Why girard's gate need to have true corridors?

[With a box]

1. those gates doesn't look like require regular repairment (because
2. girard try to hide it
I think it means

so, Why they wouldn't simply fill the true passage with brick and make sure intruder cannot reach the gate without blow the whole pyramid?

or bury it underground and remove every record/evidence about it.
and build a pyramid somewhere else / forget about that gate with a help of bard(Modify Memory).

[Kish]

If I understand what you're suggesting correctly:

Girard didn't simply bury his gate in brick because he believed in the power of deception, not the power of stone. "You must excavate this huge pile of stone" wouldn't actually have been harder (even from an objective perspective, much less from Girard's) than "You must find your way through a maze full of illusions and traps."

He didn't bury it underground because that's not an option he had. The rift was where it was. He was an epic-level ranger/sorcerer, not a god; he couldn't raise the level of the entire desert.

[With a box]

but the gate is already underground from the beginning
http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0900.html
(rift can't move, isn't it?)

[Kish]

Ah. Yes, if the stairs they went up and down totalled out at them being underground Girard could have simply buried the gate.

Which leaves us with: He didn't because he believed in the power of deception, not the power of stone. And also, he knew that an adventuring party could find the unguarded-but-underground rift, because he was part of the adventuring party that did.

[Steward]

I think each guardian protected their gate with something that was symbolic or meaningful to them. Soon used the honor of his paladins and the power of law, Dorukan used arcane magic, Lirian used the natural world, and Girard relies on his illusions. This, of course, required them to avoid some precautions (it doesn't make tactical sense for anyone trying to protect something in this universe to not use illusions, physical force, and complicated arcane spells, but personal preferences can trump tactics).

[With a box]

but when order of the scribble found that it should suck the upper ground like a sand clock so the rift must be noticeable

of, personal preferences, I understand

[Sky_Schemer]

but when order of the scribble found that it should suck the upper ground like a sand clock so the rift must be noticeable

of, personal preferences, I understand

More than that, really. Most of the surviving Scribblers had the same character flaw, and that was an eagerness to point out the flaws in the others' disciplines while remaining blind to the flaws in their own. It wasn't just preference: it really was a belief that a defense based on illusions and deceptions was infallible.

While we obviously haven't been given a lot of background about the Order of the Scribble, the few snippets we have seen have all pointed in this direction. It is rather amazing that they functioned as a team for so long with such a disrespect for one another's skills. Kraagor's death was clearly the catalyst for bringing deep-rooted problems bubbling up to the surface.

[Sylthia]

but the gate is already underground from the beginning
http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0900.html
(rift can't move, isn't it?)

The ground level of deserts can shift quite a bit with wind causing and leveling dunes over the years.

[David Argall]

but the gate is already underground from the beginning
http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0900.html
(rift can't move, isn't it?)
276 shows all rifts above ground. Now sand does shift, indeed fairly often, but the rift should have been above ground when the party found it. So it may be that Girard did bury it, only to discover stuff falls thru until it is in the air again. So he built pyramid to stop that, but had to leave passageways to prevent the pyramid from falling thru.

[King of Nowhere]

if you bury it, or just hide it, no matter how well hidden, it is alwayss possible something will find it. Maybe some enemy will find it with independent research and already know where to look for. Maybe someone got serini's diary (which is the case with xykon).
So, while hiding the gate is certainly good, you also need to have a protective layer in case someone finds it anyway. If you bury it underground, then just digging will get to it. If you make a maze around it, the traps and illusions and spells in the maze may prove effective.

EDIT: also, making corridors reaching the gate allowed to patrol it. if you don't, someone may just dig a tunnel underground and reach the gate under your nose.

[Klear]

EDIT: also, making corridors reaching the gate allowed to patrol it. if you don't, someone may just dig a tunnel underground and reach the gate under your nose.

Yeah, I remember reading somewhere how a DnD group relatively safely conquered the Tomb of Horrors with a couple of shovels and several months of work.

[F.Harr]

More than that, really. Most of the surviving Scribblers had the same character flaw, and that was an eagerness to point out the flaws in the others' disciplines while remaining blind to the flaws in their own. It wasn't just preference: it really was a belief that a defense based on illusions and deceptions was infallible.

While we obviously haven't been given a lot of background about the Order of the Scribble, the few snippets we have seen have all pointed in this direction. It is rather amazing that they functioned as a team for so long with such a disrespect for one another's skills. Kraagor's death was clearly the catalyst for bringing deep-rooted problems bubbling up to the surface.


That's probably got a lot to do with it.


Yeah, I remember reading somewhere how a DnD group relatively safely conquered the Tomb of Horrors with a couple of shovels and several months of work.

I hope they got kudoes for that. That's really clever.

[King of Nowhere]

Yeah, I remember reading somewhere how a DnD group relatively safely conquered the Tomb of Horrors with a couple of shovels and several months of work.

Why several months? aren't there several spells to dig faster? The description wasn't clear in my handbook, but i always houseruled that shape stone ccould be used to dig tunnels.
though in the case of digging under girard's pyramid, i would avoid magical means, to reduce the chances of detections.

[Tock Zipporah]

but the gate is already underground from the beginning
http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0900.html
(rift can't move, isn't it?)

The Gate isn't underground. They're in a pyramid. First, the OotS climbed up to the top of the pyramid, then they had to climb down on the inside, getting back down to ground level.

That is also why, during the escape, Roy shouts, "It's a pyramid, we still have to go back DOWN!" (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0898.html)

[Klear]

Why several months? aren't there several spells to dig faster? The description wasn't clear in my handbook, but i always houseruled that shape stone ccould be used to dig tunnels.
though in the case of digging under girard's pyramid, i would avoid magical means, to reduce the chances of detections.

Hmm... I've found the source - TVTropes:


Boring, but Practical: At least one group of adventurers has made it through without a single casualty by having a team of dwarves dig around the traps and obstacles with non-magical mining equipment over the course of several weeks. The writers planned for ethereal travel, melding into stone, magical defenses, teleportation, etc. but never expected an ordinary pickaxe and a group of patient, careful adventurers.

So it was probably just weeks. And I guess spells to make digging faster are not really that useful, as you spend pretty much the same time digging as a player.

[Grey_Wolf_c]

Hmm... I've found the source - TVTropes:

So it was probably just weeks. And I guess spells to make digging faster are not really that useful, as you spend pretty much the same time digging as a player.

It also sounds like throwing in any spells would trigger the traps. Even enchanting the pick axes would've been dangerous.

Girard needed passages because there is such things as fail safes. If the gate enchantments needed maintenance, it's easier if you can get to the silly thing.

Grey Wolf

[F.Harr]

Fewer sunk costs as well.

Also, isn't the gate lower than the surrounding sand? Although, that would be because the pyramid gathered sand around it like sea walls do.

[Snails]

It is implied by the Tale of the Scribble that the magic of a Gate might eventually require repair. Therefore hiding it so perfectly as to never be inspected is daring the Snarl to destroy the entire world starting from inside your secret mountain, in some future century. With no warning whatsoever.

Furthermore, any team potent enough to worry any of the Gate guardians is not going to be stopped by a measly couple thousand feet of solid rock, once they know where to look. Mid-level spellcasters can gain help from creatures that can scout through solid rock, and rapidly whittle the search area down. Rock can be burrowed through. It is time consuming, but actually quite simple.

[Obscure Blade]

It's not just the occasional adventuring party they'd need to worry about. There are entire underground civilizations in D&D settings. Hiding something underground doesn't make it safe, it just means that you can't see them when the drow or dwarves or deep gnomes or whatever sends an expedition to bore its way up to your gate.

[F.Harr]

It's not just the occasional adventuring party they'd need to worry about. There are entire underground civilizations in D&D settings. Hiding something underground doesn't make it safe, it just means that you can't see them when the drow or dwarves or deep gnomes or whatever sends an expedition to bore its way up to your gate.

Also, unless there's a "Summon Mountain" spell, it WON'T be thousands of feet of rock, but hundreds of cubic yards of dirt or, at best, concrete.