Fortifications¶
Fortifications range from a small watchtower to a great walled hold. Some are settlements in their own right; others exist inside a larger settlement; some stand alone in the wild.
Theme: Outpost¶
A watchtower or palisaded compound with a small standing garrison, sited to watch a road, a crossing, or a distant frontier. An Outpost may stand alone in the wild or sit within a larger settlement as a watch station. Covers the "Frontier Watchpost" variant used for border and wilderness watching.
| Scale | Creatures | Features | Locations |
|---|---|---|---|
| Installation | Garrison optional: Scouts, Chaplain |
Palisade or Curtain Wall, Watch Bell, Watch Fire | Watchtower, Gate, Barracks, Armory, Stables, Well optional: Chapel, Kennels |
Theme: Foreign Compound¶
An Outpost owned by a foreign power inside another realm: an embassy, a trading concession, etc. An Ambassador and staff of attachés represent his home sovereign, a household of servants keeps the compound, and guards in the home power's livery patrol the wall. Also used for the "Diplomatic Station" variant, where a distant sovereign maintains a small diplomatic post.
| Scale | Creatures | Features | Locations |
|---|---|---|---|
| Installation | Ambassador, 2-4 Attachés, 1 Sergeant, 8-16 Guards, 4-8 Clerks, 8-16 Servants optional: Chaplain |
Palisade or Curtain Wall, Watch Bell, Personality | Gate, Embassy Hall, Attaché Offices, Staff Quarters, Guest Quarters, Chapel, Stables, Garden, Well |
Theme: Border Crossing¶
Customs post at a domain border. Manages tolls, inspects goods. A Customs Officer runs the operation; Guards organized as inspection Patrols check every wagon; Clerks handle paperwork and stamps. Smugglers work the traffic when the customs are corrupt or overworked.
| Scale | Creatures | Features | Locations |
|---|---|---|---|
| Installation | Customs Officer, 1-2 Patrols, 2 Clerks, Support Staff optional: Smugglers |
Palisade or Curtain Wall, Watch Bell, Watch Fire | Gate, Customs Hall, Barracks, Inn, Mess Hall, Chapel, Watchtower, Well |
Theme: Great Keep¶
A tall, stout tower rising over a small enclosed courtyard. May be a border keep, a road toll station, a minor lord's seat, or a redoubt.
| Scale | Creatures | Features | Locations |
|---|---|---|---|
| Installation | Lord or Castellan, 1-2 Sergeants, 2-4 Squads, Lord's Household optional: Chaplain, Court |
Curtain Wall (small ring), Portcullis at Gatehouse, Watch Bell, Watch Fire optional: Moat |
Gatehouse, Great Keep, Barracks, Armory, Stables, Well, Chapel optional: Strongroom, Cells |
Theme: Fort¶
Fortification built to hold a border, guard a road, or project force into a region. Walled compound with a Great Keep, barracks, gate, and parade yard. A Commander leads the garrison.
| Scale | Creatures | Features | Locations |
|---|---|---|---|
| Installation | Garrison, Chaplain | Curtain Wall, Watch Bell, Watch Fire optional: Sallyport |
Gatehouse, Great Keep, Barracks, Armory, Chapel, Mess Hall, Officers' Quarters, Parade Ground, Stables, Watchtower, Well optional: Cells |
Theme: Stronghold¶
High curtain walls around two yards, a Keep at the center, a single fortified Gatehouse as the main entrance. Held by a Lord, a Warden, or a Constable. A Stronghold may stand alone in the wild as a border keep, form the whole of a Stronghold settlement, or sit at the top of a great city as its Citadel.
| Scale | Creatures | Features | Locations |
|---|---|---|---|
| Installation | Garrison, Lord's Household (Lord or Warden with staff) optional: Court, Chaplain |
Curtain Walls, Portcullis at Gatehouse optional: Moat, Sallyport (hidden postern) |
Gatehouse, Great Keep, Great Hall, Barracks, Armory, Stables, Kitchens, Well, Chapel, Dungeon, Strongroom optional: Tombs of the Kings, Garden |
Theme: Penal Work Camp¶
Labor camp for convicts under armed guard. Warden's keep at the gate, guards' barracks along the wall, convicts' barracks deeper in, and a work pit (quarry, mine, or dig site) where the convicts labor. A Warden runs discipline; the crown or lord pays the tab and takes the output.
| Scale | Creatures | Features | Locations |
|---|---|---|---|
| Installation | Warden, 2-3 Sergeants, 4-6 Squads, 40-80 Convicts, Support Staff | Palisade or Curtain Wall, Watch Bell, Watch Fire | Gate, Warden's Keep, Barracks, Convict Barracks, Mess Hall, Well, Work Pit |
Theme: Prison¶
Walled penal compound holding convicts under sentence. Warden runs discipline; permanent guard staff live on-site. Where a Penal Work Camp works its convicts at labor, a Prison holds them for terms.
| Scale | Creatures | Features | Locations |
|---|---|---|---|
| Installation | Warden, 2-4 Sergeants, 6-10 Squads, 100-300 Prisoners, Chaplain, Support Staff | Curtain Wall, Watch Bell, Watch Fire | Prison |
Details¶
Creatures¶
Ambassador. See Rulers: Ambassador.
Attaché. A staff officer at a Foreign Compound: military attaché, commercial attaché, cultural attaché, cipher clerk. Uses the Professional or Noble stat block. Loot: ledger and sealed dispatches keyed to specialty; badge of office (25 gp); 3d10 gp coin purse.
Castellan. See Rulers: Castellan.
Chaplain. See The Faithful: Chaplain.
Clerk. See Rulers: Clerk.
Commander. The Fort's Commander. See Military: Garrison (theme).
Constable. The Outpost's ranking officer. See Military: Garrison (theme).
Convict. A laborer sentenced to work the camp, or a prisoner held on term. Uses the Commoner stat block, or Thug for a hardened prisoner. Unarmed, lightly clothed, manacled when moved. Loot: rag clothes; manacles when moved.
Court. See Rulers: Court.
Customs Officer. The Border Crossing's Steward. Uses the Professional stat block, or Noble for a wealthy or politically important crossing. See Rulers: Steward (theme). Loot: signet, badge of office (25 gp), keys to the Customs Hall vault, 3d10 gp coin purse.
Garrison. See Military: Garrison (theme). The fortification's standing armed force; quartered in the Barracks, drilled in the yards.
Lieutenant. See Military: Lieutenant.
Lord. See Rulers: Lord, and Rulers: Court for a Lord with his Court.
Lord's Household. See Households: Aristocratic Household (theme). An aristocratic household under a Lord or Warden: chamberlain, attendants, servants, household knights.
Patrol. A team of guards patrolling an area. 1 Sergeant and 10 Guards. Loot: as stat blocks; 2d10 gp shared.
Prisoners. Convicts, ransom prisoners, or captives held in the Dungeon or Cells. Uses the Commoner stat block, or Thug for a hardened prisoner. Loot: rag clothes, manacles when moved.
Scouts. See Military: Scouts.
Servants. See Households: Servants.
Squad. A small team of 5 Guards. Loot: as stat blocks; 1d10 gp shared.
Support Staff. Cooks, medics, quartermasters, hostlers, armorers, stable hands. Uses the Commoner or Professional stat block.
Warden. See Rulers: Warden.
Features¶
Curtain Wall. Stone or masonry wall around the installation, 20 to 40 feet tall, thick enough to walk atop; battlements along the wall walk; towers at intervals for flanking fire. DC 20 to 22 Strength (Athletics) to climb the exterior. Simple fortifications have a single ring; grand strongholds have two, with the inner wall taller.
Moat. A ditch encircling the outer wall, often flooded. 10 to 20 feet across and 8 to 12 feet deep. Crossed by a drawbridge at the Gatehouse.
Palisade. 10-foot timber or earth wall around the compound, sharpened at the top, wall-walk on the inside for defenders. DC 15 Strength (Athletics) to climb. Used by lighter installations that don't warrant a stone wall.
Personality. Persistent trait. d6: 1 formal (protocol first; refuses meetings without proper procedure); 2 open (welcoming; hosts locals, cultivates goodwill); 3 aloof (staff keeps to itself; the compound is a piece of home in exile); 4 factional (attaches to a party at court; opposes another); 5 embattled (relations with the host power are strained; the compound is on quiet alert); 6 corrupt (the Ambassador or Attachés run a private enterprise on the side).
Portcullis at Gatehouse. Iron grille that drops on chain from within. Once dropped, requires the winch and two men a full round to raise; can be raised only from inside the Gatehouse. In an assault, defenders drop it behind attackers who have breached the outer door, trapping them in the killing space beneath.
Sallyport. A small hidden postern door in the outer wall, low and narrow, screened by masonry outside. Used for silent sortie during siege; the classic infiltration point for someone with a bribed guard or a lockpick.
Watch Bell. Heavy iron bell at the gate or in a tower. Rung at attack, fire, or major arrivals. Loot: the bell is worth 30 gp pried down and hauled.
Watch Fire. Raised iron brazier on the wall or tower. Kept lit through night watch. Signal to distant posts.
Locations¶
Armory. Weapons and armor storage for the garrison. Rows of spears, stacked shields, chests of arrows, racks of chainmail. DC 18 Dexterity check to pick the door lock; the Sergeant carries the key. Loot: 20 to 40 sets of weapons and shields (2 gp each), 10 to 20 sets of chainmail (75 gp each), 2 to 4 crates of arrows (1 gp each); a few finer pieces reserved for the Lord.
Attaché Offices. Workrooms for the Attachés (military, commercial, cultural, cipher). Each has a desk, a locking chest, and sealed dispatches. Loot: ledgers and dispatches keyed to specialty; badges of office; locking chests with 2d10 gp each.
Barracks. The garrison's quarters. Long low buildings against the inner face of the outer curtain, wooden bunks in rows, personal chests at each foot. Off-duty soldiers dice and drink; on-duty are on the walls or at the Gatehouse. When the building is used by a Militia instead of a full-time garrison, it serves as a Muster Hall: no bunks; a long room with a hearth; racks of spears and shields along the walls; when the horn blows, villagers gather here to arm and receive orders. Loot: personal effects, spare arrows and quarrels, spare weapons on the racks, dice and cards, each bunk's kit; a Muster Hall holds militia weapons (5d20 gp value) but no bunk kits.
Cells. A simple block of two to eight iron-barred cells cut into the rock below the Great Keep or the Gatehouse. Straw on the stone floor, a slop bucket per cell. A guard station at the entrance with an iron door and a rack of manacles. Prisoners are held for ransom, questioning, or the Lord's justice. Loot: guard's keys, prisoners' confiscated valuables in a locked chest, a register of who is being held and why.
Convict Barracks. Long low building with barred windows and a locked door. Straw pallets in rows; single latrine at the back. Convicts sleep here, locked in from dusk to dawn. Loot: none of note; the barracks' key on the Sergeant's belt.
Customs Hall. Where inspections happen. A long room with tables, scales, crates for confiscated goods, and a strongbox for the day's toll receipts. Loot: day's tolls (5d10 gp on a slow crossing, 5d100 gp on a busy one); confiscated goods; the Customs Officer's records; the vault key on the Customs Officer's belt.
Chapel. A functional religious space for the installation's people. Altar of local stone, benches or kneelers, a candle rack, a devotional flame, small bell tower. Loot: silver chalice and paten, altar cloths, illuminated devotional book (25 gp total).
Dungeon. A proper prison cut into the rock below the Great Keep, extensive enough to hold prisoners on the Lord's warrant for long terms:
- Guard station: iron door at the entrance; rack of manacles and keys; small hearth; two Guards on watch at all times.
- Cell block: two to eight barred cells, straw on stone, a slop bucket per cell. Barred windows at ground level if any; otherwise no natural light.
- Interrogation room: optional. A room off the guard station with a heavy chair, iron rings in the walls, tools of the questioner's trade. Used at the Lord's writ.
- Oubliette: optional. A sealed shaft dropping to a windowless pit cell, opened only from above. Reserved for the most dangerous or forgotten prisoners.
- Records niche: a locked chest or shelf with the register of who is being held, on whose warrant, and for how long. Some entries date back generations.
Loot: guard's keys, prisoners' confiscated valuables in a locked chest, the register of prisoners (blackmail material and heirloom claims).
Embassy Hall. Central reception and workspace: formal receiving room, an office, a records room, the Ambassador's residence on the upper floor. Loot: the Ambassador's regalia (250 gp); the Embassy treasury (5d100 gp) behind a strong lock; sealed dispatches (blackmail material); ceremonial gifts from the home power.
Garden. A walled garden within the yard. At a Stronghold, formal beds around a fountain or a symbolic tree: political value, not tactical. At a Foreign Compound, a piece of home in exile: specimen plants brought from the home country, sometimes a fountain, sometimes a small dovecote.
Gate. A wall gate: timber or iron-banded doors set in a plain stone or masonry frame, sometimes with a small guardroom attached. Two garrison soldiers on watch at the door; the on-duty Sergeant checks who enters. Wall at the gate is the standard Curtain Wall or Palisade for the installation; the doors bar from within. Loot: duty roster, gate keys, watch horn.
Gatehouse. A fortified two-story building at the wall (three at grand strongholds), with an arched passage through the ground floor:
- Outer door and passage: the heavy iron-banded outer door opens onto an arched stone passage. Two garrison soldiers on watch at the door; the passage is a killing space when the outer door is breached and the Portcullis dropped behind attackers.
- Guardroom: off the passage on the ground floor. Rack of weapons, small hearth, a table for dice and duty rosters. The on-duty Sergeant sits here.
- Murder-hole gallery: the floor above the passage. Openings in the floor for boiling oil, crossbow bolts, or rocks dropped on whoever is in the passage below.
- Winch room: where the Portcullis is raised and lowered. The winch takes two men and a full round; the chains are inside the wall.
- Captain's quarters: optional. The Captain of the Guard's chamber and private office on an upper floor. Small hearth, a bed, a locking chest, arrow slits over the approach.
- Roof and battlements: the top of the Gatehouse. Battlements for defense; a signal fire; arrow slits facing outward and toward the yard.
Loot: duty roster, gate keys, watch horn, oil pots, spare crossbow bolts; small cashbox for gate-toll receipts (2d10 gp); the Captain's personal effects and coin purse.
Great Hall. A long stone hall, high timbered roof, hearths at each end. The Lord holds court, feasts, and receives visitors from the high table at the far end; retainers eat at the low tables running down the room. Tapestries or hunting trophies on the walls. Loot: silver plate on the high table when the Lord is in residence, tapestries, wine from the cellar below.
Great Keep. A multi-story stone tower at the heart of the compound. Three to six stories tall with walls up to 12 feet thick. In a siege, everyone retreats here:
- Great door and vestibule: the heavy iron-banded front door at the base of the tower. A guardroom just inside; the porter checks who enters.
- Audience hall: ground floor. Where the Commander or Lord receives officers, couriers, and visiting officials. Long table, banners of the garrison and its liege, a small dais at the far end.
- War room or private study: off the audience hall. Maps on the walls and table at a Fort; the Lord's private study at a Stronghold.
- Records room: ledgers, correspondence, muster rolls, requisition books. The senior Clerk or Chamberlain holds the key.
- Strongroom: the household treasury and archive. See the Strongroom entry.
- Commander's or Lord's quarters: private apartment on the upper floors. Sleeping room, small hearth, private hall for the Lord's family.
- Officers' or knights' quarters: private quarters on a lower floor of the tower. Lieutenants and senior Sergeants at a Fort; household knights at a Stronghold.
- Dungeon or Cells entrance: optional. A trapdoor or staircase in the ground-floor stores leading down to the cells.
- Interior stair: the spiral or straight stair connecting the floors. Defensible; hard to rush.
- Roof and battlements: the top of the keep. Battlements for defense; a signal fire; the flag of the garrison or Lord's colors. Highest lookout in the compound.
Loot: the Lord's or Commander's personal effects (fine clothes, wine cellar, private correspondence, 5d10 gp coin purse); ceremonial armor and sword on display in the audience hall (250 gp); the fort's or household's records (blackmail material or campaign intelligence); the Strongroom's contents (see that entry).
Guest Quarters. Richly appointed rooms for visiting diplomats, couriers, and dignitaries from the home power. Loot: fine linens, personal effects of guests in residence.
Kennels. Housing for the household's dogs (hunting hounds, war dogs, guard dogs). The houndsman sleeps adjacent. Loot: collars and leashes, hunting horn, dog treats and rations.
Kitchens. The cook's domain. Large open hearth, spit rack, dough tables, root cellar below. Serves the Great Hall on feast days and the household daily. Kitchen boys sleep beside the banked fires. Loot: brewed ale in the cellar, spice cupboard, kitchen knives (which the boys will fight to keep).
Mess Hall. Long room with tables and benches, hearth, kitchen adjacent. Where the garrison eats. Loot: stores, cookware.
Officers' Quarters. Housing for the garrison's officers, distinct from the enlisted Barracks. Private rooms with bed, writing table, small hearth, and a locking chest; a small mess; a locked strongbox for the officers' pay and records. Loot: personal effects, better wine and gear than the barracks, the officer's records, strongbox behind a strong lock (5d100 gp).
Parade Ground. Packed dirt or gravel area where the garrison musters, drills, and holds ceremonial displays. Weapon racks along one edge, armor stands, a drill ring; flagpole at the center; the Great Keep or Officers' Quarters overlooking. Larger and more formal at a Palace Precinct or grand Stronghold, where the ground hosts reviews and public shows of strength. Loot: weapons and armor kits at the ready racks.
Stables. Horse stalls for the household mounts, the Lord's warhorses, and the garrison's cavalry if any. Grooms sleep in a loft above the stalls; hay and grain lofted above the grooms. Farrier's forge in an attached shed. Loot: tack and saddles (25 gp per set), spare horseshoes, riding horses (75 gp each), war horses (400 gp each).
Staff Quarters. Small rooms off a central corridor for Clerks and Servants. A common hall for meals. Loot: personal effects, livery.
Strongroom. A vaulted stone chamber within the Great Keep, iron door, one key held by the Chamberlain and one by the Lord. Holds the household treasury (coined and uncoined gold and silver, jewels, valuable plate), important records (rent rolls, charters, correspondence, marriage contracts, wills), and small valuable items the Lord will not trust to any other room. Loot: 2d6 × 100 gp in coin plus a few named heirloom pieces (jewelry, plate, ceremonial arms); the household's records.
Tombs of the Kings. A vaulted crypt beneath the Great Keep or in a separate stone building. In a royal-seat Stronghold, extensive and tended by a small Order:
- Antechamber: the entrance chamber, plain and cold. A small altar for the ministering Priest, a rack for the funerary tapers, a locked iron door leading down.
- Main crypt: the great vaulted chamber. Effigies of past Lords or Kings on stone biers along the walls; some tombs sealed with the deceased's name and dates cut into the lid, some open with the body laid in state.
- Side chapels: one per named dynasty or noble house buried here. Smaller vaulted chambers off the main crypt; the current Lord's line has its own.
- Sealed lower vault: optional. A stair descending to an older, sealed level. Reserved for the founding line, or the disgraced, or the dangerous dead.
- Guardian tomb: optional. One tomb known to be warded (against grave-robbers, against something worse). The Priest of the Order will not name what is warded, or why.
Loot: funerary offerings on the biers (silver, jewelry, ceremonial arms); regalia laid on named effigies (crowns, chains of office, ceremonial swords: 250 gp to 2,500 gp each); the sealed vault's contents at the DM's discretion. Some pieces are cursed if disturbed; some simply valuable.
Watchtower. 30 to 40 foot stone tower on the wall or standing alone. Signal fire and horn at the top for alarm. DC 20 Strength (Athletics) to climb the exterior. Loot: the signal horn (10 gp); tools and supplies for a watchman's shift.
Inn. See Hospitality: Inn. A small inn at the Border Crossing, for travelers waiting for customs to open or clear.
Prison. See Civic Facilities: Prison.
Warden's Keep. Small fortified building at the gate with a heavy door, an office, a records room, and the Warden's quarters. Loot: signet or badge (25 gp), keys, records of all sentences and payments, treasury with 2d100 gp.
Well. See Civic Facilities: Well.
Work Pit. Quarry, mine, or dig site where convicts labor. Timber props, tool sheds, water buckets. Guards on the rim watching. Loot: ore or stone in progress (2d20 gp value); tools (20-40 gp).