I

Dungeon Mastel"s
Guide

The
Castle
Guide

TSR, Inc.

Introduction .... ... ........ 3
Chapte r 1: The Feudal Setting .5
Social Classes ............. 6
Members of the Court ....... 8
The Role of the Churc h ..... 10
Politics a nd Ch urc hes ... .. . 13
Crimes and Punishmen ts ... 14
Death by Thxes ........... 17
Populating t he Castle ...... 21
A Day in the Life of a Peasant 23
Chapt er 2: In The Days
Of Knights ............... 25
Knighthood for Non-Warrior s 26
The Road t o Knighthood ... 27
The C hivalric Code . ..... . . 29
Falling from Grace ........ 32
Rogue K n igh ts ........... 33
Heraldry ................ 33
Demi-Human Knights ......35
Chapter 3: The Thurnament .38
Jousting ................39
Archer y ................41
Chapter 4: The Evolution Of
Castles .................. 42
The Castle's Role .... ..... 42
Types of CasLles ......... .43
Chapter 5: Castle
Construction .............. 45
Acquiring Land .......... 46
The Cons truction Site ... ... 48
Climate T ype ........... .48
Geogra phy ............. .48
Ground Cover ... ...... ... 50
Resource Availability ...... 5 1
The Work Force .......... 5 1
Local Social Structure ..... 5 1
Worker SkUl ............. 52
Worker Morale ...... .. ... 52
Castle Design ............ 54
Castle Modules ........... 54
Average Construction
Time & Cost ............. 59
Works of Art ............. 59
Ove rhead Costs .... ...... . 59
Final Calculations. . . . .. . 59
The Work Force .......... 60
Work Seasons ............ 62
Mon thly Events .......... 63
The Castle on the Moors .... 67
Table of Contents
Chapter 6: Unusual Castles .. 69
Oriental Designs ... _ ...... 69
Thieves' Castles .......... 69
Wizards' Keeps ........... 69
Priests' Fortresses . .. 70
Paladins' Castles . ........ 70
Rangers' Forts ........... 71
Druids' S hrines ........ ... 71
Dwarven Citade ls ......... 7 1
Elven Sanctuaries ......... 72
Ha lfllng S trongholds ....... 74
Gnomish Castles .......... 74
Orc is h Keeps ............. 75
Chapter 7: Warfarel ........ 76
Offensive Tactics .......... 76
Investment .............. 77
Starvation ....... .. ... . .. 77
Thirst .......... .. ... .. . 78
Fantastic Combat ......... 79
Reduc tion ........ . ...... 80
Escala de . . . . . . . . . . .8 1
Airborne Operations .. 82
Breaching the Walls . ...... 84
S iege Attack Values . ...... 84
Excavation .............. 86
Mining .......... .. ... . . 8 7
Trickery and Corruption .... 89
Morale Issues ..... ... .... 89
Defe nsive Tactics .. . ...... 90
Fortifications ............ 90
Sorties .......... . ...... 92
. Defe nding the Walls ....... 93
Morale Issues ............ 96
S urrender ............... 97
Siege Engines . . . . . . . . .98
Chapter 8: Quick Resolution
Systems .. ............ . . 106
Siege Resolution ... . ..... 106
Fighting Campaigns ...... 108
War in the Medieval Age . .. 109
War Pla ns .............. III
Battle Resolution .. . ..... 112
Campaig n Victory-
Win ning the War ......... 115
Character Involvement .... 116
Chapter 9: Generic Castles . 11 8
Cyclops Thwer .. .. ... ... 11 8
Bremberthwaite Manor . ... 120
Klnnlve r Castle ......... . 122
1
Designed by Grant Boucher, Troy
Christe nsen. Arthur Collins, and
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Additional Design by Tim oth y B.
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Edited by William W. Conno rs
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Color Art by Jean Elizabeth Mar-
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Graphic Design by Linda Bakk
Typography by Gaye O'Keefe
Cartography: Supvr,/ Designer:
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Artist: Dave S utherla nd, Frey
Graphics
ADVANCE D DUNGEONS & DRAGONS.
AD&D. BATTLESYSTEM. PRODUCTS OF
YOU R IMAGINATION, SPELWAMMER,
FORGOTTEN REAL MS, and t he T SR logo
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Lake Geneva Cherry H [nton
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U.S.A. United Kingdom

Prepare yourself for a voyage
bac k In time.
As you r ead t h is book. you will
be drawn back th rough th e year s
to an age whe n castles dom inated
the landscape of Europe. He r e,
am id t h ese mighty ston e halls. you
will find kn ights In sh ining armor
and great battles (ought by m en
and w om en with st eel swords and
iron nerves.
We lcome to the Age of Chivalry.
What's in t his book?
The Cas tle Gu ide Is a n out·
growth of th e AD&D® 2nd edition
game rules. In the Dungeon Mas-
ter's Guide and Player's Handbook
a general rules system was estab-
lish ed that allows t h e Dun geon
Master to run a variety of fantasy
role-play ing sty les. In lhis book.
however. we will focus in on a spe-
c ific sty le of gam e. onc set in a soci-
ety s imil a r to t hat of fe ud a l
Eu rope. and give you the back-
ground InformaUo n you need to
make It com e to life.
The first section of this book be-
gins with a n overv iew of m edieval
society a nd the fe udal system in
general. Here. you will come to un -
dersta nd th e forces that dri ve a
fe udal govern men t a nd th e rela-
Uons h lp between the state a nd Its
c hurches.
Following thiS, we go on to detail
the ways In which player c harac-
ters can become knights. the stou l
defenders of the realm . Th e code of
c h ivalry is examined a n d the
s ta nda rds by whic h a kn ight m ust
live h is or he r Ufe are a ddressed . In
closing the fi rs t section . we ofTer a
guid e to m edieval tournaments.
Here, c haracters get the c ha nce to
s how off their s kills a nd try for th e
hand of th e beautiful princess (or
ha ndsom e prince).
Our seco nd sec tio n exami n es
Introduction
the evolution of castles In med i-
eval Europe a nd provides an over-
view o f t hei r advantages a nd
disadvan tages. Following that. we
presen t a modular system for the
design a nd cons trucllo n of castles
for use by Playe r Cha racters a nd
NPCs alike. With this s imple sys-
te m . the OM can de term ine Ju s t
h ow much it will cost a c ha rac ter
to build th e keep of his dreams and
how long th e cons truc tion will
take . Included wi th th is a re rules
for the use of m agical ite m s and
m onsters in the building process.
For those of you who a re fond of
th e BATTLESYSTEM '" m iniatu res
rules, we have Included th e
third portion of The Castle Gu ide.
He r e. we ex pand upon th e
BATTLESYST EM rules a nd pro-
vide rules for resolving long Sieges
a nd the defense of cas l les. Material
in thiS section addresses the ele-
me nt s of a fan tasy world th at
make defendingacaslle more than
j u st a n exercise In historical simu-
lation . In add ition . we look a t the
various types of casUes fou nd In
the AD&O game, Incl ud ing those
of the dwarves and elves.
If you aren 't Interested In fight-
ing out indivi dual battles with
miniatures, we have taken care to
Incl ude a pair of quick resolution
system s. The firs t of t hese can be
u sed to resolve Individua l s ieges.
while the second can b e e m ployed
to determine the vic tor in an indi-
vidual ba ttle or a ll-out milita ry
campaign .
Lastly. we have Included a trio of
generic castles fo r u se by the
Dungeon Master in setti ng up h is
game. If time Is Ught. a nyone of
th ese s truc tures ca n be eas ily
adapted to serve as a n NPC's base
of operatio ns ora sa model ofmedl-
eval design tech niques.
3
Using The Castle Guide
As you can see. there is a great
deal of inform ali on in this book. Of
course, you can u se as much or as
li ttle of It as you wan t in your
AD&D gam e. If you are using the
Complete Fighter 's Handbook In
your campaign. you will find tha t
m uc h of the inform ation in this
book works well wi th the cava lie r
a nd swas hbuckler kils especially.
However. anyone who runs a cam -
pa ign tha t has ele m en ts of feuda l
Europe In it will find something of
valu e to them in this book .
For those who want to se t their
campaign agains t the backdrop of
a g rea t war. as was done in
lblklen's Lord of the Rings trilogy.
the quic k resolution systems pre-
sented In c hapter 8 will a llow play-
ers to focus on the role-playi ng
aspects of the game. while s tHl be-
ing able to c hange the cou rse of a
ba ttle or turn the tide of an e ntire
war.
If you e njoy war ga m es a nd
wan t to m esh your AD&D~ game
campaign more fully with your
BATTLESYSTEM gam es, the sec-
tions on warfa re will a lso provide
you wi th lots of information for
new scenarios. With the addition
of th e m aterial in this book, role-
p laying's premier minia tures rules
system reaches ne w heights.
Kn ights. mount your horses. The
tim e for battle is at hand !
Merging Fact and Fantasy
Many of us got into role-play ing
gam es when we m et some friend s
w ho si m ply ask ed u s to "come b y
and watch," LillIe did we know
t ha t we had already wa tc h ed
plen ty of role-play ing gam es in our
a ll too s hort lives. In fact. the film s
and novels we've read over t h e
year s hold th at sa m e spark of
imagin ation t h a t drew u s in to
these c razy ga m es In th e first
place.
Whe n settin g up a n ew cam -
paign world , there a re two basic
schools of thought: those who feel
the game should be very his tori-
cally accurate a nd those who do
not. Of course. the in troduction of
magiC in to the hist oric world i s a
mainstay of the AD&D®gam e and
cannot help but distort an other-
wise h istoric se tting.
So, which do you ch oose in your
campaign? Is your world going to
be classically accurate, as it was
seen in the great Roma n and Bibli-
cal epics we've a ll watc hed on TV?
Or will the world have a n e lem en t
of magiC a nd s upers titio n lurking
just out of s ight (or even in fu ll
view), like the great epic stories of
Excalibur a nd Conan t.he Barbar-
ian?
If you c hoose th e latter, you
must decide how far to take the
magic, Ve ry popu lar in recen t fan-
tasy literature a re th e "no holds
barred" magical worlds where ev-
e ryone a nd the ir brothe r li ves and
breathes magiC. In many ways,
this is similar to the way in which
the average person sees techn ol-
ogy today. After a ll . most people
have no idea how a televis ion set
works. but they accept it as a com-
mon part of their daily lives.
The average AD&D campaign re-
main s somewhat in the middle.
along th e lines of Thlkien's works
and the s tories of King Arth ur. In
this book. we will assum e that this
is th e norm. Of course, becau se the
AD&D gam e is your game. no sin-
gle s tyle of play is conside red to be
correct. If you a nd your players a re
having fun. then you ' re play ing
the game pro pe rly.
As with a ll things in the AD&D
gam e. your interpretatio n is wha t
m atters, so feel free to pic k a nd
c hose. discard a nd exploit. The
m ore excited you get a bout you r
choices. the more your cam paign
wiJI thri ve a nd grow. Hopefully.
this information will give you a
wealth of adventure ideas and add
life to aU your future gam ing .
Enjoy.
Notes on Campaign
Politics
In many campaigns, the prob-
le m s of na tional polities fall into
th e backgrou nd fo r lower level
c haracters. After aU . the majority
of firs t level adven turers a re not
ab le to cope with problems like
m aj or wars. thwarting the ulti-
m ate evil. or s laying that most hor-
r ible of horrors. t!1e dragon . At this
poin t in their careers. th e c harac-
ters are not going to be overly con-
cerned with the ra m ificatio ns of
the king's political a llia nces for the
same reaso n that most of u s a re
not experts in the deta ils of our
country's ow n fore ig n re lations: it
s imply doesn ' t en ter into our daily
lives.
As they progress in leve ls. how-
ever. thin gs will begi n to c h a nge.
At first. th is will be on ly a passing
th in g. Perh a ps o ne adve n t u re
brings th ei r action s to th e a tten-
Uon of a local ba ron who, for bette r
or worse. makes a m en tal n ote to
keep an eye on the c harac ters. By
the time they have reached ninth
leve l. the characters are us ually
fairly well known a nd have ac-
quired the s ta tus offolk heroes. As
he begins to a ttrac t followers. the
c haracter cannot he lp but come to
the a tte ntion of the local govern-
m e nt.
It is a lmost certai n that. given
tim e. they w ill becom e as we ll
know n in their hom e lan ds (or the
region in whic h they adven ture) as
George Washington , Abraham
Lincoln , or the Wrigh t brothers a re
in th e modern United S tates. Of
co urse. this m ay a lso m ean that
they are ex pected to unde rtake
tasks whic h seem impossible and
co nfront uns toppable armies as a
m atter of routine duty to th e ir
king. Oh well. that's what they ge t
for giving up the si mple life of a
blacksmith.
In a ny case. it Is important to
note that re la tionships with the lo-
cal nobili ty (even for those who a re
a pa rt of It) are not a lways cordia l.
Ju s t as the king can be a very valu -
ab le fr ie nd , so too can he be a
d eadly adversary.
Feudal Society
The bas ic e lem en t of fe uda lism
is sim ple e nough to understand.
All in a ll, it Is nothing m ore than
a n agreem en t be tween two men. a
lord a nd a vassal. to wor k toge ther
for their mu tual betterment.
The lord. who is th e recognized
owne r of a piece of land-gives it to
the vassal. who will manage and
live on it. In excha nge for such a fa-
vor. the lord is e n ti tled to certain
dulles and favors from the vassal.
w hi c h include th e pay m e nt of
taxes a nd the requirem e nt that he
support the military forces main ·
ta ined by the lord .
In m ost cases . the owne r of the
land Is the kIng and the vassals are
his nobility. Of course. one can 't
ex pect the nobility to work the
land themselves. so we come to the
serfs and com mon folk.
The vassal, in a n agree m ent
s imilar to that he which he has
with his king. turns the land over
to the peasants a nd serfs to farm
and live on . Like the vassal. they
agree to work the land a nd provid e
their lord with Incom e and food
from it. Of course. the serfs ex-
pect to earn e nough money to live
on and to be protected by the lord
In times of unrest or military con -
flict. The lord knows this, Just as
he knows that he can expect the
same from the king, and Is only too
happy to provide It. While this
doesn't mean that life for the serfs
is wonderful. It does a llow th em to
live without fear of extreme repres-
sion or exploitation .
The feu dal system works well so
long as everyone in it recognizes
their own responsibilities a nd the
rights of others. Since they ar e in a
position where it is In their own
best interest to do so. they almost
always do. Those wh o ig nore thier
duties or seek to take advantage of
th eir own position are qu ick ly
pegged as trouble-ma kers an d
may well be s trongly disciplined
by the leaders hip of the society.
The reasons for this ar e simple
enough to understand. While the
King may not care too much about
the life of a single serf. he mus t
concern himself with their overall
ha ppiness. Withou t the serfs. his
vassals have no power or income.
Without the power and income of
the vassals, he himself is impo·
tent. Each block In the pyram id of
power rests very solidly on those
below it in t he fe ud a l syste m .
Without the su pport of the base,
the e nUre s tructure will collapse.
Of course. the key to the whole
thing is land. Whoever owns the
land has the power. While th ere
are certai n regions which might
not belong to the king (a yeoma-
m a n 's farm . for exam ple ) these are
insignificant when com paired to
the vast stretches of land owned by
th e king himself. Even s uch small
patches of independen t la nd will
be forced to recogn ize the power of
the king. of course, If they a re to
expec t any protection or assis t-
an ce from th e crown during ti mes
of war or cala mity.
Social Classes
One importa nt aspect of the feu-
dal system is Its clear a nd almost
absolute recogniti on of soc ia l
classes. Anyone born as a serf can
ex pect to die as a serf. There is no
provision In such a society for th e
advancement of Ind ividuals from a
lower class In to the higher classes.
This is not to say that It is Impos-
sible. only that it is very difficult.
How m ight som eone in a lower
class make the jum p to a higher
place in society? Usually by doing
a great ser vice to one's lord or
church . In some societies. in fac t.
an y knigh t has the right to bestow
the rank and title of kn ighthood on
any Individual who proves himself
worth on the field of com bat. Of
course, the problem with s uch an
approach is that it often e nds up In
the would-be knight's death at t he
h ands of a better trained and bet-
ter equipped warrior. As we said, it
is not easy to improve your place
in s uch a system.
In the following section. we will
examine the many levels of society
w hich characters In an AD&DI!l
game will encounter.
6
Serfs
By the time of the middle ages.
s lavery had gradu ally fall en out of
favor In feudal e urope. While there
a re certain to be isolated pockets of
s lave trading in most worlds. the
vast majority of a chivalric cam -
paign world should not be a party
to it. While the distinction between
a serf a nd a s lave may be obscure
to m a ny, the m ost importan t thing
to unders tand is this: the serf had
certain rights.
While he did not own the land
wh ich he worked and did not have
a say in the local governme nt he
was acknowledged to own h im self.
Unlike more primitive socie ties.
where m em bers of the lower class
were thought of as anima ls or
property. the poor in a feudal soci-
ety a re recognized as having a
right to fair a nd ju s t treatment by
the nobility a nd society in general.
Most feudal estates have laws to
protect the local serf popula tion
from abuse or mis treatment-even
by m embers of the nobility. While
these laws may be more or less en-
forced. depending on the disposiUon
of the local lord. the fact that they
ex ist at all is a major turning point
in cu ltural evoluUon.
Yeomen
Unlike the serf. who s pent his
days la boring on land ow ned by
his lord . a yeoman was recogn ized
as the owner of his own farm . As a
rule, it was not a large estate. but it
was enough to provide for h is
needs (and those of his family). If
times were good. it migh t even pro-
vide a surplus which could be sold
or bartered for a few choice items
or luxuries.
In ma ny cases. of course. a yeo·
m an will swear loyalty to a near-by
lord and pay him or h er some trlb·
ute each year. This serves two pur·
poses. Primarily. it allows th e yeo·
m an to keep on good terms with
the lord and provides assurance
that his la nd will not be taken from
h im. Secondly, it obligates the lord
to help protec t the yeoman's land
in the even t of a disaster or attack.
In s hort. the gesture simply as·
sures that the two will be "good
ne ighbors",
Tradesmen
TI-adesmen make up the lower
classes of a feudal town. They in·
c1ude the common laborers. lesser
c raftsme n . a n d small business-
m e n . As Individuals, they hold lit-
tle power. Becau se of their overall
importance in soc iety. h owever.
they are treated fairl y well by the
lord of the manor.
As a ru le , tradesmen m ake
enough m oney to support them -
selves fairly well and to provide a
comfortable home for their faml·
lies. In a modern sense. they might
be described as the middle c lass.
Guildsmen
In order to counte r the power
which a lord m a intains over his
holdings a nd make certai n tha t he
does no t abuse his status. the m em-
be rs of many professio ns fo rm
guilds. In essence. they fun c tio n
like the thieves' guild which Is so
much a part of many AD&D'!I game
campaigns. Guildsmen . the leaders
of suc h groups, have much power
in a town, for they can call on work-
ers to s top key activities o r delay
important projects. Likewise, they
can urge Increased quality or quan-
tity in times of s trtfe.
In add itio n to the importa nt
members of the variou s g uilds.
this class of citizens includes un-
usually gifted a r tisans or th ose
who work with precious materials Nobility
(like a gem merch a nt) . This class
The nobility are second in sta tus
m ay be the most diverse of any be-
on ly to the royal fa mily. In prac-
cause it serves as a buffe r between
tice, they a re perhaps the most
the nobility and the com mon folk.
powerfu l of the classes. Me m bers
in modern terms, the g uildsmen
of the nobility. m ost of whom bear
m ig h t be conSide red to be the up·
the title of Count. Duke. Earl. or
per middle class.
MarquiS. are each e n trusted with a
As a s ide note. som e gu ildsmen
large section of the king's land.
migh t have m ore actua l power in a
Th ey swear loyalty to the crown .
region tha n the nobles they serve.
just as the members of the c hival-
Such power is proba bly not open ly
ric class swear loyalty to them . It is
ma nifested , but u sed In s ubt le
the ir responsibi lity to see to it that
ways to he lp the frie nds a nd fa mily
a ffa irs In their lands a re orderly
of the g uildsman. The most impor-
a nd that a ll taxes a nd revenues
tan t m embers of th is c lass m ight
due to the King are colec ted In a
be cons ide red nobles who just ha-
timely m an ner.
ven 't been given a title yet.
Mem bers of the nobility have a
very close relationship with the
Chivalries
roya l fa mily. but they can c la im no
The lowest ra nk of the noblltty. direct blood ties to the thro ne. In
the chivalric class is m a de up of the even t that a great disaster were
knights a nd ba rons who have been to decimate the ruling hou se , the
give n agran tof la nd to a dminis ter. s uccessor to the throne would cer·
In som e cases. they have earned talnly com e from this class. The
the la nd themse lves throu g h m eans by whic h such a n individ-
wealth . power. or service. In oth- ua l came to power might be vcry
e rs. the la nd m ay h ave been controve rsial and a politcal power
awarded to o ne of the ir a ncestors s truggle is sure to erupt wheneve r
and they have Inhe rited the title the throne is left uncaimed .
a nd responsibilities which come
with s uc h a n estate. Royal Family
Me mbers of this c lass a re en -
At the top of It all Is the royal
dowed by the ir ow n lord (usually a
fam ily. Me mbers of th is g roup can
duke, count. o r earl) with land of
trace a di rect family relations h ip
their ow n a nd a m anor house or
to the ruling monarc h . When the
keep in wh ich to dwell. In return .
c urre n t king dies. o ne of them will
of course. th ey s wear loyalty to
be nex t o n the throne. In a ny feu -
their benefactor and vow to serve
dal c u lture. m embers of this class
his interests In their dally lives. As
a re the absolute upper crust. Ev-
s uch, they pay a portion of their
eryone. even the m ost powerful
own incom es to him as a measure
members of the nobi lity, swears fc-
of their respect a nd g ra titude. in a
a lty to the royal fa mily a nd to the
time of cris is. they are expected to
king in particula r.
com e promptly to the aid of their
In the even t of a dispute between
superiors.
the king a nd a member of the no-
bility. either In the form of a politi·
cal c ha ll enge or a n outright reo
bellio n. m e m bers of lower classes
7
a re ex pected to s ide with the king
a nd roya l fam ily. For e xa mple, if a
powerful coun t decides to make a
gra b fo r the throne. m an y of the
kn ights a nd barons who serve hi m
may well be forced to turn agai nst
h im. Fail ure to s u pport the king in
an interna l struggle can be disas-
terous if the king s hou ld prove to
be trium pha nt in the dispute,
As a ru le. the king will be re-
placed by h is first born m ale c hild
when he dies or s te ps down _ If
there is no s uc h heir. the n a pre-es -
tablis hed pecking order exists to
decide who has claim to th rone. In
the event that no clear s u ccessor
ex ists. the nobtlity wtl l s te p in to
select whic h member of the royal
fam ily will becom e the ne w King.
In s uch cases. a great deal of politi-
cal ma nipula tion a nd deal making
can be cou nted u pon.
The Imperial Family
In some cases, the re exists a n el-
emen t of society above the trad i-
tional royal family : th e impeiral
family. Where a king is the recog-
n ized rul er of an ind ividual coun -
try, an empe ror has u n ited severa l
na tions u nder his ow n ba nner.
Em pires a re very rare indeed .
T he power requ ired to hold one to-
ge ther Is alm ost im possible fo r one
ma n to a ttain . In m ost cases. a n
e mpire is form ed by co nqu est.
Whe n one na tion becomes so pow-
erfu l that it can overr un a n umber
of neigh boring s ta tes. its ki ng is el-
evated to the status of a n e m peror.
T he re are othe r ways in wh ich
an em pire m ight be form ed , but
these a re ra re in the extrem e . Sev-
e ral nations with the sam e religion
might be united in a holy war
wh ich causes the m to select a s in-
gle individua l as their leader. If
things go we ll a nd the ne w leade r
has acquired the power t o hold th is
a llia nce together after th e wa r. a n
e mpire m ay be forged.
T he re will a lways be m en who
clai m to ru le e m pires wh ic h exist
on ly in their own m inds. of course.
It is not u ncommon fo r a ki ng to re-
fe r to him self as e m pe ror a nd h is
lands as a n e mpire. For our pur-
poses. however. th ese people are
no more tha n kings with delus ions
of gra n due r.
Members of the Court
Any good noble will su rroun d
h imse lf with a d vis o rs. Eac h of
these m e n (or wom e n) will be a n
ex pe rt in a reas whic h the king
m ay not be knowledgable a bout.
By consu lting the m wh e n he is
forced to m a ke a decis io n in som e
a rea, the lord can ren der a fair a nd
competen t ru ling .
Beca use of the m odular na ture
of fe uda l governme n ts. eac h of
these offices is likely to be re peated
a t differe nt le vels of th e govern -
m en t. For example. the local baron
is certain to have h is own sene-
schal. as does the coun t he re por ts
to a nd the king a bove them both .
Som e position . s uc h as the Lord
High Wizard . will not be fou nd in
m os t estates due to the ex pe nse of
m a inta in ing s uc h a n advisor.
Lord High Chamberlain
Of all the positions in a lord's
cour t, none is more trusted or im -
porta nt to the da tly activ ity of the
esta te tha n tha t of the Lord High
Cha mbe rlain. In m odern term s,
the c ha mbe rlain is the lord 's right·
ha nd m an . He con trols all access
to the Lord a nd can act on his be-
half in a ny instance. Orders which
a re issued by the Lord High Cha m -
ber lain a re assu med to com e di-
8
recUy fro m the lord a nd mus t be
obeyed without question .
A number of individuals will re-
port to the Lord High Chamberlain .
It is h is job to coordina te reports
from numerous lesser officials and
present his lord with the informa-
tion needed to make wise decis ions.
The Cham berlain e njoys the abso-
lute trust of his monarch and can
act in his behalf on any m a tter. In
many cases where an audience has
been requested with the lord . the
chamberain will be a ble to resolve
ma tters without having to "trouble
his royal highness."
Lord High Chancellor
T he Lord High Chancellor is e n-
trus ted with the day to day opera-
tions of the governm e n t. He is the
a bsolute head of the cIvil service.
a ns we ra ble only to th e lord h im-
self. T h e only exception to th is
would be in cases w h ere h is
actions m ight have to be cleared
with th e Lord High Chamberlain .
T h e rela tions hip be twee n th ese
two offi cials is close, if not always
cordia l.
Nearly ever y m em be r of th e
lesser bu reaucracy is under the di-
rection of the Lord High Cha ncel-
lor. His people orga ni ze ta x
collections. internal political rela·
tlons hips . a nd the pos ting a nd dIs-
tribution of all royal decrees an d
procla m a tions .
Lord High Justi ce
T h e Lord High J u s tice is in
c harge of a ll aspects of the legal
system. It is his respons ibility to
see to it tha t la ws a re e nforced a nd
tha t crim inals a re hunted down
a n d d etai n ed. He over s ees th e
actions of the local j udges. all of
wh om a nswer to him . and th e
town militia .
 Among t he people w h o re port d i-
rectly to the Lor d H igh J u stice are
the High Sheriff (who heads the
town watch). the H igh Prosecutor
(who handles the prosecu tion of
crim inals), and t h e H igh Forester
(who oversees t h e l ord's wood-
lands and preven ts poach ing).
Lord High Marshal
This individ u al is t he head of t h e
l or d's militar y fo r ces. He co m -
mand s t h e armies and directs t h e
action s of the Ci ty watch in l he
event of an attack. In all matters
which requir e the use of t h e lord's
troops and knigh ts. the Lord H igh
Marshal is i n absol ute ch arge.
In addition to the lesser militar y
personel in t he manor. t he Lord
High Marshal is In c h arge of t he
Royal Armorer an d his armory. t he
hiring of an y mercen ary troops or
adventurer s. an d t h e acquisition
o f n ew militar y tech nologies an d
stra tegies from oth er kin gdom s.
Because of h is dealings with ad-
ven turers and mercenaries. it is
probable t h at the Lord High Mar-
sh al Is th e first indiv id ual which
player c h aracters will come in to
contact with as th ey rise in levels.
Lord High Inquisitor
One o f the more siniste r sound-
in g offices. t he Lord High Inqu isi -
tor is in charge wi t h m ain tai nence
of t h e lord's intell igence network.
H e con trols the numerous spies
whic h have bee n placed in t h e
other branches of the cas tl e's
power struct ure. In addition. he reo
cieves reports from h is agents in
the h oldi ngs of those who ser ve the
i n quisitor 's lord and from men sta-
tio ned in oth er realms.
The n ature of the feu dal system
makes t he use of spies and cou n ter-
9
spies almost a n eceSSity. The king
wan ts to know what h is counts and
dukes are up to. so he has men
planted in t h eir courts lO provide
him w ith inform a tion . The counts
and du kes. of course. want to know
w h at the knights and barons who
serve them are up to. so they send
their own spies to i n vestigate. In
addition. they wan t to know which
o f their own men real ly work for t he
king. so they em ploy coun terspies
to r oot out t h e informants. As you
can see. t h is tangled web of age n ts
can become quite complex. I f used
correctly. though. su c h in trigue
can add a great deal to any c h ivalr ic
cam paign .
Lord High Wizard
One of t he least com monly en-
cou n tered. t h e position of Lord
High Wizard serves two purposes.
F irst and foremost. it allows the
Lord to have access to powerful
magical spells. Perhaps more im-
portantly. however. it shows the
wealth and power of the lord. After
all . keeping a wizard on your staff is
an expensive practice. Such advi-
sors are known for their ability to
drain large amounts of revenue to
fund their experiments. spell cast-
ing. and research. Since only the
wealthiest (and therefore most
powerful) of lords can afford such a
burden. any court with a Lord High
Wizard is highly respected.
, While the court of a king or em-
peror is certain to have a very pow-
erful Lord High Wizard. lesser
estates may have only a token spell
caster. Of course. since the average
non-wizard does not understand
the importance of various spells. a
flashy spell of minimal power will
often be perceived by the lord as
more valuable than a more power-
ful spell which is less impressive in
practice.
Lord High Chaplin
The Lord High Chaplin is a repre-
sentative of the religious commu-
nity in the lord's territory. In mos t
cases. the Lord High Chaplin will
be a member of the most powerfu l
church in the kingdom. In cases
where two faiths of equal power ex-
ist. there m ay be two separate of-
fices.
In manors where the lord is not
religious. the Lord High Chaplin
will be in charge of handling rela-
tions between th e lord and the
church. A similar state of affairs ex-
Ists when the lord is religious. but is
not of the same faith as the major-
Ity of his s ubjects. In most cases.
the lord will. at the very least. pay
lip service to the religion of the Lord
High Chaplin.
A Note About Magic
Of course. our ow n medieval per-
Iod was not marked by the practice
of magic. although s upersti tion
was widespread. In th e typical
fuedal court. magic (either clerical
or wizardly) are both looked upon
with sceptisism. To the average
warrior or bureaucrat. m agic is
both unimportant and unreliable.
The noted cryptic nature of advice
acquired from such spells as a u-
gury lend s credence to th eir
doubts.
In kin gdoms where m agiC is
more common . these crafts may be
looked upon with awe by those who
can n ot control t hem. While
knights might recognize the value
of a magical or holy weapon. they
will consider the use of spells like
fireball to be less than honorable
tactics. After all . they reason. a dis-
pute should be settled by fair com-
bat with warriors testing th eir
metal and their skills. Duels be-
tween wizards are consldiered fair.
since both sides are using the same
weapons. Combating a knight with
spells (or cutting down an unar-
mored wizard) is cons idered a vio-
lation of the Chivalric Code_
The Role of The Church
Although we have touched on he
importance of religion in feudal so-
ciety. we have not taken the time to
examine It in any detail. In this sec-
tion, we will do that, although we
will on ly delve into the matter
briefl y. For those who wish to have
g reater de ta il on the various
churches represented in the typical
AD&D®game, we s uggest that you
consult the Complete Priest Hand-
book and take the time to research
the various holy orders in place
during the middle ages.
10
It is important to note that holy
orders in a feudal society tend to
mirror t he political systems in
place around them . For example.
an acolyte who works In a small
temple located in the poor part of a
town swears his oath of loyal ty to
the priest who is in charge of the re-
ligious order throughout the town.
The priest swears his loyalty to the
curate or canon above him. and SO
forth. In this way, it is easy for us to
draw a connection between mem-
bers of a church and their counter-
parts in the nobility_ Of course. in
an y society which has a dominant
religion , all members of the ch urch.
be they acolytes or the high priest
himself. will be due some respect
from any m ember of the nobility.
Lay Brethren
T he lay brethren are not actually
m embers of the religious power
structure, bu t they do dese rve
m ention here. This group Includes
all those persons who are of an un-
usually pious nature and spend
some (or much) of their time work-
ing with or for the church . Exam-
ples might Include those who
sweep the temple out after services
or even the cook who makes m eals
for the priests at their homes.
Lay brethren do not expect great
monltary rewards for their efforts,
they work for the honor of serving
their ch urch in the only way they
can. While it is true that many of
them are paid some token salary
for their efforts. most do not depend
upon the church for their living. As
is often the case. of cou rse. there
are exceptions to this. A secluded
temple m ight require a fu ll ·time
groundskeep or a pennanent cook.
In both cases. the Individual would
be paid a living wage and, probably.
be provided with room and board in
the church 's fac Uities.
Because of their great love for
their church. many members of
this group tend to adopt a " holier-
than -thou" attitude. While this Is
certainly not a lways the case. It Is
easy for a person who has no other
clai m to fam e In a feuda l society to
focus on the one thing they do
which makes them feel valuable.
This is unders ta ndable. b ut the
PCs may not a lways find s uch ag-
gressive followers of a fa ith to be
pleasan t company.
Acolytes
Acoly tes ar e studen ts of the faith
who hope. through great study
a nd devotion . to become active
members of th e church In time. As
a rule. they are young (generally In
their m id -tee ns) and very eager to
s how their devotion to thei r s upe-
riors in the church .
Acoly tes tend to draw the least
Interesting assignmen ts In a given
temple. They are in charge of copy-
Ing holy documents and assisting
in religious services. but they have
no true power In the church .
Acoly tes are assumed to have
the powers of a firs t level priest.
though are us ua lly not as fl.t for
combat or adventuring as a player
character a t first level would be. In
other words. where m ost player
character clerics represent m em -
bers of holy fi ghting orders. the
NPC acolyte Is assum ed to be a
non-fighting Indi vidual. StilI. they
have begun to acqu ire certain holy
powers. and are often called u pon
to em ploy thei r heali ng powers on
the faJ thful of the church .
Postulant
T he postula nt is a n acolytelyte
who has proven himself to be true
to the church and devoted In his
vows. He is generally older (I n his
late teens or early twenties) and has
a ttained the third level of experi-
ence. Upon reaching his new level.
the fo nner acolyte Is expected to
take on more responslbilitlcs.
In addi tion to ove rsee ing the
training of the acolytes he has left
beh ind. the postula nt Is now ex-
pected to playa grea ter role In the
wors h ip of the diety. In facL. lesser
h oly se rvices m ay actu a ll y be
wholly under the s uper vision of
th e postulant.
In term s of social level. postu-
lants a re generally accep tcd as the
equa ls of yeo m e n . They are
awarded som e respec t but have
no real dec ision making power In
the chu rch. Sti ll , their devotio n to
th e faith Is noteworthy. and they
are accorded their s hare of soc ia l
prtvalegcs.
A postulan t will usua lly have 1-6
acolytes assigned to him as stu-
dents. Of course. while they are
under the charge of the postu la nt.
they are expected to fo llow his in -
structions In a ll m atters and oflen
end up acting as private servants.
Thi s is u s u ally a lright. as it
teaches the acoly te to be humble
and show respec t to their be tters
in th e churc h . If this power Is
abused. however. It may resu lt In
the Postula nt losi ng h is status or
being assigned to a h igh ly undesir-
able aSSignmen t as a disci plinary
action .
Priest
The priest is the backbone of any
religiou s order. Without them,
there is no church . Each temple Is
assumed to be under the guidance
of one priest, who Is In charge of81l
that goes on wi th in the temple he
is associa ted with . A priest Is us u -
a lly in his la te twen ties or early
11
thirties and has the holy powers of
a fifth or sixth level cleric.
Priests a re selected from the
ranks of the postulants and as-
signed to serve in areas where the
church needs to establish a new
tem ple or replace a nother priest for
som e reason. Each priest will over-
see 1-6 postulants and (by defaultJ
1-6 acolytes for each postulant.
In t he fe uda l socia l pyra mid ,
priests are rough ly equal to towns-
men . They are accorded more re-
spect than the lesser members of
the fa ith . but are not recogn ized as
true power fi gu res . This is often an
unj us t assumption. as a charis-
m atic priest can have a strong in -
fiu ence over those who worship a t
his ch urch. but it is nonetheless
the case.
Curate
The curate is recognized as the
head of a ll church activities In a
g iven town or c ity. Depending
u po n th e size of the town , he will
u s ually have 1-6 churches in his
Jurisdiction.
Because the curate is one of th e
most powerfu l members of the lo-
cal religious com m uni ty, he is as-
s umed to have roughly the samc
rights and prlvaleges as an impor-
tan t guildsm a n . As you might ex-
pect. a requ es t for favo rs from
such a n individual is a lways taken
very se riously by the local nobility.
In m a ny cases. a town which
might otherwise be In u nrest can
be kept In ch eck by the aclions of
the local curate.
In addition to their sway with
the local populace. Curates are re-
s pected for th e powerfu l m agiC
which they can em ploy. In ti mes of
crisis. a local noble who could not
a fford to m ain tain a powerful Lord
High Chaplai n or a Lord High Wiz-
ard will petition the curate to act
on his behalL I f the r equest is rea-
sonable, ser ves t h e interests o f the
chu rch , and is accompanied by an
ind ication o f t h e lord 's devoLion
(th at is, gold) , then the r eq u est Is
like ly to be granted. Of cou rse. t his
also p laces t h e noble in debt to the
chu rch , a si tuation which Is h igh ly
desirable.
Dean
T h e n ext rung in the ladder o f
chu rch a ffai rs is occupied by the
dean. This powerful indlv iduaJ is
accorded all the respect and Influ-
ence due LO a knight or sim ilar
member of the Chivalric class. In
his hands is p laced the supervision
of all ch urch holdings in 1-6 town s.
The dean is an important link tn
the church structure, for h e often
acts as an in terface between t h e
ch urch 's highest officials and the
local representatives of the faith
(in the person of the local cura tes
and p r iests.)
Deans w ill tend to be in t h ei r
mid-th lrLies, h avi ng devoted most
o f their lives to the service of t h eir
deity. As a resul t. th ey have ac-
quired th e sp ell casting abili ties o f
a nin t h or ten th level cler ic. W ith
su c h power and i nn u en ce, th e
dean is clearly a force to be rec k -
oned with in any feudal n ation.
T h e dea n Is, obviously, en-
trusted with a great deal of author-
ity. In th e absence o f clear
direction from his superiors i n the
ch urch , the dean is permUted (In-
deed. expected) to m ake very i m-
portant d ecisions reguardi n g the
practice of the fai th . As su ch , th ey
tend to be very con servati ve peo-
ple who seek to avoid m aki n g any
decisions which might be viewed
as radical by their leaders. In tim es
o f crisis, su ch resistan ce to ch ange
and the d esire to avoid '·gol ng ou t given kingdom. Becau se, in m any
on a limb ·· ca n often cau se serious cases, a fai th Is popular on ly in a
proble m s. single ki ngdom . the h igh pries t is
u sually the absolute ruler of lhe
Primate ch urch. In cases where t h e same
diety Is worsh ipped by more t han
The primates of a chu rch ar e
on e culture, a schism tends to de-
second in power on ly to the high
velop alon g cu lture lines w h ich
priest. They are able to command
causes t h e faith to splin ter in to two
su ch m ighty power and have so
or more groups. each w i th Its own
much say In m atters of the church
h igh priest. I f lh is is not the case.
t h a t they ar e assumed to be fully
t h en the h igh priest s w ill answer to
as important as any m em ber of the
a pa tria r ch w h o over sees t h e
noble class.
c hurch as a whole (see below).
Obviou sly. the year s o f devotion
Eac h h igh priest will command
and study required to a tlaln this
the powers o f a cleric of no less
position m ean s tha t the primate
t h an 13th level. Because of this,
w ill tend to be quite old. As a ru le,
t h ey are generalJy treated as if
t h e youngest of p r imates will be in
t h ey were mem bers of the royal
their fourties. W hile In modern so-
fam ily ilself. Only a king who Is In·
cie t y t his Is no t "ol d·· by any
san e or absol ute in his power w ill
s tretch of t h e Imagination , It repre-
directly ch allen ge the au th ority of
sen t a good portion of a man 's life
t he high priest.
In a medieval setting. Of course.
The average high priest is well
the h ealing powers of the fai thful
into his fifties by the time he as-
t end to resu lt in ver y long-lived
sumes offices. T he rigors of his life
member s of religious gr ou ps.
h ave been such that h e Is respected
Each primate is entrusted with
as the fi nal authority on all m atters
the supervision of all church affairs
o f faith. In m any church es, the
In a given region . As a rule, any
word of the h igh priest Is assumed
k in gdom w ill be spit Into 1-6 r e-
to be divi ne and must be taken as
gions, each of w h ich w ill be under
the word of the deity himself. No
the guidance of a singe primate.
m em ber o f tJ1 C church m ay refuse
Prima tes. having the powers an d
to obey the in structions o f his h igh
ablities of an II t h or 12th level
priest with out risking t h e wra th o f
cleric. are recogn ized by their noble
the d eity himself. Th be sure, t his Is
peers as being very u sefu l friends.
n ot something that any member of
Conversely, they are also acknowl-
the chur ch should take lightly.
ed ged as very dangerous foes. Just
as the primate's favor can be Impor-
Patriarch
taOl to the operation o f any noble·s
h olding, his wrath can be swift and In the case of an empire, where
eternal Few are the nobles who will severa l kingdom s h ave b ee n
n ot try to avoid a clash with this forged i n to one governm en tal uni t.
level of the church. a single ch urc h l eader mu s t
emer ge to manage the affairs of the
High Priest religion as a whole. Th is person,
se lected from a mong t h e h ig h
At the top of every religious or-
p r iests of t h e variou s sta tes, Is
der is the high priest. This person
known as a Patriarch.
Is the absolute ruler of th e faith in a
tl
 A Patriarch will also be found in
those rare cases wh ere ch urches of
the same deity exist within several
non-united nations a nd no sch is m
has resulted_ In both cases, the pa-
triarch has clerical powers of at
least 15th level and will assume
the role of churc h leader from an y
of the high priests_ The existence
of a patriarch does not reduce the
power of the high priests by very
much_ as the ch urc h is so large
that they must all manage the af-
fai rs of an entire nation_
A patriarch, who will almost a l-
ways be at least 70 years old, is ac-
corded the respect due a member
of the imperi a l family. As one
m ight Im agine, a call for revolu -
tion or patience by a person in this
position is so great. that m any em -
perors will ope nly court the favor
of a patriarch with gifts and oath s
of loyalty to the doctrines of the
c hurch.
Politics And Churches
The Divine Right of Kings
Because of the awesome power
of c hurc hes in any feudal society, it
is important to both the govern ·
ment and religious leaders that
both recognize eachother 's power.
The government recognizes the
importance of the churches by con-
sulting with them on any important
issues and seeking their guidance in
most social matters. This trust is
best seen in the appointment of a
Lord High Chaplin to the king's staff
of advisors. In addition, many soci-
eties grant the c hurc h certain prive-
leges (like tax exemptions or free
use of the lord 's land) to further se-
c ure their friendship.
For their part. churc hes promote
a belief in the divine right of kings.
In s hort. this policy Simply reflects
a belief that any king (or e m peror)
is himself a vassal who holds his
own lands (the kingdom) through
the grace of whatever deily he wor-
s hips. This is genera lly accepted
by th e royal fa mily because it be-
stows upon th e kin g an d his
actions a n illusion of divine gU id-
ance. It is because of this belief
that m any nations have go ne to
war with the thought that "the
gods are on our s ide." Of course.
who would wan t to fight a war in
which the gods s upported the
other side?
By holding a special coronation
service whenever a new ru le r as-
cends to the throne, the church re-
gonizes him as the righ tfu l leader
ofa nation. The major drawback to
such an act is that the ch urc h
must strip a king of this divine
blessing If It s hould become impor-
tant that they oppose him on a ma-
Jor policy issu e. Usually, any king
who Is declaired to have faJlen out
of fa vor with th e most Important
fa ith In his kingdom will find him-
self quickly opposed by a powerfu l
nob le who has the backing of the
ch urc h. Suc h conflicts can often
lead to a civil war a nd are thus
avoided by both sides whenever
possible.
Politics Within The Churches
Just as there is a grea t deal of po-
litical intrigue a nd acLi vity in the
feudal governm en t itself. so too is
th e typical church hierarchy a hot-
bed of power s truggles . While this
is not as true in the lower ranks of
the c hurc h struc ture. it orten be-
com es th e case at hig he r levels.
This is due mainly to the lack of
true power which lesser offiCials
have and the fact that many of
them a re not overly a mbitiou s.
Once one reaches the level of c u-
rate, however, political savvy be-
g ins to becom e an important part
of a religious leader's job. In addi-
tion to dealing with the local c hl-
va lri cs a nd n obles. th e c u rate
must manage the affai rs of his own
s taff. many of whom m ay have de-
signs on his job. On the other
hand, he may well have his own
s ights set on the job of the dean
above him. If this sounds famil iar,
it's proba bly because t he same
sort of thing is a regu lar par t of the
a ffa irs of the nObility. Beyond a ce r-
tain point it becomes a lmost im -
pOSSible to tell a c hurch official
apart from a politician.
Conflicting Fa.lths
In most kingdoms. th e major
faith will be determined by the be-
liefs of the king him self. If the King
is a worshipper of the Egyptian
panth eon. then that is likely to be
the state religion. If the King is not
religious (seldom the case). he will
still find it wise to pay lip service to
a popula r faith and a dopt it as the
state religion. In most cases. a king
who opposes religiou s practices in
his rea lm or who actively con-
fro nts the various religious orders
popular among the serfs is going to
find himse lf with a revo-
lution or a revolt on his h a nds .
In some cases. however, It is dif-
ficu lt to say where the line must be
drawn. If the r oya l fami ly has
strong ties to two religions. th en it
m ay be difficult for a ru ler to main-
tain a s table governmen t. In some
cases. a civ il war or internal power
s truggle may erupt. with each side
being supported by a powerful
c hurc h. In s uch cases. it is a lmost
certain that both sides wil l. in the
e nd , turn out far worse for the
whole affair.
In cases where the fai th s are not
incompatable. it m ay be possible
for a n agreement to be reached. As
a ru le. however, most religions are
prone to dislike and distrust those
with differing beliefs. Even in the
rare case where s upporters of si m i-
lar. but different. fai ths reach a
concen sus, there is usua lly too
much suspicion and political rna·
nuevering to make any lasling a lli -
ance possible.
Of course. no king or high priest
(except for a fanati c or a fool)
wan ts a Holy War or a religious dis-
pute to erupt in their kingdom or
church. In addition to being ex-
pensive, it makes them m ore vul-
nerable to their adversaries. Thus,
even in cases where a dispute ex-
ists, it is sometim es possible fo r
those on both s ides to "agree to
disagree" and let things go at that
for a little while. Su ch compro-
m ises are. by and la rge. a good
t.hlng for both sides. The major
problem wi th them. however. is
that they do not tend to survive the
test of time.
A good assu m ption to make is
that any la rge kingdom which has
been around for a long lime will
have a s ingle powerful state reli-
gion. Othe r faiths. although they
may be legal. a re not us ua lly popu -
lar. Although it is often al most im-
possible to utterly destroy a faith
which has gotte n a footho ld in a
given sOciety. it is possible to d is-
cred it it a n d drive it underground .
In such cases, the unified ac tions
of the state and its official religion
are generally effeclive.
The Church a.nd Ma.glc
An important question w hic h
must be answered when setting up
a campaign world is this: what is
the church's view of the prac tice of
magic?
In som e cases. the c h urch will
sanction such efforts a nd may
eve n fund spell research a nd sim i·
la r projects on the part of wizards.
This is the case with temples to
s uch deities as the Egyptian god-
dess Isis or th e Greek goddess Hec·
ate, both of whom a re the patrons
of magicians.
On the other hand . some
churches look upon the practice of
magic as an evil thing. In their opin -
ion. use of magic is orten seen as an
attempt by man to s teal the powers
of the gods a nd a ttain a divine status
for himself. Obviously, they cannot
allow such blasphemy to continue
u nc h ecked . so t hey will often
harrass or even declare a virtual
Holy War agains t those who employ
magic.
T h is can bean Importa ntcons id -
e ration. A priest c h aracter who
worships a deity that cons ide rs all
m agicians to be enemies of th e
faith. may well find him self a t odds
with a fe llow party member who is
an illu sionist. Further. a king or
lesser lord in a nation with suc h a
religion is not gOing to have a high
wizard on h is staff of ad visors.
Crimes and Punishments
Feudal societies are orten de-
picted as hav ing ha rsh a nd un fair
judicial systems in wh ich the de·
fe ndan t has IiUle or no chance of
justice or mercy. In ac tuality. this
is seldom th e case. The same
codes of honor, duty. and responsi-
bility which pervade the rest of
feuda l cu lture a lso dominate th e
legal profession . Thus. establish -
ing the truth in a case, either crimi-
nal or civil . is considered to be a
matter of grea t importance. A j us-
tice takes pride in hiS work.
There are a few concepts wh ich
are important to unde rstand about
14
feudal j ustice. For one thing. the
penalties for those con victed of se-
riou s c rimes a re quite severe. The
death penalty is quite comm on, as
is branding. whipping. or even dis-
memberm ent. While this is not a
p leasan t thought. it is the way
th ings a re. On the other hand. pen -
alt ies are no t ge nerally ove rl y
cruel. Thrture. for exam ple, is al-
m ost never employed either to ob-
tain confessions o r puni s h the
con victed.
The follOWing is a lis t of various
crimes and the generally admin is-
tered punis hments fro those co n·
victed of them . In som e places. the
penalties will be mor e sever e.
while in others they w ill be more
m erciful.
Violent Crimes
The c rim es. a ll of which are con-
s ide red to be th e m ost vile of acts,
are a ll subject to the death penalty.
As a rule, any given society will
have a standard m eans of execu-
tion which is used for a ll offenders.
Typical m easures In clude hang-
ing. be heading. an d burning at the
stake.
Arson
This is defined as any setting of a
fi re wh ich causes a loss of life or
property. Exception is made for
those fires which are acciden tal.
but not those wh ich are p urpose·
full y set and get out of hand.
Conspiracy
This Includes any attempts to
make plans agai ns t the king or 10-
cal lord. It Includes plotting an as-
sassination . m aking ready 1O stage
a coup . or (in very strict realms)
eve n m a k ing casu a l remarks
about deposing a m onarch. As you
can see, this class of crime Is very
open to the whims of the local lord
and his justices.

Desecration
Most feudal societies hold a great
respect for the dead a nd the places
in which they rest. Thus, desecra-
lion of a tom b or burial area (a pop-
ular pastime with many
adventurers!) Is ranked among the
violent crim es and violators are
subject to the death penalty.

Drawing a Weapon
There are two ways in which this
law is en forced . The fi rst, and
more serious of the two. is Draw-
ing a Weapon on GenUlity. This in-
cludes a ny threatening use of a
weapon against any member of
the chivalric. noble, royal, or impe-
ria l classes.
The second aspect of the law is
intended to protect the common
folk fro m rough treatment a l the
hands of trained warriors. Anyone
who h as been tra ined in fi ghti ng
and threa tens to u se their s kills
agai n s t someone with ou t s u ch
training is breaking a major tenet
of the Chivalric Code. Because it Is
considered very improper to u se
superior weapons agai ns t a fai rly
defenseless serf. this is a lso a death
offense.
In both cases, however, self de-
fen se Is considered to be an excep-
tion to the law.

Espionage
'Thchn ically. th is law applies to
all persons who act In a covert
manner to obtain the secrets of a
realm. However. it is seldom u sed
agaJnst the s pies of one's lord s.
which are an accepted part of fe u-
dallife.

15
 However, the laws against espio-
nage a re enrorced when the c rimi-
nal is a spy in the pay m en t or a
hostile governme n t or oth er rac-
lion. Such persons. when th ey a re
captured . are sometimes tried ,
con victed. a nd th en traded bac k to
their masters ror a ran som. I cases
whe re the spy's maste r holds one
or t he lord 's own m e n. a n ex-
c hange is orten made.
It is important to note the dirre r·
ence be tween espionage and trea·
so n . Both c rim es in vo lve t he
giving or inrormation to the e ne·
mies or the realm. but they are
very different. Espionage re rers to
citizens or ano th er realm who are
sen t in to a roreign nation as spies.
Suc h ind ividuals are considered LO
be simply "doing their job" when
they act against a rival power.
Treason, on the othe r ha nd . reo
rers to citizens or a realm who sell
its secrets to a roreign power. Since
they are betrayin g the nation or
their birth , their's is by rar the
more serious crime.
M&llo r Assault
This group or laws is a sort or
"catch ·all" ror law breakers who
use rorce in their actions. In s hort.
maj or assault rerers to a ny u se or
violence in whic h the life of the viC-
tim may have been in Jeopardy.
Further, any attack with a weapon
of any sort (either an actual or im-
provised one) falls into this cata-
gory. In short. anyt h in g more
dramatic than a fist fight is proba-
bly going to be major assault.
o r course, there a re exceptions.
As with m an y or the other laws,
self defe nse is not a crime.
Murder
This crime, often considered the
ultimate violation of the law, In-
eludes any act which causes a loss
or life. Il can be applied In matters
where c riminal intent was involved.
but is also used to prosecute per-
sons who have caused a death
through extre me carelessness. In
realm s where chivalry is the a bso-
lute rule a nd all citizens (or. a t least,
all warriors) are expected to act in
defe nse of the weak. this crime can
be charged against som eone who
has failed to act to save another per-
son fro m death .
rurlury
As has been stated . the fe udal
courts will alm ost always try very
hard to determine actua l guilt or
innoce n ce before passin g sen-
tence. One of the ir mos t importa nt
tools in this qu est for knowledge is
personal testimony by w itnesses.
Anyone who provides fa lse or mis-
leading evidence is s ubject 1.0 exe-
c ution as a perjuror. In addition .
anyone who withhold s evidence
which is vital to the court can also
be tried unde r these laws. DisLOr-
lion or the fac ts is a lso considered
to be purjury.
Rebellion
One of the most seriou s cr imes
in fe udal SOCie ty is tha t or taking
arm s agaInst one's lord. In a cul-
ture wh ic h is built on mutua l trust
a nd intricate webs of poli tical and
socialties. suc h a viola tion of trust
is very dangerous indeed. In orde r
to m a ke a n example of th ose who
take suc h drastic action. the
m eans of execution employed on
co nvic ted rebels is usually very
u npleasant.
Tre.uon
Th e c rime of treason is re-
guarded as the lowest act whic h
16
any c riminal ca n undertake. In
many cases. eve n harde ned c rimi ·
nals a re loyal to the c rown a nd will
turn in tra itors to the local con-
stabulary. As described previous ly.
treason is th e se lling of one's own
nation's secrets to a riva l power. It
is importan t not to conruse treason
with espionage .
Crimes of Theft
These cri mes are all consid ered
to be of a non-viole nt nature. In
cases where a crim ina l uses vio-
le nce In his crimes. he is certain to
be tried under one of the violent
c rimes and executed if convic ted .
Unless other wise noted. the fol·
lowing c rim es have a graduated
scale of punis hment. The first or-
fe nse resul ts In 10 to 60 lashes for
the crimina l. A second con viction
results In branding, th e loss of a
hand. or si milar physical marking
a nd 20 to 120 lashes. A third or·
fe nse will resu lt In the execution of
th e crimina l.
Burgl&lry
Despite Its name, this c r ime does
not imply the theft of a ny object. A
person can be charged with bur-
glary sim ply fro breaking into a
home. s hop . or other building
wi th out permiss ion. In modern
ter ms. this mig ht be take n as
brea king and entering.
Theft
Any ac t which de prives anothe r
person of their righ tfu l property is
cons id ered theft. It can Includ e
shop lifting or a clever swindle. In
addition to the penalties Indicated
above, the crimina l is expected to
return the s tolen objects or. If that
is n ot possible, r eimburse the
owner ror their value.
Minor ASSAult
Any ac t of violence Is considered
to be at least minor assau lt. A fist
fig ht or beating is the most com -
mon offe nse, bu t ph ysica l re-
straint of an individua l during a
robbery Is also cons ide red to be
minor assault.
In a ny case where a weapon is
used. however, the c rime is ele-
vated to major assault and may
we ll result In the death of the of-
fender. Only self defense is consid -
e red to a ll ow one to use force
against another person.
Poaching
The crime of poac h ing is defined
as hu nti ng on a nother 'S land with -
out permission. As a rule, the se-
verity of the punis hm e nt is det-
e rmined by the s uccess of the
poacher. A c riminal who sets a few
s m a ll s nares might be tr eated
fairly ligh tly, while one who brings
down a deer migh t ex pect to see a
severe sen tence.
In cases where the land has been
set aside for use by the local nobility
or is deem ed to be the King's Woods.
the penalty for poaching is death.
Business Law
Crimes of this sort are generally
app lied to dishonest m ercha n ts or
traders. As a rule. even dis honest
businessm en wi ll not c heat those
who live in their tow n . In a small
com munity, on ly outsiders will be
victi mized because the me rc hant
knows h e mu st deal with h is
neighbors on a regular basis. In
larger town s and cities, the m er-
chant may see so many customers
In a single day that he ca n cheat
many of them without concern for
s uch matters.
Breach of Contr.c.t
Contracts in a feuda l socie ty
are far less exacting than they are
In our own world . As a rule. a con-
trac t is assu med to in cl ude any
agreem ent by two parties. whe the r
verbal or wri tten. wh ich can be ver-
Ified by a t h ird party. In cases
where a third party presents a fa lse
accounting of the transaction be-
fore a justice, he or s he m ay well be
tried as a purjuror.
Once a court rules on a breach of
contract. the losi ng party is ex-
pected to live up to their part in the
bargain and pay a pen a lty to the
opposing s ide in the case. This
pena lty will be de te rmi ned by the
valu e of the con tract and the mag-
nitude of the offender 's viola lion of
it.
Excessive Debt
Anyone who is unable to pay
their debts to a m erch ant or tax
coll ector m ay find t he m selves
tried fo r the c rime of indebtedness.
A con vic tion In s uc h cases will re-
s ult In the violator bei ng required
to sell off a ny personal belongings
which they have to pay theirdebts.
If they are unable to raise th e
money they need. they may be or-
dered in to serv ice fo r a period of
ti m e. The length of such service
will be determined by the a mount
of the debt.
Fraud &. Forgery
These two c rimes cover a broad
range of violalion wh ic h include
any attempt to obtain mon ey. fa -
vors, or the like by fa lse represen -
tat ions or t ri c ke r y. Poss ibl e
examples include the u se of Inc or-
reet scales in weigh in g goods, use
of low grade m aterials in construc-
tion . Inept la bor. or the ou tright
11
falsification of a legal docu ment
(including coinage). The greater
th e money in volved. the grea ter
the penalty. Persons who a re con-
victed m ore t ha n once face t he
possibility of execu ti on. In a ll
cases. a c riminal m ust repay the
m oney lost by his victims (if possi-
ble) in addition to th e rest of h is
sen tence.
Death by Taxes
Th e Roya l Exc hequ e r 's Office
ove rsees th e collection of a ll of th e
king's revenues and answers di -
rectly to the Lord High Chambe r-
lain . As a rule, the exchequer 's
office assigns Agen ts of the Exche-
quer to each sign ifican t portion of
the real m . eithe r a county or s hire.
They a re respons ible for seeing to
it that the klng's goal of "a copper
for every gold " is collected and
passed on to the royal coffe rs. Be-
cause it is possible for a ny given
gold piece to be taxed more than
once, however. the treasury often
fares far better than this .
In som e regions. it is not uncom-
mon for a tax collector 1O take a lit-
tle bit extra from the local pop-
u lace for h im self. So long as he
does not push the people to the
verge of revolt. the king often al-
lows s uch " minor abuses" l O cpn-
tinue. However, revolutions like
those detailed in the classic tales of
Robin Hood are born fro m just
such "m inor abuses."
T he fo llowing Is a fai rly com -
plete lis t of the common fees and
taxes fo r a fe uda l fantasy ca m -
paign .
Everyday Taxes
This section d e tails th e taxes
which are collected whenever they
are a pplica bl e. Unlike some taxes.
which are charged once a m onth
or once a year, these migh t be col-
lected every day.
Consumption Tax
Th is is a typical sales tax. It is
charged on a ll goods and is com-
mon to most economic systems. It
is paid to a merchant in addition to
the normal transaction cost. Mer-
chants are then charged this per-
cen tage of th eir profits separately.
The standard rate fo r this tax Is
5%, or 112 copper piece for every s Uo
ver piece spen t.
Luxury Tax
Certain items, like rare furs,jew-
elry, or ornamental crests, are con -
sidered to be luxuries. Their pur·
chase is taxed a further 112 copper
piece per s liver piece of price.
Thus, som eone buying a fi n e fur
coat would be required to pay the
normal Con s umption Tax a nd
then th e Luxury Thx on top of it.
Inheritance Ta.x
All wealth and property inher·
ited by a person is subject to a tax
of 1 s ilver piece for every gold piece
of value, or roughly 10% of the es·
tate. This is a one-tim e tax only.
However. if the sam e property is
further passed on to a new benefi·
ciary, the esta te can be taxed yet
again.
Tolls
The toll paid at m ost bridges,
roads, a nd toll booths is 1 copper
piece per person or horse and 2
coppers per veh icle (If a ny ).
Monthly Taxes
T hese type of taxes are due
a bout once a month , as described
below.
•8
Market Ta x
Every tow n and city ha s a
monthly Market Day, when a ll the
local citizens com e from far and
near to see th e latest wares for sale
by the oddest assortment of m er·
chan ts. Every person or beast en ·
teri ng the town or city on Market
Day mus t pay 1 copper piece for
entran ce. S ince Market Day in
tow ns is the common equivalen t to
the tournaments of the nobili ty,
this small charge is usually worth
th e wide variety of entertai n-
ments.
Seasonal Taxes
These taxes are only collected
once a year, during a given season.
The final payment to the king is
due on that season's day of high
festival. Often, the tax collec tors
are busy m any weeks, If not
months . in advance .
Spring-Hearth Tax fines of a protective wallis deemed usually the serf himse lf is taxed.
Every dwelling, whether serfs to be "fortified" . However, in richer lands the lord is
hovel or duke's castle Is assessed a taxed instead.
Hearth lax. Naturally, the amount Summer- Nobility Tax Som e less reputable tax collec·
paid varies according to means. Each family that wishes to dis· tors tax both the lord a nd his ser·
playa crest or coat·of·arms within vants (who never know any better
Type of t h e kingdom mu st pay 5 go ld and are ordered never to compla in
Structure Tax pieces per year for the king's gra· about a nything).
Simple dwelling 1/2/6 cp cious n ess . This is part of the rea·
Large dwelling 11216 sp son the king likes creati ng new Catagory Taxlhead
Inn 5sp per room nobles whenever he can, whether Child I cp
Manor I gp or not th ey can afford their own Marketable beast I cp
Castle IOgp castle, or eve n own their own Adult 2 cp
home! Riding h orse I sp
In those entries which have mul·
tlple listings. the first is for a typl· Magic Tax
Fall - The Tithe
cal dwelling, the second Is for a All produce, rents, and profits In realms where m agiC Is rela·
dwelling in an unwalled town, and from th e land s th emselves are tively common . magical items are
the third is for any dwelJing within taxed at a rate of about 1 s ilver consider ed signs of wealth and
a walled town. power. and ther efo re ge t taxed
piece per gold piece earn ed, or
about 10%. This m ostly affects very h eaVily. The owner of a ny
Summer- Land Tax
ric h la ndowners and, therefore, magiC item can ex pect to be taxed
This is a big m oney·maker for the nobility. about 1 gold piece per 100 experi-
the king, and he can always count ence points of value in the AD&D®
on at least a certain amount of in · Income Tax
2nd Edition Dungeon M asters
come from his estates. It s hows Guide. Thus, the owner of ring of
At th e sam e time that the Tithe Invisibility would owe 15 gp whlle
quite clearly why land is su ch a is being collected from the rich,
valuable commodity In the feudal the holder of a vorpal sword would
just about everyone else is paying be taxed 100 gpo
society. an Income Thx m uch like our own
Every acre is assessed a function Note that all magiC from scrolls
system today. Each person's in · to potions and even artifac ts (If
and the legal owner of that acreage
com e is assessed by the local ex· known) is taxable. This is one very
is assessed a rated tax. In general. c hequ er 's office and taxed at a
the more useful or developed the good reason why player characters
m odest rate of about I cp per gold new to an area should keep th eir
land is, the more it is worth, and piece earned, or only 1%.
therefore, the more it is taxed. magical powers qui et. as even
While t his may seem extremely travellers a nd n onresiden ts jus t
fair to our eyes today, the combina· "passing through"' can be taxed If
Land Type Th.xIacre tion of a ll of th e fees and taxes col· the collectors catch up with them.
Barren 1/2 cp
lected over the year, and oth er
Pond or Lake I cp It is therefore possible fo r charac·
manorial charges tend to eat up al· ters versed in world-spanning ad-
Uncultivated I cp
most half of a serfs incom e! ventures to get taxed many times
Woodland I cp
Cultivated 2 cp in th e cou rse of a year. However.
Winter- Poll Tax t hey can only legally be taxed once
Thwn 6 cp
Fortified I sp Every head in the kingdom is in any kingdom, and are given a re-
taxed according to the following ceipt to prove the paymen t.
On the above chart. land which scale. Im portantly, while serfs are
is owned within a non·wa lled city considered s laves by many soci· Sword Tax
is deemed to be In a "town " for tax etles, they are usually considered Every weapon In the kingdom Is
purposes. Lan d w ithin the can· free m en in the feudal SOCiety. So. taxed, both as a m eans of making
money a nd as a means of keeping
a n eye on the re lative power of
arm s around the kingdom. Peop le
in trouble spots buy up weapons at
an alarming rate and a good tax
collector knows h ow to see t he
warni ng s igns of revolution .
Norma l weapons longer th an
daggers a nd knives are taxed a t a
rate of 1 s il ver piece per weapon.
Magic weapons are taxed as their
mundane counterparts. but are
a lso subject to the previously m e n -
tioned Magic Th.x.
Royal licenses
It is necessary for th e king to
keep a tab on the grow th of indus-
try. especially if he is to keep his
pe rson al monopolies in pow er.
Eve n ffhe can 't s low growth dow n .
he can at least make som e money
from the expansion .
Beggar's license
Believe it or not. begging has a l-
ways bee n a fin e way to make a liv-
ing. a nd it requires a fair amount of
skill a nd work. T he fact that many
beggars a re actua lly s pies. or are
accomplished thieves. has not es-
caped the a tten tion of th e king's
tax collectors.
All beggars mus t have a license
to beg. otherwise they get thrown
in jail. Th e license costs 1 coppe r
piece a nd must he renewed every
season.
Manufacturer's license
Any ma nufacturer of goods (i. e.
ca rpente rs. po tters. e tc .) mu s t
have a lice n se. It costs 2 gold
pieces per year. but does not In-
s ure you of fair compe tition (see
"Monopoly Licenses" below ).
School license
Anyone who wants to open a
school of a ny kind. or keep it ope n .
must pay I gold piece to the state.
This money is due on ly once a year
and can be paid a t any time. For a
one·time fee of 100 gold pieces.
any school can be granted a Klng's
License wh ic h lasts indefi nitely.
Trade license
Much like th e Manufacturer's LI-
censes a bove. tradesmen who cre-
ate perisha bl e goods like beer.
wine. bread. e tc" must a lso have a
license to do so. Coi ncide nta lly. the
fee is the same 2 gold pieces per an-
num .
Monopoly licenses
In coun tries where many guilds
have been formed. the guild will
claim the right to regulate trade in
its own a rea. As a rule. th e crow n
will recognize this rig ht a nd allow
the guild to set prices. determi ne
who is permitted to se ll their goods
or services. a nd establis h m ini-
mum quality standards. Of course .
the king expec ts to be compen-
sated for allowing the g uilds s uc h
power.
This fee varies fr om place to
place and depends on th e goods
and services prov ided . but 5% of
th e profi ts is c ustom a ry. Wh il e
seem ingly high. th e guild a lways
boosts prices muc h higher than
norma l a nd guild m em b ers end up
making m ore money than th ey
would have without such assist-
ance.
In countries where such m onop-
olies are allowed. the king usua lly
must personall y gran t s uch a mo-
nopoly. a nd does so only to a fa -
vored frie nd or som eone who has
helped the kingdom in o ne way or
20
another. The guild leaders hip is
only required to co ntri bute 10 gold
pieces annua lly to mai ntain th eir
monopoly in a give n a rea. but of-
ten the pe rso na l gifts and free serv-
ices accorded the king by th e guild
(pri vately. of course) us ua lly ac-
count for a great deal more. How-
ever. t h e aforementioned pr ice
gauging and control over the local
marke t s till com pensates fo r the
lost revenue.
Legal Fees and Duties
Th bring a sui t to the royal court
costs 10 s ilve r pieces for th e privi-
lege. Also. th e loser of a s uit m u Sl
pay th e king 10% of the am oun t
s u ed for. in addition to paying off
the clai m .
However. no one gets off that
eaSily. as the claim money is con-
sidered taxable income. wh ich the
winner of the s uit has to payoff lhe
top.
Also. a ny legal documents pre-
pa red by the royaJ court cost 5 sil-
ver pieces each for the respective
plain tiffs.
Non-Resident Fees
Anyone not a nati ve citizen of
the realm is likely to pay som e
kind of lax. Some times these are
know n as "good be havior" fees.
because th ey allow the local au-
thorities to monitor ne wcomers to
an area. In most places. this tax is
5 gold pieces per level per year.
Spe ll cas te r s are noted troubl e
m akers. a nd a re charged twice the
norm a l tax .
All non -h umans a re assessed a
lax of 8 gold pieces per year per
level. This is one of the reasons
why most non-humans don't like
living in human lands If they can
avoid it. If non -hum a ns do decide
to stay. they can becom e na tural-
ized citize n s after 2 year s of resi-
dency and n o history of criminal
actl vity_ The ch arge for naturaliza-
tion is 2 gold pieces per level.
Monsters are the m ost nonhu -
man of them all, and an yone pos-
sessin g a m on ster or even a large
animal must pay a fee of 1 gp per
hit point of the b east every year!
This is the primary r eason why
t r avelling carnivals t r avel so
much, as t h ey are always one step
ah ead o f t h e tax m an . Also, i t
mak es owning an y sort of rare
beast anoth er Significant sign of
wealth.
Commerc.e Duties
These taxes r elate directly to do-
ing business in a feudal society.
Import Tax
A ll good s imported in to a king-
dom are assessed an average tax of
1 copper piece per 100 pounds of
cargo. W hile this m ay seem to be a
mi nu sc ul e amount. it adds up
when shiploads of cargo are in
question.
Port Harborage
Every ship is charged 1 sil ver
piece per day for a birth in the pub-
lic h arbor. Priva te marinas often
charge much , much more.
Import Lic.ense
Every sh ipm en t of good s
brought into a country must h ave
a licen se. Norm al good s cost about
1 gold piece p er shipm ent to r egis-
ter. while va luable commodities
like spices and wines often cost
twice that amount. or 2 gold pieces
per shipm ent.
" Coming and Going" Tax
Naturally. an y ship or caravan
leavi n g the country is also ch arged
10 silver pieces per veh icle.
Moneylenders' Surtax
Bankers and other financial in-
sti tutions are taxed about 5% of
their p rofits per year. This is on e
circumstan ce where the Royal Ex-
chequer o ften takes a personal
hand i n verif yi ng th e accounting
book s of an instilution. esp ecially
a rich one.
Populating the Castle
Okay. your castl e Is a lonel y
place of stone and wood. You h ave
a few a d v isors. a new brid e or
bride-to-be. and a town is sprin g-
ing up n earby. Now w hat?
Well. h ere's a brief list of som e of
the people you ' re goi n g to n eed to
make y our castl e run . Without
them . you 'd be one busy knight.
Squire
Each king or knight has his own
personal squire. Most squires ar e
knights-in-training who take car e
of their lord's personal steed . see
that his armor is repaired and pol-
ish ed , sharpen hi s sword a n d
lan ce, and otherw ise tend to the
lord 's mi scell aneous knightly
needs. Many of the noblest PCs
wlll h ave b een squired to a gr ea t
n oble or king. Note that m any of
th e wealthi es t l ords have m or e
than a few squires. and tha t such
p os ition s are rare and prized
with in the kingdom.
Marshal of the Stables
The Marshal of the Stables is i n
ch arge of all of the lord's horses.
w h ether for war or sh ow. He is aI -
2.
ways attended b y many well-
treated serfs and while h e carries
little or no power within the ma-
n or, a person al friendship wi th a
horse-loving king Is n ot to b e taken
lightly.
Some kings h ave hunting d ogs
for ch asi n g faxes in the n earby for-
ests. or falcons for hunting sm all
birds. and these dulies also fall un -
der the marshal's supervision or
lhose of his staff.
I f the lord h as a special m ount
like a dragon or a pegasu s. the per·
sonal attention su ch a uniqu e
beast requires calls for t h e hiring
of another Marshal of the Royal
Steed. who is likely to h ave an in -
teresting back gr ound to say the
least.
Chief Porter
The Chief Porter and his watch-
m en gu ard the castle during all
h ours of the day and n igh t. As a
rule, they an sw er to the Lord High
Marshall .
Sworn Executioner
I f a lord is the sworn legal officer
in an area, most likely a n ew ly con-
quered frontier. or h e is the king of
a land . h e will have on his staff a
C hief Executioner to h andle the
messiest of trials . Suc h a man
earns a gr eat deal of respect as it is
an u gly job he does. and his loyalty
to the king is n ever in question .
In h is off-h ours, t h e sworn exe-
cution er might b e Captain of the
Guards. but h e is also likely to be
the Master Thrturer (if perm itted
within the castle w alls) andlor t h e
on ly practicing doctor for miles.
His talen ts a t breaki n g bon es and
severing limbs gi ve him a lot of
knowledge about fix ing t h em as
well.
Wa.ltlng Women
The lady of the castle is attended
by a large number of serv ing girls.
known as her waitin g wom en.
They tend to her every need . and
help s upervise the m any house·
hold duties and chores under the
lady's command .
Chief Steward
The s teward oversees the cook·
Ing s taff and Is busy alm ost a ll of
the time. Feeding an entire castle
is not a simple chore! The Chief
Steward has a lot of personal dis·
cretion . but reports to the Castel·
Ian if a ny problems arise.
Castellan
The Castella n s upervises the ba·
sic cleaning and household m an ·
agem en t of the castle. His duties
are many. and his knowledge of
formal affairs a nd ettlquete Is sec·
ond to none.
to hire th e best cra fts m en they can
afford and m any a feud has grown
out of the refusal of a lord 's em ·
ploym en t offer that s houldn't have
been refused.
Serfs
Of course , even the mig htiest
lord depends. in the long run . on
the s upport of his subjects. These
are the "little people" who tend the
farms. work th e mines, a nd serve
as can non fodder in mil itary cam·
paJgns. Althou gh they are ofte n
part of the background in a fe udal
setting. they are as Importan t as
the unseen timbers which s upport
the roof of your hom e. Without
them, th e e ntire st ructure col·
lapses. For more information on
serfs In a feudal society, see "A Day
in th e Life of a Peasant" later on in
this chapter.
Paying for Your Castle or
Kingdom
Natura lly, a ll of these ci tizens
m ust be paid . In this sec tion we
have presen ted a q uick system for
hand ling the financing of an estate
or k ingdom .
Assume that a typical m anor.
kingdom , or town r ecovers in
taxes and levees just e nough to
keep th e estate operating no r·
m ally. a nd within the bounds of
typical inflation. However, any u n·
us ual ex penditures (i.e. a ny thing
oth er than food. ma norial upkeep.

Chief Gardener
If the lady has a garden, it must
be tended. Note that these rich gar·
dens are often the personal groves
of ma ny retired druids. a nd a re
also the first training grounds for
m a ny young ones.

Men-at-Arms
These are the soldiers that m an
the castle. protect the lands. and
patrol the countrys ide.

Assorted Craftsmen
La rge castles h ave their own
dedicated carpenters, barbers.
s u rgeons, tinkers. potters, stone
masons, blacksmiths, and so on .
Staff craftsmen take the place of
those in town who often have other
obligations to attend to. Lords tend

2Z
norm a l taxes, a nd wages) mus t be
handled s pecially by the lord in
question .
If t he duke wan ts to keep a
dragon as a m ount. then a ll of the
drago n 's ex penditures m u s t be
covered som ehow , either by the
p ers on a l fi n a n ces of t h e lord
(gained either throu gh inheritance
or adventurIng) or th rough a n in-
crease in taxes on the genera l pop-
ulace. Naturally. th e OM s hould
refer to the Am erIcan Revolution
for som e ideas a bout the effects of
unfair taxation on the m asses,
For PCs and NPCs alike. this sys-
tem is the easiest to use on a large
scale. It Is assumed that the various
exchequers. both royal and noble.
are com petent enough and s uffer
only from a minimum of corruption.
T h is system a ll ows b oth t h e
player a nd OM to concentrate on
the importa n t chan ges m ade to
t h e esta te a nd get on wi th th e
gam e Itself,
Bribery Is Your Friend
As one might expect . bribery is a
useful tool in dealing with often cor-
rupt bureaucracies. tax collectors.
and other petty (and often not so
petty) officials. Someti mes It is
cloaked in semi-legal things like p0-
litical donations or monopoly taxes.
but usually bribery Is in the form of
expens ive " birthday" gifts, wed-
ding presents to the father of the
bride (as well as the young couple),
or outright purses of gems passed in
a handshake from briber to bribed .
Bribery is a m ost usefu l s klll for
charac ters. While a nyon e ca n
m ake an offer of cash In excha nge
for favors, there is often m ore to
bribery than tha t. For those of you
who wis h to incorporate bribery as
a non weapon proficiency, the fol-
lowing descr iption s hou ld be used .
Bribery
1 s lot. Charis ma. 0 m odifier.
T his s kill is open to a ll rogue
ch aracters. If the OM agrees. it
m ay b e a va ila ble to oth er
classes on a case-by-case bas is.
Attempts a t bribery a re not re-
s t ricted to those familiar with
its intricacies, anyon e may at-
tempt to bribe som eon e else.
Those with this s kill will be able
to determine a "fair" price and
avoid a potentia l double·cross,
Whe n ever a cha rac ter with out
bribery sk ill attempts to us e
thi s s kill . th ey mus t m a ke a
Cha risma ch ec k a t -4. Failure
indicates that th e bribe is
refused a nd tha t the cha rac ter
m ay be turn ed over to the
wa tc h fro his actions, Those
with this s kill will obviou s ly
s uffer no s uch pena lty. It's Im -
portant tha t the OM not a llow
the u se of bribery skill to r e-
place the Iole-play ing aspects
of such tra nsactions . Players
who role-p la y s u ch a tte mp ts
well should be given a pos itive
modifier to their bribery check
while those who do not should
s uffer for it.
As you can see, there is much
m ore to bribery than jus t saying
"r'u offer h im 10 gold pieces to look
the other way." It's m uch more in-
t eres ting to negotiate s kill fully
you rself. with phrases like "Hello.
Sir Walter! I' m so ha ppy you could
attend . I didn 't have tim e to get a
gift for you r lovely wife, so why
don 't you take this sm a ll gem and
pick som ething up fo r her your-
self?"
23
A Day In the Life of a
Peasant
Okay. so en ough about the rich ,
the powerful. and the important.
W hat a b ou t t he li ttle people?
What do the poor, down trodden ,
oppressed masses thin k abou t a ll
this feu dalism?
Su rprisingly, fo r the most part
th e peasan t und er class is rela-
tively well-off in m ost fe udal soci-
eties. They are a lways assured of
work, th eir life spans hover around
forty years or so, a nd they rarely
go hungry. When th ings get dan-
gerous in times of war, they us u-
a lly h ave a place to hid e a nd.
despite the myths to the contrary,
the nobility treats most of their
servants extrem ely well .
But aren 't they s laves. pressed
in to service by the wealthy aristoc-
racy? Well . sure th ey are, In a way,
But the key poin t here is that the
serfs un derstand the fundame nta l
principles of fe udalism . and so do
their masters,
In truth , the majority of the
ser fs are not s laves. as open s lav-
ery of on e 's own countrymen is
frown ed upon in a fe uda l soc iety.
However. they are not comp letely
free. In fac t. m os t ser fs are victims
of economic s lavery. While th ey
don 't wear cha ins or find them -
selves bough t a nd sold on the a uc-
tion block , they face no prospect
of a better li fe. Like s laves. they
wor k a t seeking ou t a n ex istence
day by day, While t hey are able to
pay their bUls and s u ch , they are
u n able to set aside m oney for sav-
ings, Still , that's th e way the sys-
te m works and m ost a re willing, if
not eager, to keep it tha t way.
Fo r exampl e. wh ile t he ser f
works the land u n der a grant fro m
the lord . a ll bu t a little of the pro-
d uce from tha t land goes back to
the lord as ren t. Usu ally. a li ttle bi t
of U1at food is left o ver to feed th e
serf an d h is family (w h o also work
that sam e lan d ). Som e o f t h at food
can be sold for m on ey at market.
or bac k to th e lor d for a fai r price.
b u t t he lord has c harges for ever y-
t h in g on his es t ate that a serf
migh t need or wan t.
There are c h arges for using th e
oven s. for usi ng th e tools on loan
from the lord. for k egs of salt and
spices. etc. In short. since t h e ser fs
can't afford to buy t hese t h ings for
themselves, th ey h ave to pay t h e
lord for them . and becau se all of
their mo ney goes to the lord. t h ey
can never afford these thi n gs for
themselves. As you can see, we
h ave a viciou s cycle o f l nler-
dependance.
The ser f is free to pack up h is
fam ily an d leave at an y ti m e. But
since h e is usu a ll y fairl y we ll
treated . has n o money o f h is own.
an d n o place which look s better to
go to. why s hou ld h e?
You see. the lord need s his se rfs
as much as the ser fs need th eir
lord. L an d is n o good u n less
there's som eone to work it. and no
on e is going to work dangerou s
land or land owned by a crue l task-
m ast er.
Serfs ex pec t protection from en-
emies i n times o f wa r . a fa i r
am oun t of freedom (Le. trips to
Market Day. some p r ivacy. enough
foo d . and th e li ke). no uncalled-for
bea ti ngs or har sh treatment. and
n ot to be taxed to the poi n t of dis-
tress and starva Lion.
Th e lord . in turn, exp ec l s good
workers that w ill insu re the con-
Li n u a tion or growth of his estate.
You see. w i thout the m oney earned
from the agricul t u ral products o f
t h e ser fs. t he local manor would
collapse q Uick ly from th e lack o f
reven u e. Man y a castle has fallen
2.
from a revo lt o f t h e ser fs. as labor
strik es are not an i n ven tion o f the
twe n tie th ce n t u ry.
The serfs can also see tha t th eir
l abor go es in to s u p por ti n g lh e
lord'sarmy, w hich in turn protects
th em . As lo ngas war is a comm on
dange r. and could com e at an y
time. the b c tter p repared t h e arm y.
th e safer th e peasan ts. A fair old
lord beats an unknown new one
an y day.
So. w h at's t he d own side? A
ser rs life Is si m p le. d ul l. and unre-
ward i ng. Th e average peasa n t has
no hope of an im proved sta tu s in
li fe. Likewise, his c h ildren w ill b e
born i n to the sa m e lot th at he was,
an d he can see no bright fu ture for
them. Those w ho d o want som e-
t h in g better. and ar e w illi ng to risk
everyth i ng for it. tend t o becom e
adven turers li ke t h e p layer c h ar-
acters. They eith er d ie. or t h ey be-
come h eroes. Mostly. t h ey die.
 Th is ch apter is dedicated to the
film Excalibur, w hich is requir ed
viewing for anyone wish i ng to
bring "rea l " knights into a fantasy
campai gn. H erein. every th ing
abou t bot h h istor ical knights and
their fantasy equivalen ts is laid
ou t in an effor t to add n ew layers o f
depth to you r feu d al cam paign ,
Hopefull y, you ' ll find th is m ate·
rial fascinating en ough to mak e
the k n ights in your cam paign
more than j u st a few two di m en ·
sional paladi n ty pes, En tire cou n·
tries have been conq ue red by j u st
a few of these noble warriors. for
better or for wor se ,
The classic knigh t is t h e holy
warrior i n sear ch of glor y for his
god, king, and fam ily. He r epels
hordes of invader s, drives the h ea-
then s back acr oss the water s, and
recover s stolen h oly artifact s from
the m in ion s of ev il .
However, h istor y is filled with
variation s on t h e theme, and fan ·
tasy takes t h ings m uch fu r t h er
tha n that. History tells u s of t he
great german iC ki n g Ch arlemagne
who was known as m u ch for his
great heigh t (as tall as a modern
m an) as h e was for his skill in bat·
tle, Fan tasy tells us of warrior s lik e
Per seus. B eowul f. L ancelot, Sig-
fried , an d EI Cid. These m ythical
men fought dragon s w i th t h ei r
bare han ds an d wore t he horns as
trophies, Si nce we are dealing w i th
a fantasy game, t h ese are t h e
knights and he roes w h ich b est su it
our mold.
Knights ar e ded icated, al most al-
ways to ex tremes. L ancelot would
n ot give way to a k ing's arm y si m -
ply on pr inc iple. wh ile Don Quix-
ote stepped over the edge and beat
u p hel pless w i ndmil ls. The dar k
k nigh ts of flctlon -Mord red and
th e legendary Black K night-also
were d ri ven to si ngle· m in ded
goals. an d despite thei r ev il cores,
often followed th e same princip les
as t h ei r good counterp arts.
H owever , i n a gam e w h ere team-
wor k is more im portant t h an solo
gallivanting. the singl e h eroic fig-
ure can som etim es be lost. This
doesn't have to happen.
An air of m yste r y around a
k n ighted ch aracter he lps keep t h e
campaign ten se . May b e th e pala-
d in is hunti ng for his missi n g fa-
ther. or t h e dragon that burned h is
village. The cam paign should n o t
revol ve around t his lone q u est. as
alm ost all knigh ts look for a "sign
from ab ove" for gui da n ce. This
p lot pain t can be brought u p occa-
sionally. in between adven tures fo-
cu sed on o ther charactcrs. Th is
en h an ces t h e sense of des ti ny
arou nd t h e knight an d adds im-
mensely to the atmospher e o f the
campaIgn . In short. knigh ts are
su pposed to be a speci al. eli te
grou p of warriors. They shou ld b e
as qu irk y as you r w izard . as de-
vou t as your priest. an d as cun -
n i ng as you r r ogue-b u t i n
d iffere nt ways an d for uniq u ely
ch ivalric reaso ns.
Knights of Glory
As mention ed befor e. k n igh ts
are the eli te o f warrior s. They are
a l ways con si dered to be nobl e,
eve n if they were not born so. as
k n ighth ood is one of t h e few ways
for a person of common roots to en -
ter t he nobility.
For t h is an d o th er reasons,
k n ights are accorded t h e h igh est
measure of respect i n the k ing-
d om . I f a kni g h t is trave lli ng
with in his r ealm or the realm of a
major ally, h e can stay at any in n
h e wan ts for free. In t h e friendlier
of in ns. his entourage can stay as
well .
2S
His cr es t an d s t an da r d co m ·
m and respect a n d trust (unless the
family is an i n fam ou s on e). H is
word is usu ally taken as law. for
knights are r enow n ed for their
h on esty. integrity. an d honor. In
fact . tru t h and h onor are the meat
an d d rink of true knigh ts.
Th eir armo r is clean. their
m ou n t p r ou d and stro n g. A
kn ight's sword is aJways sh ar p.
and even t h e thieves give way
w h en a kn igh t comes down l he
road.
Sim ply pu t. kn igh ts recei ve all
th e pu blic respect accorded any
n oble. and all of the private respect
as well. Kn ights are stro n g de-
fen ders o f the people. and are see n
as th e real power b eh i nd the
t h ron e. Thies of lon e war riors de-
feating barbarian h ordes are al-
ways pop ul ar at Market Day
fes tivals. A nd any grea t battle, no
m atter h ow it was fou gh t. or by
whom , is al ways a t trib u ted to a
gr ea t knigh t. w h ether h e deserves
th e credit or n ot.
K nigh ts even get to have th ei r
own castles an d marry beautiful
princesses. u su ally of their own
ch oosi n g! Ah. to be big and strong
and wear expen sive ar mor .
Nothing Is free
We ll , w h y isn' t eve r yone a
k n ight? T h e answer to that is fairly
simple: Not ever yon e h as, as lh ey
say. t he r igh t stu ff.
For on e thi ng. k n ighls d ie a lot.
You see. it seems that ch argi ng
in to d anger isn't t h e safestoccupa·
tion in th e world. T hus, knigh ts
h ave very sh ort life expectan cies
(usu ally in the neighborh ood o f
one or two ba ttl es) . T h e hon or
t hi ng also seem s toge t in the way a
l ot. since a k n ight won' t bac k
down from a figh t no matter w h at
the odds a re. In suc h cases, a
knight eith e r fl ees (and disgraces
himselO or dies. Because th ey are
known to be stubborn people, they
ofte n c hoose the latter option.
When this happens, their armor is
brought home. fix ed up. and
passed on to the oldest son.
Knights m ust be ready to leave
for battle at a moment's notice,
whether for god, king, or family
honor, and this a lso tends to make
that marriage to the beautiful prin-
cess a short-lived a ffair.
Taking orders without question
and following a rigid code of war-
rior ethics tends to make a knight's
job a bit of a roller-coaste r ride.
One minute, you 're riding a white
palomino to glory, lance in hand ,
a nd the next minute your brave
warhorse has left you s u rrounded
by the great khan and his three
hundred angry sons.
It's a dirty job, but someone's got
to do it. ..
Warhorses
While we're diSCUSSing som e of
the good and bad points of knight-
hood, it's time someone men-
tioned the knight's faithfu l side-
kick, his warhorse.
Any knight worth his silver
~purs has spe nt a lot ofUme choos-
ing. raising, training, and pamper-
ing his mount. Whether this Is the
silver dragon given to you by the
elven king, or a real good deal you
found ata farm, a m ou n t is often a
knight's only method of travel.
Knights are very close to their
moun ts, A well ·trained warhorse
can be counted on to drag a fall en
knight to safety, defend his master'S
body a fter a staggering blow, or
even return a s lumped rider to his
manor. A good mount Is not only an
aid to a knight. but a necessity.
From the cam paign point of
view, a knight's mount can be a
source of drama a nd personality.
Remember tha t s uch an a nimal is
known for his unusual intelligence
a nd his loyalty to his master. By
giving the war horse a few interest-
ing traits, the DM can add a great
deal of color to the knight's life.
Pity the poor thief wh o is cau ght
going through the master's pack
by his mount. ..
In Search of High Adventure
High adventure. This Is not the
crude wench-mongering of s uc h
salty warriors as barbarians. No,
these are noble quests in search of
great treasures and the downfall of
vast evU powers-where dragons'
hordes are s tripped from their evil
clutch es in confli cts steeped in
b lood, Ore, a nd steel.
Alright. you probably get the
idea. The AD&D* game lets you
leave the boredom of real life a nd
jump right into the very m yths of
our past. Note that the classic epic
he ro has always been a warrior,
s ince wizards never existed, priests
don't cast spell s in reality, and
thieves only adventure when they
have to.
Unfortunately, that leaves some
of the other c haracter classes out
in the cold, but that's okay, they
have their ow n ways of achievi ng
g lory, wealth, power, and (best of
a ll) knighthood.
Knighthood for
Non-Warriors
This brings us to knighthood in
gene ra l. As most o f you tech·
ni cally-oriented types already
know, th e te rms "knight " and
"knighth ood " have been rather
loosely th rown around here.
26
Strictl y speaking, a nyone can be
a knigh t as knighthood Is be-
stowed by the king upon those
who have done him and the coun-
try a great service worthy ofrecog-
nitlon. While such occasions are
extremely comm on for warriors In
Urnes of war. It is possible for any
character to become knighted .
It is also true that a real warrlor-
knight travelling with the party
m akes such recognition easie r to
come by, but it is a lso true that
m a ny deserving party m embers
have been passed by at times like
this, while the warrior of the group
is accorded full honors as ifhe had
done the e ntire deed alone!
Howe ve r. tha t is rare, Most
knights are warriors raised by the
n obility and then sent out on mis-
s ion s of conquest or defense.
Freelance adventuring warriors
are always con sid ered to be
knights errant, privately working
for the king a ll a long.
All persons knighted get to add
the prefix "Sir" or "Lady" to their
n ames. Failure to address a
knighted individual In the proper
m anner is an ins ult which has , on
more than one occasion, led to a
c hallenge. Further, knighthood is
heredi tary. Thus, a knight's heirs
will claim his title when he dies.
Non -warrior knights are not likely
to be given castles in s trategic loca-
tions in order to defend the king-
dom . Still, they can be granted
control over a town , receive a grant
of land . or even a pOSition of advi-
sor to the court!
In campaign terms, knighthood
is a nice way of taking c haracters
from the position or" low-level wan-
dering nobodies" to " name-level
noble m em bers of society worthy of
honor a nd respect." Naturally.
s uch positions are a lways to the
benefit of the king, and are also
likely to indicate that the king is
now ready to watch carefully a ndi
or utilize his new "resources."
Fealty goes both ways though.
While the characters can expect to
be the kin g's errand boy every
once In a while , they also earn the
right to contact him when things
are getting ou t of hand a nd they
need help. More than likely, the
king would want to know about
s uch problems anyway.
Let the knights In your cam·
paign "strut th eir stuff' as much
as t hey want when things a r e
quite. Remember the old saying.
"with great power com es great reo
s ponslbili ty." Things will turn
n asty soon enough a nd the wou ld-
be heroes will find themselves up
to their visors In danger.
The Road to Knighthood
Most knigh ts must be s quired to
a noble lord or knight. and the n
trained in the arts of war by their
m asters. One cannot just choose to
be a knight and s ign up som e·
where. SUII . there are other ways
to attain the status of knight with-
ou t this long training process, but
they usua lly invol ve great risk to
on e's hea lth a nd a lmos t foolis h
bravery.
. In some campa igns. the OM can
choose to assign knighthood to a
character at first level. assuming
that his training as a squire was
completed on the way to man-
hood . and now the young warrior
is ready to step out on his own .
However. depending on the cam·
palgn. this may not be the best
way. After a ll , where is the great
deed done in service to god, king.
or coun try? Face it. at fi rst level.
killing an ogre Is a great act of he·
roism, but it doesn 't rank up there
on the royal top ten of heroic acts,
now does it? Also, more impor· fam ily favor. by being chosen by
tantly. where'S the charac ter de· the High Priest at festival time. or
velopment? Does the whole story by sheer luck. In a ny case. the
ge t made up and wasted In 100 imagin a tion of the OM Is the only
words or less on a 3x5 card? lim it. and as we all know, there Is
It seems m ore logical to a llow no lim it to that.
the young cavalier or paladin to
train until m an hood and then be Questing for Knighthood
a llowed to make his own m ark
Th e best way (from a campaign
upon the world . Som e knights·ln-
stance) to become a knight is by
training s tay back and train the
completing a quest. Now. trad i·
next group. guard th e fort. or take
tl on a ll y. qu est s have invo lved
a safe job at home with "Daddy."
thin gs like recovering the Holy
Those are the NPC kind of knigh ts.
Grai l from Mordred and Morgan La
They reac h na m e level at the age of
Fey. or th rowing a cursed ring into
50 a nd get knighted for "meritori-
a big volcano. Howeve r. unl ess
ous service in the name of the
your PC knigh t wants to wait until
kin gdom ." which is a fancy way of
20th level to be truly knighted. it
sayi ng " h e didn't get killed or
might be better to stick to some·
sc rew up r ea l badly in all his
thing s maller.
years."
What kind of quest m ight do it?
But PC kni ghts·in·trai ni ng go
Well . t hat depends a lot on the
out and seek little dragons. As they
campaign. If th ere is a dragon in
years go by, t hey gradua lly allow
the land who is a real nuisance to
their Increased skills a nd abilities
the kingdom. r emovi n g it is a
to gUide their sigh t's higher and
p retty big favo r for the king.
higher until they a re con fron ti ng
Maybe tha t dragon Is in a very In ·
world -s hatte ring h orrors and
accessible place and no one knows
stand ing alone agai ns t the great·
where the lair is, turning that in ·
est of foes. Training for levels can
formation over to His Royal High ·
be done on the road. as earned by
ness would certa inly be worthy of
deeds. or by the PC's lord. who gets
attention. Perhaps som eone im·
to keep tabs on him and contin ues
portan t was taken by the beast and
his fatherly guidance over those
the trick is to return the prisoner
years .
safely. In short. the perceived m ag·
It is a lso s uggested that. In a feu-
nitude of the deed (i.e. d id it make
dal campaign , the criteria for ob·
a really heroic tale afterwards) is
taining a stronghold not be fixed at
more Important tha n the experi·
9th level. Bei ng knighted , wh ich
ence poin ts earned.
mayor m ay not come at 9 th level.
Destroy ing a cu rsed object
s hould be the campaign cr iteria for
migh t in volve nothing more than
s uch a n importa n t event. It m akes
dropping it in a regular old run"'Of·
the gift more logical in s uch a set·
the-m ill volcano. Of cou rse. that
tlng and gives the charac ter an ob·
might still require s ix m on ths of
vlous reward to work fo r in his
travelling the high seas at co nsid·
travels and ba ttles.
erable risk.
You can become a squire through
In all cases. try and let the player
bribery, by being left on a doorstep.
make the quest choice. Give h im
by cooking an unus ually good rab-
or her as m a ny s u b tl e hints.
bit for a knight. by calli ng In a n old
27
 om e ns. and porten ts as you wan t.
bu t the decision should renect a
p e rson al c h oice of the p layer. not
an en forced requ ire m en t. Accom-
plis hing one's objective fee ls a lot
be tte r whe n it was their idea.
By t h e way, don 't forget to make
th e trip worthw hil e to th e other
playe rs. Inclu de eq ua lly un iq ue
reasons to go a long. if the usua l
q uest [or random experie nce. trea-
sure. an d h igh adve nture doesn't
boil t heir blood. Howe ver. stress
t hat this ti me ou t. i t's th e k n igh t's
c ha nce for glory. Note that a good
OM gives similar chances for the
o ther char ac ters as well, bu t for
reasons that mus t vary from char-
acter to characlCr.

Any Excuse for a Party

H ooray! The d eed is don e. the
beast vanq uished. the accu rsed ar-
tifact destroyed! Now w hat?
Dependin g on trad ition . t h e cer-
emon ies of kn ig h t h ood can eith er
be a solemn. priva te affair or j u st
an oth er exc u se for a really b ig
par ty.
In classic English h istory. kn igh t-
hood was a solem n gift. bestowed
u pon t h e wort h y subject with
much po m p and c irc u mstance.
The church gave its blessin gs. as
did the k ing.
H owever. In lands whe r e t h e
k ing isn 't quite so stuffy. a royal
kn ighthood is o ften a time of grea t
celebra Uon. A good ru ler knows
th e political value of associa ting
hi msel f quickly wi th the doers o f
brave deeds. A lso. t h e oa th o f fe-
alty to t he king from t h e b rave
knigh t ad ds to the king's p restige
im m ensely.
For p ur poses of th e AD&D®
ga m e. the follow ing order of eve n ts
is suggested.
On t h e day o f the ceremony. the

28
capital city and the ca stle grounds
h ave a carnival -like a tm osph er e
about them. In fact. the m onth ly
Market Day may be r u shed or post-
poned jus t to take advantage of all
of the newcom ers attend i ng the
ceremon y. Such an event is adver-
tised at least a m on th in advance
to get as much o f a t urnout as pos·
sible. II is also not uncommon for
the king to waive th e Market Tax
and provide a pavilion o f free food
and drink in order to prom ote a
bigger turnou t.
At high noon. t h e cerem onies be-
gin with the most powerfu l local
church presidin g. The service w ill
be hosted by the local curate at the
very least , and may even merit t h e
attention s of a dean or pri mat e. In
all cases. t h e im portance of the
knight's social status and t h e
greatn ess of the d eed w ill de ter -
mine who cond u ct s the a ffair. In
the case of a multiple knigh ting
which Involves Individu als from
different religions, represen ta ti ves
of each faith w ill attend t h e ser v-
ice. Usually. the state religion w ill
assume a leading role. bu t oth er
compromises are possible.
On ce the b lessings and sacra-
ments h ave bee n perfor med, t h e
royal processio n begins. The kin g
traditiona ll y taps the kneeling
knight on each sh oulder . u tterin g
some standard secular blessin g. It
m ayor may not h ave re ligious con-
n otation s. depending on t h e na-
ture o f t h e campaign .
The kn igh t Is then expected to
kiss the sword o f the ki ng as a sym-
b ol of subser vience to h is n ew lord.
and swear open allegiance and fe-
alty before all present. T h is con-
tinues until all eligible person s are
knight ed.
Hip hip hooray! Now the fun re-
ally begi ns. The tow n sp eop le cele-
brate upwards of a week. until all
concerned are ei ther drun k. broke.
or both . A wise k ing th rows in a
fair number o f su rprises. like free
chickens at the market grounds. or
a ch ance to visit the royal stab les.
I f he own s a mount o f power, like a
dragon or p egasu s. h e undoubt-
ed ly circles t h e castl e and city
many ti m es to show o ff.
I n short. m ake it an Interestin g
affair. full of fun and ce lebration,
but don't forge t the adven tu r in g
possibilities. Such even ts ar e field
days for thieves and troub le-
makers. and if the party starts
trouble. they migh t have to he lp
clean it u p after wards.
Also. as su c h events are an-
n ounced i n advan ce, an opposing
arm y am assed n earby (that had re-
main ed undetected) surely t akes
the c h a n ce to attack th e i ll·
defended capital , hoping to strike a
single k illing s troke. Such an at-
tack Is certain ly dish onorable In
the extreme. so m ake the land and
lord In question an In famou s one.
H ow ever. su ch an attack is likely
to be a ran dom. h aphazard affair,
and the players migh t p laya major
role in turning back the im petu ous
invaders. I f they do. then they earn
even more fam e and glory. If not.
the townspeople are not goin g to be
ver y pleased abou t the lack of pro-
tection. let alon e any unplan ned-
for ch ange i n leadersh i p.
Deml-Human Celebrations
Okay. so t h e humans get drunk.
sing a litlie, and ch ase m em bers o f
t h e opposite sex. but wha t do other
races do a t su ch occasions? Wh ile
t h e dwarven and elven versions o f
chivalry an d knighthood are dis-
c u ssed later on . this seem s the
best p lace to d escribe non-h u m an
celebration s.
19
EI\'e n r a rtles
The elves get d ru nk. si n g very
well . and chase members of the op-
pOSi te sex. They take a very ligh t-
hearted approach to the ceremony.
as t h ey see su ch spectacles man y
ti m es over their long life span s. No
di sr es pec t is i ntend ed . In fact.
nothi ng is more resp ec ted t h an an
elven protector.
The weal th spen t on su ch affai rs
is en ormou s. b u t many of the deco-
ratio n s have been u sed befo r e.
Gem -laden strings of mlthrli wrap
the trunks of trees. and gleami ng
shirts of mithril arm or com e out of
s torage fo r the occasion . E lven
parties last for weeks. and li ttle is
accomplish ed d uring su ch h igh
festivals.
Dwarven rartl es
On the other hand . the Dwarves
get drunk . sing r ather badly. and
ch ase member s of the opposite
sex. Dwarves take su ch signs of
glor y very. very seriously. The high
ceremony is attended only b y a
few and i nvolves a blood-bond i ng
between th e lord and h is new vas-
sal. Dwarves know war Is a ser ious
m atter. and glory attain ed in war is
worth y of the high est h onor.
However. after the solemn cer e-
m onies are over. the dwarves go
cr azy for a few weeks just like the
elves. Visitors trapped in the dwar-
ven caves during these times may
be overwhelmed by the wildness of
su ch a n or mally solemn r ace. Still.
few who have ever lived through a
dwarven celebration w ilJ ever ex-
p erien ce any thing li ke it again.
The Chivalric: Code
The ch ivalric code Is the set of
ideals which all knights are ex-
p ected to follow to the letter. H ow-
ever. this code of honor and tru th
often causes a lot of confli ct for
both the kn ight and those he trav-
els with.
Wh il e th ese gu ideli nes h ave
been presented In many ways in
previous AD&D® ru les books, a n d
they have also been reprised in the
AD&D 2nd Ed iti o n Compl ete
Fighter's Handboo k , space has
prevented a detailed accounting of
the reasons that such a code is fol-
lowed. and what the many conse-
quences of failur e m ight be .
Herein. the code of chivalry is de-
tailed with an eye to playability in
a feudal campaign.
Medieval Code of Chivalry
A kn ight must cheerfu lly per-
form any noble service or quest
asked of him . Ifa ny person or item
is placed in his care. a kn igh t m u s t
defend, to t he death if necessary.
his c harge. Naturally. any task in-
comple tely accompli sh~d is a s ign
of physical weakness a n d spiritual
faiJu re.
A knight mus t perform m ilitary
service to his lord whenever asked
and must s how courage a nd enter-
prise when obeying bis lord. T h is
is the very heart of th e fe u dal ideal,
a nd form s the backbone of m edi-
eval military organ ization.
A knight rega rds war as t he
"flowering of chivalry" a nd. there-
fore. a noble en terprise. For the
knight. battle is the test of man-
hood. and combat Is glorious. A
knight's first goal as a war rior,
therefore, is the personal achieve-
m e nt of glory in battle. Without
glorious deeds in times of war, a
knigh t is considered to be noth ing
more than a fancy m ercenary, hav-
ing was ted years of h is life train ing
for u lUmale fa il ure.
A knight must defeat a li those
who oppose his cause in battle.
Note that s lay ing your enemy is
not always the best way to make
your poin t. Driving off an invader
with a great s how of force a llows
ta les to be to ld. rumors to be
spread. a n d kee ps som eone a live
to warn aga inst fu rther invas ions .
A knight must choose death be-
fore dis honor. Why live if one must
live in disgrace? Much li ke b u-
shldo. the sam urai's code of honor.
t he knight Is supposed to die be-
fore s u rrende ring h is c harge. How-
ever. while a knight who blindly
charges the barbarian horde may
seem ludicrous, the u ltimate re-
sult is the same. honor Is served.
A knight must show respect fo r
a ll peers and equ a ls . honor a ll
those above his station (social
class or rank). and scorn those who
are lowly and ignoble. A kn igh t
does not aid the ilI -man-nered. the
coarse. the crude. Th is applies to
goods a nd services as we ll. A
knigh t does not use eqUi pment
whic h is badly-made or in fe rior, as
he chooses to figh t on foot before
r id in g a nag.
A knight m u st s how courtesy to
a ll ladies (also see "Maid to Fit" ).
Women are fra il things to be pro-
tected. T hey are to be cherished
a nd honored. watched fro m afar
a nd never handled roughly.
A Modern Code of Chivalry
Some of the positions held by
classic knights make It diffic ult to
playa fa n tasy kn ight correctly. Af-
ter a ll . m uch like the sam u rai war-
rior. a true kn igh t would only j u st
getou t on h is own before he had al-
ready headed off in searc h of the
evil high king across the sea. T h is
makes for very one-sided adven-
tures (an noying the othe r players
imme nsely) an d ve ry s hor t li fe
30
spans . Rolling up a new knight
every level is nobody's idea of fun .
Here is a modified code whic h
migh t be m ore fu nctional in the
typical AD&D®game.
FAithfulness
A kn igh t m u st be true to h is god .
Any lack of faith is a sign of s pir it-
ual weakness a nd im m oral ch arac-
ter. In the event of an a rea o f
unce rtainty. t he knight s h ou ld
seek out a priest of h is fai th a nd re-
qu est guidance. In the case of mi-
nor tra nsgress ion s, t he k n ight
m ight be assigned a task to s how
his desire to make amends for h is
m isdeeds.
Loyalty
A kn ight must be true to his
coun try a nd h is ki ng. The e ntire
kingdom would collapse s hould
the oaths of feal ty be dissolved. Be
loyal to your lord. and your vassals
will learn from your example. Be
disloyal. and beware eve ry time
you turn your back .
Respec:t
A knight must be true to wom en
or those who are less fortu nate than
him self. and honor those who have
achieved greater glory for their god
and country. Those who lie. cheat.
and steal are beneath contempt as
they are honorless cowards.
Honor
A kn igh t mus t be true to one's
s elf. Only you r god and you know if
you have been tr uly honorable,
and lying to one's self can only lead
to the fu rther corru ption of lyin g to
others. All lies. no matter for what
cause they are told. are dishonor-
able. It Is better to not provide a n
a nswer at all than it is to deceive
anyone for a ny reason . This in-
cludes shading the truth or lies
based on the omission of facts.
Any intent to deceive is considered
a lie.

V~lor

A knight mus t be true to his pro-

fession . A warrior who is a coward
is not a warrior at all , but a worth·
less retch In armor, preaching lies
to all around him . You cannot earn
respect In s uch a manner, a nd you
cannot keep a clear con scious by
retreating from glory. It Is better to
die for your cause than to surre n -
der It. If a cause is not worth nght·
Ing for. then war is to no avail. A
c ha lle n ge . especially to si n gle
combat. Is always the best way to
achieve valor and glory for your
cau se,

Maid to fit
A short note Is needed here to
discuss the role of -women as
knights. Women, especially th ese
days. play In a lot of AD&D* game
campaigns. Now, in a classic m edi-
eval settin g. women got to oversee
th e knitting, or th e temporar y
command of the castle while the
lord was away-hardly a grea t
role-playi ng ex perience. However.
with a little work describing a fe-
male knigh t. we can get an Idea of
some ways a round the rather sex-
Ist codes of chivalry.
Since you are unlikely to be
playing with m ajor cha uvinists In
your gam e, once the fem a le knight
has " prove n herself' In th e eyes of
her fellow warriors things s hould
go rather s m oothly and the prob-
lem is solved . Otherwise, chauvin ·
Ism will be a constan t cam paign
problem.
Instead of seeing all women as
things to be put upon a pedestal

3'
and ad mired, a female knig ht sees
all women as a llies, and has a firm
grasp on the real behind-th e-
scenes working of a kingdom and a
castle. Female knights get to u se
cun ning and diplomacy to greater
effect in su ch a campaign.
However, if t here are enough
women to support a gu ild. they
can either have big chips on their
shoulders (as a resu lt of overcom-
ing ou trigh t preJudice) or they
might jus t have earned a fair m ea-
sure of respect from the general
populace. Female arc hers are par-
ticularly formidable for they tend
to spend more lime perfecting sub-
tle movements than raw physical
power.
As seen in heroic fantasy, female
warriors are just as powerful as the
men, but s tress different things
about combat. While a male bar-
barian lord is capable of splitting a
sku ll with his axe. a female knig ht
might prefer removing that head
in a m ore surgical fashion, by
passing her blade through the
throat.
Falling from Grace
A lot has been madeofthe power
of the chivalri c ideal to control
one's destiny and outlook on life.
In fact. it is ex pected that the code
chosen be followed to the letter,
even to the point of extremes-like
single-handedly charging the an-
cient red dragon when there is no
hope of s uccess.
However, as is bound to happen
sometime in a knight's life. he may
"fall from grace". Even a momen-
tary lapse of will can cost a knight
dearly.
It cannot be emphasized how
much a breach of trust and faith it
is to fail to perform honorably.
However. there are degrees of fail-
ure, and not every transgression is
a world-shaking event. In order be-
low are some of the punishments
com m on in such ci rcum s tances,
and th e level of transgression re-
quired to receive said punishment.
Loss of Personal Honor
A knight who has shown minor
cowardice in battle (by avoiding a
battle. etc.) or who has offended a
lady. has su ffered a loss of personal
honor. He has bee n marked as spir-
itually impure. a nd the OM is en ·
cou raged to inform the knight that
he is now displaying tendencies to·
wards neutral or evil. The player
s hould be inform ed or this change.
and s uch fa ilures become id le gos-
sip in the kingdom very quickly.
Further failings will result in an ac-
tual align m ent change and force
the knight to deal with a ll th e nega-
tive erfects or s uch transrorma-
tlons.
Recovering from s uch a trans-
gression orten involves nothing
more than a courageou s stand in
the next battle. or championing
said lady in the upcom ing tourna-
ment. While the stain is not per-
manent and alignment can return
to normaL rurther transgressions,
even ir normally only minor. are
now treated with eve n less toler-
ance and might cause the loss or
one's family honor (see below).
Loss of Family Honor
Outright cowardice In the line or
duty that does not result in the loss
of the battle or the striking of any
women. a re the sorts or things that
not only incur the penalties stated
above under " Loss of Personal
Honor". but also can have long-
lasting efrects on the of rending
knight's entire ramily line.
Besides flagrant alignment vio-
31
lalion. the knight's liege-lord is
fu lly within h is rights to repeal the
oaths or realty sworn rrom such an
obviously dishonorable character.
The revoking or lands. the rreezing
or assets. and the bitter scorn of
the general populace are usually
humbling en ough to the fallen
knight.
Some ra llen knights choose to reo
pent thei r sins through the per-
rormance or some great quest. or
by enteri n g into a mon aste ry
where. after serving their god for
many yea rs, penance might be
gran ted.
Other knights might opt to re-
nounce the sam e titles they have
lived by. having had a more perma-
nent change of heart. and become
knights-errant. or rogue knights.
Loss of Royot;l Honor
Now, the knight's crim es are get-
ling serious by anyone's s tandards.
The knight has fled the scene or a
battle. demoralizing his forces to
the point or turning the course or
the battle. or the knight has
harmed or s la ndered a lady or noble
blrth-a chaste daughter or the
realm!
Including a ll or the punishments
detailed under the "Loss or Per-
sona l and Family Honor" sections,
the knight and quite possibly his
entire ramily line is likely to be
banished forever rrom the king-
dom. As enemies orthe real m . and
to save the face or the ruling lord.
the knight risks imprisonment or
execution Ir he returns.
Nothing s h or t or saving th e
king's daughter from the clutches
of ultimate evil can win back the
fallen hero's lands. By default.
since they no longer have any lord
to serve or lands to represen t. a ll
s u ch knights become rogue
knigh ts. This knight 's family cr est
becomes a beacon o f distrust tha t
haunts him the rest of h is life.
Heinous Cri mes Against The Gods
or The king
T his particular category Is t h e
most seriou s becau se such Ollngs
do not occur accidentally. Su ch h el·
nous crimes are p remedllated and
all t he more despicable, T h is type of
crime is distinguished by the fact
that It must be so awful that lhe
knight In question's alignment is
now Irrevocably shifted to evil,
Using our progressive examples,
this time the knigh t h as actu ally
led h is lord's forces in to an am·
b u sh , turning sides and h el ping to
slau gh ter his own m en , or th e
knigh t has ca ptured , ransom ed,
and possib ly even killed t h e k lng's
o wn d au gh tcr.
Now, all of t h e p en alties dis-
cu ssed above are j u st for start ers,
T h is h orrible criminal's life is now
forfeit. Banish m en t Is -proc laimed,
b u t h ardl y necessary, as the cu i·
prlt Is n o doubt long gon e after th e
deed. His crest , should h e r em ain
bold en ou gh to present it. atlracts
boun t y hunters and loyal aveng-
Ing knigh ts until the scound rcl is
cau ght and brough t to justice.
Such a knight is the w or st kind
of rogu e. a Black Knight. and this
is the kind of man great chivalric
villains are made of.
Rogue Knights
Now. you ca n u se t h e ab ove
guidelines to keep you r kn ights In
ch eck or to build a better history for
your n oble houses, but there are
oth er ways to ulill ze the rogu e
knight's life.
What if it's a frame-up? H ow do
you proclaim yo ur In nocence
when no on e b elieves you ? How
ca n you ch allenge th e knigh t w h o
fram ed y ou if you have al ready
been banish ed from th e kingdom ?
Do you s tart a n ew life. on ly to re-
turn decades latc r to right t h e
wrong. or does the kn igh t ge t the
ch ance to ch all enge before the
king? A nd what If the fram er is of
much high er l eve l th at of th e
fram ed? I f you die defending you r
h on or, then you ' ll be considered
gUilty. and i f you fail to ch allen ge.
then you are also assumed to be
guilty.
And what about the problems
faced by m en like Sir Robin of
Loksley (Robin Hood)? His lands
were taken by an ev il usurper to
the th rone while the t rue kin g was
h eld capllve across the sea. Which
king do you serve and wh ich is the
m ost h onorable road to travel? Do
you dare fig ht your old comrades?
As you can see, k ni ghts and
rogue knights m ake not on ly t h e
best NPCs. but also add spice to
any PC background story. Better
yet. the DM can th row su ch a curve
into the cam paign as It Is runn ing.
ca u sing a ll so rts o f g r eat rol e-
play ing opportun ities.
Heraldry
Every knight or n ob le w orth h is
castle h as a family crest or banner.
In fact. once a n ew noble is
knighted, a ba nner bearing the
family h eraldry must be se n t to
the kin g's castle where it is hung
proud ly in h is great thron e h all .
anot h er sign to all visitors of a
k in g's vast wealth an d power .
While every nob le has a co a t of
arms, this sec tion Is specifically
tailored to warrior knights in par-
ticu lar. As their standards are t h e
most colo r fu l a nd m eani n g fu l.
t h ey offer the best examples of t h e
33
grea t art of h eraldry. However, any
n oble ca n bear a coat-of-arm s, and
any important personality (PC or
NPC) ca n h ave thei r own personal
etch ed rune. wizard mark. or Iden -
tifying glyph, and these gUidelines
can be used by any person Inter-
ested In add ingj u sta little bit m ore
flavor to thei r fantasy person a.
Standards
Most no tably. a knigh t's stand -
ard appears in five places: on his
arm or. his shield . his lan ce-ba nner
(wh en leading a ch arge to ball ie or
sh own at the beginning of a tour-
nament), on a large banner or flag
fl y ing high above h is castle. an d on
his pri vate Signet ring (which is
u sed to leave an impression in
seali ng wax on lctters and legal
co n trac ts) ,
The standard can i nclude any-
thing from the favorite nowers of a
knlght 's lady to the d epiction of the
knlgh t 's most h a ted en emy or hero-
ically van quished foe. In classic
medie va l history. the objects
placed on the standard usually had
no appar en t meaning to those out-
side t he family. Often that secret
was no t passed down to the nex t
gen era Uon o f t he fam il y ei ther,
m aking things very confusin g in -
deed If a gen ealogy is a ttempted.
However, for our purposes. it re-
ally adds very IiLUe to the ga m e if
suc h standards are u seful for noth ·
ing more than identifyi ng the en -
em y d uring a foggy battle. For all
player s interested in adding some
colo r to th eir cha r acters, som e
m ore thou ght is required .
The royal standard is born on ly
by th e king. his squ ires. and his
person al knights. g u ards. and
ar m y. However. some kings re-
quire at least a portion of their
stan dard t o be includ ed some·
where i n the s tanda r ds of an y
sworn vassals. noble or knighted.
In such cases. the king's symbol is
something si m ple and easily r ec-
ogn ized. like a sun. m oon . lion.
si ngle bar. background color. or
even a dragon . w h ich Is easily In-
corporated in to an y lesser stan d-
ard.
Before a campaign is begun. at
least the klng's s tandard shou ld be
descri bed to t h e ch aracters. as his
followers are to be t reated with t h e
utmost care at all levels of adven -
turing. The standards of any
neighboring a ll ies and enemies
and the local noble m anor should
also be de termined before p l ay
commen ces fully.
If the OM is uSing the optio n o f
waiting to k n igh t his war riors un t il
they have become worth y of the
honor t h rough gr ea t deeds. t h en
t h e knigh t- in-train in g m ust bear
t he standard of h is lord un t il he
has earned the chan ce to create his
own noble li n e. Oth erwi se, p layers
should detail their family crest an d
h istory during the character crea·
tion ph ase and submit this to the
OM for approval and i nclu sion in to
the cam paign.
In par ticu larly large kin gdoms
or wor lds wher e there is an em·
peror, it Is possible for a newly
k nigh t ed wa r rior to h ave more
than one required symbol in h is
stan dard. m akin g the customizi ng
34
of h is ow n standard a di fficult one.
It is now readily apparen t why
t h e Her aldry skill in the Players
Hand book becomes usefu l. With
t h is skill . it is possi b le to deduce
anot her kn igh t's allegiances. fam -
ily h istory. and record o f previou s
deeds or cri m es. It also becom es
equa lly apparent w h y t h e OM
needs to whip up som e of th is in -
formation beforehand ! Use il to
drop h ints abou t an an cient
weapon k nown to be w ielded by a
fam ou s. or i n famou s. k n igh t. It
also comes in very han dy durin g a
tourn ame n t.
In an y case. t h e exact nature an d
m eaning of the standard is left u p
to the char act er and t h e OM. Below
we prese n t two exam p les. one
from h istor y and on e from fiction ,
to guide the DM in t h is m atter.
Rich ard the L ion-H earted
Rich ar d t he Lio n -Hearted. reo
now n ed kin g of Englan d. bore a
" lion ram pan t" (i.e. attacking lion )
u pon all of h is noble d evices . Th is
symbolized h is stren gth and ag-
gr essiveness in battle. W hile there
is n o realHon i n Rlc hard's past. th e
sym bol of the lion was b ased on his
deeds as a young m an , his large
sta ture, an d h is skill in battle.
While some standards bear li ttle
resemblance to the historical per-
ce ption of some k nigh ts, Richard's
was em inently appropriate. Since
then, many of Eng land's kings
have followed Rich ard's exam p le
and h ave i n corporated lions in to
th eir standards.
In an AD&D® gam e, thou san ds
of animals and m onsters. both
good and ev il. can b e u tilized in a
sim ilar fashion .
L an cel o t Du L ake
Lancelot, as portr ayed in t he
fil m ExcaJibuf. bore an embossed
picture of the Holy Gra il on his
chest as a symbol of h is search for
perfection. It was legend that only
the truest knight. perfect In a ll reo
spects, could find the lost Holy
Grai l. Wh ile th e existence of the
Grail can be doubted. It Is n ot Its
reality th a t is Importa n t. as the
Grail was a visi bl e symbol of
something tha t was not visib le to
the knights: perfectio n . Such
symbolism ca n add greatl y to a
PC knlght's coa t-o f·arms.
The King 's Sta.nda.rd
As an exam ple of Incorpora ting
the lord's standard into one's own.
Imagine that the great overlord's
standard is a gold dragon. If a king
under h im has a sliver dragon. in·
tertwinlng the two dragons is a
standard rich In artistry and sym-
bolism for a feudal environment.
If the king uses the symbol of a
stone tower to remind people his
castle has never fallen to siege. the
emperor's go ld dragon ca n be
spread out behind the tower. Indi-
cating that the tower Is protected
by a greater power as well.
Altering the Armor Further
When knights spent more time
dressing themselves for war than
actually flghtlng. they continued to
alter their armor In decorative ways.
One of these ways Included modify-
ing the helmet to resemble some-
thing In the knight·sstandard. like a
hawk's beak. the wings of a pega-
sus, or the fangs of a va m pire.
Another a lterallon In volved the
outer appeara nce of the arm or.
While It Is cu s tomary to pain t the
noble s tanda rd on the armor, Itcan
be quite an elaborate affair. Molten
precious meta ls like s li ver and
gold can be used like pain t at such
times.
Howeve r. so m eon e w ho has
s uch funds aVailable usually goes
to the trouble of embossin g his
standard more perm anently. This
includes actua lly denting and
shaping the a rmor In and around
the symbol like a bas relief sculp-
ture. This can then be augmented
by gems. precious m etals. or any-
thing else the knight desires. Since
this increases th e value of the a r-
m or. and th e expenses to re pair It
on ce damaged , only t he very
wealthy prepare their ba ttle armor
in s uch a fas hion . Usua lly. a sec-
ond set of armor. not s ullab le for
combat use Is prepared for specia l
occasions and hig h ceremonies.
like weddings. knlghthoods. a nd
councils of war.
Even the very arm or Itself can be
m odified s li ght ly, to look more
rounded or sharp. depending on
the effect desired. Som e things.
however. speak loud er than any
crest of standard when it concerns
one's armor. Any knight walking
the la nd in a suit of blue-green
m e tal em bossed with ru nes o f
m ystic power Is not to be taken
IightJy.
Deml-Human Knights
Kni ghthood a nd th e Code o f
Chiva lry are primarily s tates of
m ind and occupations chosen by
the person In qu estion. In fact.
adapting kni gh th ood to o th er
deml-human societies can add a
lot of spice to the campaign. a nd a
great deal of depth to some non -
huma n societies. Fo llowin g th e
gUidelines presented In th e two ex-
amples below. an a mbitious DM
can throw all sor ts of curves to his
players.
35
Elven Knights
Elves follow the code of ch ivalry
to the letter. except when it comes
to battle. Elven life is too precious
to be squande red n eed lessly
agains t lost causes. When th ey do
sacrifice th emselves. it Is only for
th e g reatest good of t h e e lve n
kingdom or in defense of t hei r
companions. In s hor t. elves as a
peopl e avoid war wh enever possl·
ble . T h ey pre fer to de pend on pol!-
tics to settle disputes. and are fa r
less aggressive tha n most of the
other races in an average cam -
paign.
Elven knights place a high reo
gard for the cerem onial aspec t of
c hiva lry. as well as respecting their
peers and superiors. However.
they are qu ick to the point of snob-
bery In s howing con tempt of those
be neath their station a nd those of
Ignoble Ideals. 1b their credit. eI-
ve n knights place no weigh t on
c lass differences In s uc h Judg-
ments. Just on personal character
a nd reputation .
S ince women are equa ls among
men in elven society. the respect
elven knights s how for wome n is
more courtesy tha n ou tright ado·
ration . Im portan tly. while the ma-
Jo rity of the e lven cava lry is
comprised of male elve n knigh ts.
most elven archer compa n ies con-
tain a m ajority of wome n.
Elven knights a lmos t never
wear plate a rmors. but prefer more
lightweight. flexible armori ng
made of fine chaIn. As elves prefer
battle within forested environ -
ments where they can rely on the ir
natural ad eptness in s uc h sur-
roundings to give them an added
edge. they cons ider plate armor
too noisy and bulky fo r such m a-
neuvering .
It is Important to note that magi-
cal elven c h ain m ail is on ly given Dwarven Knights dwarfwill not wear arm o r forged by
asa gift to worthy men and women an y other race. for their pride is
Dwarves take their warri n g very
who have honored t h emse lves in quite strong and thei r codes of
seriously Indeed. and th ei r views
th e defense of el ves a nd elven ho n or very exacting o n such
on war and honor wou ld make any
lands. It is rare. but not unheard poin ts.
visiting samu rai warr ior proud.
of. for non·elves to earn s u c h a gift W hile el ven ar mo rs requ ire con -
Dwar ves. in stark co n trast to the
if t h eir deeds warrant It. Non ·e lves stan t repai r if t h ey are to remain
elves. would rath er die i n glorious
are never taught the secr et of m ak· att r acti ve. dwarves p lace less
battle than any other way. I t is
ing and en chan ting el ven c hain va lu e on appearance a nd more
even said tha t dwarves al ways lai r
mail. value on defense. Dwarven p la te
near a dragon or a large colony of
Magical el ven cha i n can be arm or is treated as plate mail + I.
gia nts j ust to keep a steady sce-
fo und i n treasure hoards, of but is almost 50% heavier than h u -
nario of connic t goin g. 1b thei r
course. but if know ledge esca pes m a n plate. T h is m ea n s that a
c r edit th e dwarves are a l ways
of i ts recovery. elves are sure to dwarve n se t of p late armor {sized
read y for war.
co nverge on the discove rer with for a 4 ' ta ll dwa r O we igh s ju s t
In fact. dur ing the numerou s
offers for the suit's purchase. A abou t as m u ch as a human set of
battl es between elven and dwar·
reasonable price is offered. an d p la te (sized for a 6 ' tall knigh t ).
ven forces, it has al ways been the
any person who does not sell t h eir Un fortunately. dwarves rarely
el ve n k in ship with animal and
prize, is h ounded for man y years m ake th eir armor for hu m an s. and
plant life t hat has k ept them one
until d eath takes the short· lived do not know how to make ei th er
step ahead of their dwarven ene-
mortal. or u n til a bette r price is field or full plate arm ors. Their
m ies. T he el ves al ways seem to
reached. own limbs and joints do not h ave
have enough lim e to get ready for a
The elves will not give up th e t h e mobility n ecessary to m ake a
battle, no matter how w ell t h e
quest. as th ey see t h e common u se functiona l set of those fu ll -body ar-
d warven fo r ces try to conceal
of such a grea t prize te n ds to mors. an d so the dwarves will have
them se lves.
lessen ils overall val u e and slgniH - none of it. Just like the elves.
As m en ti o n ed earlier. the
cance for all others. Alsb, t he elves dwarves don't teac h n on -dwarves
dwarves take the cer emonial as-
do not want untrustworthy armor· their m etallurgy sec rets.
pects of th eir idea of chival ry very
ers t o get a h old of an y elven ch ai n Dwarves dwell extensive ly on
seriously. but keep su ch things
mail. lest they m anage to discover their ow n ve r sio n o f heraldry.
rath er priva te.
its sec rets through magiC or reo based on the personal histories
The "respect for women" no-
search. Such a discovery by out· and fam ily genea logies of the en-
tions ar e preu y much ignored by a
sider s would risk war. tire dwarven race. Dwar ves ar e r e-
rather c hauvin istic male dwarven
Elven k n ights that c h oose to markable at rem embering long list
hierarchy. In a socie ty gear ed for
wear pla te ar mor (ver y rare) al · of names. and s pen d a g rea t dea l o f
war and hard work i n the m ines.
ways make t h em look like they their l i ves memorizing details
there seems to be no glory availa-
were m ade from mith r il. A high ly abou t everyone t h ey ever see.
ble for the little ladies.
polished coating of the sh iny sil ver meet. or h ear about.
Now, thalls not to say th at d war-
metal is applied al m ost like pai n t
ven women ar e m istreated. That is
to t he arm or. and th e suit t h en
far from th e truth. They are give n
g leams and sh in es in even the
equ al rights and protection under
most indirect lightin g. In fact. t h e
all laws. an d dwarve n marriages
greatest of kings or t he richest of
are on es of partnersh ip. not obedi-
knights often take th eir armor to
ence ,
the el ves for such detailing once it
T h e dwarves like to m ake t heir
has been p urchased.
armor h eavy. plated. and black. A l-
mos t w i thout excepti on . all
dwarven -sl zed armor is actually
m ade from dwarven forged iron. A

36
 So maybe your player charac-
ters haven't earned the fame a nd
glory which s hould get them a cas-
tle of their own yet. Maybe the
thought of chasing a dragon, even
a little one. is stili the s tuff of their
dreams. What does the wou ld-be
knight do in such cases?
Well, organ ized competitions or
tournam ents a re a great way for
the player characters to " m ingle"
with the local nobility and s how off
their s tuff. It m ay be that a good
performance in , say. the a rchery
con test will earn the character the
righ t to marry the prince or prin -
cess of the realm . Once everyone
knows how good you are. fam e and
glory are only a few steps away l
High Holidays
All societies take time ofT for one
reason or another. Usually these of-
ficial holidays are: religious (if one
reUglon Is truly dominant In the
areal. agricultural (commonly a t the
equinox and solstice). or Political in
nature. In the latter case. they often
mark the fou nding of the country or
som e great victory of war or revolu-
tion. Usually. one can cou nt on one
offiCially recognized holiday every
other month or so.
Re ligiou s h olidays rarely In -
volve either fairs or tournamen ts.
T hese are traditionally times of
fasting and personal sacrifice to
one's church . They a r e a lways
placed on days significant to the
given religious calendar (i.e. the
death of a saint. the resurrection of
a god. the founding ofa new order).
Holy knights. like paladins. tithe
their Incomes to the church during
cerem onies held on th ese occa-
sions. They also spend a lot of lime
seeking guidance from both their
local priest and their patron detty.
Visions of great quests often com e
at s uch soul-search ing Urnes.
Agricultural h olidays are ce le-
brated by the rich and the poor.
a nd there will be both com m on
fairs and a royal tournament held
to m ark such occasions. Those
marking the harvest in autumn
and the end of the planting season
in spring usually las t fo r a week at
a time. while a ll others last but a
day.
Political h olidays are times of
private parties. town parades. a nd
local noble tourna m ents. Unless
the political deed had grea t s ign ifi-
cance to the realm and the king In
power. no roya l tou rna m en t is
likely to be held on this day. In es-
sence. towns hold large Market
Days on these days. s upplanting
the need for the usual monthly
Market Day.
Private Celebrations
OccaSionally a lord or king will
be particularly blessed during the
course of a year. Some examples of
such blessings Include a wedding.
birth of a first born heir (or a ny
royal prince or princess). major
victory in war, successful truce, or
th e defeating of some a ncient li n-
gering menace to the rea lm . like a
dragon .
Often this involves only the lord
in qu estion t h rowing a lot of
money a nd food around at the next
Market Day.
How ever. th e loca l lo rd may
wish to sponsor a tournam ent or
fair. He mIgh t want to graciou s ly
inv ite the n ew a lly or vanqUis h ed
foe to attend. He might Just want to
show off his new son . or give a big
sendoff to his departing heirs.
Tests
Som etim es a king or lord feels
the need to test his knights. espe-
38
cially if there has been a lack of
war recently. or too m any inCi-
dences of coward ice or bumbling.
There might even be a regularly
sched u led test every other year or
so. depending on the s ize and na-
ture of the campaign.
Challenges
Whether as a friendly com peti -
tion between two rival lords. or as
a hosti le cha llenge betwee n two
knights In dispute (see " Perso na l
Challenges"). cha llenges make for
th e most In te restin g of tourn a-
m ents.
For example. the royal arc hery
tournamen t depicted in the n1m
The A dvent ures of Robin Hood
was h eld for the sole purpose of
Id entifyi n g a nd trapping Robin
Hood. well-known as the "finest
archer In England."
It Is also a grea t way to lure an
enemy 's fi nest knights into a m -
bush. or a way from somethin g
they are protecting. However. such
an evU deed Is most unsportlng
and would only be a ttempted by a
black knigh t.
Fortunately for the plotte r. Lh e
code of chivalry requires that any
charge or challen ge be taken up.
Since a tou r nament is anoth er
form of combat. a n d combat is
glory. no knight can refuse s uch a
challenge. But tha t doesn't mean
the knight can not be prepared. I.e.
bring along som e friends in case of
trouble. put his lands on a lert sta-
tus. etc. Natura lly. this assumes he
knows or suspects that the chal-
lenging knight is up to something.
Local Fairs
Local fairs are like carnivals and
circuses are today. All manner of
strange and exotic beasts and mon-
sters are paraded before the mystl-
fled public. T here are games of
chance like the dagger toss. dun k
the peasan t. a nd chasing a greased
pig with prize money tied around
its neck. There are competitions for
chopping down trees the fastest .
catch ing the biggest fish . baking
the best pie. racing horses, ale guz-
zling. and a variety of sporti ng
even ts. includ ing tossing horse-
shoes a nd medieval versions of soc-
cer a nd stickball .
Noble Tournaments
Noble tour naments are very r ich
in adventuring op portun ities. Un-
less the tournamen t is private it is
a lways open to the general public
as well as th e nobility. However.
the very types of competition leave
lillie room fo r non professionals to
earn a ny honors. If they do prevail .
however. the prize moni es a r e
enormous-often enou gh to a llow
a serf to retire or buy his way in to
the yeoman class.
These affairs are a tfe n ded by the
nobility, first and fore m ost. The
food is prepared by gourm ets. the
ten ts a re of the fi nest li nens. local
cavalry troops ride by on parade,
and all of the kn ights a nd nobles
are try ing to outdo each other.
However. the real com petition Is
down on the fie ld . a nd that is wha t
everybody has come to see.
Jousting
Squires and wou ld-be knigh ts
com pete in their ow n jous ts. These
con tests are round robin even ts.
with the victors of each con test
m oving on to th e next rou nd. Note
that the com petition is open to rich
and poor allke. Officials inspect a ll
lances before the com petition and
no contesta n t is allowed to batlle
without a s hield. All such contests
are cond ucted u nde r non leth a l
r ules and u se blun ted lances.
Winni ng such a contest often
gets the victor a nd his lord muc h
prestige. a nd sometimes a better
hom e. Another lord may o ffe r to
" take over the knight's tra ining"
for a hefty su m If the win ner is al·
ready a knigh t-in-tra ining. Or. the
rogu e squire or warrior who wi ns
m ight get an offer of patronage
from a noble house in terested in
traIning knigh ts. In a ny case, the
reward money is usually e nough
to e ncou rage the victor to furth er
competitions in the future,
wherei n he m igh t j ust make qui te
a na m e fo r him se lf.
The main joust is also round
robin but open on ly to kn ights of
the realm. In additio n . each knight
c hooses a lady to cham pion. If he
wins honorably. the victor bri ngs
honor to h is na m e. the lady he has
chosen. and the sponsor of the
tournament. Disgraci ng the jOust.
either by kU ling a n una rmed foe ,
har m ing or kill ing a moun t. or In
som e other man ner. is considered
a " Loss of Fa mily Honor" or worse
(see "Falling fro m Grace").
Win ni ng a roya l joust often
earns the knight the position of
Royal Cha m pion . mean ing some·
tim es tha t there's going to be a
new Captain of the Royal Guard,
Lord High Cham berlain. o r Lord
High Marshall in the realm. At the
ve ry least. the knigh t earns the
righ t to hold the next royal tourna·
m e n t at h is caslle. Ifhe decides not
to do so. for whatever reason . there
is no loss of honor. an d the tou rna-
m en t retu rns to the royal caslle
the next time. The knigh t retai ns
the title of Royal Champion un til
the next royal tournamen t. Note
tha t the resul t of lesser jous ts has
no bear ing on the s ta ndi ng of the
Royal Champion. although an um ·
ber of losses to th e sa m e rival
39
m igh t boost the betting odds the
next time around.
Sometimes. for show, the wi n-
ner of the open Joust com petes
against the winn e r of the royal
jOust. bu t us ua lly th e forme r backs
down without loss of honor. defer-
ring to his obvious s uperior. the
Royal Champion.
Magic item s of all kinds are per·
m itted at a jOust. bul a n yth ing
which is dee m ed dishonorable by
the list offic ials cannot be u sed.
Som e examples wou ld include a ny
item tha t removes the chance ele-
men t to the game (I.e. a lance that
never m isses. or a s h ield that al-
ways blocks). S uch a n item . if d is-
covered after the jou st has begun.
causes th e wielder to forfeit auto-
matically. A minor "Loss of Per-
sonal Honor" ensues (see "Falling
from Grace"), as it is the knight's
responsibili ty to be fair. So m e
jousts even go as far as to ban
m agiC altogether. provid ing their
own lances a nd s u its of ar mor for
th e combatan ts to wear.
Quick J ou stin g Rules
1b run the actual combat of a
joust. each knight should have a
bl unted la n ce. a horse , a n d a
s hield of so m e k ind. Nat ura ll y,
the riding or horsemans hip non-
weapon profi ciency is requ ired in
order to safely ride the horse, but
profi cie ncy in th e lance is not a ne-
ceSSity, although it never hurts.
Each kn igh t squa res ofT a t oppo·
site ends of the fie ld, or on either
side of the list (a long low fence).
Lances are levelled as the com bat·
ants charge one a nother. but no
ini tiative is requ ired, as both
lances a re of equal length. A si m·
pie roll to hit is a ll that is requ ired
and a ny rider so struck m ust make
a s uccessful horse ma nship prof!-
40
ciency ch eck or be forcibly dis-
moun ted. Whoever is s till up wins
and gets to m ove on to the next
round. If both rider s rem ain viable
competitors. they turn an d ch arge
again . This contin ues until som e-
body falls. I f boLh k n igh ts are dis-
mou n ted si m ultan eou s ly. both are
removed from the tournament.
A natural 20 au tom atically dis-
moun ts an oppon en t. while a natu -
rail strikes the opponent 's mount
(doing half n ormal damage). This
Is a dishonor to the knight and he
m ust forfeit the co n test. However.
since It is obviously acciden tal. no
further pu n itive action Is taken
and no sign ifican t loss of personal
honor ensues.
Personal Challenges
In the case of a personal chal-
lenge between two knights. the
lances are not blunted. an d a fallen
k n igh t is not ou t u n less h e begs for
mercy or is knocked unconscious.
The knigh t on horseback has the
advantage because of h is h eight
above h is oppone n t and the length
of h is w eapon. T h e fallen k n ight
can on ly use his sword. and an y
roll of a natural I m ean s the h orse
is struck. Unlike the fairness
shown above. this is a serious loss
of personal honor. and m eans the
loss of t h e challen ge an d possibly
other repercussions as well .
1\vo ch allenging knights taken
to the groun d are p r ovided with
m aces or hammers for the con ti n -
uation of the battle. Whoever is up
an d alive at the en d wins. and he
has the ch oice of slayi n g h is foe. or
gran ting him m ercy. Usu ally. a
knight gran ts mercy.
Archery
Arc h ery. because of its useful-
n ess. is practiced by bolh elves
and men alike. Depen di ng on t h e
d egree of integratio n . t ourna-
men ts m ay be open to all comers.
I f the tournam ents are separated.
half-elv es may compete in either (if
they are allowed lo compete at all).
Archery con tests are run a little
differen tly. Usually. the royal con-
lest is h eld first. again in rou nd
robi n fashion. H owever. the last
3·5 archers (depend ing on the size
o f the tournament) do not fini sh
agai n st each other. b u t rather chal-
lenge all comers. noble or poor.
The competition again proceed s
nor maJly. t h is time until a victor is
chosen.
Note t hat the arch er is not ac-
corded the kind of honors a Royal
Ch ampion receives. except in t h e
case of the elven kingdoms. where
the Royal Arc h er an d the Royal
Ch ampion are accorded eq u al sta-
tus (and as m entioned ear lier.
migh t well i nc lu de wome n ).
As with t h e j ou st. m agiC Items or
spells that render the game unfair
are grounds for for feiture of the
competi tion.
Quick A rch ery Rules
Eac h of the competitors is al-
lowed to fir e t h ree arrows at me-
dium ran ge (giv ing everyone a ·3
to h it penalty) at a target treated as
AC 10. Each contestan t is judged
only by his best shot (I. e. h is h igh-
est total rolled "to hit:' including
all bonuses for spec ializatio n . dex-
terity. and magic).
After all shooters have launc hed
their best ar rows. the arc h er with
t h e best s hot of t hem all gets to
move on t h e next round. In th e
case of a tie. t h e targets are moved
to long range (I.e. -6 to hit) an d
each co ntestant gets o n e addi-
tional arrow . The firing of single
arrows continues until lhe tie is
broken .
4'
A ny natural 20 is a perfect bulls-
eye and au tomatically beats any
other arrows that round. no matter
how high Lhe "to hit"" roll. Any r oll
that totals 20 or h igher including
bonu ses is clustered near the cen·
ter. and i f a n atural 20 is rolled at
such a ti me. t h e arrow splits th e
best sh ot (I.e. highest rolled "to
h i t") on the target an d wins.
Ho ly Debates
Wh ile priests have little to fi ght
about. they do tend to m ake excel·
lent debaters. as th ey are sup-
posed t o be wise an d learn ed .
Usuall y. the debates will center
arou n d a specific question. li ke
"why are we h ere?" or "wha t is the
true na t ure of good an d ev il?".
They tend to avoid questions of
polit iCS and never directly con-
front each other about the ir faiths.
W h ile such ev ents are not well at·
tended by t h e uneducated. t hey
draw more than t h eir share o f
sages, l uminaries. and the like.
W izardry Competitions
Wizards enga ge in new s pell
competi tions. showin g off the lat·
est c reation s from the laboratory.
Spells are compared with in spell
levels, an d originality is more im-
portant l h an improv ing on an ex·
i stlng spell. Note that most
wizards never se ll the ir spells af·
terwards. no matter how many of-
fers they get. as the envy they
receive is reward enough to a wiz-
ard and his sponsoring lord (i f
an y). Those that do se ll their se-
crets often risk givi ng the competi·
lion a big boost for n ext year!
I n partic ularly powerful ca m ·
paigns. there m ight be royal com-
petitio ns for best new magic items.
ca tegorized alon g the lines of th e
tables in the AD&D® 2nd Edition
Dungeon Masters Guide.
 ' .. " .. ". ..
' '
"
.' . . ~'. , '

Every character 's dream is to
find a plot of la nd . in som e area of
the realm. and pla n t t he found a·
tions of his kingdom by building a
castle or keep. But there are a
number of vexing obstacles that
will need to be hurdled before the
dream can com e true. The m ost
obvious problem . a nd the one that
will be pa ramount In the player 's
m ind , will be acquiring en ou gh
revenue to build his cas tle.
In feuda l Engla nd , cas tles were
very expe ns ive to build. A s imple
motte a nd ba iley cos t a local ba ron
700 English pounds, or m ore tha n
seven hundred and fifty thousand
gold pi eces in ga m e mon e ta ry
terms. 1b build a large concentric
castle cost m ore than 2000 En·
glish pounds or nearly two million
gold pieces. Although the m one·
tary needs m ay sound enormous.
this aspect of the castle construc-
tion is one of the easier tests that
will bare itself before the castle is
fini s hed .
The Castle's Role
A castle is m uch more tha n a
building s urrounded by s tone
walls or wooden palisades. It is
more th a n a hea dqua r ters fo r
knights and th eir arm ies during
battle or a s torehouse for goods In
the wilderness. A castle is built for
a lord and his family. as a cu ltura l
centerpiece to the coun tryside.
a nd as a bastion of defense fo r the
loca l peasantry a nd fa rm ers in
case of war or in vasion : it is the
heart and m ind of the s u rrou ndi ng
civili zed la nds.
A castle is a lso more tha n the
stone towers and wa lls that arise
from a pic turesque hill or outcrop·
ping of rock. 1b prov ide fo r the lord
of the castle. his m a ny retinue. and
for t he s killed artisans em ployed
b y h im . a cas tl e must a lso be
though t to include the land that is
farm ed by the local peasan ts and
the large tracts of forests where
deer. wild boar. elk. and other a ni-
m a ls ca n b reed a nd t h e n be
hun ted .
As ide from h avin g fi e lds r ipe
wi th crops a nd copses of trees and
s h ru b. a castle serves as a gather-
ing pl ace for sk ill ed c ra ft s m e n
s uch as blacksm iths. bakers. and
ca rpenters. As the castle grows
an d takes on new dim ens ions. a
village. town or. city m ay a ppear
around it. bringing in m ore profes-

42
sional artisans such as a lchemis ts.
bankers. a nd cartographers.
A casUe serves as the seat of the
local government and a base for ju-
dicial administration . A cas tle.
more than likely. will also have a
prison or jail . a stoc kade ror lesser
orrenders. a n d the guillotine or
block ror mu rde rers . h ighway -
me n . or seriOli S oITe nders or the
law.
T he casUe will have at leas l one
c hapel w hi ch sma ll ham le ts or
tow ns withou t a m o nas ter y or
tem ple m ay use ror religious cere-
monies. holidays. a nd restivals. A
castle may also act as a school ror
the loca l gentry. e nabling their
ch ildren to learn to read and write .
Others. the select rew . will come
here in hopes or learning the vows
a nd codes which will lead to their
becoming a knight.
The casUe. in s hort. Is the nexus
ror a ll activity and comm erce
withi n the la nds controlled by the
lord or king. - sisted ora large mound or earth or a
Types Of Castles
T hough the p layer need not rol-
low anyone casUe diSCipli ne In de-
s ig ni n g h is kee p . th ere a r c a
nu mber or design types that he
s hould be aware or. There are
three basic h uman castle designs.
which Include the Molle a nd Bai-
ley. the Curtain Wall Oerense. and
the Concen tric Castle. T he style in
which the OM desires to play his
campa ign . will ultimately deter-
mine exactly which design type or
parameters the player will be a ble
use in building his casUe .
There are several distinct phases
or technological achievements in
buildi ng castles. The OM may s tip-
ulate from wh ich tech nological
level. as desc ribed below. the
player can choose the design speCI-
fications orhis keep. Thch leve ls will
be la ter used in describing castle
modules in which the player uses
to cons truct his castle.
Technologica.l Levels
TL Rem a rks
1 Early Wooden
Construction
2 Ad vanced Wooden
Construction
3 Early Stone Cons truction
4 Advanced Stone
Construction
5 Early Gatekeeps & Hoard-
ings
6 Adva nced Gatekeeps &
Machicola tions
7 Grand Gatekee ps
8 Full Concentric Cas ties
Motte and Bailey castles: The
molle and bailey castle of the elev-
e nth and twelrth ce nturi es con -
natu ral hill (the molte) lopped by a
wooden keep or tower surrou nded
by a paJisade and ditch . In ma ny
cases this was surrou nded by a
nu m ber or buildings (the bailey)
used asaccom modation s ror g uests
or extensions or the ramlly (older
son. brother. mother. etc.). servant
quarters. guard towers or posts.
troop barracks. stables. livestock
pens. or storage buildi ngs. T he
whole area was derended by an-
other palisade and dilch. T he pali-
sade of the bailey orten continued
up the motte to connect wit h the
palisade there. Entrance to the cas-
tle was through an outer draw-
bridge a nd a gate keep whic h
normally consisted or two sturdy
towers nanking the drawbridge
with winches within controlli ng
the lowering and raising or either a
wooden or partial metal gate.
4]
T h is basic dere nse system
proved s trong enough until th e
early rourteen th century. But th e
castle design had two major flaws.
the first was in its series or barriers
(the palisades and ditches). whic h
could not s u pport each oth er and
a llowed the attackers to concen -
tra te their rorces agai ns t each bar-
rierone at a ti me. The second fl aw.
an d one that wou ld soon be reme·
dlcd . was the cons truction or the
castle rrom wood . which tended to
m ake it easy prey to fi re. Nonethe-
less. castles or m otte and bailey
construction were built and in hab-
ited th roughou t medieval Europe
ror several ce nturies.
The motte a nd bailey design be-
ga n to c hange as early as th e
twelfth cen tury by fi rst replacing
the wooden tower on the motte
w ith a stone tower or building.
Later the Inner and outer bailey
was changed over to stone as we ll.
Subsequen tly. the baileys accrued
battlem en ts in the rorm of arrow
s lits. guard towers. and trap doors
rro m which roc ks or boiling oil
could be rained down on Invaders.
The castle proper. th e tower on
the motte. was replaced by two ba-
sic types or keeps. som etim es re-
rerred to as donjons. The easiest
a nd ch eapest type or donjon was
the s hell keep. wh ich was s imply a
s tone wall rollowing the line of the
motte palisade. with hou sing and
other buildings taking the place or
the tower. and u s ing the stone pal!-
sade as their outer wall. Wi th s uch
a construction a n ope n courtyard
In the ce n ter or th e m o tte ap-
peared . The main advantage to the
s hell keep was t ha t it co uld be
qu ick ly added to or taken down .
a nd that its weigh t was evenly dis-
t ributed over th e h ill so t hat it
could be constructed on artificial
mou nds or dirt with little chan ce or
 the walls crumbling under their
ow n weight.
The o th er type o f donjon that ap-
peared from t h e m otte and bailey
d esign w as th e s ton e tower_These
massive bu ildings of s tone were so
h eavy that they h a d to be built on
natural h i ll s. since con stru cted
mattes tended to shift and crack
the walls of th e st on e tower. W h en
a ston e tower was built. and no
suitable motte w as available. the
en g in eers sometim es built th e
tower on flat ground then buried
half of th e tower, c reati n g. in es-
se n ce. an arti fi c i al moUe. T h e
walls of a ston e tower averaged 15
feet thick and stood as high as 50
feet. Su ppor ted by large stone or
heavy wood buttresses, the tower
widened at t h e base to protect it-
self from the ons laugh t of a ram or
pick. An aver age s t on e tower
would measure approx im a t ely
3.600 square feet. or an aver age o f
60 feet on a si d e. At t h e lowest
leve ls. ther e woul d be- numer ou s
windows and sli t s u sed (at first) for
ve n tila tion an d lig ht. L ater. these
becam e arrow slits a nd assumed a
vita l role in the keep's defenses. On
t he secon d and third fl oors of stone
towers. the air slits enlarged to
about two feet wide and four feet
tall , bu t rarely were th ey left open
(more ofte n t h an not, t h ey were
, heav ily barred an d s hu ttered).
En trances to a stone tower w ere
ei ther th rough a broad door a t the
bottom level. or t hrough a m ore
person able entry o n the seco nd
fl oor. The second fl oor en trances,
however. were accessible onl y by a
narrow stai rwell tha t wound clock-
wise to the doorway. In either case.
m any of t h e sLone towers h ad a
s m all gatek eep constructed to
guard th e en trances of both doors.
W ith in t h e stone tower th e d esign
followed qu ite si milar to th e origi-
nal wooden towers of earlier cen tu-
r ies. with a strong cross wa ll so
that. shou ld th e en t ran ce to the
donjon be forced. the defend ers
could retire be hind yet an oth er
line of defen se. Th e c ross wall. on
t h e firs t and second floor. was well
built and had on ly one d oor j oin ing
th e tow er together. As with its
ou ter spiral staircase to the mai n
d oor of th e keep. all internal stair-
cases wou nd clockwise giv ing the
d e fend ers room t o swin g th eir
sw ords free ly, wh ile the a ttackers
h ad a tough tim e u si n g th eir
swords and shields (assu m ing tha t
they were right h anded . of cou rse).
Th e greatest w eak n ess of t h e
SLOn e towe r was its squared cor-
n ers, w h ic h wer e easily brok en by
Siege weapons and were quite diffi-
c ult to defend (the d efen ders had
to expose most of their bodies t o
s h oot a t invaders at the base of t h e
w all). By the begin n i n g o f th e thi r-
teenth cen tury this problem w as
slightly alleviated by rou n ding the
corners of t h e bu ilding and con -
struc ti ng a cy lind rical k cep . How-
ever. j u st as thc d esign started to
take h old across Europe. o ther ad-
van ces beyond the forti ficaLion of
t h e k eep itsel f. forcver c ha nged the
view that the stone tower was the
ultimate d efen se of a castle, and
on ly a few rounded s ton e towers
w er e built.
Curtain Wall Defenses: Un til
the mid-thirtee nth ce ntury almost
all the castles of Eu rope w ere buil t
with the motte and bailey d esign . a
defen se system based on uncoor -
dinated walls and towers to wear
t h e attacker down and per mit the
d efend er many opportunities to
strike bac k. This rarely worked .
however. and the attacke r more of-
t en than not simply tackled eac h
wall separ ately, r ed ucing it to ru b·
ble and th en m ovi ng on to the next
44
barrier. As time wen t b y, fortifica-
tion d esig n techniqu es from the
east spilled i nto Eu rope. Many new
fea tu res bega n to be added to t h e
ex isting cast les and many totally
new desig n s b egan to appear. The
sig nificance began to shift away
from the s upposedly im pregnable
donjon to the bailey wall s. for i t
w as wiser to k ee p the attackers
f ro m breac hin g t h e ou te r m os t
wall. then to let h im in to r avage
and plunder t h e m an y buildings
and storage h ou ses on the inside of
t h e outer baUey.
The main improvem ents to t he
forti fied w alls were m easu res al-
lo wing cover for arc h ers, modified
battlem en ts to w it h s tand Siege en -
gines an d m ov in g ram parts. an d
wide walkways (catwalks) giving
free move m ent of large n um bers of
troops and knights on th e walls.
There sti ll ex is ted t h e m ain prob-
lem of sapper s (min er s) and Siege
weapons at the base of the bailey.
The on ly sol ution to k eeping the
attack er s away from the b ailey
wal l. was not to allow the a ttackers
to get close. This was sol ved by t he
i nven tion and u se of th e m erion,
which was a raised portion of a
wall. with arrow slits. murd er
h oles . and mac hi co latio n s en a-
b ling full scale bombardment of
warriors at th e base of the forti fica-
tion .
A n o th er way to protec t the wall
from Siege en gin es like the ram .
pick . or screw was throu gh th e u se
o f braUices and hoardings, a cov-
ered wooden platform built on the
battlements to allow missiles and
ston es to be dropped through slots
in th e floor. These si m ple d evices
had been u sed sin ce the ea rl y
twelft h cen tury. but h ad b een over-
looked b ecau se they tended to be
easy targets for catapu l t s and
ballista-like weapons. but the u se
of t he merion and hoardings to-
geth er proved an effective w ay of
k eeping a t tackers at bay.
Th e gr eatest ad va n ce m ent in
caslle design an d fortification was
the u se of the flan k ing l ower, w h ich
first began to appear i n the late
twelfth to earl y t hi rteen th cen t u ry
in parts of south ern Europe. Before
th is time , square tower s or merlons
h ad been set even with the outer
bailey, but b y exten ding severa l
tower s ou tward, away from the rest
of the wall. it allo w ed the d efender s
to fire from arrow slits on the sides
o f th e towers along the length oflh e
castle's outer w all. This m ean t tha t
the warrior did not have to expose
his body to attacking arch ers in an
a ttempt to shoot invader s nearing
the wall.
Eac h fl anking tower also pro-
vided c ross fire for its n eighbors.
Wh en th e ou t er wa ll was
breac h ed, it cornered or con tained
the i n vading arm y intQ distin c t re-
gions. Th e first fl anking towers
w er e thr ee-sided, w it h t h ei r bac k s
open to the inner bailey, so th at in
the even t the tower was captured
by the Invadi n g force, they would
prove of little wor th. As time w en t
b y, the flanking towers became
squar e and protec ted on all sides.
T he advancem ents in t h e abi lity
to make c ircu lar keeps also cam e
to apply to t h e con st ru cti on of
flanki ng towers, and by t h e close
of the thirteen t h cen t ury m ost new
fl ankin g towers w ere cylindrical.
Concentric Castles: T h e great-
est period in castle development oc-
curred during t h e last days of the
thirteen th cen tury and the begi n-
ning of the fourteen t h with the ad -
vancem ent of t h e con centric caslle
i n Europe. The castles origin s fol-
lows the crusad er s back to the dis-
tant lands of Syr ia and con sisted o f
a number of circuit walls and tow-
ers. u su ally quadrangular in plan .
su rrounded by another lower wall
with its own fl an king tow er s. The
area between these two walls. u su -
ally only a few ten s of feet apart.
was divid ed by a number of s h ort
c ross wall s th a t segm en ted t h e
tigh t in ner cou rtyard: thus. if an y
force pen etrated the first wall. they
would be confined to a sm al l spe-
c ific area and i mmedia tely con-
f r onted with a like secondary
d efensive wall. The area i n the con-
fin ed space becam e known as the
killing groun d. since almost all of
the in itial troops into th is s mall
area w er e decimated b y arch ers
and fallin g stones from the second
wall .
By the end of th e fourteenth cen-
tury castles were so strongly d e-
fended. that attacking th em was
n earl y ou t of the question. The
only option open th en . was a long
and draw n ou t Siege w h er e m a-
c hi nes of war sat idle un til fami ne
and pestilence killed all wil h in the
massive stone wall s.
Thus. th e castle s lo wly fa d ed
from the focal poinlofwar and lost
its w eil know n role as the d efe nder
of p easan ts and the gen try.
The Gatekeep: T h e player
should take note of on e v ital aspect
of castl e d eSig n - th e gatekeep.
During th e eleven th and most of
the twelfth cen tu r ies, the gatekeep
(a structure whic h pro tec ted the
en t r ance way into th e castle) con -
sisted of two sq u ar e towe r s on
each side of the bailey wa ll. Th-
wards the thirteen th century t his
was replaced by fou r towers. two
at each end of th e en trance way.
connected by a short stone wall
that p rovided excellen t p ro tection
an d bottled up the en em y in th e
e vent th at th e gatekeep was
breach ed .
45
A t this ti m e howeve r. the four
towers w ere sti ll sq u ared block
buildings. Drawing into the m ld-
t hirteenth cen tury t h ese squared
tow er s evol ved into r ounded or cir-
cu lar tower s. B y t h e fourteenth
century the fou r towers had been
connect ed by short h allways al-
low ing freed om and security of
troops within the guarded gate-
keep. Now , troo ps were ab le to
m ove freely from one tower to an -
o th er with ou t fear of being struck
by en emy artillery.
W it h t h e invention and u se of a
guar d ed gatek eep. th ese bu ildings
t ook on a m ore important ro le i n
fighti ng off invad ers. Since they
stood. literally. a t the doorstep of
th e cas tle. t h e defe n d er s insid e
h ad opportu ni ties to sally for t h
outside the castle. In t h is way. they
engaged th e en emy. ye t co u ld
qu ic kly wi thdraw from the field of
battle w ith ou t enda n ge rin g t h e
castle itse l f.
As this princi ple of design took
h old in Eu r ope . add i ti ona l d e-
fenses. ca lled barbicans. were of-
ten bu il t to p rotect the gateh ouse.
The barb ican ac ted as a mi n ia ture
bailey. extending walls at righ t an -
gles from the castle's fortifications.
Any a ttack to t h e ga teh ou se t h en
had to pass through a very n ar row
cl eft. fr om wh i c h a rtill ery and
arch er s from w ithi n t he gat ek eep
could rain death dow n upon th e in-
truders. A s ti m e went by. t hese
outer ba iley wa lls also too k on
s tone towe r s. mottes. ditc h es.
drawbridges . or water filled m oats
to fur th er s tren g then the entrance
way i nto t h e castle proper .
 Now tha t you have a basic un -
ders tanding of the evolution of cas-
tle designs during the Middle Ages,
it's lime to get on with the ac tual
construction of a castle of your
own .
The fi rst s tep in this process Is
fai rly s im ple: u se your imagin -
ation. Take a few moments to vis u -
ali ze th e castle you wan t to build in
your mind . Is it going to be a s m a ll
frontier fort or the major military
stru cture of a mighty e mp ire?
What is the area around it like?
Are the local serfs going to support
the castle's construc tion or oppose
it? Once you have an unders tand-
ing of the overall natu re of your
castle a nd its climes. the n you can
get down to business.
Acquiring Land
Obviously. in order to build a cas-
tle one must have la nd on which to
p lace It. In the ty pica l AD&D®
gam e. there are ma ny ways to ob-
tain land. Some are a bove board
and heroic. others are not. The
c hoice of tech niques possible in a
cam paign is left up to the DM. wi th
the exact method em ployed left in
the hands of the players.
Royal Charters
One of t he most we ll k now n
means of coming in to possession
of an estate is th rough the a ttain-
men t of a Royal Charter. A charter
is a n official document from a k ing
or e mperor wh ich gives legal per-
mission to an indi vidual or group
to ad mi nister a sec tion of land in
46
the name of the crown. As a ru le,
s uc h c harters are issued fo r land
whic h is not within the bounda ries
of th e k in gdom . but which is
claimed by the throne. As suc h . a
Royal Charte r may give away land
which is als o cla imed by another
governm en t. In s uc h cases. open
warfar e or occasional s kirmis hes
are possible,
Land Grants
A land grant is issued to cha rac-
ters who h ave done som e great
service to the crown. As a rule.
th ey are accom panied with a pat-
en t of nobility for th e rewarded in·
dividual. La nd acqui red in th is
fas h ion is s tili assumed to belong
to the person issuing the grant, but
the vassal is give n free c harge over
a ll that occu rs on i t. Th is is the tra-
dilion al means by which feuda l
kingdoms a re s plit up into man ·
a geable sec tion s. Sin ce a la nd
grant Is norma lly within th e bor·
ders of th e kingdom . It is seldom
d ispu ted .
Conquest of Land
On e o f th e more infam ou s
m eans of coming into possession
ofland on w hic h to build a castle is
by taking it with force. Examples
of s uch ac tions mig ht Include the
" libera tio n " of a land whic h is
righ tly th e king's (in his opinion)
bu t which has been taken ove r by
a nother state and the ta king of
land held by a nation of oppos ing
alignm ent. As a rule. la nd ta ke n In
this m a nner will elimin a te a ny
chance of popular support for the
castle con s tru ction projec t. In
ga m e term s. this m eans th a t
worker m ora le (deOned in the nex t
section) will never be better tha n
"average".
Purchasing: Land
In som e cases. it m ay be possible
to buy land from a king or other In·
dlvidual on which to build your
castle. S in ce m any fe uda l kin g·
doms do not recognize the right of
a n individua l (other tha n the king)
to own land . this is often not a pos·
sibllity.
1b determine the purchase price
for la nd (whe n It is availa ble) s ta rt
with a base value of tOO go ld
pieces per acre for undeveloped
property. Divide the base value by
the Production ModlHers (see the
nex t section) for its climate. geog-
ra phy. a nd ground cover. Devel-
oped land will be more expe nsive.
with property in a town costing
perha ps 10 limes the computed
value a nd la nd in a m ajor city
fetching a price upwards of 100
times its " true" va lue.
Persons buying land will want to
keep in mind that tiley should . as a
rule. buy enough land for the castle
Hsclf. all the farms required to sup-
port It. a s mall vUlage for those who
work the farms, and woodla nds for
hunting a nd future development.
As you can see. buying la nd can be·
come a very ex pens ive problem.
Claiming: Land
Among ad venturers a nd explor-
ers. cla imin g la nd is a favo rite
means of setti ng up housekeeping.
If the character or party are recog·
nized as the Orst Individua ls ever
to ta m e or explore a give n region of
the world. then they a re free to
claim it. If they a re pla nning to es-
tablish th eir own country. the
cha racters a re free to claim th e
la nd for themselves. Of course. if
someone else com es along and
claims it as well (see claim jump-
ing). th e n a ba ttle m ay ensue.
Hopefully. the cha rac ters a re pre-
pa red for this a nd will be a ble to
keep their a ttackers from de feat·
ing them .
If the players lack the resources
or the desire to set up their own
kingdom . they will wa nt to claim
the la nd in the nam e of the ruler
they serve. By so doing. they are
a lm ost assu red to receive a Royal
Ch arter or land gra nt which lis ts
th em as the rightful rulers of the
a rea . Kings and emperors will al -
mos t always look very favorably
on those wh o work to ex pand their
lands.
Theft or Claim Jumping:
In regions wh ich are only p arti-
ally explored or which have been
claim ed by a r ival government. it
41
IS possible to " claim Jump ". In
s h ort . a force moves in , m a kes
their cla im . a nd establishes a kee p
or village of some ty pe as quickly
as possible. They then a ttempt to
ho ld th e la nd . often ass ertin g
"squa tter 's righ ts" and Oghling off
a tlempts by others to reclaim their
rightful territory.
Another possibility is the theft of
la nd . Althoug h it is obvious ly not
possib le to actu ally gra b the land
a nd run with It. there a re m a ny
dis honest m ean s by which owner·
s hip can be had . For example. a
land owner could be forced in to
betli ng his la nd in a dis honest car d
gam e. When the last ha nd is dealt.
he has lost. Fa ls lOed bills of sale or
wills are a nother possibility. As a
rule. on ly those of evil alig nment
will us e s uch means to acquire
land.
Leasing:
Althou gh not a common prac-
tice, it Is som etimes possible to
lease property from a la nd owner.
This is much like buy ing the la nd.
bu t assumes that a monthly pay-
ment will be made to the lord-a
s ort of rent.
In return for his paym ents. the
land is und er the complete control
of th e leasing character. Often , a
lease will be set up to allow the
cha rac ter a cha nce to begin build -
ing a castle before he has acqu ired
the fund s to buy the land outrigh t.
The price ch arged for a land lease
is hig hl y n egotiable . and OMs
s hould base the monthly payment
on the value of the land (as com-
puted In the section on buying
land ) a nd the perceived wealth of
the character.
The Const ruction Site
Now tha t y ou have d eter mined
how the c ha rac te r will co me into
possession of t h e lan d on w hic h h e
w ish es to build . it's t im e t o look a t
the land i tself. T h e d esign er o f the
castle m us t lake in to accoun t the
c li ma te in whi c h w o rk w ill b e
done. the terrain whic h workers
mus t d eal w i t h , t h e v egeta tion on
the site, and the availa bility of re-
sou rces.
Climate Type
The fi rs t p iece o f i nform a tion
tha t mus t be gene rated abou t the
castle is its Cli ma te T ype. As you
migh t imagi ne. bu ildin g a castle in
a tempera te region is fa r easie r
than building one in the frozen
north or blis tering heat of the trop-
ics.
Eac h of the s ix c li mate ty pes
lis ted be low Includes a Pro duc tio n
ModifierjPM). T h is number r al es
the diffic ulty assoc iated with cas-
tle construction in tha t c lim a te. A
valu e of " 1.00" is t h e average fr om
w hic h all ot h er number s d eviate.
W h en y ou r ecord th e c lima te ty p e.
also note the PM associat ed w i th it.
PMs will be u sed later to d et ermine
how m u ch It cos ts to b uild y ou r
castle and h ow lon g it will tak e to
com plete. When ever you r ecord a
PM . r em ember t h a t a lo w number
indicates b etter conditions an d .
t h er efore. fas ter and c heaper con -
struction .
Arctic (4 .00)
T h is area of t h e w orld is m arked
by Its frigid t empera t u r es and oth -
erwi se h o s ti l e co ndi t ion s. Th e
ground is mad e u p of sn o w an d ice.
for t h e region seldom gro w s warm
enou gh for w a ter to m elt. A cas tle
buil t in su c h a region is probably
going to have to b e supplied with
imported provision s. as t h er e \ 1ill
be n o local agr icult u r e possib le.
E xam p les o f ar ctic climat es i n
our own w orld in clude bo th t h e
ar c lic an d an tarc tic. as we ll as t h e
peak s of som e moun tain s.
Sub -Arctic (2 . 50)
While not as hostile as t h e ar c tic.
su b -ar c tic c limates are harsh and
d ifficu lt to work in . While a sh or t
gr owi ng season is possible. i t is fol-
low ed by a lon g and d eadly winter .
Ca stles in th is ar ea will be v ery
sm all i f for ced to d epend on t h eir
own agric u lture. If food can b e im -
ported r egular ly. then a larger cas-
tle is possible,
Mu c h of A lask a. Can ada . an d
Scandinavia fall In to the su b·arClic
ca tegory. as do portion s o f G reen -
lan d . Icelan d. and t h e Soviet Un -
ion .
Temperate ( 1.25)
A r egion ma r k ed b y di s t inc t
c h an g es In seaso n . Temper a t e
zon es h av e sh ort. bu t ad equate.
growi n g seasons an d p r o d u ce
good h arvest s. Wi n ter s are h arsh .
but can be w eath er ed by those
who ar e r ead y for th em.
E xam pies of t em pera te zon es on
Earth inclu d e New England . por -
tions o f N orth ern E u ro p e_ and
muc h o f sou th ern Can a da an d th e
Soviet U n ion.
M o derate ( 1.00)
Perhaps t h e best sui ted for hu -
man c iv ili zations. t h ese c lim a tes
o ffer fa irl y m ild win t er s, lon g
gro w ing seasons. and ar e o t h er-
wise co m fort ab le to dwell in .
Nearly any ty pe of h u m an so c iet y
can b e found in a moder a te zone.
with great empires o ften hav in g
48
th ei r seats in su ch r egion s.
Examples of moderate regions
on E arth In clud e m u c h o f t h e
southern Un ited S ta tes an d most
of the region s around t h e Med iter-
r an ean Sea.
Sub-Tropical ( 1. 25 )
A lthoug h these r egi on s are
m arked by an al m ost year -round
growing season . they ar e gen erally
too w ar m for op timu m com for t.
Win ter s are s hort and , as a rule.
n o t harsh at al l. Man y r egions in
t h is clima te w ill never see snowfall
un less a t h igh er elevations,
On Ear th . m uc h o f n orth ern A f-
rica an d lar ge portions of South
A m erica w ou ld fall into th is cate·
gory.
Tropical ( 1.50)
The hottest regions in the world .
the tropics ar e m arked by v er y
h igh temper a tur es and n on ex ist-
en t w in ter s. The gr owin g season
h as no end . b u t t h ere is no r elief
from the h arsh tempera t u res tha t
d omin a te su c h areas .
M u c h of Cen tral A m erica and
portions of Afr ica fall In to this cate·
gor y. as do sections o f southeast
Asia an d the Ind ies.
Geography
T h e nex t im por tan t aspect tha t
must be consider ed ab ou t a poten -
t ial buildi n g site is t h a t of geo-
graphy. In i ts m ost si m ple ter m s.
th is c an b e tho u gh t o f a s t he
rou gh n ess of t h e terrain .
O n Important distinc tion m u st
b e mad e h er e. An ar ea's geogr a-
p h y r efer s only to t h e earth itself.
an d n o t to what is grow ing on it.
Thus, a barren arc tic plai n and a
fl a t field in a tempera te r egion both
fall In to t h e pla jns category. Later.
when we discuss ground cove r,
you will see t he forestation an d
vegetation of an area com e into
play. For now, th ou gh . think only
about the rocks and soiL
As with climate type, an area's
geography w ill gen erate a PM that
must be recorded for later u se.

High Mountains (4.00)

The most daunting and danger-
ous of geographies. high moun-
tains include only the most lofty of
peaks. Travel to and from such r e-
gions is assum ed to be almost im-
possib le, unless magical m eans
are used to aid the voyager. Even
dwarves tend t o aVOid such rugged
lands. although they greatly ad-
mi re them and their solid con-
struction.
On Earth, the m ountains of Ti-
bet migh t fall into this categor y.

Moderate Mountains (3 .00)

Somewhat less imposing t h an
the high mountains. these r egions
are still overwhelming. Dwarves
and gnomes dearly l ove su c h
places, and will seek th em out
above all oth ers to make their
homes in. Human cultures In su ch
p laces will be few and far between,
but not unknown.
The Swiss Alps and Rocky
Mountains both have areas that
fall into this category.

Low Mountains (2.00)

A lthou gh rough and challeng-
i n g. th ese areas are far more
friendly to human societies than
the other mountain t ypes. Those
cultures tha t do thrive in such r e-
gion s will t end to b e small. for the
difficul ties in h erent In su ch places
make large cities difficult, If not
Impossible. to maintain .

49
 On our own world . the White
Mountains in New England and
portions of the Appalachians
through out the eastern United
States will fall Into this grouping.
Foothills ( 1. 5 0 )
Unlike th e low, rolling hills
found In many parts of the typical
AD&DiII game world. these regions
are noted fo r their rough terraIn
and broke n nature. They are rug-
ged and dangerous. often consid-
ered to be mountains by those who
live on or among them.
Areas s uch as Greece. Thrkey.
and Italy fall into this category.
Roiling Hills ( 1.00)
A very common type of geogra·
phy. roiling hills are very appeal·
ing to most human cultu res. They
offer the advantages of rou gher
terrain without the hazards and
difficulties associated with moun-
taJns and the like .
Much of the United States and
Europe Is dominated by rolling
hills.
Plains (0 . 75 )
Plains are regions of long. fl at
terrain wi th out major geographi-
cal la ndmarks. T hey have no natu-
ra l windbreaks a nd are often
subject to strong breezes and the
like. Despite this . the plains are
ideal for many occupations if the
climate Is hospitable.
The midwestern United States
and cen tral Soviet Union are fl ne
examples of this type of geogra·
phy.
Ground Cover
The third Important feature of
the con struction site Is the ground
cover. For the most part. this refers
to the vegetation that will be found
in the region. Forexample. while It
might be difficult to buUd a castle
in a m ountainous region, It be-
comes a lm ost Impossible If we
cover the mountains with a dense
rain forest.
Each type of ground cover has a
PM associated with It. record this
number when you determine the
type of cover you will be building
In as it will be used la ter on In the
construction process.
Jungl e ( 3.00)
This is the most difficult type of
ground cover to work In. The com-
bination of dense undergrowth ,
towering trees. and otherwise un-
suitable conditions m a ke jungle
construction very daunting. Jun ·
gles are also noted for the danger-
ous monsters and a nima ls th at
dwell in them.
Examples of jungles on Earth in-
clude th e rain forests of South
America and the heart of Africa.
Dense Forest (2.00)
While not as difficult to clear and
work as areas of Jungle. dense for-
ests are still a m ajor challenge to
any castle con struction team.
They offer resistance In the fonn of
large trees, heavy undergrowth .
and fatrly danger ous fl ora and
fauna.
Regions of the Earth that fal l into
this category Include the rain for-
esls of the nort.hwestern United
States.
Light Forest ( 1.5 0 )
Light forests a re common in
many parts of the average AD&DiII
gam e world . They can be difficult
to work In . but most construction
teams are able to overcome s uch
50
ground cover with a little effort. In
addition. th e fl ora and fauna of
such region s are far less danger-
ous than those of the jungle or
dense forest environments.
Many sections of North America
and Europe are covered with light
woods.
Scrub ( 1.00)
This type of vegetation grows In
areas where the sallis not very fer·
tile or cond itions are otherwise too
h a rs h for larger plants to take
hold. Scrub terrain is a fairly gen-
eral category that is meant to In-
clude any area without large trees
that is dominated by bush es.
s h rubs. and similar small plants.
Dangerous animals are rare a nd
construction in s uch a region is
fairly easy.
Sc rub regions are co m mon
along the seacoasts of New En-
gland and in colder climates of the
world like Canada.
Grasslands (0 . 7 5 )
The term "grassla nds" applies
not on ly to wide regions of savan-
nah a nd veldt. but also to areas
that have been under cultivation.
As a rule. the lack of heavy vegeta-
tion and absence of dangerous ani-
mals makes these regions well
suited for the task of castle con-
struction.
Much of the midwestern United
States fa lls into this category. as do
the farming regions of Canada and
the Soviet Union.
Barren ( 1.50 )
Ba rren r egions are noted for
their absolute lack of vegetation.
As a rule, however. this m eans that
they are poorly suited to construc-
tion because of the condition of the
soil. While s uch places are not as
difficu lt to work in as deserts. they
are ex posed to strong winds and
make life dlfficult for those forced
to live and work there.
Examples of barren lands on
Earth include the prairies of the
United States and the steppes re-
glon of the Soviet Union.
Desert (2 _00)
1\vo things make construction in
the desert difficu lt: the lack of wa-
ter or other supplies a nd the un-
suitable nature of the soil itself.
Although it is possible to build in
the desert, It is not easy.
On Earth, the Sahara and Gobi
deserts fa ll into this category.
Swamp (1 .00)
Swamps. marshes. and similar
wetlands are noted for their hostil·
ity to man and his projects. Dan-
gerous animals a bound . the land is
soft and wet. and the climate is
hostile. Few places are more
daunting to workers and engineers
alike.
Examples of swamps on Earth
include the Everglades in North
America and portions of the Ama-
zon river basin.
Resource Availability
Another important aspect that
must be considered is that of con-
struction resources and supplies.
If a castle is being built in the arc-
tic. then stone and food must be
imported from far away. Read
through this section and deter-
mine which cat egory best de-
scribes the conditions that a
specific castle will be built under.
Distant and Poor (1 .00)
This category is u sed whenever
the resources (stone. food. tools.
and so forth) are far from the con-
struction s ite and of Inferior qual-
ity. While this is the worst possible
case. it is sometimes unavoidable.
Distant and Good ( 1.50)
In this case, s upplies a nd re-
sources are of acceptable quality.
but are very far away and must be
transported to the site. This is a
fairly common occurrence.
Near and Poor ( 1.15)
In this Instance. the supplies are
close at hand. but are of poor qual-
Ity. While this Is not the best case
by any means. it is the most com-
mon condition. As a rule. castles
will be built with materials from
the local area. even if they are not
the best available.
Near and Good ( 1.00)
By far the best of conditions. this
is a rare occurrence. 1b fall into
this category. a construction site
mus t be near a source of high qual-
ity supplies. The most com mon In-
stance of such a construction site
might be the building of a castle to
defend a large town whose main
Industry is mining and ston e·
working-obviously. not an every-
day thing.
The Work force
Now that the physical nature of
the area has been determined and
its various production modifiers
recorded. the design process can
move on to its next phase. In this
section. we will deal with the peo·
p ie who live in the area where the
castle is going to be buUt.
51
As with the previous section on
the cons truction site itself. all of
the following characteristics will
generate a PM that must be reo
corded for future reference.
Local Sodal Structure
The nature of the local people
and their native culture will have a
lot of influence on the construction
of the castle. The reason for this Is
simple enough. mos t of the actual
work force will be drawn from
these people. If they are. for exam-
ple. nomads with no history of
building large. static structures.
then it will be difficult to work with
them. While they might not di-
rectly oppose construction, they
wi1l not have an understanding of
the techniques to be employed or
the tools that they may be requir ed
to work with. Careful guidance
and s upervis ion of such laborers
will be time cons uming and expen ·
s ive.
Nomadic ( 2.50)
Nomadic people travel from
p lace to place throughout their
lives. They build no long term
structures and have no concept of
enduring projects. As s uch. they
can be difficult to train and tend to
think of the work they are doing as
foolish and pointless. Why build
such an immense thing when we
will all move on in a few months?
5eml·Nomadlc (1.15 )
Although these cultures have
many ofthe same traits as nomadic
people, they do build longer lasting
structures that they may return to
many times. For example. a central
temple might be established which
several different tribes may jour-
ney to for a brief period each year.
Although working wi t h semi-
nomadic people is difficult. It is not
nearly as frustrating as working
with nomadic societies.
Primitive Agricultural ( 1.25 )
These people have begun to un-
derstand the importance of farm -
ing a nd the like. Wh il e less
advanced c ul tures tend to be vic-
tims of the environment. these
people have begun to con front a nd
even change the local ecology to
su it their needs. They have fi xed
settlements that they live In all
year round and understand th e
concept of land owners hip in som e
basic way_
Agricultural ( 1_00)
The typical fe udal culture. agri-
cultura l societies have organized
farms, understand crop rotation
and sim ilar farming techniques.
a nd have a solid understanding of
la nd owners h ip. T h ey recognize
the importance of a large fortifica-
tion as a benefit to themselves and
their own society.
Adnnced Agricultural (0 _75 )
More advanced than the typical
feuda l society. advanced agricul-
tural cultures a lmost demand the
presence of a castle or keep in their
region as a sign of power. prosper-
ity. and a bility, They also have s kill
and knowledge in building tech -
niques far in excess of those pos-
sessed by lesser cultures.
Worker Skill
The next important category Is
that of worker s kill , If the castle is
being built by people who have a
natural affinity for s tone work and
fo rtress design , like dwarves. then
work will be quicker. cheaper. a nd
of b etter qua lity. While some
might argue that it is ch eaper to
use unskil led workers w ho can be
paid less. they are not taking into
account time and m on ey los t to
training. mistakes. a nd lack of
worker pride.
As a note. the followi ng catego-
ries assume that work crews will
be la rge ly un skilled. b ut s uper-
vised by artisans a nd ind ividuals
with kn ow ledge a nd ex perience. If
no exper ienced professionals a re
available. the OM may wis h to re-
duce the worker skill by one level.
If a wealth of experts is availab le
for some reason . the worker skIll
may be increased by one level.
Very Poor (3 .00)
This category includ es a ll man-
ner of people who have n o fam iliar-
ity with buUdlng large structures,
like dryads. sylphs. or merfolk. In
ad d ition. it Incl udes t h ose w ho
mus t be constantly su pervised or
are not free-th inking. like the un-
dead or characters acti ng under
some sort of mental domination .
Poor ( 2.00)
This class of wor ker is not famil-
iar wi th stone work or s imilar con -
struction projec ts, but does not
find the concept wh olly alien . The
typical "man-in-the- s treet" would
fall into this category. In addition .
some races that are not noted for
large scale construction s (like li z-
ard men or troglodytes) migh t fa U
into this grouping.
Average ( 1.00)
As a rule. nearly every construc-
tion project will be able to recruit
workers of this calibe r. unless
there are unusual circumstances
that dictate otherwise. Persons In
52
this group have a natural affinity
for stone work. like the average
dwarf or a skilled human cons truc-
tion worker.
Good (0.75 )
Workers in thi s ca tegory a re
nOled for their talent. productivity.
a nd wo rk ethics . They ca n be
counted on to make few (if any )
mistakes and to undertake prompt
corrective action when accidents
occur. An experien ced team of
dwarven s tonewrlgh ts would fall
in to this category.
Very Good (0 . 50)
T hose who fa ll In to this category
are the most highly s killed of all
cons truction teams. They m ake al-
most no mistakes. have very few
accidents, and are a ble to under-
take even the most daunting pro-
jects without fear of fa ilure. The
dwarven artisans of lege nd fa ll into
this category. as do stone gian ts
a nd si milar races.
Worker Morale
Of course. no matter how good
the building s ite or how s killed the
workers. low m orale can spell di-
saster for a project. In fact. h igh ly
s killed workers on a project they
do not s upport can spell doom, as
they a re able to sabotage the pro·
ject in s ubtle and disastrou s ways.
Very Poor (3 .00)
Workers in this category can be
counted on to avoid work when-
ever poss ible. to sabotage the pro-
jec t. and generally to do a very
poor job. Constru ction time is
greatly increased and costs are
higher due to s upervisory needs
and constant reworking of past er-
rors. Slaves a nd prisoners fa ll into
this ca tegory, as do those who have
no free will (skeletons, zom bies, or
persons who are under som e form
of men tal dom ination ).
Poor (2 .00)
Wh ile workers In t h is grou p
migh tnot gooutoftheirway to un-
derm ine a project they will cer·
tai nly not go ou t of their way to
help it along. Mi nor problems that
m ight be caugh t early on and cor-
rected a re ignored. leading to a po-
tential d isaster later on . Loafing is
com mon and the pace of work is
generally very s low. Poor working
con dition s or cru el superv is ion
can easily d rive a work c rew th a t
normally has "average" morale
into th is category.
A\lerage ( 1.00)
Unless th ere are unus ual co ndi-
tions that might ma ke a cons truc-
tion team m ore or less incl ined to
work on a project. they will fall in to
this category. Ma inta ini ng this
leve l of morale is sim ple enou gh if
s u perv isors a r e competen t a n d
skilled , cond itions are fairly good,
and the projec t Is not detri m ental
to the in terests of th e wor kers.
High (0 . 75 )
Wor kers with h igh m orale te nd
to be in terested in the project for
one reason or a nother. For exam-
ple, they m igh t be th e sold iers who
will be stationed in th e castle or
m igh t recognize its need to defend
them from a n eighborin g s ta te. For
w ha teve r th e reason . t hey will
wor k hard and attempt to do what-
ever they can to s peed th e projec t
along a nd In s ure h igh quality con -
struction.
Very High (0.50)
T he most motivated work fo rce
available, very high morale workers
will put in long hours in bad cond i·
tions with only a m inimum of grum -
blingand fuss. T hey can be counted
on to take corrective action the mo-
m ent a problem (or potential prob-
lem) is spolled . Their work will be of
the highest caliber and they will do
everyth ing they can to further the
interests of the project.
Exam ples of those in th is cate-
gory include the fan alic fo llowers
of a popu lar religious or m ilitar y
leader and th e hench me n of player
characters.
Determine the Final
Production Modifier
Now that all of the major facto rs
that will go into determin ing the
ease with wh ich the castle can be
buil t have been defined. it's lime to
calcu la te the to ta l Prod uction
Mod ifier for th e castle. Th do this.
s imply multi ply all of th e PMs that
h ave bee n generated so far to-
ge th er. H is recom mended that you
round off you r figu re to two deci·
mal places when you have com-
pleted the ca lc ula tion.
Castle on the Moors
In order to illustrate the d eSign
process. we will pa use al th is point
and present you with a n example
of castle con struc tion . Those of
you wh o are familiar with the first
book in this series. The Campaign
Sourcebook and Catacomb Gu ide,
will remember the Castle on the
M oors from that text. For those of
yo u wh o ar e not fa m iliar with i t.
we have reprinled the m ap and a
briefd escription of lhe struct ure at
the end of t h is ch apter.
The Castle on th e Moors was
53
bu ilt i n temperate climat e (Pro-
duc tion M odifier of 1.25) on a n
area composed p r im arily of rolling
hi1ls (PM 1. 00). The reg ion around
t h e cas tle was dom in a t ed by
marsh es and swamp lands (PM
2.00) and the available resources
w ere som ewhat distant. bul of
good quality (PM 1.50).
In determining the composi t ion
of the w ork force, we decide that
the local c ulture is a n agric ultural
o n e (PM 1.(0). T h e local folk wh o
will be called upon to build the cas-
Ue are typical humans. However.
because the king has commanded
that this casUe be built. h e has
sent along a team of experts to s u-
pervise. The DM consid ers t h e
matter. and decides that thei r in -
flu ence will increas e the worker
skill from " poor " to "average",
giving the project a PM of 1.00. Be·
ca use the local people have been
bo th er ed by in vaders from lhe
swamps before. they support th e
construc tion of the cas tle and ar e
consider ed to be of high morale
(PM 0.75).
Putting th e num bers a ll l o-
gether. we find that we have the
foJ/o wing modiflers:
Thmperate Climate 1.25
Rolling Hills 1.00
Swamp 2.00
DisianUGood Resources 1.50
A gric ultural Society J.oo
Average Workers 1.00
Hig h Mora le 0.75
In order to d etermin e the total pro-
duction modifler. we multiply all
these num bers together (and round
to two decimal places) giving us a
PM of2.81. As you can see. the loca-
tion chosen for the construction is
hardly ideal, despite the workers
enthusiasm for the Job.
Castle Design Castle Modules Table
At th i s point. it's time to think
about the actual castle itselr. What Module Type Tech Time Gold
features wUl it have? How large Barbican. S ma ll 4 1.665 2B.600
will it be? These and other Impor· Barbican. Medium 5 2.050 35.200
tant aspects must be decided upon Barbican. Large 6 2.BBO 49.500
now.
Castle design is a m od ular proc-
BuUding. Sm a ll Stone 3 64 2.000
ess. For example. a s imple outpost Building. Medium Stone 3 96 3.000
might consist of four round towers Building, Large Stone 3 144 4.500
(each four floors high), linked by a Building. Great Stone 4 300 10.000
solid stone wall (also four floors Building, Grand Stone 4 600 19.000
high). with a basic gatek eep se t in
BuUding, Small Wooden B 40
the center of one wall to allow en-
Building. Medium Wooden 1 12 60
trance to the casUe. FrOm this ba-
Building, Large Wooden 1 18 90
sic description of the structure. we
Building, Great Wooden 2 40 200
can design the entire castle.
Building, Grand Wooden 2 75 375
Castle Modules Ditch 2 10
The foll owing modules can be
used in th e design of a castle. Drawbridge 2 40 550
When you select a module for use.
Gatekeep. Lesser 5 1.950 33.275
however. be sure to take into ac-
Gatekeep. Greater 6 4,625 40,620
coun t the tech level of the area (as
Gatekeep. Grand 7 6.410 110.800
den ned at Lhe start of the design
process).
Moat/Channel 3 6 30
Module Descriptions Motte 2 10
Many of the terms used in the
Palisade 1 5
above tab le may be unclear to
those unfamiliar with m edieval Thwer, Small Round 4 720 12.000
architecture. In addition , the ac· Thwer. Medium Round 5 900 15.000
tual construction of. say. a barbi· Thwer, Large Round 6 1.260 21.000
can may be grea tl y varied in
different kingdoms, Thus, we pro· Thwer. Small Square 3 840 14,000
vide the fo llowing description of Thwer, Medium Square 4 1.0BO 18.000
the castle modules in a n effort to Thwer, Large Square 5 1.440 24.000
fully define them for use in castle
design. Thnnel 4 25 100
Readers s hould note that the di·
mensions given in the descriptions Wall. Stone 3 30 500
of the various modules are internal Wall. Stone & Hoarding 4 36 600
dimensions. Thus. a s mall . square Wall. Stone & Glacis 5 44 720
tower that Is described as 30' by Wall. Stone & Machicolatlon 6 53 864
30' has external dimensions of 50' Wall. Stone & Postern 4 5 100
by 50' because of its 10' thick Wall. Wooden 1 5
walls.

54
Barbl ean
Barblcans are a form of con-
struction intended to protect the
castle gate from attackers. In this
sense, they are much like the gate-
keeps that even tua lly evolve from
them . Barblcans are set into the
ou ter and curtain walls of a castle.
Small barblcans are composed
of two small, round towers set
some 20 feet apart with a stone
building linking th eir upper sec-
tions together. The space beneath
th e s u spended b uild in g often
houses a gate, but may be found
open from time to lim e, In our
module. a gate is always assumed
to be Included.
Medi um barbicans are com-
posed of a brace of m edium. round
towers that are spaced 20 feet
apart and connected with a small
stone building. Once agai n , a gate
is assum ed to be Included beneath
the building.
Large barbicans are also based
on two m edium , round towers but
are spaced 40 feet apart and have a
large linking structure between
them.
In all cases. the floors a nd walls
of the connecting structure have
murd erhol es and embrasures
through which attackers can be
assaulted. Further. each tower,
whether s m all or medium, Is as-
sumed to be two stories (30') tall .
Buildings. Stone
Sto ne buildings are genera lly
used in the design of a bailey or
castle compound , and a re not an
actual part of the castle itself. For
those who wis h to build th em-
selves a home. warehouse. s hop,
or other structure (either within
the confines of a castle wall or In a
small village) . these buildings can
be u sed.
S m all buildings are gen erally
square in shape. The walls average
2 feet in th ickn ess and stand 15
fee t tall. The Interior of the build-
ing has 400 square feet of floor
area (us ua lly 20' by 20').
Medium a nd la r ge buildings
have s lmtlar wall constructions.
bu t have. respectively. 800 square
feet a nd 1,800 square feet of fl oor
a rea . Usually, a m ediu m building
is 40' by 20' and a large building is
60' by 30' _
Great stone buildings are two
level affa irs. stand ing 30' tall . Like
the other stone stru ctures. their
walls average 2 feet thick (more at
the base, less at th e top). Each of
the great building's two floors has
1,800 square feet of su rface area,
usually with dimensions of 30' by
60'_
Gra nd ston e buildings are large
and im pressive things. They stand
4 5' tall. having three internal
levels. The building is usually 80'
lon g by 40' wide. giving each floor
3.200 square feet of surface area.
Other shapes a nd dimensions are
possible. but the Internal surface
area will remain similar.
Buildings. Wooden
Like stone buildi ngs. the follow-
Ingstructures are found within the
castle walls as out-buildings. In ad-
dition. they make up t he majority
of buildings in a town. village. or
other community. The dimensions
listed for each entry are the most
common , but builders are by no
m eans restricted to them. When
determining the price and labor
time for a nonstandard building.
base your estimate on the square
footage of its nearest eqUivalent
from this listing.
S m a ll . medium, a n d large
wooden buildings have very thin
55
waJls, usually only a few inches
thick. Small buildings are 20' by
20'. giving th em 400 square feet of
floor space. Medium bu ildings are
40' by 20' and have 800 square
feet of floor space. Large buildings.
which are often fo und as storage
areas or large shops. are 60' by 30'
a nd have 1.800 square feet of Ooor
space.
Great wooden bu ild ings are two
story affairs that stand 30' tall.
They are 60' long a nd 30' wide.
with 1.800 square feet of surface
area on each floor.
Gr and wooden buildings are
th ree stories (45 ') tall and measure
80' by 40'. Each floor has a surface
area of 3.200 square feet fo r a total
of 9 .600 square feet.
Dlteh
Ditches are used in castle de-
fense to make the land which at-
tackers must cross uneve n and
dangerous. While giving their a t-
ten tion to getting past a ditch or
other obstacle. a ttackers are far
more vulnerable to defensive mis-
sile fire.
Each ditch section is 10' long.
10' across, a nd 5' deep. Thu s. a
100' long ditch would require 10
ditch m odu les. A ditch is not fi n-
ished and will not hold water like a
moat. a lt hough water will poo l
there after a storm .
Drawbridge
A drawbridge . which is assumed
to include a small structure from
which It is operated. Is u sed to al-
low easy passage over ditches.
moats. and olher castle defenses.
Theaverage drawbridge is 20' long
a nd 10' wide. Larger examples can
be created by combin ing two (or
more) drawbridge m odu les. The
drawbridge is assumed to be made
from ha rd wood a nd Is braced (or
eve n s hod) wi th metal to Increase
its stre ngth .
Gate keep
A major step in the evolution of
the castle. a gatekeep permi ts the
defenders of the castle to confron t
altacke rs before they reach the
m ai n ga tes th e m se lves. In es·
sence. a ga tekee p is much like a
barblca n tha t Is set away from the
castle walls a nd connected to them
via a pair of strong stone walls.
Eve n If the outer barriers of the gao
tekeep are breached. the walls act
to create a killi ng field that makes
the fi na l assaul t on the gates even
more difficult.
A lesser gatekeep consists of two
small . round towers and a linking
struc ture (essen tially a small bar-
bican) tha t a re set some 20 feet out
from the castle's main gate. 1\vo
15 ' high walls run from the na nk-
ing towe rs to the main gate and se-
cure the structure to the castle.
Gr ea te r gate keeps are so m e-
what larger and Incorporate four
m edium. round towers. 'TWo are
positioned forwa rd just as they are
in a lesser gatekeep, but two more
are built In lo the cas t le wa lls
around the m a in gate itself. In this
way, the rear towers can provid e
beLler fire Into the killing fie lds be-
tween the castle a nd outer de-
fenses and can a lso support the
forward towers in holding off at-
tackers. Person s in the forwa rd
lowers can move a long the top of
the walls (w hich provide partia l
cover from e n emy a r ch ers) to
reach the castle towers. In tim es of
combat. th is is dangerous to a t·
tempt.
Gra nd ga tekeeps are th e ultl·
mate in gate defe nse. Th ey a re
composed of four large towers, a r-
ranged in th e same man ner as the
towers in th e grea ter gate keep.
a nd can hold off huge numbers of
e nem y forces for ex tended periods
of time. The two forward towers
are set som e 30 feet out from the
castle and 40 feet apart. A fu lly en-
closed stone passage runs along
th e upper section of the two fl ank·
ing walls. a llowi ng easy and safe
passage from the towers to the cas-
lie and back again.
Moat/Channel
As technology Improves, t he
idea of m aking ditches even more
effec tive by filling them with water
naturally arises. Thus. in essence,
a moat is nothi ng m ore tha n a
d itch tha t has bee n fi nished so that
wa ter w ill be co ntai ned by it.
Channels are used to link m oa ts
with th e wa ter ways th at wil l fill
them . In som e cases, it may be
necessary to dam part of a water·
way to d ivert water into the moat.
Da ms can be built like s tone walls.
but cost twice as much and take
twice as long to complete.
It is som etimes possible to fill a
m oat with dangerolls a nima ls that
can be used to in crease its e ffec·
tlveness du ring a n attac k. Exact
de ta ils in s uch cases are left to the
DM 's Imagination . It is important
to keep In m ind. however. tha t un-
intelligen t moat guardians will at-
tack defender and intruder a like
a nd that intelligent denizens will
require some reason for accepting
a position as " moat guard ".
Motte
Jus t as it is so metim es wise to
ring a castle with ditches to defend
it. it is a lways better to build on
high ground. In cases whe re a nat-
ural earth en mound or motte is not
56
availa bl e, m a nmade on es ca n be
crea ted . As a rule, one motte mod·
u le represen ts a 10' by 10' square
area ra ised 5'. Thus. ifan area 400'
by 400' (160,000 square feet) were
to be ra ised, 1.600 m oat uni ts
wou ld be required for eac h 5' rise
in ground level.
Palisade
A pa lisade is a fence of wooden
pos ts (usu a lly about six inches
thick) that is set up as a defense
agains t enemy cha rges a nd the
like. Palisades ar e often set up
along the de fending edge of a ditch
or moat to make th em eve n more
difficul t 10 bypass. A pal isade mod-
u le ru ns 10' long and stands 5'
hig h .
Tower, Round
Round ed towers prov ide belter a
bette r defense agains t things like
screws a nd sa ppers. As a rule. they
tend to be som ewhat s m a ller In ter-
na lly than thei r square coun ter·
parts. and use less stone. Thus.
th ey cost som ewha t less to build.
Th e tec hnology required to build
s uch s tructures. however. may nOl
a lways be ava ila ble to the castle
designer.
S m all towers of th is ty pe have a
30' d iam eter interior s pace ava ila-
ble for use and are 40' in diameter
on t he o utside. A s ing le tower
m od ule is assumed to be 2 stor ies
tall {30'} a nd have wal ls which avo
erage 10' thick. Of course, this as-
s um es th at th e wa lls will be
thinner a t the top and wider at the
base. Embrasures in the wall a llow
fres h air in to the tower and permit
those within to fi re on troops out·
s ide.
Medium a nd la rge lowers resem-
ble their s m aller cous ins In most
ways. Again, they are assumed to
be 30' tall and be divided into two
levels. Medium towers have a 40'
in ternal d iame ter w hile large tow-
ers ar e 60' across.
Larger towers can be built by
combining t wo or more tower
modules together an d co m bining
the costs. I f th e stru cture Is to
stand alone, th en the second m od-
ule must be one size sm aller t h an
the tower below it. Thu s, a large
round tower could act as a base
w ith a medium round tower atop it
and a small r ound tow er a top that.
I f the structu re is anch ored to a
wall. then two similar towers m ay
stand atop each other. Thus. a six
leve l tall an chored tower could be
made upoftwo large t owers for the
base and one mediu m t ower atop.
Exceptions are possible, but are
very rare, ex pensive. and hard to
constru ct without magical assist-
ance.
Tower, Square
Al th ough less sturdy and some-
what m ore expens i ve to make.
square towers are easier to bu ild
t h an round ones. Thus. they are
som ewhat more common. Squ are
towers are found in t h e same basic
sizes as round on es. and a tower
module is agai n assumed to be 30'
tall Wilh two internal leve ls. The
intern al space ava il able in a
sq u are tower is somew hat gr ea ter
t h an it is i n a round tower o f simi-
lar size because the chamber is not
rounded ofr.
A s m all tower is 3D' by 30' in-
side, with ou ter dimen sions of 50'
by 50'. Medium and large towers
51
are 40' a nd 60' square r espec-
tively. Sq u are towers can be
stacked just as rou nd towers can.
Furt h er. it is possible to stack a
round tower atop a squar e tower
so long as size restrictions a re
obeyed.
Tunnel
A tunne l m odule represents an
underground c hamber o f 1.000
c u bic feet. Usua lly. this is a 10'
long by 10' wide by 10' h igh sec·
lion. but th e configura tion may
var y based on need and purpose.
For examp le. a c hamber tha t is go·
ing to be 20' by 40' with 10' high
ceilings has a vol ume of 8.000 cu-
bic feet an d wou ld require 8 tunnel
modu les to complele.
Wall, Stone
A typical sectio n of stone wallis
assumed to be 10' long, 10' thick,
a nd 15' high. Walls can be s tacked ,
like towers, but mus t follow som e
restrictions, For every level that Is
going to be s tacked above it. an ex·
tra m odule must be added toa wall
for every 50' (or fraction thereoO in
Its length . Thus, If we are planning
a 3 level h igh (45' tall) wall that Is
50' long we need to add 2 a ddl ·
tlonal modules to the lower level
a nd one additiona l module to th e
secon d level for bracing. Thus, ou r
three level high. 50' long wall reo
quires the 15 mod ules that make it
up , plus an additional 3 modules
for bracing.
In addition to th e wall Itself. a
number of options are availa ble at
h igh er tech levels. In som e cases,
walls are assumed to possess cer-
tain featu res as described in the
text tha t fo llows.
Hoardings are wooden s truc-
tures that are added to the top of a
wall. Becau se t hey ex tend ou t·
ward from th e castle a nd have nu-
m erou s holes in their unders ides,
defenders can move about in them
and fire on attackers at the base of
the wall. Because they are made of
wood, however. hoardings are vul-
nerable to fire and artillery.
A glacis Is a n additiona l section
of stone added to the base of a wall
that angles outward and creates a
s loped or slanted base , In addition
to m aking the wall more resistant
to screws a nd sappers, a glacis will
cause thin gs like boiling oil to
splatter when the defenders above
pour It on the attackers around the
glacis. A wall with a glacis Is as-
sum ed to include hoardings if de-
s ired .
Machicolations replace hoard -
Ings as a means of attacki ng e ne-
m les a t the castle walls. Advances
in technology a llow the wall itself
to be built wi th a stone overhang
that serves the same purpose, but
is far less vulnerable to attack. As
with hoardings, m ac hicolations
are dotted wi th murder holes for at·
tacks on those below them . A wall
with machicola tions is assumed to
include a glacis at its base .
Posterns are small gates that al-
low one or two m en to s lip ou t of
the castle without drawing atten-
tion to thems elves . They are not
secret doors, but are not nearly as
obvious when opened as the m ain
gates. The cost for a seclion of wall
with a postern In It Is In addition to
any cost for things like machicola-
lions. Thus. a wall section with
m a chtco latlons a nd a postern
would require 58 weeks to build
and cost 964 gold pieces.
Wall , Wooden
A wooden wa ll sec tion is as-
s umed to be 10 feet long, 3 inch es
thick, and 15 feet tall. They can be
u sed to set up barriers or in th e as-
sembly of larger structures as in·
ternal walls. For example, the Ooor
area of a large keep can be bought
as if it was a wooden wall. as can
th e roof if it is made of timber.
When using the wooden wall mod-
ule in s uch a fashion just note that
it has a surface area of 150 s quare
feet. For an example of wooden
wall m odules being used in this
manner. check the Castle on the
Moors example that foll ows at the
end of this section.
Laying out the Castle
Now that you understand the
various modules and their u ses. go
ahead and layou t a rough noor
plan of the castle you want to
build. It needn 't be very detailed or
58
complex, but s hould Identify all of
the m odules that you wan t to use.
Castle on the Moors
In order to h elp yo u better un·
derstand this phase of the desig n
process, we will switch back to our
example of the Cas tle on the
Moors. As you kno w. we have al -
rea dy determined the various en·
vironm ental an d social features
that will dominate the construc-
tion effort . now we must layout
the cas tle itself
Looking at the castle floorplan
that follows this chapter . you wi1J
see that the k eep is in tended to
have four s quare towers, each of
which is four floors high. Beca use
a standard tower m odule is only
two floors hig h. eight m odules
must be used. Since the towers are
to be anchored to walls. th e same
size module can be u sed on the top
and bottom of the tower. Th e cas-
tle is n ot intended as a great for-
tress. so the designer opts to use
small towers.
Next. we move to the walls that
link the to wers together. A dis-
tance of 11 0' separates each of the
towers, so 44 wall sections wlll be
required to com plete th e l ower
l evel of the walI. However. the wall
is m eant to be {our floors high. so
additional braci ng must be in -
cluded. Since three l evels will be
added to the lowest level of wall.
three extra wall m odules must be
added per 50 feet or fraction
thereof Th us. 26 additional mod-
ules must be added to support the
second l evel. Since the second
l evel must s upport two m ore
above it. two modules must be
added for every 50 feel of its
l ength. for a total of 18 modules. 1b
support the upper level . 9 modules
must be added to the third l evel.
Note that this does not Include the
additJonal walI that Is set up around
the castle gate. This area works out
to require 55 wall sections. Thus. for
our whole cast/e. we will need 285
wall modules. The lower level of the
main wall (which requires 70 mod-
ules) Includes a glacis. but the other
214 sections are ordinary wall sec-
tions.
As you can see, we have already
accounted for the vast majority of
the castle 's construc tion. Th e de·
signer wants to have the Inside of
the keep roofed over and split Inlo
3 Internal levels. These floors will
be roug hly l20' squares. so each
one has a surface area of 14 .400
square feet. Th er e are four such
surfaces to be cr eated (3 floors. in -
cluding the bottom one. and the
roof). Tn the interest of simplicity.
the DM agrees to assume the r oof is
a flat surface. despite its ang ular
n ature. Thus . a total of 57.600
square fe e t of w ooden flooring
mus t be purchased. Since each
section of wooden wall (floor in this
case) Is 150 square feet. 384 such
modules must be bulll.
The smaller aspects of the castles
design. like the spiral stairways. in-
ternal furnishings, and maln stairs
are assumed to be included in the
castle's overhead costs (described
later). Since the maln entrance is
not a grand affair, the DM agrees
that It can also be included in the
overhead costs. If the gate were
larger, it would have to be bought as
a barblcan or gatekeep.
So, what do we have now? Our
castle is going to r equire the fol-
lowing:
• 8 Small, square towers
• 70 Wall sections with glacis
• 214 Standard wall sectio ns
• 384 Wooden wall sections (used
as floors and roofing)
Average Construction Time "-
Cost
Now that you have laJd out the ba-
slcstructureofth ecasUe.It's time to
determine just how much all this is
actually going to cost a nd how long
it's going to take to buUd , Because of
the modular nature of this system ,
that's very easy to do. Simply add
up the cost of all the modu les you
wish to purchase and add up the
time required to build them.
Once you have th ese totals, you
know the basic values that we will
be working with. The valu es you
have just calculated are the aver·
age time and cost factors for the
project. 1b determine the actua l
time and cost involved. we must
go through a few more steps.
Works of Art
Of course. all of the above values
have been generated w ith the
thought of a typical castle in mind .
If you wish to build an ornate com·
plex that Is both a fortress a nd a
work of art. you m ay do so by add·
ing an additional 50% to the cost
and time required for your project
Such structures as this are rare in
the extreme, of course, and are
usually reserved for the seat of a
great king or mighty empe ror.
Lesser structures. lik e the
wooden buildings or free·standlng
towers. can be made ornate in a
similar fashion . Further, it Is possi ·
ble to have part of a castle be or-
nate. the main keep is an obvious
c hoice, while the curtaIn walls and
outer defenses a re more struc-
tural. 10 do this, just apply the In-
creased cost and time to the
s pecific module being selected.
If desired . a castle can be made
very spartan. In such cases it will
not be a comfortable place to live
59
in. but wUl sun fill its role as a mlli·
tary fortress. Spartan castles cost
25% less to build and require 25%
less time.
O verhead Costs
Overhea d costs are assum ed to
inc lude a great many things that
are not detailed in this system.
Overhead includes the time spent
recruiting and training workers,
obtruning food and housing for the
labor force. and fillin g th e castle
with furniture and the like when
the project is finished.
For the sake of simplicity, over·
head is always assumed to add an
ex tra 10% to the castle's cost and
time. Thus. a castle that has a total
cost of 250.()(X) gold pieces would
cosl275.()(X) when overhead is fig -
ured in . The construction time re-
quired Is likewise increased.
Final Calculations
Once you have established the
base cost and the overhead costs,
you can figure o ut exactly how
long it wUJ take to build your castle
and how much of your precious
gold you are going to have to part
with before its done. 1b do this,
si mply total the base and overhead
values that you have calc ulated
a nd multiply them both by th e
production modifier (PM) gener·
ated in the first part of the castle
construction procedure.
Castle on the Moors
Going back to the Castle on the
Moors project, we can total up the
costs and Umes required as fol-
lows:
• Eight small. square lower mod-
ules cost a total of 112.000 gold
pieces to build a nd requjr e
6.720 man/ weeks of work.
• Our wall r equires 70 sections
with a g lacis, which requires
3,080 man/ weeks to build and
costs 50,400 gold pieces to fi-
nan ce.
• The upper l evels of our wall reo
quire 214 standard wall sec·
tlons, for a total of 6.420
man/ weeks and 107,000 gold
pieces.
• The wooden floors and roofing
will require 384 wooden wall
sections. The total time re-
quired for this phase of can ·
struction is 384 m an / w eek s
and the total cost is J .920 gold
pieces, As you can see, this is
cheap when compared to the
rest of the project.
The castle is not in tended to be
overly ornate-after all. it:S in the
middle of a swamp, H owever. the
knight who must live here Is not
expected to be un comforta ble.
Hence, the cas tle. will n ot be spar-
tan either. Cost and production
time values are unmodified.
Thus, our total cost for the con ·
struction of this castle is 271 .320
gold pieces. Wh en we add In the
overhead charges (which work out
to be 27.132 gold pieces) we bring
our total up to 298,452- quUe a
lot of money.
As far as con struction time is
con cerned, our base value works
out as 16.604 man/weeks of Jabor.
When we add our 10 % overhead
time to tha t. we have a total of
18.264 man/ weeks-quite a Jot of
work. as well.
We're almost through. but n ow
we have to remember that these
values assume that we are work·
ing in perfec tly average condi-
tions. The Castle on the Moors Is
being built In a region of swamps,
far from its base of supplies. All of
these things are part of our PM ,
which we determined was 2.81 in
the first phase of desig n .
Our next step is to multiply our
most recent values for cost and
time by our PM. Wh en we do this.
we find that our castle wm actually
require 51.322 m a n /week s to
bUild. Further. it will cost usa stag·
gering 838,650 gold pieces.
The Work Force
Now that the castle plans have
bee n committed to parc hme nt, it's
time to get on with the actua l con-
s truc tion of your castle . The firs t
pOint to cons ider in th is phase is
your work force. The prices that
you paid a bove assume that you
will be building the castle In one
year.
At this point. you s hould take
th e co ns truc tion tim e that you
have a nd divid e it b y 52. T he
produc t of this calculation is the
numbe r of m e n that must be hired
to comple te the job in one year. It is
assumed that the cost of s upport·
ing a work force of this s ize is in ·
e luded in the cost of your castle so
fa r. Thus. if yo u tak e n o other
action at this tim e, you will be a ble
to build your castle in 52 weeks.
Larger Work Forces
In order to inc rease the s peed
with which a castle is e rec ted. de-
Sign e rs m ay wis h to hire a ddl·
tio nallaborers. As an average. the
cost to hire a worker is assumed to
average out at 10 gold pieces a
week for the duration of th e pro-
j ect. While the typical laborer is
o nly going to receive a salary of I
gold piece per month , they are
s upported by skilled s upervisors
a nd a rtisa ns wh o rece ive far
greater pay. In addition , this cost
assumes that they must be fed ,
housed , and train ed .
If the desig ner ca n ra ise enoug h
money (and find e noug h willing lao
borers). to increase his work force
to twice its s tanda rd valu e. con·
s truc tion will be com ple ted In 75%
of the establis hed time . If the wor k
force is quadrupled . the cons truc-
tion ti m e is cut to 50% of its calcu ·
lated value. Larger work forces are
not pe rmitted .
Before you calculate th e cost for
a ll these new m e n , Skip to the sec·
tions on Heroic Charac te rs. Magi-
cal ite m s, a nd Mo ns te rs. Once you
h ave d ete rmin ed the e ffects of
th ese section s. re turn here a nd
work out the ne w duration of the
co nstru c tion project (in wee ks ).
Mu ltiply it by the numbe r of ex tra
m e n who will be h ired and then
multiply the total fro m that o pera·
tion by 10 to dete rmine the total
cost for the increased work force.
Add this s um to the cost for the
castle as a whole and don 't worry
about a weekly pay roll .
Smaller Work Forces
If money is a fac tor. but tim e is
not, the des igner may wish to co n·
s ider c u tting his work force. For
each man rem oved from the la bor
pool. the cost of the castle w ill be
reduced by 10 gold pieces per work
for th e duration of th e projec t.
If enou g h workers are removed
to reduce the work force to 75% of
its s tandard value, the n cons truc·
tion tim e is doubled . If the work
force is cut to half its s ta nda rd
value, then cons truction time is
q ua d rupled . No red uction be lo w
50% in the work force is poss ib le.
It is poss ible to reduce the work
fo rce to below its s ta ndard number
without In creasing the ti m e reo
q uired so long as the contributions
of heroic c ha racters, magical ob-
j ects. and m on s te rs (as d etailed in

60
th e fo llowing th ree sections ) re-
turn the work level to it's standa rd
number. For example. if a group of
PCs is a ble to do the work of 100
men. then 100 laborers may becut
from th e work force a nd the money
normally spent to hire the m saved.
Once you have determ ined the
new duration of the proj ect (in
weeks). m ultiply it by 10 to deter-
mine the sav ings that is m ade pe r
c ut labore r. Su btrac t this savi ngs
from the cost of the castle now a nd
do n't worry a bout a weekly pay-
roll.
Heroic CharActers
Both p layer c ha rac te r s a nd
higher level NPCs can augm e n t
the wor k fo rce cons ide rably. This
is du e pri marily to their greater ex-
perience and worldliness, as well
as their genera lly higher determi-
nation . After a ll . these specia l peo-
ple have proven th em s elves to be
far more than just the average c iti-
zen, otherwise they wouldn ' t be
heroes!
As a rule, a ny non -magiC u sing
c haracter will be a ble to do the
work of one ma n for every level
that he or s he has attained, For ex-
a m ple. a 6 th leve l th ief can do the
work of six normal laborers. It is
assu m ed tha t th e thief n eed not be
an actua l part of the work force.
but is ac ting in a supporti ng role
by obtain ing good prices for items
and m a kin g s u re that th e loca l
ba nd its and c rime syndica tes do
not in terfere with the project.
Characters who a rc able to use
magiC can be of trem e ndous help
when it com es to building a castle.
Arter a ll. consider the benefits of a
slOn e shape spell or a wish s pe ll
when construction is in progress.
In order to simplify matters, a ny
spell usi ng c harac ter who is a part
of the construc tion force counts as
one labore r for each level tha t they
have a ttained . In addi tion. they
count for one man for each s pell
level tha t th ey can cast in a given
day. Be s ure to include a ny bonus
spells for wisdo m that a priest
might be e ntitled to.
For example. a 5th level wizard
wou ld be a ble to do the work of 16
m e n. He counts as five men be-
cause of his basic level. In a ddi -
tion. he can throw four 1s t level
s pe lls in a day (which counts as
fou r m ore workers ), two 2nd level
s pe lls (whic h counts as four m ore
workers). a nd one 3rd level s pell
(which counts as three worke rs).
The Importan ce of magiC in cas-
tle construction s hould not be un -
d e restimated . as a 20t h leve l
wizard can do the work of over 180
norma l m e n! While playe r cha rac-
ters are free to work on a project.
OMs s hou ld make the recrui tm en t
of high leve l NPCs a n expe ns ive
hireli ng who. m ore than likely. will
require a n a dventu re to recruit .
MAgiCAl Items
Som e magical ite m s. like the
sa wofmig hly cuWngor the spade
of colossal excavation h ave an ob-
vious value in the construc tion of a
castle . In cases where som e ques-
tion arises as to the usefulness of a
pa r ticu la r item, th e OM must
m ake a judgem e nt call on whethe r
or not the ite m will be a Sign ifican t
factor. For exam ple. an enc hanted
s hield is not like ly to b e of m uc h
help in building a castle. a lthough
gauntlets of ogre power might be.
As a rule. if the item Is we ll
s uited to cons truction work . like
the matlOck of the titans. the n it
will be worth a number of me n
e qua l to 5% of the experi e nce
poin t award for its di scov e ry.
61
Thus. the spade ofcolossal excava-
tion counts for 5% of 1.000 points
or 50 me n .
If the item seem s to have some
possible a pplication . like wand of
lightning(which could be useful in
clearing land or digging the foun-
dation of th e castl e ), then it is
worth I % of its associated ex peri-
e nce point a ward . Thus, the afore-
mentioned wand would count as
40 m en.
Ite m s tha t the OM feels a re of no
partic ular use in the construction
effort. like a ring ofregeneration or
elven boots a re not counted to-
ward the manpower tota l. If the
OM rules an ite m to be useless. the
owning player s hould be a llowed
to ex pla in how he feels the Item
mi ght be u seful. If t he OM is
swayed by his or he r case. then the
decision may be reversed .
Monsters
It may be poss ible for the charac-
te r 's to recruit monsters to aid in
the building of the castle. Many of
the mons te rs listed In the various
monstrous compendiums can be
pressed in to service, though some
will be more s uita ble for suc h work
than others.
If the players have a m eans of ob-
tai ning mons trou s laborers. the
OM must determine how s uitable
they a re for s uc h work. If they
migh t be prone to devouring othe r
m embe rs of the work force. they
s hould be considered poorly
s uited. Similarly. if they have little
ta len t or ability in such things (like
a unicorn) they might be deem ed
useless or poor.
If a monster is well s uited to con-
s truc tion work. like a s tone giant.
centaur. or bugbear. it is worth 5%
o f the expe rie nce value that a
player would receive for defeating
it in combat. As a rule. most hu-
m anoid creatures of lawful . neu-
traL or good alignmen t will fall into
th is category.
If a monster is som e what suit-
able. but has drawbacks, it is
worth 1 % of its XP value. Most
c haotic or evil humanoids fall into
this category. as do those who have
restrictions to their movement or
dexterity. Dragons. because they
have no m anipulatory limbs. fall
into this category.
Monsters that are wholly useless
to a construction project. like a
green s lime or s hrieker. will con -
tribu te nothing to the work bei ng
done .
Work Seasons
Once the construction time and
cost have been a ltered to re nect
the efforts of the player c haracters.
their spells and m agic items. and
c hanges in the size of the work
force. the DM needs to con sider th e
area's climate again .
We now know how long it will
take to build the castle If the c rew
works straigh t through . Of course.
it is not possible to work every day
becau se of weather and si milar
fac tors. For example. a region that
has harsh win ters and is m arked
by severe storms during spring
a nd a u tumn might restrict the
construction crew to wor king on ly
25% of the year! That means that a
castle might take. on the average.
four calendar years to buil d.
In order to determine the actual
number of weeks available for work
In any given region begin by record-
ing Its PM values for clima te type
a nd ground cover. Multiply these
two numbers together to determine
the Work Time Modifier (WTM).
This value should range between
0.75 and 12 .00 when you are done.
Next, divide 52 (the n umber of The knight who will be lord of
weeks in a year) by the WTM to de- the castle is a 12th l evel paladin .
termine how m a n y weeks a re As such , h e counts as 18
available for work in a given year. laborers- 12 beca use of his experi-
Note that in some cases you will ence level plus six more because of
have m ore weeks available than his spell casting ability.
you have In the year. In this case. it The paladin has four compan-
Is assumed tha t the climate Is so ions. 1Wo of them are not spell
favorable that your work precedes casters. a 10th l evel thief and an
at a very rapid pace and you are 11 th l evel warrior, who will coun t
ab le to accomp lish muc h more as 21 addition al men be tween
than m ight normally be expected. them. The spell casters are a 10th
l evel wizard (who will do the work
Castle on the Moors of 49 men) and a 9th l evel priest
with a 17 wisdom (who can do the
• We r eturn now to our fine exam- work of 52 men).
ple of the Castle on the Moors. As
Thus. between aI/ the player
you will r ecall. the current calcula-
c haracters, the work of 140 men
tions show that the castle will cost
can be done.
us 838.650 gold pieces to build.
In addilion to their own efforts.
T h e entire project. as it now
the party has a number ofmagtcal
s tands. will take 5 1 .322 man/
objects that they want to use to
weeks of work to finish . Lets con -
help speed construction. The pala·
t.inue with t h e process . going
din has a suit of Plate Mail of Ethe-
through the steps that we have
r ealness and a holy aven ger
just ouWned.
sword. but the DM rules that these
Ou r first step is to determine
will n ot help the project. Similarly.
how large our standard work force
the DM rules that the other mag i -
will be. 7b do th is, we divide the
cal weapons and armors of the
current tim e r equired forconstruc-
p arty member s wilJ be of little
t.ion (51.322 man/weeks) by 52.
value.
T h e res ult. 987. is the number of
The priest. however. has ob-
men that must be hired to com-
tained a pair of gauntlets of ogre
p l ete the castle In 52 conUnuous
power. which th e DM rules to be of
weeks. They are assumed to be in -
some use. Thus . the priest can
cluded in the cost we h ave already
save the treasury the hiring of 10
paid for the castle.
additional m en ( 1 % of 1.000 XPs).
Since the king and his advisors
The warrior has obtained a lyre
see the danger In the swamps as a
of building. which the DM agrees
growing probl em . they dec ide
will be of obvious value o ver the
q uadrup le th e work force and at-
course of the project. Thus. the
tempt to complete thecastl e in half
warrior's magiC Item can do the
the usual time. Thus. they will
work of (4 .000 x 5 %) 200 m en!
need to hire 2.961 additional men.
All told, we now see that th e
Before we determine the cost of
characters will be abl e to contrib-
such an increase. we must look at
ute grea tly to the constructi on of
t he contributions that wl1l be
the Castle on the Moors. Betw een
made by the p layer c ha racters
tJiemselves and t h eir magica l
who are in charge of the castle's
items. they can do the work of 350
construction.
men. Tru ly. these are the folk of
62
whom songs will be sung!
Tn their efforts to furth er speed
construction, the characters call in
a debt owed to them by a stone gi-
ant. Th e DM agrees that a stone gi -
ant is an excellent ch oi ce for such
works. so h e will be worth 5 % of
his experience point value (8.000).
Thus. the stone giant can do the
work of 400 m en all by himseJfl Tn
addition. the DM rules tha t two of
the stone giant's sons will join
their father in working on the cas-
tle. Each of them counts for only
200 men. h owever. as they are bu t
growing boys.
When all is said and done. the
player characters. their magic
item s, and their monstrous al1ies
can 1111 the slots of 1.1 SO m en .
Returning now to the n eed for
additional workers . we find that
the crown stiJJ needs to hire and
support 1.811 more men. Since
the construction tim e of tile castle
will be cut in half by their efforts.
they n eed only be paid for 26
w eeks of work. At 10 gold pieces
each this works out to be a total of
470.860 gold pieces. This figure
may seem high . but remember
that the efforts of the player ch ar-
acters have prevented the n eed for
an additional 1.150 men an d
saved nearly 300.000 more gold
pieces for the crown. Th e king is
s ure to remember their actions!
With all of that taken care of. we
turn our attention to the weather
and working conditions. Because
the climate around the castle is
t emperate (PM 1.25) and the
ground cover is swamp (PM 2.00).
wehave a WTMof2.50. Thus . only
21 weeks out of the year will be
suitable for work on the cas tle.
Since 26 weeks are required, the
project will be completed in about
14 cal endar months ifall g oes well.
Monthly Events Severe Weather
Over the cou rse of the castle's Severe weather conditions are
construction. th ings may not al- dangerous indeed. They not on ly
halt work fo r the m onth. just as
ways go as planned. Each month .
the referee should roll Id 100 on bad weather would do. but set the
project back by 2-8 (2d4) weeks. In
the following table to check for un-
order to keep things s imple. just
planned hazards a nd even ts. Ref-
erees are encouraged to add to this roll 2d4 and a dd that m any weeks
chart or customize it Lo better fi t to the completion date of the pro-
their own campaign. Ject.
IdlOO Event Monster Attack
01 - 65 No unus u al even t
Some sort of m onster or great
66 - 75 Bad weather
beast is stalking the area! The con-
76-81 Severe weather
struction crew will lose 2-20 (2d 10)
82 - 83 Monster a ttack
laborers to its hunting or evil ma-
84 - 85 Highwaymen
nipulations. Funeral expenses will
86 - 87 Local unrest
be 100 gold pieces for each m an.
88-89 Labor dispute
Once that is out of the way. the
90 - 91 Raid
player characters must seek out
92 - 93 Call to arms
and destroy the beast. The OM
94 - 95 Civil war
s hou ld make this a separate ad-
96 - 97 Royal visit
venture. No work on the castle can
98 - 99 Bad omens
be done until after the beast is
00 Natural disas ter hunted down and destroyed or
otherwise pacified.
No Unusual hent
More often than not. noth ing out Highwaymen
of the ordinary will occur during A band of thieves and murderers
the course of the month . In such has s tarted stalking t he s upply
cases. a full four weeks of con - routes to the castle. Because of
stru ction is comp leted with ou t their pillaging, work is reduced to
m ajor acciden ts or mishaps. ha lf speed (that Is. one week of
work Is done every two weeks) un-
Bad Weather
til they are dealt with. As with the
Depending on the area in ques- previous entry. the OM should
tion. this could be any thing from a make resolving this an adventure
sandstorm to a bad series of thun- of Its own.
derstorms or a blizzard. In a ny
case. no work Is possible for the e n- Local Unrest
tire month . Note that the bad
weather is not assumed to last the The actions of th e work force or
e ntire month, but rathe r that much player c harac ters have s tirred up
of the work done during this period the local population and they no
is spent countering the event. For longer support the construction of
example. waiting for the land to dry the castle. In fact. they demand
after a severe rainfall. removing the that a ll work be stopped and the
sa nd or snow followin g a sand - ex is ling co n structions be torn
storm or blizzard. and so forth. down. Work will stop for Id4
63
weeks. After that tim e. construc-
lion may conUnue, bur If the prob-
lem is nOl resolved It will be at half
speed (one week of work eve ry two
weeks). Restoring the public's
faith In the proJecl should be han-
dled by role-playing and mayor
may not require an outlay of cash
as a "sign of good Inten tions".
labor Dispute
The workers are up In arms
about some thing. Perhaps It's the
player ch aracters doing so much
work with their magical Items that
they look bad or maybe It's the
working conditions . Whatever the
reasons, their pay must be In-
cr eased or all work will stop for 3-
18 (3d6) weeks w hile new workers
are recruited . In order to avoid the
shut down. an additional 5 gold
pieces per week must be paId to
each man on the work force for the
remaining duraUon of construc-
tion. For instance. a 1.500 man la-
bor pool with 12 weeks to go on a
project would require an addi-
tional 90.000 gold pieces in com-
pensation. The money ca n be
spent as a lump·sum at this point
to avoid ongOing paperwork.
RAid
A neighbori ng power, whether
another kingdom or just a power-
ful arc tribe. stages an a ttack o n
the castle. Their nu mbe r will be
roughly equ al to th e work force at
the castle. making It a fair nght.
There are a number of ways to
resolve such a struggle. but the
one we recommend Is with the
BATTLESVSTEM'" miniatures
ru les and the supplemental mate-
rial presented in this book . If the
g roup is not Interested In resolving
the connict en masse. then seL H
up as an adventure. At leasL a por-
lion of the major battle should be
fought . however. with the pes
playing an important role.
If the OM wishes. the event can
simply be resolved with the climl-
nation of 33-90% (3D + 3d20) of
the laborers. These heroes died de-
fending their castle and are enti-
tled to a good buria l and pe nsions
for their families. The remaining
portion of their wages is assumed
to coun t for this. In addition. new
workers must be hired at 10 gold
pieces each per week for the rest of
the project. Figure out this cost
right now and pay it in advance to
avoid lo ng term accounting.
ull to Arms
The kingdom is at war! The king
calls upon all of his vassals to send
him aid in the form of troops or
money. The pes can decide that
they will contribute.
If the pes opt to send gold. they
are expected to send gold equal to
5% of the castle's total projected
cost. Thus. a castle worth
2.500.000 gold coins would re-
qui re a donation of 125.000 gold
pieces.
I f the pes decide to send forces.
they m ust give u p 25% of their la-
borers fo r the rest of the project. Re-
gard less of t he new n um ber of
workers. construction on the castle
s lows to ha lf speed (one week of
work every two weeks) because of
reductions in supplies and concern
over the future of the kingdom .
It is also possible that the pes
may refuse th e orde r. although
til is is a violation of their oaths La
the king. If they do this. th ey will
branded as rogues and subject to
anyth ing from a n outr ight allack
by the klng's forces to a revolt by
the local populace and labore rs. It
is doubtful that the king's enem ies
would treat them much better. for
they have proven themselves to be
untrustworthy.
In any of lhe above cases, the
pes are expected to trave l to the
klng's castle a nd in form him of
their choice in person . This should
be a n adventure planned out and
run by the OM.
Civil War
One of the king's vassa ls is in re-
vall! The pes are bound by th ei r
oaths offealty to aid th e ki ng in the
war. Th e ir c hoices a re mu ch the
sam e as they a re in case of a call to
arms. sa ve that they can opt to
support either the existi ng ru le r or
the u s urpe r. Ma king th e wrong
choice will cost them dearly in the
e nd . If they s upport the king, a nd
he Is defeated. then they will be in
a bad position to negotiate with the
new ru ler. If they support t he
us urper a nd he loses. then th ey are
tra itors to the crown and will prob-
ably be executed or banis hed from
the ki ngdom.
Adve nture possibilities run ram-
pant here , and the good OM will re-
quire much role-playing before the
civil war draws to a close. Just as
with the call to a rm s (above). the
pes will be ex pec ted to appear be-
fore their king (and pOSSibly hi s ri-
val) to explain their ac tions a nd
give their decislon _
Roy.' Visit
The king Is com ing to inspect
work on the castle. His visit makes
for a n excelle nt role-p lay ing e nvi-
ro nm en t as the pes altempt to
prove thei r gra titud e fo r the right
to build this castle in the king's
name and stay on h is good side.
However. the royal presence has a
negative impact on the work in
progress. as everyo ne must stop
working to make the area look as
nice as possible fo r his royal high-
ness. A total of 1-4 (I d4) weeks of
work will be lost.
Bad Omens
Perhaps the stars are aligned
poo rly. or a b lack cat has been
hanging around the cons truction
site. Whatever the case. the pes
are advised to SLOp a ll work on the
casLle for I to 6 (I d6) weeks.
If they opt to ignore this warn-
ing. they must roll on the even t ta-
ble once per week for t he d uration
of the crisis. In addl Uon. a ny roll of
100r less is re·rolled while the por-
tents are unfavorable. An a ddi-
tiona l ro ll of "bad ome ns
Inc reases the duration of the dan-
ger period a nd requ ires a ll rolls of
20 or less to be re-rolled. Furth er
results of "bad omens" Increase
th e h azardous ti m e, but do not fur-
th er modi fy the die rolls.
Natural Disaster
Th e m ost horrib le o f even ts. a
natural disaster might range from
a n earthquake or volcanic e rup-
tion to a nood. tornado. or meteor
65
Impact. Whatever the case. the
castl e Is in ruins. All work to date is
lost a nd clean-up costs will con-
s um e the entire budget remaIning
for constru c tion . In short. it's back
to square one.
Because of the severity of this
event. the OM is encou raged to al-
low the c harac ters a c hance to
thwart th e calamity (or lessen Its
effects) with an adventu re. T hei r
quest s hould not be a n easy one. as
they a re playing for keeps (sorry
abou t the pun).
Castle on the Moors
Well, construcUon of the cas tle Is
finally under way! The DM r olls for
an even t for the first four week s of
construc tion . The dice come up a
3 1. so there is no event in the first
month. Th e die roJ} for Vl e second
m onth Is a 61. again Indicating
"b u siness as us ual". So far. con -
struction Is right on schedule!
Next month '5 roll is a 78. Indica-
ting Lhat the wea ther has turned
sever e. Not only will no work get
done this m onth . pushing the
completion da te back by 4 weeks}.
but the DM rolls 2d4 and deter -
mines t.hat th e project has been set
bac k another 7 weeks! This Is al -
most a disaste r. Beca use of th e
weather, the tim e r em a ining to
complete the project is increased
from 18 weeks to 29 weeks.
The fourV) month rolls around.
with the PCS and laborers h oping
tha t It will be better. The dice come
lip a 94. Indica ting a civil war In
the kingdom. The p es decide to
support the king. and travel to him
with n ews. While they are there.
/Jo wever, they attempt to convince
/JIm to " let t/Jem olTt/Je hook " for
donations to his war elTort. They
point out the damage don e to the
castle by l ast mont/J'S sever e
 weath er an d remind his majesty of work must be hail ed for t.he year. end. The last roll on the even ts ta-
the imporlance of the castle to his At the start of th e next season. ble comes up a 00, indicat.lng a
defense against the m ons t.ers In bad w ea ther delays the project by natural disaster. The DM sets up
the swamps. T h e DM decides that four weeks. While this upsets the an advent u re to give th e player 's a
they have made their case well. PCs. th ey remember the dimcul- c hance at thwarting it. but they
shown theIr loyalty to the crown. ties of the first yea r and consider are unable to do so. Massive floods
and deserve a break after last themselves lucky. r aise the water Jevel in the moors.
month's events. The king agr ees Construction res umes with a ro ll softening the earth . and ca us ing
that their efforts to complete the of 27 for th e next month indica- the k eep to sink into the m orass
casLle are far more imporlant and ting that four more weeks of work forever.
that he can deal with the rebels are done. The end is right around As th e last of the battlem en ts Is
himseJ[ T h e DM absolves the play- the corner! T her e Is only one week fl naJJy consumed by the mud and
ers of their responsibilUies and of work Jefllo do! wa ter. their st.one giant assistant
does not Impose the normal penal - As those of you who own a copy turns to his sons. "That'S why you
ties associated with this event on of the Campaign Sou rcebook and should never build a castle In a
them. Thus. the month 's labor Catacombs Guide know. the Cas- swamp".
goes as planned. l eaving only 25 tle on the Moors Is fated for a bad
more weeks to compleLion of the
casLle.
Next m onth's roll is a 29. allow-
Ing four m ore weeks of good work
to be done. There ar e now 21
weeks of labor left on the castle.
However, 20 weeks have passed
and the season (which is only 2 1
weeks long) Is coming to an end.
The PCS order work stopped for
the year and throw a grand feast to
thank the workers for their efforts
over the past few months.
Wint er passes through th e
moors and work is r eady to begin
again the next year. For the first
four w eeks, h ow ever. the random
event roll is a 98. indicating bad
omens. The pes decide to h alt
work and walt for things lO im -
prove. Five week s pass without in -
cident. and the bad om en s fade
fr om promin en ce. Con stru ction
can begin agaln.
Next m onth's roIJ is a 19. indica·
ling clear sa fling for th e cas tle
cr ew. There now remain only 1 7
weeks of work to do.
The n ext three months also pass
without problem. 1\velve more
weeks of work are added to the pro-
ject. leaving only 5 m ore to go.
Wint er Is closing in. however. and

66
The Castle on the Moors

1 Storage
2 Kitchen
3 Great Hall
4 Day Room
5 Bedrooms
6 Lord's Office
7 Knight's
Bedrooms
8 Work Areas
9 lbwers

67
 The castle design system pre-
sented in the prev ious c h apter has
been purposefu lly Simplified. The
reason for this is fairly obv ious-
by keeping it simple we have made
it easy to use and kept it h ighly
versatile. In this c h apter we will
discuss some of t he more unusual
types of castles that m ay be found
in the typica l AD&D® game. In
some cases. w h ere it seems
needed . we have included notes on
the use of the casLie design system .
Oriental Designs
T h e or iental em p ires of th e
twel fth. t h i r teenth. and fourtee n th
centuries though t in terms of great
ac hievemen ts and m agnificent
s tructures. Wh ile feu dal Europe
lac ked the popu la ti on and re-
sources to build anyth ing mo re
than a motte an d bailey. or in t h eir
greatest ach ievem en t. con struc t a
concentr ic castle. the orienta l em-
pires engaged in m assive develop-
ments. T h ei r work s were beyo n d
anyth in g i m aginable by med ieval
Europeans.
The palace of Shi H uangdi. for
examp le. requ ired the effor ts of
700.000 slave laborers working for
more than two years. By the tim e
the palace was fin is h ed it cou ld
h ou se and en terta i n 10.000
gu est s.
Oriental emp ires are obsessed
with size and grandeu r. T hey do
n ot thin k twice ab ou t b uildi ng gi-
gan tic statues that stand a h un-
dred feet tall. or co n struc ti ng
3.000 t erra-cotta sta tues o f foot
soldiers to be placed i n a tomb.
W h en an oriental palace or castle
is b u ilt. it is looked on as a place of
exqu isite beau ty. Thu s. all orien tal
castl es ar e required to be built
with t h e price and time i n cre -
m ents for "orna te" stru c tures.
W h en a charac ter co nstructs a
keep. m ore often k now n as a pal ·
ace or castle. h e must remember to
build all facets of his estate in
larger than life proportions. That
is. if he desi res a moat to surrou n d
his keep. m ake it a lar ge m oat.
measuring hundreds of feet w ide.
I f h e pla n s on buildin g a wall.
make It two or three limes as thick
an d high as th e stan dard Euro-
pea n wal l.
I n oriental kingdoms. land is
gained eith er by grants from a no-
b le lord or in conqu est an d aggres-
sion. Rarely w ill a lord obtains
land by Royal Charter. In add i tion.
t he practice of o n e lord b u ying
land from another is un h eard o f.
Honor is the driving force b eh ind
oriental castles. lb create a m igh ty
for tress is to gain hon or. lb make it
also a work o f art. is to p rove one-
self a wise an d t hough tfu l lord. By
com bining these eleme n ts. an orl-
ental lor d may pr ove h imself to his
peers and h is beloved an cestors.
Thieves' Castles
Thieves' cas tles. or strongholds.
are al most always buil t c lose r to
major ce n ters of civi lizatio n than
typical warrior holdin gs. T h ieves
rarely seek lan d t;:harters or g rants.
and on ly in a ver y few insta nces
w ill they take lan d by force. More
common ly. th e th ief si m ply buys a
small parcel o f land. usually near
or wi thi n a town or great City. I f
need be . and the situation p resents
itsel f. a thiefw ill also lease t h e land
he requires to feed and care for his
retainers. Unlike most adventur-
in g t h ieves. the com m on bu rglar
or h ighway m en cares li ttle for the
dangers an d u n k n own s of virgin
coun t ryside. besides t h ere is noth -
i ng to steal i n the wild lands.
A thief will l en d to go in for ve ry
69
m eager looking exter ior for tifica-
tio n s. suggesti n g to the passerby
that litlle is held with in. Once in
hi s domain. however. a thiers keep
wi ll be ado rn ed w ith preci ous
silks. beauti fu l scu l ptu res. and
fi n e statues. Gold an d silver p lates
and eatin g uten sils w il l be set at
the tables and a variety o f servants
a n d u n derlin gs w ill se r ve aged
w i nes an d succulen t food s o f every
variety. In short. thieves lik e the
good life. and they do ten d to pam -
per themselves w h en they can.
A stro n ghold w ill o ften start out
as nothing m ore t h a n a large
wooden buildi n g. As time goes by.
i t m ay deve lop into a stone build-
ing if t h e t h ief becom es ve ry su c-
cessfu lla ter in life. As h is for tunes
grow. so does h is estate. Unlike
warr iors. who often setout to build
a m ighty fortress. t h ieves find tha t
t h eir keeps j u st evo l ve ar ou n d
them .
The inter ior and t h e basemen ts
beneath su c h a b uildi ng w ill be a
maze of rooms and corridors. some
laced w ith leth al t r aps for any fool-
ish invader . The former character-
istic i s often the result of the
castle's growth . wh ile the latte r is
an in tentional safegu ard. In gen -
eral. sin ce the th ler s stron ghold is
so close to a town or city. an d
within the boundaries of an o th er
lord's estate. he rare ly wo r ries
abou t large scale invasion . Rath er.
the t h ief m ust contend with his
ow n kind. who are fond of slipping
i n and stealin g a bau b le or two.
Wizards' Keeps
W i zards. in gene r al. are a
haug h ty lot. Th ey prefer a se-
cluded tower in some rem Ol e land
to a mi ghty keep in a civil i zed
coun trysid e. A wizard is also far
mo r e interested in the esoteric
realms of m agic. than in m a in tain -
ing a la rge assemblage of servants .
reta ine rs. a nd farm ers. They will
rarely seek to becom e a lord and
th us be forced to deal with the day
to day activ ities of som e pe tty fief.
Wizards. with their c un ning in-
telligence and resourcefulness wil l
alm ost always seek to gain a lan d
c harter or gran t from the preva il-
ing gove rnm e nt. So m e w izar ds
may a ttempt to take la nd by force
bu t. as wizards are not known fo r
their ba ttle prowess . they usu ally
leave that m ethod to the warriors
and knights.
Wizards' keeps are always con -
s tructed of s tone and m ore ofte n
than not con tain a m oa t with some
terrifying beast to keep the m a ny
distractions a t bay. As one migh t
im agine. the use of magic in the
construction of a wizard 's towe r of·
ten overs hadows the comm on folk
who migh t be caJled u pon to bu ild
it. ThIes m ay be told for ge ne ra-
tions to com e of the grea t m agicia n
who buil t his home with a brillia n t
dis play of fire and m agic - a n d a
little help from the towns fo lk.
Priests' Fortresses
In m ost fa n tasy en vironme nts
religion will be an enorm ous ins ti-
tution . covetin g la rge tracts ofl a nd
a nd hoarding la rge coffe rs of trea -
s ure a nd tribute . Pr ies ts' te m ples
will vary in s ize a nd s hape cons id-
e ra bly. depending on the type of
cli mate. the lay of th e land . and the
people of the area .
Once a priest b uilds h is for tress.
th e cha rac te r will ofte n receive fi·
na ncia l s u pport from th e commu·
nity in the form of tithes . in th eory
equa l to a ten th of the loca l tow n 's
worth . This. on more tha n one oc·
casion . has cau sed rifts between
lord and religion. The pries t's for·
tress is not m ade or brok e n by the
tith ing or by lar ge trac ts of land.
bu t by t h e a bili ty of th e loca l
c hurc h to touc h upon the peas-
an ts' hearts a nd souls . Th rough
th is uniq ue a bility. the re ligion will
be s tronger tha n a ny barony or
fiefdom coul d ever hope to be-
com e.
In m ost real ms it is as bad to
ha ve no religion as it Is to have no
laws. Any decent and re ligiou s
lord will be all but required to con-
s truc t a te m ple or c h urc h firs t on
or near the s ite of h is own castle.
Thus, a priest 's fortress can . a nd
man y of tim es will b e. fo u n d
with in the boundar ies of a nothe r
lord's ba rony.
In certa in ra re occ a s ion s. a
priest m a y go off in to t he wilde r·
ness to construct his own fo rtress.
bu t in s uch cases the priest's goa l
is seclus ion . As a rule. hi s reti nue
a nd a mbitions will te nd to be far
s m a ll e r than those of h is city
dwelling bre th re n.
A priest's fortress will always be
made of s trong s tone, unless the
s urrounding la nd a nd people a re
too dimin utive to support s uc h a
cons tru ction or his fa ith forbids its
u se. T h e fort ress w ill ac t a s a
s hield agains t ou ts ide Infl uences
as much as the cas tle's walls do.
In a ny e ve n t; the fortress will
us ually be opu len t in every aspect
of its design . Where pOSSible. roofs
of bu ildings will be worked m e ta l
s uc h as coppe r. and pla ted with s il-
ve r. gold , or ot he r luxu r iou s
m etals . Un less the te ne ts of the
fai th fo rbid it. a priest 's fortress
s hould always be ornate.
The cen te rpiece of th e priest's
fo r tres s is th e large cath ed ra l
s truc tu re a t its heart. Th is portion
of the keep con tains th e greatest
a m oun t of adorn m en ts including
fri ezes. facad es, co lonn a des,
70
statues. a nd foun ta ins. Suc h con ·
s t ruc tion s are ass u m ed to be
present in any orna te cathedral.
A religious fortress. unless lo-
cated in la nds fra ught with da nger.
will ra rely cons tru ct la rge defe n·
s ive walls or battlem e n ts. Som e reo
ligious temples may co n ta in a
nu m be r of unde rground con s tr ue·
tlons su ch as la rge wine cellars. se·
cre t a bbeys, long tw is ting tun nels.
or a n u mbe r o f un d e rg rou nd
c h a mbe rs used for var ious pu r·
poses.
A priest will m ore tha n likely be
give n a land gra n t from the head of
his religious ins ti tution . In som e
cases, howeve r, la n d m ay be ac·
q uired by Royal Charte r. On ra re
occasions. priests m a y com e into
possession of the land they desire
afte r a fi e rce c rusade agains t a n
opposing faith. In s uc h cases. the
m ora le of the local wor k force is
likely to be poor. a t best.
Priests. de pe nding on their doc-
tr ines, moralities. a n d a lign m en t.
will eithe r favor s la ve ry an d the
use of fear and pain as induce·
m e n ts. or will re vile agains t the
use of s uch horrors a nd hire their
local wor kers with gold a nd divine
offerings of assis tance (bleSSings .
worki ng of wonde rs. curi ng. heal-
ing. salva tion . e tc. ).
Paladins' Castles
T h e paladin c ha rac te r will con ·
s truc t a cas t le that is s im ilar to the
ge nera l outli nes presen ted in the
bas ic construc tion syste m . How-
ever. they will also ha ve a num ber
of design ele m e nts that are s imila r
to those of a priest's castle. After
all . a paladin is a m ixtu re of war-
rior eth ics an d d ivine m ora li ty.
In tru th , the palad in has th e bes t
of both worlds. From the very be·
gin n ing . the pa ladin 's castle will
be looked on with e n vy by the
warrior lord and peasantry a like.
The paladin 's castle will be con-
structed In t he form of a typical
keep. ullll zing the best technologi-
cal achievem en ts possi ble for the
area, At the heart of h is cas lie.
however. will be his te mple or the
c hurch to h is de ity.
The paladin c harac ter will ofte n
gain th e land for his kee p through
his or he r crusades aga ins t infi dels
or ev il c reatu res a n d em pires.
While any pa ladin of note Is a lmost
assured La receive a Royal Charte r
or land gran t in Lime. th ey prefer
the more direc t m et hod of acqulr·
ing la nd by conquest.
A Paladin wil l ne ver use s laves
or use inducem e nts of fear and
pain to acquire worke rs for th e
construction of his keep. Rather.
the anoi nted knight wUl use pay·
mentsof gold and his d ivine gifts of
healing to a id the local peasan try.
Since a paladin is a lmost certainly
a great hero who is beloved by the
masses. recruillng workers is sel·
dom a problem.
Rangers' Forts
The ranger c haracte r will con·
s truct a kee p that is m odest and
pracllcal. All castles built by s uc h
c h aracte rs are co nsidered to be
spartan in design a nd lac k a ny
trace of orna m e n taUon . Every ef·
fort is m ade to maintain the in teg'
rity of the local land. The result of
this te nde ncy is that a ra nge r will
rarely le ve l or clear the land . but
will try to live off the la nd as best
he can . With his insights and a bil-
ity to commune with nature. his
lands will a lways have ple ntiful
game a nd food. In addition . the
ranger will keep the s wamps a nd
th ic k brus h in his la nds as a na tu ·
ral defense.
Rangers will also demand less in
tracts of la nd . fo r they will hold the
vie w that the land is not for them
alone. A ranger c haracter will ask
for very little la nd if offe red a Roya l
Charter or la nd grant. Un like a
typical warrior or pala din . a ranger
ra rely has h igh Ideas of co ntrol ling
vast tracts of la nd a nd people. A
ranger wi ll work best with n o·
m a dic or se m i· noma dic people.
since his idealogy would ma tch
those types of cullures. In su ch
cases. a ranger Ignores the us ua l
Prod u c ti on Modifier associated
with such peoples. In h is case. t he
PM is assum ed to be 1.00 for bot h
societies.
Druids' Shrines
A dru id c ha rac te r will cons truct
a castle somewhe re between tha t
of a ranger and that of an elf. Utill z,
ing the styles of both with grace
and splendor.
A druid obta ins hi s land almost
exclusively through the use of a
Royal Cha rte r. though m ay u se the
othe r methods in certain ra re occa·
s ions. A druid will ask s peciOcally
for areas that a re heavily wooded
and that a re r oug h a nd ofte n
mountainous.
Once a tract of la nd has been
fo und . the druid wi ll se t a bout
clearing very s m all portions of th e
land. with a conservative eye to·
wards destroying anything of na t·
ural beauty.
A typical druid shrine will be
comprised of a loose fi tti ng s tone
wall. looking m ore like a picke t
fence that will a lso serve as a n as·
tronomical aid or in divina tion of
spirits. In the heart of the s tone
wal l. which may be circ ular or
s quare . will rest a s tou t wooden
keep . In some ra re instances. the
lower leve l of the keep may be
7t
composed of large. se m i-dressed
Slone blocks.
Around the keep itse lf will be
gardens and paths. In fact. hall ·
ways a nd rooms built from living
sh rubs and trees are not uncom·
ma n . Druids will u se their magiC to
affect the ra te of growth of these
room s. co nstru ct ing the m in a
frac llon of the lim e that might be
required if they were m olded na tu ·
ra lly.
Along with the garde ns a nd nat·
ural room s. druids will cons truct a
numbe r or de ns. both of s tone and
wood. for woodland creatures s uc h
as wolves. bears. and other s uc h
beasts. These a nim als will act as
guards and sen tries. e nabling the
druid a n d his close retainers to
concentrate on m ore pressing mat-
ters.
Rarely will druids use or ask for
help In cons lrUc ting their esta tes
fr om the local peasa ntry. Th e
d ruid would rather take his retain·
e rs. followers. a n d special h ire·
lings a nd carve ou t his s hrine at a
more leisurely pace. Druids will
never use s lave labor. nor use a ni ·
mals of a ny nature abus ively. As a
rule. thou gh . the work force of a
druid will consist of a great varie ty
of sy lvan beings. incl udi ng cen·
taurs and similar crea tures.
Druids rarely con ce rn th e m -
selves with political endeavors or
conquest. but have th ei r own in -
te rests that occupy their time.
Druids. wUJ be m ore than happy to
live within the confines of a nother
lord 's estate and become his loyal
vassal.
Dwarven Citadels
The dwarve n style of livi ng and
their c ul ture radically diffe rs from
that of humans. Their unus ual at·
tl tud es a nd tastes have resulted in
 t h e con stru ction of castl es and
keeps th at are very strange to hu -
man eyes.
As a rule. an y castle that Is built
by h uma ns under the gU idance of
dwarves will be assu m ed to h ave
workers of "average" skill or be t-
ter . Any structure built prim arily
b y dwarves will have workers of
"good" skill. Th e morale of a pri-
marily dwarve n c r ew is never
worse than poor. because they en-
joy working in stone more than
anything else.
Dwarves tend to dwell under-
gr ound. At the very least. t h ey like
to h ave a rocky shelf c loakin g
them from the rays of the sun and
stars. They have three basic castle
types that Include the Kiva design.
the Pit and Cis tern design. and the
Spoked Well design.
Dwarves hate slavery and w ill
never u se s laves. or constru ct their
citadels with the u se of whips or
through fear and Intimidation of
workers. On the other ha n d.
dwarves have the ability to o ffer
great am ounts of go ld . silver.
gems. and worked iron i n the form
of weapons and arm ors as indu ce-
me n ts in the recruiting of laborers.
It should be noted. however. that
dwarves in general are qu ite
g reed y and will not o ffer suc h
goods unless th e labor is superior
or in great deman d. As a ru le.
dwarves will not hire oth er r aces to
do their wor k for them. Rather.
th ey prefer to labor at their own
steady pace.
Kiva Design
The most radical design of the
t h ree is th e Kiva c itadel. It Is built
on a ledge or p lateau of rock along
a sheer mountain face. Usually.
thou gh not always. the s tructure is
capped with an ext endi ng stone
face t hat s h ie lds th e keep from air-
borne attacks.
From t his p la teau the dwarves
d ig a single thi n road or path lead-
ing to th e outside world. Along its
length th ey m ay build on e or more
barb icans or gatekeeps.
Along the plateau. the dwarves
ingeniously quarry stone from the
rear o f the cave a nd construct.
with c hisel and ham m er. both nat
faced and curved ston e walls. W i th
the prec ision of fin e craftsm en. the
dwarves snap these broad blocks
of stone together with wood and
s teel pins. The resul t Is a forti fied
castle of unequ alled migh t. Pew
kiva c itadels have ever fallen into
enemy hands. and those that have
were taken on ly after a major loss
of life to t h e attackers.
Withi n th e kiva c itad el. t h e
dwarves will have built c isterns of
water both for drinking and for use
as tanks for t h e breedi n g o f blind
catfish and lake trout. With such
provisio n s. the castle ca n with-
s tand a prolonged Siege.
Fit and Cistern Design
Unlike the kiva c itadel. this de-
sign type Is built completely un-
derground a nd normally on ly
constructed in areas with large out
outcropplngs of r ock or d ense clay
soi l.
In con struc tion of this type of
cas tle. t h e dwar ves fir st find a
large suitable cave. If that is n ot
available, th ey will build u nder the
shelter o f an expansive sh el f of
hard stone. From there they dig
straight down. cr eating a vast pit
with a diam eter ranging anyw h ere
from thirty to one hu ndred feet.
From th e walls o f the p it. th e
dwar ves con struct a spiral stair-
case . wide and stou t enough to
hold mu les. ponies. h orses, and
72
m en. In the sides of t h e pit. they
open up w ide and taU tu n nels that
radiate upward s at a sligh t angle,
usually no m ore than fifteen de-
grees. These hallways lead i n turn
to the room s and great halls of th e
k eep.
At the far end of each tu n nel is a
wide cistern h old ing water. From
t h ese great cha m bers. t h e dwarves
draw their drinking and bath wa-
ter. Further. they employ this re-
source to powcr various w inches
o r m ec h a n ica l devices. Wasted
and unused watcr. runs down the
sloping corr idors where it falls into
the pit. Thus. th e bottom of the pit
will gradually fi ll with water and
be used to maintain a school offish
similar to those raised i n the kiva
citadels.
Spoked Well Design
In this d esign. which is an off-
shoot of the pit and c istern citadel.
t h e emphasis is placed on numer -
ous small pits. called wells. that
rare ly exceed fifty feet in depth.
From eac h well . a n umber o f tu n -
n els radial e outward.
In a n umber of cases. a pit and
cistern design h as been co n verted
over to a spok ed well layou t. wi th
the ce ntral and older sha ft still
u sed as a reservoir for unused wa-
ter and as a "farm" for various
fi sh es.
Elven Sanctuaries
Elves ar e very si milar to humans
in their p h ysical appearan ces and
can easily walk among men with-
out drawing too much attention.
Despi te their physical si milarities.
however. elves are very d i fferen t
mentally. with their concepts of
material weal th and time being
radically divergent from those of
humans. This is no more sharply ever feel cold. h ungry, or isolated of better times and more plentiful
observed than in the con stru c tion in its living embrace. harvests in the area. Most human s
of their caslles. I t should be noted. In designing his sanct uary. an el- and demi-hum an s. i f t h ey h ave
h owever. that the gen era lly pacific ven c haracter w ill rarely. if ever. any sense, w ill q u ickly agree to
n atur e of the el vish people leads enlist non -e leven races in Its con- hel p th e elf. These workers will no
th em to call t h ei r keeps "sanc tu- struc tion, nor is it necessary to doubt laugh beh ind t h e elfs back
aries". The thought of a castle as a claim a large tract of land to build a t such und ertakings sin ce to
primarily militar y structur e is a su c h a san c tuary on . In actuality. them the sanctu ary will look very
human invention . elves do not claim ter ritory as t.he muc h t h e same w h en t h e workers
The largest and most prominen t younger races do. An el f will never are you ng as it does w hen they are
difference in the design of a sanc- close th e door to his keep. so to old and feeb le.
tuary is the amou nt ofUme an elf is speak. since he does n ot believe he Elves rarely clear land as hu-
willing to put into it. In human owns ei th er th e trees or th e ground mans or other d emi ·hu m ans
terms the con s truc tion of a castle it is on; he is simply USing it. It is might. but will clear the gr ound of
is measured in years. Elves. on the worth noting. however. that elves debris su eh as rotting logs. danger-
other hand measure the ir con- w ill die to protect their forest cas- ou s fen s and marshes (where m on-
struction times in decades. Time tles from hostile In truders. ster may prowl). rocky pitfalls. and
means noth ing to an elf. at least Elves also do not be lieve in slav- such. Elves tend t o a ttain their
time as seen by humans. As th ey ery and will n ever u se force or pai n land th rou gh Royal Ch arters given
view it, t h ere is little need to scurr y as inducem en ts. Elves also rarely to them by el ven courts. though
around like excited child ren build- offer gold or other mone ta r y some impatien t elves w ill see k out
ing a s nowman . awa r ds as inducem en ts. but lan d grants from human or half-
The construc tion of an el vish rather t he promise. a spoken con - ling courts.
sanctuary starts with a basic idea, tract tha t has never b ee n brok en . The h istory of elven sanc tuaries
much as an y castle con structio n
does. F r om t h is starting point.
however. the elf spends his time
meticulously adding to his idea
nearly branch for branch. leaf for
leaf. A ll of these details he will
keep secret. for it is the love of t h e
elven people to hold sec rets great
and sm all.
As one might expect. elves build
their sanc tuaries from livin g
things. 1b an el f. a hom e made
from cut and hewn wood is like liv-
ing in a mausoleum; the el ves
barely put up with it from the
'younger' races. bu t the sigh t does
revile the m . Cut stone is used In el-
ven sanctuaries. but it must never
cloak the sk y or cast large sha-
dows. Thus. stone is used as more
of an ornament t h an as a fortifica-
tion or dwelling.
Light and warm th are sma ll con-
ce rn s in el ven sanctuaries and
with a touch of magic and the gen-
erosity of el ves. few visitors will

13
extends so far back th at eve n the
nea rly Im morta l elves do not re-
mem ber the or igins of thei r de·
sign. There are two gen eral sty les
of elven sanctu aries. the Gree n
Labyrint h design a n d the Blu e
Ring design .
Green Labyrinth
The featu res of this type of sane·
tuary are best und erstood If on e
imagines that he is fly ing above
the keep and looki ng down on it
with magical vision that can pierce
the tops of the den se trees tha t
make up It's roof. In this way. one
could see that the green labyrin th
Is nothing more than a co m p li ·
cated maze of greenery.
The design of s uch a sanctuary
will take anywhere fro m several
years If poplar and other fas t grow·
Ing trees are used . to cen turies If
oak. maple. or spruce a re u sed to
create the walls of the maze. In a ny
case. the entire maze is choked
with snares. b rambles. and sim ilar
natural hazards.
Within the labyrinth the elve n
lord can create room s. cham bers.
chapels. anyth ing desired. With
the carefu l plann ing In herent to el·
ven sanctuaries. an area of the for·
est can be grown In s uch a manner
as to offer entwined branches that
act as a secu re roof. or create beau·
tifu l cou rts and Hving halls.
Blue Circle
T hi s design obtai n s its name
from the circles of blue sky tha t
dom e th e ring of trees that make
up the sanctuary. This design ty pe
is far less co mplicated. thoug h not
n ecessarily a n y q u icker to de-
velop.
The elven lord grows h is "cas·
tle" In prede termined sized rings
that. upon developme n t. will cre·
ate var ious sized gr een cou rt·
yards. The trees tha t make up the
ri ng will be worked and m olded by
delica te and tender hands into
rooms to be u sed as s torage areas.
livi ng quarters. d ining areas. li·
brarles. or w hatever else is deemed
necessary by the individ ual.
Halfllng Strongholds
Although not well docume nted.
these s ma ll fo lk do on occasion
build stro ngholds a nd sizable cas·
ties. Of course. m os t halntngs
would be content with a com fo rt·
able a nd clean hole in a boring lit·
tle valley far from adventure and
In trigue.
Whe n a halfl ing sets out to build
a fortificatio n . It will a lmost a lways
be of a s impler motte a nd bailey
design . After a ll. reaso ns the half-
li ng. there Is li ttle point In clu tter·
ing u p the coun tryside with a great
mass of stone and timber. A lesser
keep can do the Job Just as well a nd
still provide fo r a com fo rtable a nd
happy home. As one migh t expect.
the dwarves fi nd halfling keeps to
be. a t best. am us ing. Elves. on the
other ha nd . can see a nd respect.
the halfl lng's love of nature and its
good ness as it is reflec ted in the
more basic castle.
The main difference betwee n a
ha lfling keep of this type and those
built by h u mans Is one of percep-
tions. In a halfllng mOlle a nd bai-
ley. the tower on the motte is on ly
the tip of the Iceberg. Nestled be-
neath it is a m aze of housing.
rooms. a nd nooks.
Above all oth er concerns a half·
ling stronghold m ust be com fort·
able. In genera l a ll of Its rooms wil l
be plu s h and very well kept. and if
possi ble each will have its own fire-
place or stove-a cold halfling is an
unhappy halfling.
14
The second concern for halfl lng
holds Is tha t of storage space. A
ha lO ing keep m u st have enough
dry SlOrerooms to outlive any but
the m ost prolonged of Sieges. In
addition. the food kept here Is not
salted meat or meager grains. but
fi nely preserved foods and good
wines. Hal fl ings will not sacrifice
their com fort over som eth ing as
minor as an enemy attack. After
a ll . A h ungry halOing is even more
un happy than a cold one .
Ha ln lngs In general will not use
s laves or use pain and fear as an In·
ducemen t to work. it's just too
messy and disruptive. Strangely
enough. however. halflings always
have a litter of s m all gold a nd s ll ·
ver Items lay ing about tha t they
may te mpt workers wi th. Even
more stra n ge. is that a ft er t he
work is a ll done. they seem to have
regai ned a ll of their pretty th ings.
Halnl ngs d islike swampy
ground and w ill shy away from It,
rather building in moderate and
temperate a r eas fu ll of sma ll
copses and shrubs w ith creeks
fi lled with trout and tasty frogs.
Gnomish Castles
T he gnom e Is a n anc ient brother
of the dwarf. wi th many s im ilari-
ties to the short but muscled m en
of the dee p. Despite their s imilari-
ties . gnomes are very different
from dwarves and build their own
sty les of castles.
Gnomes seem to be the rarest of
de m i-h umans. bu t that's not be-
cau se t.hey have a low popu la tion .
Li ke the d warves. gnomes have a
very lopsided sexu al im ba lance .
with far more males than fe m a les.
Communities of gnomes are far
more recl usive. and prefer living in
huge underground environmen ts.
Rarely do gnomes venture to the
surface and seek lives under the
open s ky. Th e typical gnome e n-
joys a close knil relatio ns hi p with
other gnomes and in community
affai rs: they find very little need for
venturing In th e s trange lands of
the surface world.
The gnom e doesn't have the pre-
occupation . like the dwarves, In
taming nature under the hammer
and anvil. Nor is the gnome as pre·
occupied with the preserva tion of
nature as the elves. The gnome. If
like a ny race, is m ore akin to the
halflings who enjoy a good drink
and a warm bit of food over adven-
ture or intrigue.
Gnomes have one of the longest
life expecta ncies of any demlhu-
man race-only the elves will out·
live them . With this in mind the
gnomes have a very laid back atti-
tude In castle construction, very
often workin g on Individual con-
structions by themselves or with
close friends and family.
Gnomes will never use s laves or
eve n offer inducements for th ose
who don't openly offer their servo
ices. In the g nom e's mind, some·
one being paid to perform work is
In reali ty a slave to the gold coi n ,
and will have the wrong frame of
mind in construction. Suc h work·
ers will do Inferior work.
As for the act ual design, a
gnome prefers the spoked wheel
designs of the dwarves. With the
only difference in the two designs
being that the gnomish castle will
be topped with a stone tower of
som e nature. usually rounded a nd
with full battlem ents. T he gnome
will a lso build the kiva design base
as well . When they do. they select
areas with large out outcropping of
rock. using much stronger rock
sheets to fo rm the kiva butldings.
In this way, the buildings are al·
most Impervious to outside attack
and can withstand the ha rs hest
wea th er for hundreds of years.
Gnomes pre fer to go through
their own kind to secure land
grants and Royal Charters. but on
certain occasions, they may make
a quick journey to a nearby dwar-
ven or even human court to ask for
the right of settlemen t.
Orclsh Keeps
Orcish keeps tend to be primitive
and can be constructed just about
anywhere. They arc typically built
exclUSively by slave laborers. and
use excessive inducem ent by the
use of the whip and hot poker. As
such . the morale of their workers is
almost always '"very poor'" and orc
task masters are forever bemoaning
their fate a t having to work with
such '" lazy'" servants.
Th eir forts are simply con·
struc ted by building a woode n pa l·
isade surrounded by a fie ld strew n
with boulders and s harp rock to
prevent any organized charge by
Infantry or ca lvary. This design
makes moving Siege weapons
close almost Impossible without a
great dea l of man ua l labor under
the crucl eye of the orc is h archers.
On the Inside of the wooden pali-
sade, the bailey is nat except for a
s harp angled motte topped by a sim·
pie stone fan nonnally consisting of
the great hal) on the ground noor,
elite troop and the lord's living ac·
commodatlons on Ule second and
possibly third noors. and with any
upper stories delegated lO simple
defense. These noors will bristle
with battlements and arrow slits.
Orcs obtain land in but one way.
by force. An ore hasn't the pa·
tience to wait for a Royal Charter
and rarely stands out from his
peers enough 10 meril the gift of a
land grant.
7S

Note: This ch apter r efers to
r ul es a nd con ce pts u sed i n
T SR's BATTLESYSTEM '" m i n -
iatures rules. Since siege w ar-
fare Is, by Its very· n ature, an
acliv ity invol ving scores, hun -
dred s or eve n tho u sands o f
troops, B ATTLESYSTEM " Is
the sy stem of ch oice. Of cou rse,
this doesn ' t m ean th a t sm all
segm en ts of a siege can 't be role-
played to grea t effect u sin g
s tandard AD& D® rules.
Offensive Tactics
Gen er al Gralnor muttered an ,
o th er c u rse to Gruum sh the AIl-
Seeing. god of the o r cs-in whom
h e d idn 't quite believe. He s hifted
on his saddle unLil he fo und a m or e
comfo rt a ble posillo n -a s om e-
what less uncomfo rta ble one , tear
it. Here h e was, a ba ltle·scarred
v eteran wifh som e two·score
heads /.0 his p er sona l credit, and so
fa r in this campa ig n th e only op-
portunity he had to s how his true
m ettle was to suffer stOi cally a bad
case of saddle-so res. Much more of
this and h e'd be as soft as a hu-
m an ,
Still. he kn c w t.ha t wou ld cha nge
soon cnoug h . Befo r e the day was
out. h e'd h a ,' e m or e weighty
things to worry abou l tha n th e
condition of his hindquarter s.
The orc ish gen eral 's mission
had been made clcar to h i m - quite
painfully clear- by the War Chicf-
l a in. Reduce the elven forI tha l lay
a h ea d. If d idn 't ma tter h ow, j u st
d o H. An d if h e did n ', su cceed . it
76
would be muc h beu er a ll a ro und If
IJe just did n 't come back. Gr alnor
had seen what was left of the last
fleld comma nder to disappoint the
War Chieftain . As an o reis h wa r -
rior, Gralnor was no stranger LO
physical ai.r ocities .. . but even so
h e'd been i mpressed,
A s to the fort ahead . Gener a l
Gralnor would much rath er ju st
bottle it up-totally inf erdlc l a ll
supply routes a nd communica lion
infO an d oul of Vl e place, and then
wait , Th ere couldn 't be m or e tha n
three weeks worth of food within
the wal ls, four at the outside. Th eil
the garrison would r esort to eating
(.heir war dogs and their horses,
maybe even each other, G ralnor
was n ', s ure a bout th aI las l
thoug ht: his o nly r eal kn owledge of
el ves was ho w to kill them. Another
three weeks after that and his army
could scale the walls confident that
they'd meet no m eaningful resisl·
a nce from those with in .
Elsewhere that would be a valid
lacUc; it even looked so here. ifyo u
exam ined the fort in iso/aUon . But
eight weeks was a long Ume. more
than enough for r einfor cements to
be caJled by magical m eans. And
Gralnor had no desjr e to parUcipate
in the classical military slt.uation of
double encirclement.
No, the walls would have to com e
down . And the sooner the better . ..
The general ofa force planning to
attack a caslle has a number of op-
tions from whic h to c hoose. The
right choice depends on a number
of factors Including the s ize of the
target. the expected resistance. the
preSJ!nce or absence of heroes (on
both sidesJ. the presence or ab-
sences of fantastic beasts, the mag·
ical capabilities of both forces. the
c hance of counterattack or reller.
s upply co nst ra ints. te r rain and
weather conditions. More impor-
tant than these, however. are three
othe r fac tors: the stze of the attack-
ing force, the general's estim ation
of his or her army's morale. and the
length ofUme wi th in whic h the cas-
tle must fall .
In general. th ere a re two distinct
techniques for defeating a fortlfica·
tion : investment, and reduc tion .
Investment
In its simplesl tenus. investment
is wha t most people think of when
they hear the word "stege": c utting
off access to and escape from a forU -
fi cation . Interdic ting lines of supply
e ns ures that no food s hlpmentscan
make It Into the castle: the garrison
is thus limited to the supplies on
hand a t the mome nt the invest-
me nt was laid. Interdic ting lines of
communication ens ures tha t the
garrison can ' t ca ll for help, a nd
must stand or fall on its own abili-
ties.
MedIeval Tactics
During th e true Medieval period.
investm e n t was the o nly via ble
m e thod for deali ng with a fortiO ca·
tlon of any s ize. Without gun pow-
de r (and without magic. of course).
a rmies had no practical m eans of
breaching walls any s tronger than
log palisades. TI-ue, s iege engines
s uc h as catapults and ba lJlstae had
been used by the Roma n s. but even
these weren't overly effec tive
against the s tone c urta in wa ll of a
castle. Also. investments of the me-
dieval period were usually undc r-
take n by s malle r-and freque ntly
less-organized-groups tha n were
later Sieges. Such groups wou ld
rarely have b rought Siege e ngines
a long with them. hav e access to
them after they reached the target.
or know how to build the m .
The usuaJly s ma ller s ize of medi-
eval Siege a rm ies had a nothe r can·
seq u e nce: t here we re s imp ly
InsuffiCient troops to set up a com -
ple te cord on arou nd th e fortif-
ication. Ins tead. the a ttacker would
typically just block off a ll gates and
other porta ls Into a castle. concen·
tra tlng its forces a t these key
points. A sensible gen eral would
place a pic ket line of soldiers to
keep watch on Ule rest of the build-
ing. Even so. it would us ually be
possible for someone In side the cas·
tie to escape at night-either over
the wall or through a concealed
passage and flee the area to s um·
ma n help.
T he attacker's purpose, of
course. is to prevent resupply a nd
reinforceme nt to the castle under
77
Siege. Its effectiven ess d e pe nd s
la rgely on the castle's level of s up·
ply whe n the Investme nt was laid.
Most castles are built around a well
of some kind: un less the attackers
are able to poison or oth erwise
eliminate this well. thirst s hould
not be a problem for the defenders.
On the other hand . food soon will
become a problem.
The leve l of su pply varied widely
fo r his torical castles. Forts on the
border be tween England a nd Wales
we re t rad itionally stocked with
e nough food fo r two months; Krak
des Chevaliers, a Crusader castle in
what is now Syria. was provisioned
for a full year. Other castles . partic-
ularly those whose garrisons didn 't
ex pec t imm ine nt attack. mig ht
have had conSiderably lowe r levels
of supply.
Starvation
1b si mplify what would other-
wise be a rather complex discus·
s lon , let's start with a fe w
assumptions. First. when a castle is
said to have a certain level of provi-
s ion (for example. "the garrison
has two weeks' worth offood"), this
amount represen ts a daily ration
just ba rely s ufficient for u nim -
paired fun ctioning (the assumption
is that a norma lly-func tion ing cas·
tie will have a constan t influx of
fresh food). Cu tting the rations a ny
furth e r would lead to malnutrition .
with effects similar to those of out-
a nd -out starva tion . Seco ndly.
Lroops can remain totally out of
s upply for five days without s how-
ing a ny physical symptoms of s ta r-
vation.
In BATTLESVSTEM"" ga m e
te rm s. progr ess ive starvation
throu gh lac k of supply ca n be
viewed as a form of attack. It a lso
has effects on moraJe. These effects
fall Into th ree categories:
Morale decrease
On a regular basis. the morale
base for each unit am ong the garri-
son decreases by 1. These d e-
creases a re c umulative. a nd
remain in effect until the fortifica-
tion is relieved, or until it falls. In ei-
ther case, the morale of survivin g
troops returns to nonna l as soon as
they are once more In com plete
s upply.
Morale checks
Regular morale checks reflect the
debilitating effect of being ou t of
supply. Eventually. units will be-
come s h a ke n . and comm anders
must make an elTort to rally them if
they wish to make sorties against
the inves ting forces.
AUrWon
Tt)is fepresen ts actual death or
incapacitation due to starvation .
Each time a ttrition is scheduled to
occur, the defender must roll Id4
for each figure In the total garr i-
son. The result of each roUls taken
individually: t he r olls are not
su mmed. Using the Combat Re-
sults l able. co mpute th e total
numbe r of hi ts that th ese rolls
have cau sed. Now the defe nder
must distribu te these hits as he or
she sees fit against the garrison .
Note that Ar mor Ratings have no
effect on attrition . Giving the de-
fender a choice as to where to ap-
ply these hits represents a de-
fending general's ability to a llot
what little food is available to the
most importan t troops.
Larger creatu res (s ize Lan d
greater) need proportiona tely more
food than smaller ones. When cal·
cula ting hits from attrition . use Id6
for each figure of s ize L or larger
creatures. rather than I d4.
Goblinoid and gian t-class crea-
tures-but on ly those of s ize M or
s maller-su ffer less of an effect
fro m attri tion . This is because the
nasty stuff tha t star Ving soldiers
grub up during a Siege isn't too far
out of line from thei r regular diet.
These troops roll for attrit ion us ing
Id4. but th e total number of hits
from these rolls is decreased by
25% (round fractions up). Thus.
the attrition dice rolled for gObli-
nold troops and th e resuiling hits
are kept separate from those rolled
for other troops in the garrison.
The total n um ber of hits (after the
25% reduction) is stil l su mmed.
however. and the defending com-
m ander can decide how best to al·
locate those h its. This pa rtia l
amelioration of attrition effects
can be ex tended to other troop
types. a t the OM's option.
Fig ures representtng individ -
uals of size M or even size L never
s uffer attrition ("one person can al-
ways find enou gh to eat"). Figures
rep resen tin g creat ures of sizes
grea ter than L (dragons, for exam -
ple) are a differen t case. however.
Since th ese hu ge creatu res will
genera ll y be ha ndl ed throu gh
AD&D® rules anyway. attrition is
handled through saving th rows
and hit pOints. Each li me the garri-
son is scheduled to undergo a ttri-
tion. each h uge creature mus t save
versus staves with a - 5 pena lty or
lose a number of hit pOlnts equal to
25% of Its hit paint total when a t
fu ll strength.
Undead a nd elemen ta l creatu res
are not affected by hunger. and so
are immu ne to attrition.
The followin g cha rt o utlin es
when eac h of the above effects
takes place. Consider " day 1" to be
the nrst day that the garrison is to·
tally out of supplies.
18
Day Effect
I Decrease m orale by 1
6 Automatic morale ch eck
(no option for retreat)
7 Attrition occ urs
Il Decrease mora le by 1
14 Attrition occurs; automatic
m orale ch eck
2 1 Decrease mora le by 1: attri-
tion occurs
22 Automatic morale check
28 Attrition occurs
30 Automatic morale check
3 1 Decrease m orale by 1
35 Attrition occurs
38 Automatic morale check
41 Decrease m orale by I
42 Attrition occurs
On Day 45, any units still In good
order automattca ll y become
s haken , and s haken units can no
lo nger be ra llied. Attrition con-
tinues to occur every seven days
(on Days 49. 56. 63. 70. etc.) unti l
th e garrison s urrenders or is to-
tally eliminated.
In terms of gam e mec ha n ics. as-
s ume that mora le effects and attri-
tion occu r a t sundown on the day
in question.
Thirst
Lack of water has a much swifter
effect than lack of food . Morale ef-
fects are the sam e as with s tarva-
lion ; whe n a ttrition occu rs. roll
Id4 for each figure In the defend-
ing garrison . For the following ta-
ble. Day l is again the first day that
the garrison has run ou t of water.
Day Effect
I Decrease mora le by 2
3 Automallc m orale ch eck
(no opllon for retreat)
4 Attrilion occurs
S Decrease mora le by I
6 Automatic morale ch eck
7 Attrition occurs
S Decrease morale by I
9 Attrition occurs: automatic
m orale check
10 Decrease morale by I
II . Attrition occu rs: a utomatic
mora le check
On day 12. a ll units sti li In good
order a utom aticall y beco m e
shaken . and ca n no longer be ral ·
lied . Attrition occurs eve ry second
day (o n days 13. I S. 17. 19, etc. )
until the garrison s urre nd ers or Is
lOtallyelimlnated .
In terms of game m echa nics, as·
sume that m orale effects a nd a ttrl-
lion occur a t sundow n on the day
in question .
Certain creatures a re more af-
fected by wa ter loss (liza rd men , for
exam ple). For troops of this type.
roll I d6 per figure for a ttritio n .
rather than Id4. Truly amphibian
creatures such as bullywu gs or
grung are affected even more; roll
IdS per figu r e fo r th ese troop
types.
For desert--dwellIng creatures. de·
crease all hits from thirst attrition
by 2S %. Undead and elem ental
creatures are not affected by thirst,
and so are immu ne to attrlUon .
Later Periods
During la ter periods. particularly
in Western Europe. the n ature of in-
vestme n t changed co nsiderab ly.
Rather than concentrating entirely
on closing the gates. the attacker
would often go to great efforts to to-
ta lly e nclose th e cas tle within
s iegeworks, often elaborate enough
to b e considered s tro ng ho lds In
their own right. S uch an enclosure
often comprised two dis tinct sys-
temsofwallsand trench es: linesof
"circumvallaUon" (faCing the coun -
try) and "coun tervallalion " (faCing
the besieged fortress). These siege-
works first appeared as tentative
experim ents around Milan in IS22
and grew into the elaborate con-
s tructions besieging Grave in 1602.
The principle of complete end r-
clem ent had a num ber of be nefi ts
in a gunpowder -free ca mpaign
(and ma ny more wh en Siege can-
non were available). T h e firs t was
defense for the a ttackers. Rath er
tha n taki ng up pos itions to guard
the ga tes-often near er to th e
walls tha n was comforta ble- and
ha ving to suffer with eri ng fi re
fro m the battleme nts. th e a lLack-
ers could s heller behind rampa rts
and breast works.
The slegeworks a lso provided
defen se In depth . 1b break out of
th e e nCirclem ent. a sorli e would
have to leave th e casUe , cross th e
" no- ma n 's-Iand" between It a nd
the siegeworks-a prim e killi ng
ground . s hou ld th e attacking force
have a ny number of ar c hers or
mus keteers at a ll-th en fig ht its
way over or lhrough th e a ttackers'
own fortincations. This would ty p-
ically prove much m ore difficu lt
than bursting Lhrough a rela tively
7.
s ma ll force encamped directly out-
side the gate.
Complete enc irclement made it
mu ch m ore difficult for the de-
fe nders to send word of their pre·
dlcam en t to al lies who could come
a nd relieve them. Finally. shou ld
relief finally corne to the besieged
fo rtifica tion , the attackers would
be dee ply entren ch ed . equ a ll y
ready to re pel a sortie from withi n
or a n attack from withou t.
Fantastical Combat
When magiC. non -human troops
and the occasional mon ster are
thrown into the mix, investm ent
ta kes on a totally new aspect. Sor-
ti es can be considerably more ef-
fecti ve if led by a gian t or two. the
attac kers must concern t he m -
selves with possible air-lifts. and
s upply takes on a new significance
si nce hungry mons ters are less
likely to fo llow battle plans ...
The options for the attacker are
many. Magical s pells like wizard
lock o r pe rhaps ho ly sy mbo ls
might be used to deny the use of
the castle's ga tes to its own garri-
so n . The potential uses for power-
ful batt le m agiC like finger of dea th
s pells are obvious. and the effects
of s uch dweom ers a re covered in
the BATTLESYSTEM'" miniatures
rul es. Even if the attacker prefers
keeping up the investment to fo rc-
Ing entry. there's no reason why a
m aglcally·endowed cha racter or
group of characters couldn 't enter
the castle (via a pass wall spell , for
example). a nd engage in a little
may hem or assassination .
The attacker m u st also be on
guard agaInst the many options
open to the defender. For example.
the attacking troops must be ready
to re pel sort ies led by fantasti c
"shock troops" that m ightor m ight
n ot be illusory. It is usually a good
idea to hav e mages sta tion ed
around the per imeter to analyze
and perhaps counter these threats.
Magic makes it muc h easier for
the defenders to send troops over
the wall wi thout being observed.
These troops might simply be on a
mission to su mmon hel p. or might
be c harged w i th destroyi ng t h e be·
siegers' su pply dump or assassi-
n a ting t h e attacking command er.
Skirmish er s stationed arou nd the
perimeter, or regu lar p atrols. be·
come m ore Important. If a break·
ou t in force occurs, cavalry s h ould
be available to run t h e en emy to
ground and mop up.
The d efen ders ca n u se n y in g
creatu res. or mages equipped with
appropriate spe lls or items. to
sum mon help, h arass t h e attack-
ing troops, or eve n ferry in su p·
pli es. The attac king com m and er
must be prepared. with ar chers or
wizards ready to engage from the
gr ound. or flyi ng creatu res to dog-
fi ght with the enemy.
Cer tai n thin gs become i mpos-
sible for the a ttacker. Th ere's noth-
ing th e m ost skilful gen era l can do
to preven t a spe llcaster wiUlin the
castle from teleporting elsewhere
to recruit h elp, Si milarly, a power-
ful enou gh mage can s ummon or
ga te i n reinforcemen ts. d espit e the
tightest encircleme nt.
Historically, d u els betwee n sin ·
gl e c hampion s or s m all groups
were so m etimes used to decide
vicLOry i n a battle. Similar circu m -
stan ces could arise in a Siege: sin -
g le co mbat bel\veen oppOsing
heroes. or a so rce rou s d u el be·
twee n spe ll cas ters . Of cou r se.
there's no guar an tee that the los·
ing s ide in such an exer cise would
follow through with their side of
the b ar gain , but th is is an age of
chival ry and honor.
Reduction
In a tru e m ed i eva l se t ting.
reduction-that is. forc ing en try
into a cas tle by stormin g the wa lls
or ga tes-was si mply not a viable
optio n in m ost cases. The tec hnol-
ogy just didn't ex ist to break down
a well -built stone wa ll . and th e
gr eatl y s uperior position of th e
garri son-sh i el ded by battle-
ments. towers and bastions-
made i t possible for a handful of
troops LO h old off an ar my many
tim es super ior in numbers.

8.
 This is not to say that armies
didn't try. of course. The value of a
castle was just too great for an in-
vading army to ignore. While th ey
cou ld certainly bottle up the garri-
son and prevent them from having
any say in curre nt even ts. the cas-
tle continued to be a threat. As
long as a castle and its garrison reo
mained untake n , the defende r s
could harass the invaders' lines of
supp ly or communi ca tion and.
whe n th e attacki ng forc e with-
drew. emerge from th ei r refuge
and regain control of the coun try-
side.
T his c hanged with the in troduc-
tion of gunpowder. Ifleft to its own
devices. a well -equipped attacki ng
force skilled in the lise of cannon
co uld eve ntu a ll y r ed u ce the
strongest fortifica tion to rubb le_
The bravery of th e garriso n's
tro~ps ' or th e skill o f Its com -
mander com e to mean little when
unopposed cannon systematically
pound the walls into gravel. If the
Siege was co nducted correctly, the
attacker could be almost certain of
eve ntual s u ccess. Of course ,
"even tual " Is definitel y the key
word . The attacking general must
be ready to commil a lot of effort
and tim e. and to s pe nd a lot of
m e n. in orde r to su cceed. Some
his torian s s tate that. with th e
widespread introduc tion of th e
cannon . th e day of the castle be-
gan to come to an e nd .
The situatio n c h anges eve n
more In a fantasy enviro nme nt. In
fact, it can be a rgued that tradi-
tional caslles make no sense in a
magic-rich fantasy cam paign. Is it
logical to invest years of labor and
m any thousands of gold p ieces in a
castle wh e n a low-l eve l mage
could - theore tica ll y, at least-
approach the gate invisibly and
open it with a knock s pell?
In a ny case, the a ttacki ng gen- hits per 1" (10 feet in scale) of
eral has a n umber of options w he n h eight- m akes sense as an aver-
it comes ti me to force en try into a age, the actual number of hits can
fortificatio n . The fo llowing exam - range from 6 hits per I " of he igh t
ples a re certai nly the mos t com - to as high as 15 hils pe r 1" for sin ·
mon ly u sed . gula rly ela borate towers.
Siege towers are vulnerab le to
Escalade fi re a ttacks, as described on page
86 of th e BATTLESVSTE M r ules .
Why both er to break down th e
Troops within an ign ited siege
walls of a castle when you can sim -
tower s uffe r casualties as if they
ply go over them? In renaissance
were the ta rget of an AD 8 a ltack
ti m es, the task of ge tting troops
on each turn they remain In the
over th e walls into the fortification
burning s truc ture. If they don't
was som etim es called "escalade".
immediate ly leave t h e bu rnin g
Methods for scaling walls include
tower. th ey must also make a Mo-
ladd ers, grapples a nd Siege towers.
rale Check. at a-I pe nal ty. a t the
T he standard BAITLESVSTEM'"
begi nning of the second turn.
mi n iatures rules (page 80) cover
The weigh t of Siege towers
the u se of ladde rs and grapples.
makes It very difficu lt to move
and the co nsequences of trying to
th em. The BATTLESVSTEM
scale a defended wall. More details
rules state (page 84) that th ey can
are n ecessa ry on Siege towers.
however. be moved up only the gentlest of
s lopes. and at that on ly If propelled
by tw ice the us ual number of fig-
Siege Towers
ures. S hould it be necessary to
T hese massive. c umberso m e
move the Siege tower downhill - in
c reations ranged from simple scaf-
th e rare case of a castle set in a de·
folds of hastily-felled trees. some-
pression or dell or surrounded by
times with little or nothing to
earth ramparts-the same rule ap-
protect those within . to elaborate
plies: the tower can negotiate a
e nclosed s lructures with su ch re-
s lope no steeper than 1" rise or fa ll
fin e m e nts as hinged shutters and
for ever y 12" of horizonlal dis-
even s m a ll draw -brid ges to
tance. and eve n then only if twice
stream lin e access to the tops of the
the normal nu m ber of figu res pro-
castle's walls. Siege towers often
pel it. Note that additional m otive
provide thei r occu pa nts with some
force won't m ake It possible for the
bon us to AR against missile weap-
tower to negotiate s teeper grades.
ons. Depending on the particular
S heer mass is n 't the only problem:
tower's construc tion . this bonus
havi ng a s ma ll base a nd h igh cen-
can ra nge from - 2 (for target fi g-
ter of gravity. towers a re typica lly
ures protec ted by a n open door-
way or wi ndow) to -4 (for target rather unstable, a nd wou ld topple
on a steeper s lope regard less of
figu res be hind loopholes or arrow
moUve force.
s lits).
Intelligent opponents would rec-
This varia lion in construction
ognize tha t wrecking the w heels of
a lso a ffects t he s turdin ess a nd
an ap proaching Siege tower will
"survivability" of a Siege tower. Al-
render it use less. and would proba-
though the figure for h its given in
bly concen trate their a ttac ks on
th e BATTLESVSTEM ruies-IO
these targets. Assume tha t a Siege
s,
tower that has s us tained 25% of Its
total numbe r of hits has been im -
mobilized . Re pa irs can be made.
but require the participation of at
leas t 20 troops (two fi g ures )
equipped with tools and materials.
and take 2-6 hou rs . During this
tim e. these troops a re ex posed to
missile fi re.
Other Climbing Techniques
Thieves can use their climbing
skills to help them scale a wall . in
the a bsence of ladde rs or g rapples.
Although very unlike ly. It's possi-
ble that a unit of on e or m ore fig-
ures migh t be deSign a te d as
having th ief skills. This ra re even t
m ight occur s hould one thieves'
guild be trying to force en try into
the stronghold of a n o ther such
guild . for example. S ince s u c h
trooRs c::ou ld theoretically assist
each other. It becom es easier to as-
s ume that a ll of the m will complete
th e asce n t unl ess they a r e op-
posed. If they are opposed . how-
ever. they su ffer the sam e effects
as troops scaling the walls o n g rap-
ples. and must make th e sam e Mo-
raJe Check whe n they reach the
top to determine If they can attack .
It's m uch mo re like ly that only
o ne or at mos t a handful of attack-
ers a r e trained thi eves . In this
case. th e ir ascent o f the walls
should be h a ndle d u s in g t h e
standard AD&D®game rules.
Th e same is true fo r m ages usi ng
spells like spider climb. thoug h it's
a lmost unthinkable that a unit of
wizards should be throw n agai ns t
the wall of a castle as th ere are
surely better ways of uSin g their
ta len ts. Assaults on the walls by
one or a few s pe llcaste rs should
a lso be hand led u s ing role-playing
rules.
Airborne Operations
In a fa n tasy world. it's easy to
imagine m any other tec hniques
fo r ge tting troops over a castle
wa ll. The BATTLESYSTEM"" rules
(page 72) covers s uc h tactics as
pass-by attacks a nd vertical envel-
opmen t. but th ese rules mus t be
so m ew hat mod ified (or a t leas t
clarified ) to take into accoun t th e
close q ua rters of a fortified e nvi-
ronm en t.
Ground a ttac k-w her e a flyi ng
unit lan ds an d then attac ks a
g round unit-Is viable. but o nly if
there's enough space for the e n tire
fl ying uni t w hen it lands. This be-
com es a significa nt issu e in close
quarte rs. s uc h as in the courtyard
of a castle. If walls or outbuildings
m ake it impossible fo r the e ntire
attacking un it to land. those fi g-
ures fo r w hich the re is no space a re
re moved fro m play. They a re as-
s um ed to have com e to grief by
s lamming in to walls or buildings .
While a n attacking commander
mig h t som et,imes co nsider s u c h
losses to be worth th e poten tia l
benefi ts of the attack. it 's probably
more likely that the attacker will
r eali ze that the s pace is inade -
quate o nly after moving a few of
the fig ures in th e a ttacking u nit. In
this case, th e move m e n t can ' t be
a borted . The unit must co m ple te
its actio n . even if it means the loss
of figures. The justlflcation fo r this
is that flying troops will theore ti-
cally be holding (at least loose) for·
mation on leade rs or wi ng- m en .
They are too busy conce ntrati ng
on thei r formatio n to realize their
danger un ti l it's too latc. Th is s ilu ·
ation has caused the deaths of sev-
e ra l members of aeroba tic team s
in the real world .
Walls a nd othe r obstacles a lso
represen t real risks to flyin g troops
conduc ting pass-by a ttacks, The
82
a ttacking unit must have e noug h
room to dive to the attack. a nd to
pu ll out safely a fter the attack is
complete .
Diving causes a fl ying un it to ac·
cele rate (this is represen ted by the
bonus of I " to forward moveme nt
for each 3" dived), and this addi-
tiona l s pee d mig h t be difficult to
"bleed off '. As a rule of thumb, a
divin g unit mus t ex pe n d 1/4
(rounded down) of its total move-
men t a llowance for each 3" (or por-
tion thereon it dives.
For example, a fl yin g unit (ma-
ne u verability class C) has a base
move m e nt a llowance of 12" ,and it
dives 6". For the turn in whic h it
dives, its actua l m ovem en t allow-
a nce is 14" (l2 " plus 2 " bon us for
diving). During the dive it picks up
so m uc h speed that it must use 1/2
of Its total m ovemen taJlowance, or
7". Som e of this required move-
m e nt a llowance can , of course, be
used u p by c limbing again after a
pass-by a ttack .
The real ris k fo r a uni t conduct-
in g a pass-by attac k in close quar-
ter s is in the pull -up after th e
attack (rem ember that c reatures of
maneu vera b ility class C, 0 , or E
m ust m ove forward I " for each 1"
they climb in a lti tude).
As a n exam ple, take the unit dis-
c ussed a bove. H is c urre ntly at an
a ltitude of 6". and it is I " away
from a unit in a castle courtyard .
First. it dives 6" a nd m oves 1" for-
wa rd , to conduct a pass-by a ttack.
Afte r the combat. the rule above
requires that it use at least a nother
6" of its movement a llowance. At
its s teepest ra te of c limb, it can as-
cend 3", but it mus t a lso move for-
wa rd by 3" (see th e BATTLE·
SYSTEM rules, page 72). If a n ob-
s tacle s uch as a wall is less than 3 "
a way from th e unit, and 3" (30
feet) or more in he ig h t. the flyin g
unit can ' t avoid cras hing Imo the
wa ll. Figures forced to fiy [mo ob-
stacles by this rule are removed
from p lay.
After a vertical en velopm ent at-
tack (BATT L ESYSTEM'" rules.
page 73). on e or other of the units
must be dislodged from its place
on t h e battlefield . Obstacles migh t
m ake this Impossib le, how ever
(agai n. a caslle courtya rd is an ex-
am ple). I f t h e combat result re-
quires a unit to withdra w . but Il is
unable to do so because of wa lls or
buil d in gs, the unit Is re m oved
from the battlefield.
Note that flying units can make
pass-by attacks again st units atop a
castle wall or tower. In such a case,
the defending unit gai ns no benefit
from batUements or cr enellation s
since t he a ttack is from above.
Som e preny far-out situations
might arise in a m agic-h eavy cam -
paign world .1)'oopsequipped with
sufficie n t m agical i tems or spells
migh t be ab le to m ake a ki nd of
"paratroop" au ack . For exam ple.
lake a unil of human cavalry rid·
ing flying mou n ts. eac h ofw horn is
eq uipped wi th a rlngoffeaLher fa ll-
jng. At any time i n th ei r move-
m en t. th ese r id ers m ay " di s-
m oun t" and use their rings to de-
scend safely to the ground . A n a t-
tac k from above like this would be
a special form of ver tical en velop-
ment. Alth ough eve n ts like t his
would probably be very rar e. even
the possibility sho uld put d e-
fe nders on th ei r guard. A unit of
en emy " para troopers" sk y di vi ng
i n to a castle c ourtyard m ight
prove disastrous.
83
Gi ant s
G ian t humanoids pose a spec ial
case when it co m es to sca lin g
wa lls. Theoretically, a unit of gi-
an ts could be equipped Wllh lad-
de r s or g r app les of a scale
appropria te to the creatures' size.
(Obv ious ly. normal grapples or
lad ders would be u seless to giants;
conversely. such eqUipment for gi-
an ts cou ld not be u sed by norma l-
si zed troop s.) Gia nts can climb
appropriately-si zed r opes or lad ·
ders at twice the ra te for o th er
troo p s: in other words, 2~ of
m oveme n t allowance to climb 2~
(20' scale) for ladders. and 3" of
m ove m ent allowan ce to cli mb 2~
for grapples.
Gia nts are ab le to scale walls
1.25 ti m es their heig ht wi th out us-
ing any equ ipm ent. (Th e h eigh t of
different ty pes of gia nts ca n be
found i n t h e AD&D® Monstrous
Compendjums. A wall less t h an
one-half the h eight of a gian t q u ali -
fies as an obstacle (wi t h the appro-
p r iate m ovem ent cost to cross).
Climbing a w all betw een on e-
half and 1.25 limes t h e g iant's
heigh t takes one complete t urn.
Like troops using gr apples. gian ts
climbing su ch a wall mus t suc-
cessfu lly m ak e a Mor ale Ch eck to
b e able to attack when t h ey r eac h
the top.
Breaching the Walls
Som eti m es an attacker h as no
options b u t to breac h the castle's
walls. In m ed ieval tim es, this was
attempted u sing a wide var ie ty of
siege engin es-catapults, ram s,
an d the like-w hich are discussed
i n m ore detail in a la ter section .
Gene rall y speakin g, these siege
engi n es had minimal effect o n a
we ll -b u il t and stout ly-de fen ded
castle.
In the ear ly Ren aissance period,
h owever, m atters ch anged, Can·
non appeared on th e battlefield,
and t h e days of t h e castle were
n u m bered. Most A D&D game cam-
paign s l ake p lace in worlds where
gunpowder ei ther doesn't explode
or h asn't b een discover ed . The
BATTLESVSTEM'" rules bring in
arquebusiers, however . an d thus
open the door for o ther firearms . . .
incl u ding cannon, used b y both
defender and a ttacker. Details on
siege guns are give n in a later sec-
tion .
T h e BATTLESYSTE M rules
(page 82) list the numberofhitscer-
tain bui.lding fea tures can take be-
fore being destroyed. Wh il e the
information provided there is fi ne
for m ost minia tures games, it must
be expanded upon for use here.
The figu res give n for walls refer
to sec ti ons 3 ~ (3 0 ' scale) long.
Wh en t h e section is reduced to
zero hits. a breach 1 ff wide appears
i n th e m iddle of t h e 3" section.
This isn' t an Instantaneous mat-
ter. of cou rse. and if two breac h es
are created I " or less apart. the
wa ll between th e breaches co l-
lapses as well.
W h en an object su ch as a gate or
a waH is redu ced LO zero hits. il
doesn 't si mply disa ppear: wreck-
age or rubb le is i nevi tably left be-
hin d . In the case of doors or gates.
the w reckage is consid ered to b e
an obst acl e (i.e .. it costs 4 " of
movem en t to cross i t). Troops re-
ceive a -I m odifier t o th eir A R
agai n st miss il e fire t hat passes
through su ch an obstacle.
W h en a wall is breach ed , it col-
lapses into ru bble. This p ile o f
sh attered rock is con sidered as
rough/rocky ter rain for movement
an d com b a t purposes . TI-oops
" hold ing th e breach " w ill almost
al ways be at a highe r eleva tion
than troops attac k i n g in to the
breach. A b reac h is nobody's "fa-
vored ter rain ".
Note: This me thod is quite d if-
fer ent from th e system descr ibed
on page 76 of the A D&D® 2nd Edi-
ti on Dungeon Mas ter 's G u ide.
While the latter method is useful
for " quick an d dirty" situ a tions
where the OM has to decide the reo
su Its ofa PC's or NPC's aclions. t h e
system descr ibed above and in t h e
BATTLESYSTEM r ules is a more
th oro u gh a n d consistent treat·
m ent o f the subject.
Fantastic Creatures
By their very m ass. large cr ea·
tu res like d ragons can b e very ef-
fective agai nst fortifica ti on s.
Creatures of huge size have AD 10
against bu il d in g fea tures, wh ile
84
creatures of gar gan tuan si ze have
AD 12.
Certain creatures h ave signifi -
ca n t effec ts against fortifications
for r easons other t han sh eer mass.
For exam ple. becau se of their kin-
ship with the stone. earth elem en -
tals can do grea t damage. Treants.
too, can tear down wall s by insinu -
ating thei r root-like limbs between
the stones and tearing them aparl.
Detai ls on this are given i n a subse·
quen t section .
Magic
In addition to u seful spells like
kll ock and passwall. there are sev-
eral dweomers that do significant
amounts of damage to fortifica tion s.
These are listed in the next section .
Note that most of these spells don't
ap pear in t h e BATTLESVSTEM
rules spell list. Player s engaged in a
BATTL ESYSTEM b allle or cam ·
paign might agree to include t hem.
u sing castin g times and su ch as
given in the A D&D game rules. If
BA1iL ESYSTEM rules are bein g
u sed to d ecide a siege in an AD&D
game, the OM shou ld probably al-
low t hese spells to be used.
Siege Attack Values
The table on page 85 lists the AD
values associated w ith va ri ou s
for ms of attack. 1radition al Siege
engines are described i n more de-
tail In a later section.
The Course of a Siege
During t he Si xteen th Ce n tu ry.
Siege warfare was refin ed into a
sc i en ce. Com m and er s q u ick ly
learned the m ost effective m eth -
ods for r edu cin g a forti fication,
and th ose meth ods becam e an al-
m ost standardized. ste p -b y-step
procedure. A ty pical Siege in the
age of gunpowder w ould proceed
like this;
Siege Attack Values Damage to agai ns t missile attack s, pr ov ided
Soft Stone Hard Sto n e t h e fi gu res w i t hi n ar e d oin g no th-
Mea n s of Attack Earth
Bigby's clenched fist 4" ing. This bon u s d ecreases to - 2 if
Dig 3d1 2 the troop s in the tren ch are m ov-
Disintegrate 2dl Z 2dl 2 2d l 2 2d 12 in g or involved i n comba t.
Earth elem ental 2dl Z' 4 d12 ' 2d l Z' 3ctS'
The firs t t ren c h w ould t h en be
Earthq uake 10· 100" 5·50" 10- 100" 5-50 "
6'" ex t ended tow ards t h e for tresses
Fireball
Giant (clou d . s lone, or by mean s o f s m a ller t r en c h es
s lann) 3dS' 2dlO' 6" ca ll ed ·saps· . O ve r firm . c lear
Giant (firc o r fras O 2d l Z' 2dlO' 6" grou nd , the sap w ould zig-zag to -
Giant [hill) 2d l O' 6" 4"
w ards t he fortress. each " arm " of
G iant- hurled bou ld er s
t h e tren c h being b etw een 3 50 and
cloud. flrc . or fros t 3d 10 2dlZ 3d6
ston e or storm 3d l Z 3 d 10 2d l 2 500 feet long . and t h e su ccessive
Calem (iron) 3dS' 2d l O' 2d l Z' 2ct lO' arms d im in ish in g as th e approach
Calem (stone) 3dS' 2d lO" 2d l O' 6" n eared the ou t wor k s. If th e t err ai n
H orn of blasting 6·36" 2 · 12" 3· IS'· 1- IZ"
was so tight as to prev en t Zig-zags.
Lightn ing boll 6'"
th e sap s w ou ld ru n directly to -
Move earth
7teant 4dJ2' 2d 12' 3d6' w ards th e for tress. Timber covers
a n d oth er p ro t ecti v e m eas u r es
Notes
• Per rou nd o f attack .
w ould h ave to b e u sed in these
•• These fi gures are not a ttack dice. Instead. t hey represenllhe total number cases to m inimize the m urderous
of hils do n e to s truc tures within their area o f effect. Obv iou s ly. s pell s like effec ts of en fil ade fir e from the
these are devastatingly powerfu l. For instance. an earlllquak e spell can in· w alls.
... stantly breach a wall of soft stone.
Damage Is increased by I h it for each 3 levels the spellcaslcr possesses.
This also assu mes fire damage. If a wooden target Is protected by green
A ll t h e wh ile, t h e garrison w ou ld
fi gh t bac k with cannon and mus-
hides. is wet. etc" reduce dam age by 50%. k etry. They w ould also launc h sor-
ties. w h ic h w ould often be b r u tally
effective again st t h e wor k ers in the
First t h e besieging arm y w ou ld arranged in a line rou ghly parallel
n ar row saps. In fantry an d cavalry
surround t h e fo r tress w it h a to t h e w al ls. Compan ies of i n fan try
would r epea tedly su rge from th e
st rong h ol d of it s own . A s m en · w ou ld b e sent ou t ah ea d. and
outworks. n o t o nly k i llin g t h e
tion ed earli er , thi s s t r on g h o ld wou ld lie n a t on the gr ou n d in
w orkers. bu t also wrecki ng and
w ould comprise lines of ci rc u m val· r eadiness to ward o ff sorties . The
fi lli n g the tren c h es. The coun ter -
lation [faci n g t h e cou n try, to d e- sold ier s in the li n e would star t t h e
vallation wou ld u su ally be too far
fend against t h e attack of r eliev ing ea rth w orks b y eac h di ggin g a
a w ay t o lend effective suppor t to
troops) and cou n ter valla tion (fac- trenc h t h r ee feet w ide and t h ree
t h e worker s. a nd th e beSi eger s
ing t h e fortress i tsel f) . fee t d eep . and t h rowi ng the ear t h
wou ld oft en h e forced to con vert
The a ttac k er w ould t h en se lect towards th e fortress so as to m ake
the ac t ual ap proach es i nto d efen -
the p oint of attack. and bu ild on e a parapet th ree feet h i gh . Over t h e
sive posi tion s. Thu s th e t ren c h es
or more square red oubts t o act as n ex t few n igh ts . th e t r en c h es
would oft en be studded every 300
b ases for t h e operation . These re- w ould b e w id en ed to a b read th of
to 6 00 feet with square r ed ou b ts.
d ou b ts w er e retreats for the wor k · si x to t w el ve feet. or m ore i f i t was
eac h a min ia ture for tress. Cavalry
er s. should t h e d efen d ers m ak e a in te nd ed to draw carts and cannon
w ould often b e sta tion ed n ear by in
sa lly. In t h e red ou bts, t h ey could through t h em . Some ti mes t h ese
hollow s i n t he gr ou n d or beh in d
h old o ff t h e d efen d er s un til the t ren c h es wou ld b e so d eep tha t t h e
breastwor k s. to com e oul of h idi ng
sally was thro wn bac k . side fac in g t h e fortress h ad to b e
w h enever t h e d efen d ers' ca valry
Som e t wo to five hundr ed sol- rec essed in to a fi r ing s tep to en able
m ade a sortie,
dier s w o uld t h en b e led [a f ter t h e musketeers to level t h eir w eap -
The h ead s of th e sa p s- p ar-
n igh t fall) to within m usket-r an ge ons over th e parapet. 1fench es lik e
ticu larl y as they dr ew n earer to the
o f t h e outworks of the for t r ess. and t h ese provid e an A R bon u s o f - 4
fortress- h ad to b e protec ted rrom

.5
fire. or at least shielded from vie w
(such cover wou ld provide a -2
bonus to AR agai ns t missile fire).
The sap attack would us ually end
100 feet from t h e outw orks .
Tre nc hes wou ld now be dug to
right and left. with the earth being
heaped up to form a mus ke try po·
s ition and a n assembly area for the
com ing assau lt.
It is importa n t to note that. by
this point in the proceedings. as
many as two- thirds of the worke rs
would have been killed by the gar-
rison's missile fire a nd sorties. Ob-
viously. th is kind of warfare was
extreme ly expensive in terms of
personnel.
The progress o f the trenc h es
would be suppon ed by artillery
fire. often from a Battarie Royale. a
monster battery of up to 30 a rtil -
le ry pieces pe rhaps a quarter-mile
from the fortress . Th ese guns
wou ld continue to fire throughout
the investment. varying ta rgets as
requ ired. Later deve lopments in-
vol ved splitting th e s ingle large
battery into three: a centra l ba t-
tery. plus two s m a ller fl anking bat-
teries. which cou ld bring cross· fire
to bear upon a breach .
As walls got better. the cannons
ha d to be brou ght in closer. In
some late r sieges. s om e pieces
were brough t down the saps a nd
se t up on a "counterscarp" (rein-
forced earthwork) as near as 100
feet to the castle's outerworks.
Conve ntional wis dom held that
it made more sense to attack the
"salien t"" (point) of a bas tion. or to
attac k a tower, tha n to concenlrate
on th e c urtain wa ll between bas-
tions or towers. Even though the
walls would be a much easie r tar-
get. this tactic would expose the at-
tac kers to murde rous c ross-fir e
from the bastions . Four or more
heavy can n on would o ften be
m ounted opposi te the bastion lO
breach It, while s u pp le m e ntary
batteries would be placed on eith er
s ide in orde r to k noc k out the e n -
e m y cannon ,in th e flan ks of the ad-
Jacent bas tions.
The next s tep would be to cross
the ditc h or moa t. jf the castle had
o ne. Hi s torically. t he technique
used varied from covered cause-
ways of earth. to covered bridges
floating on barrels. (By this time In
a we ll -man aged s iege, t he de-
fenders' can non had been s ilenced .
dim inishing the vulnera bility of the
attackers).
If th e ca n non hadn't ye t
breach ed th e wa ll , the attacker
would us ually resort to mining
(disc ussed in a subseque nt sec-
tion). Once a breac h was ope ned. it
would be a ssaulted b y in fa n try.
still su pported by artillery.
In our world . by the early Seven-
teenth Centu ry. the techniques for
reducing a fortress had so evolved
as to make the outcome a lmost a
foregone conclusion. It wasn 't un -
common fo r fortified towns unde r
Siege to s urrender as soon as the at-
tackers had completed their lines of
circumvallation and countervalla-
lion, the rationale being that their
walls would fa ll e ven tually. a nd
thus that it made little sense to pro-
long the unpleasantness.
Excavation
Asa gene ra l rule. on e figure (re p-
rese ntin g 10 troops) ca n dig a
trench 10' deep by 20' wide a nd
300' long in 30 days , assumi ng
normal soil. This will include a
rampart of about 8' height. s ince
the earth has to go som e whe re. Ex-
tre m ely wet. s wampy soil or heavy
clay will doub le thi s tim e. If the
workers are s upe rvised by gnomes
or dwarves (races known for their
prodigious s kill at excava tion), the
.6
tota l time wi ll be decreased by
25%.
The above fig ures are based on
human , half·orc, o r ha lf-e lven
troops. For other troop types. mul-
tiply the amoun t of time laken by
the following factors:
Elf 1.1
Dwarf 0 .9
Halfling 0.85
Gnome 0.9
O'e 0.9
Goblin 1.0
Kobold 1.2
Gnoll 0.95
Bugbear 0. 85
Thus. one fi gure re presenting
dwarf troops will dig a tre nc h 10'
deep by 20' wide a nd 300' long in
27 days . while a n equa l number of
kobolds would take 36 days to dig
th e sam e ditc h . (N ote that t he
trenc h could ta ke other dime n -
s ions. as long as the lotal volume
of ea rth moved - 60.000 c u b ic
feet-remained the same . Thus.
the trench could be 20' deep by 30'
wide a nd on ly 100' long with a
rampart 24 ' high .)
For troop types not listed above,
u se this rule of thu mb based on
s ize:
SizeS 1.2
SizeM 1.0
Size L 0.8
Larger tha n L 0 .6
Theoretica lly. any infantry unit
or unilS can dig trenches. In prac-
tice, however. the troops involved
can wear no armor (h eavy digging
is n 't possible while wearing c hain
mail) . Thus. wh ile a heavy infan-
try unit might be assigned to dig-
ging tre n c h es. while they're
actua lly diggi ng their AR drops to
9 (representing no armor) . These

Race of Mine r Earth
Gnoll , haJfling, or h uma n
Gnome o r kobold
Go bli n or are
Dwa rf or ho bgoblin
Og re
Hill glan l
Fire or frost gia nt
S tone gia nt 1.000
troops ca n s top digging at any tim e
a nd re-arm o r th e m se lves: h o w-
e ve r, donnin g a rmor ta kes one
complete turn _ During this turn,
they retain an AR of 9 a nd are un -
a ble to a ttac k (e ither in m elee com -
ba t o r w ith missile weapons )_ If
they opt not to don their armor, of
course, they can a tta c k with the ir
normal AD; their AR rem ai ns 9 .
MIning'
If canno n or o ther m e thods a re
una ble to brea ch a castle's wa ll ,
the attackers ha ve a t lea s t o ne
o the r option : min ing . In si m ples t
term s, th is involves d igging u nde r
t he walls of the castle a nd excavat-
ing a "ga llery " . the roof of wh ic h is
shored u p with pos ts a nd woode n
supports. Whe n the galle ry is la rge
eno ugh . the m ine rs bu rn out the
s u pports - or blow the m up , using
g un powder - wh ic h (hopefull y)
ca uses th e ga lle ry, a nd the wa ll
abo ve it. to co llapse. The practical·
ity of this techn iqu e depe nds heav-
ily on th e ty pe of g ro u nd th e ca s tle
is bu ilt o n . Soft s to ne or earth a re
id ea l. s ince t h ey' re (re latively )
easy to exca vate a nd solid e nou g h
that the ga llery won ' t colla pse pre -
matu rely. Hard rock is a prob le m .
s imply beca u se e xcavation will be
so tim e-consuming. Sand is per-
haps the wo rst of a ll , s ince It's a l-
m ost imposs ib le to di g o u t a
galle ry a t a ll (of course, mos t ca s -
Soft Ha rd
S ton e S t on e
150 100 50
160 120 60
170 130 60
180 140 70
300 200 100
500 300 150
600 400 200
700 350
ties won ' t be bu il l on sand).
T heore tically, as w ith digging
trenc hes . any infantry uni t can as-
s is t in excavation . In p ractice, how·
ever. the troops in vo lved can wear
no armor (heavy digging Is n ' t pos-
s ible while weari ng a nnor) a nd can
carry weapons no la rger tha n short
swords. Th us. wh ile a heavy infan -
try u nit m ig ht be assig ned to m in -
ing d uty. wh il e they' re actu a lly
d igging the ir AR drops to 9 . a nd
the ir AD to 6 (representing no a r-
mo r a nd only persona.l weapons ).
The speed of excavatio n depends
both on the nature of the ground
and o n the race of min ers involved .
T his is s hown in the fo llowing table
which lists the volume of earth (in
cu bic feet) which ca n be mined in a n
eight hour s hifl.
In ge ne ra l. on ly one fi gure can
work in a tunne!: more ca n work in
a la rge ga lle ry. li m ite d by th e a c-
tua l s pace ta ke n up b y the fi g ures
and bases. Thus. th ree fi g ures of
dwarve n workers (re presenting 30
dwarves) d igging a la r ge galle ry in
hard roc k could e xca vate a volu m e
abou t eig ht fee t h igh by fiv e feet
w ide by fiv e fee t lon g in e ig h t
hours. Obv io us ly. m in ing is a s low
process, made eve n s lower by the
necessity of s hor ing up the ce iling
wi th wooden s upports.
Excava tio n is g ru e ll ing work .
TI-oops can work no lo nger tha n
eig ht consecutive hours. After that.
81
they mus t rest ano ther eight inte r-
rupted hours before they can re-
s um e d igging. The re's no reason
w hy troops can' t work in s hifts, of
course,
Colla psing the Mine
Once the gallery has been exca-
vate d. the nex t s te p is to burn ou t
the woode n s upports so that th e
roof-and t heore tically th e wa ll
abo ve-coll apses. Us ually th e
wooden s upports are s plash e d
w ith oil . and flammab le m a teria ls
a re packe d a round the m. One fi g-
ure equi p ped w ith to rc hes can ig-
nite the s upports : a lte rnaLive ly.
s pe lls like fir eba ll can be used . Th e
s upports w ill ta ke I d 3 tu rns to
bu rn away.
Mine rs can also use gu npowder to
assist the burni ng of the supports
(historically. the S paniards used this
tec hniq ue ). Unless g u n powder is
confined, it doesn 't explode, Even
so, however, bags of g un powde r
piled around the s u pports bum very
rapidly and im prove the chances of
collaps ing the gaJlery.
Wh ethe r o r no t gunpowde r is
used. m ining is never o ne h und red
pe rcen t s ure . This is re fl ected in
the rollowing ta ble. W hen the a t-
ta cker a tte mpts to co lla pse the gal-
le ry, ro ll Id 10:
Die
Roll Result
1-2 S u p ports fail to burn away;
no effect
3 S u pports bu rn bul gallery
fa ils to collapse; no effect
4-5 Ga llery collapses, bu t wi th
no damage to s truc tu res
a bove; no effec t
6-10 Ga ll ery co lla pses fu ll effect
o n s truc tures a bove
Note : Add + 1 bon us to d ie roll if
g un powder is used .
 I f a m i n e fails to collap se. lhe
miners must enlarge the ga. llery by
25 % o f its current volum e before
try ing agai n .
Mi ni ng Dam age
The am ount of d am age Inflic ted
on s truc tures above by a collaps-
i ng m i ne depends on t h e volume of
th e ga ller y a nd th e t err a in o n
w hiCh the castle stan d s. A collaps-
ing gallery Inflic t s t h e follo win g
number of h its for each 1.000 cu -
bic fee t o f ga ller y volum e:
Ear t h 2d8
Soft Ear t h I d8
Hard Ston e Id6
For exam ple. a castle is built on
soft ston e. T h e a ttack ers h ave ex-
cavated a galler y 20 fee t wide by
30 feet long b y to feet hig h (6.000
cub ic fee t) b en eath one o f t h e
w alls. I f th e galler y is su ccessfull y
collapsed . it w ill inflict 6d8 h i ts on
lhe wall above.
Explosive G unpo wder M i nes
Som eti m es conditions can be ar-
r anged so t hat th e g unpo wder
u sed in a mine actually explodes.
Per haps the gunpowder Is pack ed
tlghLly in ear t h enware con tainers
or something similar.
The most spectacular u se of a
gun powder mine was at the fall o f
th e Fr en ch castle o f Uov o . n ear Na-
p les. In 1503. The castle w as situ -
a ted on a narrow peninsula sep -
ara t ed from th e mainland b y a
d eep ditch . and cannon alone w er e
powerless to reduce the p lace. Th e
a ttacking Span iard s had an exper t
am on g th em - Pedro Na varro-
who had perfected the gunpowd er
mine. After spending t hree w eeks
d iggi n g a lar ge en ou g h ga ll er y.
Navarro pac k ed It w ith gunpow der
and touch ed It off. The powder ex-
plod ed spec tacularl y. b lo wi n g
much o f the wall i n to the air. and
k illing th e castle's gover nor and
h is council w h o w ere a t d ebate in
th e chapel above th e galler y.
Th e am ount o f d amage d one b y
g unpowd er d ep end s o n t h e
amount u sed . T he base dam age
d on e to struc tures above the gal-
lery is shown in the following ta-
b l e. Th e figures r eprese n t the
number o f hi ts Inflic ted for each
100 pounds of gunpowder u sed :
Earth 1d 6
Soft Stone I d4
Hard Ston e I d3
Th ese hi ts ar e in a ddition to
th ose in flic ted b y t h e collapse of
th e galler y (see th e table in the sec-
tion on " Mining Da m age") .
Getti ng gunpowder to ex p lode is
a lways proble m a tical. This is re-
n ec t ed in t h e follo win g t ab le.
When the gunpowder Is touch ed
off. roll I d6.
Die
Roll Resu lt
1-2 G u npowder bu rn s. but
does not explode. Use th e
table In th e section " Co)-
lapsin g t he Ga ll er y".
3-4 G u npowd er " n a r es up "
(minor explosio n). Gallery
collapses. and the ex plo-
sion d oes on e-h alf d am age
(in addi tion to the d am age
inflict ed b y the collapse of
th e galler y).
5-6 Gunpowder ex plodes. col-
lapsing th e gallery and do-
ing an d doi ng full d am age
(i n addition to th e damage
inflic ted b y the collapse o f
t h e galler y).
Note t h a t t h e above tables are
u sed only if sullable preparation s
ss
are made to cau se the gun powder
LO exp lode. not simply burn .
Battles in the Thnnels
I f th e d efend er s know th at min -
ing Is going on . th er e's no reason
why they h ave to simply sit still
w hile the allack er s go about their
busin ess. Histor icall y. counter·
mining was not an un common taco
tic.
On ce th e gar rison has estab-
lished the loca tion of the en em y
mi n e (by obser vation . listening. or
m agical m ean s). they might begin
excava tion s of their own . The gar -
rison w ou ld d ig a tunnel tha t m et
up with lhe en em y's galler y. t h en
send t roops down it LO kill t h e at-
tacking m iners. The w eapon and
arm or restric tions on miners ap -
plies to bot h sides ... a t least while
exca va tion is ac tually goi ng on .
Once tunnels ar e complete. how-
eve r. fu lly-armed troops ca n be
sent down them . limited on ly by
the space in t h e exca vation s.
Coun ter -m in in g was raised to an
art b y the Muscov ites w h en Mos-
cow was b esieged by t h e boyars In
1606. The Musco vite miner s h ad
prepar ed sec ret galleries und er th e
wa lls. and from th ere. they d u g un -
d er th e fou n da tions and out. They
10caLed the a ttacking mines and
ga ll eries. broke into th em and
killed t h e en em y miners. In som e
cases. Lh ey even exca vated under
the a ttacking galleries and b lew
them up with gunpowder.
Rul es for m or ale and movem en t
in tunnels are Identical to those re-
fer ring to bu ildi ngs. with th e fol-
lo wing exceptions. Missile comba t
(except for spells such as m agiC
missile) is forbidden : t h ere is sim-
ply not enough space to u se such
weapons effective ly. I f figures rep -
rese n ti ng unarm ored an d lightly-
armed m i n er s are m et by full y-
armed troops. a ll Morale Checks
made by the mi ners are at - 2.
For movement purposes. tun-
nels are cons idered as rough/rocky
terrai n. Troops in tunnels and gal-
leries can be ordered to " hold the
breach".
Trickery and Corruption
T h e vast majority of fortin-
cations-typically fortified towns-
that fell during the Middle Ages and
early Modern period did so to tac-
tics othe r than standard siege war-
fare. In fact. almost as man y
European citadels were taken by
bribing the castellan or suborning
the governor as by a n y oth er
means.
Ifbribe ry was ineffective or inap-
propriate. there were many other
options still open. The m ost fa-
mous stratagem in history Is the
Trojan horse. but there were other
tricks a lmost as audacious. A good
example might be the city ofYpres
falling to the Dutch in 1578 after a
wagon co ntainin g an unusua lly
hairy "bride" a nd party of "brides-
maids" broke down by a rrange-
m en t at the Messines Gate.
Magic-speciBcally ill us ion -
orrers m a ny possibili ties. Few gar-
rison s would fa il to open their
castles' gates when they saw a
well-arm ed column of "allies" ap-
proaching to re inforce them .
More unpleasant tac tics were
sometimes use.d. Some historians
clai m (!.hough others deny it) that
a nasty version or biological war·
rare was used during the Midd le
Ages. Certain factio ns introduced
material that th ey knew to be in-
fected with bubonic plague (the
Black Death) in to enem y cities. or
so the story goes. believi ng that
soon the ci ty would rail to them
without a shot being fired. The
rapid spread and terrible conse-
quences of the Black Death migh t
imply that this tactic was some-
w hat m ore erfective than ori gi-
nally bargained for ...
In a fa n tasy milieu. the viable
options are wider. Unscru pu lous
attacke rs could taint a garrison's
water or food s upply with material
carry ing pathogens from Virtually
any form of disease. Of course. get-
ling hold of these pathogens might
be difficult. Alternatively,
animals-or people-Infected with
lycanthropy or the wasting disease
carried by m ummies might be in -
troduced into the castle. The con -
sequences for the garrison-and
ror a nyone taking possession of
the castle la ter-would depend on
the actua l disease or infectious
agen t u sed.
Because of its generally unpleas-
ant nature. initiating bio]ogicaJ war-
fare is an inherently evil act. Races
of evil alignme nt may use it. if prac-
tical or desired; any other com -
mand er w ho orders its use
immediately becom es evil , with all
the consequences of this change.
The change can be reversed by s uch
magiCS as atonement. however.
Morale Issues
Siege warrare Is a long. drawn
out process. Much of the time, the
attacking army is in volved in s im -
ply waiti ng for something to hap-
pen or in digging ditches-neithe r
of which carries much of th e ex-
citement and gla mour often de-
scribed by military recru iter s.
Even if the Siege is going well. a nd
th e opposing fortincatlon wi ll
eventually fall. th e a u ackers have
a potential morale problem.
The fo llowing tab le lis ts morale
modifiers that apply to the besieg-
Ing army. These modifiers are cu-
89
mulative (except where common
sense dictates otherwise). and are
app lied to ever y Morale Ch eck
made by a ny attacking un it while
the cond itions of the modlfier(s)
are in effect.
- I Derenders have cannon while
the attackers do not.
- 1 Defenders have used magic,
while attackers have no spell-
casters.
- I S iege is tak ing place in
wi nter.
- 1 Weather is storm y (whether
na tura l or m agical in nature).
- 1 Relief troops allied with th e
defender are expected to ar·
rive within 24 hours.
-2 Relief troops allied with th e
defender are s urrounding or
challe n ging the attackers'
position (includes double en·
ci rclem ent) .
+1 Attackers have cannon while
defenders do not.
+1 Attackers have spellcasters
while defenders have (as yet)
used no magiC.
+1 At least one wall or gate of
th e ror tifica li on has b ee n
breached.
+2 Derenders have offered to
su rrend e r (whe th er or not
th is ofrer has been accepted
by the attackers).
In addition to the rac tors above,
the le ngth or the Siege carries with
it its own modifiers. The following
table shows how the length of the
Siege (in days) affects the morale of
th e attackers:
Length Morale
modifier
of siege
0-20 days o
21-60 days -1
61-80 days -2
8 1 + days -3

As s ta ted before, a ll of th ese
modifiers are c umulative.
For example, a n arm y of orcs-
without benefi t of s pellcasters or
can non - have been lay ing siege to
an elven fortress for 50 days in the
depth of winter. The elves have no
can n on , but their mages have
been raking the a rc is h troops wi th
fireba lls. As if that weren't bad
e nough . rumors are circ ula ti ng
among the orcish ranks that a host
of elve n cavalry will arrive before
nightfall to relieve the casLie. The
orcish com mander has a se rious
proble m ; eac h Morale Ch eck
m ade by one of his units s u ffers a
pe na lty of -4.
Defensive Tactics
Acting Legate Thlgllgalad
shielded her eyes from the sun, and
strained her elven vision to the ut
most. Yes. that was dust on the ho·
rizon. Again. the sharp eyes of her
commanding offlcer had picked out
the approaching force before she
was aware of It. It was shameful.
she thought. for she was more than
300 years his junior. But. she ad·
mltted to herself. experience-not
I
lust sensory acuity-played a part.
He knew where the orcs would be'
attacking from. Or, at least. where
he would attack from. were he an
arc.
Thlgllgalad looked right and left
along the battlements. The prepa·
raLions were made. Vats of oil were
readied to raJn fire on the attack-
ers, engines (called bombards by
the dwarves) were positioned to
duel with any orcish Siege guns.
cold·eyed archers tested bow-
strings or used whetstones to
touch up already razor-edged
broadheads.
And there. standing at the salient
of the east bastion. stood 7WJ!illta·
,.,......
lad's father. Although he sfXJke no
spell. wove no dweomercrafter's
web about himself. sUll his power
was evident-whether in his man-
ner and bearing. or in something
more mysterious. Every warrloron
the walls could feel his determina-
tion. determination burning so
strong that even his daughter
feared to approach him. Gllgalad
Mooncrow was preparing to kW.
Preparing to sell his life as dearly as
h e could.
Yes- Th e castle was doomed,
Thlgilgalad and her comrades-in·
anns knew that. and accepted Il to
the core of their being. Within one
moon-two at the outside-the
orcs would foul the marble court·
yards and despoil the gold·chased
floors of the Councl/room. Cer-
tainly, surrender was possible:
even orcs accepted surrender
(sometimes). IL was possible, but It
was never an option. The elves
would fight. and they would die ,
but they would take a legion of.
orcs with them.
When hope Is gone. all that re-
mains Is duty.
Fortifications
Historians and m ilitary stra te-
gists have sai d that defensive tac-
tics s tart with th e building pla ns.
Certainly, the defend ers' options
are a ffec ted by the " trace" (ground
p lan). and a well laid ·ou t cas tle is
easier to defend than one with de-
s ign fl a ws.
As it had a ltered s trategy fo r the
attacker. the introduction of gu n·
powder made the job ofth e military
architect conSiderably more diffi·
cult. In addition to withs tanding
the assaults of a besieging army-
a n d th e pou nding of Siege
batteries-the fortification 's trace
had to m aximize the effect of the
90
garrison's own ar tille r y. These
(sometimes conflicting) goals broke
down a long the following lines.
Firs t, a rampart that was spa-
cious and low·lying enough to pro·
vid e a s tab le platform fo r arti lle ry
had to be built.
Second. the wa lls had to ma in -
tain a low e nough profil e lO make it
diffic ult fo r the enem y to hit. while
s till being s trong enough to resist
the blows of the enem y s hot. Fur-
ther. a wall and ditch arrangem en t
had to be formida ble e nough to de-
te r attempts at escalade.
Las tly, a trace had to be so ar -
ra n ged that it le ft no " d ead
ground" through wh ic h an enem y
migh t reac h the rampart wi thout
coming unde r the defe nsive fire of
the keep 's wea pons.
Sa ti sfyi n g more th an one of
these req uire m e nts was not a n
easy task for the m edieval a rch i·
teeL
Probably the most s ignifican t ad-
vance in fortification archi tecture
was the developm e nt of th e "bas-
tion" in the la te Fifteenth and early
S ixtee nth , and its ascenda ncy over
the round tower so typical of the
Medieval period. Bastions were pro-
j ec tion s s haped like a n ace of
s pa des. pos iti oned wh e re older
forts would place round towers .
They were us ually no higher tha n
the walls fro m which they sprung.
a nd had battlemen ts a nd c renella·
tions running around their tops.
Basti ons we re so m e times hun -
dreds of feet across.
The bas tion nea tly m et most of
the require m e nts d iscussed above.
Bastions had wide fl a nks . making
it possible for the garrison to con ·
ce ntrate withe ring c ross-fire on
troops try ing to a pproach the wall.
Tho, the angular salie n t- the meet-
ing of the two faces of the bas tion-
e limin ated th e patch of dead
ground wh ic h had ex is ted in fron t
of th e circ ula r m edieva l tower.
Fields of fl rc were opened for the
na nks of neighboring bastions.
which mean t that ind ividua l LOw-
ers no longer were on their own
when It cam e to close-range de-
rense_ Fi nally, th e derenders cou ld
mount considerably more cannon
on the walls of a bastion than they
cou ld on a circ ula r tower of equal
size (and cost) .
Other Forms of Construction
When we think of "castles". weal-
most always imagine imposing edi ·
fices of rock and stone. His torically,
however. many fortresses-
particularly semi-pennanent or im-
provised ones-were built of earth,
braced wi th Umber. and trans-
versed with beam s for ex tra
strength . Fortresses like these were
c heaper a nd much faster to build,
and had one great advantage: im-
pacting cannon balls didn't knock
ofT s plinters or shrapnel of rock.
which ofte n caused more casualties
than the actual enemy cannon shot
the mselves did (this effect is dis-
c ussed In a later section). Perhaps
s urpris ingly, fortresses of this kind
we re quite resilient. In three succes-
s ive days of Siege in 1555. a
revetted-earth fortress In Piedmont
absorbed 3,500, 1.600 a nd 1.200
rounds of Spanish cannon fire, and
e merged unscathed.
In gam e te rms. a well-revelled
earthe n wall with properly ·placed
c ross-bea m s can withstand as
m a ny hits as can a s tone wall of
simila r th ic kn ess. (Th e fig ure
given for earthen walls on page 82
of the BATTLESYSTEM'" ru les re-
fers to wa ll s without revetments
and c ross-beams-perhaps a ram-
part throw n up in haste to close a
breac h .) Note, however, that reve t-
ted a nd u nre inforced ea rthen
walls a re treated the same with re-
gard to th e tablc in th e sec tion on
"Siege Attack Va lues".
Interior Ramparts
Wh en a fortress was auacked.
the de fe n ders wou ld often pile
earth high against the inside of the
wall . making an interior rampart
(or "rampi re", in Medieval par-
la nce). Th is had the dual advan-
tages of r ei nforc ing t he wa ll
against im pact. and of formi ng a n
additiona l ditc h withi n the castle
that the attac kers wou ld have to
c ross (the earth fo r the rampart
had to com e from somewhere, af-
te r all). The d isadvan tage-and a
Significant one, at tha t-was that
this earth applied Sig nifica nt out-
ward pressu re aga in s t th e wall.
When the wall was weakened . th is
pressure would ofte n cause it to
colla pse outward . The earth would
then pou r out through the breach ,
mixing with the rubble a nd m ak-
ing a hill which was easy for the at-
tackers to walk over.
In ga m e te rm s, a n inte ri or
earthen rampart adds 10 hils to
the section of wall against which
It's bU ilt. When th e wa H-plu s-
rampart is reduced to 20 hits re-
maining (I.e .. w hen thc wa ll is
signifi ca ntly weakened). t he
weigh t of the earth starts innicling
damage in additio n to a ny done by
the attackers. Eac h turn after the
section of wall reaches th is weak·
e ned s tate, roll an AD of 6. T he reo
s uiting hits a re a pplied to th e waH.
Wh e n a breac h is form cd (th at is,
whe n the sec tion of wall is reduced
LO zero hi ts), the earth -an d-rubble
m ixture fi ll ing th e breach is
treated as norm al terrain (instead
o f rough /rocky. as with norm al
breach es).
91
The Pisans cam e up wllh an im-
prove me n t to th e standa rd ra m -
part du ring their con nicLwUh the
French In 1500. Th ey preferred an
earth en in teri or rampart that
wasn 't in contact with the walls.
but was se parated from it by a
w ide ditch . This added no s trength
to the outcr wall (and applied no
outward pressure). of course, but
whe n a breach was form ed. the a t-
tac ke rs would have to e nter the
breac h (rough/roc ky te rrain).
c ross the interior ditch (an obsta-
cle. costing 4 to 6 " of moveme nt
H
a ll owance, depe ndin g on Its
depth). a nd then assault th e ra m -
part. During a ll this. the auackers
wou ld probab ly be taking fi re from
de fend ers on the r ampart and
maybe eve n o n the s urviving
s tre tc hes of ou ter wal l. Th is Inte-
r ior ram part. usually throw n up in
haste, would probably not be reo
vetted a nd c ross-beam ed (al·
though in some cases it might) .
and therefore would be able to s ur·
vlve 40 hits per 30 ' section.
This tec hnique becam e known
as the " re tirata " or "double Pisan
ram part", and was very s uccess-
ful. evcn in improvised form. For
exa m p le. in 1573 th e S pa n is h
were besiegi ng th e Dutch town of
Haarle m . While the Span is h were
po u nding down th e wa ll s. th e
Dutc h demolished a number of
houses inside the walls and e n-
tre nc hed the town with ramparts
a nd a large ditc h . This made the
old wall of the town (what little was
left of it by th at tim e) a counters-
carp to their new forti fi cation. A
Span is h cap tai n was recorded as
exclaiming. "Who would believe
tha t we a re no fu rt her forw a rd
than on the first day of the sieger'
Sorties
Although many advantages lie
with the attackers in a s iege. they
a lso labor under a sign ificant dis-
advantage . While they're waiting
for the garrison to hurry up and
starve. or while they' re digging an
extensive network of trenches a nd
saps. the attac ke rs a r e pre tty
much out in the open , and can'tre-
ally go a nywhere. The defenders-
al though they can 't go anywhere
either-are under cover of wa lls
and roofs, a nd can pick th eir mo-
ment to sally forth and wreak
havoc on the besieging forces. A
well-timed sortie can have cata-
stroph ic effe cts on lightly-armored
troops digging trenches. destroy
inadequately-guarded batteries or
Siege e ngines , or eve n punch
lhrough the encircle m ent and go
for heip ..
Sorties can be staged through
breaches in the waH, but will more
often issue through gates, w hich
take time to open and close (parllc-
ularly s ince they are often barred
and latched) . Opening or closing a
large gate (s ingle or double, larger
than 20' across and 10' high) takes
one-half of a tum: opening or clos-
ing a small gate or a door takes
one-quarter turn. Obviously. there
must be at least one figure adja-
cen t to the gate to open or close it.
This duration equates directly to a
portion of a unit's movem e nt a l-
lowance. Note that addillonal de-
fensive measu res-like a portcullis
or drawbridge-doesn 't add to the
ti me required, since m echanisms
ex is t to open both gate and port-
cu llis Simultaneous ly.}
Assume that a cavalry unit (MV
12") is with in a castle, adjacen t to
a s ma ll gate. and wishes to make a
sortie. The unit begins to open the
ga te at the star t of th e defenders'
tum. By the ti me the gate is fully
open. one quarter of the turn has
ela psed, which m eans that th e
uni t can only expend th ree quar-
te rs of its move me nt allowance. In
other words, this tum the cavalry
unit has an effective movement al-
lowa nce ofB".
A ga te ca n 't b e opened a nd
closed on the sam e tum. For ex-
ample, if a heavy ga te is opened
during Thrn 4. it won't be com -
plete ly closed a nd secure until
half-way through the defender's
movement phase of 1"llrn 5. This
means that opening a ga te to a llow
a sortie can be a grave risk. The at-
tackers will have one movemen t
phase during wh ich they can pass
throu g h th e gate or attack its
guardians. Remember. too, that
t he gate has to be opened again to
a llow the troops back Into the cas-
tle ...
Units must s tart a sortie with a
frontage s ma ll enough to let them
pass t h rou gh the gate. O nce
through. they a re free to change
their fro n tage (standard costs ap-
ply. of cou rse). Units can ch ar ge
th rough a gate: however. their to-
tal mov eme nt allowan ce is de-
creased by one· ha lf or one-quarter
to re presen t the time taken to open
the ga te. Rules for minimum
c harge distance a re still in effec t.
If a unit engaged in a sor t ie is
forced to re trea t. it can retrea t
th rough a n open gate back into a
castle. If the gate is n't open at lhe
beginning of the unit's re treat.
however. the unit is eliminated.
Uncontrolled Charge
Sometimes creatu res with intel-
ligence of "Jow" or less forget th ei r
orders a n d act in an uncontrolled
m a nne r. This is particularly true
when carn ivorou s crea tu res are
92
hungry. As an example. take a un it
o f wolf-riding gob li ns who are
making a sortie against besieging
elves. Neither goblins nor wolves
have had anything to eat for ten
days. Is illikely tha t the wolves are
going to obey the orders of their
riders when they're s urrounded by
food (I.e .. elves)? Not really.
Th represent th is, there is a
chance that crea tures with intelli-
gence of "low" or less. which have
u ndergone at least one attrition
roll as a result of starvation . will
c ha rge uncontrollably whenever
they're in volved in a sortie. The
base chance is 10% per turn {non-
c umula ti ve }. with the fo llowi ng
modifiers:
+5% Crea tures have been out of
s u pply for 15 or more days
+5% Creatures have an imal in -
telligence
+ 10% Creatures a re non -in tel-
ligent
-5 % Cr eat ures a re ac ti ng as
mounts for more intelli-
gent troops
Thus, there is a 10% c hance
each tu rn tha t th e wolf unit de-
scribed above will c harge uncon-
trollably (that is. 10% base cha nce
+ 5% for animal Intelligence -5%
for acting as mounts for intelligent
troops).
An "uncon trolled charge" roll is
made a t the beginning of each turn
for every eligib le unit. If the roll in -
d icates tha t the unit becomes un-
con trolled . it imm edia tely charges
d irectly towards the nearest "edi-
ble" unit .. . whether enem y or
all y. ("Edible" is a key word: noth-
ing will consider s ton e gole m s or
trolls as edible.) No c harge initia-
tion morale c h eck is necessary.
The charging unit wUl e ngage the
target unit in melee com bat, and
attempt to maintai n co ntact by
a ny means.
At t he end of each turn. the
player can try to regai n control of
an unco ntrolled unit. The base
chance to regain con trol is 50%,
with the following mod ifiers:
+5% Cr eatures a r e acting as
mou nts for more in te lli -
gen t troops
+ 10% Un it has su ffe red 25% or
more casualties since it
began its un contro ll ed
charge
-5% Creatures have been out of
s upply for 15 or more days
-5% Creatures have animal in -
tel ligence
-10% Creatures are non -in tel-
ligen t
If , an uncontrolled unit fails a
morale c heck , it a utomatically re-
turns to con trol; th is Is in addition
to any other consequences of the
failed morale check.
Defending the Walls
Troop Tactics
Defendin g troo ps atop a wal l.
protected by c re nellations a nd bat-
tlem e nts. are in a n admirable posi-
tion. They can fire on or s imply
drop Objects on to en em ies outside
the walls while still enjoyi ng the
protection of th e s urrou ndi n g
sto nework . Once the attacker s
have establis hed a "beachhead"
on t he wall s. however, th e de-
fenders' position is no longer a
com fortable one . Thus. it's impor-
tant for the defenders to make scal-
ing th e walls as diffic ult as possible
for the a ttackers.
Th e curren t BATTLESYSTEM'·
rules see m to Imply that the de-
fenders on the battlements have
little recou rse again st attackers
u s ing grapples a nd ladders. other
than wailing for them to reach the
top then meleei ng with them. In
fact. troops atop the wall that are
not engaged in other aclivl lies-
such as missile com bat-s hou ld
have several options.
Wall top units ca n drop missiles
on enem ies at the foot o f th e wall ar
on figures attempting to scale the
wall . as mentioned on page 83
of th e BATT LESYSTEM '· rul es.
These rules state that the targets
of th ese a ttacks gain their stand -
a rd AR agai nst s ma ll p rojectiles or
regula r weapons, but are allowed
no armor checks against large pro-
jectiles or hot and cOHosive s ub-
s tances. 1b reflect the vu lnerabl e
nature of troops on ladders or sca l-
ing the walls usi ng gr a pples. this
rule s hou ld be exte nded. Against
s ma ll projecti les or regular weap-
ons. scali ng troops receive armor
checks. bu t with a pena lty of - 1 to
their AR. Against large projectiles.
or hot a nd corrosive substances.
they receive no a rm or c hecks.
In addition to dropping heavy ob-
jects or unpleasant materials on a t-
tackers, wall top defende rs can
sever grapple lines and wreck lad-
ders. A defending unit atop a wall
being climbed by a grapple-
equipped unit can forego all other
actions in order to deal with the
grapples. This action has the same
effect as an attack with AD 4 (no ar-
mor c heck allowed. since this dam-
age represents troops falling when
their grapple lines are c utl. In addi-
tion , It increases the movement cost
for scaling the wall to 5~ per figure
moving up 10 feet. Although the at-
tack component is unlikely to inflic t
as many casualties as other fonns of
attack, this might sometimes be an
appropriate tactic-when an attack-
in g unit must be delayed u ntil
e nough defender reinfo rcements ar-
93
rive to deal with them properly, for
exam ple.
Ladde rs a re a noth er m atter.
Rather than concen trating on slay-
ing the troops on the ladders, the
defenders above can try to pus h
th e ladd ers over or otherwise
wreck them. The chance of over-
lh rowing or wrecking a ladder is
7% per wall top figure lhat is adja-
cen t to the top of the ladder. Fig-
ures tryin g to over th row a ladder
can do noth ing else in tha l turn . If
th e dice roll indica tes s u ccess.
each fig ure on the ladder s u ffe rs
Id6- l hits (faJli ng damagel . Th ere
is a lso a 50% cha nce lhat the lad·
der is no longer usable.
T he BATTLESYSTEM'" rules
state on page 82 t hat. in melee
com bat b etwee n wa ll top de-
fenders and units that have
climbed ladders a nd grapples. th e
defenders receive the AR benefit
(- 21 of being protected by a wall.
T h is is tru e only dur ing th e fi rst
turn of m elee between these un its.
On the seco nd a n d s ubsequ ent
turns. the a ttacking unit is con sid-
ered to have attained the same
positi on-i.e .. the wa lk way or
turreHop-as the d efenders. In
the case of a narrow walkway, the
rules for "Fighting in Narrow Pas-
sages" (page 8 1) come into play.
Being at the foot of a wall. or at-
tem pting to scale it, wh ile the wall
top Is defended Is a te n se situation.
to say the least. This is even more
tru e when death in particularly
nasty forms is raining down upon
you . 1b reOect this. a unit in su ch a
pos iti on must m a ke a m ora le
c heck on each turn that it loses a
figure from a partic ularly terrible
attack lau nc h ed by th e tr oops
above. Suc h "ter ror" attacks in-
clude fire (it's definitely demoraliz-
Ing to see comrades burn ing to
death around you), corrosive ma-
terials, a nd magical spell s that are
"visually spectacu la r" . F'ireball.
Jjghining bolt and meteor swarm
spells would fa ll into this category
while a magic missile, cone ofcold,
or creeping doom spell does not.
NOle that this morale check is in
add ition to checks required for
other reasons (su c h as laking 4 or
more hits in one step).
Holding the Breach
Once a breach has been opened
in a wall. or once a gate has bee n
bashed down, the garrison must
find som e way to defend the gap .
There are other methods in addi-
tion to packing it with troops or-
dered LO "hold the breach".
First, assuming they have the
lime, the defenders can throw up
an earth rampart (assuming they
haven't ·done so earlier). This is
basically the same activity as dig-
ging trenches. and follows the
ru les described under "Offensive
Thclics". For example, 10 figures
representing human troops could
raise an earth rampart 16' high
a nd 50' long in one day.
If manpower or time were In
short supply, the garrison could
try to block the breach with rub·
ble. empty barrels, broke n wagons
... literally anything they cou ld
lay their hands on. While not as ef·
fective as an earth en ra m part,
blockades like this would qualify
as "obstacles", cosling 4" of move-
ment a llowa nce to cross. and lend-
ingdefendersa -lor -2 benefit to
AR. Blockades of this type wou ld
typically be able to w ithstand 10
hits.
Magic can a lso be invaluable.
The wizard spell wall of fire will re-
main in effect as long as the caster
maintains concen tration -and es-
capes being hit in combat-and is
very effective In closing a breach ,
Slightly less effective, but s UIi use-
ful. is the wall of thorns. particu-
larly since the caster doesn 't have
to maintai n c·o ncentration. In a fu ll
AD&D®game campaign, the list of
useful spells is grea tly en larged , to
Include more wall spells, glyphs.
symbols. a nd many others. illu -
sions might also do the trick. if the
attackers can be made to believe
that there's another wall behind
the one they've just breached ...
or that they haven't really
breached the wall at al l.
Given enough lime, the garrison
could repair the breached wall (or
at least construct a s ma ller wall in
its place), Use the con s tru c tion
ru les earlier in this book to calcu-
la te time and reqUirements for this
work. Note that, during a Siege. it's
very unlikely that the garrison will
be given the lim e to do any real
construction as defined in the sec-
tion on castle cons truction, so a ll
of th e figures given here are as-
s umed to be for makeshift struc-
tures.
Counter-mining
Although cou nter-min ing was
discussed in the section on "Offen-
sive Thctlcs", there are some add i-
tiona l issues important to the
defender.
0bviously, before the garrison
can begi n cou n ter -mining, t hcy
have to know both that mi ning is
underway a nd exac tly where the
enemy mines a n d galleries are.
The first is relalively easy: observ-
ers on the walls can pr obably see
where the attackers begin to dig.
Even if they can't (If the a ttac kers
have roofed the whole area before
the wall over with logs, fo r exam-
ple). the large volum es of rock and
earth being excavated must be dis-
94
posed of somewh ere, and pilcs of
s uc h debris a re a dead give-away.
The second , however, can be more
difficul t.
To be success fu l In co unter-
mi ning. th e d efenders have to
know where along the line of the
wall the attackers are digging, and
how deep their galleries are driven.
Otherw ise. there's little chance lhal
the defenders' tu nnels will inter-
sect (or undermine. If thc garrison
wishes to emu late the Muscovites)
the attackers' d iggings.
Excavation can't be totally silent,
and the impact of metal tools on
stone can carry quite well under-
ground, depending on conditions.
Defendcrs in the cellars or
dungeons of a castle might be able
to localize Ule attackers' excavation
and gauge their progress. Alterna-
tively. the defenders could drtve nar-
row test s hafts unde r the wal l.
hoping to find the a ttackers' gal-
leries that way. The disadvantage of
th is method is that it will often warn
the attacke rs' tilat tileir m ines are in
peril. A third option is to dig tunnels
and cham bers ahead of where the
attackers are expected to be, and
then wait for them to "run into" the
defenders' excavations. The advan-
tage of this technique is that well-
armed and·armored warriors can
wait in the defenders' chamber,
ready to wreak havoc on the unar·
mored and lightly-armed attacking
miners.
Magic can be Inva luab le. In
an AD&D game campaign, clair-
voyance, cla iraudience and
other scryi n g spe ll s and items
can tell the defender exactly
where enemy excavations arc. In
th e BATTLESYSTEM'" rules. ho-
wever,th e r e are no spells that
would prove of any use.
Note that a ll these means of de-
tection work both ways . While th e
d efend ers mus t kn ow wh ere the
a ttackers ar e digging in order to
counterac t th em , t h e attackers
them selves would b e quite in ter·
ested to know the exact progr ess of
the defenders' counter -mines in
order to avoid them.
Defenders should con sider car e·
fully the consequen ces of counter·
mining. While a su ccessful ba ttl e
in th e tunne ls can slay numerous
en emy troops and prevent the cas-
tl e walls from being brea c h cd.
th ere is a risk . If it tu rns out to be
the attacking miners who ar e vic-
torious. the counter ·mi n e gi ves
them a passage In to t h e castle inte-
rior .. unless . of course . the d e-
fenders have guarded or blocked
off th eir end of the tunnel.
Spe~la.1 "Terrain" and
Obstacles
Castles ar e designed so as to
m ak e It as dlmc uit as possible for
in vaders to m ove. fight. and sur-
vive within their walls. Militar y ar-
c hitect s. particularl y in t h e Middle
A ges proved to have fertile {and
rather nasty) imaginations in t his
regard. A mon g their t riumphs
w er e such things as "killing pas-
sages". spiraJ stai rcases. spikes.
and trip steps.
Most castles have arrow slits and
loopholes on the outside. Many.
however, also h ad th em on the in-
side. A common d esign-and one
seen in m ore mod ern co n struc-
tion s, up to and including Alca traz
Penitentiary-was the double gat e
or "killing passage". Once attac k-
ers h ad broken down a door or
gate, th ey found them selves i n a
high ·walled passage or an teroom.
The only exits were th e gate by
which they'd just entered, and an
equally reinforced gate at th e far
end of the anteroom . Set in to the
walls of th e passage w erc man y ar ·
r ow sli t s or loopholes. throu g h
whic h the defenders. totally pro-
tected, could shoot down upon th e
Inva ders. The attacke rs cou ld ei ·
ther turn tai l. or try to breach th e
second gate while all the while suf·
fer in g with ering crossfire. 1b rep-
resen t the close quarter s, limited
m obility an d h orror of a killing
passage. troops try ing to operate
in su c h an ar ea suffer a + I pen alty
to their AR against missile attack s
from the wall slits. and suffer a
penalty of - 1 to mora le w hile in
th e k illing zon e.
Even su c h simple t hlngsas s tair-
cases could be turned into obsta-
cles for the attacker and advan-
tages for the d efend er. Psychologi-
cally, people expect t h at the r iser
of each step in a flight o f stairs w ill
b e of about the sam e height. If on e
riser is s ig nifi ca ntl y lower or
hig h er than th e others. th e
c h ances are good that so m eone
who doesn ' t know abou t this "trip
s tep " will s tumb le or fall wh en
t h ey reac h it. H istorical ly, this was
a ve r y common t rick. and trip
s teps can be fou nd in m an y castles
s till standing i n Engla nd (u su ally
painted while or otherwise
marked so t ou r ists won't break
t h ei r n ecks) .
In game terms. a unit must pay a
movement penal ty of 2" the fi rst
ti m e it u ses a stair case tha t in -
cludes a trip step. For each subse-
quent time that the sam e unit u ses
tha t s tai rway. th ere is no move-
men t penal ty, D efending units-
who th eoretically know about t h e
trip s tep- pay no such movem ent
pena lty. In addi ti on . any unit-
invader or garrison -forced to me-
lee while on a sta ircase that
includes a trip step suffers a + I
penalty to AR (becau se It's more
.,
difficult to co ncentrate on defend ·
in g yoursel f when y ou 're trying
not to fall over). Th is penalty is in
addition to any oth er penal ties (for
exam ple, due to lower elevation).
T h e vas t majo rit y of spira l
s ta ircases-even tod ay-fo rm a
co un terclockw ise heli x (that is,
someone c limbing the stai rs turns
left or counterclockwise). In fac t.
this convention is so per vasi ve
that. when people u se one of the
few s taircases th a t turn s "t h e
wron g w ay". they get the feeling
that "so m ethin g's stran ge" abo u t
the stai rcase, even thou gh they
ca n 't pu t th ei r fi nger on the differ-
en ce.
This con ven tion developed from
a con sc ious d esig n d ec ision of cas-
tle architects. They kn ew tha t
most warr iors were righ t -handed:
th ey also knew t h at most invaders
would have to fight their way u p a
s taircase. That's why a coun ter-
c loc kwi se spiral makes sense:
right-handed w arriors will fi n d
t h eir sword swings hampered by
walls of the spira l. D efe nd ers
above have no such hindrance. 1b
refl ec t t h is in game term s. units
equi pped with slashing or bludg-
eoning weapon s (particularly long-
or broadswords, m aces or ham-
me rs) who are fightin g their way
up a s piral staircase suffer a pen-
alty: from eac h AD the un i t rolls,
subtract l. Un its u si n g pier c ing
weapons su c h as shor t swords su f-
fer no su c h penal ty.
Other Obstacles
In add i tion to fea tures of castJe
d esign, the ga rrison ca n use a
num ber o f unpleasan t pieces of
equ ipm en t to mak e life diffic ult for
invader s.
A commonly employed objec t is
the ca ltrop. w hi ch looks so m e-
thing li ke a fo ur-li mbed s piked
jack from the child's ga m e of "ball
a nd jacks" . T hese ra nge in s ize
from a n Inc h or so across to th ree
inches or m ore. The four- li mbed
a rra ngem e nt makes s u re th at. no
m atter how the caltrop lands , one
s pike is always poin ted u p . De-
fe nders can lay caltrops a long the
approach es to the cas tle. sca tter
th e m from th e wa ll s, o r s tre w
the m ac ross the cou rtyard whe n
the wa ll is breac hed . In each case.
the purpose is the sam e: to cause
a ttacking units to s low down wh ile
they sweep away the caltrops (as-
s uming they notice t he m ) or press
on th rou g h t h e a rea. s u ffe ri ng
da m age a ll th e while.
Any unit equipped wi th caltrops
can "sow " th em as th ey m ove
throu gh a n a rea . T he area sown is
equa) to. the size of the unit in its
curre nt formation . plus 1/2" on
each s ide. Whe n thrown from atop
a wall . the caltrops cover a n a rea
as wide as the fron tage of the u n it
doin g the sowin g, plus 112" on
eac h side. a nd 1" deep (i.e .. away
from the wa ll).
Infa n try or dis mounted cavalry
ca n clear away caltrops , by mov-
ing th rough the sown area at a cos t
of 5~ for each 1" moved : m ou n ted
cavalry can n ot clea r away ca l·
traps . Alt e rnative ly. units can
c hoose to m ove th rough a sown
a rea without clearing the caltrops.
T h e unit pays 2 " for eac h 1"
moved , a nd s uffers damage based
on the type of caltrop (discu ssed
la ter). Rou tin g un its, or u n its re-
treating for m orale rea sons, which
pass through a sown area can not
elect to clear away the caltrops.
Cha rging units who pass t hrough
a sown area ca nnot elect to clear
a way the cal trops, and s uffer dou ·
ble da m age from the devices.
Cal traps com e in two m a in vari·
eties: in fa ntry a nd ca valry. In fa n-
try caltra ps a re s ma ll e r. a nd do
more da m age agains t fOOL units.
S uc h devices have a n AD of 4. Cav-
alry caltrops are la rge r. a nd do se-
rious damage to cava lry or un its
composed of s ize L or larger crea·
tures (AD =6), These caltrops are
s o la rge tha t it's easy for M or
s ma ll er s ized in fa n try to s te p
around the m . T his negates da m ·
age to the infa ntry un its, but they
s till m ust pay the m ove me n t pe n·
alty disc ussed a bove.
Ca ltrops take n o s id es: a ny
unit. a ttac ke r or defe nder. s uffers
the sa m e conseque nces from e n·
tering a caltrop·sown area.
Anoth er effec tive tac tic is to set
s pikes in the ear th . eit her in the
bottom of trenc hes . or along the
a pproach es to the casUe. Like ca l·
traps. a s piked a rea s lows down
m ove m en t a nd has th e pote ntia l to
in fli c t da m age. An infa ntry un it (or
dis m ounted cava lry unit) eq ui p·
ped with s pikes can pla n t the m as
they m ove through an area. T he
a rea so s piked Is equ al to the s ize of
the un it In its c u rre n t formation.
Setting s pikes cos ts 4 " of move·
m e n t a llowance.
Unlike caltrops. a placemen t of
spikes can have a defin ite facin g.
T his is because the s pikes are set at
a n angle so their points are aimed in
a certain direction . T he u nit settin g
the s pikes can select a n y facing or
combina tion of fac ings for the
spikes (i.e .. the s pikes can a ll point
north, half can point n orth while
half point south . or the s pikes can
point in all directions like s pines on
a sea urchin). T his facin g m us t be
m arked some how when the s pikes
a re origina ll y set. a nd can 't be
c ha nged u n less the s pikes are
cleared (see below) the n re·set.
Infa n try or dismoun ted cava lry
can clear a way s pikes by moving
96
th rough the s piked a rea a t a cost of
6 " fo r each I " moved ; m ou n ted
cavalry can not clear away s p ikes.
Alte rnatively. in fant ry uni ts can
c hoose to m ove through a s pi ked
a rea wi th ou t clearing the s pikes at
a cost of 3" for each I " moved .
Eac h in fan try figu re of size M or
smalle r m ov ing into a s piked area
against the area's direc tion of fac·
ing s u ffers a n attack of AD 6 ; no
da m age Is done If the unit e nters
from a non-fa cing di rec tion. a l-
though the movem e n t cost s till a p·
plies. For example. ta ke a n area
with s pi kes a ll facing north . A u n it
m ov ing south into the a rea s uffers
damage. If the u nit had e nte red the
a rea headin g west, h owe ve r. it
wou ld ha ve s uffered no damage.
Areas of s pi kes fa cing in a ll direc-
tion s ca nnot be e n te red safely. re-
gardless of direction of a pproach .
Routi ng in fa n try u n its, or un its reo
treating for m ora le rea sons, wh ic h
pass th rough a s piked a rea ca n not
el ect to c lea r away t he s p ikes .
Cha rging units who e nte r a s piked
a rea in a direction opposite to its
fac ing cannot elec t to clear a way
the s pikes . a nd s u ffe r double da m -
age fro m the devices.
Mounted cavalry a nd c reatures
of s ize L or la rger can not e nter an
a rea set wi th s pikes. un less they
pay the m ovement cos t to clea r the
a rea. Figu res of th is ty pe th at rou t
lnla a s piked area are elim inated .
Morale Issues
While mora le effec ts on th e a t-
tac ker during a long Siege ca n be
severe, they a re muc h m ore pro-
fo und a re on th e d efe nd er. T he
conseque nces to mora le of being
ou t of su pply have been d iscussed
in a n earl ie r s ec tion. The re a re
m a ny other fac tors that come Into
play, however.
 T h e followi ng table lists morale
modifiers t h at app ly to t h e be-
sieged garrison. These modifiers
are cu mulative (except where
common se nse dictates other-
wise). and are applied to every Mo-
rale Check made by any defending
unit while t h e conditions of t h e
modifier (s) are i n effect.
- I Auackers have cannon w hile
defenders do n ot.
- I A ttackers have used magic.
while de fen ders h ave no
spellcasters.
- I Siege is tak i ng p l ace i n
winter .
- I Attackers have flyi ng troops
(w heth er or not defenders do
also).
- 1 Defe n ders have tried to break
encir clement wi t h a sor t ie,
, but failed .
- I At least one sortie has suf-
fered 50% casualties.
- 3 The a ttack ers ar e known (or
believed) t o have performed
"atrocities" 0 11 prisoners in
th e past.
+ I Relief troops all ied w ith the
defender are expec ted to ar-
rive withi n 24 h our s.
+ I Defenders h ave cannon wh ile
attackers do not.
+ I Defenders h ave spe llcasters
w h ile attackers have (as yet)
used no magic.
+ I At least on e sortie has in-
flic t ed casualties on the a t ·
tacker s without suffe ring
more than 10% casualties it-
se lf.
+2 Relief troops allied with the
defender ar e surrounding or
c h all en g i ng the attackers'
position (inc ludes double en-
Circlem en t).
In addition to the fac tors above .
th e length o f the Siege carries with
it its own modifiers. The follow ing
tab le shows how th e len gth of the
Siege (in days) affects the mora le of
the d efenders:
Length Morale
of Siege modifier
0-30 days o t h e aver age m orale of all a ttacking
31-80 days -1
8 1- 100 days -2
101 + days -3
As stated before. a ll of these
modifier s ar c cum ulaUve.
For example. an el ven garrison
has been en circled by an orcish
force for 45 days. T h e o rcs have no
s pellcasters am ong t h ei r n umber.
while the el ves h ave a handful of
mages. Unfort u nately. t he orcs
h ave a nu mber of cannon. an d
h a ve been r ei n for ced by a unit of
ev il band its mounted on griffons.
A n el ven sortie. i n an abortive at-
tempt to b reak th e enc irclem ent.
In flicted casu alties on t he orcs. b u t
suffered grievous harm itse lf: only
one in ten of the elven troops r e-
turned. On th e brigh t s ide. a small
force o f el ven cavalry has arrived
from elsewh ere. and is h ar ry ing
the or cs' su pply lines. T h e elves'
morale is suffering. bu t n ot m uch:
each Morale Ch eck made by an el-
ven unit suffers a penalt y of -2.
Surrender
Good commanders know when
it's time to c u t their losses and sur-
r ender an un win nabl e si tuation.
Even If the commander doesn't ac-
ce pt th e n ecessity of surren de r. the
troops will ofte n take the i n itia ti ve.
I f {i n AD&D® game terms) the
com mander of a besieged fortifica-
tion is a Player Ch aracter. the d eci -
sion of w hether or n o t to officially
surren der Is up to him or h er.
There is n o rule to force a player to
97
capi tulate against h is or her w ill.
An NPC commander. however. will
offic ially surrender at the first op·
portun i ty whenever the average
morale (Including m odifiers) of all
surviving garrison troops drops to
4. or is 10 or m ore poin ts less t h an
units.
The above r ule refers to official
surrender . where t h e com mander
ca p itu lates in th e nam e o f all
troops under his or her command .
Som eti mes th e d ecision is take n
out of t h e h and s of t h e co m ·
mander. o f course. If t he condition
arises w h ere all defen din g units
are s haken. t h e troops w ill look for
the firs t available c han ce to offer
su rrender. Any friendly unit tha t is
with in 1" of an en emy un i t but is
not en gaged in melee combat must
make a special Morale Ch eck . If
the uni t fails. it immediately o ffers
surren der to a n y enemy unil
with in I ". Th quali fy. en emy un its
mu st be on the same level (a u n i t
a top a wa ll isn ' t going to o ffer sur-
r ender to a unit 40' be low on the
ground).
Th e en em y unit now h as a
c h oice: accept su rren der and take
lhe friendly un it p r isoner. or refuse
t he offer an d a ttac k the su rrender·
ing unit.
Prisoners of War
I f an enemy uni t accepts su r ren-
der. th e figures of the su rren dered
unit are i n terspersed with those of
the unit taking them prison er. T he
prisoner figures are m oved by the
p layer w h o ow n s th e ca pturing
unit. The combined unit has the
move m ent allowance of the slower
of the two types of figu res (I.e .. a
cava lry unit with in fantr y pr is·
oners moves at th e same rate as
the in fantry unit). In addition. it
suffers a movement allowance
penalty of 2". A unit with pris-
oners must always be In irregular
formation. and cannot Initiate me·
lee combat (it can Initiate missile
combat. however) .
If a unit with prisoners is the vic-
tim of missile fire. half of the at-
tacking figures (rounded d own)
a re considered to be attacking the
prisoner figures. while the remain-
der a re considered to be attacking
to the captors.
For example. an orcish unit with
a n AR of 8 has taken prisoner a
unit of peasants (AR 9). The com ·
bined unit Is attacked by 7 figures
of longbow men (AD 6). By the rule
above, the components of the com ·
bined unit suffer damage as
though it's the vic lim of two dis·
linct attacks: the peasants suffer
an attack by 3 figures of longbow·
m en (half of 7, rounded d own).
while the orcs suffer an attack by 4
fi gures (the remainder).
If a unit with prisoners Is at·
tacked in m elee combat. the prls·
oners instantly break free and
move 4" in the direction of the
" friendly" side of the table. At the
end of this movement, they are
routed (but can be ralli ed nor·
mally). For the first step of combat.
the captor figures s uffer a penalty
of + 1 to their AR.
As ca n be seen. taking (and
keeping) prisoners isn 't the easiest
matter. In some cases. however-
and in some scenarios-there
s hould be some s ignificant bene·
fits to taking prisoners. Perhaps
they can give the attackers valu·
able information a bout the castle's
defenses, or s hould the Siege fail,
maybe they could be ransom ed
back for a handsome profit.
RefUSAl of Surrender
Traditionally, ev il armies aren't
a lways keen abou t accepting sur-
render. They'd much rather not be
hindered by prIsoners.
If a unit decides to refuse surren-
der. it immediately attacks the s ur-
rendering unit In m elee combat.
The unit offering surrender cannot
attack that turn (i.e .. the enemy
unit gets a free attack), and for that
turn it receives no roll for AR. lIthe
su rrend ering unit su rvives. its
condition is routed (but it can be
rallied normally).
Siege Engines
Siege engines break down into
two main classes. These are born ·
bardment engines which are de·
s igned to hurl large missiles. often
with little or no accuracy, but do·
ing a great deal of damage if they
hit. This category also includes
cannon and mortars, which might
not be allowed in all campaigns.
The other category, crushing en ·
gines, includes all non·missile de·
vices designed to breach gates or
walls through Impact or other
methods.
Bombardment Engines
All bombardment engines make
u se of th e same concepts and
terms. These are listed be low:
AD is the s ize (and number) of at-
tack dice rolled when the device is
fired. Attacks can be rolled against
specific target units or reasonably
large building features: to be eligible
as targets, building features must
be at least 3" along one dimension.
Apart from the ballista (diSCUssed
below), no bombardment engine
can fire at a single figure, whether
that figure Is a hero or part ofa unit.
98
Thrgets of artillery attacks are not al-
lowed to make armor checks: every
hit does damage.
A bombardm ent engine only in·
fllcts half the actual hits it rolls
(rounded up) when fir ing at a unit
in s kirmish formati on. If 7 hits
were indicated. for example, a skir·
mish unit would on ly suffer 4.
Hits is the number of hits re-
quired to disable the machine.
"D isabl e" has different defi ni -
tions. depending on the engine in
question.
Range is given in minimum and
maximum distances. There are no
s hort . medium and long range cat·
egories for these weapons, and
they don't receive a range bonus
for elevation .
Crew is the number of figures reo
qulred to operate the weapon at full
effectiveness. The weapon can oper·
ate with less than a full crew, but its
rate of fire Is slowed to half speed. A
weapon cannot fire or be loaded if its
crew has been reduced to less than
half the number given here.
Crew m embers can defend them-
selves against a melee attack. but
they cannot fire missile weapons or
make a melee attack. If they do ei·
ther, they are considered not to be
crewing the weapon during the tum
In which the attack Is made.
Rate of fire is the number of
turns required for the weapon to
be reloaded .
Move is the distance the weapon
can travel in one turn over clear.
flat terrain. A bombardment en-
gine is treated as cavalry for pur-
poses of determining what types of
special terrain it can negotiate ,
a nd h ow quickly it can move
through s pecial terrai n -ha lf
speed through li ght woods or
when ascending a slope. and one-
thir d speed through s ha llow water
or brush/scrub.
A weapon can only be m oved
when it has a fu ll crew. An ar tillery
weapon can not m ove and fi re in
the sam e tu rn. thou gh it can be
moved fully loaded. ready to fire
the turn after it m oves.
A turn in wh iCh a bom bard me n t
en gine moves does not counl for
reloading or for pu rposes of deter-
m ining rate of fi re. Su ch a weapon
can change fac ing du ring a tu rn
when it is bei ng re loaded.
Scatte r is a concept common to
all m issile weapons. When a pro-
jectile misses its target. the con-
cept of scatter determines exactly
where the projectile does hit.
T he odds that a given s hot will
scatter vary from weapon to
weapon. and a re given in the indi-
vidual descriptions. as are the pos-
sible distances that s hots m ight be
01T the mark . In a ll cases. however.
the method for determi n ing direc-
tion of scatter Is the sam e.
If a shot scatters. roll Id IO and
consul t the fo llowing chart:
Sutler Diagram
<81
~,®\
® A ball ista shot hasa 15% chance
®~
@I- - - - - " f , ; ' = - - - - - - -
,,
, IN'[lND£D T.UG(l
For example. a heavy catapu lt
s hot at an en em y un it scatters.
The IdIO roll is 7. which means
that th e s hot is long and s lightly to
the right. Ch ecki ng th e text fo llow-
Ing the table that describes th is
weapon . we find that the shot
m isses its mark by Id3 inches.
If the s hot Is aim ed at a vertical
surface. the scatter diagram is s UlI
u sed to determi n e the im pact
point. A roll of I . for example. indi-
cates that the s hot fe ll short of its
m ark. If th is is the case. but the
roun d still reached the target. then
t he point of Impact was lower than
intended. If a roll indicates that a
scattered s hot wen l h igh and the
tar get is too low to be struck. then
the m issile will continue past the
target and strike the ground be-
yond it. T hus. a s hot fired at the
top of a wall or fla n king tower still
has a chance of doing damage to
the keep Inside the walls even if it
m isses Its mark.
Dun geon masters w ho are run-
n ing a n AD&D\!I game campaign.
not just a skirm ish foug ht with the
BATTLESYSTEM" rules. migh t
consider adding the "artille rist"
wea pon profic iency:
Artille rist
T hose with th is s kill a r e
t rai ned in th e u se of various
Siege e ngines. In addition to pre-
ven ting the drawbac ks of non-
profiCient weapon u se. if a
ch aracter with th is skill com -
m a nds the crew of a bombard-
m e nt e ngi ne {I.e .. is w ithin 1" of
the weapon whe n it fi res). the
c hance of a shot scattering is
halved. Warriors may s pecialize
in thi s skill . but t h ere is n o
c hange to the weapon 's rate of
fir e for experience levels or spe-
cia lization .
8 .... 1115t....
Also referred to as a mangonel or
scorpio n . a balllsta looks li ke a
huge c rossbow. It fi res projectiles
99
that look like oversized spears. Al-
though not as effective as cata-
pults or trebuchets. ball istae could
infl ict Impressive dam age against
bu ild ings {th e projectiles a ren't as
heavy as trebuchet missiles. b ut
their m o m ent of in ertia-and
he nce th eir "stoppi ng power" - is
very high ).
Ballistae were used by the Ro-
m ans. both as land weapons and
as s h ipboar d dev ices for fir ing
grapples at enemy vessels to pull
them alongside for board ing.
T he poten tial energy stored in a
bent and cocked ballista is consid -
erable. m aking the loaded weapon
som ewhat frag ile. As the old say-
ing goes. "A be nt bow is seven-
eigh ths broken". If the ballista has
suffered serious structural dam-
age {that is. if it has been red uced
to 2 hits). there is a 20% chance
each time th e weapon Is reloaded
that it will misfire, destroying the
weapon. If a ballista m isfires. it
fires as soon as reloading is com-
p lete. wheth er or not the c rew
wan ts It to. T he s hot is very inac-
c u rate. however: it a u tomatically
scatters. a nd the scatter dista nce
is twice norm al. Each figure with in
I" of the device su ffe rs Id3- 1 hits
(no arm or check ) as the ballista
shatters. Of course. th e device is
use less fro m then on.
of scattering: scatter distance is
Id3 half tha t (rounded up) if the
N
•
range is 13" or less.
A ballis ta with full crew can fi re
at a single large-sized individual
figu re (a dragon or the leader of a
troop of giants. for example).
Bomb....rd
Over th e ce ntu ries. weapon-
sm iths developed a staggering va-
riety of diffe rent gunpowder-fired
d evices- m a n y o f wh ich were Bombardment Engine Statistics
more d a ngero us to the ir c rew than
Eng ine Type AD Hits Ra n g e Crew Ra t e Move
to their targe l. Th e m ost vis ua lly
Ballista 12 8 1" /27 " 3 1 6"
im p ressive o f t hese were d efin itely
Bombard 3d 12 10 18 "/40" 2 3 2"
the bom bard s.
Can no n . lig h t 2dl2 8 1" /36 " 1 1 6"
T h e m ed ieva l bombard was a
Can no n . heavy 2 dl 2 10 1" /36" 2 2 6"
m assive pipe con s tru c ted of
Catapul t. ligh t 2d 10 10 15" 130" 4 2 4'
w ro u g h t-iro n rod s or b ro nze.
Catapul t. heavy 2d 12 15 18 '/36" 6 3 3'
w h ich fi red a very la rge- but rela-
Ca ta p ult, a rrow 2d6 8 6"/18" 3 3 4"
tive ly lig ht- ba ll of s to ne.
Tre buc he t 3 d 12 20 2 4 "/48" 8 4 Nil
Th e barre l o f a bomba rd was
us ua lly set in to a so lid b loc k o f
w ood, w h ic h wo u ld ho ld th e
lery. w h ic h m ig h t o therw ise com e d e r. In gam e te rms . lesser-trained
w ea po n stead y a nd a b sorb t he
to do mi na te the ga m e. cavalry- those un its wi th a mora le
consid e ra b le reca ll. T h is d esig n
Each li mea bom bard fires. the re e qua l to or less than 10 -are s us-
was far fro m easy to m ove. how-
is a 10 % c ha nce o f a m isfi re. If the ce ptible to m o rale effects. T he s us-
ever. For tra ns port. the bomba rd
weapo n itself h as suffe re d any ceptib ility of othe r troop types Is
had to be lifted bodily o nto a heavy
hils. any rolls o n the m isfire ta ble left up to the players. or to the OM .
wagon , 1b s u pport the weig ht o f
belo w s u ffe r a + I m od ifie r. If the Eac h tu rn in w hic h a susceptible
the g un , the cart us ually ra n o n
weapon m isfi res. ro ll 2d4 a nd can· u n it Is w ithi n 4 N of a bom ba rd-
disc-like wheels w h ic h , w he never
s u it the fo llowing ta ble: frie ndly or e ne m y - tha t fi res on
the cart was canted over to one
tha t turn . the u nit must m a ke a
s ide . . th reatened to colla pse and Die
mora le ch eck w ith a bonus o f + 2
du mp th e contra p tio n to th e Ro ll Result
to the ro ll (bomba rd s are frig h ten -
grou nd again. In gam e terms, wag· 2 -3 Weapo n " ha ngs fi r c"
ing. bu t no t tha l fri g hte ning ). S us-
ons carrying bo mba rds a re limited 4·6 Powde r burn s irregu la r ly;
ceptib le tro ops will not ro ut
to na t. clear terra in. Th ey can be autom atic scatter
toward s a firin g bom bard .
m oved up o r d own h ill o nly on 7·9 Wea pon ex plodes
T he impact of a bombard s hot
we ll-paved road s . a nd th e n only if
A resu ll of " ha ngs fire" mea ns was so great that it would smash
the hill has a r ise (or fa ll) o f less
t ha t the gunpowde r has s im ply s plinters from any hard s urface it
tha n I " for ea c h 24 " horizonta ll y.
fa iled to ig nite. or has fa iled for o ne hit. This "s h rapnel"' was so le thal
His torica lly, bo m ba rds cam e In
rea s on o r a noth er to ex p lode prop· that it rreq ue n tly ca used as m any or
virtua lly a ll s hapes a nd s izes. Th e
e rly (pe r ha ps it j us t Oa red up . more casua lties than the actual s hot
s tatis tics g ive n he re re fe r to a n
without e noug h fo rce to expc l the ilself. 1b represent this. each time a
"average" bom ba rd . If players
ball ). Th e we apo n m u s t be reo bom bard s hot s trikes rock o r s tone
a nd /or re fe rees agree . larger o r
load ed . (eilhe r a wall a r a horizontal s to ne
smaller bomba rds m ay be used .
A bomba rd tha t explodes Is de- s urface like a pa ved courtyard ).
The burn ing p roperlies o f the
s troyed. An y fi gu re wi thin I ~ of each fi gure wi th in I ~ of the im pac t
gu n powder used In ear ly can non
the weapon s u ffe rs Id4 hits with point su ffers an a ttack of AD 10. Ob-
was incons is te nt a t best (qua lity
no a rmor c heck a llowed . vio us ly. to be affected the unit mus t
con trol wasn 't partic ula rly s tric t),
The na m e. s m oke a nd no ise as- be on the same s ide of a wa ll as the
leading to a Sig nificant c ha nce of
s oc ia ted wi th a bo m bard fre- impact point. Firing a shot agains t
m isfires. Europea n artille rists
que ntly pan icked pac k an ima ls. the ex terio r of a keep will do no
soon learned the ir lessons, a nd
a nd even m oun ts tha t ha dn 't been splinter damage against o n troops
g un s became muc h m o re d e pe nd-
tra ined to ha ndle t he c haos of wa r. within tha l keep.
a ble. For game p u rposes. ho wever.
In a fa n tasy world . th is wou ld a lso A bo mba rd s h o t h a s a 4 5%
the ris k of m isfir e s hould be qui te
be true for troops com posed o f c ha nce o f scattering: sca tte r dis-
hig h . Thi s w ill lesse n th e d e -
" pri m itive " races o r c reatures who la nce is Id4 ". half that (round ed
Sira bili ty - a nd h e n ce th e sign -
would normally fear fi re an d thu n- up) if the ra nge Is 12 Nor less.
ificance-of g u npowder-fired arlll-

100
Cannon
A s wit h b o mbard s. c annon
came in many d es igns. Th ese
r an ged fro m " poc ket ca nn on "
with barrel len g ths of little m ore
than on e foot. t o m on sters that
fi red shot weighin g 100 pounds. Of
these b izar re guns. the most ap -
propria te for siege warfare were
the 48-pounder full cannon (our
h eavy can non) and t h e 24 -
pounder demi-cannon (our lig h t
cannon) .
In troduced in the late Flflee n t h
Century, the full canno n was a
highly effec live w eapo n . devasta t-
ing again st ston ework and leth al
against "soft" Lar gets like troops.
A lth ough the fu ll can non neve r
disappeared. th e demi -ca nn on
sw iftly beca me th e prefer red
wea pon for u se in siege batteries.
Round for round i t performed al-
most as effectively as i ts larger sib-
ling, w hil e w eighi n g lill ie m ore
than h alfas much . consum ing half
the charge of powder . taki ng up
less space In t h e batteries and be-
i n g much quick er t o load.
Both w ere smooth-bore muzzle-
load ers. with homogenou s bronze
barrels no more than eigh t fee t
long. They could be tra nsp orted
and loaded with r elative ease, and
t h ey fired wrought-Iron ca nnon
balls, Fren ch gunsm iths improved
the basic design by casting t w o
trunnions, or prongs. into th e bar-
rel Ju st forward of the ce nter of
graVity, These prongs rested al-
most directly over the ax le of a
t wo-w h ee led gun ca rriage. Th e
barrel of t h e gun could b e eaSil y el-
evated or depressed around th e
fulcrum formed b y the trunnions.
For traversing. th e trai ling end of
the gun carriage was lifted from
the ground and swung to r ight or
left.
Th e c h a n ce of a misfi r e was
lowe r for ca nnon th an for the less
standardi zed bombards. but t h e
chan ce sti ll did ex ist. Each Lim e a
cannon fir es, th er e Is a 5% chance
of a misfir e. If the weapon m isfires.
r oll 2d4 and con su lt the !.able be-
low. If the weapon itself has suf-
fer ed an y hits. a ll r o ll s o n t h e
m isfire table su ffer a + I modifier.
Die
Roll Result
2-3 Weapon " han gs fire"
4-7 Powder burn s Irregularly;
autom alic sca tter
8-9 Weapon explodes
A "han g fire" resu lt is the same
for ca nnon as It is for a bombard.
Si milarl y. canno n have the sam e
ch ance to panic anima ls and prim-
iti ve troops th a t bo m bard s d o .
Ca nnon round s whi ch strik e a
ston e or wooden surface cr eate
large sprays of shrapnel. just as
bombards do . Be sure to read t h e
section on bombards if you are fir-
i ng on e or more batteries of can-
n on in the battle.
A can n on tha t exp lodes is de·
s troyed. A ny figu re within I ~ of
the weapon suffer s I d4 hits in the
case of a fu ll cannon or Id 3 hits for
a d em i-cannon (no armor ch eck al-
low ed) .
A cannon sh ot (either kind) has a
10% chance of scattering; scatter
distan ce is Id2". half t hat (rou nded
up) if the range is 15" o r less.
Co1.to1.pult
Catapults o f var ious ki nds h ave
been i n li se for millenn ia. From
simple, h as til y- Improvised d e-
vices-smail trees that cou ld be
b en t th en re leased to cast
projectiles-the catapult evolved
into m ech anicall y sop histicated
w h eeled d ev ices u sed to great ef-
'0'
fee t by t h e Roman s an d later
for ces.
A l thou g h t h e ac tual source o f
th e weapon's m otive force ranged
from n ex ibl e b eams of wood
(sh ades of t h e ben t tree) to tor-
sion ed ropes, the device depended
o n leverage to propel p roj ectiles.
Th e very n ature of the device
m ade It som ewhat difficu lt to ad-
just elevation . On smaller devices.
t h e rear of the frame or base could
be raised or lowered. but on larger
examples t his was impossible. The
only meth od of alter i n g th e r ange
o f t h e sh o t was t o c h a n ge th e
amoun t of torsion or modify the
weigh t of th e projectile. Neith er of
t h ese we re particularl y precise.
mak ing t h e catapu lt a nOlorlou sly
Inaccura te weapon.
The construc tion of t h e catapult
also con strained its role. In most
cases, It could only b e used as an
ind i rect nre d ev ice , similar to a
modern h owitzer ; the sh ot would
arc h igh , and then fall on the tar·
get. T h e on ly exception to this was
w h en t h e catapult w as so close to a
wall or bu ild in g that the missile
st r u ck its target before It reached
th e apex of its trajec tory.
A lthough they wer e u su ally u sed
to hurl r ocks or oth er h eavy proj ec-
tiles, ther e w ere no praclical r e-
striction s on w h at could be fired
from catapults. The m ost common
"alternative" loads were quantities
of small stones. gravel. and even
len gths o f chain . Th is m ed ieval
shra pnel was n ext to u se less
aga ins t " hard " targets su ch as
w alls and the like. but it was bru-
tally effective against "soft"' targets
li k e t roops. In game term s, a
ca tapult-light or h eavy- loaded
with this kind of shot does n o dam -
age agal nstslruc tures. but all dam-
age against units is multiplied by
1.5. T hus t his k i nd o f load is u sefu l
'02
for "sweeping the battlem ents" of
defenders before an assault.
Ca tapults can also cast flamin g
m issil es, or even canis ters of
Greek fire. T ypically. these projec·
tiles a re much lighter than th e
u s ual loads used (It's hard to set
flre to a rock , after all). but cons id-
erably m ore s usceptible lO cross-
winds : thus the effective ra nge Is
ha lved . a nd the chance of scatter Is
doubled (although the scatter dis-
tance is ha lved as well) . Flaming
loads do no damage to s tru ctures
from their Impact. althoug h they
have normal chances of Igniting
fl amm able m aterials. Rules for ig-
niting targets are covered on page
86 of the BATTLESYSTEM rules. N
Agains t units, however, fl aming
loads do inflict damage from their
Impac t alone. This equates to an
AD p f2d6 for both light and heavy
catapults.
Enterpris ing comma nders can
u se their catapults with m ore un ·
pleasant loads. of course. During
the Siege of Minas Tirith In J . R. R.
Thlkie n 's Lord of the Rings. the orcs
fired the heads of s lain defe nders
Into the City. These exam ples of
nastiness are devastating to the
m orale of the e nemy. and mus t be
dealt with on an individual basis.
The cha nce of scatter Is 40 % for
a li gh t catapult and 50% for a
heavy catapult. The cha nces drop
to 25% a nd 35% respectively If th e
ca tap ult Is loaded w ith s m a ll
stones or the like. The reason for
this is s imply that you don 't have
to be as exact with a scattering
round as you do with a solid one.
J u st as you don 't have to be as pre-
cise with a modern s hotgun as
with you do with a rifle to hit your
target. Scatter dis tance is Id3 " . If
the cata pult Is being used against a
wallar building (direct fi re) a nd
the ra nge Is less than one qua rter
of the cata pult's m ax imum range.
th e chances for scatter drop to
15% for light and 25% for hea vy,
a nd th e scatter dis tan ce is Id2".
Catapult • .urow
Ma ny weaponm ake rs through-
out the ages experimented with
la rge weapons tha t fired multiple
arrows or s pears with great force
(a nd us ua lly a bysm a l accuracy).
Thes e wer e m os tly Ine ffec tive
agains t s tructures (those fe w that
were u seful in such a role have
been s ubs um ed und er the cate-
gory of ballista) but qui te lethal
agains t m assed troops. in gam e
terms. a ll engines of this type do
no damage agai nst structures.
One design tha t actu a lly seem ed
to work comprised a rack holding
four or so large arrows perhaps the
s ize of javelins . Behind this rack
was a s heet of fl exible wood that
could be bent backwa rds. Wh en
this s heet of wood was released .
the upper portion would s na p for-
wa rd a nd "sla p " the butt ends of
the arrows. firin g them forward .
The actual numbe r of arrows
shot from one of these devices var·
led from two or three to as high as a
doze n. The s ta tis tics given are for
a n "average " device. s hooting four
or fiv e projectiles. (Weapons doing
more or less dam age can be used if
players a nd DM agree .)
A shot from an a rrow catapult
has a 60 % cha nce of scattering.
Scatter distance is I d3 " .
Trebuchet
As they built large r and larger
ca tapu lts to fire ever-Increas in g
loa ds . military sc ie ntists soon
reac hed the limits of standard cat·
apult technology. T here was just
so much force that could be gener·
ated from bent wood or lOrqued
rope. Lu ckily fo r t h e weapon
10 3
d eSign ers-a nd unlu c kil y fo r
those on th e receiving end - th ere
was a nother force that could be
u sed : gra vity. Whil e gravity
doesn 't work quite the sam e in the
AD&D" game universe as It does in
our own (see the S PELW AMM ERN
boxed set for details ). the tre bu-
ch eL s tili functions in the same
way.
Whil e s tandard cata pults d e-
pended on the potenti al e n ergy
tied up in b ent or oth erwi se
s tressed material s. tre bu c he ts
u sed th e potential e n ergy can·
talned In a heavy weight. On one
end of th e tre buchet's long arm
was a s ling or basket to contai n the
load . On th e other. across a ful -
crum . was a mass of metal or roc k.
To load th e weapon , th e c rew
pu lled th e basket end down , which
ra ised th e countermass off t he
ground . When they released the
arm . th e coun termass fe ll . acceler·
ating th e bas ket a nd load .
Som e very large tre buchets were
built a nd used . Theoretically. th e
only limi ts to their s ize a nd power
were the strength of the m a teria l
used a nd the amount of m ass tha t
could be lifted by the crew.
Since they were such simple ma-
chines, tre buch ets were usua lly
buill on-site. This meant that th ey
were difficult if not Impossible to
m ove. and thus to aim . In gam e
terms. once a tre buchet is posl·
tloned . it can only fi re dir ectly fo r·
ward , or within 5 degrees to ellher
s ide of Its center line. Ra nge could
be varied by changing th e m ass of
the load . th e weight of lhe counter-
m ass. or th e distance th at th e arm
was pulled down.
As with other cata pults. trebu·
chets could be loaded with man y
s m a ll s tones for use against "son "
targets like troops. In gam e terms.
a trebuchet loaded with this kind
x
of load does no damage against
struc tures. but a ll damage against
units is multiplied by 1.5 (rounded
down).
Trebuc hets ca n also cast naming
miss iles. o r e ven ca nisters of
Greek fire. Typically. these projec-
tiles are mu c h lig hter than the
u su al load s u sed , bUl conslderably
more su scepLible to crosswinds:
thus the e rrec llvc ra nge is halved.
and th e chance of sca lter Is dou-
bled (alth ou g h th e scatter distance
is halved as well). Flami ng loads
do no damage to struc tures from
t heir Impact, althoug h Lh ey have
norm al c h an ces o f Ign itin g nam -
m ab ie materials. Rules for igniting
targets arc covered o n page 86 of
the BATTLESYSTEM '" rul es.)
Agai nst units. however. flaming
loads do Inflict damage from their
impact a lone. This equates to an
AD of2d8.
The c ha nce of scatter for a tre bu -
c hetis 55% (their lack of accuracy
was balanced by the impressive
damage they Inflic ted when they
did hit) . Th e c ha n ce of sca tle r
drops to 40% if the trebuc he t is
loaded with s ma ll s to nes or the
like. Sca tter dis ta nce Is I d6" .
Crushing Engines
As th ei r name Im plies. crus hi ng
engines trans mit a nd concentrate
the e fforts of the troops using them
aga inst stru c tures with w h ic h
the dev ices a re in direct co ntact.
For example. the small baltering
rams described on page 82 of the
BATTLESYSTEM'" rul es a re
c ru s hin g engi nes. Th ei r larger
brethren are mo re m assive. m ore
deslru c Uve. a nd often co mprise
mobile canopies or oth er struc-
tures to protec t the troops us ing
them . Th ey are u sua lly whee led.
At least eig ht ng ures are needed
to move a crush ing e n gine a t its
full speed of 3~ per lurn . Four to
seven ngures can move it 2" . a nd
two or three can move It 1". Crush-
ing e ng ines can on ly be moved
over clear. na t terrain (including
road s . but not trail s). l\vl ce as
many figu res ar e required to move
a c rushin g engine up e ven a gen tle
s lope ( 1" rise for every 12 ~ of hori-
zo ntal distance). and m ove me n t
up a s teeper inclin e is impOSSible.
A crush ing e ngine ge ls two ai-
tack d ice of the a ppropriate size for
each fig ure he lping to operate the
device. At least two ngu res must
be available to ope rate it. and no
more than fou r can co ntribute to
th e c rush in g e ng in e's attac k
strength . The e ngine must be
touc h in g the s urface to be at-
tacked before it can cau se damage .
All crus hing eng ines make u se
of the sam e terms a nd concepts.
whic h are de fi ned below :
Hits is a two-numbe r e n try be-
cause. in most cases. a cru s hing
e ngine is enc losed withi n a struc-
ture (generally a heavy wooden
roof supported by a fram e work of
Um bers) tha t provides pro tec tion
for th e device as well as for the fig -
ures (maximum of four) tha t are
ope rating it. The first num be r re p-
resents the number of hits that th e
e ngine itself can w iths ta nd before
bei ng destroyed : the second is th e
numbe r of hits tha t th e protecUve
framewo rk and roof can wit h -
stand. This fram ework must be de-
stroyed before th e device inside
can su ffer damage. Troops u nde r
this framework a re tota lly pro-
tec ted again s t a ttacks from di-
rectly above. and gai n a -2 bonus
to AR against mi ss ile a ttacks
la unc hed from g ro und level.
In certa in cases. pla yers m ight
use crushing eng in es that do wlth-
10 4
ou t the protection of a fram ework .
These wou ld have a si ngle "h its"
number. representing the device
Itself. Troops operating the de vice
ar e unprotec ted .
AD columns s how the s ize of at-
tack die (4-sided. 6 -sid ed or 8-
sided) used whe n the engine is a t·
tacking a certa in ty pe of materia l.
The numbe r of auack d ice rolled is
de te rmined by th e numbe r of fig -
ures o perating the device. as de-
scribed above .
CrUShing Engine St.-tlstlcs
Engine
Type Hits Stone Metal WOO(
Ram 61 18 468
Bore 12/ 18 8 6 6
"m
In this context . a ram is a long
wheeled gallery. Slung from the roof
beam by c hains is a large log. This
log is fr equently capped w it h a
heavy metal end-piece to increase
Its impact and da m age. His torically.
this end-piece was often shaped like
the horned head of a ram. hence the
device 's na m e. Under cover of the
pro tective roof. troops could swing
the log to strike with g reat force
again s t a wallar gate.
T his design of ram . w here the log
is suspended by c hains. is muc h
more efficient than the "standard "
troop-carr1ed batterin g ram impro-
vised from a large log. For o ne thing.
the troops had to expend no e nergy
s imply ho ld ing the ram off t he
g round . and could concentrate all of
their mig ht on swinging the heavy
thing; thus heavier rams could be
used . Also. once the ram had been
s wung back. simply releasing it to
swing forward would cause cons id-
erable impact: if the troops added
their strength to the forward swing
of the ram. the impac t could be stag·
gering. This increased effiCiency is
reflected in the s tatistics listed
above. T his kind of ram a pplies one
AD for each figure operating the de-
vice. In comparison. lroop-carried
rams apply one AD for each two fig·
ures involved.
The gall eries protec ting the
rams were often elaborate enough
to qualify as s mall buildings in
their own rig hts. As such. their
destru clion can inflict da m age
on the troops operating the rams.
as discussed on page 85 of t he
BATTLESYSTEM'" rules.
Bore
Bores (also ca lled "sows" ) re-
sembled rams in construction: a
long. wheeled gallery protecting
the ce ntral mechan is m . which is
s u spended from roof beams. T h is
central mec ha nis m is usually a
log. s uspended in s lings so it can
turn abou t its long ax is . Th e metal
headpiece Is a large screw bit. de-
s igned to chew through stone.
Th ese e ngi nes were designed to
be used in one of two ways. In
some, the log was pulled back a nd
swung agains t th e target like a
ram. Because of the twist to the
screw bit. the log would turn a li t-
tle on impact. Eventually. the bit
would bite into the wall a nd do
some damage. This is similar to
driving a screw by hitting it with a
hammer: not the most efficient
lOS
way of doing things. although it
eve ntually gets the job done.
The second design has the same
log suspended in s li ngs, with the
sam e screw-bit headpiece. Here.
however. the log has stakes of
wood or me tal driven into it a long
its length to act as handles . In th is
design, the log isn't swu ng: u sing
th e handles. troops push the bit
against the wall and turn the log so
that th e bit even tually bites. T h is
is more like using a screwdriver.
T h e ga lle ri es protecting th e
bores were often ela bora te enough
LO qualify as small bu ildings in
their own rights. As such , their
destruction can innict damage on
the troops operating the rams. as
discussed on page 85 of th e
BATTLESYSTEM'" rules .
 For people who don't have the
time (or desire) to play out a long
siege with the BATTLESVSTEM'"
rules, we present the foll owing
quick resolution systems. The first
Is Imended for use in resolving
sieges and the second for deter-
mining the outcome of entire mili-
tary campaigns_ Either of these
settings can serve as an Interest-
ing backdrop to a traditional
AD&D* game campaign .
Siege Resolution
Although sieges lasting months
or even years are realistic. they're
not much fun to play out in their
entirety. This section describes a
system by which the results of
Sieges can be quickly deter-
mined: whether the garrison sur-
renders or is overrun, whether the
attackers abandon the Invest-
ment, and how many troops on
both sides are s lain .
This system Is obviously very
superficial-how else could an 18-
month Investment be reduced to a
dozen or so die rolls?-and thus
not particularly satisfying em o-
tionally. It is strongly recom-
m ended that the OM running the
campaign use these results as a ba-
sis on which to build more tex-
tured descriptions of events.
The system doesn't have to be
used throughout the Siege. Quick
resolution co uld be used until
things start getting Interesting.
and then the players could resort
to standard BATTLESVSTEM'" or
AD&D,z game rules to resolve the
"good bits" .
Phases
By their very nature, Sieges al-
most never consist of continuous
action. The attacking commander
can pretty well control the pace of
activity. If he or she wants to wait a
few days before the next m ajor as-
sau lt. the garrison generally has
little say in the matter. This issue
of timing changes the whole tenor
of Sieges. of course. In an all-out at-
tack, where the beSiegers know
they have the advan tage In man-
power. or where time Is of the es-
sence. one wave of assaul t will
follow close on the hee ls of the last.
Where the attackers don't have so
great an advantage. or have the
luxury to let the garrison starve a
bit. the same number of waves can
be spread out over weeks or
months_
For this reason, the quick resolu-
tion system refers to "phases"
rather than days. weeks or other
absolute measures of time. Each
phase represents one wave of as-
sault. and the attacker (usu a lly)
can decide how frequently phases
occur. For example, the auacklng
general can start the next phase as
soon as the last Is complete. or can
wait a week or two while the garri-
son's morale drops further.
Quick Resolutlon System
De pending on current co ndi -
tions, one player-attacker or
defender-has the initiative to de-
termine exactly when a phase is
going to start. That player (the
"phasing" player) rolls percentile
dice. The roll is modified depend-
ing on current conditions (see
"Modifiers" following), then the re-
s ult Is referenced on the siege reso-
lution table (SRT) in th e next
section .
This table can retu rn variou s reo
s uits . ranging from "Attackers re-
volt" (the attacking troops have
had enough of this nonsense and
give upthe Investment ... no mat-
106
ter what their com mander has to
say about It) to "Garrison surren-
ders". Most results, however, are
of the form "5% Defender/ 15% At-
tacker" . These figures refer to the
percentage of the current point
count for the army that were lost
during the phase (point costs are
discussed in Appendix III of the
BATTLESVSTEM'" rules).
For example, the attacking force
currently has a total point value of
150. The results of the current
phase state" 10% Attacker". The
attacking p layer must remove
from play figures (or equip ment)
worth at least 15 pOints. The
choice of the figures actually re-
moved Is completely up to the at-
tacking player. This description
and the section that follows as-
s um es that miniatures are being
used for at least part of th e Siege. If
not-that Is. if the whole thing Is
taking place "offscreen"- the two
forces can be viewed as "point
pools". analogous to a character 's
hit poims in an AD&D game.
Results also frequently Include
penalties or bonuses to morale,
such as "Defenders morale - 1".
These are applied immediate ly
an d remain in effect until the Siege
is fully resolved.
In addition to the two finaJ reo
suits that can com e from the
SRT-"Attackers revolt" and
"Garrlson surrenders "-there are
other victory conditions as well.
mostly morale-related. Should any
of these conditions come about.
the Siege is immediately over ...
one way or the other. This is why
It's Important that morale penal·
ties or bonuses be applied Immedi-
ately.

Siege Resolution Table
Die
Roll Result
0- Attackers revolt
01- 15 0 % Defendersll5% At·
tackers; Attacke r morale
- 2, Defende r morale + 1
16·250% Defenders/IO% At-
tackers: Attacker morale
- I , Defe nder morale + 1
26-400% Defe nd ers/5% At·
tacke rs: Attacker m orale
- 1
4 1-65 5% Defenders/20% At·
tackers
66-805% Defenders/ 15% At·
tackers; Attacker mora le
+ 1, Defender mora le - 1
8 1·90 5% Defenders/1O% At-
tackers; Attacker morale
+ 1, Defender morale -2
9~·9Q 5% Defe nde rs/5% At-
tackers, Attacker mora le
+ 1, Defender morale - 2
100+ Garrison s u rrenders
Siege Resolution Table Modifiers
Modifiers to rolls on th e SRT fall
into several categories. Each of
these groups is detailed below.
Force Size
The relative s izes of the two
for ces (as ex pressed in their
BATTLESYSTEM rules point val-
N
ues) is very important. As you can
see by examining the S RT, the at·
tacker will tend to lose many more
troops tha n the defe nder. This reo
fleets the fact that the defe nder has
had time to "d ig In' ' a nd that a cas-
tie is very difficu lt to take by force.
-15 % Attacking force has a total
poi nt value equal to or less
than that of the defending
force.
- 10% Attacking force has a pai n t
va lue which Is not m ore
than 150% of the de·
fenders.
-05% Attacking force has a paint
value whic h Is not m ore
than twice that of the de·
fend ing force.
+05% Attacking force has a poi nt
value which Is not more
than th rice that of th e de-
fender's forces.
+ 10% Attacking force has a point
value wh ich is greater than
thrice that of the defending
force.
Special Forces & Equipment
Th e weapons employed by one
s ide or another. as well as the s pe-
cia l skills and abi lities of the force,
can make a big d iffere nce in the
outcome of a ba ttle.
+ 10% Attackers h ave cannon
a nd defenders do not.
+ 10% Attackers have s pell cast-
ers a nd defenders do not.
+05 % Attacking fo rce in clud es
undead . high ly magical. or
otherw ise awe Inspiring
creatures.
+05% Attacking force has fl y ing
un its and defenders do not.
-05% Defenders have cannon
and attackers do not.
-05 % Defending force includes
undead. highly magical. or
other awe inspiring man·
sters.
- 10% Defenders have s pell cast·
ing units and attackers do
not
Length of Siege
The total duration of the Siege
has a significant effect on m orale,
and hence on th e outcome of any
particu lar wave. Consult the tab le
below to determine the effect of the
107
ti m e spen t in th is engagem en t and
its associated m odifier.
00 to 20 days Nil
21 to 40 days + 5%
41 to 60 days +10 %
61 to 80 days + 15%
Over 80 days +20 %
Supply Conditions
Units which have begun to run
short of food a nd water will begin
to see the "advantages" ofsurren-
der. Likewise. those who are well
s upplied will tend to hold ou t until
things get worse.
+ 10% Defender Is out of supplies.
a nd h as s uffe r ed troop
losses due to attrition.
+05% The defende r is out of s up-
plies. but has not yet s u f-
fe red any losses from
attrition.
-05% Attacker is out of s upplies
and has b ee n forced to
scavenge for food .
- 10% Attacker is out of s upplies
a nd is In an area w here
scave nging for supplies is
eith er diffic u lt or impos-
s ible.
Morale
The base morale value for an en-
Ure force is the average of the mo-
rales for all the units m a king up
that force, adjusted for any modi-
fi ers applied due to the SRT. The
fo ll owing c hart g ives the SRT
modifiers based on the current mo-
rale of the various s ides. When ap-
plying the morale modifier to the
SRT roll . add the bonus for the at·
tacker 's morale and s ubtract the
bonus for the defender's m ora le.
For example, if the mora le of the
attackers is "steady" a pply a + 5%
m odifier to the roll. If th e de·
fe nder's morale Is "elite". a pply a
 -10% m od ifier to the roll .
Note tha t the values for " unrelia-
ble" or " unsteady" troops do not fol-
low the above logic. ModiOers for
s uch units are reversed . Thus. ·'un-
s teady" a llackers s u btract 10
points from the SRT roll a nd " unre-
liable" defenders a dd 20 poin ts to It.
Unreliable (4 or less) 20%
Unsteady (5 to 7) 10%
Average (8 to 10) Nil
Steady ( I I to 12) 5%
Elite (1 3 to 141 10%
Champion (1 5 to 16) 15%
Fanatic (17 to 18) 20%
Fearless (19 or higher) 25%
Command
The competence of the individ-
ual commanders will have a huge
effec t on the outcom e of any Siege
or battle. For this quic k resolution
system. the level of the com-
mande r wUl be the key factor In de·
ciding his or he r a bili ty.
To determine th e command
modifier. s ubtract the level of th e
less ex pe rie nced commande r from
the leve l of the m ore ex pe rie nced
one. For every two leve ls of differ·
ence, a pply a 5% m odifie r In favor
o f th e more ex pe rienced co m -
ma nde r (that Is, a m inus to the roll
If the defe nder Is more experienced
a nd a n addition to It If the a ttacke r
has s uperiority).
Thus, If a n arm y of orcs headed
by an 8 th level commander Is a t-
tacking a fortress held by a 12th
leve l elven ki n g, t he e lve n d e-
fe nde rs have a 10% bonus wh ic h Is
refl ected by a - 10% to rol ls on the
SRT.
rhase Initiative
Normally, the a ttacke r controls
th e ti m ing of phases. The re are
two conditions under whic h this Is
not true, however. If the modified
m orale of the defend ing force is
highe r than tha t of th e a ttacki ng
force by a t least 2 poi nts, or If th e
a ttacker's modlHed morale drops
be low 9. th e defe nd e r deci des
when phases will be Initiated.
Victory Condi tions
In addition to the ·'Garrlson s ur-
ren ders·' a nd ·'A ttackers revol l""
resul ts on the com ba t results table
a bove, there a re other co nd itions
that bring a Siege to an e nd .
If the average mora le (modified )
of a ll s urviving defe ndi ng units
drops to 3 or less, or is ] 0 poi nts or
m ore less than the average mora le
of all a ttacki ng units, th e garrison
imm ediately s urre nd er s.
Co nversely, if the average mo·
rale of a Ua ttacking units drops to 6
or less, or Is 8 poin ts or more less
than the average m orale of a ll de-
fendin g units. the attackers give
up the Siege.
Fina lly, if the a ttacki ng force Is
ever reduced to 25 % or less of Its
o ri gin a l size (d e te rmin ed by
points ), the attackers abandon th e
Siege.
Fighting Campaigns
Aelfred Silverhorn Sighed as he
stared at lh e map. Running
scarred fingers through his close·
cropped hair. he wondered - for
the tho usandlh time-how h e'd
com e to find himself In t.h/s posi-
tion . He was a warrior, yes. A good
warrior. by Lhegods, in sing le com ·
bat or leading his m er cenary com ·
pany, the Bla ck Guard. But
Commander in C hief? Com -
manding-and thu s r esponsible
for-not one company buL sever al
armies? Wh en had war turned
(rom som ething waged stricLly for
'08
profit. wh er e vic tory or defeat was
l ess Imporlant than conduc ting
on eself in a professional m a nner,
to som etJ)ing that mattered. and
m attered d eeply? 1b som ething
that might determine the cou rse of
h isto ry for generations to come?
H e s/lifted his dagger aside,
whic h had been serving to indicate
his best g uess as to th e en emy's
major axis of movement. for a
closer look at the map- m or e pre·
clsely, at one small village.
Alexia . It was caJled. Not.h/ng
more than a handful of farm
houses. r ea lly. B ut m assing
around this tilly croft were armies
the likes of which hadn·t been seen
In this Age. Cerlainly. other armies
we re clashing elsewh ere- good
men were dy ing. and Aelfred
Silverho rn could do na ug ht abou t
it-but trained instinc ts told the
aging warrior i hat it was her e, at
Alexia. t.ha t mailers would be de-
c ided .
He grinn ed, but ther e was n o
mirth in it. Ho w w ould they take it ,
h e wondered . the spirits of tJlOse
troops that had died elsewhere-
died a/. his (albeit indirect) com -
mand? How would they take It
s hould h e tell them that their ef-
forts a nd sacrifices were lillie m ore
tha n a s ide-show, a m ere baga telle,
c ompared with the batt l e that
would bejoined on the morrow?
In the nam es of all the gods.
what had happened to war?
In m a ny cam paigns. the individ-
ual battles and actual day-to·day
eve nts th a t make up a long.
drawn·out connic t a ren·t impor·
tant except as a bac kdrop agai nst
wh ic h Player Characters pe rform
h e roic ac tions. This section de·
sc ri bes a sys te m to (rela tiv ely)
quic kly de termine th e outcom e of
a fu ll-scale war that com prises a
number of battles. As with th e
quick resolution system for sieges.
detail and depth have been sacri-
ficed for convenience and s peed. Il
is strongly recommended that the
OM running t he campaign use the
results generated by this system
as a basis on which to bu ild more
textured descriptions of th e
even ts.
The syste m that fo llows breaks a
full-scale war down into ind ividual
battles, and then resolves the out-
com e of these battles. This has a
number of advantages. First. il
gives the OM m ore mater ial to
work from when describing ongo-
ing events.
For example, after determ ining
the results of a battle, the OM tells
his players that "after som e initial
success based on tactica l bril-
liance, Furyondy's forces were
beaten back by the sheer numbers
of the gnoll army. Th e h u man
forces fought courageously. but
were finally overru n . and s la u gh-
tered almost to a man. Thus e nded
the Battle of High Horn ".
Seco nd. it makes It easier for
both the OM a nd the players to fig-
ure out how and when th e PCs can
get involved in the con nlct a nd
how they ca n make a difference to
th e ou tcome.
War In the Medieval A.ge
lbday when we thi nk of war. we
probably pictu re maps of World
War I or II. s howing unbroken
friend ly and ene m y lines with "no-
man's- land" in betwee n them. Al-
though the ideas of a fro nt line.
defe nce in depth. break th roughs.
etc. a re we ll ingrain ed in us thanks
to wa r mov ies. these concepts
were unknown to com ba tants in
the medieval period.
There were no firm boundaries
between countries. This is true in
the typical AO&D®game worlds as
well. Take a look at the map of the
FORGOTTEN REALMS'· cam-
paign setting. for an example. Si m -
ilarly. there were no fi rm fri end ly
or e nem y lines. Armies met when-
ever a nd wh erever their com-
manders wished-a nd cou ld
e ngineer it-and fought there. A
war In medieval ti mes comprised a
numbe r of disconnected ba ttles.
few rising above the category of
skirmishes. Wars of dom ina tion or
s ubjuga ti on we re rare indeed.
Most campaigns had very limited
s trategiC goals, and e nded when
one or other of the com batants was
unable to co nti nue or lost interes t.
Wars rarely ended with an arm i-
stice or peace treaty: instead. they
just trailed off. frequen tly to brew
up again in a couple of years or
decades.
Manpower
When a com mander in chief
wants to fig ht a war or defend the
co untry. th ere's o ne Importa n t
question that m ust be answered:
where are th e troops going to come
fro m? In feudal Eu rope. a number
of different sou rces were tried.
In the early feuda l period. pow-
er fu l people or institutions. like the
crow n . nobles and the church ,
who owned large amoun ts of land
would " lease" a llotmen ts of this
land to othe rs In return for pay-
ment or service. This prac tice was
called "benefice". In itially. those
granted benefice had to work the
land a nd hand over to th e land-
owner a portion of a n ything pro-
du ced on that land. In 730.
however. du ring the admi nistra-
tion o f t he Frankish state by
Charles Martel. mi litary service
began to be required of benefi ce
t 09
holders in add ition to other serv-
ices and payments.
While accepting a benefice usu-
ally e n tailed some form of military
service. sometimes the causality
was reversed . For example,
around 730 A.O .. C harles Mar tel
needed troops, a nd so began re-
cru iti n g able warriors. If these
warriors would swear absolute fi-
de lity to hi m a nd become his vas-
sal. Charles wou ld grant them a
benefice. This land would be held
by the warr iors a nd their family so
long as lhey served Charles well in
a mili tary capacity. Wh ile th is
seem ed like th e id eal solution.
there was a problem: the numbe r
of troops that could be acquired by
this m ethod was limited by th e
a m oun t of land available for dis-
pe rsal.
Oth er trad itions arose that pro-
vided the state-in the person of
the k ing or queen -wilh troops.
For example. each free household
in the Frankish state owed the
serv ice of one man with com plete
a rms and equipment. Other cou n-
tries recognized t his as a good
idea. a nd made it their own. Mili-
tary ob ligation became hered itary.
providing the crown with a mass
levy of free m en In time of need.
These free men would be obligated
to serve their lord for tours of duty
ranging from Sixty d ays to six
mon ths ou t of a year. depe nd ing
on the country and the period.
There was a problem. of course.
Complete arm s and equipment.
even for a n in fan tryman. didn't
com e cheap. In the case of cavalry.
acquiring a horse. lance. sword.
shield a nd armor was well beyond
the capabilities of a com mon free
la ndholder. Also. th e skills needed
to fight from horsebac k didn 't
com e easy. and required m ore time
to m ast er th a n a farmer or
c rafts m a n -no matter h ow
dedicated-cou ld devote. If the
state wanted a fo rce of well-
equipped, s kllled cavalry, it would
have to find som e way of providing
them with equipment a nd remov-
ing from them the obligatio n of
working for a living .
Thu s emerged th e knig hts.
Knights were quite different from
the mass levy. They we re elite war-
riors, m aintained by the kings a nd
great m agnates, a nd they became
the nucleus of the aristocracy in
many European lands. In addlLion
to serving in th e field, they did
duty as castle gu a rds, In time of
peace as well as war.
The system under wh ich land-
holders owed the crown military
service evo lved furth e r unde r
Charlemagne. Every able-bod ied
m a n who possessed twelve m a ns l
(a rather vague measure of land)
had to own a m a ll shirl a nd , when
called upon for active duty, must
bring ra tions for three months and
clothes for s ix.
At least one major problem was
never satisfa ctorily s olved-th e
problem of training. Pressing la-
borers in to military service and
giving them swords didn 't make
them warriors . They just didn 't
have the s kills and instincts that
co uld only be ga ined throug h
months or years of ex perien ce.
Thus these peasant "soldie rs"
were frequ e ntly little m ore than
"can non-fodder" wh en faced by
tough, cy nical. and co mpe te nt
mercenary troops.
It wasn't only kings who could
raise armies through the gran ting
of benefice. of course. During the
ninth and tenth centuries in Eu-
rope. many wealthy and powerful
lords-both lay and ecclesiastlcal-
raised and mailltained their own
private armies. Soon , the armies
fielded by kings comprised main ly
contingents of vassals com manded
by powerful nobles.
In Anglo-Saxon En glan d, th e
king used a noth er source of man -
power. "Thegns" made up th e per-
sonal e ntourage of ki ngs. or of
powerful landed magnates (w ho
were called "eorls" ). These thegns.
whether they owned la nd or not.
owed their lords m ilitary service.
This obligatio n arose from their
position In SOCie ty, not from their
s ta tus as landowne rs . and so was
different from the ob ligations
owed due to be nefice.
Kin gs and lo rd s co uld-a nd
did-also h ire mercenar ies (in En-
gland , th ese professional merce-
n a r y warriors were ca ll ed
" huscarles"). These m erce naries
were paid wages. and were often
a ll owed to sup pl ement this in -
com e throu gh looti ng.
By the twelfth century. knights
and others who owed military serv-
ice were looking for ways to get out
of it. Thusarose the practice of "scu-
tage": paying th e liege lord a n
amount of money to avoid military
service. This payment was theoreti-
cally enough to hire a mercenary for
the length of time the payer would
have had to serve. By the reign of
Henry II. the role of the paid soldier
grew more important than that of
the feudal tenant, as more and m ore
people paid scutage.
Knights paid scutage to escape
castle duty. as well. These ob liga-
tions ranged from thirty to ninety
days pe r year. Castle duty was
more incon ven ien t th an dan ger-
ous, and rates of scutage were of-
te n accepted that were muc h
lower tha n th e cost o f hiring re-
placemen ts. Thus many castles-
even In militarily sensi ti ve
areas-were left with sk eleton gar-
risons in peacetime.
110
Differences In a Fantasy Unl\'erse
Of course . there's nothing tha t
says coun tries in a fan tasy milieu
must use a ny of th e above tech-
niqu es for rais ing troops: en ter-
prising and creative com mande rs
can , no doubt. devise oth er ways of
acquiring the !:TOOpS they need. In
campaign s based a round massive
warfare and eternal con fli cts-ore
hordes attacki ng a n elven forest.
fo r exam ple, or humans wis hing to
exterm inate a colony of gnolls In
the nearby hills-th ere m ight be
no n eed to persuade able-bodied
wa rriors to join the fr ay; th ey
m igh t willingly volun teer to do so.
The same is true in '"defe nse of the
realm " situations. No m a tter what
the circ umstances, however, the
questions that com manders must
a nswe r a re si milar: where do I get
the troops, how do I equip the m .
a nd how can I trai n them to work
together?
Warfare in a magic-sparse cam -
paign world populated predomi-
nately by huma ns would probably
resemble his torical feudal warfare.
In a m agic-ric h environmen t with
m any fanta s tical c reatures, how-
ever, things would be quite differ·
e nt. William of Normandy didn 't
have a squ adron of griffon riders
under his command. and the Bat-
LIe of Has tings would have looked
d iffe re nt if he had.
Medieval comma nders labored
under the '"fog of war" muc h m ore
than did later generals . Communi-
cation was sketchy at the best of
times, a nd totally unrelia ble dur-
ing a c risis: it was also limited to
the speed of a raCing dispa tc h
r ide r. One can imagine a m essen-
ge r a rriving with an order to cancel
th e plan ned advance, just too late
to s top the unit from c harging into
th e jaws of death. Tho. m edieval
genera ls didn't always bother with
reconnaissance or scouts, so their
In tell igence about enemy strength
and position was often som ew hat
lacking,
In a fan tasy campaign, m any of
these burden s are lifted , Spellcast-
ers can provide instantaneou s
commu nication -eith er th rou gh
spells like m essage or by teleport-
Ing directly to the recipien t-as
can m agical Items. Scrylng spells
and devices can give the genera l
Information about the foe a lmost
down to the num ber of arrows in
each archer's quiver. Plus, fl y ing
creatures make exceptional fo r-
ward observers.
Conversely, magic can add Its
own burd ens, If you know tha t
your foe has a high -level illusion ist
on the payroll , you 're less likely to
welcome un ex pected rei nforce-
men ts into you r formation without
some k ind of confirmation fi rst.
Also, you r advance m igh t be
s lowed s ligh tly If you 're never s u re
whether each copse of trees is ac·
tually a un it of h eavy crossbow-
men under a m assm orph spe ll ,
Hallucinatory terra in adds yet an-
other level of doubt: Is that roll ing
m eadow over there actually Dark-
ling Swamp, , , or is the m ap jus t
wrong? It's obvious that magiC
simply re places one form of " fog of
war" with a nother,
Fantas tic creatures a lso m ake a
big differ e n ce, His torical com-
m anders never had 1O worry about
attacks from the sky or from un·
derground , and n ever had to face
the fire a nd terror of a rampaging
dragon.
intelligenl com manders will
consider a ll these com plexities as
serious dangers to be watched out
fo r, but also as potential tools to be
used In their own cam paigns.
War rlan5 rreemptlve
In fear that a neigh bor is prepar-
Why do cou nlrles go to war?
ing to attack, a country attacks
There are probably as m any an·
fi rst.
swers as there are countries, if not
more, Some examples of reasonable
Defensive
"causes" are mentioned below :
Som eone else is attacking the
cou ntry and forcing the crown to
Territorial
defend itself.
A country needs more land, or
b eli eves-for one reason or
These reasons aren 't mutua lly
ano th er- that a certai n ar ea of
exclu sive, of course: th ere's no
land should be with in Its bounda·
reason that a soldier on a " m ission
ries. (For example, a counlry be·
from god" can 't make some extra
lieves that is "divinely destined "
gold pieces along the way by loot-
to possess a cer tain territory.)
ing, and once a n Invader has been
drive n out, it seems only r ight that
Cultural/ Racial
the fight should be taken into the
There Is antipathy, based on cui·
en em y's hom eland jus t to teach
tural or racia l grounds, between
him a lesson . There migh t be other
two natio ns. (For exam ple, orcs
reasons that don't fit into these
might attack a neigh boring elven
categories, also. For example, a
homeland "just because".)
military dictatorship might engi-
neer occasional border skirmish es
Religious
with a neighbor just to toughen up
A neighboring land worships a
its troops .
god totally anti thetical to a coun-
It's im portant to know the real
try's dom inant religion . (For ex-
cause behi nd a ny conflict because
am ple. a country launches a " holy
It affects the stra tegiC goals and
war" to s wee p th e " hea thens"
ta rgets that each combatan t goes
from the face of the earth.)
after. For exam ple. if a country
goes to war because its leade r
Just Cause
wants to regain a valuable deep-
This Includes "wars of liberation"
water port that was captured by
(where a foreign government is be-
the ene m y, t he attacking army
lieved to be oppressing Its people),
probably won 't split its forces by
alignment-based conflicts (a coun-
launch ing a raid on the enemy's
try that is predominantly Lawful
inland ca pital. If. on th e other
Good invades a neighbor that is pre-
hand , the war is religious ly moli -
dominately Neutral Evil), or cases of
vated , destroying the cen tral tem -
"evening the score" (a country a t-
p le in the en emy's capital city
tacks another in retribution for
would probably be a key goal. In
some real or imagined Insult or In-
jury in the past). . both cases, the centra l s trategiC
goal of the country being attacked
would be to repel the invaders.
Mercenary
StrategiC goals might be sym-
A neighbori n g co untry is
m etrical. Thke, for example, two
wealth y- pe rh aps it has many
coun tries who have been vying po-
natura l resources-and is seen as
litically and economically for dec-
"ripe for the pickIng".
ades. Finally, they both decide to
111
settle the matter once and for all.
Armies mass on either s ide of the
river tha t divides the two lands.
an d the war is on. In s uch a case.
each cou ntry has as a strategic
goal to inflict as much damage-
a nd hopefully humillalion-on the
other as possible.
Setting the Sc.ene
Before a OM can start to deter-
min e the outcome of a war. he or
she must decide exactly what the
war is about. and what th e s tra te-
gic goals on each side a re. The OM
must then figure oul the number
of troops that each side can com-
mit to th e s truggle. how quickly
they can be mobilized. and what
their leve l of s kUI a nd equi pm e nt
is. This is why the information
above about levies. scutage. mer-
ce narieS, etc. is significant. Th e
cou ntry or race involved and the
geographical s ituation might ne-
cessitate a certa in ba la n ce of
troops. For example, a nalion of
sylvan elves wou ld probably favor
horse arc hers m ore than would a
colony of dwarves. Otherwise, th e
OM must dec ide on a reasonable
balance of forces.
Recent history, political a mbi -
tions, relations between the two
combatants. and the cause of the
war would have a great effect on the
initial disposition of the opposed
forces. For exam ple, if the tension
between two militaristically aggres-
sive countries has been running
high for some time. both states will
probably have annies m assed near
their frontiers (or at least have made
sure that their border towers or cas-
tles are well garrisoned and sup-
plied). On the other hand. on e
country might be totally or partially
unprepared for war. due to its own
pacifistic policies or because the ag-
gressor has managed to avoid giv-
ing away Its intentions.
Now the OM mus t determine th e
strategic goals that each side will
pursue_ In th e example cen tered
around the " libe ration " of the cap-
tured deep-water port. the attack-
ing coun try will send at least one
army to destroy or rout the e ne m y
troops h old ing the port. w hile
oth er troops are given t he missio n
of c u tting lines of communication
and s upply. and intercepting rein-
forcem e nts. In con trast. the coun-
try being in vaded wou ld so
position its troops as to protect or
rei nforce the port town's garrison.
A s mart defender might also send
a s mall force to fl an k the advanc-
ing a ttackers and play havoc with
their s upply lines. In any case.
wherever oppos ing armies mee t.
there will probably be a battle . Re-
m e mbe r th at s impl y inflic ting
damage on the e nemy is a valid
strategic goal. so a force might be
dispatch ed to a mbus h an oppos-
ing force while on route.
Once the OM has determined the
general course of the war. and
what each s ide's operatio na l objec-
lives will be. the ne xt step is to re-
so lve the outcom e of eac h in -
div id ual battle.
Battle Resolution
Many people talk of "the ebb a nd
flow of battle" . In fa c t. of course.
this is n't a true pic ture. As Cla use-
witz exp lained in On War. a battle
is more like a steady movement
away from equilibrium . In ge neral.
the balance of battle will favor the
s trongest a rm y, a nd will s lowly
move from equilibrium in favo r of
the s trongest force. This move-
ment can be influe nced by stra te-
g ic and tactica l brilliance ex-
hibited by individu al com-
112
manders. by luck. and by such
things as divi ne inte rve ntion. In
general. however. the large r army
will win the battle. As the saying
goes. "The battle is n't always to
the s trong ... but that's the way to
bet", This is reflected in the fo llow-
ingsystem ,
Battle Results
Th is quic k resolutio n system is
based on "bal tl e tu rns", Li ke
"phases" in Siege de te rmination,
these are variable units ofUme: it's
impossible to s ta te ca tegorically
tha t "one battle turn is equal to 90
minutes". Depending on the
course of the battle, a battle turn
might represen t a ny where from
fifteen minutes to several hou rs.
l b u se thi s sys tem. th e OM
must rou ghl y determine . using
the BATTLESYSTEM '" rules. th e
poin t value of the forces involved
(this will depend on the issues dis-
c ussed in "Setting the Sce ne"),
The poi nt value doesn't have to be
exacl. One force is the n labelled as
Force A, the oth er as Force B, Each
baltle tu rn. the OM rolls perce ntile
dice, The result is m odified de-
pending on curren t conditions (see
"Battle Modifiers"), then the resu lt
is referenced on the Ballie Results
Thble (BRT) table below,
This table returns resu lts in the
form "Force A 5 poin ts, mora le
+ 1: Force B 10 pOints", These re-
s ults refer to the casua lties in-
ni c ted upon eac h sid e. The
number of poin ts speCified In the
result is s ubtrac ted from the total
point valu e of the corresponding
a rmy. Note tha t tile system doesn't
specify where or how those points
a re lost. The force is viewed si m ply
as a "pOin t value pool", This is
a na logou s to h it points in a n
AO&D®gam e.
 A result also might s pecify m o- always determines the outcome of Morale
rale effects. Before the battle, the the battle. The base m orale value for an en -
OM mus t determine the base level tire force Is the average of the rna-
of morale for eac h force. Any mo- - 20% Force a Is at least twice the rales for all the units m aking up
rale modifiers are added to or sub- size o f force A (in paint that force, adju s ted for a ny modi·
tracted from the base morale. value). fie rs applied due to the BRT. The
- 10% Force B Is half again the fo ll ow ing c ha rt giv es the aRT
s ize of fo rce A (In point m odifiers based on th e curren t mo-
aattle Results Table value). rale of the various sides. When ap-
+ 10% Force A is ha lf again the plying the mora le modifier to the
Die
Result s ize of force B (in point BRT roll . add the bonu s for force
roll
0- Force A 25 points, m o- value). A's m orale and s ubtract the bon us
rale - 2 : Force B 0 + 20% Force A Is a tleasltwlce the for force 8's mora le.
points, mora le + 1 size of force B (i n point For example, if th e m orale of
value). force A Is "steady" a pply a +5%
01-10 Force A 20 points, mo-
rale - I : Force B 0 m od ifier to the roll . If the m orale of
points, morale + 1 Special Forces & Equipment force B Is "elite", apply a - 10%
I 1-20 Force A 15 points: Force J u st as it is In Siege warfare. the m odifi er to the roll .
com pos ition of a force Is very im · Note that the values for " unrelia-
B 5 points
porta nt in battle resoluLion . Modi- ble" or " uns teady" troops do not
21-30 Force A 10 poin ts: Force
B 5 points fiers taken rrom th is table for force follow the above logiC. Modifiers
A are applied as positive m odifiers for s uch units a re reversed . Th u s,
31-70 Force A 5 points: Force a
to the die roll , those for force Bare If fo rce A Is "un steady", subtract
5 points
negative modifiers. 10 points from the SRT roll.
71 -80 Force A 5 points: Force a
10 points
+ /-5 Force Includes spell casters Unreliable (4 or less) 20%
8 1-90 Force A 5 points: Force B
of some type. Uns teady (5 to 7) 10%
15 points
9 1-99 Force A 0 poin ts, mora le + /·5 Force Includes highly magi· Average (8 to 10) Nil
cal or undead cr eatures. Steady (II to 12) 5%
+ I : Force B 20 points,
mora le -} + /·5 Force has bombardment Elite (1 3 to 14) 10%
en gines of som e ty pe. Cham pion {l 5 to 16} 15%
100+ Force A 0 polots, m orale
+ /·5 Force has fl yin g crea tures Fanattc(I7to I8} 20%
+ 1; Force B 25 pOints,
or a irborne units of som e Fearless {l9 or higher} 25%
mora le -2
type.
Command
BRT Modifiers Supply Conditions Th e competence of the Individ -
Modifiers fall Iota severa l catego· A unit which doesn't know ual com ma nders will have a hu ge
ries. Before cons ulting the BRT, to· where iLS next meal is coming from effect on the outcome of any Siege
ta l up a ll the applicable m od· will tend to be less eITecLive in com- or batlie. For this quick resolution
ifiers-posltive and nega· bat. On the other hand, a force system . th e level of th e com·
tive-for both forces and apply which has a solid base of s upplies m ander will be the key factor In de-
them to the die roll. on which to draw will be in better cidi ng his or her ability.
condition to fight. To determin e th e comm a nd
Force Size m odifier, s ubtrac t the level of the
The rela Live s ize of the forces in- - 10 Force A has been cut off less experienced comma nder from
volved in a com bat Is, by far, the from its supply lines. the level of the more experienced
m ost Importan t fa ctor In any bat· + 10 Force B h as been cut off one . For every {wo levels of dllTer·
tie . While having a larger force from its s upply lines. ence, apply a 5% modifier In favor
does not ensu re vielDry. it a lmost of th e mo re experien ced com-
mander (that Is, a minus to the roll

113
if force B's commander Is more ex-
perie nced and a n addition to It if
th e lead er of force A has superIor-
ity ).
Thus, If an army of orcs headed
by an 8th level com mander (force
A) is attacking a legion of elves un -
der the comma nd of a 12th level et-
ven king (force B) , th e elven
d efend e rs have a 10 % bonus
which is reflected by a - 10% to
rolls on the BRT.
Morale Issues
Morale penalties a pplied through
combat results can rem ain In effect
for a number of days. The force's
morale increases by 1 point per day,
until it reaches its normal level.
Thus, it can take quite some time
for a totally demoralized army to re-
gain its wiU to fi ght.
In con trast, morale bonu ses ap-
plied through combat results re-
m aIn in effect for the day of the
battle only. The next morning. th e
force's morale is a t its n ormal
level.
Quitting the Field
Wh e n an arm y is reduced to
40% or less of its original p oi nt
value, and at the beginning of each
s ubsequent turn , it must make a
c heck agains t its curre nt m orale
on Id20. If the roll Is equal to or
lower than the force's current m o-
rale, the force stays in the fi gh t. If.
however, the roll Is greater tha n
th e force's current morale, th e
force tries to quit the fie ld . Also, if
at a n y ti me a force's m orale drops
below 7 , It tries to quit the fi e ld .
Th e opposing force now has two
114
options. It can let th e enemy leave,
in whic h case the two a rmies sepa-
rate w ith no further hos tilities.
This does n 't mean that they can 't
fi g ht each other agai n when
they've been reinforced . of cou rse .
It could instead pursue th e flee ing
force and try to erad icate it once
a nd fo r a ll. A force tha t is attacked
while it is tryi ng to quite the fie ld
s u ffers a 35 point modifier to the
next die roll on the BRT. If the quit-
ting s id e is force A. this is a nega-
tive m odifier. o therwise it is a
positive one.
Each t urn , t h e fleeing force
m akes a ch ec k agains t its cu rrent
mora le on Id20. If the die roll is
equal to or less than its c urre n t
m orale, the e nti re force rallies, a nd
the 35 point pe nalty is li fted; if the
die roll exceeds its c urre n t morale.
the fo rce con tinues to s uffer under
the 35 point penalty.
Note tha t ir s possible for both
forces to quit the fie ld s imultane-
ously. In such a case, both forces
have one single die roll on which to
rally. If neither does so. the battle Is
at an end; if one does. it has the
choice of pursuing the enemy or
not.
A force can quit the fi eld volun-
tarily a t any time.
Campaign Victory-Winning
the War
During the feudal period, m any
cou ntries were at war for extended
periods of time, They we ren't
fighting continuous ly, to be sure,
but neither were rela tio ns good .
For one reason or another, o ne
country would la unch a cam paign
agai'nst the oth er- fr equ e ntl y
without any officia l declaration of
war. The campaign. often com·
posed of apparen tly unrelated bat·
tles, would continue until one side
or the other had achieved its stra·
teglc objectives, or no longer had
the stom ac h-or the resources-
for the confliCt. Then cond itions
would settle back to their normal
level of distrust and tens ion . This
latter s ituation was more common
than out-and-out Victory.
In gam e terms, one side "w ins
the war" when it has achieved all
or most of its strategiC goals. This.
of course. Is up to the OM to deter-
mine, and depends on what those
strategiC goals are. Using a pre-
vious example, once the attacker
h as r etake n its captured port
tow n. it has achieved its s trategiC
objective a nd has no reason to can ·
tlnue fighting. A sensible com-
mander won't push h is or her luck,
and will stand fast. reinforcing the
town to prevent Its reconquest.
Not m a ny wars proceed to total
Victory. of course. One side or the
othe r usuall y runs o u t of re-
sources. or Is so badly roughed up
that it s ues for peace.
Suing: for Pe.-c.e
Dungeon Masters can u se a die
roll to decide when a particular
s ide loses the will or ability to figh t
on . There are several conditions
that will trigge r this die roll :
• 50 % or more of troops In the
fie ld have been eliminated.
• Capital or seat of govern men t is
s urrounded or beSieged.
• 10% of civ ilia n popu lace has
been s lain .
• Civilia n populace Is undergo-
Ing severe ha rdship (terror tac-
lics, s tarva tio n . a nd so
forth ... J
If the OM decides that one or
m ore of lh ese cond itio ns applies,
the die roll Is made. S hould the
country pass the die ro ll . Its forces
fight on: the roll Is re peated each
s ubsequent week, however. If the
country fails the roll. It su es for
peace.
Roll IdlOO. and modify the roll
depending on the current condi-
tions (see " ModiOers" fo llowing). If
the modified die roll exceeds 50,
the country's forces fi gh t on: oth-
erwise, the country s ues for peace.
Modifiers
The followin g m odifiers are a p -
plied to the die roll whenever a
country considers s u ing for peace.
+ 15 More than 50% of the en-
emy troops in th e field have
been elimina ted
115
+ 10 Predomi nant alignme nt is
Lawful
+5 Predomina nt alignment is
Evil
+ 5 For eac h major str ategiC
goal that has been achieved
-05 Seat of government is sur·
rounded or under siege
- 10 Predominant a lignm ent is
Chaotic
-10 Country is ruled by an auto-
c rat, di ctator, or other
"strong man", not by popu-
lar government
-20 Country is ruled as above,
but ruler has been killed
during the combat
When a country sues for peace,
it tries to negotiate the best terms
possible with the enemy. Depend-
ing on the relative strengths a nd
positions of the two com batants,
this can range from an equitable
compromise ("We' ll both go back
to ou r original borders a nd call the
whole thing quits") to humiliating
oppr ession (" Each able·bodled
adult must work a term in our
mines, you are forbidd en a s ta nd-
ing army, a nd your ruler must re-
ceive a pproval from ou r kin g
before m aking any major policy
chan ges"). The OM mus t dec ide
what the outcome will be, de pend-
ing on the personalities, political
systems, a nd s uch involved .
Note that it's possible for both
com batants to s ue for peace s imul-
ta neous ly. In s uch a case, a n eqUi-
tabl e comprom ise Is the most
likely outcome.
The above system Is included for
completeness only. Full-scale war-
fare has too significant a n effect on
a campa ign for the results to be left
totally up to a die roll . OMs wUl
probably have som e dramatic pur-
pose In mind for the war, or they
wouldn't have started It (or, more
precisely, th ey wouldn't have
given m ajor NPCs th e m otiva tion
a nd opportu nity to s tart it). This
dramatic purpose will probab ly
carryover into the eventual out-
come.
For example. if the DM wants to
embroil the PCs in an u nder-
grou n d resistance moveme n t.
with all the opportunities for hero-
ism and intrigue that entails. th en
the PCs' country s hould lose the
war. no matte r what the dice may
say. A good DM wB I u se the s iege
an d battl e resol uti on syste m s
above to help flesh out a story line,
not to replace it.
Character Involvement
Wars, by definition . are con flicts
between s ta tes a nd political sys·
terns. clash es between multipl e
arm ies liwolving thousands to mil ·
lions of troops. How can individ ·
uals affect the outcome of a war?
In many ways. In the real world ,
an individual preci pitated World
War I with a s ingle pis tol s hot. by
s layi ng Arc hduke Ferd ina n d in
Sarajevo In 19 14 . A s m a ll body of
disaffected German gene rals could
possibly have hasten ed the end of
World War II if their assassination
plot agains t Hi tler ha d succeeded.
In the same era-admlltedly in a
work of fic tion (Th e Eagl e Has
Landed}-Lleute nam Kurt Steiner
could have altered th e cou rse of
the war had he s ucceeded in his a t-
te m pt to kidnap or assassinate
Win ston Churchill .
On a sm a ller scale, acts of indi-
vidua l herois m can have grea t ef-
fects on the fi e ld of battl e.
Com m ando raids can sabotage
equ ipment or destroy s upply de-
pots. Spies can gathe r in tell igence
that will warn their superiors of
the e n emy's pla n s. or discover
weak nesses in th e e n emy's de-
ployment.
In a fa n tasy world. t he options
are even wider. A s ingle c haracter
can cause grea t chan ges by si mply
destroy ing or capturing a powerful
m agiC item. A well ·tim ed illusion
or s uggestion cou ld goad a n e n ·
em y commander into making a
rash decision. or at least hesitating
before making a move.
In any battle or ca mpaign. there
are ce rtain turning paints. the
pOints that a re hashed over so of-
ten in the h istory books. It's at
these c rucia l "what-if' poinlS tha t
individual PCs can have a sign ifi·
cant effect.
In an individual batLie or siege,
these turning pOin ts most ofte n
come down to timing. (" If the at·
tack is la unched immediately, the
defenders' ranks will s ti li be In dis·
array a fter repelli ng tha t last
c harge: if the a ttack is delayed by
only a few minu tes. the defenders
will have time to regroup." '' If a
handful of troops can defeat the
garrison members trying to close
that gate, the army can gain entry
to the castle.") Here pes can a lter
the course of the battie, by distract-
ing the comm a nder-with magiC or
persona] combat-or by perfo rm ·
ing acts of individual heroism.
Battles a lso often revolve arou nd
Individuals and personaltti~s. A
C haotic army held togeth er solely
by the indomi table will of Its com -
m ander wlll hesitate and pOSSibly
co llapse s hould tha t com mander
be elimina ted. A prideful. arrogant
officer m igh t be goaded into doing
som ething foolis h by the japing of
a ba rd. A commander might hesl·
tate ove rlong before mak ing the fi-
na l c harge if he sees what looks
like a loved one among the ene-
m y's lines.
Full -scale wars, too. can revolve
116
around individuals. A c harismatic
leader might be able to persuade a
counlry to enter In to a war that
would otherwise be unpopula r (or
a dictator might force the popu lace
in to it) . Dec reasing that leader's in-
fluence wou ld s ign ificantly lessen
the cou n try's will to fig hl. This de-
c r ease in in Ou e nce cou ld take
ma ny forms, ranging from assassi-
na tion or capture to public dis-
c r ed it and humi li atio n. Alter-
native ly, a leader of consc ien ce
might be per s u aded-either by
word or m agic- tha t th e whole
war is a bad idea. A ha nd fu l of cre·
ative PCs would be the best fo rce to
under take tasks like these.
Espionage a nd in trigue offe r
grea t opportun ities for player in-
volvement. Wheth er it involves a
couple of th ieves sneak ing in to a n
e nemy com m a nd post a t night to
"liberate" th e battle plans for the
morrow, or a handful of disguised
warriors try ing to enlist wi th the
bandit horde to overhear th ei r ba t-
tle plans. espionage can be tense
a nd exc iting.
On the operational level. too-
which is between the scope of bat-
tle a n d war-PCs could have a
s ign ifican t effect. A handful of mo-
tivated warriors could destroy im-
porta n t s upply depots or cen te rs of
com m u n ica tion . p lay ing hav oc
with th e e ne m y's ability to wage
war.
As OMs plot out the drama tic
story line th at " drives" the war,
th ey s hould a lso plot ou ta number
of s ig n ificant turn in g points.
These can the n be injected (su btly)
in to descriptions when the players
want to kn ow how th e war is go·
ing. S m art players wiII pick up on
th ese turning poin ts, and t heir
charac ters will get involved . per-
haps a lter ing the course of history
for decades to come.
 In The Campaig n Sourcebook
and Catacomb Guide. we pre-
sented the reader with a number of
generic dungeons. Each of these
was presented in a manner that
made it easy to take one of the
maps straight from the book and
flesh it out for use in an AD&D$
game.
In the foll owing section. we will
do much the same thing. Each of
the gen eric castles that follows can
serve as a n exam pie of castle de-
sign techniques for the novice ar-
chitect or as a ready- m ade keep to
house a n Important NPC. Simi-
larly, an y of these structures could
readily be converted in to a dun ·
geon setting with the application
of a little Im agination and som e
dark magical spells. The informa-
tion given with each of the generic
castle m aps is fairly basic, they are
In tei-tded to be customized to fit
into your AD&D game campaign.
Cyclops Tower
Cyclops Thwer is a "shell keep."
In the strict sense. this term de·
scribes a large tower, of which the
ou ter wall (the sh ell) is of thick ma-
sonry. while the inner walls are of
wood or light masonry. Cyclops is
a stone s hell with wooden inner
parts. If destroyed by fire. only the
"shell " of the tower would remain.
One would en counter a building
like Cyclops under three different
circumstances. First. it could be
the first building planned on a site.
Castles were often buUt in stages.
som etim es over generations (the
Thwer of London Is a good exam -
ple). Cyclops Thwer would the n be
followed by the inner baJley with
its curtain wall and buildings, and
fin ally the outer bailey. A charac-
ter with limited fund s could thus
build on a pay-as-you-go basis.
Second. Cyclops cou ld be the only Basement
building built on the site. funds
2. Armory. This room pro·
having run out, and the owners
vldes storage for weaponry, as well
making do on a permanent basis
as a place to repair it. Three arrow
with what's there. Third. the
loops guard the en tryway. A door
larger castle cou ld have been de-
to th e Cenual Well of the keep is
stroyed by assault or fire, a nd not
here (see 6. below).
immediately rebuilt. Later occu -
pants (a wizard. a t hief. a
3. Barracks. Five sets of triple·
knight ... ) migh t restore the shell
s tacked bunks provide sleeping
keep only. as s ufficient for their
space for 15 men·at·arms. A fire -
needs.
place provides warmth. A window
This keep would begin as a
looks out into t he Cen tral Well.
m otte and bailey sort of arrange·
ment, the dirt from the wet moa l
4. Soldiers' Dayroom. A gen-
being u sed to raise the mound
eral s itting area, with a table and
(motte) around th e base of the
som e chairs. etc.
keep. It is placeable alm ost any-
where. There Is only one door to
5. Undesignated. Th is a rea
the keep and a balcony overhead
cou ld be m ade over to provide fur-
h elps to defend It. Once through
ther living quarters, m ore storage,
the door. a machlcolaUon (m urder
or even a prison . T h ere is no fi re-
hole) from above, a nd arrow loops
place. so heat would come from
from within. hinder further prog-
braziers. T here is a window to 6.
ress. The entrance way immedi-
but th is cou ld be removed or
a tely turns left and goes up a stair
barred.
buUt into the tower wall . Note a lso
the midden , with its hatch. This
6. Central Well . This gloomy
cesspit must be cleaned out occa-
area Is open to the s ky. and lets
s ionally. and so egress Is provided .
some light from above seep down
This Is not mere offensive detail.
into the keep. Windows surround
The castle of Chateau Gaillard was
its walls. The on ly door Is fro m the
reputed to be un takable. The king
Arm ory. The fl oor is dirt (I t's too
of France besieged it, and fin ally
gloom y to grow grass) over the m a-
took it by excavating its midden s.
sonry of the central pillar of the
Cellar.
Foundation
1. Cellar. A sp ira l staircase First Story
leads to the upper floors and a well 7. Hall. T h is area Is the entry
here provides water. The ceiling is
from the outside door. It is also the
composed wooden planks over
place where people meet and eat. It
joists. and is also the basemen t
is h eated by two firepla ces. A
fl oor. A stone pillar in the center of
s lan ted window sh aft (barred on
the cellar branches out to form
the outer end) provides som e ligh t.
four supporting archways. T his
as do the two windows giving out
area would be used for storage of
onto the Cen tra l Well. OfT to one
t he m any items the inhabita nts of
end is an alcove, with a m u rder
the keep wou ld need. hole directly above the doorway.
Flanking the murder hole are (on
"8
A Shell Keep

Scale: 1 square;;; 5 feet

~m!~~~====== ______
First Story
- - - - - - - Dungeon and Building Mapping Symbols-------

~ Door
~ Spiral S tairs Ba ttlem en ts

~ Locked Door .-.

~ L adder Arrow S lit

~" ~
:;:: Double Door o:J
~ Table Barred Window

,,' , ,
",
S : Secret Door Fireplace Windo w with
Window Seats

G Doorway
in Roof
[[=:J Bed Window w ith
Glass Pan es

~ Stairs ••• •• • Portc ullis

119
one s ide) a portcu llis, whic h can be
d ropped d ow n t hro u gh a s ide
ope ning to ba r the e n tryway, be-
low, a nd (on the other s ide) the
winc h wh ic h operates the portcu l-
lis. In case of overc rowding. ser·
vants or soldiers would s leep in the
ha ll.
8. Ante r oom . This room is a
place of waiting (for the haIl) , an d
a lso a trans it area between the hall
a nd t he spiral s tair. Cabin ets to
hold c h ina or line ns would be here,
as well as the odd bookcase or tro-
phy, A side door leads to a garde-
robe.
9. Kitch e n . The kitche n has a
single large fi rep lace for cooking ,
and a ba rred s lop ing window s haft
for ligh t.
16. Balcon y. As well as being a
pleasan t place to s it on a s unny
day. this balcony aids in the de-
fe nse of the oute r door.
1 1. Wom en 's Sola r. A nu rse ry.
sewing, or s pinning room , An a l-
cove allows access by ladde r to a
tra p door in the ceiling .
1 2. Bedroom . Possib ly th e
master bedroom . a canopy bed
would be here fo r the Mas ter a nd
Mistress . with c h ildre n a nd ser-
vants s lee ping on t rundle beds
(beds s tored du ring the day unde r
the big bed) or m attresses in the
sam e room.
13. Me n's Sola r . An offi ce.
study. or the like. A wi ndow seat is
he re, as well as sta irs down a nd a
garderobe.
14. Second Bedroom . Th is
room is very muc h like 12 , a bove.
but is not as well furnis hed .
1 5. Roof. A tra p door gives ac·
cess to the roof. S la te covers the
m asonry. wh ile the woode n inner
building Is covered wi th a circ ular
s lop ing roof of tha tch . Crenella ted
ba ttlem e n ts circle the r oof.
Bremberthwalte Manor
Bre mber thwa ite is a s m all forti-
fi ed house. As s uc h . It has only
room for one famil y. if we think in
terms of a mode rn fa mily's use of
s pace.
However. m edieval people li ved
unde r muc h m ore c rowded condi-
tion s . This m a nor house wou ld
s helter the family ofa knight or mi-
nor lord . several house serva nts.
and a re ti nue o f m ay be ha lf a
doze n m e n a t arm s. w ho could also
help out on the estate w he n not e n-
gaged In warfare.
As s uc h . the Maste r of Bre m -
berth waite wou ld be seen as at the
bottom of the pyramid of s ubin fe u-
da tion . T h is was the process of
greate r lords gra nting s ma ller es-
tates to lesser lord s ou t of their
la nd s, in exc hange for milita ry
ser vice whe n called upon .
T he House itself is not all the re is
to the manor. Th e re wou ld be
fi elds associa ted with the house.
a nd pe rha ps a Villa ge. Various
woode n fa rm buildings (in som e of
wh ic h serfs s le pt with the a n imals
they te nded) would be around the
estate . The re would ce rta in ly be a
we ll or s pri n g for w ater ver y
nearby. A diligent owne r wou ld e n-
circl e t he Manor Hou se wit h a
wall : a woode n palisade. pe rhaps.
or eve n a stone hedge: thus a s mall
castle wou ld com e into being with
the e nclos ure of the ba iley.
On the other hand . we could a lso
see Bre mbe rthwa ite as a house
ta ke n ove r by a non-wa rrior. As a
s m a ll estate left by its lord (who
120
has gone on to grea te r th ings) the
keep could be left in th e ch arge of a
steward or even sold . Likely new
owne rs m igh t be a Master Th ief
loo king to move up t he soc ia l
scale. a m age looking for a sec ure
hom e that doesn 't require a huge
s taff. or even a pries t-the m a nor
house could be made ove r in to a
hou se of wors hip or s ma ll m onas-
te ry w ith little effort. at least until
be tter things we re afforda ble.
For its s ize. Brembe rthwalte is a
secure little keep . The one door is
well secured . a nd the roofs of the
hall . tower. a nd stair turret a re bat-
t1 em e n ted . In a pin c h . a mu c h
la rger population (i.e .. tha t of the
w hole esta te) cou ld withdra w into
the hou se for protection .
The great window of the hall a nd
the first s tory window-seats pose
problem s. as they a re very near
t h e grou n d . T h e g reat w ind ow
could be broken : the window-seats
could be climbed in to. However. a ll
the window-seats can be s huttered
a nd ba rred . One could design s hut-
te rs for th e grea t wi ndow . but this
is unnecessary trouble. Position -
ing the window-e nd of the House
by a slope makes It ha rder to e n ler
th rou g h a br oke n wi n dow (al -
thou gh m issiles could still e nter
tha t way).
Built into the wa lls a re a m idde n
(basem e nt level) a nd a cis tern (2nd
story). The midde n Is a m edieval
cesspit. lOla which the two gard e·
robes (m ed ieva l privies) empty.
It is e n te red by a n e xte rior
ha tc h . a nd m u s t be clea ned out
e ver y couple of years, at m ini -
mum . T he cis tern is a wa te r tank
collecting rain wa ter t hrough a
screened dra in on the tower roof.
In case of em ergency. this is the
tower 's on ly in te rior wate r s upply.
Figurin g its s ize a t roughly 3 '
wide . 12' long. a nd 9 ' h igh . its vol-
ume is 324 c ubic feet. or about
2.424 gallons. In the case of s ud-
den allack and Siege. assume that
there are (ldI 2+ 12)1'100 gallons
on hand. On strict raUonlng. each
person will use I gallon of water
per day fo r a ll pu rposes.
The door has a s mall portcullis
h inde ring access to the woode n
door. which can be barred . The
basement towe r windows a re
s mall, high up openings. with per-
m a ne nt m etal grills set In the ma-
sonry. Th ey are at the top of
s loping window s hafts that bring
ligh t into th e towe r.
Map Key
1. Lowe r Hall. As one enters the
hall. there is a candle sconce by the
door on one's left next to a wooden
wall. Pegs for hanging clothin g are
along that wall. and a mirror (metal
or glass) ha ngs by the open doorway
at the e nd of the wall.
Opposite th e doorway Is a hang-
ing tapestry. atte mpting to c u t
down on the dra flln ess of all m edi-
eval buildings. Immediately to the
righ t of the doorway Is an ingle-
n ook : a n e nc losed be n c h . with
ru gs and c u s h ions within. de-
signed to ca tch the warmth fro m
the fireplace. a nd keep it from be-
ing dissi pa ted .
There are two la rge fire places
fl a nking th e ha ll . Also facing the
firep lace on the door-ward side is a
la rge a rmc hair. Beh ind it on the
outside wall is a cabine t (hutc h)
h olding various costly t h ings
(such as the lord 's drinking horn).
In from of the other fireplace Is a
long table with benches a long the
sid es . a nd two wooden upright
c ha irs atei th er e nd . For further de-
tails see room 7 . It would not be
unus ual for t he m e n at a rms to
s leep in the Ha ll.
2. Kitchen. A la rge fire place Is
in the e nd wall . flank ed by s helves
for cooking gear. A round table and
couple of c hairs is in the center of
th e roo m (he re th e cook ho ld s
court). A work table s tands oppo-
site. Built into the tower wall by
th e door Is a stone s ink . with pip-
ing coming down from the cistern
above. A valve turns the water on
a nd off. If left ope n, the e nUre cis-
te rn wou ld drain into the kitch en
(quite a m ess). A three-legged stool
sits by the hearth. Various dry ing
herbs and vegetables hang from
the rafters. whic h s upport a ceiling
about 15 ' above th e fl oor. In a
pinc h . kitc h e n ser va nts would
s leep in the kitc he n , leaving room
4 (see below) available for m ore im-
portant fo lks.
3. Storage. The base me n t of
the towe r has a fir e place . a nd
could be used for many things.
However. som e place has to be set
aside to put everythi ng : c rates.
boxes. kegs, sacks. The spiral s tair
begins he re. A secre t door Is built
into the ha ll going to the stair. lead·
ing bac k into a s m all passage way.
A locked door there closes off a
room labelled "V", for Vault.
4. Ser vants. Th e firs t s tory
towe r room Is a pleasant. well lit
room . There a re two window seats ,
a fireplace, and a garde robe: a cur-
tain hangs before the ha ll to the
stair. A couple of three-legged
stools and a wooden couch are by
th e fire.
Clothes presses a re by the oppo·
s ite wall . Four beds (s leeping up to
8 servants without being cons id-
ered crowded) a re her e. with night
tables be twee n th e m . A sma ll
round table with a couple of c hairs
com ple tes the furniture.
12 .
5 . Balcony. This is the sitllng
room of the manor house. There Is
a window seat here. as well as a
fire place with two c h airs and a
bearskin rug in front of it. A desk
and c ha ir face the outs ide wall.
next to a hanging tapestry on the
tower wall . A candle sconce is by
the door. A table and chairs are in
the cente r.
One can stand by the balcony
rail . and look down into the ha ll.
6 . Winch. This s mall balcony
leads to the winch , which ope ra tes
the portc ulliS.
7 . Upper Hall. The ha ll Is two
stories high. and this area is open
alr. showing what hangs above the
h eads of those standing in 1. be-
low.
1\vo large c handeliers give light
to the area. An elk head is dis·
played over one fireplace. s hield
a nd ban ners over the other. A 15'
diam ete r round window pi erces
the e nd wall at this level. Th is Is
th e only g lass window in th e
house. a nd it is quite a s howpiece.
m ade of stained glass.
8 , Bedroom. This is the master
bedroom of the house. A canopy bed
for the master and mistress is he re.
with dotted lines showing tha t be-
neath the bed could be a large c hest
for treasure. or a trundle bed for
chUdren . The walls are hung with
tapestries. There is a garderobe. two
window·seats. and a firep lace. A
la rge rug Is in the center of the
room. 'TWo chairs. a small table. and
a footstool stand before the fire-
place. 1\vo clothes presses and a
desk and chair set complete the fur-
nis hings.
A Fortified Manor House
Tower Roof
Scale: 1 square"" 5 feet
9. Roof. A pItched timber roof
covers the hall. A battlemented
walk surrounds th e edge. with cor·
ner bastions buUt out upon cor·
bels.
10. Tower Roof. A conical lim·
ber roof covers the tower. A battle·
men ted walk surrounds the edge.
Note that opposite the chim neypot
on one side is the collector-pipe for
the cistern on the other side.
11. 'nlrret . The spira l stair·
case e nds in a turret. As designed.
there is no door. In a normal medl·
eval building. the re would be no
need. However. in a fantasy sel·
ting, wher e fli ght is possible. this Is
a weak point In the defenses. The
battlements are built ou t upon cor-
bels.
12. Thrret Roof. This conical
roof covers the staircase top.
Klnnlver Castle
The largest and m ost complex of
the castles presented In lhls book.
Klnniver looms over the ap-
proaches to a greal c ity: a royal
capital. perhaps. Certainly only
the greatest of lords could afford to
build and maintain the place. As it
Is. KJnniver is the sort of castle
which would be the prime seat of
some mighty governmen t. Other
government buildings would exist
tn the city. including military In-
stallation s. How ever. Kinniver
would be the hom e of the royaJ
family and the base for the king's
elite guards.
Most probably. it would take
122
m any years for Kinniver to reach
Its present state of completion . A
first donJon and palisade would be
erected on th e highest point of the
island when the capita l was
young. and further works would
be added as th e city {and the royal
power} grew.
As we find it now. Kinniver
sprawls over most of a large island
situated slightly off·center In a
large river. The main channe l of
the river Is fairly shallow. and has
some dangerous rocks. making
the deeper. narrower side channel
the better bet for navigation. That
s ide channel is spanned by a forti-
fied bridge. which arches over th e
cen ter of the flow. a llowing small
s hips to pass underneath. The city
is surrounded by a wall. though
the population {especially along
the riverside) Is spreading out be-
yond the wall 's protecUon .
The basic design is of three bai-
leys, arranged in line. In addiUon,
the s lope of th e island allows each
set of fortifications to guard and re-
inforce those below it.
The Wharf area sits outside the
castle proper. T he Lower Bailey is
the main entry point from the city.
The Middle Bailey provides an-
other ga te for m akin g sorlies, as
well as a further staging area In the
event the Lower Bailey Is taken,
The Upper BaUey aids in the de-
fense of both Lower and Middle
Baileys. The Citadel is a moated
keep at the highest point of the is-
land . The Watergate is a fortified
postern.
It should be noted tha t using a
design this complex in actual gam-
ing is difficu lt. One cannot show a ll
the ' rooms of the castle. on ly the
buildIngs. In addlUon, because of
the h illiness. not a ll floors are on
the same level. 10 help with read-
ing the map, a genera li zed eleva-
tion, show ing ce rtain main
buildings. together with water line
a nd ground leve l. is given.
1, Wha r f. These are the gov-
ernment docks. Most trade on the
r ive r ties up at th e c ity doc ks
across the river, but policing the
traffic is the functio n of the local
authorities. The wa ll betwee n 3 &
23 Is one story ta ll (15' to the wall
walk plus baltlem e nts) .
2. J e tties. These two Jetties
fun ction as breakwaters, to s helter
the wharf. They are stone path-
way s with low pa ra pe ts . 2a is
reached via the Breakwater Thwer
(9); 2b is reac hed via steps su r-
rou nding the Downstream Thwer
(3) .
3. Downs tream Tower. A 2-
story tower (Base ment, First S tory,
and Con ical Roof with batt le·
m e n ts). Ladders and trap doors a l-
low movem ent up a nd down.
4, Tavern . A typical grog s hop.
if so m ewha t s mal l. A p lace for
m erchants a nd boatm en wa ILIng
on th e custo ms ofrtcia ls a nd
guardsme n off-du ty to loiter.
5 . Dock Authorities, A toll ·
h ouse. The Harbormaster (for both
sides of the river) would have his
offices here.
6. Lower Bailey. This area Is
generally cluttered with Siege ma-
c hin ery. wagons, li vestoc k, and
what-have·you. Most locals never
get fur ther in, so they conduct
their busin ess here. Most equip·
m e n t used in warfa re is needed be·
yond the castle, so the re is no point
in taking it higher up the is land .
The walls are one story hig h , as
per the w harf. Be hind buildings 12
& 13 is a line, which represents
ground too stee p to build upon .
Similar li nes s how In othe r a reas of
the castle, a nd s ta nd for th e same
thing. Using contour li nes (as on a
topographical m ap) was cons ld ·
ered, but makes the fina l castle de·
sign too clu ttered .
7 . Bridge Gateh ous e. A formi-
dable obstacle. 7a and b a re the
two U·shaped towers, with 7c the
passageway between them (note
that there a re also two portcu l·
IIses. two gates. and two m urder
holes). 7d is the drawbridge con-
necti n g the gate house to th e
bridge across the channel. 7e. The
passage way through th e ga te-
house slopes up. 1l'ap doors lead
down into a dank ce llar. The base·
m en t is at bridge level. There Is a
.23
first story over that. and a battle-
m ented roof with lo ng. pitched
timber roofs.
8. Wharf Ga t eh o use. Similar
to 7 . but smalle r. There is no cellar.
9. Breakwa t er 1bwer. Similar
to 3, above.
10 . S t a ble. One a nd a half s to-
ries high . Horses and a coach are
ke pt on th e groun d fl oor (base·
m ent) : a half loft above stores fod-
der and sleeps ostlers.
11. Lavabo. A one-story stone
buildin g. with sinks to was h In a nd
a clu s ter of garderobes.
1 2. Ba rn . A two·story barn.
T he upper level is for storing sacks
of food . hay, etc.
13. Barrack s. About 80 sol-
die rs cou ld be acco m modated
here , plus their cook . etc. T here is
a cellar underneath the building.
where the company mess and star·
age wou ld be; the basement and
first s tory are living quarters.
14. Wo r k s hops . Simple one-
s tory wooden bu ildings. these are
for the master craftsmen of the
castle like the smith, arm orer, ma-
son . and carpenter.
15. Upstream TOwer. As 3.
16. Post ern 1bwer. As 3.
17 . Post ern Door. This tight
door a llows egress from the castle,
but Is too s mall for assault. It is
a lso placed in a very narrow, high
place.
18. Wat ergate Pa th . This na r·
row path wi nds down to the Wa-
terga te, whe re a boat is u s ua lly
ke pt.
19. Middle Bailey, Note that
wa lls of the Midd le Ba il ey a re
higher than the lower walls. These
are two s tories h igh (30' to the wall
walk. plus battlements). The mid-
d le of the bai ley is kept clear for ex-
ercise for both man a nd beast. A
tilting path cou ld be put h ere. Mili -
tary drill is held here. A parade
ground could a lso be made of it.
20. Gate. A si mple gate. but
nanked by strong towers. Please
no te that 42 cannot be ente red
from the Middle Bailey. Control of
th e gale is th erefore th e duty of
troops in 21. T he re is a wall walk
on th e fi rst story, above the gate.
21. Middlegate Tower. Given
over 'mostly to storage and guard-
ing the gate. this tower has a cellar.
a baseme nt (ga te level). a firs t
s tory. a second story, a nd a con ical
timber roof with battlem e nts.
22. Ba rracks. Similar to 13.
except that In add ition to cellar.
basement. and first stor y. t hi s
building has a na t roof. w hich can
be used for exercise and sword -
play.
23. Guardhouse Tower, Thi s
tower would constitu te the head -
quarters for the guards, a nd a lso
the prison for offend ers amon g th e
sold iery. It has ce ll ar (l ock u p),
basem en t (office), firs t & second
stories (HQl. a nd conical roof with
battlements.
24. Living Quarters, This two
story building has a basement a nd
first noor (but no cella r) and pro-
vides living quarters fo r m a ny of
th e castle'S residen ts .
25. Downstream Gatehouse .
As 8, but with 3 s tories (a base·
m e nt plus fi rst a nd second s tories
(wall walk)) and roof.
26. Storage. One s tory build-
ing for keeping s upplies and tools.
27. Bastion. A U-shaped Bas·
tion and non-e nclosed U-shaped
tower. Ground level is two stories
high . Wall wa lk level is covered
with a noor. A catapult is m oun ted
h e re. to co m mand th e down -
stream a pproaches .
28. Living Quarters. As 24.
29 . Whitewate r Tower. So
ca lled for its view of th e roc ky
m a in channel. This towe r has a
ce llar. basem en t. first story. sec-
ond story, and roof.
30. Storehouse. A one a nd a
half story buildin g. with stu ff
s tacked a ll th e way up the s ides.
a nd In th e middle .
3 1. Upper Bailey. Wall s two
s tories high . as in the Middle Bai-
ley. The grass is tended well here.
nowers border th e walks. This is
the S tate House part of the castle.
32. Upper Gatehouse. Lar gest
of th e gatehouses. but s imilar to
them a ll . This s truc ture contains a
cella r. basemen t (gate level) , firs t
story. second story. a nd roof.
33. Well . This area serves as a
water s upply if access to the river
Is c ut off.
34. State Apa rtments. Living
quarters for the royal fam ily a nd
sta le guests. T his building has a
cellar, basem ent. first s tory. a nd
second story. The roof Is pitched
a nd made of s late.
124
35. Annex. Living quarters for
servan ts. kitchen help . and su c h.
As a rule, as man y as 34 persons
migh t be s lept here. There is a eel·
lar. basemen t. and firs t s tory.
36. Chapel. A large U-shaped
tower. typical of m edieval ti mes.
The cellar is the Crypt. wh ere the
royal tombs a re. The basement
level is the Chapel proper. while
t he first story has a balcony in
bac k , with ga lle ries above th e
a is les . T h e second story h as a
s m a ll ba lcony in the rear. with a
cle restory walk a long the s ides (a
narrow walk alon g the ta ll glass
windows). The clerestory allows
access to the baUey wall. The roof
is a long . pitc h ed timber affaIr.
with rounded e nds , s u rrounded by
baulemen ts It ca n be reac hed by
the spiral staircase runn ing from
crypt to roof.
37 . Warden's Thwer. Thechief
ups tream -looking tower. this also
governs the Watergate approach.
It is set very deep In the earth . The
lowest Ooor. known as th e Pit. is a
dungeon. a nd above that is the
s ub-cellar (guardroom). Further
up is the cella r. the n t he basement
(at ground level), a nd first & sec-
ond stories. Th e roof is na t, and
hosts a rtillery to command the up-
s tream approac hes.
38. Forebuilding. This build -
in g a llows access to one of the
drawbridges which leads to the cit-
adel. It contains stairs and small
offices ror royal clerks. A cellar.
basem en t. a nd first story (bridge
level) m a ke up this stru cture
which is topped off by a pitched
roof su rrou nded by battlem e nts.
 39. La va bo. T his was h room
a nd garderobe a rea has two s to-
ries. a basem e nt and a firs t noar.
plus a nat roof. allowing access be-
tween 38 a nd 40 on aJl levels . Mid-
d e n s a re carved in to th e roc k.
below . a n d access Is fr om th e
Lowe r Bailey for clean ing.
4 0. Great Hall. Th e cellar be-
low th is ar ea is for food s torage.
The basem e n t le vel has the ma in
d ining area ; cou rt is a lso held here
(note the da is he re). Dashed lines
re present the fi rs t story. a ba lcony,
with gallery ru n ning a ll a rou nd
t he ha ll. The roof is pitc hed . with
ba ttle m e nts . Access to t he roof
battlem e nts is fro m Ba iley Wall.
4 1. Entry. Th is is a on e-story
high e ntry ha ll.
4 2 . Kitc h en Towe r. This a rea
is used for food storage. bre wing.
living qua rte rs, e tc. it has a s ub-
cellar. cella r, basem e nt. fi rst story.
second s tory, a nd a con ical roof
with battlem e n ts.
4 3. Kitche n . T h is area has
on ly two levels. a cella r a nd a base-
m en t. T he roof s lopes down from
the wall .
44. Kitc h e n Annex . Th e cella r
is used for storage. the basem en t is
both an office and living q uarters
fo r the m aster cook .
The roof s lopes down from the
wa ll.
4 5 . Citad el. Thi s s truc ture is
the c h ief stronghold for a ny a t-
tempt at a las t-ga s p defense. S ta te
prisoners a re som e times ke pt h ere
in stead of in th e Warde n 'S 1bwer.
The re is a n armory. a n d severa l
state apartm en ts. A pier be tween
45 a nd 38 s upports the e nds of two
dra wbridges, wh ic h alone s upply
access to the tower. The bu ilding
cons is ts of a s u b-cella r (with a n
a u xilia ry well), cellar, basem en t.
as well as fir s t. second. an d third
s tories. The building is cove red by
a co nical roof wi th battl em en ts
(reach ed by ladder via a trap door) .
S tairs are interna l with no su pple·
m e ntary towe r. Note that the Cita-
d el h as t h e mos t fl oo rs above
ground ; it also s its on th e highest
le vel of the is lan d .
4 6. Wa t e r gat e Post e rn . The
basem e nt le vel is the gate. The
firs t s tory Is a na t. ba ttlem e n led
roof for defen se.
47 . Ra mp. This is a lo ng a nd
ba ttlem en ted wa lk .
4 8. Wa t e r gat e Tow e r. This
s quare towe r is the on ly m eans of
direct access to 47 .
4 9. Wa t e r ga te Pool. T h is
S m a ll doc k ser ves as a land ing
area for one or two boa ts . Pas t m es-
se nger boats or roya l p leasu re
c raft are ke pt here. Th is a lso pro-
vides a m ea ns of h us tling danger-
ou s pri so n e rs into c u s tod y:
persons who m us t be tra ns ported
with out ruc ku s can b e brough t
in to th e castle this way withou t
landing. or going through c rowds.
12 5
127
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