what would you do with a flying island?

[Joe dirt]

recently my group just cleared and acquired a floating island from an ancient lost civilization. (floats and moves magically at a rate of 20ft through the air) it also has a small fortress on the island with skeletons we avoided and not cleared

so the question is, what would u do with a floating island, and how would u defend it from someone that has an interest in taking it from u?

we just achieved 6th level so there are many things that could take this from us if they wanted to! we need defense and/or hiding the island.

also i am the wizard of the group, what spells should i take to fortify the island?

[Potato_Priest]

Can the island move, or just float?

Is it floating in the air or on the sea?

Why do you want the island?

[Joe dirt]

Can the island move, or just float?

Is it floating in the air or on the sea?

Why do you want the island?

sorry, i edited the OP, yes the island moves, it can fly through the air at 20 ft in any direction

and the group is adamant they want to keep the island

[Potato_Priest]

Well, it can be hidden from terrestrial beings by parking it half-submerged in the ocean so that it looks like a regular island.

If you’re worried about krakens and such, try to sneak it into a remote mountain lake and park it there. Hopefully the plant species aren’t too mismatched with the surrounding terrain. If they are, you may have to replant the island with native vegetation to keep it hidden. The plant growth spell may come in handy here.

Even if people board the island to visit the castle, as long as they don’t find the control room you guys should be fine.

[Lord8Ball]

I couldn't find any videos on youtube, but I think you should watch Laputa castle in the sky. It has many cool ideas that you can use in your campaign for this floating island.

[Throne12]

How big is this island? I'll talk with the DM about getting people up on it. Get a small farm on it have some tend to the farm. Or you can build a magic Acadame on it. Higher or train wizards to be teachers. Invite magical craftsmen to set up shops there. Then make the only way to get to the island with out flying around looking for it is by using teleportation circles you put up in key places. Like a large trade city that you have a store or warehouse in. Or just turn it into a mobile base of operation. Why put all your gold in a bank were the bank can use it or someone steal it. When you can get a room size safe to hold your gold.

[Temperjoke]

I'd make sure and totally clear the island of enemies first, that reduces some of the danger of internal threats. The problem is, there really isn't a lot of options that you'll have without DM "assistance" as a lot of spells and such are built with limitations on duration and coverage.

General idea for defense would be illusions. If people don't know that it's there, then you don't have to fight them off. Making the island look like clouds when it's flying, for example, would serve to disguise it. A good spell is Mordenkainen's Private Sanctum. It's a 4th level spell, so you won't be able to do it yet, but if you cast it on the same spot every day for a year, it makes the spell permanent.

[Eradis]

If the island really can't stop moving, try to make it go in circle over the ocean. If your settings doesn't have airship, putting it in a tactical place up there would make it near impossible to find it "by accident".

Otherwise, how do you guide that floating island? Control room? Uncontrollable? You could burn everything on the island to make it look unappealing. Let a couple of rock solid open chests laying around on one coast to solidify the thought that the place already has been looted. Personally if I were to stumble upon a floating island with barren soil, clear indication that there is nothing to plunder, as an adventurer I wouldn't really give a second thought about wasting time there. Of course there is the matter of the fortress. Maybe willingly blow up some wall that doesn't lead directly to your key rooms to play its part of the raided decor?

[8wGremlin]

Depending upon size - get a small community up there.
get them to help defend it.

Cast "plant growth" to help make things grow on it.

[Throne12]

Glyph of wardind

[Joe dirt]

If the island really can't stop moving, try to make it go in circle over the ocean. If your settings doesn't have airship, putting it in a tactical place up there would make it near impossible to find it "by accident".

Otherwise, how do you guide that floating island? Control room? Uncontrollable? You could burn everything on the island to make it look unappealing. Let a couple of rock solid open chests laying around on one coast to solidify the thought that the place already has been looted. Personally if I were to stumble upon a floating island with barren soil, clear indication that there is nothing to plunder, as an adventurer I wouldn't really give a second thought about wasting time there. Of course there is the matter of the fortress. Maybe willingly blow up some wall that doesn't lead directly to your key rooms to play its part of the raided decor?

it is controlled via a special chair that offers one a 360 view of the island and allows it to be driven the direction u desire

[Kane0]

Useful Spells:

Alarm
Arcane Lock
Continual Flame
Find Familiar
Glyph of Warding
Magic Mouth
Nystul's Magic Aura

Create Humunculus
Fabricate
Geas
Guards & Wards
Leomund's Secret Chest
Mighty Fortress
Planar Binding
Programmed Illusion
Stone Shape
Symbol
Teleportation Circle
Transmute Rock

- Clear out the island completely
- Set up shop in the most important position (presumably where the controls and/or existing fort are). In the future you will want to dig out a dungeon rather than build up an exposed fortress.
- Get to work building defenses, recruiting aid, stocking supplies and planning strategies to elude or evade potential threats. A lot of the spells above can be very helpful when setting up a dungeon of your own.
- Set up a decoy somewhere if you can to keep potential invaders busy and take attention away from the important parts you want to keep safe (like your dungeon and the island's controls). A village on the island's surface would make for a good start, while also providing a place for your workers to live.
- If you're not afraid of being known you can set up your island to be a fantastic source of trade. You could transport loads of cargo over land and sea at negligible cost and also serve as a mobile trade hub for other travellers. Make yourself (and the island) more valuable as an ally than as an asset to be taken.

[SociopathFriend]

Last 3 panels pretty much sums it up.

https://memestatic.fjcdn.com/pictures/8_0b4da5_6320694.jpg

[Bohandas]

kinetic bombardment, like in Gulliver's Travels

[krugaan]

Is the party evil?

Hold cities hostage!

[Foxhound438]

Why put all your gold in a bank were the bank can use it or someone steal it. When you can get a room size safe to hold your gold.

this is exactly what's wrong with the fantasy 1%. If they put it into a bank it could at least be reinvested into the world's economy

[krugaan]

this is exactly what's wrong with the fantasy 1%. If they put it into a bank it could at least be reinvested into the world's economy

Lies. Off-realm tax havens like Mechanus and Sigil abound.

[DMfromTheAbyss]

'it is controlled via a special chair that offers one a 360 view of the island and allows it to be driven the direction u desire'

It's got a helm... it might be a spelljammer.

Use it as a mobile base, store your followers and off duty characters there.

Build it into a fortress with lots of Catapults and ballista and make odd comments about people from the planet as groundlings.

But first make sure it's not inhabited by undead, monsters etc.

Also make sure it isn't a giant Manta ray under all the dirt.

http://www.belloflostsouls.net/2017/01/realm-guide-spelljammer.html

[Eradis]

Use it as a mobile base, store your followers and off duty characters there.

Build it into a fortress with lots of Catapults and ballista and make odd comments about people from the planet as groundlings.

That's a pretty good way to use it as an excuse for when a player can't make it to the game session, "he'll be working on the island".

Otherwise, if the island can land, it can be a good way to impose your dominance over territories. Death from above, then land on whichever won't damage your island too much. That or transform the fortress into a merchant hall to sell your adventure's treasures and travels as Meliodas would with his Inn on a Boar in 7 Deadly Sins.

[Aett_Thorn]

1) Form an alliance with a well-suited established kingdom (if this is FR, someplace like Waterdeep or Neverwinter).

2) Promise a trading and defense partnership with those cities, and in exchange, you'll give their homeless/poor population a new home on the floating island. Eventually, you'll have a stable population that will be willing to help you defend it.

3) Profit, and know that you're being kept safe by the reputation of your partner city until you can go out on your own.



Or,

1) Park it over a place like Longsaddle in the Forgotten Realms, and take advantage of the fact that nobody messes with those guys because they're completely off their rockers.

[mer.c]

I would probably deceive its sole inhabitant/guardian into believing my archnemesis is coming to the island to steal its secrets, and then work out a scheme to steal the immense gem that is its power source.