Wizard's tower - defenses

[danir]

Hi,
I'm in the middle or preping an adventures site for my players, which is going to the abode of a 16th lvl summoner (which also meddles a lot in creating items) into which the PC's need to break-in and still an Item.
While I have the description pretty much set, I'm a bit confunded on the magical defenses to use. I would be grateful to hear your ideas to help me out here

 

[Treebore]

There are several spells that are good and in the books. Mind Blank (or whatever it is called in 3E) is good against scrying on him personally. There is one called I believe "Screen" that can fool scrying. Programmed Illusions may also be helpful. Permanatized walls of Force and other spells that Permanancy works on are good for tower defense. It is also good to have no doors or windows. Just magical and permanent types of portals. To make Passwalls less useful, if not outright useless, have iron/steel rods running throught the walls, like those used in constructing concrete bridges and such.

What level is the party?

 

[Stalker0]

I'm always a fan of more active defenses myself. This guys a summoner, have summoned creatures, called critters and the like actively patroling the area.

You can set the more powerful monsters in areas where higher level magic is needed to gain access.

 

[smootrk]

Liberal use of lead (or gold) lined walls will be helpful in certain rooms and intermitantly throughout the area. Stops a number of 'detect' spells.

Another thought on defenses. If the dude is powerful enough, then have the tower be a decoy of sorts, having the actual rooms located in some sort of pocket dimension. You could befuddle your players with rooms that don't line up (as in N,S,E,W are variable in the environment), or rooms that are much larger than they could possibly be in real-space. These large chambers might hold defenders of extra-large size. Additionally, all these pocket planes would defy the standard teleports and scrying effects.

 

[Vanye]

This isn't quite a magical defense, but....


Have doors that require magic to bypass them. Nothing so powerful as Knock. How about a portcullis that has a lever on the other side that needs to be pulled up to open.
A rope won't work, because the lever is completely smooth.
The portcullis itself is huge, so it's too big for the characters to lift.

Instead, they simply need to use either a mage hand spell, or an unseen servant to flip the lever...or a summoned creature. :-D

 

[danir]

Thanks for the cool ideas
any specific cool monsters in mind....

 

[Vanye]

Thanks for the cool ideas
any specific cool monsters in mind....

Put the lever in a pool of water, so it requires an aquatic creature?

 

[Treebore]

Perfect opportunity for a variety of Golems to be used, depending on how rich you want the BBEG to be. A nice nasty Planar Allie, or two.

What size and level is the party? What "conditions" are they going after him under?

Just remember that whatever you have this guy do your going to have to explain to your players why they can't do it. Or your going to have to allow them to do it.

 

[howandwhy99]

Guards and Wards is the best spell for this. I think it's greatly under utilized. At the caster's high level he should be able to install it 24/7. It can even be used offensively to wipe out others in a dungeon or structure with great effect.

 

[Arkhandus]

A conjurer of that level, with a tower that his valuables and such are kept in, is almost certainly going to have used a Planar Binding, maybe the Lesser or Greater version, at least once to call and bind a creature as guardian of his abode. Maybe several Lesser Planar Bindings to get a pack of Shadow Mastiffs guarding the inside of the tower. Perhaps a strong fiend of some sort from a Greater Planar Binding. Maybe a Coutl, or Formian Taskmaster, or Formian Myrmarch. A few Hound Archons perhaps.

He may have some magic traps at the doors and windows, which summon Earth Elementals, Xorns, Air Elementals, Celestial Bears, or whatever. Or maybe just some Fire Traps, Sepia Snake Sigils, or the like.