I don't remember where I read about it if not, but I thought it was cool. Reminded me of sci fi stories, where the AI could project a humanoid image to interact with the crew.. Neat concept though.
Also, on the map room, maybe there could be a headband that could serve as a focus, to add spaces to the map that a creature has been to? There could still be a material cost, but that way all the PC's could add to the map.

[themourningstar]

Dangit.. Another thing... Maybe you could make your servant seem kind of sinister, slightly malicious. Like Andy from the Gunslinger series? He always has a cutting comment to make, or worse, ambiguous ones. Maybe he resents serving...

[unseenmage]

Is an effigy the intelligent permanent illusion? I don't remember where I read about it if not, but I thought it was cool. Reminded me of sci fi stories, where the AI could project a humanoid image to interact with the crew.. Neat concept though.

Effigys are D&D robots.
When made from a creature with class levels all you get is a robot of their base race. Prices based on size HD. Base races have 1 HD and are therefore cheaper.

[BowStreetRunner]

Indoor garden of exotic plants (check dragon magazine 357 for ideas)

When planning any sort of garden for the facility, keep the spell Transport via Plants (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/transportViaPlants.htm) in mind. The spell is available to Druids, Archivists, and anyone with a scroll or item imbued with this ability. Fortresses have fallen due to the incautious planting of such gardens. I would recommend a spell of Forbiddance (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/forbiddance.htm) cast on the garden. If you wish to be able to use Transport via Plants yourself, then an external location for said garden would be preferable - one that doesn't give free access to the interior of the fortress itself.

Edit: For that matter, you should have Forbiddance in place throughout the fortress, and unprotected areas should be outside of the walls. You could put any teleportation room inside its own defensible position to allow people to come and go without having to exit during a siege, but still preventing attackers from getting inside.

[Kudaku]

I realize that you specified 3.5 but Pathfinder just released a new book with rules that cover this - and those rules are available online (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/gamemastering/downtime#TOC-Rooms). Maybe you could take a look at the room list and see if you get any ideas?

Things like a series of Book Repositories covering different topics, a forge, a laboratory or an infirmary will probably be popular.

[Gildedragon]

Think the turn into a mural construct is in DM 334. It's the Relief Golem, my bad for the tomb guardian red herring.

On the identify table: the biggest drawback to the identify spell is its cost, having a space that removes the cost from the castings, but still requires the casting of a spell (detect magic (a la artificer's monocle) or identify) effectively makes them able to identify anything, but feels more involved than an automatic object.

The con room: that's essentially what I meant. There is this magic item called an aspect mirror which does that sort of communications and they are often paired.

You might want to have non-functioning rooms to be repaired and upgraded as treasure rewards over time.

More info on the cult would be welcome to pitch more cult-oriented spaces

I like the idea of a base, but don't overstuff it. Set a budget for the stronghold and work within it.

[Lightlawbliss]

how long has this been abandoned? If it has been abandoned for a long time, a lot of stuff will be falling apart. you could have the areas you don't want them getting to yet to have cave ins along the halls and stuff like that which will. A really old library that hasn't been cared for will be full of rotting books and the like: fixable but it requires the right magic. essentially, I hear ancient building and I think "a lot of work to be done".

and with this you could allow them to slowly earn stuff over time, improve the bonuses rooms give, customize, the similar.

[Gildedragon]

What they need is a scroll of Summon Interior Designer

[BowStreetRunner]

Another thing to think about is neighbors. Placing the fortress close to the right kind of neighboring creatures/settlements can be just as important as what is actually in the fortress itself.

[Lightlawbliss]

Another thing to think about is neighbors. Placing the fortress close to the right kind of neighboring creatures/settlements can be just as important as what is actually in the fortress itself.

oh, come on, it's not like the 3 L's of real estate exist for a reason