Build a fortress to withstand almost anything

[Ghostwind]

Here's one for the ingenious lot of you. I'm constructing a castle and I want to make it defensible against magic and siege without resorting to a large number of magical protection spells and whatnot.

For instance, the walls are to be lead-lined to prevent detection spells from functioning. The outer walls will be covered in ivy, because ivy gives off an aura that disrupts teleportation spells (from a Dragon article many years ago). The moat will be filled with stagnant water (the keep has an independent water system) that carries disease and will hold more than a few undead as a surprise. There will be areas of thick brambles and thorns to prevent attacks from the ground and so forth.

Continuing with this line of thought, what else should be added to make the keep secure and how would you go about it? Again, I'm not looking for "cast X spell and make it permanent". I want ingenious and original ideas that work within the rules system.

 

[MarauderX]

Dwarf in me says: hmmm... build it underground. No moat, no walls, just dirt to hide the whole thing. Use anti-magic fields around it to prevent spells such as pass-wall, earth to mud, and sympathetic vibration. No more flying in or tunneling under without being detected. No flaming missles to knock down towers. Ideally it would be near rolling hills so larger seige equipment would be harder to manage, and horses would be less useful.

The main entrances for day-to-day use would be stairways leading downward that could have the same traps as a typical gatehouse. Flooding could be mitigated easily with valved tunnels to direct flow on the lower levels, and underground rivers could be redirected to provide water and drainage. Mushroom farms and the like could prolong a seige should underground avenues be cut off from delivering supplies.

Tunneling could be done beneath surface enemies to cause cave ins underneath them or to wage a war of attrition with sniper tunnels being dug anew each day. It could be easy to lure a frustrated foe into some of these tunnels, then trap them, blow them up, cave them in, flood them or have them lead a good portion of their army below ground before attacking and also coordinating an attack on the rest of them above ground, leaving a path for escape for those above ground so they flee instead of fighting to aid those below ground.

Elf in me says: la la la... build it in the treetops, well hidden from any below to find it. Provide a fast moving mounted army with ranged weapons to harass a foe, dragging them thru the woods far away from their home. Oh, and hope they don't use fire. Or ride horses. Or fly. Eh, we're lovers not fighters, woe is me. My what a nice tunic you have, is that real spider silk?

 

[MerakSpielman]

MauraderX is right. For an impenetrable D&D fortress, you need to abandon the good ol' European-style castes of the real world. Get a few dragons around those things and they're a pile of slag in minutes.

But you did say you want a minimum of actual magical defenses, yet you want it to be proof against magic. That's tricky.

First of all, try to make it impossible to find in the first place, even if you've been there before.

Second, try to make sure nobody uninvited can get inside.

Third, try to make sure that nobody who gets inside uninvited makes it out alive.

Frankly, I don't see how you're going to accomplish these tasks without extrodinary expense and magic up the wazoo.

 

[hellbender]

If you do want an aboveground, Dragon #295 has a castle theme which has many handy tricks and traps to secure any stronghold. Instead of lead lining, the Somnambulic Wall is a handy defense, not really an overabundance of magic and puts would-be invaders to sleep. Best of luck with it!

hellbender

 

[Sigurd]

Always easier to destroy than build

Removing magic as a threat without greater magic is really hard.

Two working strategies I can think of are secrecy - they can't attack what they dont know about & mobility. Castle ? What Castle where.....

Course both of those make it difficult to have a taxbase to support you .

If you just want security I think a portable keep spell, Mordenkainan's mansion type thing, and a quiet life are the best.

If you want to rule -- consider what your people need & how to serve your people. They are your defences and informers.

Plane shifted rooms or ethereal chambers at least make attacking your castle a two step process. Failing that some sort of dimension door exit for a quick get away. It depends on what you're trying to protect your character or his power base.

Sigurd

 

[Phineas Crow]

Build the main stronghold in a pocket dimension connected to the material plane through several portals located in guarded towers scattered about the land.

If a portal tower is about to fall to enemy forces the portal can be disabled before the enemy uses it to infiltrate the stronghold.

Now all you have to worry about are those pesky extraplanar travelers...

 

[Thornir Alekeg]

Here's one for the ingenious lot of you. I'm constructing a castle and I want to make it defensible against magic and siege without resorting to a large number of magical protection spells and whatnot.

Continuing with this line of thought, what else should be added to make the keep secure and how would you go about it? Again, I'm not looking for "cast X spell and make it permanent". I want ingenious and original ideas that work within the rules system.

OK, every doorway, especially ones to critical areas such as the gatehouse would have to have a curtain anchored at the floor and ceiling. The curtain is cut into strips that have to be pushed aside to pass through the doorway (Industrial cold rooms tend to put ones made of plastic across the doors if the door will be frequently opened for a long time). This will make it difficult for invisible attackers who were able to fly over the walls to get in undetected. Obviously guards would have to be assigned to watch these curtains for signs of intruders.

Speaking of flying invisible attackers, the fortress would have to be designed with a central tower higher than all the rest. Anchored from the top of the tower outward to the walls are a series of thick wires forming a web or cage over the fortress. The wires are pulled tight so that if any are cut, they will snap making a loud "twang" that will be evident to the guard.

Of course I have no idea how to stop Dimension Dooring right on into the keep without Anti-magic

 

[Eldragon]

I have always considered large amounts of stone or lead lined walls as protection from both scrying and teleportation spells. I thought it was documented in a non-core 3.0 book, but I can't seem to find it now. Perhaps its a house rule I have gotten too accustomed to.

All doors should be sqeaky and spring loaded to automatically close. This keeps invisible people from entering a room without making a a good deal of noise.

Every guard has a whistle that they blow at the first sign of trouble. Simple, cheap, good idea.

Arrow slits must be covered when not in use, and windows need to be made of glass. This keeps an intruder from polymorphing into a bird and getting in through a window.

The entire castle needs to be sudivded into sections. Each section is divided by a single entrace/exit. This exit is a "Security Door". No one except the master of the house has the authority/passwords/keys to enter each section. A security door is not a single door, but actually several doors very close to eachother in a hallway. Ideally several types of doors. E.g. Heavy Oak Door, Portcullis, Portcullis, Heavy Oak Door. Each Oak door has 2 locks and is barred (So 2 knock spells are needed to get past a single door). A guard is placed just inside each of the oak doors. The guards can see eachother through the portcullises. The guard is in charge of raising the portcullis on his side, and unlocking the door on his side. Each guard does not have the keys to ther other door. Would-be intruders would need to get past the first guard and 2 iron gates without alerting the guard on the other side. Thats pretty hard to do. Furthermore, any intruder who wants to use Dimention Door to get past the entire security gate would probably not know there are actually 4 doors, and runs the risk of getting stuck between the doors, or worse inside them.

 

[The Madhatter]

Look at a permanent Dimensional Lock to prevent Dimension Door/teleport spells! It is the least you could do.

 

[LostSoul]

If you could somehow make it mobile, that would solve a lot of problems. Maybe it's a castle built on the back of some giant, docile creature. Or maybe it's built into the creature. Like a fortress carved into the shell of some giant turtle that just wanders around. Or maybe some kind of massive undead thing (so nobody can mind control it).

Can you teleport into a moving object? Like "the tent of Captain Death?"