Castles & Fortresses in Palladium fantasy.

[Library Ogre]

The Palladium Book of Weapons, Armor, and Castles is a good resource, though it's lacking in a lot of game rules. I'd tend more towards looking at Wall of Stone and other such spells as what equivalent-sized buildings would be like.

[everloss]

Do any of the Palladium Fantasy worldbooks give rules on building castles, or even give game stats for some example castles?

Old Ones has some castles and forts from the Timiro Kingdom. even a dwarven underground fort.

the Weapons and Castles book is okay, but a bit hard to read

[Cybermancer]

I beleive that 'Island on the Edge of the World' had some stats for various types of walls along with a crystal palace.

[azazel1024]

I'll have to dig it up, but I had written up a bunch of rules on castles and forts (sieges, defenses, etc). I'd also written up a guide on creating castles and forts. It was points based for everything from a basic pallisade up through a fortified island with multiple curtain walls and a stone citadel at the center of it. It was something like 30 or 40 pages if you want to wade through it.

A bit beyond normal gaming as it involved more "clashing of armies" type stuff then it did a group of PCs.
-Matt

[bigmac8583]

I'll have to dig it up, but I had written up a bunch of rules on castles and forts (sieges, defenses, etc). I'd also written up a guide on creating castles and forts. It was points based for everything from a basic pallisade up through a fortified island with multiple curtain walls and a stone citadel at the center of it. It was something like 30 or 40 pages if you want to wade through it.

oh really....

[Gryphon Chick]

That sounds like something I would like to see, Azazel. Any chance of posting some of it here?

[azazel1024]

I haven't really looked at this much since I threw some of it together, so it needs a lot of polishing, but to get some ideas...here you go.

Castle design
Designing a castle or fortification takes a lot of work. There are many steps in the construction of a castle. Since castles play such a major role in the Palladium world we will delve in to how to design a castle. Castles play a very important role; they are the base for armies, the headquarters for generals, the homes of nobility and guard vital passes, harbors and trade routes. Castles are designed to withstand attacks and sieges and tie down invading armies long enough for the armies of the defending nation to rally and counter attack. Castles, or at least fortifications, vary from wooden forts and fortified manors to massive stone citadels with concentric rings of walls and moats. The following is a point based guide to quickly drawing up a castle.

1. Size

The first step in creating a castle is determining how large the castle is. This determines how many points are available for construction.


1) Outpost – An outpost is basically a stopping over point for couriers, a safe place for small caravans and travelers and a way to keep an eye on the surrounding lands. Outpost usually aren’t much larger then a tiny fort with a wooden palisade to pitch your tent within. A handful of troops will guard the outpost. 50 points available.
2) Small fort – A small forts are usually wooden and tend to consist of a central fortified wooden structure surrounded by a wooden palisade. The central structure can usually house a platoon of troops within it including barracks and kitchens. The courtyard, if there is one is usually large enough to house a company of soldiers in tents. 120 points available.
3) Large fort – A large fort is very similar to the small fort, just larger with possible better facilities. The central structure can generally accommodate two platoons within it and 1-2 companies of soldiers can camp within the palisade. There are sometimes other structures within the palisades such as stables or a small smithy. 175 points available.
4) Fortified manor – Fortified manors tend to be residences of nobles. They are generally of stone construction and have defense in mind more then aesthetics. They occasionally have palisades, but this is actually rather rare. They will have thick walls with few or no first story windows. They also tend toward arrow slits rather then windows and may have ramparts and towers designed in to it. Fortified manors frequently are built around large court yards where soldiers or peasants can be quartered in tents during times of troubles. 240 points available.
5) Small castle – Small castles will resemble what is a traditional castle. They are almost always constructed of stone. They have stone palisades or curtain walls surrounding them for defense. Small castles also have extra facilities that smaller fortifications are unlikely to have, such as healers, smithies, carpenters, masons, engineers, etc. Small castles are generally able to hold a company of soldiers within the central keep with possibly as much as a battalion of soldiers within the outer wall. 320 points available.
6) Large castle – Large castles are something closer to what you would imagine of something like Windsor castle or the like. They have extensive grounds, possible several concentric rings of walls with a very large central keep. Large castles tend to have several structures within the walls of the castle but a central keep typically dominates. Large castles are typically the headquarters or even the base of a large army. The central keep can typically support two companies of soldiers within the walls for long periods of time and as much as a regiment of troops can be housed within the walls in various barracks structures, etc with even more camped in tents during sieges and times of trouble. Large castles can generally with stand sieges months in length and in some cases even years. Large castles are generally only constructed by the more powerful realms in the Palladium world and occasionally by very powerful warlords or mages. 450 points are available.
7) Citadel – Citadels are enormous structures. There are only a handful of these in the Palladium world. They have many layers of defenses with moats, curtain walls, traps, magical defenses multiple structures on the grounds to support the defenders and a massive central keep. Citadels can typically support 1-2 battalions of troops within the central keep and an entire army within the grounds of the castle (4 regiments or 6,400 soldiers), often 2-3 times more in times of siege. 600 points are available.

[azazel1024]

That sounds like something I would like to see, Azazel. Any chance of posting some of it here?

First part up, it is going to be a multi, multi part thing since including my optional rules of castle assualt/siege it takes 21 pages.
-Matt

[bigmac8583]

check out this site

http://www.castlemagic.com/color.html

especially the castle plans tab on the left. theres no stats just some really cool floorplans for some smaller castles. and yes getting one is on my things to do as soon as i win the powerball lotto!

[azazel1024]

Sponsorship is everything.

2. Sponsor

The realm or person who sponsors a castle determines a lot about the castle, first of all where it is located; you generally aren’t going to find the Eastern Territories building a castle in the Western Empire. Second of all, the sponsor determines just what kind of resources is available to construct the fortification. After all, gold pieces do not grow on trees. Keep in mind, most castles are stone and last a long time, so the current owner isn’t necessarily the person who constructed the castle to begin with.

1) Minor nobility – A minor noble has undertaken the construction of the castle. Typically this would be a small baron or baronet, possibly a wealthy knight. +10 points to Facilities, +5 points wherever.
2) Powerful mage – A powerful mage contracted to produce the castle. Often time’s mages use magic to help in the construction of the castle and mystic defenses are much more likely. +10 to Defenses, +5 to central keep, +5 to facilities.
3) Powerful warlord – Many powerful warlords build castles, not only to help extend and solidify their power over an area, but also as an ego boosting statement. +10 points to Central Keep, +10 points to Defenses, +10 points to Defenders.
4) City State – A city-state has undertaken the task of building a castle. Often times these castles are built to protect the city itself and might even tie in to any existing city walls or defenses. +10 points to walls, +10 points to Other Structures, +20 points wherever.
5) Powerful noble – This is the equivalent of a Duke or one of the Western Empire’s Regional house lords. A noble this powerful generally needs a massive fortification to protect their lands and also as a statement to rival nobles and enemies. Smaller realms also fall in to this category, such as the Orcish Empire, the Commonwealth of Yin Sloth and The Land of the South Winds. +10 points to Location, +10 points to Central Keep, +20 points to Defenders, +10 points wherever.
6) Realm – One of the more powerful realms undertook construction of the castle. Realms that fall in to this category would be the Western Empire, The Eastern Territories, Timiro, Byzantium and the Wolfen Empire. +10 points to Location, +10 points to Central Keep, +20 points to Other Structures, +10 points to Defenders, +10 points wherever.

[Stone Gargoyle]

Nice work thus far. Were you still planning to post the rest?

[azazel1024]

Opps, I was. dropped off my radar for a bit. Here is somemore (9 sections in total). I don't believe I ever balanced the points for selections in each catagory (I may have), so when using the rules you may need to fiddle with what each catagory receives (IE maybe 800 for a citadel or 300 for a fort, etc). I'll try to find the time to look over it and do the math. Rules for castle sieges will be up after the make your own castle is done being posted.

3. Location

Location is everything with a castle. There isn’t much of a point to placing a castle in the middle of an ocean on a tiny spec of an island and a castle in the middle of a flat plain is not going to be easily defensible.

1) Indefensible – The location is just plain indefensible. Maybe it is built right next to a large hill instead of on top of the hill, maybe it is in the middle of a flat plain or desert. No matter, the location just stinks. Cost 0.
2) Well sited – The castle is well sited. It may be located in the elbow of a river or on top of a low hill. Its location is conducive to defense. Cost 10 Points.
3) Excellent location – The castle is located on top over a very steep hill, on a small island or a similar location. Laying siege to the castle would be extremely difficult. Cost 25 points.
4) Ideally situated – The castle couldn’t be better located. It might be located over looking a mountain pass with only a narrow road that can reach it, built in to a sheer cliff face or something similar. Cost 40 points.

4. Central Keep

The main focus of most fortifications is the central keep. It can range from little more then a large log cabin all the way to a stone citadel with walls several yards thick. A fortification must either have a central keep or walls, a selection of none cannot be made in both categories.

1) None – Not all fortifications have a central keep within them. In this case there are walls, but no central structure. 0 points.
2) Wooden fort – A small wooden fort is found within the walls of the fortification. It is generally two levels and can house a small number of soldiers. The wooden fort has an AR of 10, 2,000 S.D.C. and 50 S.D.C. per 10 square feet. 10 points.
3) Reinforced wooden fort – A reinforced wooden fort is similar to the above, but it tends to be larger, some are even three stories tall and are constructed with much stouter beams and walls. The fort has an AR of 11, 4,000 S.D.C. and 100 S.D.C. per 10 square feet. 15 points.
4) Stone keep – The central keep is constructed of stone. It tends to be fairly small, probably only 2 or 3 stories with towers at each corner an extra 10 feet above that. A stone keep can have 4 small siege engines, one in each tower. The stone keep has an AR of 14, 10,000 S.D.C. and 200 S.D.C. per 10 square feet. 20 points.
5) Large stone keep – A large stone keep is similar to the small one except that it is much large with thick walls and towers to give extra height to defenders. A large stone keep can have 4 small siege engines, one in each tower. The keep has an AR of 15, 15,000 S.D.C. and 250 S.D.C. per 10 square feet. 30 points.
6) Huge stone keep – A huge stone keep is just a larger, better built version of the other stone keeps. Its walls are massively thick designed to repel heavy siege weapons while keeping defenders safe. The huge stone keep can have 4 medium siege engines, 1 in each tower. The keep has an AR of 16, 25,000 S.D.C. and 300 S.D.C. per 10 square feet. 40 points.
7) Citadel – A citadel is the largest type of stone keep. It has walls that are several yards thick, massive towers and impressive quarters for soldiers. A citadel can have 4 large or 8 small siege engines, 1 (or 2) in each tower. The citadel has an AR of 17, 40,000 S.D.C. and 400 S.D.C. per 10 square feet. 50 points.

[azazel1024]

5. Walls

A fortification has to either have walls or a central keep and most have both. Walls surround the fortification and protect it from invaders. Walls completely surround the fortification, or at least the portions that are vulnerable to attack. For example a castle that backs to a sheer cliff hundreds of feet high might only have walls on three sides with the walls ending where the cliff face begins. Walls can be purchased multiple times to get concentric rings of walls. All layers of walls must be penetrated before invaders can reach the central keep.

1) None – The fortification has no walls. No cost.
2) Wooden palisade – The fortification is surrounded by a wooden palisade 15ft high that consists of thick poles or tree trunks inserted in to the ground vertically and lashed together. The wall has an AR of 11 and 100 S.D.C. per 10 square feet. 5 points.
3) Earth backed wooden palisade – This wooden palisade has earth heaped against the back of it. This helps hold it together and makes it more resistant to siege weapons. The palisade is still 15ft high, but it has an AR of 12 and 125 S.D.C. per 10 square feet. 10 points.
4) Stone and wood palisade – This style of palisade uses a thin stone wall held together by mortar with wooden posts inserted periodically to provide additional strength. The wall is 20ft high and 4ft thick. It has an AR of 13 and 200 S.D.C. per 10 square feet. 15 points.
5) Stone curtain wall – A stone curtain wall is composed of thick stone mortared together. Curtain walls will have ramparts and battlements on top. The wall will generally have several ramps leading up to the ramparts around the inner circumference of the wall. The wall is 25ft high and 8ft thick. It has an AR of 14 and 400 S.D.C. per 10 square feet. 20 points.
6) Stone and rubble wall – A stone and rubble wall is a bit easier to construct then a solid stone wall of the same thickness. It has a core of rubble instead of mortared stone, but this can actually be useful for withstanding siege weapons as the wall core acts to soak up impacts. The downside to this design is that is suffers double damage from undermining. The wall is 25ft high and 14ft thick. It has an AR of 16 and 600 S.D.C. per 10 square feet. 25 points.
7) Large curtain wall – A large curtain wall can be made from both stone and rubble or just mortared stone. The wall is exceptionally thick being 35 feet high and 25 feet thick. The stone and rubble has an AR of 18, 750 S.D.C per 10 square feet and suffers double damage from undermining. The stone and mortar wall has an AR of 17 and 800 S.D.C. per 10 square feet. 30 points.
Gigantic curtain wall – Few walls are built to this size. They are absolutely enormous. They stand 40ft high and 35 feet thick. The walls are large enough to march entire companies around the perimeter. This type of wall is always stone and mortar. The wall has an AR of 17 and 1,200 S.D.C. per 10 square feet. 40 points.
9) Wooden perimeter towers – There are wooden watch towers located around the perimeter of the wall and overlook the wall. The towers are located every 1,000ft along the wall with a minimum of 4. Each tower is 10ft above the wall, has an AR of 12 and 300 S.D.C. Each tower can also hold 5 soldiers at one time. 2 points.
10) Stone towers – Stone towers are built in to the wall (only stone walls). They have the same AR as the wall that they are built in to and rise 20ft above the wall. The towers are located every 1,000 ft with a minimum of 4 including 2 flanking each gatehouse. All towers have iron strapped oak doors with 200 S.D.C.
Stone Curtain wall – 2,000 S.D.C., can hold 25 soldiers and a small siege engine on the roof. 5 points.
Stone and rubble wall – 2,500 S.D.C., can hold 40 soldiers and a medium siege engine on the roof. 7 points.
Large curtain wall – 4,000 S.D.C., can hold 75 soldiers and 2 small or a large siege engine on the roof. 10 points.
Gigantic curtain wall – 8,000 S.D.C., can hold 100 soldiers and 3 small, 2 medium or a large and 1 small siege engine on the roof. 15 points.
11) Wooden gatehouse – Wooden gate houses are used only for wooden palisades or stone and wood palisades. They are two story structures with a guard house above the gate that can hold 10 soldiers and has 800 S.D.C. and an AR of 12. They serve to open the gates to the wall which are stout wooden doors with 200 S.D.C. and an AR of 12. 2 points per gatehouse.
12) Stone gatehouse – Stone gate houses are built in to stone curtain walls. They are massive structures that rise 10ft above the surrounding walls and can house large numbers of soldiers. All gatehouses have iron strapped wooden doors leading to the ramparts with 200 S.D.C.
Stone Curtain wall – 5,000 S.D.C., can hold 25 soldiers. The gate house is 30ft deep with stout wooden doors on either end with 300 S.D.C. and an AR of 12 each. 5 points each.
Stone and rubble wall – 6,000 S.D.C., can hold 50 soldiers and have murder holes in the floor of guardhouse over the entry passage. The stout wooden doors with an AR of 12 and 350 S.D.C each are backed by an iron portcullis that has an AR of 15 and 400 S.D.C. at each end of the gatehouse 7 points each.
Large curtain wall – 8,000 S.D.C., can hold 75 soldiers. The gatehouse has murder holes in the floor of the guardhouse over the entry passage. Stout wooden doors with 350 S.D.C. and an AR of 12 and an iron portcullis with an AR of 16 and 500 S.D.C. close off each end. 10 points each.
Gigantic curtain wall – 12,000 S.D.C., can hold 100 soldiers. The gatehouse has murder holes in the floor of the guardhouse over the entry passage. Stout wooden doors with 350 S.D.C. and an AR of 12 and an iron portcullis with an AR of 17 and 750 S.D.C. close off each end. 15 points each.

[Stone Gargoyle]

Opps, I was. dropped off my radar for a bit.

It happens. I just happened to notice it when I was reviewing my own dropped threads to see if there were some I had forgotten to return and post more to.

[bigmac8583]

excellent

[Gryphon Chick]

It is good to see this going again. I was wondering what was going on with this thread.

[azazel1024]

Oh and by the way, in posting this I am also looking for feedback if anyone has ideas they'd like to add or thoughts on it. Thanks.

6. Defenses

Most fortifications have defenses beyond the central keep and the walls that surround the fortification. There are traps, mystic wards and circles, moats and so on. Each category can be purchased multiple times to add additional defenses. For all Spikes/stakes, to avoid damage, unless moving slowly through the moat the character must make a PP check every round.

1) Dry moat – A dry moat surrounds the fortifications. The moat can be filled with stakes or spikes and blades to injure people as they attempt to pass through the moat. A moat requires either a bridge or a draw bridge to cross. The moat will slow attackers down and make it difficult to carry ladders across. A dry moat is 30ft wide and 15ft deep. Crossing a dry moat takes 2 melee rounds, trying to carry a ladder across will take 1d4+1 melee rounds. 2 points for each moat (stakes/spikes are extra).
Stakes – The bottom of the moat is filled with stakes. Careless individuals will take 1D4 damage each round attempting to pass through the moat. To avoid the damage a person must take 1 extra round to pass through. 1 point.
Spikes and blades – Metal spikes and old sharpened swords and blades fill the bottom of the moat. Careless individuals will take 2D4 damage each round attempting to pass through the moat. To avoid this damage they must take 1 extra round to pass through. 3 points.
2) Water moat – A water filled moat surrounds the fortifications. A bridge or draw bridge is required for crossing the moat. The moat can only be crossed by individuals with the swimming skill. Those wearing armor are -10% to swim and those in heavy armor are -40% to swim. It takes 2 rounds to swim across (twice as long with a ladder). The moat is 30 feet wide and 15 feet deep, 10 of which is filled with water. 5 points for each moat.
Stakes – The bottom of the moat is filled with stakes. Careless individuals will take 1D4 damage each round attempting to pass through the moat. To avoid the damage a person must take 1 extra round to pass through. 1 point.
Spikes and blades – Metal spikes and old sharpened swords and blades fill the bottom of the moat. Careless individuals will take 2D4 damage each round attempting to pass through the moat. To avoid this damage they must take 1 extra round to pass through. 3 points.
3) Abatis – An abatis is an obstacle composed of branches, brambles and bushes designed to slow advancing troops down so that they are under fire for longer. They are generally found just outside of a moat or in the case of fortifications without a moat they’ll be found at short bow range (60-100ft). An abatis takes a melee round to push through and it is not thick enough to provide cover. 1 point.
4) Bridge – A bridge is used for crossing a moat. They are constructed of wood with stone piers. All fortification bridges have a collapsing mechanism built in where the defenders can easily cause the bridge to collapse. The bridge is wide enough to pass a cart going in either direction at the same time. 1 point per bridge.
5) Draw bridge – A Draw bridge crosses a moat and allows defenders to raise it to prevent attackers from easily crossing the moat and can be lowered back down to provide passage for the defenders (who may have now found themselves to be the attackers). Draw bridges are frequently built in to gate houses to protect the mechanisms from infiltrators. 2 points per bridge.
6) Boiling oil – One of a defenders primary means of dislodging attackers from the base of a wall is boiling oil. The oil is brought to a boil in large vats and then either smaller amounts, such as a pail, or larger amounts, the whole vat, are tipped on to attackers below. Boiling oil is covered later. 5 points for each wall that is considered supplied with boiling oil.
7) Ravelin – A Ravelin is an outer fortification used to guard the main fortification. It is a little bit like a medieval pill box. It provides forward protection from the walls of the main fortification and protects the soldiers within. It has high walls toward the front and sides, but low walls at the rear facing the fortification so it does not provide protection to the attackers if it is abandoned or seized. Ravelins can be placed between a moat and the walls or even in the center of a moat.
Wooden Ravelin – The Ravelin is made of a wood and earth palisade with towers. The Ravelin has 15ft high walls with 4 towers. The walls have 125 S.D.C. per 10 square feet and an AR of 12. The towers can each hold 5 soldiers and an additional 25 soldiers can fit within the Ravelin. 5 points.
Stone Ravelin – A Stone Ravelin has made with thick stone walls with battlements on top. The walls have 400 S.D.C. per 10 square feet and an AR of 15. There is enough room for 30 soldiers to be on the battlements and another 25 in the courtyard of the Ravelin. 12 points.
Mystic Alarm wards – Mystic wards of alarm are placed on all gates and at strategic locations to warn the defenders of intruders. This is very useful during long sieges to prevent infiltrators. Any enemy opening a doorway within the fortification has a 01-32% chance of setting off a mystic alarm. Any of wall gates or gatehouse doors has a mystic alarm. 15 points.
9) Mystic anti-teleportation circles – Mystic anti-teleportation circles are located in strategic locations of the fortifications. These circles prevent teleportation into or out of the location protected. Important locations such as gate houses, the central keep, etc are protected by the circles. The circles are created by a 1D4+3 level summoner. Purchasing both the anti-teleportation and alarm defenses will link all anti-teleportation circles to an alarm ward as well. See the circle description later for effect. 30 points.
10) Mystic drain wards – Mystic drain wards are located along the walls and central keep. These wards prevent anyone from using walk through stone or mystic portal to travel through the walls. 20 points.

[azazel1024]

7. Facilities

Most central keeps are a little more extensive then some stone walls and some stairwells. Many have healers, attached stables, armories, kitchens, barracks, springs and so on. Facilities can be purchased multiple times.

1) Barracks – It wouldn’t be much a castle without some kind of barracks within the keep. Barracks are basically a place for soldiers to store their personal gear and a cot for them to sleep on. Each barracks purchased is a room large enough for 25 soldiers and a separate smaller room for an officer. The barracks also include a bath chamber to accommodate the needs of 25 soldiers. 1 point.
2) Kitchens – Most keeps have some sort of kitchens. The kitchens include cooking stoves and ovens. Each kitchen is large enough to prepare the meals for 50 men. 1 point.
3) Dinning hall – Most keeps also have some sort of dinning hall. This can be a formal dinning hall with lavish furnishings or a more common dinning hall for the average soldier. Either one can accommodate 25 people at a time. 1 point for common and 3 points for lavish.
4) Nobel suite – Most nobles or high officers don’t sleep with the common soldiers, nor do they use a small bed chamber like a low officer would. They have large suite of rooms with a bed chamber, personal bath chamber, sitting room and a personal servant’s room. These rooms usually have lavish furnishing with tapestries, paintings, intricately carved furniture, etc. 5 points.
5) Laundry room – Some keeps have rooms for laundry. This includes wash basins, fire pits for heating water and space for hanging laundry to dry. These laundries can handle the clothing washing for 50 men. 1 point.
6) Infirmary – Some castles have a healer on staff and some are fortunate enough to have an actual infirmary. An infirmary will be stocked with basic medical supplies such as splints, tourniquets, herbs, saws, blades, opiates, bandages and anything else one would expect to find in a medieval surgeon’s infirmary. A very well stocked one will also include some magic healing potions. The infirmary has enough beds to accommodate 10 people at a time. 3 points.
7) Water spring – Not all keeps have fresh water available within the keep. This is a spring room in the basement of the keep providing fresh water for drinking, cooking and bathing. 2 points, 5 points in a desert.
Food cellar – Almost all keeps have some form of food storage within the keep itself. This food cellar is located in the basement of the castle to help keep food cooler to last longer. A food cellar can hold enough fresh and preserved foods to last 25 men 3 months. 1 point.
9) Armory – Most castles also have some sort of armory within them. This is where soldiers store their weapons and armor when not in use and where extra arrows, siege weapon ammunition, oil for boiling, etc can be found. This size armory can store the arms and armor for 25 men as well as 3,600 arrows, 100 reloads for a light siege weapon and 500 gallons of oil for boiling or for lamps. 1 point.
10) Stables – A few castles have stables within the central keep. The stables house stalls for horses, places to store tack and feed as well as extra straw for the stalls. Each stable can accommodate 10 horses and enough feed and straw for 3 months for the horses. 4 points.
11) Map/throne room – A map or throne room is used for entertaining visiting nobility, hearing petitions, holding court and planning and running campaigns. The rooms are generally very large, often times several stories high. The rooms can contain several dozen people at a time. 3 points.
12) Central heating – A few rare castles have this feature. Most castles are heated using large fireplaces found in only the important rooms. Almost every room used for occupancy has some sort of fire place to heat it, but this is inefficient and generally pretty cold. A castle with central heating is still going to have those fireplaces, but it also has a central furnace room. The flue gases instead of existing straight up a chimney are ducted through the floors of the castle heating things similar to how roman baths worked. This provides a measure of heat and keeps things more pleasant in the winter time. This feature is only available for stone keeps. 15 points small, 25 points normal, 40 points large and 50 points citadel.

[Stone Gargoyle]

One suggestion is to turn off your smileys when posting so it will read properly. I am sure I will come up with ideas once I see what all you already have put together.

[bigmac8583]

One suggestion is to turn off your smileys when posting so it will read properly.

yeah i was wondring where numer 8 was until i realized that was supposed to be 8 ) lol

[azazel1024]

Opps, I just saw that, done.

8. Other structures

Many fortifications have additional structures within the walls beyond the central keep. These fortifications can be either free standing or attached to the exterior wall. The buildings are either stone or wooden, AR 12 and 1,000 S.D.C., with stone buildings costing 50% more points (round down) and having an AR of 14 and 2,000 S.D.C.

1) Larder – Larders are extremely important to fortifications. Sometimes sieges can last months or even years. Without enough provisions laid in the defenders will be forced to surrender or go on half rations. A larder is a combination of above ground preserved food storage and below ground root cellar for fresh and perishable foods. A small larder can hold enough food for 50 soldiers, medium 100 and large 200 for 3 months. 1 point small, 2 points medium, 3 points large.
2) Water spring – Almost all fortifications have some form of water spring. If not then they are extremely limited, especially in times of siege. 1 point, 3 points in a desert.
3) Smithy – A smithy has forges and metal working tools to provide repairs and maintenance for a castle. The smithy tends to have large stocks of metal ingots and charcoal on hand in case of a siege. 3 points.
4) Carpenter’s workshop – A carpenter’s workshop has all of the wood working tools for a carpenter as well as a large stock of seasoned and fresh timber for repairs and custom work. 2 points.
5) Masonry shop – A masonry shop has stone working tools and some supply of spare stone for maintaining and repairing the castle structure. 2 points.
6) Sables – This is a building to house horses, their tack, fodder and straw for their stables. The building is large enough to house 25 horses small, 50 medium and 100 large and fodder for 3 months. 2 points small, 3 points medium, 4 points large.
7) Barracks – Not all barracks are within the central keep. These buildings are basically just a large room where cots are housed and trunks for personal storage. 50 soldiers can be housed for a small barracks, 100 medium and 200 large. 1 point small, 2 points medium, 3 points large.
8) Officer’s barracks – An officer’s barracks is generally not much more then a small cottage for several officers. They generally have their own private rooms. A typical officer’s barracks will house 4 low level, 2 mid level or a single high level officer. 2 points.
9) Laundry - This includes wash basins, fire pits for heating water and space for hanging laundry to dry. Most laundry can handle the clothing washing duties for 400 men. 2 points.
10) Armory – An armory holds spare weapons for the soldiers of the fortification. This includes armor, swords, spears arrows and oil. Typically an armory can hold the weapons and armor for 50 soldiers, 7200 arrows, 500 gallons of oil and either 200 light, 100 medium or 50 heavy siege weapon reloads (or a mix). A medium armory can hold twice as much and a large armory 4 times as much. 2 points small, 3 points medium, 4 points large.
11) Dinning hall – A dinning hall contains both kitchens and a place to eat. There are stoves, ovens and other such amenities as well as tables to eat the food at. A small dinning hall is large enough to accommodate and feed 50 men at a time, 100 using shifts. A medium dinning hall can accommodate and feed 100 men at a time and 200 using shifts and a large dinning hall 200 at a time or 400 using shifts. 1 point, 2 points or 3 points.
12) Infirmary - Some castles have a healer on staff and some are fortunate enough to have an actual infirmary. An infirmary will be stocked with basic medical supplies such as splints, tourniquets, herbs, saws, blades, opiates, bandages and anything else one would expect to find in a medieval surgeon’s infirmary. A very well stocked one will also include some magic healing potions. The infirmary has enough beds to accommodate 20 people at a time. 3 points.
13) Baths – Not all cities let alone castles have baths. These baths have areas for bathing of course, both hot and cold water baths. They also have steam, massage and exercise rooms. The baths are large enough to provide services to 200 people. 5 points.
14) Outhouses – Not all fortifications have sanitary facilities, though if you want to avoid the outbreak of diseases then you need something. Outhouses are either pit toilets with coverings or actual running water toilets that are washed with either moat water or river water if there is a connecting river. The outhouses are enough to serve 400 people. 1 point or 2 points for running water.
15) Dance hall/pub – A dance hall/pub provides entertainment to soldiers based at the castle. The dance hall/pub provides drinks, singing and dancing to off duty soldiers. 3 points.

[azazel1024]

Final section on castle creation, new magic, seige weapons (revised) and castle siege rules to follow later.

9. Defenders

To really be a fortification there has to be some sort of defenders stationed at it. This category could be considered optional as the size of the castle can determine how many soldiers are stationed there. Not all castles are fully manned however and this optional category can be thrown in for fun.

1) None – I don’t know why you would have a fortification unmanned, but it does happen to old, abandoned structures. 0 points.
2) Hand – 1D4+3 soldiers man the fortification, this is barely even an outpost. 1 point.
3) Line – 2D6+20 soldiers man the fortification. This is probably an outpost along a trade route. 3 points.
4) Company – 1D4x10+80 soldiers man the fortifications. This fortification probably serves as a large outpost along a trade route, a border outpost or as a defensive structure of a large town or small city. 7 points.
5) Cohort – 2D6x10 + 300 soldiers man the fortifications. Among the soldiers are generally 1D4+1 master psychics and 1D4+2 mages. A fortification this well staffed might be the defensive structure of a moderate city or the base of an army. 15 points.
6) Regiment – 2D4x100 + 1000 soldiers man the fortifications along with 2D4+4 master psychics and 2D6+3 mages. This size of fortification will provide protection to a major city or guard an important harbor or strategic location within a realm. 25 points.
7) Army – 3D6x100 + 5000 soldiers man the fortifications along with 4D6+10 master psychics and 5D6+12 mages. There are only a handful of fortifications this large in the entire Palladium world. Most guard capitol cities or strategic border cities. 40 points.

[bigmac8583]

awesome!

[azazel1024]

New Magic

Anti-teleportation circle: This circle is a rediscovered circle from the time of a thousand magics. The circle consists of an inner circle drawn in silver with the elemental symbol for wind and the mystic symbol for magic drawn in ground quartz. The outer circle is drawn in iron with the mystic symbol for energy, negation and the elemental symbol for earth. The circle prevents or at least hinders teleportation within the area of effect. This is especially useful for guarding castles, vaults, banks and similar. The anti-teleportation circle can be linked to alarm ward so that if it fails to prevent teleportation in to the area under effect it will activate the alarm ward.
Range: 150 foot radius plus 20 feet per level of the circle creator
Effect: Any character attempting to teleport in to the area under effect of the circle suffers a -40% penalty to successfully teleport in to the area under effect, -5% per level of the circle creator. A failure indicates that the P.P.E. is spent, but the mage does not teleport anywhere.
Duration: Temporary for the entire time that the circles activator remains in the circle or permanent.
P.P.E. cost: 25 P.P.E. to temporarily activate or 150 P.P.E. to permanently activate

Besieging a castle

Besieging a castle is a very complex business. It can be a lot of fun to roleplay instead of simply tossing a few dice to see if the siege succeeds. The following are rules and equipment for besieging a castle or fortification.

The siege of a fortification or city can be as simple as camping an army outside of the walls and waiting for the defenders to surrender or it can be a very intricate business. Especially in the case of besieging a castle that might be relieved by allied forces lines of circumvallation and contravallation must be built. These are fortifications, ditches, walls, etc facing both the castle and outward from the castle to protect against allied forces attacking the besiegers from the rear. This can take a long time to construct, weeks to months. Also to prevent overwhelming casualties in the case of an assault besiegers will also undertake strategies such as digging approach trenches which zigzag toward the walls to prevent enfilade fire from sweeping the trench. Once the trench is close enough a trench parallel to the wall is dug to allow attackers to fire upon the castle walls. A forlorn hope is generally organized once the castle walls are breached and follow on units assembled to exploit any foot hold that the forlorn hope can gain. The castle is then assaulted.

Another tactic for creating a breach is to undermine the walls of the castle by digging a tunnel underneath and collapsing it by burning out the tunnel supports. Other methods of taking a fortification are by coup de main, or a direct assault on the fortification by overwhelming force. A further method is by digging a tunnel under the fortifications and attacking through the tunnel in to the fortification by surprise. A final method is by subterfuge or magic. Few mages are powerful enough to destroy a castle on their own, though enough mages might be able to. Magic countermeasures (such as mystic drain wards) and stout walls however can help prevent this. Magic teleportation or simple treachery can cause the down fall of a castle. A wizard or summoner could teleport a small elite group of soldiers in to a fortification with the mission of capturing a gate and letting their army in to the fortification. Alternately a traitor could secrete in such a group as well through a small postern gate or something similar.

Assaulting a castle
Assuming that the attackers are going over land they are under fire from defenders by bow, magic and by siege weapon. Unless the attacking force is going to breakup in to a chaotic rush the attacker must remain together. This means that the attackers are limited to the speed of their slowest soldiers. The speed that the attacking force is limited to is a speed of 10 to keep this in mind (using the slowest speed of an average soldier). This means that every Melee round the attacking forces cover a distance of 100 feet. So from extreme siege weapon range it might take the attacking force 12-14 melee rounds to reach the castle walls! From extreme long bow and arbalest range it might take 8-10 melee rounds during which the attackers are being fired upon. They must then cross any moats which can take 2-4 melee rounds and might involve swimming rolls and then they must scale the walls which if using a grapnel involves rolls against the climb/scale walls skill again while under fire and possibly with boiling oil pouring over them.

If using a ladder to scale the walls the speed of the attackers is reduced to 8, carrying the ladder slows them down, and it takes 1 melee round for every 20 feet to climb using a ladder. Defenders with pole arms or spears can attempt to push the ladder back off the wall even if it is being held. For a single defender to push a siege ladder off the wall they must roll against a save of 16 plus their PS bonus, if two soldiers combine to try to push the ladder away the save is 14 plus their combined PS bonus. If the ladder is pushed away any attackers on the ladder suffer 2D6 damage for every 20 feet up the ladder they were. Any attackers below the ladder must roll a dodge of 8 or higher to get out of the way or suffer 3D6 damage as the ladder and anyone on it comes crashing down on them.

Firing upon defenders with bow weapons is much more difficult because of the cover the defenders have and their higher elevation. Defenders on battlements who are exposed are -4 to be struck and defenders using arrow slits are -8 to be struck. The defenders of course suffer no such problems hitting the attackers. Attackers can use mantlets to provide some amount of cover. A mantlet is effectively a large portable shield or shelter to protect against arrows and siege weapons. Attackers using a mantlet for cover are -4 to be struck.

Defenders are also using boiling oil or fields of pitch against attackers. Boiling oil can be spilled over the walls down on to attackers to burn them. The oil is brought slowly to a boil in giant cauldrons and either the whole cauldron is spilled over the wall or smaller buckets are spilled over. If a bucket is used the roll to strike is -3 with no bonuses and it does 3D6 damage immediately and 1D6 damage each round for the next 1D4+2 rounds unless the character jumps in to water to cool it. Characters in full armor (except quilt or cloth) suffer half damage. Attacking characters on a ladder is easier and suffers no penalty, the person at the top of the ladder takes the brunt and anyone else on the ladder suffers half damage as they received a much smaller splash of the oil. Tipping a full cauldron suffers no penalties to strike, will hit anyone within a 15ft radius at the base of the wall due to splash and causes 5D6 damage immediately and 2D6 damage each round for the next 1D4+2 rounds, characters in full armor (except quilt or cloth) suffer half damage. Pitch fields are setup well in advance of a battle. The defenders spill pitch around the fortifications. The pitch is then set alight using flaming arrows once attackers advance in to the pitch field. With proper scouting the attackers can find the pitch fields, but they aren’t overly obvious until the attackers have probably advanced in to it. Any attackers in the pitch field suffer 4D6 damage per round until they run out of it (which might take awhile if it is a really large field) and then another 2D6 damage per round from burning clothing, etc until it can be extinguished (stop drop and roll or jump in a river). A pitch field will burn for 4d6 melee rounds.

Defenders of a castle have the advantage of height. For every 10 feet of elevation from a tower or wall give a bonus to the range and damage of bow weapons and siege weapons. Short bows gain a bonus of +10 feet to range for every 10 feet of elevation and +1 to damage for every 40 feet of elevation. Long bows and cross bows gain +20 feet to range for every 10 feet of elevation and +1 to damage for every 20 feet of elevation. Arbalests and siege weapons gain +25 feet to range for every 10 feet of elevation and +1 to damage for every 10 feet of elevation gain.

[azazel1024]

Coup De Main
A coup de main is a direct assault on the fortifications. This generally occurs when an attacking army believes that it has overwhelming force, surprise, time pressure or an incompetent general. Not all attacking armies are led by brilliant men nor do all attacking armies have the luxury of months of time to crack a castle.

A coup de main can be made either by simply trying to knock down and storm through any gates or by using ladders and grapnels to attempt to scale the walls. The attacking army is under fire from defenders for a large part of the distance they must cover to reach the walls or gates. A proper fortification has all under brush and trees cut back to extreme bow/siege weapon range. This can be extremely damaging to an attacking force as they are very vulnerable. Frequently for an outright assault to succeed it requires the attacking force to outnumber the defenders by more then 10 to 1 and might still suffer debilitating losses! Some castles in medieval Europe were defended by not more then 30 or 40 men yet held out for months against an army of well over a thousand and repelled many assaults.

Tunneling
One method of taking a fortification is to tunnel in to the fortification and attack by surprise. Kobold and Dwarven engineers are highly skilled at this. The mining skill must be used to determine how successful the tunneling is. The tunnel must also be large enough to be useful; generally two people abreast standing must be able to pass through it in armor. The tunnel can be extended 10 feet per day, 15 feet for Kobolds or Troglodytes and 20 feet per day for Dwarves. There are methods to detect tunneling which include using water in pans to see rippling, listening to the ground, etc. The defenders can then either counter tunnel by digging their own tunnel to intersect the attacker’s tunnel to attack and then collapse the tunnel or they can surprise the attackers coming out of the tunnel expecting complete surprise. Once a tunnel is within 20 feet of the wall there is a 01-37% chance of detecting it every day, those with the mining skill have a +10% bonus and those with the siege engineer skill have a +5% bonus to detect the tunneling. The advantage to an attacker is that they may completely surprise the defenders and get a large number of troops behind the walls before the defenders know what is going on, completely side stepping most of the defenses. If surprise is not achieved the attacker is faced with a situation where they can only come at the defenders two at a time.

Along with tunneling is teleporting. Mages that are sufficiently powerful enough can teleport a number of troops within the fortification’s walls and then infiltrate a gatehouse and force it open while holding against relieving defenders long enough to allow attackers to enter the fortifications and carry the day.

Undermining
It is possible for attackers to undermine and collapse a wall. Just like the tunneling it is possible to detect this and dig a counter tunnel to spoil the undermining attempt. To undermine the tunnel must be dug under the wall and then the supports are burned or pulled out allowing a section of the walls weight to go unsuspended, which generally results in the collapse or at least severe damage to a portion of the walls. Undermining causes 2D4x100 damage to a 10 foot width of wall and 1D4x100 damage a 10 foot section to either side of the undermined section of wall (ignore AR of the wall). A section of wall can be attempted to be undermined several times if the first time isn’t successful. However this requires a new tunnel to be dug as undermining typically collapses most of the tunnel.

Knocking down the walls
The final method of assaulting a castle is knocking down the walls. This is accomplished using magic or siege weaponry. In either case once the S.D.C. of a section of wall is depleted that section collapses. This doesn’t provide an instant hole in the wall, it just collapses that section. A large pile of wood or stone remains that attackers have to surmount. This takes a melee round for walls over 20 feet in height and half of the actions if less then that in height to scramble over the rubble.

To damage a wall siege weaponry or powerful magic must be used. Stone walls cannot be damaged by any weapon that causes less then 5D6 S.D.C. of damage (bounces off). Wooden walls cannot be damaged by weapons that cause less then 3D6 S.D.C. of damage with the exception of axes. Any other weapon that can damage the walls must roll above the AR of the wall to cause damage. Magical attacks will damage wooden walls. Stone walls are impervious to cold and fire and will take half damage from magical electricity and fire attacks. Physical magical attacks must do more then 2D6 damage to have a chance of damaging stone walls.

A method of approaching walls to knock them down is using a zigzag trench to protect attackers until they are within range of the castle walls. This is slow going as a trench wide enough and deep enough to accommodate soldiers takes 1 day per 10 feet of length (15 feet for kobold/troglodytes and 20 feet for dwarves) to dig and since the trench zigzags only half that distance is towards the castle walls. Trenches large enough to accommodate light siege weapons take twice as long to dig since they have to be wider. Trenches wider then that are not practical as they won’t provide cover to attackers. Once the trench is close enough a parallel trench is dug to the wall at the same speed as the approach trench was. For every 10ft of length of the trench 4 attackers can be accommodated or 1 light siege weapon. Attackers in trenches that are exposed (firing at castles walls, etc) are -4 to be struck due to the cover of the trench.

[azazel1024]

Siege weapons

There are a number of new and interesting siege weapons as well as old siege weapons rehashed.

Mantlet: A Mantlet is a portable shield large enough to cover several soldiers. It is immune to normal arrow fire and arbalest bolts and only has a 01-08% chance of catching fire from flaming arrows. It provides complete cover to people who stay sheltered behind it and characters who use it for cover while firing are -4 to be struck. They are only large enough to shelter 2 people behind them.
AR: 12
S.D.C.: 80
Speed: -3/4 to speed to push it along
Cost: 200 gold

Battering ram: Battering rams are significantly more complex then a few men holding a tree to batter down a gate. Most battering rams are wheeled wooden structures with a roof and partial sides to provide cover to the men pushing it. The ram itself is suspended on leather thongs to hold it with a metal cap on it to provide a focus for the strike and typically weighs 1-2 tons. The roof and sides are frequently covered in animal hides or bronze to provide additional protection, especially against flaming oil and pitch to prevent the ram from being burned. Battering rams generally are not purchased, they are built in the field, but the materials have a certain cost. Rams are impervious to normal weapons, only siege weapons, magic and fire will damage them. Flaming arrows have a 01-08% chance of catching the ram on fire half for hide covered and a quarter for bronze covered. Flaming oil or pitch has a 01-40% chance of catching the ram on fire, again half for hide covered and a quarter for bronze covered. Fire does 6D6 damage per round until extinguished (which exposes the soldiers underneath) which takes 1D4 rounds to accomplish.
AR: 12 for wooden, 13 for hide covered wood and 16 for bronze covered
S.D.C.: 400 for wooden, 500 for hide covered and 700 for bronze covered
Speed: 2
Damage: requires a minimum combined PS of 40 to move or use the ram. The damage is 1D4 damage per strike for every 10 PS points over 40. There is enough room for 20 men to move or use the battering ram. A roll to strike with no bonuses must be made to determine if the strike damages the gate. A single strike per melee round is possible
Cost: Wooden rams take 1,000 gold worth of wood, 2,000 gold for hide covered rams and 5,000 gold for bronze covered rams.

Gallery: Galleries are constructed similarly to a ram except they have no ram within the structure. They are used for getting a group of troops close to the walls who can then run out and attempt to scale the walls. Typically a battering ram will approach a gate and attempt to batter down the gate. Several galleys will flow with soldiers inside of them and once the gate is bashed down the soldiers in the galley will sally forth and attempt to seize the gate house. Like a ram a galley requires a minimum combined PS of 40 to move and up to 25 soldiers can be within it.
AR: 12 for wooden, 13 for hide covered wood and 16 for bronze covered
S.D.C.: 400 for wooden, 500 for hide covered and 700 for bronze covered
Speed: 2
Cost: Wooden galleys take 800 gold worth of wood, 1,600 gold for hide covered galleys and 4,000 gold for bronze covered galleys.

Tower: Towers can be constructed to be moved up against a castle wall and unleash attackers on to the wall while protecting them. Towers are also constructed on site. Towers require a minimum combined PS of 40 to move for small towers, 60 PS for medium and 100 PS for large towers. The tower has similar immunities to a battering ram and is also frequently covered in hide or bronze. The tower has a stair case within it and an opening in back for attacking troops to swarm up it and on to a wall. Small towers can hold 8 men to push the tower and 20 men within the tower with a siege ramp 2 men wide, medium towers 10 men to push and 30 men within the tower with a 3 man wide siege ramp. Large siege towers can accommodate 12 men pushing it, 50 men within the tower and a 4 man wide siege ramp. Large siege towers can also accommodate a small siege engine on top of it.
AR: 12 for wooden, 13 for hide covered wood and 16 for bronze covered
S.D.C. Small: 400 for wooden, 500 for hide covered and 700 for bronze covered
S.D.C. Medium: 600 for wooden, 700 for hide covered and 1,000 for bronze covered
S.D.C. Large: 800 for wooden, 1,000 for hide covered and 1,400 for bronze covered
Speed: 1
Cost: Wooden/hide/bronze small 800/1,600/4,000, medium 1,500/3,000/8,000, Large 3,000/6,000/16,000 gold

Arbalest: An arbalest is a large version of a crossbow. Unlike a crossbow an arbalest cannot be spanned by hand unless a person has supernatural strength or a super high mortal strength. An arbalest uses either a goat’s foot belt for light and medium or a windlass for heavy arbalests to rooster the bow. Light and medium arbalests can fire twice per melee and heavy arbalests once per melee. A PS of 20 is requires to rooster a light arbalest by hand or a supernatural PS of 14, medium requires a PS of 28 or a supernatural PS of 20 and a heavy arbalest requires a PS of 32 or a supernatural PS of 25. Arbalests are not heavy enough to damage stone walls, but they will damage wooden walls from their heavy bolts in the case of medium and heavy arbalests.
Weight: 8lbs light, 12lbs medium, 15lbs heavy
Range: Light 660 feet, medium 880 feet, heavy 1,000 feet
Damage: 3D6 light, 4D6 medium, 5D6 heavy
Cost: 150 gold light, 250 gold medium and 400 gold heavy. Bolts are 25 gold per dozen

Scorpio: A scorpio is a light version a ballista. It uses torsional energy stored in bands of sinew that snap the bow arms forward launching a bolt or stone. A scorpio can be used by a single soldier, but it is more frequently used by two soldiers. They are long to reload taking a full melee between shots. Scorpios are small enough (about 4ft long) that they can be mounted in watch towers or castle walls since they are smaller then a typical light siege engine.
Weight: 60lbs, sometimes carried and setup and sometimes on a small wheeled cart. One design mounts a scorpio on the back of a chariot for mobility.
Range: 1,320 feet bolts, 1,000 feet stones
Damage: 6D6 for bolts or 4D6 for stones
Cost: 600 gold and 40 gold for a dozen bolts

Blowpipe: A blowpipe is a wheeled carriage with multiple crossbows with the arms turned up on their side. They have the capability of firing multiple arrows at once. They are relatively unwieldy, but can be effective at close range. It takes a long time to reload, a melee action for each bow arm if a single soldier is manning the blowpipe and two bow arms can be reloaded at a time with two soldiers manning the blowpipe. The arrows spread out upon being fired, but they can sweep a wide section in front of the blowpipe. A light blowpipe has 8 bow arms, medium 16 bow arms and heavy 24 bow arms. Blowpipes count as light siege weapons, but are generally used for being placed behind a gate to fire in to advancing troops before being withdrawn for reloading.
Weight: 200lbs for light, 250lbs for medium and 300lbs for heavy
Range: 600 feet
Damage: At close range, under 25ft the damage is 3D6 to everything in a 3ft radius light, 4D6 to everything in a 5ft radius medium and 5d6 damage to everything in a 7ft radius heavy. At ranges longer then 25ft the blowpipe does 2D6 damage to everything in a 5 foot radius for light, to a 10 foot radius medium and 15 foot radius heavy.
Cost: 1,000 gold light, 1,500 gold medium and 2,000 gold heavy

Ballista: Ballistae are the larger cousins of scorpio. They use torsion energy from sinew to power the bow arms. Light ballistae require two men and are 7 feet in length, medium ballistae require 4 men and are 9 feet in length and heavy ballistae require 6 men and are 12 feet in length. Ballistae can be mounted to a tower or wheeled carriage. Light and medium count as light siege weapons and heavy ballistae count as medium siege weapons.
Weight: 250lbs light, 400lbs medium, 700lbs heavy
Range: 1,400 feet light, 1,500 feet medium, 1,600 feet heavy
Damage: 1D4x10 light bolts, 5D6 light stones, 1D6x10 medium bolts, 6D6 medium stones, 2D4x10 heavy bolts, 1D4x10 heavy stones.
Cost: 1,500 gold light, 2,400 gold medium, 4,000 gold heavy. 100 gold for a dozen bolts.

Mangonel/Onager: A manonel or onager uses twisted ropes to act as a spring to snap a catapult arm forward. Onagers use a sling for extra range and a mangonel uses a bucket to hold multiple stones. Both come in light, medium and heavy designs and correspond to light, medium and heavy siege weapons. Light mangonels and onagers can fire once per melee, medium every other melee and heavy once a minute.
Weight: 400lbs light, 800lbs medium, 1,200lbs heavy
Range: 800 feet light, 1,000 feet medium, 1,200 feet heavy, Onagers + 100 feet
Damage: 1D6x10 for light, 2D6x10 for medium and 3D6x10 for heavy either. Mangonels optionally can fire a bucket filled with smaller stones that does 3D6 S.D.C. to a 10 foot radius light, 4D6 S.D.C. to a 15 foot radius medium or 5D6 S.D.C. to a 20 foot radius heavy
Cost: 2,000 gold light, 4,000 gold medium and 6,000 gold heavy.

Trebuchet: A trebuchet uses a counter weight to fling a stone at enemy defenses. Trebuchets have a remarkable range and can fling enormous weights. A light trebuchet counts as a medium siege weapons and a medium trebuchet as a heavy siege weapon, heavy and super heavy trebuchets cannot be mounted in towers. Light and medium trebuchets can fire once per melee round, heavy every other melee round and super heavy once a minute.
Weight: 1,500lbs light, 3,000lbs medium, 6,000lbs heavy, 20,000lbs super heavy
Range: 1,200 feet light, 1,000 feet medium, 900 feet heavy, 800 feet super heavy
Damage: 2D6x10 for light, 4D6x10 for medium, 6D6x10 for heavy and 2D4x100 for super heavy
Cost: made on site. Materials cost 3,000 gold light, 5,000 gold medium, 8,000 gold heavy and 13,000 gold super heavy

[azazel1024]

Okay, and that is all I had written. I hope everyone enjoys/has enjoyed it. If nothing else I hope it gives you ideas even if you don't use the material directly. Castles, city walls, etc are a lot of fun and game mechanics for them are kind of lacking, so hopefully this fills some holes (or you create some of your own, preferably with flaming stone ).
-Matt

[gaby]

Maybe someone can show Castles or Fortresses they come up with for ther PF,s games?

they can give info like the following

It,s name:

it,s size:

the number of people who lived in it:

[AaronCE]

Some things for any prospective castle tyant.

Earth Warlock. Get at least one powerful one. Either Orcish slaves (better be broken), or mercenary, or indentured, or loyal. But they must be dependable. 'cause they're going to be summoning some big bad Elemental beings. Also, they have to have a head for plans, as this is the guy/gal that is going to be translating the design and dimension to the Elemental.

Second, summoned Earth Force. Greater Earth Elemental Intelligence.

Also.. Something mideval architects never could give you. Re-bar. Clay to Iron latticework between your Walls of Stone. This is big. Huge even. As it could/would/should set up for superior stone structure. Also protects against Travel Through Stone. (don't forget to re-bar the underside of your castle too) And, this line also leads to, no wood in your castle. Fire ceases to be a huge scary thing. Yeah certain rooms can burn up. You can lose the tapestries. (oh the tapestries) You can lose the paper/books/library. But you won't have fire gutting your whole castle interior.

And finally, if you can somehow work it. Rifts Stone Magic is also impressive. Certainly not as powerful as an Earth Warlock, but much more finessy.

And for something completely different.. You want windows in your castle? Do you naturally See The Invisible? If not.. Get a big ol' block of stone. Attach Invisibilty and Permanence wards. So for those who can See The Invisible, it's a solid stone wall. To those without such ability, it's a bay window of whatever dimension you like. Won't work for arrow slits, but will work for sunlight and gazing on picturesque vistas.

[Aramanthus]

This is awesome material! Thank you for sharing it. I know I am very late on looking at it.

[Justthis Guy]

Very well thought out and informative. I think anybody could use the point system you devised to create a caste of their choice.
Great Job!

[azazel1024]

You are welcome. At some point I want to try to improve/expand upon the system and come up with some example castles and forts...but life is getting in the way of almost everything right now (3rd child is due in 2 weeks).

[St. Evil]

Thanks for the optional material, I am sure some in my group will want to use this.

[Aramanthus]

Congrats on your 3rd! And we are looking forward to seeing new material when you have the opportunity.