Need help! How would YOU find an invisible tower?

[Piratecat]

There are a few brilliant suggestions here that we didn't think of. Unfortunately, Sagiro rolled his eyes when I previously suggested the "divide the map and use commune" idea; we had used this technique in my game once, and no one was especially happy with the "feel" of the result. That's unfortunate, because it would be really effective!

And yeah, VB, we thought of the rope.

This is for Sagiro's game. We're cleric-heavy and have access to a 11th lvl wizard, but can't depend on any NPC allies. It's going to be interesting. The tower was originally designed to hide ultra-evil diviners from evil diviners, so we expect it to be hard to pin down magically. My plan had been to go find the Domino's Pizza delivery guy and ask him which spot in the trackless wilderness he delivered pizza to. Turns out that I'm spouting anachronisms; who knew? *grin* I think tracking down their support network (if any, as they may use magic to supply themselves) is the best idea. I really like the idea of divining their garbage, if I can figure out a way to do so.

 

[howandwhy99]

Whenever I don't know the answer to something I figure that someone else has probably figured it out better than I will ever be able to.

It's how I stay positive.

Since this problem is pretty timeless, I would not think of neat ways to use spells and instead think of real life ways to solve the problem. First, find out everything you can about what you want to find. Unless this is some HUGE secret no one else could ever know, you''ve got some sources. (try extraplanar) Then I would just find someone who is going to the tower and follow them. Simple as that. Of course, sometimes you need to give that person a reason to go to the tower, but that's a different problem...

[So yes, I vote for pizza delivery as the answer]

 

[geezerjoe]

Here's what I was originally thinking though I don't know if it would work well ...

First narrow the search area significantly. Use gather information, local history, divination spells, and bardic knowledge to accomplish (many have suggested similar ideas here).

Second, use fly spells and perhaps air walk to get aerial. Why?
Once viewed from above, the location that the tower sits SHOULD be darker. The ground should be recessed and compacted. IF there are sub-levels to the building, the darkened area should be even more obvious. Also, any civilized area should have roads leading to it. From a height, roads and trails should stick out like a sore thumb. Check all cross roads and trail ends first.

Rain, fog and dew should cling noticably to an invisible struture of that size.

Wind (and things blown by the wind) could also give clues when viewed aerially, esp. if the structure is of significant size.

Someone somewhere might talk of people that s/he has seen walking along at a distance and then simply disapear.

Anyway, that's all I can come up with currently

l8r

Joe2Old

 

[Thresher]

Find one of their lackeys and slap that peon about like a little bch until he tells you where his mates are.

or

Get a set of goggles made with Detect Magic on them and wander about looking for the 'big glowing' source of magical energy.

or

Planeshift and wander about the ethereal, it may be visible there and you can cover a lot of ground quickly in the ethereal.

 

[Kilmore]

How about a cropduster loaded with spray paint?

 

[Quip]

If your going to try looking for their trash, assuming they haven't been regularly disintigrating it or dropping it into the plane of fire, the most direct approach would be to locate "the largest concentration of humanoid waste" within the 500 mile area. Its kind of gross, but if you want results...

Or even if they have taken measures against that approach, you might find some other humanoid group in the area, who may know something of use.

 

[Kilmore]

Okay, I've had a couple of stupid answers so far, but I think that important points are 1. It's full of wizards and clerics, and 2. It's been hidden for hundreds of years.

So, I would guess that they have some system of supply and disposal that does not leave tracks around the tower.

Another thing to think about is that if they're the only thing in the whole area, and a party of adventurers is randomly looking for SOMETHING, it would be logical for the inhabitants to spot the party a long time before the party finds them. That could be bad.

I would guess that if the DM wants you to find it, there will be other subtle clues left about.

 

[Lord Pendragon]

Okay, so the Invisible Tower is located somewhere in a barren wasteland. And the Tower contains a lot of wizards and clerics. That means that there's going to be a lot of food eaten, a lot of cooking of that food, and a lot of water used in that cooking. There's also going to be water used for cleaning, bathing, etc. Now, it's possible that they're getting their water from somewhere else via Ring Gates or some such, but considering the volume of water they'd need on a consistant basis, I'd guess instead that they've built their tower over a natural water source, say a spring or underground lake.

Now, being in a wasteland, there can't be too many of those around, right? So divine the locations of any springs or underground lakes large enough to supply a few hundred people with water in the middle of the wasteland, and you've found your Invisible Tower.

 

[Geoff Watson]

Okay, so the Invisible Tower is located somewhere in a barren wasteland. And the Tower contains a lot of wizards and clerics. That means that there's going to be a lot of food eaten, a lot of cooking of that food, and a lot of water used in that cooking. There's also going to be water used for cleaning, bathing, etc. Now, it's possible that they're getting their water from somewhere else via Ring Gates or some such, but considering the volume of water they'd need on a consistant basis, I'd guess instead that they've built their tower over a natural water source, say a spring or underground lake.

Now, being in a wasteland, there can't be too many of those around, right? So divine the locations of any springs or underground lakes large enough to supply a few hundred people with water in the middle of the wasteland, and you've found your Invisible Tower.

Or, they've got a Decanter of Endless Water.

Magic solves a lot of problems.

Geoff.

 

[Capellan]

Lots and lots of glitterdusts

OK, a bit more sensibly ... you should definitely get all the information you can through commune, legend lore and the like. Don't underestimate the value of seeking out a high level Bard, either. If nothing else, that should narrow the search area.

Once the area is narrowed down, try flight-based effects, coupled the true seeing. Heck, try flight and vision enhancements, anyway - try looking for other signs of habitation than the tower itself: trails, areas animals avoid (if there are any - how wasted is this wasteland?); that sort of thing.