Stronghold Spells
Hello everyone. I was going to devote today’s article to information on upgrading and maintaining your fortress stronghold, but was shocked to discover that apparently not everyone has their own fortress. So, I’ve taken it upon myself to lend succor to you poor unfortunate fortress-less souls. I acquired the following spells from an elderly British wizard named Dalen, and they’re perfect for a wizard-on-the-go who may need a fortress on short notice.
Dalen’s Miniature Fortress
School conjuration (creation); Level Sorcerer/Wizard 3
Casting Time 1 standard action
Components V, S, F (a scrap of iron)
Range personal
Area one 5 ft. square occupied by the caster
Duration 1 round/level
Saving Throw Reflex negates (harmless); Spell Resistance no
As the spell is completed, it creates a miniature “fortress” of steel around the caster. Creatures within the area of the spell can make a Reflex save to avoid being trapped inside. This “fortress” resembles a featureless steel box, 5 ft on each side and 7 ft tall. The box has a flat roof of solid steel as well, making anything inside virtually unassailable except by anything which can tunnel through the ground. The walls of the fortress are two inches thick, giving them 10 hardness and 60 hit points. As long as the caster remains inside the fortress, and the fortress is not breached, he has total cover from all creatures outside the fortress.
The fortress is not simply a hiding place, however, and is conjured with a single murder hole in each side. These very small openings in the middle of each wall allow the fortress’ occupant to cast spells and make ranged attacks against any target in a 60 ft cone starting at the opening. Creatures outside the fortress can ready an action to attack the fortress’ occupant as he moves to make use of the murder hole, but if they do so he still has improved cover. When the fortress’ occupant makes attacks through the murder hole, the murder hole does not provide cover to his targets, though they benefit normally from any other cover they may possess.
Dalen’s Mobile Fortress
School conjuration (creation); Level Sorcerer/Wizard 5
Casting Time 1 standard action
Components V, S, F (a miniature iron wheel)
Range 0 ft
Effect one mobile fortress
Duration 1 hour/level
Saving Throw none; Spell Resistance no
As the spell is completed, it creates a mobile fortress. The fortress is primarily composed of a featureless rectangular prism 7 feet tall, is made of mithral, and occupies an area roughly 10 ft wide and 20 ft long, mounted on four 2 ft tall adamantium wheels. The mithral is 3 inches thick, giving it a hardness of 15 and 90 hit points. The fortress is hollow, and can hold up to 10 people comfortably. It contains a single door, which does not have a lock but can be securely bolted from the inside (a move action). It also contains a single murder hole on each 5 ft stretch of wall (for a total of 10 murder holes, which can be operated by up to 8 people). These murder holes allow the fortress’ occupants to make ranged attacks and cast spells outside the fortress, though each murder hole only allows access to targets in a 60 ft cone starting at the murder hole. Creatures outside the fortress can ready an action to attack the fortress’ occupant as he moves to make use of the murder hole, but if they do so he still has improved cover. When the fortress’ occupant makes attacks through the murder hole, the murder hole does not provide cover to his targets, though they benefit normally from any other cover they may possess.
The fortress is not summoned with anything to pull it, though it is outfitted with a harness allowing up to six creatures to be attached to pull it. If the caster has the spell mount, or a similar spell, prepared, he can expend that spell or an appropriate spell slot to have four aurochs (see Pathfinder Bestiary for more information) appear along with the fortress, already harnessed and ready to go. These aurochs respond to the caster’s verbal commands, and serve willingly and well for the duration of the spell.
Dalen’s Unassailable Fortress
School conjuration (creation); Level Sorcerer/Wizard 7
Casting Time 10 minutes
Components V, S, F (an iron shield)
Range 0 ft
Effect one unassailable fortress
Duration 1 hour/level
Saving Throw none; Spell Resistance no
While the caster casts this spell, a spectral, to-scale, semi-transparent image of the fortress that is to be created appears around him or her, displaying where the fortress will appear and where it will intersect previously extant structures. During this time the caster can move normally, and the image of the fortress moves with him, so that he or she can position the fortress exactly where desired.
As the spell is completed, it creates a full-sized fortress in the area indicated by the transparent image. Any part of the fortress which would come into being where a person or structure is leaves a gap in that area, and this spell is incapable of causing damage of any kind by crushing persons or objects with an emerging fortress. Additionally, if the fortress would be created wholly or partially on an area which cannot support its weight, the fortress simply fails to appear on that area.
The fortress itself is surrounded by a square wall 300 ft to a side and 30 ft tall, made of adamantine and two ft thick, giving it 20 hardness and 960 hit points. It contains a single entryway: a pair of 1-ft thick adamantine doors 20 ft tall and 10 ft wide, which stand behind a 1-ft thick adamantine portcullis. The caster can choose to forego the entrance when casting the spell, however, leaving the wall without a way in or out. The walls have walkways with crenellated battlements, allowing the fortress’ defenders to fire down from the walls while keeping cover.
Inside the wall is a large courtyard, which comes complete with 10 non-magical catapults and a total of 40 boulders for them to fire. In the center of the courtyard is the fortress’ keep, a four-story building 100 ft to a side with 1-ft-thick adamantine walls (20 hardness and 480 hit points). The keep has a single entrance, a single door made of adamantine, also a foot thick. Like the gate in the outer wall, the caster can choose to omit this entrance, in which case the keep is simply featureless on the outside. The top of the keep is also crenellated, allowing defenders to fire on attackers in the courtyard or (if they have the range) attackers beyond the wall. The inside of the keep contains a variety of defensible rooms, a fully-outfitted armory with mundane weapons and armor of all types, a war room with an accurate scale model of the fortress and up to a square mile of terrain around the fortress’ current location, a mess hall, barracks which can accommodate up to 200 people at a time, and a prison with 10 different cells. The exact layout of the keep is up to the DM.
Dalen’s Flying Fortress
School conjuration (creation); Level Sorcerer/Wizard 9
Casting Time 10 minutes
Components V, S, F (an iron model of an airship)
Range 0 ft
Effect one flying fortress
Duration 1 day/level
Saving Throw none; Spell Resistance no
As the spell is completed, it creates a magical flying ship made of mithral. The ship is identical to a galley in most ways, and comes with the ram and firing platforms upgrade, appearing with mundane ballistae installed in those positions (see the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Core Rulebook for more information). Unlike a normal galley, however, the ship created with this spell can fly magically through the air, and does not require a crew beyond its helmsman, who uses his Fly skill to pilot the ship (though a crew is still required to fire any of the weapons). The galley can fly through the air at a rate of 20 miles per hour and has good maneuverability and can hover without making a Fly check. The inside of the galley is relatively well-furnished.
By casting the spell again before the original spell’s duration expires, the caster can extend the duration of the original spell, allowing the ship to remain extant as long as he continues renewing the spell regularly.