Home Security?

[Sorrowdusk]

I own a small mansion (as a multiclass CE Warlock/Cleric/Disciple who casts as a 13th lvl cleric) and am trying to secure the place and the secret lair there within. (containing an unholy shrine and some storage of swag)

The lair is accessible through a secret door in the pantry disguised as a false wall. (Spot Check DC 35) Trying to open it triggers a Blindness Spell Glyph which hopefully renders the intruder blind. They will likely grope around or the less accute members of their band will point out an obvious chest/strong box in the "secret closet" with a DC 40 lock. The idea is that they will see the "treasure" and make off with the spoils, taking it back to their hideaway where I hope they die a horribly painful death. (Inside the box is pile of 100gp in cheap gems, coated in Black Lotus Extract. Fort DC 20; 3d6Con/3d6Con).

Of course, if they do make another DC 35 spot they will realize the back of the "closet" is another secret door which opens up to descending stairs that end with a simple door at the bottom, that opens into a hall with 2 locked rooms at the end. The walls and the like are lead lined to prevent any scrying from going through them. Now, clerics are suprisingly good at warding things, what with Glyph and Symbol spells and some other stuff. I put a Skull Watch (spell compendium) at the end of the hall that should go off upon entering the hall, alerting me as long as I am on the same plane and everyone else in a quarter mile radius. I figure I can set up a few more Spell Glyphs (with say up to Summon Undead/Monster V; Summon Babau Demon) and a Symbol of Fear too, and place a Forbiddance in all or part of the rooms.

But there's just ONE thing that bugs me.

That hidden door has a spot DC 35 so.... 10+4Wis+21ranks. That means on average an 18th lvl character could notice it, no problem and an 8th lvl one could do it 5% of the time if he was lucky. And yet...whats THIS? With Detect Secret Doors a 2nd lvl wizard could find it like it was nothing? Even that 18th lvl rogue, one of the greatest thieves that ever lived might fail to notice it if he was just barely below average. (Albeit, even he could have a wand of DSS).

Would DSS still work if the door itself were made of lead? What if it had something else made of lead in front of it, like a metal shelf of lead cabinetry? I know it works even if a Secret Door is beyond your line of sight.

And then there's the locks too, not just on the box but also on the two rooms at the halls end. DC 40 locks.... 10+4+26...a 23rd lvl rogue could open those locks on a completely average try or so could a 13th lvl rogue 5% of the time (or a 11th lvl one accounting for Masterwork Thieves tools). And yet...with a simple Knock spell a 3rd lvl wizard could bypass these easily with no effort. At. All.

Now, I know in Neverwinter Nights, DDO, and I have heard some Modules some doors are explicitly unknockable. Is there any way to render a door such other than spell research to make a superior Arcane Lock? In DDO (the only place I had ever actually used before) Knock rolls a check based on your caster lvl and some DCs are high enough that you cant open them except on a natural 20 in comparison to a rogue of your lvl whom could do it easier. The only idea I have at the moment (since they arent that expensive for me) is to just put DC 40 locks on everything that can be locked in the hopes that if a Knocking Tommy comes along he will burn up spells (although he could still have a wand.)

Aside from the possibility of waaaaay too much damage or too high save DCs on the magical traps or monsters, I feel like if my Beguiler/Alt were to hit 4th lvl he could try to break into this place.

Although I could always follow the advice of the Evil Overlord List and keep anything of value/signifcance to me in my safety deposit box...leaving the traps and what have for the sake of their own existance and the chance to cause suffering to those who would think to oppose me (like the Decoy Strongbox...except the whole place) so that should they survive they would find nothing but pain (and XP ).

Of course I do also have a succubus and my half/alu-fiend child with them moving in tentatively, so I guess it would be prudent to make the whole place safer. I dont have any hired guards yet (namely because hireling warriors AFAIK are just red-shirts) although I did put up a few more Skull Watches. I have Animate Dead as a spell-like ability and Corpse Crafter Feat (+4 Str and +2hp/hd for undead I create) although I am still looking for opportunities to create beefier monstrous skellies or something interesting. (Plague Walker? Necrosis Carnex?) The place is in a nice part of town so you still have some city watch about.

Lastly-what have you guys done about securing your own lairs, strongholds, or the like?

 

[Dandu]

Allips.

 

[Jack Simth]

Antimagic Field, as a Periodic Trap, such that it encompasses the 2nd door.

Of course, you'll either need to hire someone else to craft it, or you'll need to have the right domains....

 

[Sekhmet]

Yes, the Wizard can traipse his way through without much problem. Simple Illusions over the door can add a small amount of difficulty, as can Wall spells.
Create multiple "entrances" with hidden doors, have them all open into a 2x2 closet. Have one open into a 2x2 closet with a Wall of Stone as the floor. You'll know where it is, so you can just destroy it whenever you need access.

The best way? No doors. Have no physical way to enter your hideaway. Use Ethereal Jaunt or Teleport when you need to get in.


I made a series of Wishes with a DM once that allowed me to create a library with every book that has ever or will ever exist within it, tucked away on my demiplane. Forget about the repercussions for a moment, and focus on the important aspect.
There were two entrances, the first being the demiplanar seed in a compartment of my armor. The second was a standing portal in a city that I visited often.

Using either portal would teleport you to one room of my demiplane's fort, completely naked. Your gear went to the opposite side of the fort.
A silent alarm would sound and awaken the Golems, which would quite quickly destroy anyone who was not allowed in.

 

[Dandu]

It would probably be best to put the secret door in a latrine. No one's going to waste time searching a toilet.

 

[Alexander123]

If you have SBG, you might find some valuable things in there.

 

[Sorrowdusk]

Yes, the Wizard can traipse his way through without much problem. Simple Illusions over the door can add a small amount of difficulty, as can Wall spells.
Create multiple "entrances" with hidden doors, have them all open into a 2x2 closet. Have one open into a 2x2 closet with a Wall of Stone as the floor. You'll know where it is, so you can just destroy it whenever you need access.

The best way? No doors. Have no physical way to enter your hideaway. Use Ethereal Jaunt or Teleport when you need to get in.


I made a series of Wishes with a DM once that allowed me to create a library with every book that has ever or will ever exist within it, tucked away on my demiplane. Forget about the repercussions for a moment, and focus on the important aspect.
There were two entrances, the first being the demiplanar seed in a compartment of my armor. The second was a standing portal in a city that I visited often.

Using either portal would teleport you to one room of my demiplane's fort, completely naked. Your gear went to the opposite side of the fort.
A silent alarm would sound and awaken the Golems, which would quite quickly destroy anyone who was not allowed in.

Pulling the old teleport you but not your gear from Tomb of Horrors?
On a side note...was The Codex of Infinte Planes in that Library?

 

[Sekhmet]

Pulling the old teleport you but not your gear from Tomb of Horrors?
On a side note...was The Codex of Infinte Planes in that Library?

Every book, regardless of it's type, had an identical copy in that library.

It was constantly under attack by Gith, seeking to destroy my companion (A former high priest of a red dragon cult), demons and devils (seeking to destroy knowledge of their true names), angels (on behalf of their deities - again because of true names, and to destroy manuals about extremely evil acts), powerful wizards and other organisations (seeking to steal it for themselves, or even just use it for a while), and eventually an overgod decided that the character should become a True Neutral Greater Goddess of Knowledge.

End of that character, I guess. I'd assume the library still exists in that universe, but since the character is no longer adventuring, it would constantly have a Greater Goddess defending it.

Good luck, and I hope you use it in a campaign somewhere.

---
Edit: And I didn't get the idea from Tomb of Horrors, but a friend of mine pointed it out shortly after I designed the trap. I thought it was an ingenious way to pay for the repairs and upgrades to my Golems.

 

[anest1s]

I would go for Stone Shape, (warp wood and wood shape are nice too). If it can't open it can't be picked. Also you can have some explosive runes scribed on the stone chest, in which there will be the normal chest protected by lead covering. The one who will want to open the chest, will have to cast 1 spell to open the stone box, 1+ to avoid the explosive runes, 1 to open the lock, and then the trap....this is something Especially if you mix like 4 different stone chests and they have to cast different spells to open them (maybe if they have a distance between them)

Also, I would use explosive runes everywhere. This spell rocks.

Now that I think about it, if you have explosive runes everywhere, you can be sure they wont search for anything (since they would risk looking at one of them). But they are traps, so detect trap would get them.

Nice protection btw

 

[CuRoi]

Of course I do also have a succubus and my half/alu-fiend child with them moving in tentatively, so I guess it would be prudent to make the whole place safer.

I don't think you can child proof for that...Seriously though -

First - Find a way to permanently place Misdirection on the Secret Door. Have it detect as a wall.

Second - Always be shielded from scrying when building/devising/installing said security.

Third - given your abilities, find someway to have anyone that dies in your sanctuary be immediately brought back as an undead (in your unhallowed man cave, naturally). Solves the problem of repeat offenders and gives their friends something to do aside from continuing to break into your house.

I would use mechanical locks but only to keep out the riff-raff. Always have a second layer with Arcane Lock and a barred door (cause Knock won't unbar things even though it may unlock them). Use telekinesis or some other magics to set the bars from the other side. Maybe magical item - Animated Objects on the barring mechanism would work as well.

Illusory Floors with a Gelatinous Cube at the bottom can be fun. Mostly because even if it doesn't work well as a trap, well, you now have a built in garbage disposal. Imagine the luxury of not having to throw your chamber pot out on the street! Need to dispose of some interloper's corpse? Viola!

I do like the extraplanar idea if money/magic is no problem - Personally, I'd save the expense though and the intricacy (because often making something inaccessible can mean it is not so accessible to you at times) and I'm not sure your campaign power level : ) But it could work well. Your err...S.O. and possibly your child can utilize Greater Teleport and or Etherealness, so they should be able to get there easily depending on where you put it (assuming you want them there).

The "no access" idea could work well combined with this. Find a cavern or pocket somewhere deep below the house by using Ethereal exploration; make sure it is big enough to work in of course so you can use spells or manual labor (surely the Succubus has some boot licking demons that NEED to spend hours chiseling out a crawlspace into a functional room. Heck if its a small pocket, get Reduce her minions them send them down there...to slave away)

As above, immediately ward the area against scrying so you will be the only person to have really seen the room. (You should liquidate the day labor as well just to be sure...) Visit often so you can teleport directly to the room from anywhere on the plane and as an alternative, use Ethereal travel to get you there.