Wards and Protections

[Palanan]

Apart from the basic Alarm spell, what other options are there for securing an area, or at least becoming aware when something crosses a boundary? I’m looking for anything that could help protect a small cottage in the forest.

Ideally I’d like wards like we see in Part 1 of Deathly Hallows, which extend a thousand feet or more around the Weasley homestead—but if that’s not feasible, a hundred-foot radius should suffice. I’m open to all official Paizo content, and anything from 3.5 if it comes to mind.

[Geddy2112]

The spell guards and wards (http://paizo.com/pathfinderRPG/prd/coreRulebook/spells/guardsAndWards.html) is probably your best bet for protection of a standing structure. If you can, you are better off creating your own demiplane or mages magical mansion.

[Palanan]

Okay, thanks. Sadly that’s much higher-level than will work for me; I was hoping for something that could be usable at lower levels.

The Alarm spell as written is fairly dinky, intended to guard a campsite or side chamber while adventurers sleep. That’s fine for them, but it stands to reason someone would have developed a version to protect isolated homes.

[Geddy2112]

Another option would be a glyph of warding (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/magic/all-spells/g/glyph-of-warding#TOC-Glyph-of-Warding-Greater)which can be placed in an area 5ft per caster level. Expensive, but if you were warding a house or permanent structure it is a permanent effect. being able to store any spell 3rd or lower, or 6th or lower for the greater version is pretty nice.

I agree there should be some other perimeter guard slightly stronger than alarm but not to the level of a demiplane defense.

There are some illusions that help, like hide campsite, but those are still small ranged. Tiny hut is also too small. You could use village veil or mirage arcana to hide it, which has plenty of range, but probably again too high of a caster level.

[Palanan]

Yeah, Village Veil is still too high of a level, and also fairly specialized. Glyph of Warding is a possibility, but it might require frequent recharging depending on visitors, which could get expensive.

Right now I’m thinking of a custom Alarm spell which requires a longer casting time (say 10 minutes) and some sort of special component, in exchange for a wider radius and 24-hour duration. That fits both my in-game needs as well as the folklore I’m drawing from.