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Message: <blockquote data-quote="S'mon" data-source="post: 5123718" data-attributes="member: 463">I certainly think that the hoardings that were common IRL would be ubiquitous in a world of flying creatures and area-effect spells.Huge flying creatures that can fly above a castle and drop rocks on it would certainly be nasty, but dropping rocks from a great height is not a precision attack*.  IRL it was common enough that the besieger's trebuchets could drop rocks on the castle from out of range of the castle's defenses.  And trebuchets don't need to eat like a dragon does.  If they are destroyed, you just build more.  Aerial superiority is another way to make the defender's lives unpleasant, but I have not experienced it as a game changer.  The guys in the castle can stay hidden and if they have any offensive capability at all, they get to decide when and where to strike to take down the assailants when they least expect it.Again, I have run dozens of AD&D-magic-level castle battles over the years, and big/flying monsters are not a major factor.  Low level spells (Fly, Invisibility) plus high level PC or PC-type assault teams are consistently the biggest risk to the castle.*And even IRL, wells and other important bits are well of sight - wells are found in the bowels of the Keep, not exposed in the courtyard!  Mostly to prevent fouling of the water I suspect.</blockquote>