Anti scry-and-die countermeasures

[King of Nowhere]

My group just hit 13th level, and we angered a drow organization that has access to several teleportation spells. We were triying to fortify our castle to avoid having drow popping in at the most inconvenient time, but alas, there is virtually nothing that we can find. dimensional lock would be a nifty spell, but it is 8th level. We covered the castle with 3 permanent mages's private sanctum, and we decided we're going to sleep in different rooms every night so they can't know where to teleport, but still it doens't seem much. Is there really no other way to prevent enemies from teleporting in our bedrooms? Especially a permanent one would be nice

[ViperMagnum357]

Forbiddance is the go-to answer, though the expensive components make a good argument for the party shacking up permanently. Make sure to boost the caster level as high as you can, using temporary effects like the Reserves of Strength feat-a high enough caster level can no sell dispel effects, forcing your opponents to work around it. Mage's Private Sanctum no sells scrying, so your opponents have to get within dispel range first to keep an eye on you-that opens up opportunities for traps and guards around your base.

[Deophaun]

Lead lining to prevent scrying (see the scrying subschool description) + a flair for interior decorating to throw off the "reliable description" clause of greater teleport. Then you just need some means of warning when they show up within dimension door range of your fortress.

[flappeercraft]

Teleport does require them to be at least somewhat familiar with the area to be teleported to. Mage's Private Sanctum should work well enough as they would need scrying to be able to even teleport there. The False Vision spell would be rather useful too but it does have an expensive material component. Otherwise considering they're drow work with that, cover the whole thing with very bright light that can be turned on with a command word, a snap or something along those lines.

[Zaq]

Look up Anticipate Teleportation (and the greater version) on pg. 13 of the Spell Compendium. Teleporting into a party's worth of readied actions can put a cramp in the style of most scry-and-die folks. It even lasts 24 hours out of the gate, so you don't even have to Persist it.

[Doctor Awkward]

Permanent Private Sanctum no-sells scrying.

Forbiddance no-sells Greater Teleport, which does not require you to have any prior knowledge of your destination beyond a reasonably reliable second-hand description.

Permanent Alarm (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/alarm.htm) prevents more mundane methods of entry from occurring without your knowledge.

Finally, have everyone sleep in a Rope Trick each night, and maintain a normal watch rotation.

[flappeercraft]

Look up Anticipate Teleportation (and the greater version) on pg. 13 of the Spell Compendium. Teleporting into a party's worth of readied actions can put a cramp in the style of most scry-and-die folks. It even lasts 24 hours out of the gate, so you don't even have to Persist it.

Well yes but the one problem with that is that its an emanation. Essentially it can only cover one room at a time per person. Second problem is that detect magic works through scrying so chances are they will know of those shenanigans.

Detect Scrying and Scry Trap would also be useful against scry n die.

[Deophaun]

Second problem is that detect magic works through scrying so chances are they will know of those shenanigans.
Well, if they're scrying on you in the wilderness, sure. But the OP is asking about their stronghold, which means no scrying due to lead.

[flappeercraft]

Well, if they're scrying on you in the wilderness, sure. But the OP is asking about their stronghold, which means no scrying due to lead.

Well in that case anticipate teleport is useless too. This is because to use teleport
"You must have some clear idea of the location and layout of the destination. The clearer your mental image, the more likely the teleportation works."

If they can't scry inside the castle is because they have already been inside it and at that point that means they can get in without teleportation meaning anticipate teleportation is useless. If they haven't seen the inside they can't teleport in which also makes anticipate teleportation useless.

[Deophaun]

Well in that case anticipate teleport is useless too. This is because to use teleport
A) That was the point of my first post, in addition:
B) Not all teleportation has that restriction (see my remark about dimension door

[flappeercraft]

A) That was the point of my first post, in addition:
B) Not all teleportation has that restriction (see my remark about dimension door

Ah, I thought someone else had replied. I made my counterargument based on that. My mistake.

[denthor]

You can always use guards and wards. This slows everything down gives an alarm an disrupts sight.

Figure out which room they teleport to build some extra walls they would need two or three teleport to be safe. Takes away some 5th level spells. If your evil fill with water harder to cast heavy armor separates them nicely. No casting under water either. Without the right spells first before going.


Wizard lock on the doors.

[Zaq]

Well yes but the one problem with that is that its an emanation. Essentially it can only cover one room at a time per person. Second problem is that detect magic works through scrying so chances are they will know of those shenanigans.

Detect Scrying and Scry Trap would also be useful against scry n die.

Misdirection (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/misdirection.htm) can help the Anticipate spell not be detected. That said, even if they do know about it, they can’t do much about it unless they get close enough that they aren’t doing scry-and-die anymore. Might even be a straight up deterrent.

As far as it being an emanation, as I see it, line of effect cuts both ways. If something blocks LOE to the AT field, that same something blocks LOE to you. So they have to teleport in far enough away that, once again, they aren’t doing scry-and-die.

Eyes to the Sky (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/variant/buildingCharacters/spelltouchedFeats.htm#eyestotheSky) can let you know when you’re being watched.

[Fizban]

I shall link to my post in the thread Emergent Campaign Settings (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?552622-Emergent-Campaign-Settings&p=22892760&viewfull=1#post22892760), wherin I searched up and linked a bunch of details first threads, including a bunch relating to scrying and teleportation. Faster than telling you to just search for all the past threads on the topic yourself. Third paragraph.