I need books or articles from any edition of D&D that provide utility spells geared around architecture. Stuff like "nail this rock in mid air like an Immovable Rod so you can build the impossible around it".

Which ones are worth looking at?

I'm surprised this yielded no responses. Is there so little on this subject out there?

Stronghold Builder's Handbook is the closest i can think of. That mainly has what amount to architectural magic items and the like. Rooms of Silence and stuff like that. It also details actual magic items that strongholds might have like Beds of Rest.

It has a section on how some spells can be used in regards buildings etc.

Reverse gravity is the only one that springs to mind.

I seem to remember Bigby had some forceful constructs so you could make weird stuff like auto draw bridges and stuff like that.

Glass steel could also make cool stuff.

You could forceful construct something as a mold. put some steel rods in it to reinforce it themn mud to rock and then back to craft cool structures.

Wall of stone could be manipulated.


I am sure the mystical encyclodeia had some spells may fit, unfortunately it is at home

BECMI had woodform, stoneform, ironform, and steelform spells that basically let a MU create buildings in any form he wanted. Though they still needed to obey the laws of gravity.

OTOH, there were also vague rules in Gaz 15 for building mobile stuff, and I guess more detailed rules in the Princess Ark book.

BECMI had rules for building fantastical structures. Essentially you crafted it like a gigantic magic item or several interconnected giant magic items.

Example the Greater Dynamo of Flying for the Geodome. Enchanted with Fly and Travel spells and took 6 months alone. The frame has Float in Air enchantments and so on.

There is also the flying city from Top Ballistia which mentions a few of the methods that went into its crafting and also has rules for techno-magic innentions. Fun setting book.

This can also be a good plot hook of the PCs own making. They either have to find a spell to do what they want, or research a new spell to do it. Or invent items to accomplish the task. Or its a REALLY long process of layering on simple enchantments again and again.