Teleporting/Portable Necromancer's Dungeon?

[Cirrylius]

Or: Drawmij's Instant Dungeon

I'm currently playing a really high-level Evil campaign with a really high-level Loremaster/Spookymancer with a bit of a Mengele M.O. (think Herbert West + Johnny Depp's Ichabod Crane + Raistlin Majere). Our endgame is slowly rising into sight, and all the players are considering whether we should take the bait and crush the world with an iron fist, or do something else.

This is one of my hypothetical "something else"s.

I wanna make Dungeons:smallbiggrin:

Specifically, I want to be able to plop a big ol' preformed dungeon in the middle of isolated provincial territory, juuust close enough to a small settlement to probe it and decide whether to strip mine it for commercial and biological resources (for "research"), or to lay low and let base Animated Dead wander around to draw adventurers who'll beta-test my stuff before being captured and used to make drugs. If it draws too much attention, the whole thing folds up and disappears.

My character is currently helping to fund a pirate nation's development, so current resources are limited to around 1 million.

The Stronghold Builder's Guide gets me a Teleporting structure no problem, and since our games are barely mid-op the DM would probably just give me an enslaved Efreet rather than listen to me explain new rules. I'm more asking about logical considerations, or alternate designs that execute the plan more elegantly, or, failing that, fun ways to troll tiny communities, I guess.

The character wants to retain some second-hand distance or plausible deniability whenever possible- he lives the healthy caution of a man who has seen with his own eyes the hell to which he will go if he dies.

[Necroticplague]

Enveloping pits are pretty big storage spaces. Big enough that you could build entire building complexes by simply putting some inside of each other. Admittingly, it would be a structure formed entirely of 50x10x10 ft hallways, but still. And when you need to move it, you just pick up the outmost Pit, and carry the thing with you. Enveloping Pits are relatively cheap, too, at only 3600 GP a pop. And since the whole things extradimensional, it has the advantage of not having to worry about physical space around it, so you can put it wherever you want.

[DrMotives]

Enveloping pits are pretty big storage spaces. Big enough that you could build entire building complexes by simply putting some inside of each other. Admittingly, it would be a structure formed entirely of 50x10x10 ft hallways, but still. And when you need to move it, you just pick up the outmost Pit, and carry the thing with you. Enveloping Pits are relatively cheap, too, at only 3600 GP a pop. And since the whole things extradimensional, it has the advantage of not having to worry about physical space around it, so you can put it wherever you want.

You can't put an extradimensional space inside another one. But you could build a really big ED space, with an increased cost.

[Gildedragon]

Craft a dungeon somewhere; personal demiplane works just fine.
Create a Moving Portal (http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/pg/20030611a) and voila; plonk the gate wherever, and pick it up and take it elsewhere when you need to.

[ATHATH]

Maybe you could build it around Bigby's Tomb?

Idea for village trolling: Sell (through a Dominated salesman who you've Dominated without revealing yourself to) them Catoblepas(es?), and say (truthfully) that they are domestic farm animals (they look like fat pigs with long, spindly necks) that can produce Death Cheese (which isn't actually harmful to consume, despite the name). "Forget" to tell them that Catoblepi (I honestly don't know the plural form) turn carnivorous under the full moon or that they can shoot Death Rays from their eyes.

[Necroticplague]

You can't put an extradimensional space inside another one. But you could build a really big ED space, with an increased cost.

Where's that spelled out? The only extradimensional problems I know of is the Bag Of Holding-Portable Hole interaction. Nothing that restricts an extradimensional space inside another one.

[DrMotives]

Where's that spelled out? The only extradimensional problems I know of is the Bag Of Holding-Portable Hole interaction. Nothing that restricts an extradimensional space inside another one.

That's a specific case of the general rule. It's not those 2 that have a weird reaction, it's all ED spaces don't play nice together. Been like that since 1st Edition. This isn't going to be like that "undead aren't harmed by positive energy, with the exception of literally every instance of positive energy that explicitly harms them" thread again, is it?

[Bayar]

That's a specific case of the general rule. It's not those 2 that have a weird reaction, it's all ED spaces don't play nice together. Been like that since 1st Edition. This isn't going to be like that "undead aren't harmed by positive energy, with the exception of literally every instance of positive energy that explicitly harms them" thread again, is it?

Citation needed. Just because it's been like that in previous editions doesn't mean that it's the same in 3.5 and unless there are rules apart from the Bag of Holding + Portable Hole rule, then it shouldn't be a problem combining Enveloping Pits.

[Cirrylius]

Enveloping pits

Create a Moving Portal
While I might have to... grind this up a little for the DM to swallow, those are both exactly what I had in mind. Thanks:smallsmile:



Idea for village trolling: Sell them Catoblepas(es?)
That's not exactly in theme for this character, but I will see this become an story at some point or I will die trying.:smallbiggrin:

This is more of a Tall Man or Brainiac or Phyrexian predation. The character wants to pick any little bits of local history or opportunities for learning out of each attack. My first thought was a tiny, isolated community used as a study for the infectious growth of Mummy Rot, once all their combatants had wandered off into the grinder. My second thought was leaving undead to tend different types of crops on different types of mass graves, for fertilizer, and I hurried back to the first thought.

...in retrospect perhaps the word 'trolling' was a bit low-key.


That's a specific case of the general rule. It's not those 2 that have a weird reaction, it's all ED spaces don't play nice together. Been like that since 1st Edition.
I couldn't give citation, but I seem to recall it being limited to those two particular items in AD&D, too. Been too long to recall off the top of my head.

[ATHATH]

You could always just make Liquid Pain (or Ambrosia, if you use those pain to happiness clamps) out of them. A repeating trap of Wrack helps.

Does the village have to be a humanoid one? You could try to create the Emerald Legion, if you wanted to.

Ooh, bring some of that dust stuff from the Red Coast (the place with the Red Curse; I believe that it was statted for 3.5 in a Dragon article somewhere), expose the villagers to it, and see what abilities they develop!

You could set up next to a Koboldish village and subject all of the villagers there to the (normal) Draconic Rite of Passage (I don't think that they'll have enough HD for the Greater one) and see what SLA's they develop. To determine the SLA's, use dndtools's search feature to show you only 1st level Sorcerer spell. Then, use a random number generator to select each villager's SLA. There will be some weight given to reprinted spells (due to them appearing on the list multiple times), but that could be part of the fluff- some abilities are more common than others.

[MisterKaws]

You can't put an extradimensional space inside another one. But you could build a really big ED space, with an increased cost.

That's an Old-school D&D/PF rule; D&D 3e and upwards has nothing forbidding it, at least not that I know, and I read a lot of stuff on extradimentional shenanigans, so I think I'd have noticed it.

[ATHATH]

Ooh, how do you feel about transforming innocent villagers into completely loyal, frenzying killing machines that rip apart your foes with their teeth?

Take a normal villager. Use the Ordained Champion PrC's ability to channel spells through its strikes (or some other way to get the effects of a spell with a range of Personal onto someone else) to cast Aspect of the a Wolf on the villager. Then, cast Create Frenzy Dog (http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/archfr/mb) on him (he's an Animal, he's a 1HD, "normal" villager, and Aspect of the Wolf doesn't technically make him a Wolf, so he should be eligible to receive the spell). He should keep the benefits of the template when he transforms back.

With some Persisted, Extended Aspect of the Wolf spells, you might be able to train some of the villagers as Warbeasts to further improve their stats.

If you want to take this even further, use Planar Familiar Familiar trick (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?484493-Fun-With-Planar-Familiar&p=20652109#post20652109) to add four more templates to them.

If you set up in a certain region(s), you can give your new monsters the Troll-Blooded feat via Psychic Reformation. Now they can only be killed (via HP damage) with fire or acid!

You can even combine this plan with my Draconic Rite of Passage plan! You might have to give the Kobolds flaws if you want them to have the Troll-Blooded feat, though...

[ATHATH]

Also, if you need something to do with the children, the Blooded One template says "Hi.". You can apply it to non-humanoids (like Kobolds) if you want by Psychic Reformation-ing on the Humanoid Heritage feat onto them (I recommend Psychic-Reforming it off later so that you can do some of my other ideas and/or replace it with a better feat).

[Cirrylius]

You could always just make Liquid Pain
Already on this one :)



Does the village have to be a humanoid one? You could try to create the Emerald Legion, if you wanted to.

Monstrous humanoids are less common and trickier to find than the core PC races, for us. Mostly humans, with a smattering of dwarves and a nation of xenophobic elves.


bring some of that dust stuff from the Red Coast (the place with the Red Curse), expose the villagers to it, and see what abilities they develop!

Mmm. Mutagens :)


Ooh, how do you feel about transforming innocent villagers into completely loyal, frenzying killing machines that rip apart your foes with their teeth?

I think it might be simpler to experiment with lycanthropy and lobotomies than execute with the specifics of this plan, for my group.



If you set up in a certain region(s), you can give your new monsters the Troll-Blooded feat via Psychic Reformation. Now they can only be killed (via HP damage) with fire or acid!

No psionics in our campaign, but thanks for reminding me of the Regional feats. Those might go good on m'followers.

[Cirrylius]

You could always just make Liquid Pain
Already on this one :)



Does the village have to be a humanoid one? You could try to create the Emerald Legion, if you wanted to.

Monstrous humanoids are less common and trickier to find than the core PC races, for us. Mostly humans, with a smattering of dwarves and a nation of xenophobic elves.


bring some of that dust stuff from the Red Coast (the place with the Red Curse), expose the villagers to it, and see what abilities they develop!

Mmm. Mutagens :)


Ooh, how do you feel about transforming innocent villagers into completely loyal, frenzying killing machines that rip apart your foes with their teeth?

I think it might be simpler to experiment with lycanthropy and lobotomies than execute with the specifics of this plan, for my group.


Also, if you need something to do with the children, the Blooded One template says "Hi.".

Now that's the kind of vicious bastardry I'm talking about!

[ATHATH]

If you don't have access to Psychic Reformation, I recommend turning some villagers into Cursts, which are nearly as unkillable as Troll-Blooded creatures. If you use Pazuzu as the alignment-changing part of the Planar Companion trick, you might be able to use the Wishes granted by him for the Curst creation process (if you can somehow make a villager an "evil spellcaster" with access to Remove Curse (a scroll, perhaps?)).

On page 18 or so of Lords of Madness, there are three rituals dedicated to Cyric. They require CON loss to use, but are permanent, don't cost feats or class levels, and are cheap. I recommend subjecting villagers who you plan to turn into Cursts to all three of those rituals before Curst-ing them. IIRC, one gives a bonus to Bluff, Diplomacy, and Intimidation, another gives the ability to fire negative energy rays from your hands, and the last one grants the Shadow-Walker template, which give quite a few SLA's (including Dimension Door).

If you ever get a hankering for intelligent, loyal magic items, try casting Charm Person on a villager and then casting Nybor's Psychic Imprint (http://archive.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/mb/20041215a) on it. If the villager has sub-par mental ability scores, you might even be able to get away with using a worthless gem for the spell.