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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Yaarel" data-source="post: 7237013" data-attributes="member: 58172">@<a href="http://www.enworld.org/forum/member.php?u=6888204" target="_blank">snickersnax</a>Yeah, this thread and the spell lists in the Original Posts are especially for the spells to choose for adventuring.But note. Glyph Of Warding 3 positions as a 3rd-level Good Setup  spell. It is potent because it can ‘store’ any spell of any level for an  indefinite amount of time, that ‘triggers’ under whatever conditions  the caster wants. The higher the spell slot used for Spell Glyph, the  higher the spell that can be stored. The 1-hour casting prevents usage on the fly, but a thoughtful player might get some mileage out of  it even while adventuring. The option for Explosive Rune seems less appealing, somewhere  between 2nd-level and 3rd-level. But the Spell Glyph is impressive and  perfect for customizing your own ‘lair defenses’ with whatever spells you  want.The way 5e is upto now, defenses for your ‘lair’ (castle, mage tower, wizard school, etcetera) and magic item creation are mixed in with the rest of the spell list. Spells like Continual Flame 2, Magic Weapon 2, Clone 8, and so on, feel like a kind of magic item creation. Along these lines are spells that do lair defense, like Hallow 5, Guards and Wards 6, even Alarm 1. For now, these are treated like other Setup spells. Their merit depends on their general desirability (Alarm is decent, Guards and Wards is a hot mess). As a rule that works often enough, the level of defense is roughly equal to the level of whatever it is defending against.Note, I want to see ‘ethereality’ be available at the lowest tier (such as a 2nd level spell), and then a kind of lair-defense spell similar to Forbiddence 6, be also at 2nd level as a convenient way to deny ethereality or any other form of planar travel from entering into the defended space.In Xanthars Guide, the Ranger Horizon Walker seems to have ethereality features, and I am curious if this happens in low levels. (Note, the 4e Shadar-Kai had phasing abilities to pass thru objects at level 1, and its design balances well.)Satisfying mobility spells at the lowest tier, like Misty Step teleportation, makes me as a player happy. But I need convenient plausible way to deny such mobility so they dont spoil sensitive parts of the adventure, to make me as a DM happy. In other words, I need lair defenses at the lowest tier too.With regard to spells to defend your lair, I am torn.On the one hand, I like how free form the D&D approach to spell design is. The spell list is an eclectic repository of many different kinds of spells for many different kinds of purposes. This free form is great for creativity. The DM can invent new spells, pick and choose spells for a list that specializes for a specific purpose, like a thematic domain, or a function for a new class or so on. Players can pick and choose spells for a specific character concept, do spell research to invent a new spell (with DMs approval), and so on. The fluidity of the spell list is a nice feature of D&D.On the other hand, I want to see magic item creation in a separate design space, and things like permanent lair defenses as part of that design space.I treat all +1 mechanical bonuses as, by definition, ‘masterworks’. So for example, the reallife ‘damascus steel’ swords during the Medieval period would be magical in the sense of using the ‘magical’ properties that are inherent in special materials, but that require sophisticated technology and skill to benefit from. Given the culture, I would say, all samurai katana are by definition masterworks. In Japan metal was scarce and mainly wealthy sophisticated technologies made stuff out of it. So if it was metal, it was probably a masterwork too. Many (but not all) viking swords are masterworks, employing a sophisticated metallurgical blend of three metal bars treated three different ways, then forged together for flexibility, strength, and sharpness. And so on. Using dragon hide to make armor along with the proper technology and knowledge, can similarly produce +1 scale armor.I am open to allowing a player character to create +1 ‘masterwork’ items, such as to become a famous sword smith. But only if that item is already an established central character concept.Weapons like a +3 vorpal sword, are necessarily first +1 masterworks, that afterward underwent powerful enchantments. Items that have magical effects but lack a plus, are by definition non-masterworks that have been enchanted.Something like that. I have allowed things on an ad-hoc adjudication, but havent decided on anything systematic for magic item creation.It is easy to explain how a Wizard might be able to create a magic item, just make it a kind of spell research.But I want to see the Fighter also function as a famous sword smith. Most legendary sword smiths were not especially known for other kinds of magic. So maybe make masterworks a kind of skill check?Maybe, to make a +1 ‘masterwork’ weapon or armor, the character must• be proficient with the item, and have already established it as a central character concept• acquire the very expensive special materials to make the item• dedicate sufficient downtime and equipment• succeed on a Very Difficult or Nearly Impossible Intelligence (Athletics) (!) skill checkMaybe succeed on three successive skill checks, before accumulating three failures?Some kind of separate design space for magic item creation generally, involving skill checks and special materials.Likewise, I would treat lair defenses as permanent magic item creations, employing various relevant skills, special materials, and maybe similar spells depending on the defense. It might be necessary to add new skills. Maybe ‘Alchemy’ covers things like chemistry, metallurgy, stone masonry, and other examples of material sciences. Or maybe Arcana or Nature already includes these kinds of things.</blockquote>

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