Do most of the DMs out there (especially the ones that mostly do homebrew) make there castles, dungeons etc. from just wood and stone, or do you lay in a lot magic to prevent spell casters from just rolling over everything?
That is do you allow passwall, flight, teleport, dimension etc. to grant free access - or are these spells, considered by the builders and provisions made to deal with them?
If so what?
If not why not?
If anyone cares I do - its my opinion in a world of magic, anyone that could afford to build a castle (or other fortifications) would have the means to build one that addressed these spells - other wise why bother, other tactics could be applied to protect people and stuff.
Well, I'd mention my thoughts on this topic, but I have a CW that got accepted that's going to cover this very topic in 1400 words in a future issue of Dungeon, so I can't share my thoughts until afterwards.
Let's just say that the purpose of a castle is to be a stronghold. If it can't do that, it's just a house.
You might want to check out the 3.0 Stronghold Builder's Guidebook.
Lol; castles are free standing targets that cost a lot of money and upkeep. PC's dont usually like to be tied down with such things; only one group in all my years actually built a castle and they didnt build in that stuff; but i agree with you as many of my npc's have magical defensed built into there castles.
Congratulations on the article!
I'm jealous, I submitted a query on the same topic and it and was rejected.
Too bad, Kyr...for CW's you have to send in the whole article, not just a query...maybe that's why mine got accepted instead of yours. It's not a bunch of revolutionary ideas, just some thoughts on the impact of magic and super tough adversaries on the ways strongholds would be defended in a D&D world.
Do most of the DMs out there (especially the ones that mostly do homebrew) make there castles, dungeons etc. from just wood and stone, or do you lay in a lot magic to prevent spell casters from just rolling over everything?
Yes, I build in precautions against magical / psionic means of breach. Sharing what I use wouldn't be helpful because we don't play 3rd ed., but I can share the common strategy:
I look for effects that create dead magic zones, block psionics, or set off contingencies. In some places, I also have a teleport warp set up, so that people using teleportation to travel to a city arrive in a predetermined "processing" center, which can be shut down or altered in times of siege so that the predetermined arrival point isn't as friendly.
How elaborate I get depends on the location, resources of the local leaders, and history of the land (areas that have seen heavy war where strong magic is commonly employed will be much more beefed up.)
My castles usually have layers of defense. Most of the outer walls are ordinary stone etc. The keep will have magically enhanced walls to cut down on the impact of seige weapons and I usually include a viewing room with permanent wall of force as an entire wall. The more sensitive chambers are generally lined with lead or have a magical means of denying scrying/divination magic (teleporting blind is a bad idea). The most sensitive rooms (throne room and personal chambers) almost always have magic that stops teleportation, divination, scrying, summoning. And if the main villain is a fighter type I might have the throne room shrounded in antimagic.
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It really depends on the situation and several factors. How cheap is it to put in defenses against magic, and how long does it take to install them, and how long do you have to get the castle up? If this is a major part of the central defense system of a kingdom, built with years of time to accomplish it, you better believe every wall is magically reinforced and shieled with Resist Elements, and Forbiddance spells, along with Guards and Wards, numerous traps, etc.
If the castle is just a minor garrison in the country, more like a glorified police station and government office, then no, it gets no resistance to magic.
Also, it gets not special defenses if the country building it needs it and five more castles up fast to defend against the rapidly mobilizing hostile neighbor that looks likely to attack any day now.
It also depends on the builders. Elves? Absolutely protected agaisnt magic. Dwarves? They can probably build literally into a mountainside so thick that almost no magic matters, and a few simple clerical spells will suffice, which will almost certainly be there considering the short time dwarves take to complete things and the long lifespans they have, which ultimately mean they can get the fort done in time to put up wards even in an emergency, and if not building in an emergency, certainly have enough patience and foresight to do it right and put in protections.
So, all in all, it really depends, and I like that. Sometimes your mage is basically a Get in Free card, and other times, no dice.
For me it would really depend on who made the castle and what they expected to fight. I have a lot of what amount to fortified manor houses dotting the country side and minimalist stockades on some of the frontiers. These kinds of fortifications don't have jack for magical defenses except maybe a mid-level mage or some such.
But otherwise many of the fortifications in my homebrew are fantastic and are often indications about the society that built or maintains them. So the Devil worshiping North Pandari have enslaved Demons and bound them to the walls of their capital which they feed and power through daily human sacrifice from atop the a massive Obsidian Ziggerat in the center of of their capital.
The Western Men rely on layers and layers of more mundane defenses but since their aristocracy rule by the right of inherent psionic power that flows through their veins those that would penetrate these mundane defenses had best be prepared for a mass psionic counter attack.
In Xak Merrith - the City of Mages - the walls themselves hum with power and hundreds of years ago the Seven Clans of the Chin-Tuo were slaughtered before its walls by Archmages of that city, wielding artifacts created in a time before time.
I could go on but you get the idea. Many fortifications are pretty much mundane and reflect defenses created to stop swarming Goblinoid Hordes. There weakness against a rampaging archmage is testament to their poor and rather unimportant status but the major fortifications of the world are unique architectural feats that stand as a signature to the society they defend.