Tell me about medieval border fortresses, please!

[Speaker]

First thing that came to mind when I saw your post was the chain of border castles in the Riftwar Saga books by Raymond E. Feist. Just finished rereading some of his works today!

Much like in your campaign, the 'good' kingdom in the book must defend itself from evil elves raiding over mountain passes with goblin and giant allies. While often these forces are small and unorganized, a few extremely large assaults occasionally take place.

So, what I would adapt from this series...

1. Border forts are built on high defensible positions, but do not necessarily block off the pass they defend. After all, it would be a stupid evil elf commander who would leave an enemy force behind that could cut off his/her supply line at will!

2. Border forts are given the choice of superior positioning, your ideal border fort needs fewer soldiers then might be thought. Standard procedure in the Rift War saga is to defend with one man for every ten the enemy can throw at the border fort. This would include, as mentioned above, siege engineers manning catapults and ballista from the walls.

3. Of course, in order for this to work the border forts are continually stocked with armaments and supplies from the kingdom they defend. I'd see a standard border fort as having a food and water supply for several months (magically preserved?), enough weapons that each soldier has at least one spare set, and extensive stocks of bolts/arrows/etc.

4. Perhaps most important, however, would be means for the fort commander to summon reinforcements from surrounding forts, meaning that the fort need only hold on until allies arrived. In the Rift War saga, this is accomplished by pigeons trained to carry messages.

5. The border forts would moniter the area with patrols of horseman, 5-40 strong.

Just some food for thought.

 

[Dr. Strangemonkey]

From the importance and isolation of the fortress you are describing, and because it's cool, I recommend looking up some stuff on Krak des Chevaliers.

This castle survived the kingdom it protected by many decades, close to a century as I recall, and never fell to besieging forces.

The issues of making such a thing dnd compatible is still there, but I think the inspiration will be such that fudging will seem delightful.

The Krak is awesome, and was built to precisely the environment you are discussing. Though the mountains probably weren't so high.

Cavalry are essential for any border fort, pass or not. They're how you keep the border near your keep.

If it is a snow bound pass that will make a big impact on design since you need to avoid avalanches, roof collapses, spring floods, lay in supplies, make special provisions for mobility, and be ready to rescue people.

Another issue is how close it is to potential reinforcement. DnD magic can alleviate distance a bit, but it would still need reinforcement.

In terms of really high level magical defenders I recommend that you assume they are available at best, but probably not present. If the nation is really high magic enough to assume them as a strategic resource then they would probably keep them mobile rather than cooped as fodder for high level rogues.

 

[LuYangShih]

What is the equivalent magic level of your world? With at least one ninth level Cleric present, for example, water supply is not an issue. If the garrison has access to items providing them with food and water, supplies become basically limitless. This completely changes the setup of the typical fortress, and that is just the tip of the iceberg.

 

[Dr. Strangemonkey]

I don't know that I'd trust a ninth level cleric with my water supply. Makes a nice back up plan, though.

 

[Elder-Basilisk]

A few ideas for D&D communication that doesn't require high-level magic or casters:

1. Probably the easiest: low level wizards with raven (ideal) or hawk familiars. (Hawk familiars would require messages to be written). These could potentially be useful both as long-range messengers and as messengers from patrols to their castle.

2. Some kind of oil or wondrous item enchanted with Animal Messenger spells. Scrolls or wands (much more expensive--probably would be kept in the castle--but they could be reliably used by characters with only one ranger or druid level) of animal messenger. This would fill more or less the same function as carrier pigeons (which might very well be cheaper) but would be more flexible as messages could be sent to any location with any animal.

3. Scrolls of Sending: They're very expensive and, unless you have high level clerics (min lvl 7) or wizards (min lvl 9), there's a chance of failure--a significant chance if they're significantly lower than the target levels.

4: Scrolls of Teleport: if you've more access to wizards than clerics, it's the same price as a scroll of Sending but allows a more complete message. Unfortunately it also has a slightly higher failure rate.

Beyond that, there aren't many D&D options for swift communication. Whispering Wind might fit the bill but actually moves more slowly than a galloping horse. Historical options are possible however. Signal fires at night or smoke signals during the day are one possibility. If combined with a mirror on a high tower, it might also be useful for complex signals as well--provided the land was flat enough (or the castle high enough) to allow visibility at significant difference. The aforementioned carrier pigeons would be good for some messages. Otherwise, messages on warhorses (possibly with horseshoes of speed and/or Unfailing Endurance) are possibly the best way.

For swift movement of significant numbers of troops, the only real options are Shadow Walk and Teleportation Circle. (As well as Mass Teleport from T&B if it's available). Lots of Teleport spells or lots of windwalk spells could also transport a fair number of troops quickly as well but the numbers would be much lower; conceivably an 11th level caster could transport thirty two troops in addition to himself with a Shadow-Walk spell. If they were highly elite troops, they could make a significant difference to a small (but significant) battle and could travel five hundred miles in one day.

 

[Elder-Basilisk]

Scrolls of Create Water are pretty cheap (12.5 gp each full price) and could easily be stockpiled for use in an emergency. Depending upon how long a siege the fortress was expected to withstand, it might well be cheaper to augment normal stores with scrolls (sufficient in number to last two or three sieges of expected length) than to pay for the labor a reliable internal water supply. That option would also significantly alter the number of acceptable sites--something which could further reduce labor and material costs and result in more defensible and/or more useful locations for the fortress.

A fortress should be able to rely upon having a several first level clerics at any one time if that is a part of its strategy. The fortress's water supply should not depend upon one or even two individuals but if it's conceivable for a significant number of the soldiers to have a cleric level, it's a viable solution. Yet another advantage to theocracies and state religions I suppose.

I don't know that I'd trust a ninth level cleric with my water supply. Makes a nice back up plan, though.

 

[S'mon]

Given the wide gulf between Medieval tech and D&D magic, I wouldn't bother. I'd wager that WW2 architecture would be a better comparison -- look at their bunker technology & blueprints.

As to forces, it really depends on the power level of your world. Sixteen mid-level Wizards could hold off an army alone (as could two or three high-level Druids), while it would take a significantly larger number of first level Warriors to accomplish that goal.

-- Nifft

PS: This means that I don't really know anything about Medieval border fortresses, but would like to help.

If it's a high-magic world a fortress expected to be viable (against opponents with level3+ spells) needs magical protections - it should certainly be shielded against scrying, and probably against teleportation, ethereal entry etc. This can be via spells or exotic mundane substances - gorgon's blood mortar, lead panelling etc.

Wide flat open roofs may not be a good idea if it's likely to face flying attackers, a Swiss style castle with narrow sloped roofs (possibly spiked) might be better, and narrow window/arrow-slits, wider windows should always be barred. Glass-covered windows protect vs gaseous entrants but are impractical for exterior arrowslits.

In D&D there's almost no way to stop a small group of high level attackers getting into your fortress, so to stop them you need a good number of reasonably high-level defenders; a squad ofexperienced knights (Fighters) rather than a company of low-level warriors, plus some low-level Cleric & Wizard support is vital.

A good fortress can still give a defender a big advantage in D&D - I've seen several castle sieges fail in my campaign, even when the attackers were much more powerful - but it does require awareness of the threats they're likely to face.

 

[Wippit Guud]

Here's a few fantasy literature border/pass defense ideas to look into: High Clerist Tower, Dragonlance; Helm's Deep, Lord of the Rings; Riverrun, Song of Ice and Fire (although this ine is for crossing a river)


Since it's a moutaun pass, I've have tunnels cur through the rock from the fort to caves that overlook the pass by about 100ft. 2 or 3 of thses on each side to give a company of archers the ability to rain down some arrows, and could also have some pots or oil to dump on passer's by.

In case of emergencies, you could also rig something to block the pass completely, but that would depend on just how big a threat these north people are.

 

[Hand of Evil]

OK, well here are the NPCs I have detailed at the moment.

Sir Norwin Vedris, 11th level human paladin. He's the commander, and serves at the pleasure of the church. Right now, and for the past 15 years, there pleasure has been for him to stay right where he is.

Lyris Cort, 9th level cleric. Also serving at the pleasure of the church. She's been there for 5 years.

Feltine Bosch, 8th level diviner (and the person the PCs want to talk to, incidently). Feltine's motivations are known to no one but her. It has suited her to stay at the fort for the past 3 years. When it no longer suits her, she'll pack up and leave. Sir Vedris trusts her. Lyris Cort does not.

2 units of halfling scouts, each containing 6 halflings.

Garris, a half elf former slave who Sir Vedris rescued 10 years ago during a raid into the elven lands. Garris is a 6th level warrior.

Feltine Bosch is considered a really powerful wizard. The party has a sorcerer and a bard, but no one has the 'book learning' type of magic. In fact, the only other wizard they've ever met was 4th level.

Should be a ranger or two in the NPC list.

 

[Hackenslash]

But what is a medieval border fortress like? How many in the garrison? How many support personnel, and of what sort? Would there be noncombatants other than blacksmiths, cooks and so forth, such as spouses and children? Should there be a village nearby? Should the fort send out sorties to the 'other side' or wait for the enemy to come to them? What would the tour of duty likely be? Anything else important that I've forgotten to ask? Do tell, please.

Hiya Buttercup,

I would recommend you reading a novell called "Legend" by David Gemmell, a British Born Author of Medieval Fantasy etc...Apart from the book being an excellent read, and a Best Seller, Mr Gemmell does a great job of describing a great border Fortress called "Dros Delnoch" including the inner workings and machinations of a living and breathing populous and garrison. The fortress was designed to accomodate 40,000 men plus supporting personel and living accomodation etc...but in the end they have to defend it against the Barbarian Hordes with only 10,000 men and most of them were poorly trained. Anyway Mr Gemmell does explain the reasons behind certain aspects and constructions of the Fortress and also describes in great detail how the fortress is supposed to be defended. Although the book focuses on the Heros of the story and their struggles to defend the Fortress against overwelming odds, it does give a marvelous insight on how to portray a Border Fortress. Hope this helps and enjoy the book if you read it...Cheers !!!