What ways are there to prevent teleportation?

[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]

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]

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]

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]

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]

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.