House Kundarak: The Mark of Warding, and Traps! (Patreon)

You’re right, Lord Ruken. We’re talking about a great deal of gold. But there are a few things that only you know. Only you know the fervor of your enemies and how far they would go. Is there anyone who might scry upon you, seeking to pry your secrets from your private conversations? Is there anything in your home you truly can’t afford to have stolen? Is it possible that someone hates you so much that they might seek to kill you… or to harm you by harming those you love? Only you know these things, my lord… and only you know what peace of mind is worth to you. 

The heirs of House Kundarak are often maligned as being paranoid, always suspecting the people around them of coveting their fine possessions. This is a foolish fabrication. But there are two factors that play into this stereotype. The first is Kundarak’s great wealth. Most of the houses became wealthy because of their success. But the Kundarak lords were wealthy long before they became a House, possessing riches greater than any western king. There have always been those who have sought to steal Kundarak gold, whether through force or guile. So if Kundarak heirs look at the world around them with a little suspicion, it’s because history has given them good reason to be cautious. Beyond that, those who carry the Mark of Warding feel an inherent urge to protect the things that matter to them. Heirs of House Sivis love words. Those who carry the Mark of Making are often tinkering with something. And the dwarves who bear the Mark of Warding are always ready to protect the things they love. The Mark of Warding seals and shields, but it also allows its bearer to create deadly traps that will punish those who trespass against them. Kundarak won’t just keep you from touching their things; they’ll leave you with a bloody stump for daring to make the attempt. These threads run through the psyche of every Kundarak heir: pride in what they possess and what they have accomplished, and a fierce instinct to protect what they love and to punish those who would try and take it. 

While some might expect Kundarak heirs to be avaricious, the truth is often the opposite. Some of the greatest philanthropists in the history of the Five Nations have been Kundarak viceroys, and heirs of the house are often generous with their friends. Kundarak teaches its heirs to be sharp in matters of business, to cut to the heart of a situation and identify its risks. But the House also teaches its children that a life driven solely by the pursuit of wealth is as cold as a copper coin. A Kundarak heir always considers the costs of things, and anyone who knows a Kundarak dwarf has probably had a moment when their friend has stepped in to haggle on their behalf or to warn them of a possible scam. But this is because what the heir values most is friendship. Kundarak heirs won’t waste gold, but they aren’t afraid to spend it on things that truly matter, including helping their friends and creating fine memories. Likewise, Kundarak dwarves usually have treasures, whether those are heirlooms passed down to them or things they’ve worked to acquire. Some of these things would be seen as treasures by anyone; many heirs appreciate art, jewelry, and goods of the highest quality. But others have more of a personal value. A copper tankard that’s the last surviving mug made by a distant ancestor. A rare book of poetry by a poet who’s still unappreciated long after their death, but which the dwarf loves. A silver coin they struck as a child, when their mother took the mint. Beyond this, every Kundarak heir has something they dream of acquiring. This is a game that starts among children, as heirs declare what wonders they will one day possess, and these desires are refined as they grow. This could be a title, a family, an estate… but most heirs have something very concrete in mind, whether it’s an artifact or a piece of art. So in making a Kundarak heir, consider: What treasures do you possess, and what do you yearn to obtain? What do you value above all else, and what would you do to protect the things that you love? 

Note: The version of the Mark of Warding presented here differs from what is presented in Forge of the Artificer. This is the version I am using in my campaign, but it is not official! My reasons for these changes are described later in this article. 

When an heir of House Kundarak first manifests the Mark of Warding, they are placed in isolation while they master its first two gifts. The first of these is a peaceful source of comfort: the ability to set an Alarm. As a ritual spell, this can be cast at any time. The heir studies the space or the portal they wish to ward, and imagines energy flowing from their dragonmark to fill that space. While there is no actual sentience to an Alarm spell, most Kundarak heirs imagine a guardian—crafting the story of the spirit that serves and protects them. The heir traces the patterns of the Mark of Warding in the air and murmurs instructions to their guardian (the somatic and verbal components of the spell), thanking the spirit for its service and telling it whether to respond to intrusion by warning the heir directly or making a noise. For most Kundarak heirs, this is a comfortable experience; it makes them feel protected and secure. Heirs with a newly manifested Mark are encouraged to cast Alarm over and over, warding everything in sight. This power poses no danger to anyone. But the second gift of the Mark of Warding is another matter entirely, and this is the reason new heirs must be isolated. Every heir can feel the power of the Mark promising protection. If they let instinct guide them and trace the pattern of the Mark, power flows through the Mark and into that seal, burning with the determination to protect and to punish. This is the Kundarak Seal, the first step toward a Glyph of Warding. It can be placed on anything that can be opened or closed—a door, a window, a chest—or on the heir’s own skin. With time and training, an heir can weave safeguards into the seal, setting a word of safe passage or choosing when to trigger the seal on their skin. But in those first days these traps pose a danger to everyone; a playful shove is enough to trigger a Sigil of Vengeance and injure or kill a friend. Foundlings with the Mark of Warding are rare, and often have tragic tales of loved ones harmed by an Elemental Trap before the heir mastered their powers. This isn’t  a danger for long. Once an heir understands this gift, they can contain a Sigil of Vengeance until they choose to unleash its power; most heirs start each morning by tracing the mark on their skin and setting that ward against enemies. This is something everyone knows about Kundarak heirs—You strike a blow against them, and they’ll blast you with vengeance. It’s something that gives Kundarak bankers and negotiators confidence when dealing with strangers: you harm me at your peril. 

Further gifts of the Mark of Warding offer both sides of a coin, as heirs learn both how to protect the things they love and how to bypass protections. An experienced heir can seal anything that can be opened, weaving an Arcane Lock; but they also possess the power to Knock, opening any door. They have an intuitive knack for using Thieves’ Tools to create traps and locks as well as to remove them; they can set deadly wards, but they also have a talent for Investigation and for mystically finding traps. Warding-marked heirs often have a fondness for puzzles; there is an intuitive satisfaction that comes from opening a look or unraveling a mystery. 

Player characters and remarkable NPCs can master both powers of the Least Mark of Warding, but most heirs only learn one of its two paths. Those drawn to the path of Wards gain the ability to cast Nondetection and Private Sanctum. These allow the heir to shield objects, people, or places from divination magic, and also to prevent teleportation into or out of a particular space. Private Sanctum can be made permanent, and most long-established prisons have Kundarak wards that prevent teleportation. Those who follow the path of Seals gain access to Glyph of Warding and Secret Chest. These heirs are the trapsmiths of the House, weaving Glyphs into security systems for valued clients. 

The final gift of the Greater Mark is one that even player characters have to choose between. The rarer of the two options is the ability to cast Antilife Shell, keeping all living things from approaching the Warding heir. Those with this gift often worked with House Deneith during the last war; a Warding heir could shield a Siege Staff crew and keep them from being overrun. Heirs with this power are rare and as the war went on, the use of Warforged constructs and Karrnathi undead reduced its value, but there were still times when these wars played a key role in a battle. The more common gift of the Greater Mark is Kundarak’s Ward—a power that weaves Private Sanctum, Arcane Lock, and Glyph of Warding together to protect a stronghold. Many noble estates have Housewards that maintain Kundarak’s Wards. With that said, when an heir casts Kundarak’s Ward they choose which effects to implement. Most nobles don’t want to have their hallways filled with fog!

Kanon vs Canon. Most of the time I prefer to hold to current canon, but I’ve made a significant number of changes here. The core abilities remain the same; what I’ve swapped are the spells. My goal here is to work with the original idea of the Mark, the services Kundarak provides, and what feels logical and cohesive to me. Specifically…

Forge of the Artificer assigns Mage Armor to the base mark and Armor of Agathys as a spell of the Mark. Mage Armor is fine, but it’s useless for adventurers who use medium or heavy armor, so I shifted that to be the Spell of the Mark and replaced Armor of Agathys with Kundarak Seal. Kundarak Seal draws on Fire Trap (which was part of the 3.5 Mark) but adds the idea that you can use it to trap YOURSELF. This is similar in concept to Armor of Agathys and Hellish Rebuke—you hurt someone who hits you—but you have to cast it in advance. It keeps the idea of Elemental Trap as a service Kundarak heirs can provide, but Sigil of Vengeance is likely to be more useful for the typical adventurer.  

The typical adventurer has more use for Knock than Arcane Lock, and both are useful for the House businesses, so I made Knock the spell provided by the base feat and Arcane Lock the Spell of the Mark. 

I swapped Nystul’s Magic Aura with Find Traps because to me, Magic Aura is more about deception than protection, and that’s not something that is reflected in the other spells of the mark. Meanwhile, Find Traps establishes that the Mark of Warding gives its bearers a broad affinity for traps, which is reflected by the Intuition with Thieves’ Tools and is one of their main fields of business. Just as the Mark allows you to lock and unlock things, it makes sense to me that it can help you find traps as well as to set them. 

I replaced Magic Circle with Nondetection because Nondetection was an original spell of the mark in 3.5 and because it’s consistent with Private Sanctum—establishing that the Mark can ward against divination—while there’s no other Mark effects that feel aligned to Magic Circle (such as Hallow or Protection From Good And Evil). 

I swapped Faithful Hound with Private Sanctum because I previously assigned Faithful Hound to Ghallanda. While Faithful Hound isn’t a bad option for Warding, Private Sanctum is consistent with Nondetection and it fit to me that Ghallanda could set a spectral blink dog to guard your door while Kundarak would ward a wider area.

Guards & Wards was a key feature of the Mark of Warding in its original incarnation. Aside from being a 6th level spell, the standard Guards & Wards goes kind of over the top (There’s spiderwebs in every staircase! There’s confusion spells at every intersection!), and I wanted to tone that down a little — and since the Mark now includes Private Sanctum, it made sense to weave that in. So Kundarak’s Ward is a watered down Guards & Wards with added functionality from Private Sanctum. Notably, it doesn’t have the “Cast every day for a year to make permanent” clause; it’s maintained by Housewards, but you can’t make it permanent. 

FOCUS ITEMS

The ability to cast Glyph of Warding or Knock once per day is a useful trick, but if you’re going to make a living as a locksmith or selling security systems, you need to be able to produce these effects more frequently and to provide services that will last. Someone poor and in a hurry can pay a Kundarak Warden to cast Glyph of Warding on their door, but once the spell is triggered it will disperse. If you want to create a Glyph that will last—an ongoing security system for a noble or a prison—you need to use focus items. 

The two most common Kundarak focus items are Warden’s Wares and Sealing Pigments. Warden’s Wares are a specialized form of Thieves’ Tools; they are treated as Thieves’ Tools for purposes of tool proficiency, but Kundarak heirs can use them to construct magical traps as well as to disarm them. Sealing Pigments are infused with powdered siberys dragonshards. When an heir creates a long-term security system they trace its patterns with Sealing Pigments. The Pigments become invisible after the work is complete, but the power remains in place. Long term Kundarak traps often have some sort of focal point as well. Rather than being a glyph, a trap that dispels magic could be a metal plate engraved with the image of a beholder that opens its central eye when the trap is triggered. Sealing Pigments are still used in the creation of this trap, but it’s not just a pattern of paint. 

Traps and security systems are the primary products of House Kundarak, and these are discussed in greater detail in the sidebar that follows this section. Here’s a few other Kundarak focus items.  

Keycharm

Wondrous Item, Common 

A Keycharm is a simple amulet, typically worn around the neck or kept in a pocket. When someone with the Mark of Warding casts Alarm, Arcane Lock, Glyph of Warding, Kundarak’s Ward or the Elemental Trap function of Kundarak Seal, they can choose to link the spell to a Keycharm in their possession. If they do this, whoever carries the Keycharm is considered to be the caster of the spell. They are aware of the location of the spell effect and can choose to end the spell or bypass its effects. Most of these spells give the caster an option to set a password or to create objects that serve as keys; the Keycharm just takes that a step further, allowing the caster to give full ownership of the spell to the bearer of the Keycharm. 

Houseward

Wondrous Item, Rare 

A Houseward is a heavy block of lead and stone engraved with arcane sigils. An heir with the Mark of Warding can sense the presence of any Houseward within 20 feet and can target the ward with any of the following spells: Alarm, Mordenkainen’s Private Sanctum, or Kundarak’s Ward. When cast in this way, the spell doesn’t require concentration and the duration is increased by a factor of 28—allowing a spell that would normally persist for a single day to last for an entire month. If a Houseward is destroyed, the spells it is maintaining dissipate. For this reason, Housewards are typically buried beneath the floor of the location they are protecting, or embedded in the base of a statue. 

Locksmith’s Ring

Wondrous Item, Uncommon (Requires attunement by a creature with the Mark of Warding)

The Locksmith’s Ring is a large iron ring with a single embedded siberys dragonshard; it’s often used as a keyring, but there is no actual need for it to carry other keys. While attuned the Locksmith’s Ring, a creature with the Mark of Warding can cast Arcane Lock or Knock as a ritual; however, doing so requires 100 gp worth of refined eberron dragonshards, which are consumed by the ritual. 

KUNDARAK LOCKS AND TRAPS

The Golden Door of House Kundarak provides physical and magical security measures, from mundane locks to mystical wards. This is part of everyday life. With that in mind, how do people generally experience this in everyday life? What’s standard when it comes to magical security? What sort of lock or trap can you expect to find on the front door of a typical citizen’s house? How about that of a noble? What about on the door to your room in the Gold Dragon Inn? 

Arcane Lock, Knock, Glyph of Warding, and Alarm are all within the scope of “wide magic” that’s part of everyday life in the Five Nations. Furthermore, all four are spells associated with the Mark of Warding and reflect the building blocks that Kundarak has to work with. Let’s consider each of these. 

Alarm. According to the 2024 PHB, Alarm allows you to “Choose a door, a window, or an area within range that is no larger than a 20-foot Cube. Until the spell ends, an alarm alerts you whenever a creature touches or enters the warded area. When you cast the spell, you can designate creatures that won’t set off the alarm. You also choose whether the alarm is audible or mental.” The spell specifies that the audible alarm “produces the sound of a handbell” which seems unnecessarily specific to me. At the least, I’d say that there are different versions of the spell that produce different sounds. In the case of a Kundarak Alarm, I’d allow them to choose from a range of options, including being able to record a short message that is heard when the Alarm is triggered. 

Arcane Lock. Per the 2024 Player’s Handbook, a lock under the effect of Arcane Lock “can’t be unlocked by any nonmagical means”. I dislike this interpretation. It severely limits the effectiveness of rogues and thieves who aren’t spellcasters, and to me it also doesn’t make sense in the context of Eberron. If Arcane Lock is the basic standard of security, then people should have evolved tools to deal with it. Thieves’ Tools should be designed to deal with Arcane Locks and Glyphs of Warding—and you see this in my Thorn of Breland novels. So I personally hold to the 2014 and 3.5 rules for Arcane Lock: the spell adds 10 to the DC of any check to break or open the door or object. If the door has no lock, it’s considered to have an “inferior” lock, meaning that it ends up being DC 20 to pick it—up to DC 30 if it has a superior lock. While the rules have never suggested it, if people are trying to destroy a door physically I’d give a door protected by Arcane Lock resistance to physical damage. 

Knock. Per the 2024 Player’s Handbook, when this spell is cast, “A target that is shut by a mundane lock or that is stuck or barred becomes unlocked, unstuck, or unbarred. If the object has multiple locks, only one of them is unlocked.” With this in mind, a door with a single mundane lock or bar isn’t a meaningful obstacle to a professional burglar. 

Glyph of Warding. A Glyph of Warding can produce a deadly burst of energy, but it can also be set to hold a spell of up to 3rd level (or higher, depending on the spell slot used to cast the Glyph). Glyph of Warding has a second aspect I want to consider, though: the trigger. From the 2024 PHB: “For glyphs inscribed on a surface, common triggers include touching or stepping on the glyph, removing another object covering it, or approaching within a certain distance of it. For glyphs inscribed within an object, common triggers include opening that object or seeing the glyph… You can refine the trigger so that only creatures of certain types activate it (for example, the glyph could be set to affect Aberrations). You can also set conditions for creatures that don’t trigger the glyph, such as those who say a certain password.” Keep that in mind as we move forward. 

Typical Doors. Now we have the pieces… what does this mean? 

The 2024 DMG provides statistics for glass, wood, stone, and metal doors. Few people in Khorvaire actually use doors made of glass or stone. “Glass” typically reflects a very light wooden door or a screen; anyone has a 50/50 chance to force it open. “Wood” is a typical interior door in most homes. “Stone” is common for the front door of a secured estate; this is typically thick wood, wood reinforced with metal, or unusual woods like Bronzewood or Darkwood that are harder than standard wood. “Metal” is an armored or vault door. Keep in mind that (as I play it) Arcane Lock increases the DC to force a door open by 10 and gives it resistance to physical damage—and that a “bigger door” has two to three times as many hit points and the break DC is increased by 5. 

A door with a single mundane locking mechanism is essentially a polite barrier, letting people know you don’t want to be bothered—but no one considers a door with one mundane lock to provide actual security against a serious burglar or intruder, as a single Knock will open it. 

Most doors intended to provide actual security have two distinct seals—typically a deadbolt style lock on the door and a bar that can be lowered. While two Knocks will still do the trick, it will slow people down.  

Arcane Lock is the gold standard for security. In any community that has a Kundarak locksmith in residence, a home that reflects a Comfortable lifestyle or better is likely to have an Arcane Lock on the main door. Wealthy or Aristocratic homes may have Arcane Locks on some interior doors as well.  

Arcane Locks are often linked to mundane locks, meaning that the Arcane Lock only activates when you lower the door or engage the lock, and that the key to the deadbolt deactivates the Arcane Lock as well. Arcane Locks CAN be set with verbal passwords or tied to creature types, but typically, what you’re looking for is a key. 

Kundarak Security. Most people don’t have deadly traps on their doors. But if you feel a need for more than just a lock, the Warding Guild of House Kundarak has a system to sell you. Here’s the standard options. 

Alarm is the most common security measure. If the door or object is opened while the Alarm is active, it will make noise, send a mental alert, or both. Mental alerts are typically tied to a ring or piece of jewelry, and alert the wearer when the Alarm is triggered (up to a range of 1 mile); this alert will wake someone who is sleeping. As discussed later in this article, the Warding Guild offers a service whereby the Alarm warns the Warders as well as the client. Alarms are widespread because they don’t have a dramatic effect. A noble’s estate might have an Alarm on the gate that triggers when anyone who isn’t a member of the noble family passes through it, with the silent mental ping going to the sentry on duty via the linked ring. Such an Alarm is constantly being triggered during the day, but it’s nudging the guard to make sure the guest is authorized. 

Most traps work off the principle of Glyph of Warding. There’s more to a security system than just casting a Glyph, but the basic functionality is similar: the trap can deliver a burst of deadly energy or cast an embedded spell. The section on Spell Glyphs that follows this one provides examples of the sort of effects you might find as typical civilian security. 

While Kundarak traps are similar in function to a Glyph of Warding, they aren’t actual glyphs. The trap designer sets the appearance of the trap and the circumstances under which it will be triggered; traps are often tied head of a guardian beast on a door (like a door knocker) or an inlaid pattern. The trap can be triggered by proximity, by contact, by a door being opened, or any other logical scenario—and as noted above, it can be set to trigger off of or exclude classes of individuals, such as only triggering when set off by an undead creature or ignoring anyone who’s carrying a particular talisman.

Passwords can be tied to a security system, deactivating or reactivating the system when the password is said. A security system can also be linked to a lock, so if the door is unlocked the system shuts down. Just as a system can recognize a creature type, it can be set up to trigger off a bloodline—so any member of a particular family can enter an estate without triggering its alarms. Talismans are more common than passwords. When a system is created, the Warder can tie it to a set of tokens—coins, keys, rings—that identify the bearer as an authorized user. 

Spell Glyphs. Kundarak traps are based on the principle of Glyph of Warding, allowing a security system to release an embedded spell effect. But there’s more to the process of creating such a trap than just casting Glyph of Warding. A Kundarak trapsmith can embed spells they can’t personally cast; different effects require different resources. Likewise, the time and resources expended in the creation of a trap and the skill and Dragonmark of the creator determine the saving throw DC, maximum level of the spell effect, and the duration of the spell. A budget Kundarak trap has a spell save DC of 12. The save DC of a standard Kundarak trap is 14. An exceptional trap can have a save DC of 17 or higher. Likewise, typically a Kundarak trap effect lasts for the standard duration of the spell, with no need for concentration. However, expensive traps can extend that duration. A spell that normally lasts for a minute might be extended to ten minutes, or even an hour. So a trap that causes Fear might not simply delay the victim for a few rounds; it could leave them running wildly for an hour. Like the workings of a creation forge, this isn’t something I’m going to break down in absolute detail here, because it relies on the industrial resources of the house; the point is that a simple trap may have a low DC and short duration, but the security system Kundarak installs in a palace can have more dramatic and dangerous effects. 

The following are a few examples of Kundarak security systems. In many cases the damage type and the ability associated with a saving throw isn’t defined, because it should reflect the design of the trap. If Kundarak is creating a security system for a Cannith heir they might use the “Force Burst” function but make it a gorgon head that spews green gas and inflicts poison damage, requiring a Constitution saving throw; while for a Lyrandar heir they could craft a Kraken that releases lightning and requires a Dexterity saving throw. With that said, Kundarak systems sold to civilians often inflict nonlethal damage. Most of the time, people don’t want to set off Fireballs on their doorstep! Nonlethal traps typically inflict psychic damage. If a victim is “killed” by such damage, they become comatose; they can spend hit dice to regain hit points after completing a short rest, and will recover completely after a long rest. 

Blast. This can be targeted against the individual who triggers the trap or in an area of effect emanating from the trap. The victim(s) must make a saving throw. They suffer 8d6 damage on a failed save, half that if they succeed.  

Daze. The trap affects a 30 foot cube. Everyone within the area of effect must make a Wisdom saving throw or be Charmed for the duration (typically 10 minutes). While Charmed, a creature is Incapacitated and has a speed of 0. The effect ends if the creature takes damage or if someone else uses an action to shake them out of their stupor. 

Dispel. This targets the creature that triggered the trap. Any ongoing spells of level 3 or lower on the target end. For each ongoing spell of level 4 or higher, the trap rolls a d20 check with a +6 modifier (DC 10 plus the spell’s level); on a successful check, the spell ends. 

Elemental Spirits. Dangerous spirits manifest in a 15 foot emanation around the trap and remain for the duration. When the emanation appears and when a creature ends their turn within the emanation, they must make a saving throw (typically Dexterity), suffering 3d8 damage if the saving throw fails and half that if it succeeds. 

Guilt Trap. This can target the creature that triggers the trap or everyone within a small area of effect around it. Victims must make a Wisdom saving throw. If they succeed, there is no effect. If they fail, they have the Charmed condition and are filled with remorse for their actions; they will seek to surrender themselves to the local authorities and confess their crimes (whatever crimes or misdeeds they may have to confess). This lasts for the duration of the spell, which can be up to eight hours.

Marking. The victims—either the individual who triggered the trap or everyone within an area around it—must make a Constitution saving throw. If they fail, they suffer a cosmetic transmutation that lasts for 24 hours. The most common effect is to turn their skin and hair a bright blue, but this can be tailored to suit the desires of the client.  

Terror.  This can be targeted on an individual or in an area of effect. The victim(s) must make a Wisdom saving throw. If they fail, they drop whatever they are holding and have the Frightened condition for the duration. A Frightened creature must take the Dash action and move as far away from the trap as it’s possible to do safely. If another creature takes an action to soothe the victim, the victim can make another Wisdom saving throw; if this succeeds, the effect ends for that victim.

Web. A cheaper option than some of these others, this fills a space around the trap with webs or sticky goo. Every creature caught in the area of effect must make a Dexterity saving throw or have the Restrained condition. A creature Restrained by the trap can make a Strength (Athletics) check against the trap Save DC; if it succeeds, it is no longer restrained. 

These are some of the most common and popular Kundarak traps, but it’s far from a complete list. This same model can be used for traps created by others. For example, Seekers in Karrnath sometimes use security systems that cast Summon Undead when triggered, while an Aundairian household could have an ancient pact that casts Summon Fey when the household is threatened. In addition, someone with money to burn could get Kundarak traps that combine multiple effects; a favorite is to have a Dispel to strip any magical defenses with a second trap that triggers afterwards. 

Shape and Duration. A Kundarak security system isn’t like a Blast Disk. It’s not an object that can be picked up and moved around. To create a security system, a Kundarak Warden uses Sealing Pigments, specialized Thieves’ Tools, and a host of expendable components as they weave patterns of magical energy into the surface of the object or space that will be protected. Sealing pigments fade from view once used, but the siberys shards within the pigment retain the arcane power that maintains the trap or alarm. A standard Glyph of Warding dissipates as soon as it is cast (or dispelled). But a security system created using Sealing Pigments endures beyond a single use. A typical Kundarak security system holds six charges; once a charge is expended or the trap is dispelled, it is dormant for an hour before the trap resets and is ready to fire again. However, more expensive traps can be set to recast instantly, so the defenses remain active until all charges are expended or until it is disarmed or dispelled. Expended charges don’t return on their own; a Kundarak Warden must work with the trap to recharge it.

Countering Kundarak Security. By default, there’s no way to remove a Glyph of Warding or Alarm spell aside from using Dispel Magic. However, as I said in the previous discussion of Arcane Lock, in my Eberron Thieves’ Tools are designed to counter magical traps as well as mundane ones. With that said, this requires skill and the proper tools; to counter a magical trap, someone must have a proper set of Thieves’ Tools and must be proficient in their use. It’s  not something someone can just stumble through—although in an extreme case I might allow someone with Proficiency to guide someone who doesn’t (“Carefully… carefully… now cross out the green sigil!”). With that said, countering magical security isn’t easy. To disarm a magical trap without triggering it, someone must take an action to make  an ability check with Thieves' Tools, using either Dexterity or Intelligence. The DC is equal to (the spell saving throw of the trap +5). But most traps require more than one success! Disarming a magical effect in this way requires one success for each spell level of the spell being countered. So an Alarm can be countered with a single successful ability check; a Glyph of Warding requires at least three successful checks. A single failure will trigger the trap. Meaning, Dispel Magic or Antimagic Field will suppress Kundarak security. Dispel Magic will shut down a targeted manifestation of the system for one hour, even if the system has multiple charges and would normally recharge more quickly. A typical Kundarak security system is treated as a 3rd level spell for purposes of Dispel Magic. However, a system with a Spell Save DC of 14 is treated as a 5th level spell, and one with a Spell Save DC of 17 is treated as a 7th level spell for purposes of Dispel Magic. 

That's all for now! Thanks for your support, and welcome to 2026!