Ajan wrote:
>>so the old forts used to be a fortified law holding, but how to handle it now?
should this be handled as a fortified holding, if yes, who pays for it?
or should it be handled as a fortified province?<<

Generally, I`d say just because there`s an old crumbling fort lying around does not mean that any holding based there is fortified. I`d rule that the players would have to decide for themselves whether they want to fortify their holdings or build a castle on this site and they would have to pay the full cost. If I feel generous I might reduce the cost somewhat to take this structure into account. Then again, maybe the rebuilding could afford additional costs, e.g. some parts of the castle are so ruined that they must be dismantled before any building can occur.

Here are the reasons for this:

Some of the Player`s secrets book (I have Talinie in mind) show drawings of law holdings which clearly depict some sort of defensive structure (walls, towers etc.) without the holding being fortified.
I`d reason that this would provide some protection and cover for troops /guards stationed there, but to make the holding truly fortified, there must be more. You need additional manpower, a larger stock of weapons up to and including siege weapons and provisions. The costs for fortifying a holding or maintaining a castle reflect these additional costs as well, not just the costs of the buildings. As far as I recall a castle counts as being defended from at least one unit, even if no troops are present. This would mean that a sizeable garrison would be always present at the castle.

So, all in all this boils down to one question:

What do you want the fort to be? To quote the extremes, you could rule that the PCs have to start from scratch or that the watch already had improved the fort to a sizeable castle when the PCs took over.

Just my two cents,
Christoph Tiemann

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