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Post by chriton227 on Apr 13, 2016 15:58:25 GMT -8
I'm running a D&D 5e game set in Greyhawk, and one of the higher level spells allows mages to create teleportation circles that can be used as a destination by anyone who knows the spell and the code for the destination circle. To me it makes sense that major cities would likely have a semi-public destination circle for use by merchants and wealthy travelers, plus the existence of such circles would be convenient for me as a DM as it simplifies a 1000 mile sea journey the party was planning. The question then is how would cities secure their circles in case the code fell into the hands of someone with hostile intent? I'm thinking the circle would be located outside the city walls, but within some sort of containing structure allowing guards to vet new arrivals (as well as dispatching hostiles from relative safety). Even a private circle would need to be secured somehow, since security through obscurity is weak security at best, particularly in a world with divination magics.
Any suggestions that would be more interesting than just putting it in a big locked building/cage lined with arrow slits and murder holes?
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Post by OFTHEHILLPEOPLE on Apr 13, 2016 20:28:28 GMT -8
Two-code authentication, but with magic circles. One pass phrase goes one direction while the other returns.
Also, generally the magic circles go to remote or secret places so the pass phrase is well guarded. To find out the phrase is a big deal because it means either the mages have to pay someone to kill info brokers or they just need to redo the circle which can get expensive.
The circles are also not for your everyday person to use, unless that's what you're running. Traveling by magic circle was akin to traveling on the freeway before freeways were a thing.
Essentially, keep it secret and build it up to be super secret and just knowing where the circle is should be an honor or a huge puzzle piece to a dungeon.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 13, 2016 23:42:14 GMT -8
Given you're going for something that is basically a magical jet plane for the rich I'd assume the gate won't be a secret as too many household servants would also end up using it while traveling with their lord or lady.
With that in mind the first thing I'd ask is would the locals consider it needed guarding? If it only goes to a defined list of friendly destinations and hasn't been attacked in the past maybe security is lax. In that case some mundane guards would suffice.
If you wanted to go with more security then I'd start with proficient but non magical guards, possibly outfitted with some magic wands to allow basic magic (healing, detect alignment or magic etc). Then I'd augment the protection with defensive spells. Things that slowed time around the gate or made people coming through it confused would be good ones as they're non lethal but give the defenders a chance to assess the threat. If they're really worried you can always go the magical claymore route.
The final thing I'd put would be a barrier akin to the iris used in Stargate SG1. While up messages can come through but it needs to be lowered before people can arrive safely.
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Post by Kainguru on Apr 14, 2016 1:22:37 GMT -8
The final thing I'd put would be a barrier akin to the iris used in Stargate SG1. While up messages can come through but it needs to be lowered before people can arrive safely. Exactly this Plus have it an underground chamber, like SG-1, as a secondary defence measure - ie: you can only fit so many invaders in a 30ft X 30ft room with one entrance (and more doors and a couple of murder holes) Aaron
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G.I. Joe
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Post by G.I. Joe on Apr 14, 2016 14:33:02 GMT -8
Again, it depends on how you want them used. Perhaps all the cities of one kingdom are connected, and relatively unguarded, as an attack from a friendly city is not very likely. Add to that an ability that the capitol can disable them remotely and the threat basically goes away. Just a few guards to keep order and make sure that too many people are not using it at the same time.
Now teleporting between countries is a different matter, and it could prove a very effective method of attack. So instead of being in a city, they are in relatively remote locations (though with wide roads going to them for ease of merchant travel; and guarded much like a border would be (walls around the gate, customs check, medium-to-large garrison, ballistas on the top of the wall, ect.); perhaps small towns pop up by the inter-country gates; but never a walled, important city; and the people living there know the risks. Another limiting factor would be to limit the size of the circles so that only a few people could come through at a time. Maybe a cart or two. This does mean that merchant trains can take awhile to get through one of these gates, but it is very hard for an enemy to attack this way.
Just some thoughts.
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Post by stork on Apr 14, 2016 16:43:31 GMT -8
Guard Blink Dogs
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Post by chriton227 on Apr 15, 2016 3:44:33 GMT -8
Mass invasions really aren't much of a concern, the circle is 10' and the spell only opens it for 1 round (6 seconds). A crack commando unit (perhaps one sent to prison for a crime they didn't commit) could get through in that time though. I like the idea of putting it away from the major city, it would still need to be close enough to still be worth using. I'm thinking a couple miles away at most, that would allow it to still be manned by the guards from the city.
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Post by uselesstriviaman on Apr 15, 2016 4:48:30 GMT -8
To protect against hostile teleporters, there is a surrounding web of layered magic defenses maintained by the Guild of Arcanists and Mages. Symbols and glyphs of warding of all types cause the polished stone floor to glimmer in a rainbow of colors circling the gate, waiting for but a single command word from one of the posted elite royal guards to unleash their fury upon any foolish enough to attempt a forced entry.
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thegrimace
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Post by thegrimace on Apr 28, 2016 15:36:59 GMT -8
Similarly, 3rd ed had spells such as Hallow and Antipathy which were long duration and could be cast on an area for ~1 year and impose various penalties if you didn't meet certain criteria (i.e. password, alignment, race, etc...). If it doesn't make sense for a high level caster to set up those spells (along with the teleportation circle) then maybe there's a local priest tasked with casting magic circle of protection against evil each morning, or every hour or whatever.
On the mundane side, many good ideas have been mentioned above, but I'd start with just putting it outside the main gate/fortifications of the city. A few hundred yards from the gates, across a moat, etc... that way it's close enough to be convenient, but far enough that you could bar the gates if an invading force suddenly shows up.
Barring that, as mentioned, if you put it inside a building or underground or somesuch, it has a natural limitation on how big a force (or being) can transport through. You could also include some sort of airlock-like door system where no matter who comes through the portal only one (or a few) person(s) can get from the portal room to the next room (or out into the city proper) at a time.
Additionally, maybe you just have a large boulder-trap which can be triggered, causing a large stone (or whatever) to fall onto the gate. iirc most teleportation stuff doesn't work if you try teleporting into solid objects... So your mundane guard sees a bunch of orcs port in and he just pulls the lever which both kills those orcs and seals the portal. It's basically like a medieval SG Iris (as mentioned above)
In a current pathfinder game we're playing we have a similar concept, but in this case the permanent portal(s) require keys to access, so they're a bit more secure, but you could still have a key fall into the wrong hands and cause a good plot twist.
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Post by Deleted on May 11, 2016 23:03:42 GMT -8
There is probably a guild that runs the circles used by the public. They probably keep the codes a secret and guard them jealously. Piss them off at your peril, since they can cut off your service , send high level casters after you, or coerce their rich and powerful clientele to turn on you. Unless you are a one man army, becoming persona non-grata in every major city and realm would be a big deal.
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Post by archmagezemoc on Jun 7, 2016 7:11:14 GMT -8
To protect against hostile teleporters, there is a surrounding web of layered magic defenses maintained by the Guild of Arcanists and Mages. Symbols and glyphs of warding of all types cause the polished stone floor to glimmer in a rainbow of colors circling the gate, waiting for but a single command word from one of the posted elite royal guards to unleash their fury upon any foolish enough to attempt a forced entry. I'd like you to roll eighteen dexterity saves and take 136D8 damage...1/2 if you pass
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Post by zoomfarg on Jun 13, 2016 21:01:45 GMT -8
There is probably a guild that runs the circles used by the public. They probably keep the codes a secret and guard them jealously. This is my thought as well. The codes aren't public knowledge, but the secret knowledge of the guild. To get the gate open, one of the member whispers the code to open it for those who want to pass. (Then it's easy to have a teleportation circle tax, too.) Second the idea for underground location. Or it could teleport you into a cage/cell that needs to be unlocked. (Minecraft brain adds a piston to push intruders into a lava block for extra security...) Also, it seems the guards could be by the "departures" circle, not the "arrivals" circle. Seems cheaper than maintaining a bunch of wards. Less cool, but cheaper.
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Post by natebob on Jun 14, 2016 3:11:27 GMT -8
I like idea of a Guild of mages that controls the circles. Like the Navigators Guild from Dune. They could be "neutral" but still have interesting political motivations.
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Post by chronovore on Jun 15, 2016 1:05:51 GMT -8
The final thing I'd put would be a barrier akin to the iris used in Stargate SG1. While up messages can come through but it needs to be lowered before people can arrive safely. Exactly this Plus have it an underground chamber, like SG-1, as a secondary defence measure - ie: you can only fit so many invaders in a 30ft X 30ft room with one entrance (and more doors and a couple of murder holes) Aaron And you can bury the damned thing remotely, bring the mountain/cave down on it if it is compromised.
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G.I. Joe
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Currently Playing: Isawa Miriko: Split soul made whole again... with memory issues. Homura (Formerly Isawa Kiyoi) - wandering fire Priestess; Girart - a GURPS low-tech combat monkey w/19ST
Currently Running: Fushigina Ronin (L5R 4th ed)
Favorite Species of Monkey: Winston
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Post by G.I. Joe on Jun 16, 2016 11:26:38 GMT -8
The only issue with putting it underground/having small entrances and exits is then it cannot be used for trade anymore. The guild wizards thing makes sense, although it might be better if it was the merchant guild. After all, if the merchants let an army through one, then they just lost a customer nation. They would want to secure those transporters at all costs to avoid loss
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