Worlds of Design: Besieged!

Let’s talk about sieges, both how they work in the real world, and something about how they might work in fantasy.

Picture courtesy of Pixabay.​

“Fixed fortifications are a monument to the stupidity of man.” George S. Patton (American General WW II)

Fortifications, both city defenses and military forts, play a large part in warfare, especially in pre-gunpowder times. Sieges occur when fortifications stop attackers from capturing their objectives immediately. So let’s discuss real-world sieges and observe how fantasy worlds may change how things work.

Attacker Options​

If you’re the attacker, you have several options to besiege* a fortification:

• Go over the walls (scale with ladders etc. (escalade), make a ramp, siege towers)
• Breach (go through) the walls
• Undermine (go under) the walls
• Surround the fortress and starve it out
• Betrayal from within
• Use water! whether to interfere with defender water supply, or reroute watercourses
• Stratagems of war (e.g. the Trojan Horse)

Siege engines can make a big difference when it comes to going over the walls, breaching them, or undermining. But siege engines (towers, rams, catapults) have to be invented, and built. Siege engines were not much used in ancient Greece, for example, so it’s possible not every culture has them at their disposal.

Superior stealth may make a big difference in all these tactics. Invisible or otherwise hidden attackers may be able to capture gates (or posterns, door-size entryways). This is a big difference between real world and fantasy where such tactics were not always at the disposal of most armies.

Magic can make a big difference in a siege. In general, the more superhero-like the characters, the less likely that fortifications can be useful. For example, going past/through a wall includes using spells such as (in AD&D) passwall, dimension door, teleport. And includes creatures that can break through walls. Going under the wall takes into account umber hulks and other tunneling monsters. Going over the wall includes fliers, spells, even Spelljammer-style ships. And so forth.

Before I show the lists of defender options, keep in mind that in fantasy, a world of common powerful magic is likely to make fortifications less valuable or practical, while low levels of magic (as in Middle-earth) leave us closer to medieval Europe. But even in Tolkien’s world, magic could make a significant difference.

Defender Options​

Defenders have options too.

• Attack the besiegers (to drive them away or to discomfit them)
• Hole up and wait for relief force to drive away attackers
• Hole up and outlast the attackers (disease, supplies)
• Break out and run for it (the defenders, not city inhabitants)

Which of these options they choose depends heavily on the state of their supplies, especially water, food, and (where applicable) ammunition. Holing up is by far the most common. If defenders think before the siege begins that they can’t hold out, they’ll likely run beforehand if that’s practical. Sometimes the delay is worth the loss, however.

Disease was an ever-present threat to both sides, but especially attackers living in outdoor camps. Healing spells might mitigate this, making sieges more likely. Many sieges ended as long affairs, months rather than days, whether the target was captured, or the attackers had to leave.

Results of a Successful Siege​

As you might imagine, a successful siege can be dire for the inhabitants. Some might surrender, or flee (if that’s an option). Surrender agreements often included provisions for treatment of the populace, even for the defenders to retain their weapons as they marched away.

Once attackers have control, the population within is at their mercy. Sometimes the slaughter is contingent on the defenders not surrendering immediately. “If you don’t surrender now, we’ll slaughter you all when we succeed.”

Historical Sieges​

Sieges in history tended to be bound by the same laws of nature and physics that spells can sometimes break. Ancient Greeks rarely besieged cities, because the non-professional soldiers of the time were unwilling to risk an escalade (lots of casualties) and siege engines were rarely seen. Even the practically professional Spartans didn’t want to risk casualties, so the several-miles-long walls connecting Athens to its port Piraeus stood inviolate for decades. In general, the more valued the individual soldiers, the less likely they are risked in a siege.

In a world with dragons and wizards, it’s not unreasonable to conclude that walls are simply not good enough and fantasy defenses need to be underground. Though if you’re defending a city, going underground is impractical, so walls will still appear, more likely earthen walls such as ancient hill forts or Marquis de Vauban-like 17th century star forts. In the real world, artillery destroys conventional masonry walls, hence the need for Vauban’s star forts, and later for the pillboxes and underground forts of the French Maginot Line. The more powerful magic is, the closer we come to the kind of warfare General Patton knew, which led to his disdain for fortifications.

*The verb is "besiege," not "siege." Siege is a noun. That is, you don’t siege a town, you besiege it. I don’t know why, English is an odd amalgam of German-Dutch, Celtic-Gaelic, Latin, Danish-Norse, French, and other languages.

Your Turn: How are fortifications in your world(s) different from medieval European forts and castles?

 

[LuisCarlos17f]

The defenders could build the biggest catapult.

A stone with a teletransportation rune could cause a lot of troubles, but if defenders are ready with the ready countermeasures. Other trick could be to use catapults to throw werewolves to the sieged stronghold.

Defenders could build buildings working like magic items, for example a temple where healing magic is better.

Even unarmed civilians praying could help in incarnaton or sacred rituals for powerful effects of divine magic.

 

[GMMichael]

I'm a low-magic guy, so my forts look pretty medieval. D&D isn't low-magic, in general, so I'm actually surprised that castles and fortifications seem to be part of it. Dragons, alchemists, and wizards are fair substitutes for the aircraft and artillery that inspired the above General Patton quote. So shouldn't D&D forts just be trenches, fences, and watchtowers?

Now I'm imagining a dire-badger-powered tank, and a wizard-gunner with a payload of scrolls . . .

 

[billd91]

I'm a low-magic guy, so my forts look pretty medieval. D&D isn't low-magic, in general, so I'm actually surprised that castles and fortifications seem to be part of it. Dragons, alchemists, and wizards are fair substitutes for the aircraft and artillery that inspired the above General Patton quote. So shouldn't D&D forts just be trenches, fences, and watchtowers?

Now I'm imagining a dire-badger-powered tank, and a wizard-gunner with a payload of scrolls . . .

It isn't low magic for PCs and a few specific locations in published campaign settings (like Waterdeep), but I think the assumption is that doesn't necessarily apply to D&D settings as a whole. If a wizard or dragon is relatively rare or really expensive to put in the field, they may not be so decisive that military defenses have to be substantially different to routinely counter their effect.
Plus, we know about castles and fortified towns. They're in our media, historical examples are readily available and researchable. That helps ground games like D&D into something relatable and, ultimately, playable.

 

[Tonguez]

After discovering Derinkiyu in Turkey and then learning of the Cellars of Diocletians Palace, I've been quite happy to use underground vaults and tunnels connecting a normal cities basements and entire underground cities with only a few surface features (like a castle or temple basilica)

The Twin Cities of Karina include a lower 'common' city which is a normal walled surface city with markets etc and a mile away up the mountain is the Royal City a walled fortress built into the mountain.

Indeed imc there are a lot of such Fortresses inside mountains where refugees from more exposed towns flee during times of siege.

there prevalence makes sense in a world of dragons and helps explain where all the dungeons that adventurers explore come from

 

[Bayushi_seikuro]

There was an interesting concept I read in Dragon decades ago.

The idea was that living material blocked teleportation or ethereal/astral travel, so cities covered buildings with ivy and living plants to block those ways of entrance.

 

[payn]

Now I want to play Lords of the Realm games...

 

[Tonguez]

There was an interesting concept I read in Dragon decades ago.

The idea was that living material blocked teleportation or ethereal/astral travel, so cities covered buildings with ivy and living plants to block those ways of entrance.

Thats a weird way to approach it, seeing that it is living things doing the teleporting, and Druids get transport via Plants. Its also the complete opposite of what Terminator did (only organic matter can be teleported). I suppose it would make Hedges and Wooden Pallisade much more popular ....

I'd assume that cities would be seeking to have its high level clerics cast Hallow on their important assets to stop extraplanar incursions and block unwanted teleports too

 

[Bayushi_seikuro]

Thats a weird way to approach it, seeing that it is living things doing the teleporting, and Druids get transport via Plants. Its also the complete opposite of what Terminator did (only organic matter can be teleported). I suppose it would make Hedges and Wooden Pallisade much more popular ....

I'd assume that cities would be seeking to have its high level clerics cast Hallow on their important assets to stop extraplanar incursions and block unwanted teleports too

I wish I had the article or could remember the issue because that concept is so strange and interesting to me. I do wonder if it predated the Terminator and the flesh restriction they had. I assume the concept is similar to asking why in comics or the MCU, Vision doesn't just phase through everyone - not just to kill people, but phasing through a shoulder and arm socket would definitely cripple your opponent.

As far as cities casting Hallow, I definitely could see that as a setting thing. If you were having constant extraplanar incursions, Hallow would do a great job protecting the cities... as long as they remember to also cover the cathedral with ivy

 

[Stormonu]

There was an interesting concept I read in Dragon decades ago.

The idea was that living material blocked teleportation or ethereal/astral travel, so cities covered buildings with ivy and living plants to block those ways of entrance.

Back in older editions, Gorgon's blood mixed into the mortar of stone walls was supposed to be effective in blocking teleportation (and scrying, I think I remember).

For the most part, in my homebrew most civilized areas have the standard medieval defenses and methods of attacks. Thick stone is usually sufficient to stop all but the most determined attackers and magic or creatures able to easily bypass those defenses are rare enough that the expense to counter them is rarely worth the price.

I tend to also treat the PCs as somewhat exceptional, and finding spellcasters high enough level (and willing...) to help in a siege is significant - basically weapons of mass destruction. Still, I do have a few magical castles and fortifications (such as Castle Vall Wall, with demiplane arrow/murder slits, rope trick barracks, covered stone roofs and various protection spells and other secret defenses).