Mobile Strongholds

Another expense is necessary for strongholds magically designed to be mobile or capable of extraplanar travel. The most fantastic of strongholds, these incredible creations can take flight into the skies, sail across the seas, submerge below the oceans, or even tunnel down into the hard earth. Of course, such wonders are exceedingly rare, and with good reason. They don’t come cheap.

Much like the augmentations listed above, the cost for mobile strongholds depends on the size of the stronghold (in spaces). Table 2–12: Stronghold Locomotion and Table 2–13: Stronghold Mobility list a cost per stronghold space for the function selected.

In addition, you can build your stronghold so that it can move in nonstandard methods, including teleportation and planar travel. See Table 2–14: Stronghold Planar Mobility for the cost (also per stronghold space).

You can tie your stronghold’s mobility to a single object within the stronghold (which may be activated by anyone touching the object and uttering a command word), a location within the stronghold (which may be activated by anyone standing within the location and uttering a command word) or to a single creature within the stronghold (who can activate movement from anywhere within the stronghold with a command word).

You can’t use Search to discover a stronghold’s mobility functions, nor will Disable Device have any effect on a stronghold’s mobility. Dispel magic or Mordenkainen’s disjunction must affect or be cast separately on each space of the mobile stronghold to lose its mobility.

Table 2–12: Stronghold Locomotion

Effective Speed	Miles/Hour	Miles/Day	Cost/space
Extremely slothful	1/96 mile	1/4 mile	5,000 gp
Very slothful	1/48 mile	1/2 mile	5,500 gp
Slothful	1/24 mile	1 mile	5,750 gp
Extremely slow	1/4 mile	6 miles	7,000 gp
Very slow	1/2 mile	12 miles	8,500 gp
Slow	1 mile	24 miles	11,000 gp
Fair	1 1/2 miles	36 miles	12,500 gp
Fleet	2 miles	48 miles	13,500 gp
Fast	3 miles	72 miles	16,000 gp
Very fast	4 miles	96 miles	17,500 gp
Extraordinary	6 miles	144 miles	21,000 gp
Incredible	10 miles	240 miles	25,000 gp

Table 2–13: Stronghold Mobility

Mobility	Effect	Cost per Space
Burrowing	Stronghold passes through earth and rock	10,000 gp
Crawling	Stronghold claws across the ground	1,000 gp
Flying	Stronghold maintains stable airy position	15,000 gp
Sailing	Stronghold floats on water	3,000 gp
Submersing	Stronghold moves underwater	7,500 gp

Table 2–14: Stronghold Planar Mobility

Planar Mobility	Effect	Cost per Space
Astral	Can enter Astral Plane	15,000 gp*
Ethereal	Can enter Ethereal Plane	7,500 gp*
Inner plane-linked	Can shift to specific location in an Inner Plane	15,000 gp*
Outer plane-linked	Can shift to specific location in an Outer Plane	15,000 gp*
Plane-shifting	Stronghold can plane shift	25,000 gp*
Shadow-shifting	Allows passage to Plane of Shadow	5,000 gp
Teleporting	Stronghold can teleport without error	50,000 gp*

*Per shift allowed each day, to a maximum of 5 shifts allowed per day.

†Per teleport allowed each day.

Mobility Descriptions

Astral: The stronghold can shift into the Astral Plane and back again. Without locomotion (see Table 2–12: Stronghold Locomotion), it cannot move once in the Astral Plane (though its occupants may exit and move about the plane).

Caster Level: 17th; Prerequisites: Craft Wondrous Item, plane shift; Market Price: 15,000 gp.

Burrowing: This mobility function allows the stronghold to pass through earth and rock much like an earth elemental or phasing creature. The entire stronghold and every stronghold space must have this mobility function to allow movement through the normally solid substance. Unless it has immunity to fire, the stronghold cannot pass through magma or lava, and so it is limited to about fifty miles in depth and must avoid volcanic rifts. Without locomotion (see Table 2–12: Stronghold Locomotion), this mobility function has no effect.

Caster Level: 13th; Prerequisites: Craft Wondrous Item, phase door; Market Price: 10,000 gp.

Crawling: Strongholds that creep across the ground, sliding along rock and paving through forests, use this mobility function. A crawling stronghold can also move along a seafloor or continental shelf as long as the depth does not exceed 50 feet; in this case, making it airtight may be necessary to ensure the survival of its occupants. This cost notes the price of securing the stronghold components and reinforcing them. Without locomotion (see Table 2–12: Stronghold Locomotion), this mobility function has no effect.

The speed of a crawling stronghold is subject to the modifiers for terrain. See Table 9–5 in Chapter 9 of the Player’s Handbook.

Caster Level: 13th; Prerequisites: Craft Wondrous Item, augment object; Market Price: 1,000 gp.

Ethereal: The stronghold can shift into the Ethereal Plane and back again. Without locomotion (see Table 2–12: Stronghold Locomotion), it cannot move once in the Ethereal Plane (though its occupants may exit and move about the plane).

Caster Level: 11th; Prerequisites: Craft Wondrous Item, etherealness; Market Price: 7,500 gp.

Flying: This function allows the stronghold to float adrift in the air, immune to the call of gravity. Without locomotion (see Table 2–12: Stronghold Locomotion), the stronghold floats and does not truly fly—in this case, the designer must, during construction, choose a fixed height from 10 feet to ten miles in altitude. If this mobility function is dispelled or destroyed somehow, the fortress slowly drops down to whatever surface lies below (as if under the effect of feather fall).

Caster Level: 17th; Prerequisites: Craft Wondrous Item,

Mobility Descriptions continued

Inner Plane-Linked: The stronghold can shift to a specific location in one of the Inner Planes, determined at the time of the stronghold’s construction, and back again. Without locomotion (see Table 2–12: Stronghold Locomotion), it cannot move once in the Inner Plane (though its occupants may exit and move about the plane). In addition, this provides the stronghold with protection against any dangers posed by conditions within the plane, though this doesn’t extend to other, similar effects. For instance, while a stronghold linked to the Elemental Plane of Fire won’t suffer any damage from that plane’s conditions, it would suffer normal damage from a fireball or any other source of flame.

Caster Level: 17th; Prerequisites: Craft Wondrous Item, gate; Market Price: 15,000 gp.

reverse gravity; Market Price: 15,000 gp.

Outer Plane-Linked: The stronghold can shift to a specific location in one of the Outer Planes, determined at the time of the stronghold’s construction, and back again. Without locomotion (see Table 2–12: Stronghold Locomotion), it cannot move once in the Outer Plane (though its occupants may exit and move about the plane).

Caster Level: 17th; Prerequisites: Craft Wondrous Item, gate; Market Price: 15,000 gp.

Plane-Shifting: The stronghold can shift from one plane to another as per the plane shift spell. As noted under the spell description, exact location within the target plane is impossible, and the stronghold appears 5–500 (5d%) miles from its intended destination. Without locomotion (see Table 2–12: Stronghold Locomotion), it cannot move once on the new plane (though its occupants may exit and move into the plane).

Caster Level: 15th; Prerequisites: Craft Wondrous Item, plane shift; Market Price: 25,000 gp.

Sailing: The stronghold floats as if naturally buoyant, and no natural force can bring the castle beneath the sea’s surface. Without locomotion (see Table 2–12: Stronghold Locomotion), the stronghold simply floats and does not actually sail under its own power (though currents will move it about). If this mobility function is dispelled or destroyed somehow, the fortress slowly sinks to the bottom of whatever body of water it sails upon.

Caster Level: 11th; Prerequisites: Craft Wondrous Item, water walk; Market Price: 3,000 gp.

Shadow-Shifting: By infusing the walls with umbral ichor (found in pools on the Plane of Shadow), you can create a stronghold that shifts between the Material Plane and the Plane of Shadow. The price below assumes a single dose of umbral ichor and allows the stronghold to exist on the Plane of Shadow for 1 hour (set at the time of construction) each day. For example, if you mix 12 doses of umbral ichor into the mortar of your stronghold, it can remain on the Plane of Shadow for 12 hours and the Material Plane for 12 hours each day. Which hours are spent on the Plane of Shadow is set during construction, but night on the Material Plane is common. Every space in your stronghold must have umbral ichor for it to be effective.

Caster Level: 13th; Prerequisites: Craft Wondrous Item, shadow walk; Market Price: 5,000 gp.

Submersing: The stronghold can withstand the pressures of the deep sea, able to travel to depths as great as twenty miles below the sea. If the inhabitants need to breathe air, the stronghold must have the airtight augmentation. Without locomotion (see Table 2–12: Stronghold Locomotion), the stronghold sits on the seafloor and does not move.

Caster Level: 15th; Prerequisites: Craft Wondrous Item, water walk, augment object; Market Price: 7,500 gp.

Teleporting: The stronghold can teleport without error as a whole once or more per day. In a single round, it disappears from one location and appears in another.

Caster Level: 15th; Prerequisites: Craft Wondrous Item, teleport without error; Market Price: 50,000 gp.