Create-A-Gate: The Power is Yours

[The Pilgrim]

Ok, since my suggestion of hiring Chuck Norris was not appreciated, I'll write a somewhat serious proposal.

My way of defending a Gate is based on the following principles:

1) Simplicity works best.
2) The best way to hide a book, is in a library, among other books.
3) My people works on a need-to-know basis.

Following those principles, the exact details of my defense would depend on which gate I've been assigned, and the circumstances around it.

1) No matter which Gate I'm assigned, I'll cast on the gate as many abjurations and stuff as Xykon and Redcloak casted on the Philactery, then double that number. The objective would be to make the think totally indetectable by magical or any other means. Things like the Oracle would probably still be able to locate the Gate, but the good news is that things like the Oracle rely on the Gods, and the Gods have a blackout on info about the Rifts.

Nedless to say, I would NOT share the location of my gate with the other members of the Order. Sure, they'll remember the general area in which it is located, but that's bad enough. No exact coordinates.

2) If it's Lirian Gate, I'll grow a tree all around it, so that the Gate is buried inside it's trunk. Added to the abjurations, the Gate is now hidden in a tree inside the biggest forest in the world. Good luck finding it.

3) If it's Dorukan, I'll seal it inside a rock, merge it with the mountain, make the mountain grow so that the rock is left well inside it, and make sure no valuable minerals are left in or near that mountain.

4) If it's Soon, I'll seal it inside a totally epic awesome gem, part of a totally epic awesome decoration, of a totally epic awesome temple. Of course, the official and canonical explanation of why I've build all that is not that I need to protect some Gate, but that I want to praise the Twelve Gods or whatever. Anyone attemping to tamper with the Gate would be also tampering with the historical and artistic patrimony of a major civilization. Good Luck trying to get into Azure City's version of the Sistine Chapel and perform a ritual that takes several weeks to finish.

In the rare event that anyone finds info about the true nature of the Temple and exposes it, he'll be discredited as a conspirancy theorist and Dan Brown wannabe.

5) I'm yet to see Giriard's or Kraagor's, so I can't develope a plan to protect those gates yet.

6) No matter which Gate I'm assigned, it would have an alert system so that the very moment anyone touches it, a warning is sent to the HQ of my secret organization of sicaries who are sworn-bound to defend it.

Paladins, Illusionists, Druids, Dragons, Dragons juggling other dragons who juggle other dragons... whatever floats your boat. The important thing is that said HQ would be thousands of kilometers away from the Gate, and my organization wouldn't even know the location of the Gate (if the alarm is triggered, they receive a signal with the exact coordinates, but that's about it).

So, now, any idiot attemping to find my Gate, and lucky enough to get any info, will be directed to my HQ, forced to defeat my organization, and even if they defeat it, they would get nothing because my organization would have no info on the Gate. The baddies can start digging around my HQ if they please, unaware of the fact that my Gate is thousands of km away, on the other side of the world.

7) I would feign my own death in the face of my organization, and secretly retire to my own HQ, far from the HQ of my organization, and also far from the Gate. Then select some of the many means available in D&D to attain immortality.

From there I'll not monitor the Gate (so no one could locate it via intercepting my scrying). I'd be informed by the mentioned alarm system if anyone touches it. And that's about it.

I'll not monitor my organization, either. I'll just set some alarm system so if my organization is vanquised (or decides to change it's goals) I'd be informed. In that event, I will of course not attemp to wrest control of my former HQ from the Villiain. I'll let him seach pointlessly for my Gate there, and set up another organization somewhere else.

My only luxury will be to remain informed about the political happenings in the region surrounding my Gate. So, if someone begins to mass chop trees on Lirian's Forest, or digs frantically in Redmountain Hills, or profanates Azure City's historical patrimony, I'll know. Those are the kind of things you can hardly do in secret. Of course, I'll get my info just via the Teevo or the newspapers, and don't keep an archive about news on the region or some other stupid thing that could be used as a clue to find my Gate if any villiain finds my home.

8) Finally, I'll burn Serini's diary and smack that idiot for ever writing it.

And that's about it, basically.

[Lord Torath]

Put a gate in the gate so that when someone tries to go though the gate they end up going through the other gate.

GATECEPTION.

EDIT- Serious answer: Build a flesh golem around the gate, then cast Flesh to Stone on the Golem, and a Permanenced Contingency so that if Stone to Flesh is cast on it, Flesh to Stone is cast immediately.

And walls of force around this golem, with a Permanenced Contingency that recasts the walls if they are dispelled, surrounding those will be prismatic walls with the same contingencies, and around the prismatic walls would be 360 Symbols of Death. And around all of that would be a permanenced Alarm. Oh and I'd make myself a lich so I can guard it forever.

So the central eye of your standard Beholder will open a path right through, as well as deactivating the flesh golem. Ducky!

(This also works on the Prismatic Palace)

And of course, the gates cannot be moved, which is why the throne room was built where was.

[OctoberRaven]

So the central eye of your standard Beholder will open a path right through, as well as deactivating the flesh golem. Ducky!

Nope. Prismatic Walls are unaffected by antimagic fields.

[orrion]

The first thing I'd do is try to make the actual, direct protections on the gate itself as subtle as possible. I'd hide it in plain sight somewhere--even if anybody knew it was there, I'd set it up so it wasn't interesting enough for anybody to bother finding out what it was (so definitely not protected by a heavily guarded and fortified dungeon that would basically just be so much adventurer-bait). I know I'm not being very specific about any of that, but that's okay, because that part isn't important compared to the real defense.

The real defense on the gate would be an epic abjuration I developed called Nevermore. I originally came up with the idea for this a while after V's Familicide on the dragons, because that got me thinking about things V could have done with his/her newfound powers to make sure none of the dragon's relatives would ever come to avenge her without killing all of them. Later, though, it occurred to me that this would be the perfect for hiding something like a gate as well.

Nevermore is, in essence, simple--it wipes all knowledge of a subject from existence. Completely. When the spell is cast, the caster designates an object, creature, location, event, or some similar target. The spell then alters the memory of every creature in existence so that that target, and anything related to it, is seamlessly edited out. Then it does the same thing for all written or material records of the target, changing them so that any of the pertinent information is no longer included. The caster can choose to exempt themselves from the spell, and even to exempt a small number of other creatures, but doing either drastically increases the spell's difficulty and cost. The intent of Nevermore is basically to do exactly what the Order of the Scribble were hoping to do with the gates--purge all knowledge of them from existence so that nobody ever comes looking for them. It just does it more effectively than any of the Sapphire Guard's crusades ever did.

You needed V to give you that idea?

http://sot.wikia.com/wiki/Chainfire_%28spell%29

"The Chainfire spell is one of the most powerful spells of all time, causing what is known as a Chainfire event. It uses Subtractive Magic to remove all traces of its victim from existence, from other peoples' memories of them to physical evidences like tracks. Its effects are so extensive that Chainfire has the potential to unravel reallity."

[Landis963]

Spoiler

Show

Ok, since my suggestion of hiring Chuck Norris was not appreciated, I'll write a somewhat serious proposal.

My way of defending a Gate is based on the following principles:

1) Simplicity works best.
2) The best way to hide a book, is in a library, among other books.
3) My people works on a need-to-know basis.

Following those principles, the exact details of my defense would depend on which gate I've been assigned, and the circumstances around it.

1) No matter which Gate I'm assigned, I'll cast on the gate as many abjurations and stuff as Xykon and Redcloak casted on the Philactery, then double that number. The objective would be to make the think totally indetectable by magical or any other means. Things like the Oracle would probably still be able to locate the Gate, but the good news is that things like the Oracle rely on the Gods, and the Gods have a blackout on info about the Rifts.

Nedless to say, I would NOT share the location of my gate with the other members of the Order. Sure, they'll remember the general area in which it is located, but that's bad enough. No exact coordinates.

2) If it's Lirian Gate, I'll grow a tree all around it, so that the Gate is buried inside it's trunk. Added to the abjurations, the Gate is now hidden in a tree inside the biggest forest in the world. Good luck finding it.

3) If it's Dorukan, I'll seal it inside a rock, merge it with the mountain, make the mountain grow so that the rock is left well inside it, and make sure no valuable minerals are left in or near that mountain.

4) If it's Soon, I'll seal it inside a totally epic awesome gem, part of a totally epic awesome decoration, of a totally epic awesome temple. Of course, the official and canonical explanation of why I've build all that is not that I need to protect some Gate, but that I want to praise the Twelve Gods or whatever. Anyone attemping to tamper with the Gate would be also tampering with the historical and artistic patrimony of a major civilization. Good Luck trying to get into Azure City's version of the Sistine Chapel and perform a ritual that takes several weeks to finish.

In the rare event that anyone finds info about the true nature of the Temple and exposes it, he'll be discredited as a conspirancy theorist and Dan Brown wannabe.

5) I'm yet to see Giriard's or Kraagor's, so I can't develope a plan to protect those gates yet.

6) No matter which Gate I'm assigned, it would have an alert system so that the very moment anyone touches it, a warning is sent to the HQ of my secret organization of sicaries who are sworn-bound to defend it.

Paladins, Illusionists, Druids, Dragons, Dragons juggling other dragons who juggle other dragons... whatever floats your boat. The important thing is that said HQ would be thousands of kilometers away from the Gate, and my organization wouldn't even know the location of the Gate (if the alarm is triggered, they receive a signal with the exact coordinates, but that's about it).

So, now, any idiot attemping to find my Gate, and lucky enough to get any info, will be directed to my HQ, forced to defeat my organization, and even if they defeat it, they would get nothing because my organization would have no info on the Gate. The baddies can start digging around my HQ if they please, unaware of the fact that my Gate is thousands of km away, on the other side of the world.

7) I would feign my own death in the face of my organization, and secretly retire to my own HQ, far from the HQ of my organization, and also far from the Gate. Then select some of the many means available in D&D to attain immortality.

From there I'll not monitor the Gate (so no one could locate it via intercepting my scrying). I'd be informed by the mentioned alarm system if anyone touches it. And that's about it.

I'll not monitor my organization, either. I'll just set some alarm system so if my organization is vanquised (or decides to change it's goals) I'd be informed. In that event, I will of course not attemp to wrest control of my former HQ from the Villiain. I'll let him seach pointlessly for my Gate there, and set up another organization somewhere else.

My only luxury will be to remain informed about the political happenings in the region surrounding my Gate. So, if someone begins to mass chop trees on Lirian's Forest, or digs frantically in Redmountain Hills, or profanates Azure City's historical patrimony, I'll know. Those are the kind of things you can hardly do in secret. Of course, I'll get my info just via the Teevo or the newspapers, and don't keep an archive about news on the region or some other stupid thing that could be used as a clue to find my Gate if any villiain finds my home.

8) Finally, I'll burn Serini's diary and smack that idiot for ever writing it.

And that's about it, basically.

Few things:
5) If Girard's gate isn't actually in Windy Canyon, then it's in a spot in the desert Windy Canyon's in, and good luck finding that. If it's Kraagor's gate, then it's in Kraagor's tomb, which means it's in a mausoleum. Make the spot into a public or family crypt and you're set. Either way, your principle of "hide a book in a library" holds.

7) Just set up a voice-activated heuristic like Girard did at the decoy spot. that way, if anyone discussed the Gate (or Gates) you would get a lovely little soundbite you could use to plan your next move.

Also, I think a lot of these defense schemes could be improved with the "sphere of annihilation" trick minus the secret door.

[Winter Light]

Ahhh, this topic again...

My Assumptions / Ground Rules:
1) The gates cannot be moved, plane-shifted, etc., short of the Dark One's ritual or similar deific intervention.
2) No epic magic cheese--no "I make an epic spell that ____". Nothing above the power level of Cloister--and I intend to stay well below that.
3) It can be assumed that at some point, someone with more power, resources, etc., than me will come along.
4) No obscure splatbooks.
5) No "cheats". No lines of 600 peasants passing a steel rod to accelerate it to explosive velocities.

For my epic-level character, I choose Wizard with a focus in Divination. If PrCs are being used, I'd go Mystic Theurge. It's a nice bonus, but not, ultimately, necessary.

Step 1) Defense.
I'll need a dungeon. As long as it isn't an aerial gate, anyway. Construction can be done with, well, constructs. Or just magic. Involving anyone who could gossip is undesirable, beyond the smallest extent necessary (though... see below).
For rank-and-file defenders, constructs, constructs, constructs! They're long-lasting, low-maintenance, and tend to do well against spellcasters (which, realistically, are the biggest risk to a gate). Some traps, too, because why not. If possible, I'll look into creating some kind of golem-assembly-line, with a magically-created intelligence in charge of it (someone just trashed the golems on the first floor; replace them). Doesn't need to be too fancy, and needs to not be too smart. Optional, but helps keep the place low-maintenance.

Step 2) The Gate
Simple, here. If the gate's tampered with, the place self-destructs, unconditionally.

Step 3) Warding, etc.
Dimension locks, abjurations spammed all over the place, the usual. Taking all steps necessary to avoid other people scrying, teleporting in, or otherwise bypassing my defenses. Have to make them look convincing, after all!

Step 4) I'm a Diviner, remember?
Research various divination spells specifically for this purpose. Ones to keep my appraised of the situation in the gate's dungeon, alert me of any issues (failed, or successful, teleports into it; the gate blowing itself up; the gate failing to blow itself up; heck, even just if there are any intruders).

Should anything occur, the first step is, of course, to spam-scry the place, maybe view the past day or so of events, and, most importantly, who will be involved. I think I'll research an epic spell capable of accepting a target along the lines of "that lich and his goblin who entered the gate room just before it blew up" and gathering as much information as possible (for an epic spell) about them. I can add some prohibitive requirements (focii, make a ritual, whatever), since it won't be used on-the-spot.

The reason why diviner is chosen is mostly for the above reasons. Additionally, it is relatively less likely that someone planning to take over the world will be a diviner than another class--that's just not how the story tends to play out. Thus, even if they're more powerful than me (say, a level 24+ epic lich sorcerer), I will most likely be able to beat them in my area of expertise.


Step 5) ...But not too well-hidden.
I'm a high-level Wizard, I have a respectable Int score (and Wis, if I'm fortunate enough to get to be a PrC). Plus, I have abusive divination powers! Using these, I'll take steps to make me gate seem like one of the least-well-defended (and probably ensure that it is), and most poorly-hidden. It'll be the one which, if a person wanted access to a gate, would make the most tempting target, and ideally the one they'd go for first.


Then I wait! When a villain comes along, they'll hopefully go after my gate, if not first, relatively early on. Them doing so will allow me to start doing my whole "epic diviner" thing, gathering as much information as possible about them, their abilities, their goals, their movements, their base(s) of operation, and so on. That information, of course, gets passed on to the defenders of other gates. If the enemy is so overwhelmingly powerful that none of the gate-defenders, or powerful adventurers around the world, can stop them even with that level of information--well, there was never really any chance to begin with, was there?


Of course, this has the problem of needing me to be alive for it to work, so...


Step 6) Become immortal!
Lichdom doesn't sound too bad, but losing out on coffee would be a bummer. The soul-hidey-place is especially nice. Still, it's kind of evil, so maybe not the "undead" route. Perhaps an epic item of some sort. 'Immortal' is probably less accurate than 'ageless'; I'm an epic diviner, if I can't avoid being surprise-ganked I probably deserve to die. A non-evil way to respawn some period after death would be nice, but eh, not mandatory.


Step 7) Get a hobby.
Maybe I'll take up painting. I really don't want to be spamming divination at that stupid gate for the rest of forever, so I'll rely on a Permanency'd "alert" system to let me know when I should actually bother cracking open the old spell book again.
I'll live a quiet life, probably. Not "so I can't be tracked down and have information extracted"--but because I want to enjoy my retirement.


Voila~
A gate defense plan that does not rely on assuming my enemies are weaker or less competent than I, or rely on "and then I just win, kthxbai" epic magic.

[invinible]

I would build a pony kingdom around the gate than try to keep that kingdom as well protected as possible.

[Bulldog Psion]

(lots of good stuff)

Your idea is probably the one that would defend a Gate the best out of the ones that have been offered so far.

[Edric O]

My plan depends on the number of people who know about its existence. I assume the Gate can't be moved, because defending a movable Gate is trivial (just shove it off into a demiplane or encase it in rock at the bottom of the ocean, as others have suggested).

So, I have two possible routes to follow:

1. If the existence of the Gate is only known by a few people - bury it.

In this situation, I would begin by encasing the gate in the strongest material I can find, then cast on it every abjuration I can muster. Then I would bury it under as much rock as possible without changing the general look of the landscape (so if it's in the mountains, I'd bury it under a mountain, but if it's in the hills or plains I would only bury it under a hill). No dungeon, no traps, no guardians. I would make the place look as unremarkable and mundane as possible.

Then I would kill and disintegrate the bodies of everyone who knows about the Gate. If this requires wiping out a small village or such, I would make sure to come up with a fake motive for the murders, so that I seem to be a villain killing innocent people for vengeance or personal gain.

2. If the number of people who know about the Gate and/or Rift is large (say, more than a thousand) - make it public knowledge. I would encase it in the strongest material I can find, then encase that in solid rock, at least 100 metres thick... then build a big flashy monument around it, with stone inscriptions in every language explaining what it is and why it should never be tampered with. But the monument would have no treasure, nothing valuable inside it at all, no traps and no guardians. Then I would make sure to inform every major government and powerful organization on the planet about it. That way, the entire combined military might of the civilized races will be my Gate guardians. They can build additional defenses as they see fit. Then, if some madman decides to go for the Gate (even if that madman happens to rule a nation), he'll have to fight the entire rest of the world to achieve his goal. My job is done.

Either way, I would use no dungeons, no traps or creatures, and no epic spells (except abjurations, if I have access to them). The idea is to make it so that no one even thinks to take control of the Gate, either because it's buried and no one ever heard of it, or because everyone knows about it and you can't possibly seize it in secret. The first option is preferable, but it can only be done if it is feasible to kill everyone who knows about the Gate without arousing suspicion.

[JBiddles]

The best place to hide a book is not in a library, it's where nobody would ever look for a book and wouldn't find it if they did, with believable decoys in libraries. Therefore, if you're lucky enough to have a Gate in the wilderness, you use magic to bury your Gate with solid rock and then build a grand fortress somewhere else. However, assume the Gate is in a populated area and you are ethical so you can't just cover it with rock:

1. Lie to your companions about your Gate's location and defences, destroy Serini's diary (honestly, what were they thinking?) then fake your own death. Have it happen in a dungeon you built, spreading the rumour that your ghost is bound to defend said dungeon, along with a plethora of nasty wards. The dungeon, of course, has a fake Gate with a load of magical traps.

2. Change your identity. If possible, make sure there are appearances of your new identity before your death. Ideally, use magic to make it seem you were both in the same room at some public ceremony.

3. Become ruler of the area in which your Gate is located via whatever means necessary. Charm Person, Suggestion, Alter Self... it shouldn't be too hard for an epic character. Tell the populace that you're a low-level wizard with Enchantment and Illusion as your barred schools and specialism in Conjuration, so they don't become suspicious, and to prepare for step 4.

4. If knowledge of the Gate's existence, if not its nature, has become common knowledge amongst the populace, make a show of easily removing the Gate (use an epic invisibility spell in case anybody has True Seeing). Say it was a minor planar rupture you closed and nothing to worry about.

5. Announce that to celebrate something-or-other, you're building a new castle. Clear the area around your now-invisible Gate and cover it with abjurations that make Xykon's phylactery look like a Coke can.
Build a small hill and the foundations over it. Build your castle, and use epic magic to make it the biggest, shiniest and most artistically valuable castle the world has ever seen. Hopefully, the area becomes heavily populated from tourist revenue. Spread the rumour that a powerful magical being owed you a favour, explaining why there's magic all over the place and you built it quickly.

7. Flood the world with rumours about the Gate your previous identity was charged with guarding, obviously under a third identity. Make some wild, some vague, but make one point to your decoy. Have the story of how the third identity died painfully trying to enter your decoy told to everybody.


This method relies on misdirecting would-be Gate-users, as opposed to the brute-force strategies employed by Dorukan and Girard, who simply slapped a dungeon full of monsters around their Gates, which is great until Xykon comes along. However, this method prevents anybody from going for your Gate in the first place, and also protects the Gate directly.

[The Pilgrim]

Few things:
5) If Girard's gate isn't actually in Windy Canyon, then it's in a spot in the desert Windy Canyon's in, and good luck finding that. If it's Kraagor's gate, then it's in Kraagor's tomb, which means it's in a mausoleum. Make the spot into a public or family crypt and you're set. Either way, your principle of "hide a book in a library" holds.

7) Just set up a voice-activated heuristic like Girard did at the decoy spot. that way, if anyone discussed the Gate (or Gates) you would get a lovely little soundbite you could use to plan your next move.

Also, I think a lot of these defense schemes could be improved with the "sphere of annihilation" trick minus the secret door.

The problem of a voice-activated heuristic, is that someone looking for my Gate could activate it just by passing by, without having necessary found the Gate. Mind Lirian's, I don't want anyone activating the alarm just because they happen to be taking a walk through the forest. Becomes more of a problem in case of Soon's, where a lot of people a day are gonna visit the place.

And if the alarm is triggered, it would leave a signature, allowing a magic user to back-track the location of the Gate, my HQ, and the HQ of my organization.

So I want to ensure that the alarm is only triggered when it's absolutely necessary: when someone has found my Gate. Activation by Touch is the first think I thought about, though I suppose a better condition may be formulated.

[Kiraxa]

*snip*
Lichdom doesn't sound too bad, but losing out on coffee would be a bummer. The soul-hidey-place is especially nice. Still, it's kind of evil, so maybe not the "undead" route. Perhaps an epic item of some sort. 'Immortal' is probably less accurate than 'ageless'; I'm an epic diviner, if I can't avoid being surprise-ganked I probably deserve to die. A non-evil way to respawn some period after death would be nice, but eh, not mandatory.

*/snip*

3rd edition rules allows for Good liches (per Monstrous Compendium: Monsters of Faerûn). The main differences is they aren't hostile to clerics, and they don't have the fear aura. 3.5 monstrous manual states always evil for Liches, but being as they're missing those two facets, I'd say they warrant their own MM section. Spelljammer allows for Archliches, which is more accurately what Xykon is (no spellbooks, just instinctive learning/casting.) and 4th edition brought Archliches back for good, lawful, or non-aligned players.

[Lord Torath]

Nope. Prismatic Walls are unaffected by antimagic fields.

Hmmm... There's no mention of them being immune to anti-magic in the 2nd Edition spell description. Must have changed since then. Fair enough.

2nd Edition introduced the Arch Lich in a Spelljammer supplement (Lost Ships), which I believe was the first Good Lich. Lots of advantages over the evil versions.

[OctoberRaven]

Hmmm... There's no mention of them being immune to anti-magic in the 2nd Edition spell description. Must have changed since then. Fair enough.

Actually it's in the spell description of Antimagic Field in 3.5.

And in any case, the flesh golem isn't there to be anything but another barrier. That's why Flesh To Stone is cast on it instead of just making it a stone golem.

EDIT- Plus, the only important ward is Alarm. Everything else is just to keep them busy while I Teleport Without Error to a vantage point where I can assess the situation.

[RadicalTurnip]

Create an epic spell to move the solar system a few earth-lengths away from the gate. Exactly how powerful of an epic character am I again?

[JBiddles]

^Even if you could pull off the spell and it didn't destroy the solar system, Greater Teleport doesn't have distance limitations.

[EmperorSarda]

Create an epic spell to move the solar system a few earth-lengths away from the gate. Exactly how powerful of an epic character am I again?

If you can teleport the Solar System, why not use a modified version of Redcloak's Ritual to teleport the gate to another plan and then into the sun?

[OctoberRaven]

^Even if you could pull off the spell and it didn't destroy the solar system, Greater Teleport doesn't have distance limitations.

No, but... well, what book is "Protection From The Vacuum Of Space" in?

[Kiraxa]

No, but... well, what book is "Protection From The Vacuum Of Space" in?

http://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/MSRD:En...Hazards#VACUUM

[Lord Torath]

No, but... well, what book is "Protection From The Vacuum Of Space" in?

Spelljammer. Teleporting into the void leaves you with 2d20 rounds of breathable air. Or just bring your ship with you for 4 man-months of breathable air per 100 cubic yards of volume of your ship.

Also, the Mantle of Celestian has the principle power of allowing you to survive in the void of outer space.

Edit: Of course, Space is BIG, even in Spelljammer. If you can make it effectively immune to divinations, then just put it somewhere out in the far reaches of the crystal sphere (and far above or below the ecliptic plane), and the odds of anyone finding it are extremely slim. Especially if you cloak it in Continual Darkness. Unless it masses more than 10 SJ tons (1000 cubic yards), any ship that actually happens to come close will whip right by at 4 million miles per hour. Waaaay too fast to notice a small black patch against a black background.

Of course, this all hinges on being able to move the rift/gate relative to the planetary system/crystal sphere.

[Valtiel]

I have some absurd ideas about completely surrounding the gate with a shell made entirely out of Spheres of Annihilation, guarded by a construct or other endlessly-patient entity with some obscenely large bonus to controlling the spheres.

Just hiding the thing seems tempting. A simple sheet of lead will block most divinatory magic that targets objects. Discern Location can only find objects if the caster once touched them, which is useless for finding the Gate. Wish, while powerful, doesn't have special provisions for finding things - it just duplicates high-level divinations. You could, in theory, use the "transport travellers" feature of Wish to teleport yourself directly to the Gate, but then you'd be at the mercy of its defences. Miracle is a bit more flexible, but the gods have an embargo on knowledge of the rifts, so it wouldn't work. Legend Lore only gets you "vague and incomplete" information if rumours are all you start out with.

[WizardsLaw12]

Alright, so, this will be my first post - and to protect a Gate MY way, I would first need to know how big it is. If it's small, like Soon's Gate, then I'd hide the Gate somewhere so far away from the place it was found, it's unlikely anyone will find it. If it's as big as Dorukan's Gate, then we're going to need a way to protect it well enough that it's not gonna be defenseless.

Plan A: For a gate as small as, say, Soon's Gate, I'd first cast the same amount of abjurations on it as there are on Xykon's phylactery - and then quintuple that number. Then, I'd completely surround it with lead(I wouldn't need a lot, probably), and then make sure that the lead is also protected by the same abjurations, so no one can break the lead without high-level spells or a lot of magic gear.

Once the Gate is fully surrounded by lead, I'd lock the Gate and the lead inside a small multidimensional stone box with every abjuration known to magic-users - including divine casters, if I can recruit any. Then, I'd make a small army of undead to protect it - I'm thinking zombie dragons and maybe some mummies.

Then, I'd make myself a lich to guard the Gate forever once I'm high-Epic level(Level 30, to be precise) - using the Gate itself as my phylactery, and using enough spells to make my reforming immediate. I'd make more and more undead with everyone that comes in here after my undead army slays them, and once my army has swelled enough in numbers that it doesn't matter how little there is, anyone against me will lose, I'll leave my Gate for a while, make myself a fortress below the hidden dungeon that my Gate will be in once I construct it - and once my fortress is complete, I'll start work on the whole dungeon.

Once it's finished, I'll add protection to the dungeon (I'm thinking using a combo of every last protection for my Gate, like, say, Lirian's Guardian Virus, Dorukan's Cloister spell, Soon's army of ghosts bound to protecting the Gate, Girard's Epic-level phantasm in all corridors leading to the Gate itself, and finally, Serini's swap-overs to really mess with people when they're supposed to be in the same room as the Gate, but undetectable by anyone but an Epic-level Rogue), and once that's finished, my Gate will be safe for good.

However...in the off-chance that someone actually gets to my Gate...it'll magically alert me if anyone tries, and I'll go there to stop the adventurers. And the best part is, I can keep doing it, over and over, for as long as I need!

Plan B: If my Gate is as big as, say, Dorukan's Gate, then I'd need a far different plan - and it'd be HIGHLY unlikely that I wouldn't need game-breaking tactics like Disenchanters and Paragon-level Rust Monsters. I'd have to make a FAR bigger box of lead for my Gate (maybe I could use a permanent Creation spell to make the giant box?), and it'd take me quite a while to do it.

I'd also make exact replicas of my Gate - and exact replicas of my entire dungeon, sending them all out to the world - making sure that only I could tell the difference. And after the replicas were sent out, I'd personally make sure to not tell anyone the true dungeon - and make sure that the coordinates of the real one were never leaked(seriously, not smart, Order of the Scribs!), not even to my most trusted friends - because if they die before me, someone could take where they put the coordinates.

Once the copies had been scattered, I'd cast a permanent Mind Blank on myself to make myself immune to magical means of making me leak the true dungeon - and make myself resilient to pain so much, no form of torture could work on me to make me talk.

Then, I'd hide. I'd only interfere when it's necessary. Maybe I could hide out in the Astral Plane until I'm needed. Maybe I might make myself an undead dedicated to guarding the Gate by any means necessary. Point is, I'd make it so that no one person could enter my dungeon and get to the Gate alive - it'd take a high-Epic balanced party to get to my Gate.

[Grendelkin]

Step 1: Very publically "go mad". Pretend I've gone Halaster Blackcloak when I, in fact, retain as much of my sanity as I've ever had.

Step 1-A: Acquire spells, powers and gizmos as needed to be able to completely cloak myself from attempts to scan or locate me using magic, psionics, incarnum or whatever's going.

Step 2: Unleash a series of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions in a wide area around the location of the Gate. These must be precisely calibrated to rearrange the landscape while not impacting the Gate.

Step 2-A: While the earthquakes etc. are still ongoing, construct layers of earth and stone over the gate, effectively burying it. Coat the thing in lead and cast permanent abjurations on it to make sure it can't be magically detected.

Step 3: Use the Origin of Species epic spell to create a species of mind-numbingly dull humanoids. They're not good, they're not evil, they're just blah. They're content to lead dull lives, doing repetitive jobs in a dull place. Have them set up villages and farms on the land over the Gate.

Step 4: Very publically construct a dungeon in one of the new mountain ranges raised during step 2, at perhaps a week's travel from the dull people's homes. Fill dungeon with vicious traps, more vicious beasts, and set up spells to summon, burn, freeze, slice and dice to taste. Appoint the cruelest creatures that will work for coin to serve as dungeon commanders, and tell them that they need to guard the innermost chamber.

Step 5: Ward innermost chamber with every abjuration spell available, then place mirrors of opposition on every available surface. Lock and bolt innermost room and set the most powerful creature you can hire or summon to guard it.

Step 6: Create a private demiplane using the Genesis epic spell, then set up shop as a scholar / healer in the dull people's town. Sit back, relax and watch creatures interested in the Gate pass through, pay the dull people for supplies, then march off to hurl themselves into the hideous meatgrinder you've set up for them. See also step 1-A.

Step 7: Perform maintenance as necessary. If some whackjob lich starts murdering the dull people before going into the dungeon, retreat into previously-prepared demiplane and wait. When he leaves, come back out and restock dull people and meatgrinder for the next chump to come along.

[Peelee]

The Mod on the Silver Mountain: Gates shouldn't be defended with Necromancy