Building a Stronghold!

[XnOs]

Hello beloved Giants! :)

I've recently finished the scenario "Aberrations" with my current group, and we have gotten an absurd amount of gold.

Using it all on Magic Items, to become incredibly strong, is VERY tempting. But it is not what my character would do. (Eldritch Disciple with Walk unseen and Focused on Healing)

I spoke with my DM, and I was allowed to buy the Mathen Mansion, and I've also become landlord of the surrounding lands.

So far I have invested in:

Materials:
Fancy Door, iron + Sigil 700
Amazing lock for Fancy Door 150
Reconstruction materials 1000
Barracks 400
Bath, basic – ved Barracks 400
Shrine Repurpose – Chapel Basis 1000
Training Area – Combat 1000


Hirelings
Cook
Laborer – Gartner
Maid
Maid
Laborer – Grounds Keeper
Animal Tender
Butler
Cleric (Book keeper)
Apprentice spellcaster Cleric
Gaurd – Archer
Gaurd – Archer
Gaurd – Gaurd
Gaurd – Gaurd
Gaurd – Gaurd
Gaurd – Gaurd
Gaurd – Skrimisher
Gaurd- Infantry – Heavy
Gaurd- Infantry – Heavy
Officer Military


Animals for the stables:
Chicken x 20
pig x 8
goat x 10
cow x 4
6 Horse, light


There is a dungeon under the Mansion, and my plans are to put a library, and a vault for my magic findings. :-)

Permanent magic I've considered using:

Greater Glyph of Warding
Plant Growth
Wall of Iron
Improved Arcane Lock
Continual Flame
Bless
Explosive Runes
Hallow - Bless

There is a passage from the mansion to the dungeon, and my plans are to fill the passage up with Iron/Stone wall and then use the spell PassWall.

Or maybe, being the only one knowing there is a vault down there, i could simply use Dimension door?

I Have also searched for a way to communicate to the people who takes care of my Stronghold, while i am on an adventure. When i get Teleport, I can teleport my party members to the Stronghold at night, where we can sleep safely and with all the comport we could wish for.


As landlord I have to collect taxes from the Citizens, and pay a part of it to the king. I have considered keeping the taxes fairly low, to get people to move to the area. Maybe even build some simple houses, where farmers could move to.

Do you guys have any thoughts on my ideas/thoughtprocess? :)
Also any comments are appreciated.

Have a lovely day Giants! Kind regards , Xnos.

[Demonic_Spoon]

Oh god. A actual immobile stronghold. I am speechless, please give me a moment to compose myself.

...

Okay got it. I suggest checking out the Stronghold Builder's Guidebook, the goto book for this kind of stuff. It is fairly comprehensive and just good overall. You might find the landlord feat useful.

That said, the "standard" pc stronghold is a mobile two room impregnable block of obdurium that has all the important stuff in extradimensional space, to completely prevent any chance of gaining physical access the normal way. Then all you have to worry about it is teleportation, which is relatively easily blocked by a weirdstone, except for the annoying wishport.

Advice specific to your situation:

*Leadline the walls to prevent scrying. Cheap, and who wants children anyway?
*I like using living metal with various buffs(pure ore, oerthblooded, magical treatment, hardening, aurorum, rust immunity) as my go-to construction material, but that might be outside your budget. So just get a Lyre of Building
*Glowing Orbs are strictly superior to Continual Flames. As is alchemical sunlight. That is to say, both are vastly cheaper.
*If you're considering a Hallow effect, keying it to Dimension Lock is probably a better choice.
*If I have to use a mount, I prefer constructs. Never tire and last indefinitely.
*Again, I prefer construct servants, since they don't need pay, but whatever.
*Enrichment plant growth and some water purification, settlement lighting(continual flame etc), and disease prevention and disease curing will net quite a influx of people if you manage to set it up.

[XnOs]

*Leadline the walls to prevent scrying. Cheap, and who wants children anyway?
*I like using living metal with various buffs(pure ore, oerthblooded, magical treatment, hardening, aurorum, rust immunity) as my go-to construction material, but that might be outside your budget. So just get a Lyre of Building
*Glowing Orbs are strictly superior to Continual Flames. As is alchemical sunlight. That is to say, both are vastly cheaper.
*If you're considering a Hallow effect, keying it to Dimension Lock is probably a better choice.
*If I have to use a mount, I prefer constructs. Never tire and last indefinitely.
*Again, I prefer construct servants, since they don't need pay, but whatever.
*Enrichment plant growth and some water purification, settlement lighting(continual flame etc), and disease prevention and disease curing will net quite a influx of people if you manage to set it up.


I had no idea that Lead Lining would prevent Scrying! Thanks for that advice. :)

I have no experience, nor knowledge of living metal with various buffs, but i will look into that for sure! :)

I'm not going to use constructs, but the price argument is very convincing. I like the idea of having to pay servants.

There is a table that purifies consumables eaten at it, And I've considered buying one or two of those to my Mansion/Barracks.

Thank you for your feedback! :)

[Red Fel]

First, look at what it means to be a landlord. Are you collecting taxes? Can you demand action from the people on the surrounding lands, or merely take money once a season?

Next, tell me about the surrounding region. Is it a lush countryside? A rich farmland? A rocky hillscape? A barren desert? What resources are we looking at, here?

Now, let's look at your power level. Can you get into the ethereal plane safely and continuously? Can you take others with you? What level spells are you able to pull off?

Now, onto various suggestions, starting from the most practical.

1: You have a fixed stronghold. Make it strong. Use local resources to accomplish two goals. First, build a trade industry. If you have trees, make lumber and wood-based goods. If you have stones, build a quarry. Metals, start up a smithy. And so forth. Second, use a portion of your local resources to reinforce your stronghold. Double-layering your walls allows you to resist spells which destroy a solid block of material. Using metal as well as stone can improve your structure's resilience. And so forth.

2: Now you want to prepare to defend it. You have guardsmen; that's good. Are the locals a militia? Are they trained? Are they loyal? Bring them glory, wealth, and industry, and they will adore you. Have your loving followers train as a militia and they will fight for you. You have a bookkeeper cleric - have him train an apprentice to become a quartermaster. You have a spellcaster cleric - have him train some novices to learn to cast spells. You have guardsmen - have them train the militia in combat. Be prepared.

3: Now that you've prepared the stronghold for mundane combat, it's time to take more magical steps. Build an exact duplicate of your castle in the ethereal plane. This will prevent things from just popping in ethereal. Take steps to ward against teleportation. Maybe mount some spellcannons or what-have-you on the walls. As Spoon suggested, the Stronghold Builder's Guidebook will be your source for what you need here. Once you have an economy, a citizenry and an army, you need to turn your stronghold into something worth holding.

[XnOs]

First, look at what it means to be a landlord. Are you collecting taxes? Can you demand action from the people on the surrounding lands, or merely take money once a season?

Next, tell me about the surrounding region. Is it a lush countryside? A rich farmland? A rocky hillscape? A barren desert? What resources are we looking at, here?

Now, let's look at your power level. Can you get into the ethereal plane safely and continuously? Can you take others with you? What level spells are you able to pull off?

Now, onto various suggestions, starting from the most practical.

1: You have a fixed stronghold. Make it strong. Use local resources to accomplish two goals. First, build a trade industry. If you have trees, make lumber and wood-based goods. If you have stones, build a quarry. Metals, start up a smithy. And so forth. Second, use a portion of your local resources to reinforce your stronghold. Double-layering your walls allows you to resist spells which destroy a solid block of material. Using metal as well as stone can improve your structure's resilience. And so forth.

2: Now you want to prepare to defend it. You have guardsmen; that's good. Are the locals a militia? Are they trained? Are they loyal? Bring them glory, wealth, and industry, and they will adore you. Have your loving followers train as a militia and they will fight for you. You have a bookkeeper cleric - have him train an apprentice to become a quartermaster. You have a spellcaster cleric - have him train some novices to learn to cast spells. You have guardsmen - have them train the militia in combat. Be prepared.

3: Now that you've prepared the stronghold for mundane combat, it's time to take more magical steps. Build an exact duplicate of your castle in the ethereal plane. This will prevent things from just popping in ethereal. Take steps to ward against teleportation. Maybe mount some spellcannons or what-have-you on the walls. As Spoon suggested, the Stronghold Builder's Guidebook will be your source for what you need here. Once you have an economy, a citizenry and an army, you need to turn your stronghold into something worth holding.

Being a landlord includes, in this case, that i control the land. The people are free, and they only pay to live on the land i own. As far as i know! I bought this land in the end of our last session, and therefor i haven't discussed it too much with my DM. :)

The surrounding region is definitely farm-able. When the scenario started, the city was evacuated, and therefor there is very few people living in the region. But i HOPE that more will come, and with low taxes and a nice landlord, maybe the city will grow and prosper.

Power level:

I can NOT get into the ethereal plane safely and continuously. And I am a Caster level 8 Cleric. So it's not too impressive. But I do have the funds to get get a lot done. I have bought the above mentioned, and I have 48k Gold to spare.

Thanks for your comment! :)

I am aware that my mansion may not be the strongest when it comes to the defense, but my plan is to strengthen it, as the game processes.

Note: I will be going to bed approximately 20 minutes. I will, however, come back tomorrow and look at, and comment on all the comments in here.

Kind Regards - Xnos. :)

[jedipotter]

Communication: A Figurines of Wondrous Power(silver raven) works, or a Bird Feather Token as it is super cheap. The spells Animal Messenger and ClairAudience/ClairSentience and Sending and Dream.


There are all sorts of protections you can use, if you like. And all sorts of magic items you could buy. Depending on what you'd waht.

[holywhippet]

I had no idea that Lead Lining would prevent Scrying! Thanks for that advice. :)


I don't think that actually works. Lead lining will block just about any spell that starts with word detect but scrying is a different type of magic since it isn't line of sight based.

[asnys]

I don't think that actually works. Lead lining will block just about any spell that starts with word detect but scrying is a different type of magic since it isn't line of sight based.

It's in the description of the [scrying] descriptor (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/magicOverview/spellDescriptions.htm#scrying) in the SRD.

[ddude987]

If you want it truly impenetrable there is the old tippy trick of making the walls out of level 20 spell to power/10 factotum ice assassins. I would at least use that for a room to hold your treasure/loot/bar wenches?.

[XnOs]

Communication: A Figurines of Wondrous Power(silver raven) works, or a Bird Feather Token as it is super cheap. The spells Animal Messenger and ClairAudience/ClairSentience and Sending and Dream.


There are all sorts of protections you can use, if you like. And all sorts of magic items you could buy. Depending on what you'd waht.

Communication is very important to me! :)

Where can i find this Figurine? :) *Edit* I found it! :)

Also, I'd really love it, if i could Implant a Communication mechanism into a ring.
The ring would have the seal of my "Brotherhood of Serenity" which is a sort of guild i want to start. It opens up for a lot of RP.

This ring would be handed out to Allies we meet along the way, and it would also work as a communication device for me to communicate to the people I've left in charge in my city.

[SethoMarkus]

Not sure how relevant this is, but this link (http://community.wizards.com/forum/previous-editions-character-optimization/threads/1128391) might be useful.

Even if you don't go for the full effect, it has many suggestions for defense and utility.

[XnOs]

Not sure how relevant this is, but this link (http://community.wizards.com/forum/previous-editions-character-optimization/threads/1128391) might be useful.

Even if you don't go for the full effect, it has many suggestions for defense and utility.

That is a nice link you've got there! :) Thanks for sharing!

[LordAsreil]

There are a bunch of things you can do to keep the costs of building down. The lyre of building as previously mentioned is a good one especially if you can get a DM to make one that runs off a Spellcraft check. There are also a bunch of spells like rock to mud (magical cement when reversed) and stone shape that can reduce cost.