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View Full Version : SBG: Portals vs teleportation circles, what am I missing?



BRC
2008-02-25, 04:44 PM
So I recently got the Stronghold Builder's Guidebook and I like it alot. However, One thing puzzled me, A portal teleports whoever passes through it from PointA to point B. It costs 100,000 gp, 150,000 GP for a two-way.

The same book also has Teleportation Circles, which can be made permenant for 23,350. Otherwise, so far as I can tell, teleportation Circles do the same thing as Portals for less, the only difference being you can go between planes with Portals and that you can set conditions for Portals use (like the person must be X alignment or be carrying X object).

My question is this, why do Portal's have such a high cost compared to Circles that serve the same function. Is the ability to put up a condition really work paying more than four times the price of a Circle?

Kioran
2008-02-25, 05:20 PM
So I recently got the Stronghold Builder's Guidebook and I like it alot. However, One thing puzzled me, A portal teleports whoever passes through it from PointA to point B. It costs 100,000 gp, 150,000 GP for a two-way.

The same book also has Teleportation Circles, which can be made permenant for 23,350. Otherwise, so far as I can tell, teleportation Circles do the same thing as Portals for less, the only difference being you can go between planes with Portals and that you can set conditions for Portals use (like the person must be X alignment or be carrying X object).

My question is this, why do Portal's have such a high cost compared to Circles that serve the same function. Is the ability to put up a condition really work paying more than four times the price of a Circle?

Short Answer: Yes: Security is worth that much. A Planar portal is also much more useful than just a Teleportation.

KillianHawkeye
2008-02-25, 05:38 PM
Also, a teleportation circle can be dispelled, while portals are more or less permanent (iirc).

Moriato
2008-02-25, 05:40 PM
Probably have the same problems as an item with a permanent spell on it, and an actual magic item. Dispel magic will completely destroy a permanent spell, but only suppress a magic item temporarily.

*edit* Killian, you ninja, you.

mostlyharmful
2008-02-25, 05:51 PM
And yet I still can't believe that the added security of it being non-dispelable and having acess to other planes is worth a X4 on the price, indisputably so if you have access to a high level caster aminable to diplomactic price haggling or "questing discounts" on the casting. Frankly by the time an enemy has got to the heart of your fortress and can cast the dispell at a high enough CL you're boned anyway and there are lots of cool places to have a gateway to on any plane you care to mention so the cross planer thing is only an issue if you have a specific tactical need to have access to one single place in all the multiverse because that's where the almighty McGuffin is stationed