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Surprising no one: people like Strongholds! In fact, people like it enough that they've used Patreon to commission even more Strongholds content from me.
So if it's what the people want, well, I just gotta make more of it. Thanks to IceAssassin77, a Walrock-level backer, for requesting this work!
We started off thinking: What if warlocks had strongholds that centered around their themes? Not necessarily "evil," but certainly cult-ish and otherworldly, a place where forgotten powers could contact the Prime Material and bleed over into more mundane planes of existence. And so, we added two new structures, some associated rooms, new hire-able minions, and some related items!
What specifically got added? Well:
FEATURES:
- New Structures: The towering Ziggurat and the elusive Coven, enabling you to work your magics in as secretive or obvious a manner as you see fit.
- New Rooms: Invocation Chamber and Illusory Shroud, which call out to the eldritch powers for aid, or hide your structure entirely from prying eyes.
- New Hirelings: Cultists and Cult Fanatics, just in case you're a charismatic individual looking to make a compound in the middle of the hinterlands.
- New Optional Rule: Rituals and Sacrifices, enabling you to use cultists, spellcaster hirelings, and sacrifices to empower your ritual spells.
- New Items: Mordenkainen's Mystical Model and the Rings of Rooms, giving your structures a pair of helpful, magical dodads.
CONCERNS:
- The Invocation Chamber is pretty good, for what it is. I'm wondering if it should be made into a 2 room point Room (with the Ziggurat adjusted accordingly).
- The Cultists and Rituals optional rule is very all-encompassing, while attempting to be flexible. I'm sure there's something this rule might be able to break that I haven't thought of yet.
- The wording on the new items has to be pretty elaborate, because neither of the items does just one simple thing. I'm wondering if there's a way to streamline that.
WHAT I LEARNED:
- Smaller, piecemeal Strongholds expansions are a lot of fun to make! I should see if I can't make another of these sometime soon. ;)
Hey man, great content!
ReplyDeleteMystical Model is too good for a simple uncommon though! It's basically a constant truesight scrying at the same time, besides the fact you can almost surely detect any stealth characters in there.
Can't wait to see new evil structures, these would be great even for dms. Check out Volo's maybe the basic structures in there can help you out. These 2 resources (along side some hours watching Shadow of War) certainly gave me inspiration to do a non-humanoid hordes rules, for orcs, goblins etc
Always nice to see your stronghold content as always.
>Mystical Model is too good for a simple uncommon though
DeleteI'm hearing that from a few people. I figured the lack of ease of transportation could be a limiting factor, but probably not now that I'm thinking about it.
I'll probably bump its quality to Rare, and its price to 5,000 gp accordingly.
>Check out Volo's maybe the basic structures in there can help you out
Huh, I didn't know Volo's had structures? I'll have to take another look-see.
Do you have page numbers for easy reference? If not, I can hunt it down.
Well not rule wise, more lore. Each creature type has a default lair you could use for inspiration. Some you already have like animal cages and stables. 51 for goblins and 91 for orcs.
DeleteAnd well there are ilithid and beholder lairs too. 14 and 79, Beholders are not incredibly different but the weirdly placement of stuff has potential, like the vertical shafts and traps. Ilithids have transformation chambers wich could be used for other enemies, like great old one cultists.
I love the transformation chamber idea. That'd be an excellent addition for evil characters looking to create thralls!
DeleteI vote for the next stronghold expansion to be about threats to strongholds! stuff like internal corruption or invasions from goblins, or just random explosions!
ReplyDeleteThis'd be interesting.
DeleteMass combat like the goblin invasion isn't something I really want to tackle yet for a number of reasons. Namely: it'd be very complicated, and it seems like Wizards already has a system in the works that'd obsolete anything I make.
Hireling loyalty is something I've been meaning to address, and I think it'd be a great way of players feeling as if they're being "good" or "bad" leaders for their stronghold. Perhaps at the top tier, hirelings only need to be paid half-wage, while at the bottom they'd be prone to corruption or allowing infiltrators in the castle.
There should also be a mechanic for there to be one bad-apple hireling, or one especially devoted lackey, as well, but that's something I can think about later on.
Speaking of loyal hirelings: Have you considered making something about various types of "free" labour, e.g., undead, constructs, prisoners (for the arsehole adventures granted nobility by the King), mind controlled people, serfs, kobolds, ... (All of those could definitely go terribly wrong, which is just how I like it. Except kobolds. Kobolds never go wrong.)
DeleteI don't know that I'd do a supplement specifically for "free" labor, but I could definitely add more free labor options into future supplements.
DeleteI'd also like to add the ability to hire monsters like goblins or kobolds, but that'd require some additional thought as to how I'd like to pull it off. Perhaps an Optional Rule that allows them to raid the countryside to recoup some of what would be their wages?
Excellent! I really like the idea of letting players get away with highly questionable things, that is, until something goes terribly wrong (e.g., the cleric's god pays attention for once and realises that one of his servants is running a gang of slavers.).
Deletethere could also be prisoners of war and such for free labor
DeleteFor prisoners of war, I'd just use slaves from the core rules. No need to make it a separate thing.
DeleteInteresting addition to your Stronghold rules although I do have a question regarding Illusory Shroud. Why did you go with Illusory Shroud being a room instead of a new option for the Warded or Spell-bound room modification since the effect is a constant Hallucinatory Terrain spell?
ReplyDeleteModifications are mostly for the rooms themselves. Like, you slap a hidden passage on two rooms, and it transports between those two rooms.
DeleteLikewise, rooms create changes to the structure itself. If I made the shroud a modification, it would by its nature only cloak a single room. If it's instead a room, it can cloak a structure.
There's a whole food chain thing going on here, is what I'm getting at.
I'd like to see more divine structures if you do some more. I'm using your rules for a friend that is building/expanding a church and a mid grade option would be awesome.
ReplyDeleteAs is, I called a medium house a chapel since they're the same price. Now I'm calling a Guild Hall his "phase 2".
Just a thought. I love all your work and implement it when I can
Something to kick around. A mid-grade divine building sounds like a good idea, as do one or two more holy-themed rooms.
DeleteA reliquary, for example, could be interesting...
there should be a way for you to start a village and eventually a kingdom with your system your system is the best and im so happy to have them in my world just got my first group to start a keep and we are all loving it!!! thank you for this wonderful system!!!!
ReplyDeleteNo problem! A village/kingdom is definitely something I'd like to build up to making. Should be easy to build upon the core rules.
Delete