So in a kingmaker game i'll be creating and opening an arcane college. There is no pre-existing structure and I'm starting from scratch. Any thoughts on size/shape/must haves?
Floorplans?
So in a kingmaker game i'll be creating and opening an arcane college. There is no pre-existing structure and I'm starting from scratch. Any thoughts on size/shape/must haves?
Floorplans?
Wings/divisions You probably want the place to be spread out. No one wants to be near the invokers that are learning fireball and haven't quite gotten the precise aim down pat yet.
The place can be made with walls of stone spells, which means you can probably get pretty creative in the design. Avoid square buildings : arcane magic is all about making the world bend to your vision of how things should be, and a good mage should have more vision than square lines.
Lead Lining is probably not a bad idea for specific chambers. I would suggest a built in surveillance system too.
Octagonal main tower with eight smaller towers spread in circle around it.
Lead Lining is probably not a bad idea for specific chambers. I would suggest a built in surveillance system too.
What kind of surveillance system?
At least one room with silver inlay in the floor suitable for use as the subject of a magic circle spell.
There's a GameMastery map pack for a Magic Acadamy.
http://paizo.com/products/btpy8l3n?GameMastery-Map-Pack-Magic-Academy
The building needs to also be completely even: when you pour a liquid anywhere in the building and it hit’s the floor it should stay still after it settles…unless its supposed move.
Helps when very precise measurements are required…and if it was viable I would suggest the building be made of diorite instead of regular granite lasts longer and is more resistant to heat and impact (and your bound to get lots of that).
Lead Lining is probably not a bad idea for specific chambers. I would suggest a built in surveillance system too.What kind of surveillance system?
Visible Deterrence is important, for that I recommend something like arcane eyes.
Non-detectable surveillance is more important however -- specialty alarm spells that go off if there is a teleportation in an area where there shouldn't be, if locks on certain doors are picked, if specific spells are cast at all (animate dead might be one such spell) would be wise. A means of scrying at will in each room perhaps could be useful too.
I would suggest a lot of open air places too. After all the students will need to learn to cast in the rain, snow, and cold just as well as they can in a warm plushly appointed classroom. Also being out where everyone and thing can see them will help lessen views of being better than everyone else, and help expose the townsfolk to magic too.
I would recommend having some constructs in each room (even if they are simple animated objects) that have to obey commands from the teachers with a hierarchy that prevents lesser teachers from commanding against higher ranking teachers.
Magical conveniences should be a part of the building too, but should also require daily maintenance to keep running as a means of both testing students and showing them that magic doesn't solve every problem or at least not easily and that work is always required.
Potentially some lessons should include the town watch with padded weapons to teach the students the rigors of combat and get them use to being roughed up (in addition to instilling an appreciation for those that stand in front of them preventing them from being hit with sharp steel).
I had a character build a Magical University as his end goal in a campaign a while back. Since it was after the game finished I mostly left the details up to the DM (He preferred it that way so he could sculpt it for use in a future campaign).
However in my brainstorming for it I found that one powerful solution is Demiplanes. A permanent demiplane can give you access to anywhere on the planet (through use of multiple gates) and can offset a big chunk of the food costs of the university. Temporary demiplanes are great for spell practise, just conjure a new one every few days, and blow them up to your heart's content.
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