I need help making a stronghold for my character. [Archive] - Wizards Community

I need help making a stronghold for my character. [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
blood_of_the_ancient
08-04-05, 10:13 AM In the main campaign I am in (a solo game with quite a few NPC party members), I am playing a necromancer. Not an heroic necromancer, or even anti-heroic, just an evil necromancer. I've got plenty of time to get the plans done for his palace, but I'd like to get working on it. Basically, the tables have turned. The DM gets to have heroic paladins crusading against my vile schemes, and I get to make the big fancy castle that the evil dude lives in. I need help making the big fancy castle. Here are my priorities with it...

1. One thing must be obvious from looking at it: the owner is a very powerful necromancer. Magically enhanced bones on the outside, the flesh of fiends, perhaps even a few still-living creatures with the Eternity of Torture spell cast on them sewn into the outside. It needs to look EVIL.
2. Functionality is key. He's going to be doing a lot of things that a lot of people don't want him to do. It needs to be a safe place for him to hide in.
3. It needs monsters in it. Not really for any specific reason, but he just thinks it's fun to have monsters in a palace.

So, first, what sort of rooms do you think an evil necromancer would have?
~ Torture room
~ Dining area
~ Bedroom

Oh, and also, when making this, let's just assume he has access to anything that's not epic.
Cymraegmorgan
08-04-05, 10:18 AM Get your DM to loan you his copy of Stronghold Builder's Guidebook.
blood_of_the_ancient
08-04-05, 10:37 AM I don't need him to loan it to me, I'll just go buy it. But thank ye, I forgot about that book.
TheErsatzFacsimileOfMe
08-04-05, 10:40 AM Library/Labratory
Many, many, many wards against "scrying, remote viewing, teleporting, planeshifting" and the likes.
**He IS a spellcaster afterall :smirk:**

You would also need a large, yet mostly empty graveyard, bodies have been removed to make more undead or for spell components.

Animate some parts of the walls to attack when anything living comes near.
Heck have secret doors that lead to small rooms packed with undead, so when you accidentially step on the wrong floor tile, *BAM* 1d10 undead appear from behind a sliding panel and the wall and begin shambling toward you...

Also, read the variant rules chapter in the BoVD, it has some thoughts about places where "long term evil" has been happening. Like raising dozens of undead and the likes.
The Half-Orc Wizard
08-04-05, 10:53 AM Don't know how possible this is for you, but what would be very evil and cool would be an underground castle. Perhaps, just one story is above-ground (with all of your suggestions). But, you have a huge underground network. Maybe, you're making the ultimate dungeon. That could be fun. Maybe it has a secret route to another graveyard. Someone as evil as a necromancer certainly belongs in a dungeon-like hideout.
Illion the Red
08-04-05, 11:05 AM Evil Necromancer, eh?

Well, you need the blood-draining and pooling rooms, the chilled chamber of spare parts, the "oops, that didn't turn out right" storage areas. Make all the furniture out of bones and flesh. Few things more unsettling than sitting on a chair and having it moan in pain as it wraps its arms around you.

Make all sorts of nasty flesh-sculptures around the place.
RavenoftheCrags
08-04-05, 11:19 AM Illion speaking from experience there. I never had such luxuries ad blood draining rooms. In my days all we had was a stick and a 1D4ft. patch of carpet.
blood_of_the_ancient
08-04-05, 12:19 PM Nice. I'm definetly using the underground thing, and the undead-from-behind-the-wall-panels thing. A living chair! I could use the Rod of Tongues from the BoVD to do that. Use Eternity of Tporture on it.

...!!!

That can be how he punishes those who cross him! Make them immortal (truly immortal, they don't die of thirst or damage even) but wracked with so muich pain they can't move. Then use the Rod of Tongues to turn them into his furniture! SWEET!!!!!

"You shouldn't have crossed me, paladin, not when I need a new dining table."
CzarGarrett
08-04-05, 01:39 PM Maybe some sort of escape/new body portal or the like? If he's got a stronghold, he's probably got a few followers of sorts. They can be stationed around the place, and send him a body or two every week. So there's a nice big room full of bodies waiting to be used. And your necro can escape that way too.

Might I also suggest 1 big vile creature tied up or contained somwhere in the fortress. Like a spell-stitched umbral ogre barbarian. One big 'pet' that the Paladins can stumble across.

Throne of bones. Nothing says powerful necromancer more than a giant chair made out of femurs and skulls.
bomaz
08-04-05, 06:25 PM lets see have a portal leading to a demiplane, in the demilane you have 2 more portal one to hell and one to the abyss, all who enter are now in the middle of the bloodwar. secondly have a few portals that teleport living matter only that pesky paladin was just teleported, not his armor. the living hands in monsters of faerune. a few wals of force, a tower that can float in the air, is protected by walls of force, and can teleport/planeshift a few times per day (for field excursions for more corpses) shadows, a few hundred desending in a cloud on all who want gone. an orb of storms making a constant storm around your stronghold, nightwings in the air.
blood_of_the_ancient
08-06-05, 01:11 AM A large tower made of bones and stitched flesh with Eternally Tortured people woven into the side of it.

~ A linking to a huge 'dungeon' at the bottom - this is extremely well hidden, and where he conducts his business. The big fancy tower is just for show.
~ A latin choir with domination spells on them so that they will sing if he's fighting a powerful 'hero.' Just for show, of course - what's a boss battle without a latin choir singing in the background?
~ An effective method of escaping a losing battle at the top of the tower.
~ A place for his zombie cheerleading squad to train.
~ A large laboratory in the dungeon, a nice library with plenty of useful books in them in the dungeon, and a fancy looking library of monumental proportions in the tower somewhere.
~ Nightwings flying around the tower.
~ Undead walls. Have some of the walls be those weird spirit walls from Complete Arcane with Walls of Force behind them. Some walls will have animated skin as macabre tapestries.
~ An animated chair that casts a powerful lightning bolt on those who it pins in a grapple (straps them in).
~ Blood draining and pooling rooms.
~ A 'Rod of Tongues' style knife that lets him carve his subjects into whatever form he pleases, and uses Eternity of Torture on them at the same time. An effective way to get new furniture.
~ A throne of bones with lots of magic stuff on it.
~ Really cool undead locked up in various rooms.
~ A custom orb of storms making it rain blood and shoot black lightning down around his palace at all times. A 1% chance each day that it will change to raining frogs instead of blood rain and black lightning (but just for that day).

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
blood_of_the_ancient 08-04-05, 10:13 AM	In the main campaign I am in (a solo game with quite a few NPC party members), I am playing a necromancer. Not an heroic necromancer, or even anti-heroic, just an evil necromancer. I've got plenty of time to get the plans done for his palace, but I'd like to get working on it. Basically, the tables have turned. The DM gets to have heroic paladins crusading against my vile schemes, and I get to make the big fancy castle that the evil dude lives in. I need help making the big fancy castle. Here are my priorities with it... 1. One thing must be obvious from looking at it: the owner is a very powerful necromancer. Magically enhanced bones on the outside, the flesh of fiends, perhaps even a few still-living creatures with the Eternity of Torture spell cast on them sewn into the outside. It needs to look EVIL. 2. Functionality is key. He's going to be doing a lot of things that a lot of people don't want him to do. It needs to be a safe place for him to hide in. 3. It needs monsters in it. Not really for any specific reason, but he just thinks it's fun to have monsters in a palace. So, first, what sort of rooms do you think an evil necromancer would have? ~ Torture room ~ Dining area ~ Bedroom Oh, and also, when making this, let's just assume he has access to anything that's not epic.
Cymraegmorgan 08-04-05, 10:18 AM	Get your DM to loan you his copy of Stronghold Builder's Guidebook.
blood_of_the_ancient 08-04-05, 10:37 AM	I don't need him to loan it to me, I'll just go buy it. But thank ye, I forgot about that book.
TheErsatzFacsimileOfMe 08-04-05, 10:40 AM	Library/Labratory Many, many, many wards against "scrying, remote viewing, teleporting, planeshifting" and the likes. He IS a spellcaster afterall :smirk: You would also need a large, yet mostly empty graveyard, bodies have been removed to make more undead or for spell components. Animate some parts of the walls to attack when anything living comes near. Heck have secret doors that lead to small rooms packed with undead, so when you accidentially step on the wrong floor tile, BAM 1d10 undead appear from behind a sliding panel and the wall and begin shambling toward you... Also, read the variant rules chapter in the BoVD, it has some thoughts about places where "long term evil" has been happening. Like raising dozens of undead and the likes.
The Half-Orc Wizard 08-04-05, 10:53 AM	Don't know how possible this is for you, but what would be very evil and cool would be an underground castle. Perhaps, just one story is above-ground (with all of your suggestions). But, you have a huge underground network. Maybe, you're making the ultimate dungeon. That could be fun. Maybe it has a secret route to another graveyard. Someone as evil as a necromancer certainly belongs in a dungeon-like hideout.
Illion the Red 08-04-05, 11:05 AM	Evil Necromancer, eh? Well, you need the blood-draining and pooling rooms, the chilled chamber of spare parts, the "oops, that didn't turn out right" storage areas. Make all the furniture out of bones and flesh. Few things more unsettling than sitting on a chair and having it moan in pain as it wraps its arms around you. Make all sorts of nasty flesh-sculptures around the place.
RavenoftheCrags 08-04-05, 11:19 AM	Illion speaking from experience there. I never had such luxuries ad blood draining rooms. In my days all we had was a stick and a 1D4ft. patch of carpet.
blood_of_the_ancient 08-04-05, 12:19 PM	Nice. I'm definetly using the underground thing, and the undead-from-behind-the-wall-panels thing. A living chair! I could use the Rod of Tongues from the BoVD to do that. Use Eternity of Tporture on it. ...!!! That can be how he punishes those who cross him! Make them immortal (truly immortal, they don't die of thirst or damage even) but wracked with so muich pain they can't move. Then use the Rod of Tongues to turn them into his furniture! SWEET!!!!! "You shouldn't have crossed me, paladin, not when I need a new dining table."
CzarGarrett 08-04-05, 01:39 PM	Maybe some sort of escape/new body portal or the like? If he's got a stronghold, he's probably got a few followers of sorts. They can be stationed around the place, and send him a body or two every week. So there's a nice big room full of bodies waiting to be used. And your necro can escape that way too. Might I also suggest 1 big vile creature tied up or contained somwhere in the fortress. Like a spell-stitched umbral ogre barbarian. One big 'pet' that the Paladins can stumble across. Throne of bones. Nothing says powerful necromancer more than a giant chair made out of femurs and skulls.
bomaz 08-04-05, 06:25 PM	lets see have a portal leading to a demiplane, in the demilane you have 2 more portal one to hell and one to the abyss, all who enter are now in the middle of the bloodwar. secondly have a few portals that teleport living matter only that pesky paladin was just teleported, not his armor. the living hands in monsters of faerune. a few wals of force, a tower that can float in the air, is protected by walls of force, and can teleport/planeshift a few times per day (for field excursions for more corpses) shadows, a few hundred desending in a cloud on all who want gone. an orb of storms making a constant storm around your stronghold, nightwings in the air.
blood_of_the_ancient 08-06-05, 01:11 AM	A large tower made of bones and stitched flesh with Eternally Tortured people woven into the side of it. ~ A linking to a huge 'dungeon' at the bottom - this is extremely well hidden, and where he conducts his business. The big fancy tower is just for show. ~ A latin choir with domination spells on them so that they will sing if he's fighting a powerful 'hero.' Just for show, of course - what's a boss battle without a latin choir singing in the background? ~ An effective method of escaping a losing battle at the top of the tower. ~ A place for his zombie cheerleading squad to train. ~ A large laboratory in the dungeon, a nice library with plenty of useful books in them in the dungeon, and a fancy looking library of monumental proportions in the tower somewhere. ~ Nightwings flying around the tower. ~ Undead walls. Have some of the walls be those weird spirit walls from Complete Arcane with Walls of Force behind them. Some walls will have animated skin as macabre tapestries. ~ An animated chair that casts a powerful lightning bolt on those who it pins in a grapple (straps them in). ~ Blood draining and pooling rooms. ~ A 'Rod of Tongues' style knife that lets him carve his subjects into whatever form he pleases, and uses Eternity of Torture on them at the same time. An effective way to get new furniture. ~ A throne of bones with lots of magic stuff on it. ~ Really cool undead locked up in various rooms. ~ A custom orb of storms making it rain blood and shoot black lightning down around his palace at all times. A 1% chance each day that it will change to raining frogs instead of blood rain and black lightning (but just for that day).