Force Projection Round 2

[kalos72]

So my group wants to build way stations along the major trading routes in their area, FR The North.

Resources are not an issue overall.

We were going to build a tower every 10 miles or some, station some troops with maybe a blacksmith/carpenter, store food of course that type of thing. Patrols would work up and down the route from these waystations.

Then they thought about adding street lights? Maybe Adamantine poles with some continual light spell on them? That sounds really boring, anyone have some thoughts?

Also the idea about making the light posts "hallow" or something? Maybe Prot from Evil 10' or something?

The road would be rebuilt as well of course.


Any cool "flash" here is appreciated...

[Nifft]

I would encourage them to deploy adamantine poles for street lamps.

Then I'd steal the poles and sell them.

That'd be a lot of dosh.

[Lazymancer]

Let me get this straight.

Your players are making street lights for the road that would go on for (apparently) hundreds of miles through some godforsaken frozen wasteland, in a faux medieval setting, where streets of actual cities often don't have any street lights, and make poles out of adamantine - which is supposed to be super-rare mineral (blood of dead gods, and so on)?

Did I miss anything?

[kalos72]

Ok well, then say I make them part of the stone road?

I am thinking about a map on the wall with a bunch of dots that show the status of the lights along the route so I can see ones that are out or missing and perhaps ones being attacked?

What about good effects to place on the road? Maybe hallow on each light?

[Nifft]

Just make teleport circles to link the places you like.

Ignore roads.

[Lazymancer]

Can you tell me why they don't want to make a permanencied Teleportation Circle - or simple portal?

[kalos72]

Let me get this straight.

Your players are making street lights for the road that would go on for (apparently) hundreds of miles through some godforsaken frozen wasteland, in a faux medieval setting, where streets of actual cities often don't have any street lights, and make poles out of adamantine - which is supposed to be super-rare mineral (blood of dead gods, and so on)?

Did I miss anything?

I was looking for something that couldn't get chopped off and carried away, so I was going with super tough. If I stone meld them to the road that might work...maybe make them look like minature dragons and the light is coming from their mouth?

Again flare and pizazz as well as positive effects are appreciated.... :)

[kalos72]

Just make teleport circles to link the places you like.

Ignore roads.

I dont control all the cities in the area yet. The thought was if I improved the trade routes, kept them secure and made it easier for the locals I would earn their gratitude and the like.

In my cities, I use teleportation circles or more specifically Psionic Portals.

[Nifft]

I dont control all the cities in the area yet. The thought was if I improved the trade routes, kept them secure and made it easier for the locals I would earn their gratitude and the like.

In my cities, I use teleportation circles or more specifically Psionic Portals.

You don't need to control the whole city, you just need to own a building in each city -- or a piece of land outside the city, near the gate.

[Lazymancer]

I was looking for something that couldn't get chopped off and carried away,
Adamantine would get carried away with the whole road. It's like trying to make poles out of diamonds. High-quality diamonds.


so I was going with super tough.
I'd suggest using high-CL Hardening, if you absolutely must to do something this ... extravagant. 24 CL is enough to make stone slab (2x10x12 ft.) as hard as adamantine. Fuse it together, and regular peasants wont be able to steal bits of your indestructible road.

Casters are another story, of course.

[kalos72]

Again the idea is to win the minds/hearts of the locals by keeping the roads safe and well maintained.

Now I could offer use of the TP to the city but then it becomes very well known I have a TP network...

I do have a anonymous merchant in each city, I could us that as a base for the TP and just over delivery services maybe?

But again, that really won't address keeping he roads safe and having a force to react with should there be orcs or something to contend with - force projection.

[Nifft]

Again the idea is to win the minds/hearts of the locals by keeping the roads safe and well maintained.

Now I could offer use of the TP to the city but then it becomes very well known I have a TP network... So wait...

Training and maintaining a mercenary army to "keep the roads safe" is somehow less threatening than owning a Teleport Circle network?

[kalos72]

Good point but I would say that yes having a TP network in your city, would be more concerning than the fact another city wants to foot the bill to build, maintain and secure the trade routes.

[rel]

Adamantine seems like a bad idea. It is valuable enough that the powerful might come to loot it.
Basically, if your lamp post is valuable someone with actual levels will steal it.
If your lamp post is portable then peasants will loot it as acheap source of light.

You want something cheap enough for the powerful to not bother with it and awkward enough to keep the weak at bay.

I suggest big stone markers.
Big enough that just moving them is a major undertaking. Hard enough that trying to quarry the stone is a lot of effort.

Give them all a uniform shape, add some engraved art or messages, maybe a carving at the top where it is hard to reach then enchant them with the spells you want.

As an added benefit making the physical markers is a good public works project.

[daremetoidareyo]

Adamantine seems like a bad idea. It is valuable enough that the powerful might come to loot it.
Basically, if your lamp post is valuable someone with actual levels will steal it.
If your lamp post is portable then peasants will loot it as acheap source of light.

You want something cheap enough for the powerful to not bother with it and awkward enough to keep the weak at bay.

I suggest big stone markers.
Big enough that just moving them is a major undertaking. Hard enough that trying to quarry the stone is a lot of effort.

Give them all a uniform shape, add some engraved art or messages, maybe a carving at the top where it is hard to reach then enchant them with the spells you want.

As an added benefit making the physical markers is a good public works project.

In complete mage There are rules about using architecture to store spells. If one of you has leadership, having a bunch of low-level magic user stationed with the ability to prepare spells from your slabs would go a long ways towards getting you those desired spells. And then you just have those Mages quarters be near those slabs with alarm spells cast on the stones

[kalos72]

One idea that has come up is to us a fabricate trap on 5x5x10 granite stone blocks, lay them in place and then use stone metamorphosis to "meld the stones together into one large slab. I would do the same thing with the post, or possible dragon carving?, meld it into the greater slab.

Then use a continuous light spell or something on the dragon carving. Any better spells for this purpose?

I could then "hallow" the dragon carving as well, perhaps a magic mouth for an alarm?

Hello, I could use a small golem in place every couple torches to act as an alarm or defence mechanism?

[Inevitability]

You could at least just create heavily fortified teleport stations a day's travel away from cities or something and have the merchants journey between those. Cuts down travel time to two days, no matter the destination, and should be out far enough for cities to not be concerned.

[Nifft]

You could at least just create heavily fortified teleport stations a day's travel away from cities or something and have the merchants journey between those. Cuts down travel time to two days, no matter the destination, and should be out far enough for cities to not be concerned.

Within a year, a new town has grown up around each teleport station.

[Lapak]

If you want light posts that:
- impress everyone
- cannot be easily stolen, and in fact will probably cost more to ‘steal’ than it is worth

And resources are no object?

Make a bunch of stone golems, hand each one a torch with Continual Flame, and tell them to stand right HERE forever, moving only when necessary to defend themselves and then immediately taking up their post again (pun sort of intended.)

[Lapak]

Ah, I see the idea had already come up. But still!

[Nifft]

If you want light posts that:
- impress everyone
- cannot be easily stolen, and in fact will probably cost more to ‘steal’ than it is worth

And resources are no object?

... then summon Lantern Archons.

Don't build anything.

[kalos72]

... then summon Lantern Archons.

Don't build anything.

I could just sim a lantern archon and use them as the lights instead...

Although the TP building one mile out of town does have a plus side, I would be creating more communities, loyal to me in The North.

[Zancloufer]

Going to second the large stone makers.

Also the Lantern Archons.

Actually Both. Lantern Archon has Continual Flame as an at will SLA. Cast it on a bunch of heavy partially buried rocks. No real value to them and too unwieldy to use as portal torches so no one will steal them.

[Inevitability]

Actually Both. Lantern Archon has Continual Flame as an at will SLA. Cast it on a bunch of heavy partially buried rocks. No real value to them and too unwieldy to use as portal torches so no one will steal them.

This. You won't have to worry about weather, or vandals, or keeping the flame going, because the spell takes care of everything. Nothing short of an angry water elemental is going to destroy more than a tiny number of lights at once, and even then relatively large amounts of resources have to be used for relatively little gain.

[kalos72]

Any suggestions on other spell effect that would be useful for this road network? Hallow was being discussed last night...

I was also going to put waystations every 10 miles, something like a tower with stables/smith and carpenter maybe to help the traveling merchants.

I am trying to secure as large a swath of land as I can. hence the "force projection" piece...