Interior Design - Demonologist Edition

[Railstar]

Tongue-in-cheek title aside, this is an experiment I've been considering for building a lair for an evil wizard. The idea is I was thinking about spells like Pentagram... and if floorboards having gaps between them might interfere with drawing a proper pentagram, which made me think about things like tile flooring and generally "what are the best surfaces to draw pentagrams on?"

Those kinds of logistics are what I'm interested in.

A more general discussion would be, assuming you're an evil wizard supervillain planning on converting an abandoned building to your evil lair, how would you go about it? Or how would you plan said lair? This is things like logistics, where would you go for the supplies you need?

-modern day setting.
-magic is not believed in by the general public, but superpowers are (and a magician disguising their spells as superpowers is entirely acceptable).
-the city has a lot of abandoned buildings to use.
-supervillain lair is hidden, so no hiring people to do work inside (though can make people into Improved Zombies who retain their skills).
-purchases that attract less attention are preferable, so occult purchases cannot be traced back to the supervillain's civilian identity.
-mortal living facilities (bathroom, cooking, etc.) are low-priority. Wizard & minions have either Doesn't Eat/Drink or Sanitised Metabolism.

Our evil wizard's spells are primarily (but not exclusively) from the colleges of, Body Control, Enchantment, Meta & Necromantic.

So lots of mystic capabilities, things like Delay to set magical traps are possible, but cannot simply reshape the structure to the ideal. In short, how would you quietly go about converting a structure into one well-suited for an evil wizard to work in?

Thanks in advance.

[whswhs]

This is way tangential, but one of my players has told me about a game he was in, many years ago, where the PCs walked into a room and the GM told them that the floor was tiled in octagons. One of the players said, "But it's impossible to tile a floor in octagons," and the GM said, "That's right. Roll to see how much SAN you lost."

[Railstar]

Originally Posted by whswhs

This is way tangential, but one of my players has told me about a game he was in, many years ago, where the PCs walked into a room and the GM told them that the floor was tiled in octagons. One of the players said, "But it's impossible to tile a floor in octagons," and the GM said, "That's right. Roll to see how much SAN you lost."

That is amazing, and the perfect answer even if the game system doesn't use SAN.

[Refplace]

Warehouse are often in low rent areas with fewer noisey neighbors.
Polished concrete with acid etched designs you can cover with area rugs.

[Railstar]

Originally Posted by Refplace

Polished concrete with acid etched designs you can cover with area rugs.

There's some definite potential here! I was thinking of concrete as too rough to make a good mystic diagram on, but polished concrete takes care of that problem. Acid-etched designs is a really nice idea too. Certainly feels classy.

The obstacle I see though is getting the necessary tools inside for the polishing and etching, without revealing the location of the base.

Though depending on the skills required, I think Improved Zombies could do it.

[Refplace]

Originally Posted by Railstar

There's some definite potential here! I was thinking of concrete as too rough to make a good mystic diagram on, but polished concrete takes care of that problem. Acid-etched designs is a really nice idea too. Certainly feels classy.

The obstacle I see though is getting the necessary tools inside for the polishing and etching, without revealing the location of the base.

Though depending on the skills required, I think Improved Zombies could do it.

I used to run a GLBT community center. I took over a beat up warehouse that was used by a motorcycle gang who left it a toxic mess when the ATF raided them.
I acid washed it with Muratic acid from the hardware store.
I later used wood stain (polyurethane) to pretty up the floor. It stood up to traffic pretty well.
Eventually I had a guy come in with a buffer(like youll see in many janitorial places) and he acid etched designs into the floor and polished it up.
I wasnt there for that process but his equipment fit in his van.

[thrash]

Originally Posted by Railstar

The idea is I was thinking about spells like Pentagram... and if floorboards having gaps between them might interfere with drawing a proper pentagram, which made me think about things like tile flooring and generally "what are the best surfaces to draw pentagrams on?"

Liquid levelling compounds are made for a variety of applications. You could fill in a concrete slab on grade (light grout or thin mortar), or pour a solid deck for a workshop on a higher floor (epoxy, perhaps, or concrete topping slab).

Of course, the discerning wizard will want a mosaic tile floor with a metal band inset for the circle. Have someone with skills make the (perfectly round) metal hoop off-site, then leave a large enough gap in your tile pattern to grout it in. Cut the hoop after the grout sets, then use a drop of blood to open and close the gap at need.

A more general discussion would be, assuming you're an evil wizard supervillain planning on converting an abandoned building to your evil lair, how would you go about it?

I would look for an unoccupied building that back up to a functioning but not robust business with regular deliveries -- maybe a dry-cleaner or laundry -- and buy both. Extra points if you "allow" the City to "persuade" your agent to take on the formerly abandoned property "as an investment." Then you don't have to worry about anyone else buying it out from under you.

Cut an entrance between the two properties and cover it with a slit cloth curtain (like the ones in a car wash) and a "Don't Notice Me" spell. Now you can bring whatever you are likely to need (as long as it fits in a liveried laundry van) in and out through the shared loading dock.

[malloyd]

Originally Posted by Railstar

There's some definite potential here! I was thinking of concrete as too rough to make a good mystic diagram on, but polished concrete takes care of that problem. Acid-etched designs is a really nice idea too. Certainly feels classy.

The obstacle I see though is getting the necessary tools inside for the polishing and etching, without revealing the location of the base.

Well the etching "tools" amount to crayons, a hose and some pool treatment chemicals, so no real challenge there.

Polishing concrete is a little harder, but is something do-it-yourselfers manage on a fairly regular basis. The basic equipment is only about $5000 if you are too paranoid to rent it - which you probably are, most rental places would probably insist on you attending a safety course that would keep records, and maybe on seeing your building permit.

[thrash]

Someone with YouTube skills needs to set up a regular "Flair for your Lair" channel with tips for evil overlords.

[Refplace]

Originally Posted by thrash

Liquid levelling compounds are made for a variety of applications. You could fill in a concrete slab on grade (light grout or thin mortar), or pour a solid deck for a workshop on a higher floor (epoxy, perhaps, or concrete topping slab).

Yeah I looked into those and decided against them because of cost.
I doubt this supervillain wizard would have to be as thrifty as I was.

Originally Posted by thrash

Someone with YouTube skills needs to set up a regular "Flair for your Lair" channel with tips for evil overlords.

LOL yeah.