Fortress construction

[Noir]

In the game I am currently playing our group (consisting of a mid-level necromancer and a mid-level fighter/rogue) have been charged with overseeing the construction of a vast fortress (which will serve as the base of operations for an epic-level lich). It is to be built on the slopes of a great mountain through the use of conventional (slaves, hired construction workers, etc.) and unconventional (enslaved monsters such as ogres and trolls, magic such as stone shape, etc.) methods. Since probably a lot of future game time will be spent at the construction site and later on at the completed fortress I have volunteered to map the whole thing out. I have spent a couple of hours trying to picture how it will look and what kind of establishments that needs to be included. I have come up with a few things but surely a lot of important stuff is missing. Please help me out.

As I mentioned above, the fortress is built for an extremly powerful lich. It has just awaken from millenias of slumber to discover that the great empire it once ruled has passed into history and been forgotten. Filled with anger and a thirst for retribution it orders a great fortress to be built. It must be:

- able to house several hundred thousands of soldiers (with families) and undead.
- practically self-sufficient.
- able to withstand decades of siege (mainly because it is built on enemy territory, not too far from a great city).
- a resemblance of the lich's power (as in control over lesser beings and as an archmage).

With this in mind I have come up with the following:

- There will be atleast three ground levels with enormous walls surrounding each (think Minas Tirith).
- Nine immense towers (one symbolizing the lich's mastering of each school of magic and a master tower).
- An extensive tunnel system within the mountain.

When I later on map out the whole thing I need to know what rooms and establishments the fortress contains, this is the part where I really need your help. What should a fortress of this magnitude (virtually a city) contain?
My list as it is at this point (most of the things listed, if not all, will probably exist in several places within the fortress):

- library
- ritual/summoning/spellcasting room
- garden
- bedroom
- barracks
- kitchen
- dining room
- laboratory
- wine cellar
- guard tower
- throne/reception hall
- animation room (it is a lich who owns the place after all)
- morgue
- graveyard
- park (the lich is not utterly evil and tolerates plant-life)
- living room
- dungeon
- torture/interrogation chamber
- smithy
- tavern
- slave quarters
- taylor
- stable
- storage (food, weapons, etc.)
- treasury
- moat/pond (maybe)

I am very grateful for any comments/suggestions.

 

[Mac Callum]

Check out the Archived Thread from SHARK, "How to defend a Mountain Fortress" - there will assuredly be good ideas in there for you.

If its going to be self-sufficient there needs to be some kind of food source - unless you're importing Dire Buffalo from The Beastlands.

 

[DiFier]

you should pick up the stronghold builder's guide

 

[handforged]

you should go to http://www.peldor.com and check out The Fortress of the Nine module that Thomas Miller created for his campaign. It was the fortress of an extremely powerful lich and eight of his most badass cronies, and should give you at least an idea. Reading the part of his campaign stories based on the module would help you get a feel for it as well.

~hf

 

[Corwyn]

And the requierment:
- able to house several hundred thousands of soldiers (with families) and undead.
it's a bit over the top. Really, hundred thousand soldiers are considderd to be an army, usually quite a large one. And boy do they eat. Just my thoughts on that.

Don't forget the sanitary system. That many people produce a lot of waste.

 

[Wolffenjugend]

I'm assuming most of those "few hundred thousand soldiers" will be undead right? If not, they soon will be. I'd suggest hollowing out the mountain and stockpiling them in there. Another thing to consider, with that many undead around disease and plague will be a real problem - so have some clerics devoted to it.

As noted food supply will be a huge issue for any number of troops, perhaps they could manage tiered farms along the mountainside (not very efficient) or fungus farms inside the mountain (uh, I'd be deserting after about the 30th fungus-burger). And water supply too!

Actually, you know what - you're really building an empire not a fortress. With that many people you're primary emphasis will be spent on logistics not defense.

 

[Zithuan]

Several hundred thousand troops would be prohibitively expensive.

From the Stronghold Builder's Guidebook:
"D&D measures the size of your fortress in ?stronghold spaces' (ss). A stronghold space isn't rigidly defined in terms of square footage, but most stronghold spaces take up a 20-foot-by-20-foot-by-10-foot space."

Barracks for 10 soldiers - 1 ss & 400 gp
Armory to hold the equipment for 25 soldiers - 1 ss & 500 gp (does not include cost of equipment)
Dining Hall (seats 30) - 2 ss & 2000 gp
Kitchen (provides food for 15) - 1ss & 2000 gp

If we are slightly generous and round up a little, 100,000 soldiers will require:
Barracks x10000 - 4,000,000 gp
Armory x4000 - 2,000,000 gp
Dining Hall x2000 - 4,000,000 gp (we'll assume they don't all eat at the same time)
Kitchen x4000 - 8,000,000 gp

18,000,000 gp
This does not include many other assorted costs such as equipment (another 7,200,000 gp to give scale mail, longsword, and large wooden shield to each of those soldiers).
Waste disposal would certainly be an issue, maybe ten thousand Bags of Devouring might be enough (155,000,000 gp)

The purpose of the stronghold is important here: is it meant to be defensive or offensive?

A defensive fortress does not need very many troops as you can spring for magical defenses such as Forbiddance, Anti-life shell, and Cloudkill traps.
Check out the Stronghold Builder's Guidebook and Dragon #295.- Zithuan

 

[D+1]

It must be:

- able to house several hundred thousands of soldiers (with families) and undead.
- practically self-sufficient.
- able to withstand decades of siege (mainly because it is built on enemy territory, not too far from a great city).
[snip]
When I later on map out the whole thing I need to know what rooms and establishments the fortress contains, this is the part where I really need your help. What should a fortress of this magnitude (virtually a city) contain?

Correction: it IS a city. Several HUNDRED THOUSAND? You need ANOTHER city just to FEED and support this one barring the application of some big-time magic to supply food, arms and materials, and if it's not actually designed like a city you need to consider waste disposal, etc. because those hundred thousand + will be far more concentrated while simultaneously not working to maintain the very infrastructure that keeps them alive.

You don't need to be thinking fortress so much as Death Star.

 

[Noir]

Check out the Archived Thread from SHARK, "How to defend a Mountain Fortress" - there will assuredly be good ideas in there for you.

I am not very familiar with the archive and discovered that it would take me at least a day to even find the thread. Maybe you could post a link form me?

Correction: it IS a city. Several HUNDRED THOUSAND? You need ANOTHER city just to FEED and support this one barring the application of some big-time magic to supply food, arms and materials, and if it's not actually designed like a city you need to consider waste disposal, etc. because those hundred thousand + will be far more concentrated while simultaneously not working to maintain the very infrastructure that keeps them alive.

I realize now that my post was badly formulated. The fortress will not work as a permanent home for the soldiers, though it should, in times of crisis, be able to house about 200 000 of them for a while.
Yes, that is A LOT. But this is no ordinary circumstances.

Actually, you know what - you're really building an empire not a fortress.

The world we play in, is quite big, many times the size of the Earth. The fortress will serve as the HQ and lair of the lich, who has its mind set on conquering, if not the whole, a large part of it.


Notes.
We do not use the currency system as it is in PHB. Everything is cheaper, a lot cheaper. Though it is not much of an issue, our employer will provide what we need as long as we really need it.
Waste disposal is neither an issue, the lich will take care of that in one way or another (bottomless pit in the mountain? permanent gate to a demi-plane? Bags of Devouring ?).
The food supply is a big problem already. Until now it has been solved by spending large amounts of money, looting nearby villages and towns, fungus farming ( ), fishing, hunting but mainly by feeding our workers/soldiers (about 90 percent, of the living, are orcs and the like) the corpses of defeated enemy forces (MAN FLESH!).

Maybe it is time for me to pick up the Stronghold Builder's Guidebook.

 

[Piratecat]

Here's the link for you!

http://www.enworld.org/forums/showthread.php?t=18134

It's easy to find if you need it again; head to the archive (the last forum), and sort from the beginning by thread starter. I'm glad to track it down for you; it's a great thread.