D&D 5E Teleportation Cirlces in the Realms

[OldSchoolThief]

Hello everyone,
First time poster here with some questions regarding teleportation circles, or at least known permanent teleportation circles. Specifically, I am aware of the teleportation target set up by the Watchful Order of Magists & Protectors just northeast of the South gate, between the inner and outer walls of Waterdeep, however I believe to the best of my memory that no such Circles exist within Neverwinter to the north, as well as no known maps of Neverwinter are crafted to protect the city itself.

My players' are needing to reach Waterdeep from Neverwinter, and if I know them...they will inquire to possible Teleportation Circles that exist that they may attempt to use. The party is 7th level, so they are unable to cast teleportation circle themselves.

From a lore perspective, does anyone know of a list that details any teleportation circle that leads to Waterdeep?

 

[KahlessNestor]

Hello everyone,
First time poster here with some questions regarding teleportation circles, or at least known permanent teleportation circles. Specifically, I am aware of the teleportation target set up by the Watchful Order of Magists & Protectors just northeast of the South gate, between the inner and outer walls of Waterdeep, however I believe to the best of my memory that no such Circles exist within Neverwinter to the north, as well as no known maps of Neverwinter are crafted to protect the city itself.

My players' are needing to reach Waterdeep from Neverwinter, and if I know them...they will inquire to possible Teleportation Circles that exist that they may attempt to use. The party is 7th level, so they are unable to cast teleportation circle themselves.

From a lore perspective, does anyone know of a list that details any teleportation circle that leads to Waterdeep?

Well, as far as I know, the lore is after the Spellplage there were very few teleportation circles that still function. Those that did could often be...unreliable. With the destruction of Neverwinter I imagine that would be doubly so.

That said, I don't know what The Sundering has done to such things. If you really need one, just drop it in and say it's lore, or find an NPC that can makr one. Or make it more interesting and craft an adventure around finding and getting to one that was lost in all the chaos of the last century.

Neverwinter isn't too far from Waterdeep. A week overland, maybe? Shorter if you find a ship going that way?

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[the Jester]

It seems likely that every big city in the Realms has teleportation circles in it somewhere. Remember, until 4e, they weren't a thing- I'm not sure whether the Realms interpretation of this (or more specifically, your[/i] Realms' interpretation) is that they are a new thing or that they were there all along, but if it's the latter, it seems highly likely, given the number of high level casters running around the FR at any given time.


EDIT: After reading KahlessNestor's reply, I have to change my position. It sounds like, whatever circles there were, few survive. So I'd maybe make iot an adventure to track one down.

 

[Al2O3]

I don't know if there is a list of circles (if there is I would ask about it on Candlekeep rather than ENworld). The ones I've heard about are from the Brimstone Angels saga, where there is a pair of circles used for commercial travel between Waterdeep and Suzail (I think; one of the cormyrean cities) unless they totally broke down during the Sundering. There is also something similar used by Harpers to get between taverns or similar, so if they are mostly rather high-ranking members of the Harpers, Lord's Alliance or the Zents I could imagine that a barely-functional pair of portals could be available.

The thing I would encourage is doing it like Drizzt would in the relevant novels I've read: find a caravan going to the right place and become a caravan guard for the trip. Goblins and maybe zombies and orcs are found in the area between Neverwinter and Waterdeep. Something like 10gp per character might reasonable pay if they turn into guards, with extra perks like the opportunity of XP from random encounters, others providing food and shelter and probably a couple of other guards to share the night watch with.

Buying a horse, riding it as hard as possible until it can't continue, trade it for a new one at an inn or similar and then continue could help them make a fast journey if that is really important (compare to the pony express and the PHB page 181).

 

[transtemporal]

Wait... waterdeep from neverwinter? Thats like a weeks ride! Lazy bastards! lol

In my old realms campaign, I made the creation of permanent teleportation circles illegal without the permission of the local lord. No one wanted foreign enemies being able to drop agents in behind all their defenses, but at the same time everyone wanted the mercantile advantage. To this end, my Waterdeep had a massive, permanent teleportation circle housed in a giant cathedral-like building called the Central Registry.

The sigil sequence was publicly known and Waterdeep actually put some effort into making sure wizard guilds in far flung places gave it to their members. They had some complex magic in place so that it was possible to use the circle with a password which would send you to a particular part of the Registry (for foreign diplomats, commercial ventures etc). Otherwise you'd mix with other regular travellers ("regular" in this case meant other extraordinary groups with access to the teleportation circle spell).

At any time, the authorities could temporarily close the circle to travel, channel travellers to a safe "overflow" area (for traffic congestion) or, it was rumored, to specially prepared killzones. They could also permanently destroy the circle if needed.

So anyway, Waterdeep had one and other large city-states and sovereign nations were copying Waterdeep's model.

Certain other organisations and personages had permanent authorized circles for their private use (such as the temple of Mystra). Generally speaking, these sigil sequences were secret. And of course there were permanent unauthorized circles built by nefarious organisations for nefarious purposes.

 

[Bacon Bits]

Eh, I wouldn't think they'd be generally accessible or even general knowledge who has one. Once they're permanent, they're a major strategic resource and trade secret. If you can control one you can invade or move troops at speeds that would make modern armies blush, and you can move goods around and abuse market variations.

I'd say that it's safe to bet that any circle controlled by a lord would be heavily taxed and probably carry significant wait times for use, and likely any circle not controlled by a lord would be illegal.

Not that that would stop any organization with sufficient power. Black market prices would probably be about 1,000 gp per person if they're members of an organization that has access to such things. If they have a really good reason for needing to move quickly, they might get by with 500 gp per person. The only way they get free access is if they have a very, very good reason that significantly and directly benefits the guild. In any case, without a huge amount of trust they're going to be blindfolded and led through with no knowledge of where the circle is or where the sigil is.

"That's outrageous!"

It's over 18,000 gp to set up a permanent circle, and that's just the spell component cost. That doesn't include the location, fortifications and defenses (remember that a sigil room would be considered an outside wall so you'd treat it as "outside the fortress"), staff to monitor, maintain, and defend the location, etc.

 

[Plaguescarred]

From a lore perspective, does anyone know of a list that details any teleportation circle that leads to Waterdeep?

I don't know but if you really want/need to have a teleportation circle linking Neverwinter to Waterdeep, you can just decide that in your campaign there is one - et voila!

 

[OldSchoolThief]

I would like to thank everyone for responding to this thread with well thought out responses and ideas; I have decided to use a mix of portals from the 3rd edition Forgotten Realms Campaign Setting sourcebook ( via archways, menhir stones and the like), with some due to the Spellplague now malfunctioning or just not working any longer as well as the 5th edition Teleportation Circles typically used by Major temples, Guilds, etc.

The portals are typically vertical while the circles are inscribed horizontally upon floors as described by the spell text.

Again, thank you for your thoughtful words, ideas and trying to help me out.

 

[Al2O3]

Based on Erin M Evans "Lesser Evils" the price of portal travel from Waterdeep to Suzail in 1478 DR with a then new-made portal was in the range of 10-25 gp per person. The alternative would be a long and risky travel by land (about 3 or 4 times the distance between Neverwinter and Waterdeep). Since the cost of setting up and operating a portal between Neverwinter and Waterdeep would probably be similar, but the value of using the portal over travelling by caravan would probably be lower I doubt that it would make sense to have a commercial one.

There could be a forgotten portal in the ruins of Castle Never (but that is a dangerous ruin according to SCAG) that started to work again post-Sundering. Other relatively likely places to have portals are the House of Knowledge, the Hall of Justice (temples of Oghma and Tyr respectively) and Lord Neverember's home. But it might be faster to hire on to a caravan than running around the city looking for a portal unless the story dictates that they NEED to get to Waterdeep faster than they can travel by foot. In that case there is of course a suitable portal, possibly through a faction, because plot.

Edit: Seems OP and I posted at the same time. Sounds like a good solution was found!

 

[CapnZapp]

My players' are needing to reach Waterdeep from Neverwinter, and if I know them...they will inquire to possible Teleportation Circles that exist that they may attempt to use. The party is 7th level, so they are unable to cast teleportation circle themselves.

From a lore perspective, does anyone know of a list that details any teleportation circle that leads to Waterdeep?

Just to complete this old thread:

Teleportation Circles do not lead anywhere; they're destinations, not starting points.

What you'd need instead is a sigil sequence for a Waterdhavian teleportation circle, and then your NPC Wizard can cast Teleportation Circle (the spell) to take you there.

Teleportation Circles don't work like portals.