Magical Buildings!

[Lysander]

I would like to start a thread to invent magical buildings - that's right, a magic item you can enter or even live in. Here's an idea or two of mine, please add your own!

Tower of Turning

This one story stone watch tower has a base thirty feet in diameter. There is a small room on the ground level and a spiral staircase leads to a platform exposed to the elements above. A large holy symbol is set upon a mithril rod atop the tower, visible from a distance.

The tower is capable of turning undead that approach it as a 20th level cleric with 14 charisma once per hour. It can turn undead as a 10th level cleric without limit. It will use this ability on the command of its rightful staff and can be ordered to do so automatically or under certain conditions.

The door to the tower is made of mithril as well, and inscribed with holy runes. If the gate is destroyed or smashed off its hinges all undead within 10 feet take 3d6 damage.

Traveling House

This cozy cottage is capable of teleporting itself and everything inside of it up to twenty miles a day. Upon arriving the house will lay secure foundations, and replant small trees and bushes next to it so nothing occupies its space. It will not appear in a spot that has a large object already present, or on terrain it cannot safely root itself. Upon leaving it restores the land to the way it was.

Glass Wall
This magical wall looks like an ordinary tall stone barrier from one side. From the other though it is as transparent as glass, allowing guards to see everything going on behind the wall.

[Triaxx]

I love the Glass Wall. I can't wait to build a city surrounded by them. Or a castle with them on certain walls.

command of its rightful staff

The guys inside the tower? Or one guy with the magic stick that controls the tower?

I like the Traveling House. Wouldn't a shrinking house be better? Shrink it in the morning, then enlarge it at nice.

[DracoDei]

I like the Traveling House. Wouldn't a shrinking house be better? Shrink it in the morning, then enlarge it at nice.

Depends on how you feel about walking/riding and how much territory you expect to cover in a day.

[Lysander]

The Tower of Turning obeys its rightful master/s. There is no control device, just verbal commands, but even if abandoned the Tower will continue to turn undead as a level 10 cleric on its own.

The traveling house saves you the trouble of traveling but it does have the daily range limitation. It could be very useful for a character with limited mobility though.

Here's another building, this one a trap:

Grind House

This one room windowless wooden hut is a comfortable place to take shelter from the elements. However if a certain trap word (or phrase) is uttered indoors the walls, floor, and ceilings sprout whirling blades of razor sharp wood that deal 3d6 damage per round spent inside. The door also slams shut and melds to become one with the wall. The walls of the hut have a hardness of 5. The trap word is decided by the creator upon the house's making.

And this one a great headquarters for a BBEG:

Castle of Corruption

This imposing fortress causes everyone who enters to make a DC 15 Will Save to avoid becoming Lawful Evil. Upon leaving the castle a person who failed their save makes another DC 15 Will Save. If they succeed they regain their original alignment, if they fail the effect is permanent until they are given a Remove Curse or Atonement spell.

[Corestimah]

You would do well to get the Stronghold Builder's Guide. While it was made for 3.0, nearly all the rules are still valid in 3.5, especially the rules for Wondrous Architecture (i.e. enchanting buildings like magic items). There are also rules for mobile buildings, including crawling, floating, hovering, flying, teleporting, and even planeshifting structures.

Of more immediate interest to you is that most of the ideas in this thread discussed so far already exist in some form in the SBG. There is a Transparent magical wall quality (though it's two-way), bladed walls, continuous trap rooms (though usually with tamer spells than you would find in a standard trap), and rules for pricing your own Wondrous Architecture ideas (basically it 1/4 the price of a comparable magic item, because it's easier to be space inefficient when enchanting magic items).

As for the idea of a shrinking house, just look at Daern's Instant Fortress in the DMG. 55k for a 3 level Adamantine tower that shrinks down into a pocket sized cube. VERY good at keeping the monsters at bay. The downside is that it takes a Wish to repair it if it's damaged. Still, it can be worth it.

[Maldraugedhen]

The Riddled Corridor
This corridor is filled with a glassy semi-translucent purple solid, a magical substance with Hardness 12 and 100 hp / 10 feet (especially violent and determined individuals will find that only 5 feet of the material will dissolve at any one time), and when a sample of the wall is broken off, it dissipates into nothingness. The corridor, itself, is a riddle, and reads across the front a suitable hint with a minimum of 5 words (this example corridor would have the inscription 'Solve the riddle to proceed'). As soon as anyone near the corridor realizes a riddle is present, the purple substance stretches out to engulf them, grabbing them and pulling them 10 feet into itself, opening an air pocket. When the individual realizes the corridor, itself, IS the riddle, the purple solid pulls them out the opposite end from the one they started on. Other riddles have been applied to similar corridors, with binding hints applied to the substance. Without a binding hint, the purple solid melts into the floor of the corridor, dissipating back into magical essence. Whoever owns the structure the Riddled Corridor is bound to may change the riddle and the hint by writing the riddle and the hint and pressing the paper, parchment, or other written surface to any surface of the purple solid.

[Jack Zander]

Crapper's Flushing Privy

This magic item, invented by the Archmagi Crapper, is a simple 5 by 5 foot outdoor privy with all the essentials included. Next to the hole is a trigger. When pulled, an extra-dimensional space is activated at the bottom of the pot, and a create water spell rinses all filth into the entrance of the extra-dimensional space. A pleasing aroma also fills the air and the pot is instantly cleaned if soiled. Usually a gelatinous cube or similar creature resides in this space so the privy never has to be cleaned or dumped out but a creature is not included in the magic item's creation.

CL: 9th; Craft Magical Building, create water, prestidigitation, secret chest; Price: 6,500 gp.

[salmonking2]

i like the outhouse one