3.5 temple of Pelor defences

[haplot]

Just out of curiosity, what defences would a temple of Pelor have in a city? Whether magical or mundane, it doesn't matter.

How many people would be around at night?

What other things should be there?

Many thanks in advance for any replies.

[Eladrinblade]

You mean if price isn't an issue? or availability of casters?

[haplot]

was thinking along the lines of areas of temple that you cant cast spells in, or only 'friendly' spells, traps, that sort of thing.

Price isn't really an issue

Casters I assume get leveled out of the dmg city creation doodah

[Vizzerdrix]

Aren't gargoyles called out as temple defenders? Tack on a few arted up constructs as "decorations". A pious mimic who has seen the light. The possabilities are endless.

[False God]

Magical "prism towers" that fire sunbeam, but only when its sunny out.

[Draken]

Magical "prism towers" that fire sunbeam, but only when its sunny out.

Maybe if it is a theocratic state and defending the city itself (or a central temple/government bulding), but for a more general purpose temple:

- A Hallow should probably be in place for a temple in a larger city. Which ancilary spell it has attached is up to debate and should probably inform to some degree what the temple is most used for.

And for a few more possibilities.

This temple is in a city, so I will assume it is not some manner of fortress-monastery for the faith militant, but a congregation for sermons and maybe a hospital, orphanage or cemetery. In those cases assume:

- No traps beyond maybe Alarms
- Guards: Probably just the city's own militia or whatever enforces the local laws patrolling the vicinity.

If the temple is larger and contains some manner of reliquary or catacomb we can assume:

- Alarm on the entrances to secure areas.
- Guards belonging to the temple itself. Really depends on overall size.
- Glyph of Warding on anything of noteworthy value on said reliquaries on catacombs.

Regardless, deadly traps strike me as... Unlikely. And defensive constructs are really expensive so probably only to be found if you are in a theocracy and if the temple in question is really, really important.

D&D Gargoyles are cruel predators who, if they are anywhere in a city, have simply replaced an existing statue and given rise to a string of as yet unexplained murders.

[Zarrgon]

Well, the answer will depend a lot on your games style and power level....and then getting specific as to what and where the temple is and what it is for.

It could be as simple as they lock the door and a single night watchman stays up all night.

The above posts have some examples for the low magic, low fantasy type game.

So once you get past the "low" type setting and world, and you are talking about a temple other then a small one:

*At least a couple night guards of a mix of fighters and clerics.

*A guard construct or two. A couple animated armors and weapons. A statute type construct. Maybe a bronze serpent.

*Most traps for most temples in a typical "good" city will be few and only of the entrapment type: Pit traps(with no spikes), falling cages, sleep smoke, alchemical glue, spell spell effects and such.

*As it's Pelor you can expect some light and fire type traps. Very specifically to blind intruders.

*At least one summoned monster to protect at night, generally a "light" type one: maybe a radiant celestial lion or a fire elemental.

*A living spell or two are prefect: pick a "light" spell and make it a divine radiant celestial living spell. Light of Venya is a good choice for a living spell, as are the other "light of" spells. There are a lot of others.

*If the whole temple does not glow with the spell Celestial Brilliance, at least one or two objects or more inside the temple will.

And then....well we;d get to the high level of fantasy of my game...like:

*The Sun Ward: Should any being enter the temple without a ward token: they burst into flames and keep burning every round. Note this is half fire/half pure divine damage.

*Sunlight Ward: Fail the save and the whole temple is filled with blinding bright light giving the poor victim blindness.

*All manner of both Fire and Radiant Aniamentals: from the obvious lions and hawks to others like starfish or octopi

*A construct cloud or ten of "throwing stars" shaped like suns that whirl around

Yea....feel the burning light of Pelor!

[Aeson]

In addition to what some of the others have said, I would suggest thinking about what makes sense for your setting. Are temples regularly being attacked in some manner, and, if so, by what and for what purpose? A temple that isn't threatened by anything more than an occasional sacrilegious crook might not have anything more than a mundane lock on the doors and maybe a solitary night guard and some alarm spells on the windows, especially if it's built in a city and doesn't have anything particularly valuable inside; a temple in an area where relations between the cults of the various deities are just short of open warfare could be expected to have substantially more potent defenses; a temple that's regularly targeted by burglars but is otherwise not particularly threatened would fall somewhere in between, and maybe some of the most important/valuable/likely-to-be-stolen objects within the temple carry curses that get activated when the objects are removed from their proper places (or from the temple or the temple grounds) without the proper rituals.

It may also be worth considering the temple's history, if you've thought about that, because if things are peaceful now but weren't a couple hundred years ago and the temple's old enough then it might still have some protections in place from that past troubled period even if a newer temple of similar significance would not have such protections.

[haplot]

I'd have to say you guys and gals rock!

Thank you for the replies.

Now to actually plot :D