Castles and DnD

I used to live in Europe, and I got to see a lot of castles- most walkways, battlements and towers were completely open to the air. The reason: Trajectory. Any projectile would be coming at them from below, so the horizontal shielding provided by the wall's crenelation was sufficient for most missile weapons. (Some would carry shields, though.)

Bead curtains also get disturbed by anything invisible, 'natch!

What would "emphasis on ranged weapons and spells" mean? I always like ballista for their range. One of the problems is that a flying wizard has a great range on a fireball spell (600 ft or more IIRC). Again, I don't expect to kill him every time, I suppose that one or two medium level archers would be sufficient? I guess "Captain of the Archers" would be a standard post at a castle?

Sure! Other examples- I had a group of PC's invade the castle of The MAGUS- a powerful mage who, among other things besides being not nice (but not EVIL) was a great teacher of magic, especially tactical magic. The high level party strolled in, made their demands...and were POUNDED by magic missiles cast by every student in the courtyard...(when they went back, they had a Globe of Invulnerability up- but that didn't solve everything).

A wealthy keep would have arcane and possibly divine spellcasters within the ranks of their guard, and anything someone OUTSIDE a castle can do with magic, someone INSIDE can as well. Obviously, a fireball cast into an enclosed space is much more dangerous than one airbursting at a small flying target, but that's why you'd also concentrate more on defensive spells (like the old 2Ed Spelltrap).

Flying Monsters, on the other hand, are different because they aren't as dependent on spells. Sure, a dragon may have spells, but he also has his breath weapon, and there's no counterspell for draconic halitosis.

Thus, a keep would likely have a cache of special heavy weapons & gear with a few warriors & spellmonkeys dedicated to using them- a SWAT team, if you will. Consider a few levitating platforms 10' in diameter- essentially air chariots- used by higher level types to bring the fight to aerial opponents with their spells and missile weapons. An arsenal of wands? Rings of Flying for aerial archers? An alchemist on staff?

Your brain is your most dangerous weapon...
 

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LostSoul said:
What's the cost for making a Magnificent Mansion permanent (via some type of magic item)? It might be worth it for the king to have his keep in an unassailable mansion in a different plane.

That's too high-magic for a "normal" castle in my campaign but that's a really cool idea. There are some really evil things you can do with castles and high level magic - but then they become more like dungeons. Nevertheless, I'm putting this on my nasty dungeon idea list.
 

gizmo33 said:
True - I'm just trying to even the odds. My personal target it to make any caster of up to 11th level think twice about what they do. Even uncertainty is an improvement. Beyond 11th, and I would think casters would be increasingly unhampered by the protections offered by a "normal" castle. That's ok, they have bigger fish to fry at that level.

I agree with this - the 9th level baron can't expect his castle to survive an assault by the 18th level smackdown team, but he should be able to defend against a 12th level assault. Low level mages with scrolls are good, plenty of See Invisibility, Dispel Magic zones in places the defenders don't need to go to - like the air over the castle & above the (toxic) moat...
 


Dannyalcatraz said:
I used to live in Europe, and I got to see a lot of castles- most walkways, battlements and towers were completely open to the air.

If I've read my sources on castles correctly, this is because you're walking through the remains of a castle, and most of the woodwork and details would have long rotted away. AFAIK people still debate what a real finished castle would have looked like, but I'm not sure the surviving edifices completely answer the question.


Dannyalcatraz said:
Rings of Flying for aerial archers? An alchemist on staff?
Your brain is your most dangerous weapon...

Well definitely. I can think of a thousand ideas about how to fight fire with fire, and all your ideas are interesting here and appropriate to how I originally worded the thread. But I guess I should have been more specific because levitating platforms and such start to make the castle into something it wasn't historically. I'm really trying to have the best of both worlds - the most medieval looking/functioning castle that I can have, with the lowest tech defenses that do a reasonable job of making 11th level and below casters pause - or at least account for some of the vulnerabilities that they create.

Swarms of invisible stalkers circling about each tower is one example of an idea (that I can't use), but my personal goal is to minimize cost and maximize defensive capability by taking advantage of the weaknesses of spells/spell casters. The lead sheets thing was more along the lines of what I'm personally looking for, though I think other DMs would find your ideas very suitable to their campaigns.
 
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S'mon said:
I have incorporeals be vulnerable to mundane fire, they always are in the fiction - think Strider on Weathertop. :)

Ah low tech, and good fantasy novel precident. I'll have to add this to my list. Perhaps just creatures who channel negative energy? Or all incorporeals? Perhaps a holy oil (like holy water) used as fuel for the torch instead?
 

One thing I do IMC is make catapults and ballistae a lot more effective, so they can be detterent to small dragons and such - for a light catapult 10d6 dmg, heavy cat 20d6, a counterweight trebuchet firing a rock weighing several tons could conceivably do 100d6 (or 1d6 x100) :) I have heavy arbalests/siege x-bows (more like light ballistae) doing 4d10 and heavy ballistae doing 6d10 & ignoring 12 points of target armour, which will hurt most dragons at least somewhat.
 

gizmo33 said:
Ah low tech, and good fantasy novel precident. I'll have to add this to my list. Perhaps just creatures who channel negative energy? Or all incorporeals? Perhaps a holy oil (like holy water) used as fuel for the torch instead?

IMC it's all incorporeals, unless they're fire-based, in which case they'd be vulnerable to cold - hard to make muindane cold though... hm, maybe drop a meat-freezer on 'em... :cool:
 

Yes, and no.

It doesn't make sense to copy the fortifications of medieval castles exactly and expect them to have the same cost benefits in a world filled with magic and which single warriors are capable of fighting off small armies. So, if you are only going to make copies of medieval castles, then that doesn't make a lot of sense.

That said, the advantages of firing from behind an arrow slit remain pretty high. So, at some level, castles remain extremely valuable peices of military technology. There just have to be some adjustments made to take into account the challenges presented by PC's. I say PC's because its PC's that seem to most frequently be assaulting the strong hold of some despot who's family has been ruling the area for generations and overcoming all thier defenses with relative ease. It stands to reason that castle defenses which could effectively withstand the assault of the PC party could effectively withstand just about anything, so design around that.

1) Features related to resisting air attack: Hoardings will need to be a permanent feature of castles. All interior courtyards need to be defensible from within. Important resources (say wells or armories) need to be positioned such that a commando team mounting an air assault will not be able to cut off access to them. Vertical spaces now require protection via overlapping fields of fire. Hoardings require arrow slits in the roof areas and positions for firing through same. Castles need to be designed such that towers can protect the vertical space of adjoining towers. Points in the castle layout which cannot be overlooked need to be minimized. The castle needs to be secured from intrusion at every point, and not just along the lower levels. Bars need to be on upper floor windows. Accessways and hatches need to be strongly made and secured from the interior at all times. Ramparts need to be covered with hoardings (this can't be emphasised too much).

2) Features relating to resisting stealthy attacks: Chiefly, this means invisibility or similar means. Major access ways need to be guarded with creatures with the scent ability and with some special training for detecting to and responding to invisible beings. Think of them as the D&D equivalent of drug/bomb dogs at airports. Dogs are good and cheap, but major powers may wish to invest in keeping more powerful or intelligent trainable beasts, or else employ allies that can otherwise detect invisible creatures. Sensitive areas can be protected by curtains (often with bells attached to the bottom) or doors with guards. Major powers should have permanent or semi-permanent magical wards designed to set off alarms whenever an invisible creature passes through thier area. If they don't already exist, variations on the Alarm spell and Magic Mouth spell which allow this should be high priorities of all magical researchers in your campaign world.

Traps don't really work well for high traffic areas, but there can always be some blind corridors, false leads, false doors and such in little traveled areas of the castle. A few traps do alot to discourage explorers from sensitive areas. Several magical traps are low enough level that they can be fairly regular features of even low magic campagins, for example explosive runes and fire trap. New guards can always be warned that the third floor corridor of the west wing is to be avoid unless they want to die a horrible death. Clever castle owners could simply spread rumors of this sort. Backed up by one or two real traps, this will greatly complicate the planning of anyone preparing a commando assault.

3) Features relating to resisting scrying attacks: Important areas need to be lined with thin lead plates so that secret meetings can occur. In the major halls of power, magical wards (or even traps) designed to prevent scrying should be made permanent if they are available.

4) Feature related to resisting large monsters: Monsters with high DR or extremely high AC (or both) represent major threats to even large groups low level fighters. Balista's, mangonels, and other aimed (non-ballistic) heavy weaponry therefore are much more important to fantasy worlds than they ever where in the real one. Castles in the fantasy world need to be built at least in part more like the gun decks of later period ships. This provides the castle limited protection from armies (due to the low firing rate) but can give even a reasonably large dragon serious pause if protected by suitable hoardings. Likewise, fire is a very effective weapon against most regularly encountered high DR monsters, and burning pitch/oil/alchemical fire is much more important to protecting a fantasy castle than fire ever was to real warfare of the period. Just think about anything you've ever seen in a Ridley Scott historical revision and assume that its reasonable for your fantasy game. Small stores of silver tipped arrows and anything else which can be manufactured reasonably cheaply for overcoming DR are essential elements of any well stocked armory.

5) Features related to resisting evocation attacks: Area of effect evocation attacks are the bane of low HD creatures. The improved evasion provided by an arrow slit is important, but its equally important that the structure protecting the defenders of the castle not be easy to destroy. Again, hoardings are essential. Standing on open ramparts and firing through the battlements when the sky is open over your head just doesn't cut it in a world with fireballs and flying mages. Compartmentalizing interiors provides limited protection. The best protection is to keep the magic on the outside of the castle. It should be assumed that defenders are smart enough that anyone that waves a wand around will immediately become the target of every defender in the castle that spots him. It's probably prohibitively expensive to magically protect a whole fortress, but major powers will likely be able to afford magically prepared fighting positions within the castle. This can include tower rooms with a perimeter protected by permanent magic circles against opposing alignment (if you allow that sort of thing), magically hardened walls, or features with built in energy resistance or SR. Most castles should include a chapel area, which can be hallowed in the case of the defenses of major powers. Dispel magic is a particularly effective attachment to a hallowed area.

6) NPC's will take advantage of whatever monster abilities are available in your campaign: Important NPC's are not sitting around waiting to be killed by random monsters. While the average peasant can't afford defenses against PC's or things in the monster manual, that's why they pay thier taxes. Defending on the alignment of the powers that be, various sorts of animals/monsters can be trained or hired as castle defenders. Some suggestions include Bugbears, Worgs, Giant Eagles, Gargoyles, Griffins, Hill Giants, Hippogriffs, Ogres, Owlbears, Pegasi, Spider Eaters, Dogs, Elephants, Mastadons, etc. Small numbers of these would be unable to overrun the castles defenders by themselves, but would provide an elite force that could reasonably square off agaisnt a powerful attacker. The basic rule is this - if there is even the most remote chance that the PC's are capable of assembling a small force of such creatures - then the NPC's have already done it.

7) NPC's will form parties too: Every castle can reasonably be assumed to contain the elements of a spontaneous adventuring party as a rapid reaction force which is of a level appropriate to the stature of the castle and the power level of your campaign. This group should be well protected against stealthy and surprise attack, and should assemble to stop any spearhead lead by other above average level characters. This isn't to say that I'm advocating a FR style campaign where every third person is 9th level or higher, but it is to say that a responce team of 2nd-6th level NPC's is probably reasonable for almost any campaign. Add additional levels if you think average people in your campaign world are above 1st level. PC's also set the standard in terms of NPC knowledge. Anything that your PC's are willing to insist that they should know should be general knowledge to anyone of a similar educational background. If this is the case, you are not metagaming when NPC's respond exactly like PC's would when confronted with problems like invisible creatures and the presence of various seemingly obscure monsters.

8) If high level magic is common, high level magical defenses will have been developed: If people capable of casting teleport are fairly common in your campaign, then spells which prevent teleport will be commonly used to defend critical areas. Magical societies will put alot of priority on developing defenses against the misuse of magic. If magical items are common in your campaign, then wealthy NPC's will horde them against emergencies.
 
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One idea I saw in Dragon to defend vs fliers, have lots of spiked poles, nets etc on the roof of your keep, tower-tops etc to prevent big beasts landing. In fact a spiky roof is probably a good idea vs climbing Rogues, too. Compartmentalise the castle interior to minimise effects from area-effect attacks. Obviously don't have windows that can be climbed through. The biggest vulnerability for a medieval castle in D&D is aerial assault; Wizards fireballing from the air, troops landing on open keep roofs, etc. I suggest most D&D castles will look like German fairy-tale castles with steeply sloped roofs (albeit possibly spiky) :) - ideally they will be reinforced, magically trapped, have hidden sally-holes for counter-attacks...
 

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