Create-A-Gate: The Power is Yours

[RadagastTheBrow]

Hello, world. I was thinking about some stuff the other day and eventually came to the topic of: If I had an epic D&D-ish character in a world who needed to hide and/or protect a crack in reality, how would he do it? Then it occurred to me that it might be fun to ask you guys and gals here. So, here I am, speculating and asking.

For my part, I've had a couple ideas. The first and most direct revolves around a spell in the Epic Level Handbook: Genesis. Essentially, spend a week, some XP, and a giant crystal, and you create your own demiplane. You're the only person who knows about the plane, so hopefully nothing will randomly Shift into it.

To guard the gate, I (er, my character) would somehow create the plane out of the material in which the crack exists. In this way, I would essentially sew the fabric of reality shut around the crack. Then I'd do what I can to hide the space where the crack was, so that adventurers/civilians don't randomly find and explore the space-time anomaly. Also, hide all information about the demiplane so nobody even thinks to look for the crack in the first place.

For further protection, possibly build a dungeon around the anomaly to serve as my crypt, with directions and material for True-Resurrecting me in case of trouble. Then go get myself completely obliterated so that nobody can use Speak-With-Dead on my corpse to get the information about the demiplane. This also utilizes a nice bit of misdirection- people know that something's being hidden there, but they also blatantly know what it is. Nobody has any reason to question what else it might be.

Now, this has a few weaknesses- somebody could resurrect me, then magically force the information out of me. Hence the need to destroy the body. Likewise, I think maybe somebody could randomly Plane-Shift into the crack's demiplane. On the other hand, I think you need a specific material focus to get to a specific Plane, so I'd just have to set the key to "my bones" and fail my next Fort save against Disintegration. I'm sure there are other weaknesses, too, which I haven't thought of yet. That's part of the fun of posting this stuff here.

I had another idea- simpler, yet possibly less feasible. I don't think anything says the Gates have to stay in one place. The Sapphire, for instance, was simply the lock on a greater magical Gate, if I recall correctly. It could have been anywhere, and was probably on Soon at all times before his death. Anyway, if the weak-point can be mobilized, then why not? The best defense is the one that can evaluate and respond to a variety of threats, yes? Build the "gate" into a construct- a sentient Air Golem, if such a thing is possible. (I pick "Air" to avoid the problem constructs have with "Transmute Rock to Mud," and because I fear that, containing the Snarl, standard reconstructive/divine magic might not work on it.) (There are spells to create new species, thanks to Epic. Sure, it wouldn't be a golem, but that extra motive force would be worth it.)

In other words, build the Crack into a peaceful, sentient, artificial air elemental and then train it in a couple dozen levels in Rogue so it can hide and sneak around really, really well. This can also make for a nice little bit of drama- "I AM the gate."

So, thoughts? Questions? Comments? Thanks for reading, and I hope you have fun!

[EmperorSarda]

I'd develop an epic level version of Imprisonment that can trap objects and not just creatures. Then use other divination spells to hide its location from Locate Object, Wish, and Miracle.

Then, I create a dungeon with several imitation gates that function as Plane Shift so attention is drawn to them. Whereas the location of the real gate is in some broom closet where no one would think of casting Freedom.

[Shadowknight12]

Every single Abjuration spell at my disposal and then some. I would create epic Abjuration spells the likes of which Dorukan could have never dreamt of. No creatures, no traps, just a desolate arctic mountain with inclement and merciless cold weather.

My magnum opus would be an epic Abjuration spell that would shield the gate from time and space themselves. The gate would be inaccessible by any means, as no path could possibly lead to it, and it would be untouched by time. If it was within my limits, I would enhance that epic spell to make sure that it was shielded from the magic (and sight) of deities themselves.

My hubris would undo me, of course, as would narrative conventions, but I would probably make for the most impressive story.

[King of Nowhere]

It depends on the setting.
In the campaign world I used, nations were rich and resourceful and way more powerful than any goup of adventurers.
In that setting, I'd just spread knowledge of the gate in the world, and make sure all the nations see it is in their interest to protect it.

The actual defences would probably include prismatic walls enclosed in anti magic fields, and the most powerful anti-teleportation wards that can be devised. Miracle and wish spells are used to make those wards dispel-resistant. In particular, miracle and wish can be used to teleport people past abjurations, but if said abjurations are strenghtened by a miracle/wish specifically forbidding to bypass them that way, then they cannot be bypassed, not even by miracle/wish.
Only one way to access the fortress, and that is a long narrow corridor with no cover shrouded in permanent antimagic. at the end of the corridor there's a hole, and on the other side there are cannons loaded with shrapnel.
The doors on the inside are all protected against magic, and they have no locks: they are all barred from the inside. The actual door to the gate is also protected by several mechanisms, both magical and mundane, that would trigger the explosion of a few tonnes of gunpowder if disturbed. and just a fraction of second before the explosion, an anti magic field would be triggered. No just evading the explosion from ghostform or something.
And then plenty of alarm systems, redundant alarms, alarms that are set off if other alarms are disabled, random people everywhere carrying alarm beacons. Those alarms would warn every single high priest of every religion, and every single special forces command of every powerful nation. That means a few dozens 15+ level people, and a few hundreds level 10+ people, ready to teleport there within a few rounds in case of troubles.

And if someone was still looking for some way to tamper with it, then the best divinations (including miracle/wish if needed) would be cast by the most powerful spellcasters in the world, to identiffy the treath, and then the aforementioned few dozens of level 15+ people would fall on that treath like a cascade of bricks.

In my campaign world epic levels did not exist, epic magic and feats did not exist, and no one ever went over level 25. So it should be perfectly safe.

[RadicalTurnip]

If the gate can be moved: Drop it into a volcano that is permanently anti-magic'd (Epic Antimagic spell that has a horrible xp penalty but a huge bonus against being overcome or dispelled. Then I only cast it once). If it can't be moved, build a volcano around it. Then of course every anti-divination I can get, as well as anti-teleportation. Then it'll have a few different types of guards: Fire elementals, a permanently dominated or sufficiently coerced Red Dragon (or force/prismatic dragons if I can find them) (it can start as "Adult" or so, it'll only get more powerful), and a Balor that's either dominated or I can somehow force/coerce into guarding it within the magma.

Then a flying fortress above the volcano with every mean trick and terrible trap I can get into it to convince people that the tear is actually guarded by the fortress.

[never_shades]

Do the genesis thing, but move the gate to the bottom of the ocean. Then drop thousands of tonnes of rocks on it. Then ward against teleportation and divination.

[Cavenskull]

If the gate can be moved: Drop it into a volcano that is permanently anti-magic'd (Epic Antimagic spell that has a horrible xp penalty but a huge bonus against being overcome or dispelled. Then I only cast it once). If it can't be moved, build a volcano around it. Then of course every anti-divination I can get, as well as anti-teleportation. Then it'll have a few different types of guards: Fire elementals, a permanently dominated or sufficiently coerced Red Dragon (or force/prismatic dragons if I can find them) (it can start as "Adult" or so, it'll only get more powerful), and a Balor that's either dominated or I can somehow force/coerce into guarding it within the magma.

Then a flying fortress above the volcano with every mean trick and terrible trap I can get into it to convince people that the tear is actually guarded by the fortress.

What would you do to make sure the gate wasn't destroyed when it gets dumped into the volcano?

[The Pilgrim]

I'd just chain Chuck Norris to it and call it a day.

[oppyu]

I think Girard had the right idea; illusions, traps, decoys and secrecy. Even the 'kidnapping babies to raise them into a gate-guarding illusionist cult' part is pretty decent, if you don't care about morality or crazy elf mages casting Familicide.

[OctoberRaven]

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.

[Sapreaver]

Genesis for the plane.
the gate its self will be a door standing in the middle of a room 30ft by 30 ft room inside of a room 15 ft by 15 ft
around this door will be a thousands of small cubes each filled with helium enough to float but not enough rise for ever just fall slowly permanently.

each of the cubes will be trapped with a self resetting arboreal transformation on touch by a non treent.
the floor tiles will each be trapped to give a single mental command to treents to move out side and root. self resetting of course.

so anyone except a treent will become a treent and then leave. the door will be trapped with rock to lava targeting the rock around the door.

The doors around that door are rigged to close and lock when opened and are trapped with internal fire targeting as many living creatures near by.

Upon entering the door it leads to an area that looks the exact same as the room you just went through the portal is invisible and you can see through it as normal.

[OctoberRaven]

so anyone except a treent will become a treent and then leave.

"Make like a treent... and get outta here!"- Tan-En, CE Human Barbarian

[Silverionmox]

Create a curse that forces someone to guard the gate and makes them immortal and sleepless. The curse is transferred to anyone killing a cursed person.

[nogall]

Create a curse that forces someone to guard the gate and makes them immortal and sleepless. The curse is transferred to anyone killing a cursed person.

How could they be killed if they are immortal?

[Cavenskull]

How could they be killed if they are immortal?

Immortal does not automatically mean invincible. In quite a bit of fiction--Highlander, for instance--immortals do not age, but can still be killed.

[Tragak]

I would want whatever fortress I designed to be defended by recruiting a mixture of mortals, outsiders - preferably Summoned, instead of residential, so that they don't die when they lose a fight - and constructs, just in case somebody came up with an attack that all members of one group or the other would be vulnerable to.

One construct that I would want my subordinates to make a lot of would be intelligent (minimum mental stats: 10 CHA, 12 INT, and 12 WIS) Neutral Good Helms of Opposite Alignment - with HEAVILY increased Save DCs, how would one go about doing that? - that would either warn Good/Neutral people not to put them on or possibly turn off their own curses for those particular people. However, they would still be very obviously enchanted with extremely powerful defenses, so as to would look as tempting as possible - especially with empathic suggestions - to any Evil invaders that kill their previous bearers (who themselves had probably been brainwashed in the same way)*.

*I totally cribbed this idea from Silver

I would also want my soldiers to be trained to Soul Bind slain Evil invaders, lest they take their information on my compound with them to the Infernal Realms (and give it to powerful fiends, voluntarily or otherwise), including the ones that had been previously brainwashed, if they go into the afterlife with their pre-Helm alignment instead of their converted alignment. If they would instead go to the Good afterlife, and Raising them would not break the enchantment, then they would be Raised instead.

If a Bag of Holding were filled to the brim with Soul-Bound sapphires, and then destroyed so that the sapphires would vanish into nothingness, would the souls disappear too, or would they be freed to the Evil afterlife as though the sapphire were destroyed normally?

[OctoberRaven]

How could they be killed if they are immortal?

Vampires are immortal.

[Tragak]

Vampires are immortal.

And was that supposed to explain anything?

[Nilehus]

And was that supposed to explain anything?

Vampires are immortal, but they can still be destroyed and killed. Set them on fire, make them take a walk in the sun, destroy them and their coffin... Immortal doesn't necessarily mean invulnerable. For example, Highlander plays with it both ways. Nothing can kill an Immortal except getting beheaded. So in theory, they could live forever, but considering they feel drawn to dramatic sword battles, not many do.

[rodneyAnonymous]

There are lots of kinds of immortality, from "can't die, ever, even violently" to "eternal youth but can be killed" to "like a zombie, doesn't age but doesn't heal either".

[Amphiox]

Why create a big, protected dungeon at all? In a D&D setting that's like setting up a big flashing red sign saying "ADVENTURERS PLEASE COME HERE".

Whatever protections you put on the gate itself, make them discrete, and do not disseminate the fact.

Then surround the area with a reverse memory charm that makes anyone crossing into the vicinity forget the reason they were going there in the first place, and specifically to seek out and expunge any memories directly pertaining to the gate/tear.

Immediately within the memory charm zone put a zone of illusions designed to steer your freshly memory wiped travelers, subtly and gently, right back out.

[Lesser Naboo]

Step 1: Figure out how to move a rift. This is the hard part. Maybe a high-level good cleric, or me, if I am one, could convince their god that, as a being of good, they should do everythng they can to prevent the destruction of the world. So gimme that gate ritual.
Step 2: After you have figured out how to move a rift, move it into a specially prepared gate in a genesis demiplane.
Step 3: Use magic items/wish to prevent people from coming in via Wish.
Step 4: Create an auto-resetting trap that continually recasts Dimension Lock. Now there is no way to get onto the demiplane.
Step 5: Drink.

Now, let's say that your wish variant only blocks incoming travel for 1 hour. Use an auto-resetting wish trap to recast that every half hour, for overlapping safety. You can add redundant traps, for safety.
You may want to leave yourself a backdoor. Make it so that only the caster(you), can use it to get in.
Also, incude lots of auto-resetting Greater Dispels, Circle of Death, Undeath to Death, and Imprison. Eventually, they'll fail a save.

If we're talking epic, the principle is basically the same. Just use a permanent epic dimension lock. They'll still eventually fail saves. You just have to take everything up to 11.

Oh, and either way, you can throw in some golems too.

[Finwe]

- Epic spell to grant a massive bonus on "Use Rope" skill.
- Untangle the snarl.
- Gates no longer need defending.

[ZerglingOne]

Hide it inside a nearly endless prismatic fortress (made literally of tons of permanent prismatic walls, yes, even the floors.) In each of the rooms is a permanent cloudkill. Good luck.

[Lord Ruby34]

I think Soon's got the right idea, for the most part. I'd build a dungeon, fill it with traps and monsters, then bind my soul to the gate and kill myself. Blam, a high level undead guardian that can move though walls to mess with adventures at the worst possible times. Like, say, when they have a complex plan to get past my trap and I shank the party rogue from beneath the floorboards.

I'd make sure to ward the place against teleportation and scrying, too. Just to be thorough.

[Amaril]

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.

[Bulldog Psion]

The undead route does seem to be the most practical, though it's an unpleasant solution. Your guardianship will be eternal, and if you're an epic undead, you're one heck of a challenge to boot. Add in conditions that are fatal to the living but that the undead shrug off (poisonous gases, no air, whatever) and you're good to go.

[HardcoreD&Dgirl]

step 1 Build a gate like the one that was in the first dungeon.
step 2 Create a secret guild of guardians that are one part cult one part Rangers from B5 (like current familiy guarding a gate)
step 3 Create a dungeon that is deminsional locked filled with golems and traps and illusions and seal the room with the gate has no doors, and is full of posion gas. Put a few undead in stasis inside some rooms as 'traps' mostly level drainers and ability score drainers... and put special contingency dispels to get rid of death wards
step 4 over the only entraces to the dungeon (there will be 2) I build a castle that I fill with an elite group of palidens, and a wizard tower that trains wizards (and is really headed by my cult see step 2)
Step 5 build a metroplis around the tower and castle like Azur city
Step 6 craft an epic spell that binds the souls of dead palidens, and cult members to the gate room as special undead (deathless) that are only summoned if someone makes it withing X ft of the gate (xft will be the rooms adjacent to the doorless room).
Step 7 become a lich and study the most awsome combat spells (lots of save or dies) and secretly
Step 8 build a small armu of clones, and simulacrums that I store in temp stasis
Step 9 (well simo with 7 and 8) research spells that remove all knowladge of the gates and rifts from the world...
Step 10 be called a munchkin power gamer and get told I may have gone too far..

[Rakoa]

I wouldn't need to be an epic level character to protect my gate. Why, I would just need to be a level one Kobold Psion. See, my first step would be to summon Pazuzu...

[JBiddles]

Have O-Chul swallow it. Job done.

In all seriousness, can the Gate be moved? If so, abjure it to kingdom come (e.g. against divination and teleportation to it, spells to rewrite the memory of anybody who somehow finds it so that they think it was a decoy, etc.), blindly teleport it into solid rock beneath the ocean, then remove the memory of doing so - in fact, of your Gate's very existence - from your own mind. Make a decoy Gate-dungeon, or several, with Epic illusions for the Gate and Rift. Make it your mission in life to mind-wipe everybody who knows of the Gates aside from yourself, then before you die of old age, do the same to yourself. If you don't succeed in doing so before death, make sure your corpse is Disintegrated so nobody can Speak With Dead about the existence of Gates.

If the Gate cannot be moved, move something to the gate - Stone Shape as much earth over it as possible. Mind-wipe and move any citizens nearby. Don't use magic directly on it (unless you can disguise the magic, in which case make it look like rock and abjure as above) in case any Outsiders get tingly teeth from it. Mind-wipe your Gate's existence from yourself. Proceed as of the third sentence above.