The Location
When a wizard is contemplating the construction of a laboratory, the first
thing he will want to consider is the location of the lab. If the wizard travels
extensively, like many adventurers do, the choice of his laboratory’s location
may prove to be a difficult decision. Since the character will be investing a
vast amount of money in the construction and outfitting of his laboratory, he
will want to make certain that the facility is located in a secure and reasonably
accessible location. There’s a lot of valuable and irreplaceable material in a
laboratory, and most wizards dread the thought of some hooligan sacking their
workshops.
Many wizards locate their laboratories in or near major cities. There are
several advantages to this strategy: first of all, the wizard has easy access to
skilled craftsmen for unusual pieces of equipment; second, the large cities
attract traders dealing in the rare or unusual, making it easier for the wizard to
locate some material components; third, resources such as libraries and fellow
wizards or alchemists may be close at hand; and last, cities are relatively
secure from monstrous incursions. On the down side, cities also host large and
well-organized thieves’ guilds, and many wizards find themselves forced to pay
protection money to keep their labs intact. Also, a wizard who lives near a large
population center is generally easy to find, and the character’s enemies won’t
have any problem in tracking him to his base of operations.
Because of these risks, some wizards prefer to conceal their laboratories in
unpopulated or inaccessible regions. The wizard loses the benefits of close
contact with civilization, but gains a degree of privacy that an urban wizard finds
impossible. This can be costly, especially when the wizard needs some smithing
or glassblowing work done, and there’s no one nearby who can do it. A
wilderness base generally costs 20%–50% or (1d4+1) x 10% more to equip and maintain
than a comparable lab in the city. Note that remoteness doesn’t guarantee safety;
instead of thieves, a wizard in the wilderness has to worry about monsters of
all sizes and inclinations nosing around the premises!
Table of Contents