PDA

View Full Version : underground secret base; pros and cons



King of Nowhere
2019-04-03, 10:35 AM
A while ago, my party received a castle as part of a reward. we decided to set it up as a base. We spent some money to cover most of it with mage's private sanctum, and forbiddance will come next.
Even then, though, nothing would stop our enemies from teleporting outside of the castle and storming in. If we are in there, we barely gain enough time to wake up. If we are away, we can say goodbye to all of our property that we don't carry on ourselves.

I got an idea to use instead a base deep underground, only reachable by teleportation.

The idea is that my character, who acquired the capacity to become an earth elemental and use earth glide, would use it to reach a place deep underground, while carrying the wizard in a bag of holding. then the wizard would proceed to dig a small cave with disintegrate. That small cave would be covered with a single use of private sanctum, and the walls covered in a sheet of lead and a thick amount of iron.

the idea is that nobody knows where we are. in fact, as far as everyone is concerned, we're still using the castle. but even if it becomes known that we have a secret underground base accessed by teleport, good luck finding it. You only have some 5 millions square kilometers to search.
Another pros would be greater consistency with the party newest entry. Recently we admitted a new player, while an old player changed character. While the newcomers got some solid reason to join the party, it's a bit of a stretch to assume that we'd admit them to our inner sanctum immediately. BUt if we have that underground base, we can do it all right. after all, even if they leave the party and betray us, they have no idea where the hideout is. only me and the wizard know its location, and we can keep it secret, so it would be easier to justify admitting strangers to it.

it would need a source of air, but luckily we got a bottle of fresh air early on as a random treasure, that side is covered. other necessities concerning exchange of matter can be solved with a bucket that will be dumped anytime one goes out. Or, heck, by disintegrating the refuse.

there are two problems, though.
first, there is the risk of underground mmonsters. Those with tremorsense should sense us, and may come investigate. the thick iron wall is there so they take a while, and make some noise, to breack through it, giving us time to prepare. But if we are not there, a random monster may still ruin our lair. More protections would offset the main advantage of the place, i.e. it's cheap because we don't need forbiddance.

Second problem is, can we even dig the place? I can go underground with earth glide, but can the wiizard cast a disintegration there? can I ccreate a pocket of empty ground by showeling some rock inside a bag of holding to make room for him?

third problem is, how safe is it actually? I'd bet it's a lot safer than a castle with nothing but private sanctum and forbiddance, but I'm fairly sure it would be vulnerable to wish, and maybe to something else.

I'm looking for opinions and advice on those three concerns. thanks

Maat Mons
2019-04-03, 03:58 PM
I guess your first propblem is finding somewhere that no Dwarves, Gnomes, or underdark creatures are going to tunnel into by chance. Your second problem is that anyone who's been to your secret base once can now teleport there with 76% accuracy.

Jack_Simth
2019-04-03, 05:38 PM
The only thing that stops Wish transport is DM fiat. Don't bother. Instead, drop some Symbol spells and other traps intended to take down- or at least inconvenience - anyone who drops by unannounced. Plus a permanent Alarm spell, mental ping.

Note that wandering critters of any stripe finding the place is up to DM whim. He might make a percentage table, never bother, or do it on a slow plot day. No precautions you take in character will change that.

Better to just get a few Portable Holes or Enveloping Pits, as they serve the same function and don't draw attention to themselves.

Bphill561
2019-04-06, 03:18 AM
How big is the castle? The stronghold builders guide has a number of enchantments, including making a fortress that can move through rock. If it is not too big, or you have the funds to spend you can give the whole thing earth glide and park it where you want. You can also move it around so it is not always in the same place making it more difficult to find.

If you are worried about visitors, you might also want to redecorate. A few false freestanding walls and moving some things around might break familiarity with the location for teleport.

I recently added this effect to a Daren's instant fortress because we are in an underdark campaign. There was not always room to open up the fortress, so I made it able to merge with rock.

MisterKaws
2019-04-06, 05:48 AM
doot

If you can get a Druid to help you, you could use Transmute Stone to Sand, then use Fuse Sand on the sand above to hold it in place, then use Control Sand to drop all the sand below, and turn all of it back to stone with Transmute Stone to Sand. If your party skill guy has UMD high enough he can probably get some scrolls and do the same.

Jay R
2019-04-06, 11:35 AM
If the DM wants somebody to find your lair, then somebody will find it. Stop trying to make the hidden lair foolproof, and prepare for any combats there.

King of Nowhere
2019-04-06, 12:04 PM
If the DM wants somebody to find your lair, then somebody will find it. Stop trying to make the hidden lair foolproof, and prepare for any combats there.

The best way to put it.

So instead of trying to get a safe lair, we could go on with our current moderately safe lair, and just hope to guilt trip the DM into not having someone steal our stuff while we're away on a quest :smallbiggrin: