Castles

[Rowan]

I'm not sure Great Captain events need be more common; I do like Kgauck's loyalty point. However, I think both DMs and players need to have a good idea of what wars and rebellions look like. Under standard BR rules, rebellions are pretty hopeless things for the rebels, just nuisances to the regents. Seizure of a castle under such new rules makes it a much bigger deal. In fact, any rebellions and Great Captain events that do occur are likely to start with a castle or two, if possible.

As for warfare during the seasons, I agree that this is something greatly lacking (for obviously rules simplicity reasons) from BR rules. Then again, the lack of harvest times and so forth is also something of a problem. This could again be handled by variant rules. For instance:

Summer (south of the Aelvinnwode and similar lateral line across Cerilia): Add 1 to movement cost of travel unless it is along a river or highway (heat exhaustion being a problem). North of this point, no change.

Fall (if optional logistics rules are proposed): Forage alone can sustain armies for twice as long without supply chains (4 weeks)

Spring (again if optional logistic rules such as outlined previously are in play): Forage can only sustain units for half as long (1 week)

Winter: Subtract 2 from all morale ratings. If snow or blizzard during the week, all travel shifts one step to the left on movement chart (highways act only like roads, roads like trackless, trackless become impassable to armies). Units in fortifications ignore the impact to morale.

Depending on how detailed you want to get, there would also be strategic modifiers for special terrain (desert, tundra, mountains), and of course soldiers fighting our of their normal climate would suffer the penalties outlined in BRCS tactics (Anuireans are not used to a Rjurik winter). I don't think terrain is different enough in Anuire to warrant additional complication.

[The Swordgaunt]

The idea of masking a fortress (putting enough of a siege to bottle up the defenders) and moving forward is pretty standard. Later on, as armies got larger, it became very common.

First, this is a brilliant thread!

Then to the issue. KG, If I could suggest a way to resolve a masking action, I'd say that for an attacker to effectively isolate a fortification, he would have to detach at least one unit per fortification level. I'd also suggest that one of these must be cavalry. This is important in such an action due to the need for screening and foraging.

This opens for another aspect of tactics, namely the relief of besieged fortifications. If the besieging force is under threat, the whole scenario can hinge upon a single battle fought while the heroes (or villains) are elsewhere. Further, if an attacker does not confront any fortification, but opts for masking every time, a large portion of his army will end up scattered and tied down. In fact, more than one war has been lost in this manner.

As for complexity of the fortification rules, I have been using a tactical value of my forts. Once a castle is constructed, the Master Mason rolls a Warcraft skill roll. In short, this gives the fortress a Siege DC. Now to effectively lay siege, a commander must roll against this DC. The result of the roll will determine any penalties or bonuses for the attacker for the next turn. There is a table involved... Not a smooth-flowing system, I know, but I like it. And with the aspect of masking actions (thanks, KG, for pointing it out) I can see a war being even more fun.

[kgauck]

I'd say that for an attacker to effectively isolate a fortification, he would have to detach at least one unit per fortification level. I'd also suggest that one of these must be cavalry.

Excellent observation. I totally agree.

As for complexity of the fortification rules, I have been using a tactical value of my forts. Once a castle is constructed, the Master Mason rolls a Warcraft skill roll. In short, this gives the fortress a Siege DC.

There is a mechanic in the Medieval Players Handbook which is for artists creating a masterpiece which I think would apply here. The rules are designed for artists, of which architecture is an art, but they look to establishing DC's and such for art effects. However its not even a half-step to use the same mechanics for an engineering purpose, setting a siege DC.

There are two phases, inspiration and perspiration. In the first phase, the engineer needs to devise a plan to make a good castle. It is a standard skill check against a DC of 25. One could use Siegecraft, Profession (Engineer), Craft (Stone Mason) or whatever you have selected as the key skill. If this check succeeds, the engineer has an idea for a castle in the location selected. I would back the ability to make checks down to once a week. The result of this check, as you have already mentioned, sets the DC for the project. But instead of a single roll, the engineer can choose to continue to reflect on the problem and devise new plans, making a new check every week until satisfied with the DC. This can establish a very high DC.

The second phase, perspiration requires making a series of checks to equal the Inspiration DC squared. These checks have a DC of the Inspiration check minus 10. The amount by which you succeed is added to the "Perspiration Total" and the amount you fail by is subtracted from it.

Example:
Linnias Fhoruile is an engineer hired by Aeric Boeruine to plan and execute a fortress in Redoubt. He looks over the strategic and tactical situation, and starts to work. Once a week he makes an Inspiration Check. He has 20 ranks in the skill Craft (Stone Mason) and an INT of 19. He envisions mutually supporting towers with interlocking fields of fire. He has found a good location with a steep approach. He gets a +24 to his weekly check, but waits ten weeks until he gets a really fine result, a 42. He wants his fortress to be invincible.

Phase 2, Perspiration. The DC for this phase is 32, ten less than the inspiration DC. The castle is completed when the build time is reached, and when the perspiration total reaches 1754. This project will take at two and a half years because of the DC alone. Executing a really fine castle requires solving problems in practice. Of course you could roll every day, but for ease, assume he takes 10, and will gain 2 perspiration points a day. The project takes 877 days. This castle has a defense DC of 42.