What ways are there to prevent teleportation?

[Piratecat]

I'm working on an adventure that will end up being published, and I'm away from my books. In 4e, how many methods are there for preventing teleportation? I'm trying to figure out how "infiltration-proof" a fortress can be.

Thank you!

[Hypersmurf]

Forbiddance, PHB p305 - level 20 ritual. Lasts 24 hours, but you can sustain it each day, and after a year and a day it becomes permanent.

Prevents scrying and teleportation by anyone of lower level than the caster.

-Hyp.

[Shadeus]

Although not a method of prevention, I wanted to note a common limitation on teleportation: you have to see where you are going. This isn't 100% true of every teleportation power, but fey step seems to be the most common, along with the warlock powers. I think you need to get to level 10 (warlock's leap?) before you can teleport without knowing where you are going.

It might aid in the discussion if we knew what the expected levels of the PCs were. It might lend itself to the projected resources of your antogonist.

[Piratecat]

I'm looking at the lower end of the paragon tier, so nothing too high end - around the 10-14 level.

Thanks for the help! Really useful.

[-Avalon-]

Simple Teleports (power based)
Solution: Blindness

Complex Teleports (ritual based)
Solution: Forbiddance

Hope that helps

[aurance]

Originally Posted by Piratecat

I'm looking at the lower end of the paragon tier, so nothing too high end - around the 10-14 level.

Thanks for the help! Really useful.

Teleportation prevention is sort of built-in at lower paragon tier, because as mentioned above, you need line of sight for short-range teleport powers, and long-range teleport ritual requires the presence of a teleportation circle (not to mention knowledge of the sequence of runes for that circle).

[kerbarian]

Originally Posted by aurance

Teleportation prevention is sort of built-in at lower paragon tier, because as mentioned above, you need line of sight for short-range teleport powers, and long-range teleport ritual requires the presence of a teleportation circle (not to mention knowledge of the sequence of runes for that circle).

In Adventurer's Vault, they added Breaching Armor, which is available starting as a level 3 item -- it lets you teleport to the other side of a wall (up to 10 feet thick) with no line of sight. So blocking line of sight is no longer sufficient even at low levels.

[Danceofmasks]

Maybe it isn't the most helpful advice, but if teleportation is too much of an issue for fortresses in the gameworld in general, they're going to end up full of deathtraps.

Bottomless pits, slippery slopes, alarms, you name it.

Bamf = dead.

[-Avalon-]

Originally Posted by Danceofmasks

Maybe it isn't the most helpful advice, but if teleportation is too much of an issue for fortresses in the gameworld in general, they're going to end up full of deathtraps.

Bottomless pits, slippery slopes, alarms, you name it.

Bamf = dead.

Actually, that is pretty good advice there... Strahd Von Zarovich (NPC/Vampire of D&D) has several times been mentioned in books and modules as not caring so much about the use of teleportation as with the effects and results of it. He knows people will try and teleport into his castle, so he has several traps of differing levels to guard against it.

The most simple is the mirror shield (prolly a ritual in 4th if they ever made it). Its effects are that the people teleporting into the castle would reflect the teleport in a random direction, the same amount of distance that they traveled to get there. Since most people do not teleport from right outside, this resulted in people ending up in the ground, falling from ridiculous heights, etc etc...

Of course, if someone was high enough level to overcome all of these guards/wards, they would inevitably end up inside and up against him directly, as he knew exactly where they were to appear and when (Think 3.5 spell about postponing incoming teleports hehe)

All of these would be rituals which can be designed easily in 4th, by players and DM's alike.

So, very good advice... stop worrying about preventing teleport, worry with what consequences the players get for teleporting =)

[Rechan]

The most simple solution is this: 4e allows for exception based design, and sometimes very persnickety exceptions, so just say "You can't teleport here. The end."

A more helpful solution: a ritual, ward, whathaveyou, that limits line of effect. It's like being blind, except that you are power-blind. This might be a power that continues throughout the entire area; it might even have implications for non-teleportation magic, thus resulting in limiting ranges of various powers. (Yes Mr. Wizard; your magic missile fizzles after two squares.)

Also, as suggested above: assume people will teleport, so build safeguards. For instance, there's 5-10 feet missing between the outer-most wall and the interior floor. So if someone teleported from the outside in, they'd end up falling through the gap. Another solution is a Teleportation Funnel; if someone uses teleportation inside the Fortress, then they are re-directed to a pre-designated location (say, a cell, a monster's cave, etc).

[DracoSuave]

A shield against line of effect hoses every power, not merely spells.

[Waylander the Slayer]

There are no simple solutions that I am familiar with for lower levels in 4E especially if you are looking to prevent some of the short distance teleport type abilities. Outside of it, you might come up with solutions, perhaps some sort of planar taint or effect that might make teleporting, haphazard, or even have other fun effects.

[Danceofmasks]

Originally Posted by -Avalon-

Stuff about Strahd Von Zarovich (NPC/Vampire of D&D)

When the game first came out, I got to thinking about architecture.

'cos the mechanics of the game determine the rules of the universe the characters live under, and they have to make sensible decisions based on the rules of the universe.

So, eladrin architecture.
It would make perfect sense that every eladrin dwelling would have some sort of ledge or alcove 25' up they can bamf to, just in case of intruders or fire or whatever ...
'cos if everyone can do it, then architects wouldn't even conceive of not building such features into their structures.

[frankthedm]

Originally Posted by kerbarian

In Adventurer's Vault, they added Breaching Armor, which is available starting as a level 3 item -- it lets you teleport to the other side of a wall (up to 10 feet thick) with no line of sight. So blocking line of sight is no longer sufficient even at low levels.

And here i was giving wotc more credit than to put something like that out there.

[Tony Vargas]

Originally Posted by Piratecat

I'm trying to figure out how "infiltration-proof" a fortress can be.

In 4e, only high-epic level rituals allow teleporting into a location with no teleport circle, so simply not having a circle is a pretty good defense. Forbiddence can be prermenant, so even if there's no 20+ level challenge in the fortress, now, it could have been rendered pretty teleport/scry-proof in the past.

Vulnerabilities to infiltration come from the need to let some people in, not others. No matter how magically-secured an area might be, social engineering could get someone in, just be convincing someone with the ability to designate 'OK to enter' to designate the wrong person or class of person as OK.

If there's a need to make a fortress functionally infiltration proof for backstory or adventure flow reasons, it can be so arbitrarily - 4e is exception-bassed, so arbitrary is normal in a 4e rule, it's part of thier 'laws of physics' that the laws of physics are arbitrary. If the reverse - if there /must/ be a way for a reasonably secure fortress to be infiltrated, the same proviso aplies. It can be as specific as an item/ritual that let that specific agent breach that specific defense at that specific moment and could never work again.

[Piratecat]

Originally Posted by Waylander the Slayer

There are no simple solutions that I am familiar with for lower levels in 4E especially if you are looking to prevent some of the short distance teleport type abilities.

I don't need to hose them, but I do want to take them into account. I'd feel pretty foolish if I design my impregnable fortress (with 10' walls) and someone uses their armor of breaching to stroll inside.

Good stuff here.

[MarkB]

I wonder if you could prevent Fey-step and similar teleportation methods by building an exact duplicate fortress in the same location within the Feywild?

[James McMurray]

Originally Posted by frankthedm

And here i was giving wotc more credit than to put something like that out there.

Unless the whole party is outfitted in it, it's not that big a deal. You have to know that there's a free space on the other side, and you're leaving the rest of the party behind to activate an item you can't use again for at least 6 hours. Without lots of foreknowledge it's a possible death sentence every time you use it.

[Solodan]

Here is what I'd do:

First, if its supposed to be truly impenatrable, then just say "Sorry, no, probably a forbiddence ritual. Roll arcana if you want to be sure"

If its just "mostly impentatrable" then, lots of creative traps:

Illusions - "Wow, that outcropping in that wall right up there above that dangerous moat looks like its easy to fey step to" bamf "Aaaaaghhhh!"

Traps, and lots of them. Apparently, teleportation is so common, that a few good pit traps and arrow spitting statues are all the rage nowadays in fortress defenses

Fake walls/rooms with no doors - BAMF! "I'm in.. and lets see how to get my friends in.. What, no door in this room? What's that strange green gas coming in from the ceiling... and all those eladrin skeletons in this room."

That's just to start it off I'm sure there are other great ideas just waiting to be shared.

[Danceofmasks]

Forget the green gas, just make the room sufficiently distracting to allow a short rest ... and thereby the eladrin gets to die from failed endurance checks.
Eventually.