Buildings

• Abandoned Buildings
• Augmentations & Fortifications
• Exotic Strongholds
• Buildings In the Kingdom
• Siege Warfare & Buildings

You improve settlements by constructing buildings, which provide bonuses to the kingdom in general and the settlement in particular. Some buildings also intersect with the mass combat rules, notably with fortifications and reserve armies.

Demolition: If a lot has a building, you can clear it for new construction. Doing so costs 1 BP. You may construct a building on a lot the same turn you demolish the old building there. You do not regain BP for a demolished building (but see Rebuilding, below).

Destroyed Lots: If an event or a pillaging army destroys 1 or more lots, the devastation causes Unrest to increase by 1 per lot destroyed.

Rebuilding: If you rebuild the same type of building on a destroyed lot, the cost is halved, as you can reuse some of the materials for the same purpose. If you rebuild a different type of building on that lot, reduce the cost of the new building by 1/4 the cost of the old building (minimum 1 BP). If you build smaller buildings on top of a site that held a multi-lot building, split the discount evenly over the new buildings. For example, if you demolish an Academy and construct a Mansion and a Luxury Store on top of those lots, each building gets a 6 BP discount (1/4 of 52 BP is 13, divided evenly between the two).

Building Descriptions

Buildings are described in the following format.

Building Name: The type of buildings contained in this lot. In most cases, each lot represents numerous buildings of that type, rather than a single edifice.

Cost: The cost in BP to construct the building.

Lots: How many lots the building fills.

Kingdom: Building modifiers to Economy, Loyalty, and Stability stack, affect your entire kingdom, and are ongoing from turn to turn. Modifiers to Unrest occur once when the building is completed. This category also lists any bonuses to Fame (see Fame and Infamy) from having the building.

Discount: Some buildings halve the cost of constructing a related type of building in the same settlement. This cost reduction applies only to the first constructed building of the types listed in this line. For example, an Academy halves the cost of your next Library in that settlement; if you build a second Library in that settlement, you pay the normal cost for it. If 2 buildings give the same discount, only one discount applies per new building, but you may construct 2 buildings at the discounted cost. For example, Market and Theater both halve the cost of an Inn; if your settlement has a Market and a Theater, you may construct 2 Inns at half cost (the Market discounts one, and the Theater discounts the other).

Limit: This lists limitations on the number of buildings of this type, special requirements for adjacent buildings, or prohibitions against certain buildings being adjacent.

For most buildings, you can construct as many of them as you want in a settlement, but some are limited in the number that can be built per settlement or district. For example, you can only construct 1 Arena per settlement.

Some buildings require that you construct them adjacent to at least 1 or 2 of a specific kind of building or feature of the settlement. For example, a Shop or Tavern must be adjacent to a House or Mansion. The required adjacent building can only count toward 1 building that requires it. For example, if you have a House and a Shop, that House can’t be used to meet the requirement for another Shop or a Tavern; you have to construct a new House and use it to meet the requirement of the new Shop or Tavern.

Some buildings cannot be adjacent to certain buildings. For example, you can’t construct a Tannery next to a House, Mansion, Noble Villa, or Tenement. If you want to use a lot for this type of building, you must demolish all prohibited adjacent structures first (see Demolition).

If you get overzealous in constructing a particular type of building in a settlement, the GM should feel free to add events to discourage this practice. For example, a settlement with too many Dumps is prone to otyugh and wererat attacks, and a settlement with too many Graveyards tends to have frequent undead attacks. This should not occur, however, if you build too many Houses, Parks, Tenements, or Waterways.

Upgrade To/From: Some buildings can be converted into a more advanced form of the existing building, such as converting a Shrine into a Temple. To upgrade a building, pay the BP cost difference between the current building and the new building. Remove the modifiers from the old building and apply the modifiers from the new building. Upgrading counts as constructing a building for the purpose of the maximum number of buildings you can construct on your turn. You can’t upgrade a building to a larger one if there isn’t space in the District Grid for the building’s new size. Special: This lists any other effect the building has, such as increasing Defense, the settlement’s base value, or the output of a nearby Mine.

Magic Items: This lists any magic item slot the building creates, which may be filled in the Upkeep Phase (see Magic Items in Settlements). If a building lists multiple options within a category (such as “1 minor potion or wondrous item”), it has an equal chance for each option.

Settlement: This lists settlement modifiers that affect specific skills within the settlement. These modifiers are ongoing from turn to turn, but apply only to skill checks within that settlement (not other settlements in the hex or anywhere else in your kingdom). Note that GMG also uses a settlement statistic called Economy; to avoid confusion with the Economy kingdom score, this book renames the Economy settlement statistic “Productivity.”

Rooms and Buildings

Room Features

Rooms are defined by their type, the quality of their furnishings, their construction materials, and any augmentations which have been applied to the room.

Type

This determines the purpose of the room and the typical contents.

Furnishings

The quality of furnishings in a room are typically indicative of the wealth of the owner and can have a drastic impact on the room’s ability to earn capital. The different quality levels are Destitute, Poor, Average, Wealthy, and Extravagant.

If a character has rooms with lower quality furnishings than their standard of living, they apply a -2 penalty per level of difference to all Diplomacy skill checks against characters who know of the room, as people assume they’re just ‘flashing cash’ rather than making a long-term effort to integrate into the community.

Conversely, if a character has rooms with higher quality furnishings than their standard of living, they apply a -2 penalty per level of difference to all Bluff skill checks against characters who know of the room, as people assume they’re lying about more than just how wealthy they are.

Table 1-1: Furnishing Quality

Quality	Cost*	Effect
Destitute	-6 goods, -4 labor (-200 gp); -3 days	-5 on the room’s earnings check to generate capital
Poor	-3 goods, -2 labor (-100gp); -2 days	-2 on the room’s earnings check to generate capital
Average	–	–
Wealthy	9 goods, 6 labor (300gp); 20 days	+5 on room’s earnings check to generate capital
Extravagant	18 goods, 12 labor (600gp); 20 days	+10 on room’s earnings check to generate capital

*: The cost of a room may never be lower than zero for any type of capital, and all rooms take at least 1 day to build.

Materials

Rooms are assumed to be made of wood (wooden walls, wooden floors, wooden ceiling), but there are a wide variety of alternative options available, ranging from paper or hide, all the way to solid adamantine.

The following table provides details of the various materials from which a room can be constructed. A wall segment is a 10-foot-by-10-foot section of wall with the appropriate thickness. A room’s floor and ceiling are constructed of the same material as the walls, and do not factor into the cost of the room.

Material: The material the walls of the building are constructed from.

Thickness: A wall constructed of this material is typically this thick.

Hardness: The hardness of the material

HP (HP per inch): The number of hit points a wall of typical thickness has, as well as the hit points per inch of thickness for the material, if a wall of differing thickness is used.

Cost (gp/lb): The cost in gp of 1 lb of the material.

Cost (gp/wall segment): The cost in gp of a single 10’ x 10’ wall segment.

Goods cost (per wall segment): The cost in goods capital for a single 10’ x 10’ wall segment.

Labor Factor: The labor cost of the room is multiplied by this factor. Higher factors represent materials that either require special handling (for example fragile materials such as glass) or are significantly harder to work (such as adamantine).

Time Factor: The time cost of the room is multiplied by this factor. Materials that are harder to obtain or take more time to turn into a useful form for building generally have a higher time factor.

Room Augmentations

Rooms may be constructed with various additional features which improve the function of the room.

Doors

Doors in a building are usually simple wooden doors, with one or more good wooden doors leading to the outside (these do not cost anything). In addition to the fortification augmentation, individual doors may be upgraded for the cost of 1/4 the cost of a wall section of the door’s material. Larger doors may be constructed to accommodate larger creatures and objects, and the cost increases based on the space of a creature that may fit through without squeezing, x4 for Large, x9 for Huge, x16 for Gargantuan, and x25 for Colossal.

Door, Concealed

Benefit(s) a door which is not obviously a door Create 1 goods, 2 labor (60 gp); Time 2 days; Size none

A less sophisticated version of the Secret Door augmentation, a concealed door is in plain view but isn’t what it appears to be. Examples of this include a hinged bookcase, or a door which exactly matches the wooden paneling of the room. Normally when a Concealed Door is discovered, it is possible to open it with no special effort (unless it’s locked). Like Secret Doors, if a Concealed Door is concealed from both sides, it must be paid for separately for each side. A concealed door requires a DC 20 Perception check to identify. Every 1 goods, 2 labor above the base cost of the augmentation adds +1 to the DC.

Door, Secret

Benefit(s) a hidden door with a hidden opening mechanism

Create 2 goods, 3 labor (100 gp); Time 3 days; Size none

A Secret Door is a hidden exit from a room, generally requiring manipulation of a mechanism in another part of the room.

Examples of this include a hidden button inside the bust of a famous bard on the table opening a sliding door behind a bookcase, or the almost ubiquitous tilting a book to open a door nearby. For the cost listed above the Secret Door is only secret from one side – if the other side is also to be a secret door, it must be paid for separately. A DC 20 Perception check can find a secret door, and another DC 20 Perception check will find the opening mechanism. Every 2 goods, 3 labor (100 gp) above the base cost increases the DC of both checks by +1.

Fortification

Benefit(s) increase room’s durability

Create 8 goods, 7 labor (300 gp); Time 30 days; Size As original room

Fortification, Improved

Benefit(s) increase room’s durability

Create 16 goods, 14 labor (600 gp); Time 30 days; Size As original room

This augmentation can be applied to any room, heavily reinforcing walls, adding iron-bound doors, and treating materials to resist fire. All walls have their hardness increased by +5, doors are iron doors (hardness 10, 60 hit points), and the walls and floors gain fire resistance 10. Like the fortification augmentation, this has no effect on the contents of the room, only the structure.

Table 1-2: Wall Materials Cost

Material Thickness (ft)*	Hardness	HP (HP per inch)	Cost (gp/lb)	Cost (gp/wall segment)	Goods cost (per wall segment)	Labor Factor	Time Factor
Paper	0.0025	0	1 (12)	2.5	0.25	0.013	1	1
Glass	0.04	1	1 (2)	1	640	32	2	1
Viridium$	0.04	7	7 (15)	40	25600	1280	2	2
Viridium (magically strengthened)	0.04	7	7 (15)	290	185600	9280	2	2
Cloth	0.02	1	3 (15)	0.1	1.11	0.056	1	1
Darkleaf Cloth	0.02	10	5 (20)	375	4160	208	1	1
Griffon Mane	0.02	1	6 (30)	250	2775	138.75	1	1
Hide	0.04	2	7 (15)	0.006	32.4	1.62	1	1
Angelskin	0.04	5	3 (5)	100	21600	1080	1	1
Dragonhide	0.04	10	5 (10)	9	1944	97.2	1	1
Eelhide	0.04	2	3 (5)	120	25920	1296	1	1
Sod	1	7	60 (5)	–	–	–	1	2
Thatch	1	3	96 (8)	0.01	1.25	0.0625	1	1
Wood	0.5	5	60 (10)	0.005	10	0.5	1	1
Darkwood	0.5	5	60 (10)	80	80000	4000	1	1
Greenwood	0.5	5	60 (10)	50	100000	5000	1	1
Whipwood	0.5	5	90 (15)	125	250000	12500	2	3
Wyroot	0.08	5	10 (10)	250	40000	2000	1	1
Unworked Stone	5	8	900 (15)	–	–	–	–	–
Hewn Stone	3	8	540 (15)	–	–	–	1	1
Drystone wall	1	8	90 (8)	–	–	–	2	1
Thin Masonry	0.5	8	45 (8)	0.05	255	12.75	2	1
Masonry	1	8	90 (8)	0.05	850	42.5	2	2
Superior Masonry	1	8	90 (8)	0.05	850	42.5	3	2
Reinforced Masonry	1	8	180 (15)	0.075	1350	67.5	2	3
Blood Crystal	0.08	10	10 (10)	500	600000	30000	2	2
Iron	0.25	10	90 (30)	0.1	1225	61.25	1	3
Lead	0.02	3	7 (30)	0.05	71	3.54	1	1
Adamantine	0.08	20	40 (40)	300	1225000	45937.5	3	3
Alchemical Silver	0.08	8	10 (10)	10	55675	2783.75	2	3
Elysian Bronze	0.08	10	30 (30)	100	556750	27837.5	2	3
Fire-forged Steel	0.08	10	30 (30)	75	417562.5	20878.125	2	3
Frost-forged Steel	0.08	10	30 (30)	75	417562.5	20878.125	2	3
Living Steel	0.08	15	35 (35)	50	278375	13918.75	3	3
Mithral	0.08	15	30 (30)	500†	1952000	97600	2	3
Force Field	–	30	20 (-)	–	40,000	400M	1	1
Magically Treated**	–	X2	X2‡	X2	X2	††	–	–

*: 0.25 feet is 3 inches, 0.08 feet is 1 inch, 0.04 feet is 1/2 inch, 0.02 feet is 1/4 inch, 0.0025 is 1/32 inch

**: This may be applied to any of the other wall types.

$: Viridium is an extremely dangerous building material. Unless the wall is also a composite wall made of lead, anyone who stays inside the room for 24 hours contracts leprosy (no save). This time does not have to be consecutive.

†: Mithral weighs half as much as iron, and costs 500gp per lb of an equivalent iron object.

††: An additional amount of magic capital equal to 1/5 the goods capital cost of the base wall needs to be paid.

‡: Or an additional 50 hit points, whichever is greater

M: This is paid for with magical capital, rather than goods.

Note: Materials without a cost are generally not obtainable by trade and must be obtained from the natural environment.

Furnishings

Furnishings are now a separate feature of a room, rather than an augmentation, see Furnishings (above).

Spell

Spells with a duration greater than instantaneous can be set to affect entire rooms. Treat these as continuous use wondrous items (base price of 2,000 gp times spell level times caster level) but the effects of the spell do not extend beyond the room, and automatically affect all creatures inside the room (spell resistance and saving throws still apply, and only need to be checked when a creature first enters the room – if the creature leaves and re-enters the room, check spell resistance and/or make any saving throw again).

Some spells that are commonly set into rooms include the following, with the price given in parentheses – magic capital may be used to pay for these at the normal rate: antimagic field (198,000 gp), break enchantment (90,000 gp), darkvision (12,000), delay poison (12,000 gp), detect magic (2,000 gp), detect scrying (28,000 gp), dispel magic (30,000), enlarge person (4,000 gp), freedom of movement (84,000 gp), haste (120,000 gp), invisibility (24,000), invisibility purge (30,000 gp), nondetection (32,500 gp), read magic (1,500 gp), reduce person (4,000 gp), sanctuary (8,000 gp), see invisibility (18,000 gp), slow (120,000 gp), tongues (45,000 gp), true seeing (276,500 gp), zone of truth (24,000 gp), It is also possible to use the permanency spell to create permanent magical effects in a room. See the permanency spell for details and costs.

Conditional Spells: In addition to having spells which are permanently in place within rooms, it is also possible to have a spell augmentation that triggers only when certain conditions are met. Conditional spell augmentations cost twice as much as a normal spell augmentation, but the owner can select the triggering conditions per the contingency spell and may specify who or what is and is not affected by the augmentation. Once selected, the trigger conditions and targets may not be changed.

Trap

See ###LINK### for the costs involved in installing traps in rooms you create.

Buildings

Buildings are combinations of rooms which are physically connected. The term “building” in these rules applies to the entire collection of rooms as a whole. Like rooms, buildings can be constructed of different materials, typically more durable than the interior construction. Further, buildings may have augmentations which apply to the entire building.

Calculating The Approximate Size of a Building

Many players will want to precisely map out the exact detail of their buildings, the placement of each room within it, which floor the rooms are on, and where the hallways and corridors run. Some would rather estimate the precise details, rather than getting involved in that level of detail.

As a shorthand, it is possible to approximate the external dimensions of a building, below are two ways of getting a close enough figure – method 1 should be used if you have not decided on the number of squares each room of the building actually occupies, otherwise use method 2.

Method 1

Add together the minimum room sizes for all rooms on one floor of the building. Multiply this by 7.4.

Calculate the square root of this number, rounding up to the nearest whole number.

This is the number of 10’ wall sections the building uses.

Example: Kulvinder has decided that she wants her character to own a bank.

A basic bank consists of 1 guard post, 2 offices, 1 secret room, 1 storefront, and 2 vaults. The minimum size for those rooms added together is 26 squares. 26 multiplied by 7.4 equals 192.4, and the square root of that is 13.87, rounded to 14, which is the number of wall sections around the outside of the building.

Method 2

Sum the squares used for all rooms on one floor of the building, multiply by 4, and take the square root of that number, rounding up to the nearest whole number. This is the number of 10’ wall sections the build.

Example: Kulvinder’s friend Rhys has also decided to get into commerce, but rather than a bank, he’s looking to set up his own guild, so he’s designing a guildhall.

Looking that building up, he sees that a basic guildhall has 1 common room, 1 kitchen, 1 lavatory, 2 offices, 1 secret room, 1 sitting room, 2 storages and 3 workstations.

Like Kulvinder, Rhys doesn’t want to precisely plan the layout, but decides that every room is going to be the largest possible square allowed. This makes his building 99 squares. Multiplying that by 4 is 396, and the square root of that is 19.899, rounding up to 20. If Rhys had been making Kulvinder’s bank, he would have ended up with a 38 square building, which multiplies to 152, and the square root of that is 12.33, rounding up to 13, making his bank slightly smaller than Kulvinder’s.

Building Features

Buildings as a whole are classified by the material of the exterior construction, the type of windows, and their augmentations. It is also possible for buildings to have defensive fortifications (see Fortifications.)

Materials

The exterior walls of a building may be constructed of the same materials as the interior walls, but it is common for the outside of a building to be made of stronger materials than the inside.

New Rooms

These new room types are included to expand the options for buildings and to tie them into the rules for attacking and defending buildings.

Exterior Wall

Cost: Special

This “room” provides no benefit to the building beyond protection from attack and the environment. It should only be used if the exterior wall of the building is made of a different material to the interior walls, and is considered to be a composite wall (see below).

If the player would rather not have the additional protection of a composite wall, they may reduce the 8 cost of the exterior wall by the cost of the interior walls it replaces.

To simplify matters, each floor of a building is considered to have the same material on all sides.

This material may differ from floor to floor (such as stone at ground level and wood above). The only restriction being that the hit points of a supporting wall must equal or exceed the total hit points of all the wall sections directly above it.

Roof

Cost: Special

This room functions like an Exterior Wall room, but covers the top of the building. Treat it as a composite wall (see below) made of the roof material and the material of whatever room is underneath the roof section (if a roof section spans two rooms of differing material, use the stronger material). A roof does not count against the hit points needed to support walls.

A roof provides protection from the environment and indirect fire attacks.

Exterior Wall and Roof Augmentations

Buildings can be constructed with a number of augmentations:

Battlement: The top of a building may be crenelated with merlons to provide cover to defenders (improved cover if prone). This cover does not apply against creatures on or above the structure. This adds 10% to the goods cost of a roof.

Battlement, Embrasure: This battlement features pierced merlons and hinged shutters between them that provide improved cover to defenders (total cover if prone). This adds 15% to the goods cost and 5% to the labor cost of a roof.

Battlement, Parapet: This uncrenelated lip or railing of stone provides partial cover to defenders atop a wall (cover if prone). This adds 5% to the goods cost of a roof.

Buttress: The interior of the structure is architecturally reinforced, allowing it to reduce SP damage from any siege weapon by 1. This increases the cost of the exterior wall by 25%

Hoardings: Roofed shelters added to a battlement to give protection and cover against attacks from above.

Hoardings function as an additional roof section that sits above a structure or wall, providing total cover from attacks from above. A hoarding must be breached or destroyed before a building’s own roof can be attacked.

Hoardings are a separate Roof room which are not considered a composite wall.

Reinforced Core: Masonry or stone may include a core of metal plating or rebar. This strengthens the wall’s structure, increasing hp and SP by 25% and also blocks spells such as passwall and phase door, which cannot penetrate metal.

This adds 25% to the cost of the exterior wall.

Splay: The base of the structure is reinforced with a sloping glacis to deflect incoming attacks. Any melee attack or direct fire ranged attack against the structure’s bottom section inflicts half damage. If the structure becomes damaged, melee attack damage is reduced by only 25%. If the structure is breached, the splay provides no further protection. This adds 10% to the cost of the exterior wall.

Composite Walls

To allow taller and more elaborate constructions, composite walls (made of layers of different materials) may also be constructed, which has the double advantage of being able to support heavier walls above and provide more defense against attack. To construct a composite wall, simply treat the exterior wall of the building as if it is made of each of the materials (and each must be paid for) and add together their hit points to determine how much they can support.

Windows

Windows on a building serve two primary purposes – to let in light, and to allow those inside the building to see out. They also allow those outside the building to see in, but when it comes to building defense, that is something of an unintended consequence.

For the purposes of most effects and game rules, windows are treated as a 5-foot by 5-foot vertical square, though the window is not necessarily that large in reality – at the GM’s discretion, smaller windows may have different game effects.

Windows can be added to any building, and are usually one of the following types, though it is possible for a window to have more than one type (for example, glass windows with shutters and blinds are possible).

There is not usually a cost for including windows as part of as building’s construction (except glass windows, as noted in their description), but the GM may wish to add a small labor capital cost if a player decides to add new windows to an existing building.

Glass Windows

Glass windows allow light to pass through while offering protection from weather to the room. A single glass window costs 160 gp (8 goods), while all other window types can be added free to a building. Glass windows prevent weather effects from entering the building, and do not block light. Glass windows do not block line of sight, but block line of effect. Glass windows have an AC of 5, hardness 1 and 1 hit point. Glass windows are automatically destroyed by any siege weapon attack which strikes the wall segment they are on. Treat the window as an Open window until it can be repaired.

Shuttered Windows

A shuttered window has sturdy wooden screens which can be opened or closed depending on the needs and desires of the inhabitants. They can be locked from the inside to prevent them being opened by unscrupulous individuals (a disable device check at DC 15 will unlock most shutters). When closed they prevent weather effects passing into the building, but also block light.

Closed shutters block line of sight, line of effect, and have an AC of 5, hardness 5, and 3 hit points. A window with shutters which are not closed is treated as an Open window (see below).

Open Windows

Open windows are simple holes in the exterior walls of a building. They do not block weather effects or light, and do not block line of sight or line of effect. A character standing next to an open window has cover (+2 AC) from attacks from the other side, and passing through an open window is considered moving through difficult terrain.

Defensive Windows

Arrow slits (often tall narrow openings wider on the interior than the exterior) provide improved cover to anyone standing at the opening on the inside of the building but the level of light from outside is reduced by one step (to a minimum of darkness). Defensive windows do not block weather effects entering the building. They do not block line of sight or line of effect.

Curtains/Blinds

Curtains are fabric hangings used to cover window openings from the inside. Blinds are horizontal or vertical strips of material (cloth or wood being the most common) that serve a similar purpose. The primary effect of curtains and blinds is to block line of sight and light from passing through the window, so are less frequently seen on shuttered windows than other types.

Curtains or blinds may be added to any window type with no extra cost.

Building Augmentations

The possible list of augmentations for buildings as a whole are almost limitless. Below are some of the most common augmentations.

Mobile Buildings

This building can move, either by walking, rolling, hovering, flying, swimming, teleporting, or even across the planes. The following table shows the base speed of each movement type, how much it costs to add the type of movement to a building, and any additional information or restrictions which apply to the type of movement. A building may have multiple movement types added, each one must be paid for separately, but only one may be used at any one time. It is also possible to increase the speed of a movement type, with the cost of each additional 10 feet of movement given in the table.

Concealed

Benefit(s) the building isn’t usually noticed by casual observers

Create 320 magic or 1000 goods, 600 labor; Time 32 days

This building is hidden from view, whether through invisibility or more mundane means (such as being cleverly designed to look like the surrounding terrain).

A DC 22 Perception check will allow someone to notice that the building is there, otherwise it goes unnoticed.

Every additional 32 magic or 100 goods and 60 labor increase the DC by +1.

Dimension-Locked

Benefit(s) teleportation into and out of the building is impossible

Create 1,280 magic (128,000 gp); Time 128 days

It is not possible to use spells of the teleportation sub-school into or out of this building (it is possible to teleport from one place to another within the building, however). Any augmentation providing a teleportation effect (such as a teleportation circle) that allows travel outside the building costs 50% more than normal. This extra cost must be paid, even if this augmentation is added later.

Table 1-3: Mobile Building Cost and Speed

Type	Base Speed	Cost	Speed Increase (+10 feet)	Notes
Walking	30 ft.	700 magic (70,000 gp)	300 magic (30,000 gp)	Cannot enter water greater in depth than the height of the building
Rolling	40 ft.	850 magic (85,000 gp)	500 magic (50,000 gp)	Cannot enter water greater in depth than half the height of the building
Hovering	0 ft.	300 magic (30,000 gp)	N/A Does not reduce speed due to terrain and may pass over water. Maximum altitude is 30 feet.
Flying	30 ft.	1,000 magic (100,000 gp)	600 magic (60,000 gp)	Clumsy maneuverability, may hover at any altitude.
Swimming	30 ft.	700 magic (70,000 gp)	300 magic (30,000 gp)	Floats on the surface of the water unless the building has the environmentally sealed augmentation
Teleporting	Special	4,480 magic (448,000 gp)	N/A CL 16 1/day, greater teleport
Planar-travel	Special	2,000 magic (200,000 gp)	N/A CL 10 1/day, plane shift

Disguised

Benefit(s) this building appears to be something it isn’t

Create 200 goods, 150 labor; Time 60 days

This building appears to be something else, usually another kind of building. A DC 22 Knowledge (local) check is required to determine the actual purpose of the building. Every extra 20 goods, 15 labor spent adds +1 to the DC.

Dumbwaiter

Benefit(s) small items may be easily moved from floor to floor without someone having to carry them

Create 120 magic (12,000) or 7 goods, 15 labor (220 gp); Time 12 days

A dumbwaiter is a small elevator system commonly used to transport food or small items between floors of a building. A tiny or smaller creature can fit into a dumbwaiter’s compartment without difficulty, but larger creatures are unable to do so (however they may be able to use the shafts for hidden movement within the building).

A mechanical dumbwaiter requires maintenance, just like an elevator, costing 2 goods and 5 labor (70 gp) every 6 months.

Replacement of the system, if needed, takes 2 days.

Elevator

Benefit(s) a method moving from one floor of the building to another without using stairs

Create 240 magic (24,000 gp) or 15 goods, 30 labor (450 gp); Time 24 days

This represents either a mechanical (pulleys, ropes or cables) or a magical (levitation or flying) elevator system. An elevator takes 1 round to ascend or descend a single floor (multiple floors take multiple rounds, and a move action to select a destination.

A mechanical escalator system requires regular maintenance to ensure it keeps running smoothly.

Every 6 months, 5 goods and 10 labor (150 gp) must be spent on maintenance, or there is a cumulative 5% chance per month that the system will break and require replacement for the full cost. Replacement in this manner takes 4 days.

Environmentally Sealed

Benefit(s) effects, weather, and spells cannot penetrate the building.

Create 2,000 magic (200,000 gp); Time 200 days

An environmentally sealed building functions like an environmentally stable one, but also prevents any environmental effects penetrating the building. This means that the exterior of the building (including any windows) blocks line of effect for all spells of the conjuration (creation) subschool and prevents such spells effects from entering the building unless physically carried by a living creature. This means that (for example) cloudkill cannot pass through open windows, and the building provides air for the inhabitants even underwater or in a vacuum.

Environmentally Stable

Benefit(s) the interior of the building is comfortable, regardless of outside conditions

Create 80 magic (8,000 gp); Time 8 days

The building magically maintains a comfortable temperature and climate for the inhabitants, regardless of the environmental conditions outside.

Extra-Dimensional

Benefit(s) the building exists on a plane of its own.

Create 190 magic (19,000 gp); Time 1 day

This building is in its own demi-plane. The entrance to the building must clearly be a doorway or archway, and the entrance must not be accessible from any other direction (for example, the doorway to the demi-plane could be the front door to a large blue box but couldn’t be the archway at one end of an alley). Passing through the door transports any creature into the demiplane, which follows the rules of the lesser create demiplane spell. More powerful demiplanes, using create demiplane (217 magic (21,700 gp)) and greater create demiplane (241 magic (24,100 gp) may be constructed.

Spell

Like rooms, buildings may have a spell augmentation.

This costs twice as much as a room augmentation of the same spell, but a building may only have a single spell augmentation applied to it. This limitation does not prevent all rooms in the building being given the same spell augmentations. Anyone inside the building is affected by the spell augmentation when they enter the building, with spell resistance and any saving throws being attempted once when the creature first enters. The effect ends immediately when a creature leaves the building.

Fortified Buildings

Fortifications are defensive constructions that help the defenders of a building when it is under attack. They do not provide any benefits to the rooms within the building but affect how the building is used in siege warfare or if an army (or even a group of adventurers) attack it. The rules in this subsection describe creating fortifications using goods, labor, and time using the downtime rules.

Permanent vs. Temporary Fortifications: Fortifications can be permanently emplaced, in which case they always provide their benefits and drawbacks, or temporary, which speeds their construction significantly, but also reduces their effect – each type of fortification has separate statistics depending on whether it is permanent or temporary.

Difficult Terrain

Permanent

Create 3 goods, 2 labor; Time 4 days

Temporary

Create 1 good, 1 labor; Time 1 day

Most often a temporary fortification when a known attack is imminent, difficult terrain slows the advance of attackers and makes it impossible to make effective charges. It can take many forms, such as digging up the ground, scattering rubble around, or placing sharp plants in the way. Regardless of the exact method chosen, the effect on attackers is the same. Each difficult terrain fortification affects a 10- foot by 10-foot area and makes it difficult terrain for attackers. A successful DC 15 Knowledge (engineering) check can negate the fortification. Doubling the cost of the fortification increases the DC by 5, and this may be done multiple times, doubling the cost each time.

Having a section of permanent difficult terrain that cannot be easily avoided on the approach to a building reduces the furnishings quality of all rooms in the building by 1 step.

Moat

Create 2 goods 4 labor; Time 2 days

A moat is a trench (see above) that has been made effectively watertight and filled with water. A moat may only be constructed as a permanent fortification. Moats are usually significantly wider than they are deep, and can be built to house dangerous wildlife and plants.

A moat can be avoided in the same way a trench can.

Rampart

Create 1 labor; Time 1 day

A wall of packed earth, a rampart is half the height but the same thickness as a normal wall. It has double the hit points of a sod wall and is immune to damage from ranged siege weapons. A rampart may include a palisade, a wooden wall atop it with half the normal height, hp, and SP of a normal wooden wall.

Switchback

Benefit(s) attackers must travel further to get to the entrance of the building

Permanent

Create 10 goods, 5 labor; Time 5 days

Temporary

Create 5 goods, 3 labor; Time 1 day

A switchback is a carefully constructed artificial modification to the lines of approach to the front door of a building, effectively increasing the distance required to travel as attackers approach the entrance.

Each switchback affects a 20-foot wide section of the building’s exterior and extends 20 feet away from the building. Multiple switchbacks can be placed to extend the distance away from the building that is affected.

A temporary switchback doubles the distance required to move in a straight line towards the building, while a permanent switchback triples it. A basic switchback only affects large or smaller creatures. Huge creatures can be affected if the switchback extends at least 3 switchback sections away from the building, Gargantuan creatures if it extends 4 sections away, and Colossal if it extends 5 sections away. Flying creatures are not affected by switchbacks unless the building and fortification are underground.

For the purposes of other game rules, a switchback fortification does not count as difficult terrain, nor does it affect the speed of creatures in it, but it is not possible to charge through a switchback.

Trench

Create 1 goods, 3 labor; Time 1 day

A trench is a section of ground (20 feet long, 5 feet wide, and 10 feet deep) that has been dug out to present a difficult barrier for attackers to circumvent. Almost all trenches have one or more straightforward paths to allow easy access to the building (an exception might be a temporary trench dug all the way round a besieged building which has a reliable source of food and water for the inhabitants), which represents a potential weak spot in the fortification (that path is likely to be heavily guarded by other means).

Wider and deeper trenches may be constructed by constructing additional trench fortification sections adjacent to the existing sections but must be at least as many sections wide as they are deep.

Flying attackers are not affected by trenches, and it may be possible for attackers to effectively circumvent trenches with Acrobatics checks to jump across them.

Wall

Create See materials for goods, 1 labor (modified by materials labor factor); Time 1 day (modified by material’s time factor)

A defensive wall may be constructed in the same manner as any other wall and has appropriate statistics to match.

It is common for defensive walls to be built with shelter and raised platforms for defenders to stand within, to allow them to make ranged attacks against attacking forces from positions of relative safety.

Flying attackers may avoid a wall by the simple method of flying over it, but until they have crossed the wall’s position, the defenders still retain any advantages they have.

Walls do not have to be built a full 10-feet high – it is not uncommon for walls to be built 3- or 5-feet high, costing 1/3 and 1/2 the cost of a normal wall segment respectively, and requiring a similar proportion of time.

10-foot wall segments can only be built as permanent fortifications, but shorter segments can be temporary or permanent. The decision to make a wall temporary instead of permanent has no effect on the cost to create the wall, but temporary walls take 50% extra damage from siege weapon attacks and can be removed at no cost (but 1 day of time, regardless of material) later.

As with buildings, permanent wall fortifications may be constructed with windows.

It is common for a gatehouse room to be added to a permanent wall fortification.

Other rooms may be added at the GM’s discretion.

Building Location

Where a building is and how far away it is from the resources to build it (whether labor or materials) can drastically affect the cost of a building.

Distance

Every hex (or 12 miles if not using hex-based mapping) away from the nearest settlement adds 20% to the labor cost of a building.

Terrain

The terrain in which a building is being constructed can affect the cost of materials – use the lowest applicable multiplier for the terrain and material being used.

Table 1-4: Material Cost by Location

Terrain	Cost Multiplier (within hex)	1 hex (12 mi.)	2 hexes (24 mi.)	3 hexes (36 mi.)	4 hexes (48 mi.)	5 hexes (60 mi.)	Notes
Plains	1	1	1	1	1	1	–
Hill	0.8	0.8	0.9	0.9	1	1	Applies to stone and metal materials only
Desert*	+0.1	–	–	–	–	–	–
Forest	0.75	0.8	0.85	0.9	0.95	1	Applies to wood materials only
Marsh*	+0.2	–	–	–	–	–	–
Mountain	0.75	0.8	0.85	0.9	0.95	1	Applies to stone and metal materials only
Cavern**	0.5	–	–	–	–	–	Applies to stone and metal materials only
Water***	+0.5	–	–	–	–	–	–

Notes: A suitable terrain improvement (commonly mine, quarry, or sawmill) provides a -0.1 multiplier

5 hexes of river, lake, or sea count as 1 hex of distance due to the ease of transporting goods on water (divide the water distance by 5, rounding down).

*: Desert and Marsh terrains are difficult to build on, and materials are almost always imported.

**: A cavern is considered to always be at least 1 hex away from any other source of material.

***: This is to actually build underwater, not just in a hex that has a river in it.

Abandoned Buildings

If a building requires another to be adjacent (such as how a Tavern must be adjacent to a House or Mansion), and that required building is demolished or destroyed, the GM may decide that the associated building goes out of business or otherwise shuts down 1d3 turns later because of lack of customers or support. If this occurs, you lose the building’s benefit and Unrest increases by 1.

If you build a replacement for the abandoned building, on the next Upkeep Phase you may attempt an Economy check to activate the abandoned building; success means the abandoned building is occupied and provides its bonuses. If you fail, you may keep trying on the next turn.

Siege Warfare

A classic trope of fantasy warfare is the storming of a castle. Whether the PCs are leading brave and desperate defense of a lonely bastion against an overwhelming army of darkness, or leading the fight to overthrow the Evil Overlord and cast down his mighty fortress, a fight along the battlements can fire the imagination of a jaded player growing bored of one-on-one hacking. While historical sieges often depended more on disease and starvation for victory than anything else, the thrill for players is likely to come more in the way of bombardment and assault with an array of siege weapons, countering the massive engines of their enemies with their own.

Structures and Building Materials

It is hardly possible to talk about siege warfare and siege weapons in detail without talking about the buildings they were built to destroy. The structural strength of buildings and the damage inflicted by siege weapons is expressed in terms of structural points (SP), and the same rules apply for attacks against vehicles and even other siege weapons.

Siege weapons may instead inflict ordinary hit point damage if desired (and some are intended primarily as antipersonnel weapons), and normal attacks can damage structures and fortifications, depending on precisely what part of the structure is being attacked.

For resolving siege weapon attacks against structures and vehicles, however, structural points provide a quick and convenient method for tracking damage. Structural points and hit points should be tracked separately; the effects of damage to hp and SP to the same section overlap and do not stack.

Size: Buildings are typically comprised of sections, made up of 10- foot cubic spaces for most buildings. The AC of a structure is determined by its size, regardless of its composition: Large 4, Huge 3, Gargantuan 1, Colossal -3.

Condition: An intact building offers total cover to any creature within, though they cannot attack. Those within a building may open doors or windows to attack those outside; they still gain cover, but those outside may attack them. One successful check against the building’s break DC leaves it damaged, a second breached, and a third destroyed. Otherwise, it gains the listed condition when it suffers the appropriate amount of hp or SP damage (see Table 2-1).

Damaged: This section has numerous small cracks and holes. The AC, hardness, and break DC of this section are reduced by 2.

Breached: This section no longer provides total cover, though those within still gain cover from outside attacks. The interior of this section is treated as light rubble. All adjacent sections of this building are treated as damaged.

Destroyed: This section collapses on those within, all saving throws and ability checks gain a +2 bonus if the collapsed section is of typical construction, +5 for flimsy construction. A wooden building inflicts 1/2 damage and a hide or cloth building 1/4 damage when it collapses. The interior of this section is treated as dense rubble. All adjacent sections of this building are treated as breached.

Catching on Fire: Structures of wood, hide, or thatch may catch on fire when they suffer fire damage.

Repairs: Damaged, breached, or destroyed building sections or siege engines can be repaired as vehicle sections can (see Vehicles), though Craft (stonemasonry) or Craft (siege weapons) may replace Craft (carpentry) when appropriate.

Knowledge (engineering) may also be used to aid someone using a Craft skill for repairs. Stone shape functions as wood shape to help repair stone constructions.

Table 2-1: Wall Defensive Statistics

Material	Thickness (in feet)*	Hardness	HP (HP per inch)	SP	Break DC	Climb DC
Paper	0.0025	0	1 (12)	0/0/1	5	30
Glass	0.04	1	1 (2)	0/0/1	10	30
Viridium$	0.04	7	7 (15)	0/0/1	10	20
Viridium (magically strengthened)	0.04	7	7 (15)	0/0/1	10	20
Cloth	0.02	1	3 (15)	0/0/1	25	15
Darkleaf Cloth	0.02	10	5 (20)	0/0/1	30	15
Griffon Mane	0.02	1	6 (30)	0/0/1	25	15
Hide	0.04	2	7 (15)	0/0/1	23	15
Angelskin	0.04	5	3 (5)	0/0/1	13	15
Dragonhide	0.04	10	5 (10)	0/0/1	18	15
Eelhide	0.04	2	3 (5)	0/0/1	13	15
Sod	1	7	60 (5)	2/5/9	20	10
ThatchH	1	3	96 (8)	3/6/11	20	10
Wood	0.5	5	60 (10)	2/4/8	20	21
Darkwood	0.5	5	60 (10)	2/4/8	20	21
Greenwood	0.5	5	60 (10)	2/4/8	20	21
Whipwood	0.5	5	90 (15)	3/6/12	20	21
Wyroot	0.08	5	10 (10)	0/0/1	10	21
Unworked Stone	5	8	900 (15)	38/75/150	65	15
Hewn Stone	3	8	540 (15)	23/45/90	50	15
Drystone wall	1	8	90 (8)	4/8/15	15	10
Thin Masonry	0.5	8	45 (8)	2/4/8	25	20
Masonry	1	8	90 (8)	4/8/15	35	20
Superior Masonry	1	8	90 (8)	4/8/15	35	20
Reinforced Masonry	1	8	180 (15)	5/10/20	45	20
Blood Crystal	0.08	10	10 (10)	0/1/2	30	30
Iron	0.25	10	90 (30)	5/9/18	30	25
Lead	0.02	3	7 (30)	0/0/1	20	25
Adamantine	0.08	20	40 (40)	20/40/80	40	25
Alchemical Silver	0.08	8	10 (10)	0/1/2	30	25
Elysian Bronze	0.08	10	30 (30)	2/3/6	30	25
Fire-forged Steel	0.08	10	30 (30)	2/3/6	30	25
Frost-forged Steel	0.08	10	30 (30)	2/3/6	30	25
Living Steel	0.08	15	35 (35)	4/7/14	30	25
Mithral	0.08	15	30 (30)	3/6/12	30	25
Force Field	–	30	20	11/22/44	–	–
Magically Treated**	–	X2	X2‡	X2	+20	–

*: 0.25 feet is 3 inches, 0.08 feet is 1 inch, 0.04 feet is 1/2 inch, 0.02 feet is 1/4 inch, 0.0025 is 1/32 inch

**: This may be applied to any of the other wall types.

$: Viridium is an extremely dangerous building material. Anyone climbing or touching a viridium wall (crewing a close assault siege weapon counts as touching the wall) receives an attack roll at +10 from the wall as if struck by a viridium weapon.

H: At the GM’s discretion, wolves and dire wolves may make a breath attack as a full-round action against thatch walls, automatically destroying them.

‡: Or an additional 50 hit points, whichever is greater

Material: The material the walls of the building are constructed from.

Thickness: A wall constructed of this material is typically this many feet thick.

Hardness: The hardness of the material.

HP (HP per inch): The number of hit points a wall of typical thickness has, as well as the hit points per inch of thickness for the material, if a wall of differing thickness is used. This is the number of hit points for a wall to be breached. To calculate the number of hit points to damage the wall, divide the hit points by 2, and to calculate the number of hit points to destroy the wall, multiply the hit points by 2.

SP: The number of Structure Points (see Siege Weapons) for a wall of typical thickness to be damaged, breached, and destroyed.

Break DC: The DC for a Strength check to break through the wall. Each doubling of the standard wall thickness increases this by +5.

Climb DC: The typical DC for a climb check on a wall of this material. This may be modified by environmental conditions or other factors at the GM’s discretion.

Ranged Siege Weapons

Siege weapons hurl massive projectiles in one of two ways: direct fire or indirect fire. Direct fire weapons launch their projectiles on a relatively flat trajectory, allowing them to more easily target moving creatures or pummel barriers directly in front of them. Indirect fire weapons launch projectiles in a high parabolic arc, typically much heavier missiles than direct fire weapons.

They may batter fortifications or bypass them entirely, their missiles arcing over intervening walls to deliver solid shot, bursts of scatter shot, or even unconventional payloads, such as incendiaries or disease-ridden offal.

Direct-fire missiles use a normal attack roll, with the normal penalty for nonproficient use. In addition, direct fire weapons suffer a -2 attack roll penalty per size category a weapon is larger than the creature aiming it.

Indirect-fire weapons use the targeting mechanic described for catapults, hereafter referred to as a targeting roll. Direct fire weapons that are stationary can be used for indirect fire, but the base DC is increased to 25.

Indirect Criticals: If the crew chief of a siege weapon rolls a natural 20 on his targeting check with an indirect fire weapon, or if a target of an indirect fire weapon rolls a natural 1 on its Reflex, the target suffers double damage and is knocked prone (a flying or swimming creature is instead treated as if bull rushed 1d6 x 10 feet, reduced by 5 feet per size category larger than Medium). In addition, if the target is smaller than the siege weapon, it is effectively entangled for 1d4 rounds as it is buried in rubble or pinned to the ground or adjacent objects. A creature can free itself from this condition with a DC 20 Strength check or Escape Artist check.

Assembling Siege Weapons: Siege weapons broken down for transport and can be reassembled on the battlefield, requiring the time and number of workers noted below. Each assembly worker must make a DC 10 Craft (siege weapons) check; if untrained, they may not take 10. Assembly can be performed with at least half the required number of workers by doubling the time required. If fewer than half are available, the weapon cannot be assembled.

Table 2-2: Siege Weapon Assembly

Size	Time Required	Workers Required
Small	1 minute	1
Medium	10 minutes	2
Large	1 hour	4
Huge	2 hours	6
Gargantuan	4 hours	8
Colossal	8 hours	12

Constructing Siege Weapons: Siege weapons are complex devices requiring a DC 20 Craft (siege weapons) skill check to build or repair. Gunpowder weapons increase the DC by 5.

Disabling Siege Weapons: Siege weapons are considered difficult devices to disarm, requiring 2d4 rounds of effort and a DC 20 Disable Device check.

Magical and Masterwork Siege Weapons: Siege weapons can be made with exceptional quality, increasing their Craft DC by 5 and costing an additional 300 gp. A masterwork siege weapon can be enchanted at twice the cost for a normal magical weapon. The enhancement bonus of a siege weapon applies to targeting rolls and SP damage, but other weapon enhancements apply only to attacks to inflict hit point damage.

Proficiency with Siege Weapons: Siege weapons are exotic weapons.

Repairs: Siege weapons can be repaired as if they were vehicles (see Vehicles) using Craft (siege weapons), including the use of magic to assist repairs.

Wheeled Weapons: Cannon and catapults usually have wheeled caissons or gun carriages to help move them into position. These wheels allow a team of draft animals to pull them at 20 feet if the weapon’s weight is less than their combined heavy load, 10 feet if less than their combined drag weight.

Ballista: Resembling a massive crossbow, a ballista’s power is provided by twisted skeins of animal sinew used as torsion springs driving a pair of adjustable arms. A string attached to both arms is winched back and a projectile loaded into a grooved slider for release. Ballistae are direct fire weapons.

Heavy: These massive engines are commonplace in castle defenses and those attacking such places and on large warships.

Light: The most common type of ballista, also called an arcuballista, is fairly maneuverable and often mounted atop towers.

Wheeled: A mobile light ballista, also called a carroballista, is mounted on a metal-plated medium wagon (see Land Vehicles). The weapon can be mounted forwards, facing over the draft team, or towed behind them facing rearward. Firing a carroballista while its team is attached requires a DC 20 Handle Animal check unless the draft animals are war-trained to prevent them from bolting in a random direction for 1d4 rounds. The carroballista’s hp and SP are separate from the wagon’s vehicle sections.

Cannon: Crafted of metal, some cast in one piece, others welded with iron bands, and either mounted in the ground or on wooden frames, cannons use gunpowder or its alchemical equivalent to propel their projectiles with great force. Cannons are direct fire weapon and have a critical modifier of x3.

Bouncing Shot: Solid shot can be fired from a cannon at a depressed angle, so as to bounce along the ground, affecting a 5-ft. wide line 20 feet long for a Small cannon, plus 20 feet per size category above Small. A DC 15 Reflex save halves damage. If a solid barrier in the area path is destroyed, it does not provide cover to creatures behind it. If not destroyed, the bouncing shot is stopped by the barrier. A bouncing shot requires the gunner to be proficient in the cannon’s use and to make a DC 10 Profession (siege engineer) check; the DC increases by 2 for every square in the line that does not have a solid surface under it.

Misfires: Cannons are somewhat unreliable, and a natural 1 on an attack roll (direct fire) or targeting roll (indirect fire) results in a misfire, expending the powder charge but not the ammunition for that shot.

Table 2-3: Cannon Misfire Result

d20	Result	Effect
1-8	Misfire	Cannon fails to fire and must be reloaded.
9-14	Backfire	As misfire, and the crew chief is struck by alchemist’s fire; other creatures adjacent to the cannon suffer splash damage. The cannon and all adjacent squares are affected as a smokestick.
15-18	Cracked	Cannon gains the broken condition. If fired, it now misfires on a natural 1 or 2, with a +5 modifier to future rolls to determine misfire results.
19-20	Explodes	Cannon destroyed. Every square adjacent to the cannon is struck by a falling object of the cannon’s size and catches on fire (DC 15 Reflex save halves damage and negates catching on fire), and every square within 10 feet is affected as a smokestick and a thunderstone.

Mortars: A mortar is a short but very thick cannon designed for indirect fire. It may use solid or scatter shot but cannot perform a bouncing shot. Large or smaller mortars have a burst radius of 1; Huge or Gargantuan mortars have a burst radius of 2. Mortars have a minimum range of 100 feet. Mortars inflict triple damage on an indirect critical.

Noise and Smoke: Cannons are smoky and noisy. Any creature adjacent to a cannon becomes dazzled for 1 round after it is fired. If the cannon is larger than the creature, the duration is increased by 1 round per size category difference.

Sizes of Cannon: Cannons come in many sizes, as noted below:

Small: Also called a swivel gun, hand culverin, or pierrier, this small gun may be mounted or carried and fired from a tripod or brace but suffers a -2 penalty to hit if not braced for at least 1 full round prior to firing.

Medium: Also called a falconet, crapaudin, or demi-culverin, this light cannon is a staple.

Also called a culverin extraordinary or be mounted in naval gunports.

Gargantuan: Also called a bombard or true cannon, these heaviest of cannon can quickly reduce most fortifications to rubble.

Ribald: Also called an organ gun or weapon in the gunports of advanced warships.

Large: Also called a culverin or saker, this is the most common type of cannon.

Huge: siege cannon, these are the largest cannon that can ribaudkin, this large wooden frame mounts 12 small cannon, fused to fire in a single volley. Chiefly an antipersonnel weapon, a ribald has a maximum range of 100 feet and affects all creatures in a 100-foot cone (DC 15 Reflex half within 50 feet, no damage beyond 50 feet).

Catapult: Though the historical divide between ballista and catapult is ambiguous, catapults here are stone-throwers powered by winched arms run through torsion skeins, either single-armed like the onager or double-armed tension-torsion hybrids like the mangonel, holding their payload in a sling or cup that swings up and over the weapon when released. Catapults hurl solid or scatter shot, the latter affecting all squares within 1 square of the target. Catapults are indirect fire weapons and have a minimum range of 100 feet.

Heavy: These large onagers are the largest form of mobile artillery on most battlefields.

Light: Smaller onagers such as these are often used on the decks of ships or in smaller fortifications.

Lithobolos: A primitive sling-armed catapult, also called a lithobolos or stone-thrower. It must be dismantled to move it and reassembled in place. Its sling is only capable of firing solid projectiles, not loose shot.

Mangonel: While most catapults use a single arm through a horizontal skein, a mangonel uses two vertical skeins with a pair of torsion bow arms harnessed to the mangonel’s throwing arm for greater power.

Firedrake: This apparatus fires a gout of alchemist’s fire in either a 60-foot line or 30-foot cone. Targets in the area suffer 6d6 points of fire damage (DC 15 Reflex half); those failing their saves also catch on fire. A firedrake loaded with the broken condition has a 5% chance per round to explode, causing its normal damage in a 15-foot burst centered on itself. A firedrake that is destroyed automatically explodes if it is loaded.

Scorpion: This oversized crossbow incorporates both tension and torsion, often with pulleys to increase its power without increasing its size, and fire spear-like bolts. Scorpions are direct fire weapons.

Double: This specialized scorpion, called a zopyros, fires two missiles simultaneously.

Heavy: A larger scorpion mounted on ships or watchtowers.

Light: Also called an oxybeles, a light scorpion is usually mounted but can be carried and fired by a single warrior, though with a -2 penalty to hit if not first braced on a solid surface for 1 full round.

Repeating: This complex scorpion, called a polybolos, contains an automatic reloading mechanism holding 10 bolts. It can be reloaded as a move action. Once the case is empty, it requires a full-round action to remove the case, another to refill it, and another to replace it.

Springal: A springal uses a torsion-cranked composite paddle to strike a firing rack containing multiple bolts, which rain down in an arc over a burst area. A springal has a minimum range of 50 feet and can only use burst ammunition and cannot target specific creatures. Springals are indirect fire weapons.

Heavy: A heavy springal affects all squares within 2 squares of the target.

Light: A heavy springal affects all squares within 1 square of the target.

Trebuchet: Trebuchets are similar in form to catapults, with the payload placed into a basket, cup, or sling at the end of a long lever, with a counterweight (often with crew or animals pulling attached ropes) close to the fulcrum. The leverage imparted by a trebuchet allows it to hurl massive missiles.

Trebuchets are too bulky to move and must be assembled on the battlefield. Trebuchets have a minimum range of 150 feet. Trebuchets are indirect fire weapons.

Heavy: A heavy trebuchet using scatter shot affects all squares within 2 squares of the target.

Light: A heavy trebuchet using scatter shot affects all squares within 1 square of the target.

Cost: The price in gp to purchase the siege weapon.

Weight: The weight of the siege weapon in pounds (or tons).

Damage: Hit point damage is indicated before the slash, structural point damage after it.

Burst: When using ammunition that affects a burst, it affects the target square and all squares within the listed radius; e.g., a trebuchet using scatter shot would affect the target square and 2 squares surrounding it in all directions.

Range: This is the weapon’s range increment. Beyond this range, attacks are made with a -2 attack roll penalty for each full range increment between the weapon and the target, up to a maximum range of 10 range increments.

When using indirect fire, the weapon has a minimum range equal to 1/2 its range increment; the weapon cannot be used against targets within this range.

Aim: This is the number of full-round actions required to aim a siege weapon. A weapon with no aim number (-) does not need to be aimed.

Load: This is the number of full-round actions required to load the siege weapon.

Size: This is the size of the siege weapon.

AC: This is the weapon’s AC if attacked. A siege weapon can also be armored. The listed cost and weight should be modified as a nonhumanoid creature of the siege weapon’s size.

Hides: Stitched hides and padded leather; AC Bonus +3; hp +15; Cost 20 gp; Weight 20 lbs.

Partial Plating: Metal plating over main structure.

AC Bonus +6; hp +30; Cost 200 gp; Weight 40 lbs.

Full Plating: Metal plating over entire weapon.

AC Bonus +9; hp +45; Cost 1000 gp; Weight 60 lbs.

HP: This is the number of hit points the siege weapon possesses. Unless otherwise noted, siege weapons are primarily constructed of wood and have hardness 5. If reduced to less than half its hit points, a siege weapon gains the broken condition.

SP: This is the number of structural points the siege weapon possesses. If reduced to less than half its structural points, a siege weapon gains the broken condition.

Table 2-4: Ranged Siege Weapons

Cost	Weight	Dmg	Range	Aim	Load	Size	AC	HP	SP
Ballista
Heavy	1000 gp	1 ton	6d8/1d6	150	1	4	Huge	3	150	8
Light	500 gp	400 lbs.	3d8/1d3	120	1	2	Large	4	80	4
Wheeled	800 gp	400 lbs.	3d8/1d3	120	1	2	Large	8	80	4
Cannon
Gargantuan	50,000 gp	15 tons	10d12/5d6	200	10	5	Gargantuan	5	500	30
Huge	30,000 gp	7.5 tons	8d12/4d6	250	3	3	Huge	7	300	15
Large	20,000 gp	2 tons	6d12/3d6	300	2	2	Large	8	150	8
Medium	10,000 gp	500 lbs.	4d12/2d6	200	1	1	Medium	9	80	4
Small	2500 gp	100 lbs.	2d12/1d6	100	–	1	Small	10	40	2
Ribald	20,000 gp	1000 lbs.	3d12/1d3	100	1	12	Large	4	80	4
Catapult2
Heavy	800 gp	1.5 tons	6d6/2d6	150	3	3	Huge	3	150	8
Light	550 gp	1 ton	4d6/1d8	100	2	2	Large	4	80	4
Lithobolos	200 gp	1 ton	4d6/1d8	100	2	2	Large	4	80	4
Mangonel	1100 gp	2 tons	8d6/2d8	200	4	4	Garg.	1	300	15
Firedrake	4000 gp	1500 lbs.	6d6	60	2	5	Large	4	80	4
Scorpion
Double	750 gp	250 lbs.	2d81/1d2	150	–	2	Medium	5	40	2
Heavy	350 gp	200 lbs.	2d8/1d2	150	–	1	Medium	5	40	2
Light	150 gp	100 lbs.	2d6/1	120	–	1	Small	6	20	1
Repeating	1250 gp	300 lbs.	2d8/1d2	150	–	–	(10)	Medium	5	40	2
Springal
Light	600 gp	750 lbs.	6d6/1	50	1	2	Large	4	80	4
Heavy	900 gp	1500 lbs.	6d6/1	50	1	4	Huge	3	150	8
Trebuchet
Heavy	3000 gp	10 tons	16d6/5d6	300	30	5	Colossal	-3	500	30
Light	1500 gp	4 tons	12d6/4d6	250	20	3	Garg.	1	300	15

1 A double scorpion fires two projectiles, using separate attack rolls for each.

2 Creatures with the rock throwing special ability or flying creatures dropping objects of their size may use indirect fire to inflict SP damage as a catapult of their size. Whether they can hurl ammunition other than solid shot is at the GM’s discretion.

Ammunition

Siege weapons typically fire blocks or balls of stone or spear-like bolts, but may use a variety of ammunition.

Bolt: A spear-like projectile for use with a ballista, scorpion, or springal, bolts inflicts half damage against objects or structures made of metal or stone.

Bolt, Burning: A burning bolt causes creatures or flammable objects (including wooden structures) to catch on fire (DC 15 Reflex save negates).

Bolt, Grappling: A grappling bolt is a metal-shod bolt with a multipronged hook attached. It inflicts only half damage, but a creature struck is entangled (DC 15 Reflex save negates). It can break free with a DC 20 Strength check or Escape Artist check. A stationary object or structure is automatically grappled; a vehicle struck by the bolt may avoid being grappled with an opposed steering check (see Vehicles) against the bolt’s attack roll. The grappling bolt can be cut (AC 5, hardness 10, hp 10, break DC 28), or if the target is able to reach the attached rope (which may require a reach weapon if the grappling bolt is attached to a ship, wall, or other structure) it may also be cut (AC 5, hardness 0, hp 2, break DC 23). A pulley system can be attached to a grappling bolt. This enables heavy objects to be hoisted and halves the time required to use raise ladders and bridges attached to the grapple.

Shot, Burning: A sack or basket of incendiaries soaked with oil or pitch and lit or coated in quicklime. Burning shot acts like scatter shot, but creatures or flammable objects failing their Reflex save also catch on fire.

Shot, Canister: A packed container of small-sized shot for use in cannons inflicting half damage but affecting a cone 20 feet long for a Small cannon, plus 20 feet per size category above Small. Damage is further halved with a DC 15 Reflex save.

Shot, Caustic: A barrel of acid inflicting half normal damage to all targets within the weapon’s burst radius (full damage vs. metal objects), and creatures or metal objects failing their Reflex save also take 1d6 continuous acid damage (ignoring hardness) for 1d3 rounds. Creatures damaged take 1 point of Constitution damage from noxious fumes (DC 13 Fortitude save negates).

Shot, Fetid: Manure, offal, or corpses (or parts thereof), inflicting one-quarter normal damage, all nonlethal, to all targets in the weapon’s burst radius. Creatures or taking damage contract filth fever (DC 12 Fortitude save negates).

Shot, Powder: The propellant charge required when firing a cannon; this must be loaded along with whatever other shot is being used and inflicts no damage by itself.

Shot, Scatter: A sack, basket, or canister of small, hard, heavy objects rain down, inflicting half damage to the target square and all squares within the weapon’s burst radius.

Shot, Smoke: A sack or basket of incendiaries stoked with green cuttings and alchemical residues designed to give off thick smoke. Smoke shot inflicts one-quarter damage and acts as a smokestick within the weapon’s burst radius.

Shot, Solid: A block of solid stone for use with a catapult or trebuchet. It inflicts the listed damage to all creatures and objects in the square struck. Creatures may attempt a DC 15 Reflex save for half damage.

Table 2-5: Ammunition

Cost1	Weight1	Critical
Bolt	1 gp	6 lbs.	19-20/x2
Bolt, Burning	15 gp	8 lbs.	19-20/x2
Bolt, Grappling	25 gp	10 lbs.	19-20/x2
Shot, Burning	25 gp	20 lbs.	x2
Shot, Caustic	25 gp	20 lbs.	x2
Shot, Canister	50 gp	10 lbs.	x2
Shot, Fetid	1	sp	15 lbs.	x2
Shot, Powder	50 gp	2.5 lbs.	–
Shot, Scatter	2	sp	20 lbs.	x2
Shot, Smoke	25 gp	20 lbs.	x2
Shot, Solid	1 gp	25 lbs.	x2

1 For Small or Medium siege weapons; for larger siege weapons, use the adjustments to cost and weight for humanoid armor.

Close Assault Weapons

While most siege weapons attack at range, some are used up close to directly undermine or batter through defenses or otherwise bypass them. Some close assault weapons are not even weapons per se, but instead provide means for assault forces to protect themselves or to circumvent fortifications without destroying them.

Bridge, Assault: An assault bridge is used to span a ditch, moat, or other gap. Raising a bridge requires one full-round action per 5 feet of length; up to four creatures may cooperate to raise a bridge. The time required is doubled for each size category the bridge is larger than the creatures raising it.

Table 2-7: Bridges and Ladders

Size	Width	Length/Height
Large	5 feet	20 feet
Huge	5 feet	30 feet
Gargantuan	10 feet	40 feet
Colossal	10 feet	60 feet

Corvus: A hinged counterweight system for mounting a bridge vertically on a vehicle, with a hooked end to grab onto a target vehicle or structure. Using a corvus requires a DC 10 Profession (siege engineer) check; if failed, the corvus fails to catch on the target and must be reset (requiring 1 minute). A corvus targeted at a 20 moving vehicle requires an opposed steering check to get it into correct position, though no steering check is required if the target vehicle is grappled.

Ramps: A bridge constructed of packed earth and stone, a ramp has hardness 0 but triple the hp and SP of a wooden bridge. It requires 8 hours to construct a 5-foot cubic section of a ramp; multiple creatures may cooperate. A ramp can be flat or up to a 45-degree angle; however, a vertical ramp must have a base at least half as wide as its height. Ramps cost nothing, but the time required to build them is doubled if proper digging tools are not available.

Cauldron: Mounted atop a structure, a cauldron is a Medium-sized device used to dump harmful substances through a sluice onto attackers below. A cauldron uses shot ammunition (see Table X-5) and is an indirect fire weapon. Its scatter shot affects all squares within 1 square of the target, as well as a 5-foot wide vertical line between the cauldron and the target.

Water Tower: A Large wooden container to hold water to help fight fires, a water tower serves as fire precautions for all structures within 30 feet and can supply water for up to 10 responses by fire crew (see Vehicles: Catching on Fire). A water tower can also be emptied upon creatures below, extinguishing non-magical fires in the area and bull rushing creatures with a +10 CMB.

Gallery: A mobile temporary defense, a gallery is similar to a building made of hide or wood. Most are of flimsy construction, but rare examples are more stoutly built. Galleries are almost always one building section plus one roof section (galleries made to house battering rams are an exception, and are typically two joined building sections and roof sections). Because a gallery is partially open, it does not provide the same cover as a normal building: A creature inside a gallery gains cover if he is the same size as the gallery, improved cover if he is one size smaller, and total cover if he is two or more sizes smaller.

Wooden galleries can be moved up on rollers at a speed of 10 with their full crew, 5 feet with at least half the required crew. Hide galleries have a base speed of 15.

Siege Tower: A wooden gallery of stout construction, a siege tower is comprised of two building sections arranged vertically, in addition to a roof section. The lowest section is used to propel the tower and provides total cover to those within. If it is breached, the siege tower moves at half speed. If it is destroyed, the entire tower collapses.

The upper section of a siege tower provides improved cover for a number of soldiers (see below) and may have pierced walls or gunports (see Vehicles). The roof section may have a battlement and may mount a siege weapon or corvus bridge up to one size smaller than the siege tower.

Table 2-6: Close Assault Siege Weapons

Cost	Weight	Crew	Load	Hardness	HP	SP	DMG
Bridge
Large	1 gp	50 lbs.	see text	5	10	1	–
Huge	10 gp	100 lbs.	see text	5	20	1	–
Gargantuan	50 gp	250 lbs.	see text	5	30	2	–
Colossal	250 gp	500 lbs.	see text	5	40	2	–
Corvus	500 gp	200 lbs.	see text	10	20	2	–
Cauldron	10 gp	125 lbs.	1	2	10	60	3	2d6
Water Tower	50 gp	500 lbs.	–	–	5	100	5	–
Gallery1
Medium	100 gp	100 lbs.	1	–	as hide or wooden structure	–
Large	250 gp	400 lbs.	4	–	as hide or wooden structure	–
Huge	500 gp	1600 lbs.	8	–	as hide or wooden structure	–
Gargantuan	1000 gp	3 tons	16	–	as hide or wooden structure	–
Colossal	2000 gp	10 tons	32	–	as hide or wooden structure	–
Siege Tower	x4	x2	x1	–	as hide or wooden structure	–
Hoist	200 gp2	500 lbs.	2	–	5	80	4	–
Ladder, Escalade
Large	1 gp	50 lbs.	see text	10/5	20/10	1	–
Huge	10 gp	100 lbs.	see text	10/5	20/20	1	–
Gargantuan	50 gp	250 lbs.	see text	10/5	20/30	1	–
Colossal	250 gp	500 lbs.	see text	10/5	20/40	1	–
Sambuca	500 gp	200 lbs.	see text	10	30	1	–
Ram
Large	500 gp	150 lbs.	see text	5	20	1	2d6
Huge	1000 gp	1000 lbs.	see text	5	40	2	3d6
Gargantuan	2000 gp	2.5 tons	see text	5	100	5	6d6
Colossal	5000 gp	10 tons	see text	5	200	10	12d6

1 For wooden galleries; cost and weight are halved for hide galleries.

2 A hoist’s price increases by 100 gp per point of Strength over 10.

Table 2-8: Siege Tower Complement

Size	Soldiers
Large	5
Huge	20
Gargantuan	50
Colossal	200

Hoist: Mounted atop a structure, a hoist is a Large winching mechanism for lifting cargo or passengers. A hoist has a base Strength of 10, but can have a Strength as high as 28. A hoist can raise or lower a light load at 15 feet per round, its heavy load at 10 feet per round, and its maximum lift at 5 feet per round.

Operating a winch requires two full-round actions; if only a single operator is available, it can be operated at half speed.

Ram Catching: The operator of a hoist can attempt to catch and disarm a ram with a readied action, after the ram attacks. The operator makes a Profession (siege engineer) check plus the hoist’s Strength bonus and a +4 modifier for its size, opposed by the CMD of the ram’s wielder, modified by the ram’s size. If the check succeeds, the ram is caught by the hoist.

The hoist can then attempt Strength check (with a +4 size bonus) to break the ram; the DC is 23 for a Large ram, 26 for a Huge ram, or 29 for a Gargantuan ram.

Alternatively, the ram can be lifted out of reach. If the ram remains in reach of the attackers, they may attempt to reclaim it with an opposed Strength check or by destroying the hoist or the chains or ropes it is using for catching the ram.

A hoist requires Strength of 22 to catch a Huge ram, 28 to catch a Gargantuan ram. Colossal rams cannot be caught.

Ladder, Escalade: Escalade ladders have spiked bases for stability, and the upper 5 feet are metal-shod, with hardness 10 and 20 hit points. The remainder of the ladder is wooden and has hardness 5 and hit points based on its size. Ladders otherwise follow the rules for assault bridges.

Sambuca: A sambuca is a counterweight and pulley system mounted at the base of a ladder that enables up to 20 creatures to cooperate in raising the ladder.

Creatures may ride on the ladder as it is raised, provided there are two creatures of their size (or one larger creature) pulling the sambuca for each rider.

Rams: The most basic close assault weapons are iron-shod logs carried by one or more creatures to combine their strength. A ram can be used to inflict damage or to make a Strength check against the target’s break DC.

Crew: A ram can be wielded by a single creature of its size or larger, plus up to five additional creatures of the same size to assist. Smaller creatures can substitute for the ram’s crew, but the number required is doubled for each size category they are smaller than the ram; hence, 8 Small creatures could take the place of a single Huge creature.

Ramming Charge: Rams require momentum to be fully effective. All creatures using the ram must use the charge action to gain its full effect. Creatures not wishing to charge may make a ram attack as a full-round action, suffering a -4 penalty to attack and damage rolls and Strength checks with the ram.

Breaking: The wielder makes a Strength check with a +2 bonus, adding +2 for each crew member (or equivalent number of smaller creatures) assisting.

The ram also provides a +4 bonus per size category above Medium.

Damage: The wielder makes an attack roll with a -4 nonproficiency penalty. A hit inflicts the listed damage, plus the Strength modifiers to damage of the wielder and all creatures assisting, regardless of their size. To determine SP damage, divide the hit point damage of the ram by 10.

Gallery Ram: A ram suspended from chains or ropes within a gallery. A gallery ram does not require a running start. In addition, by adding tethers to the back end of the ram, it allows four additional crew members to assist.

Improvised Ram: Any tree, log, or timber can be used as a ram with a -4 penalty to attack and damage rolls or to Strength checks.

Pick: A ram with a pick head adds a +2 circumstance bonus to Strength checks and attack and damage rolls against stone structures.

Screw: A ram with a screw head adds gains a +2 circumstance bonus to Strength checks and attack and damage rolls against earthen structures.

Buildings In The Kingdom

In most cases, a building will be constructed as part of a kingdom. It is therefore important to know how a player-created building fits into the Kingdom rules.

Buildings In Settlements

If a building is being used in the Downtime rules to earn capital or gold (as opposed to just being a building owned by the PC, but not being used for profit, such as a private house), it is important to determine the size of the building and the settlement attribute modifiers for the building.

Building Size

Divide four times the longest dimension of the building by 750. You may choose to round up or down. Do the same for the shorter dimension (rounding the same way you did for the longer side). The result is the number of lots wide and deep the building occupies in the City Grid (no building should occupy more than 4 lots, but the GM may allow buildings to expand beyond this). If you rounded down and the number of lots for either dimension is at least 1, you may choose to make that lot impassable (see Impassable Buildings), and if you rounded up, the lot can be made impassable only if the number of lots in a single dimension is at least 2.

Settlement Attributes

The way a building modifies the settlement attributes is largely determined by the purpose of the purpose of the building and lists one or more Kingdom Attributes. The building must provide a bonus to this Kingdom Attribute before any others (if more than one attribute is listed, the bonuses must be as even as possible).

Trade: Buildings focused primarily on tradesmen, guilds, and the buying and selling of goods. Economy.

Alchemist, Bank, Black Market, Foreign Quarter, Guildhall, Lighthouse, Luxury Store, Magic Shop, Market, Pier, Shop, Stockyard, Trade Shop, Waterfront, Warehouse.

Residential: Buildings which are for permanent or transient residents of the settlement. Unrest, Loyalty.

Caster’s Tower, Herbalist, House, Inn, Mansion, Noble Villa, Palace, Stable, Tenement.

Bureaucratic: These buildings are administrative places of work, aiming to make the running of the settlement as smooth as possible. Assembly, Bureau, Courthouse, Mint, Town Hall, Stability.

Religious: Mostly places of worship for organized religions, but also centers of healing. Economy, Loyalty, Stability.

Cathedral, Monastery, Sacred Grove, Shrine, Temple.

Educational: Institutions providing a formal education for the population of the settlement. Academy, Bardic College, Library, Magical Academy, Museum, Observatory, University, Loyalty.

Military: Training areas, equipment storage, and living quarters for military organizations, as well as defensive fortifications and locations for the settlement.

Stability. Aerie, Barracks, Castle, City Wall, Garrison, Military Academy, Moat, Watchtower.

Manufacturing: a place where finished goods are made from raw materials. Brewery, Brickyard, Exotic Artisan, Foundry, Lumberyard, Mill, Smithy, Tannery, Windmill.

Entertainment: Social venues for various types of entertainments. Loyalty. Arena, Bordello, Dance Hall, Gambling Den, Menagerie, Tavern, Theater.

Civil: These are buildings dedicated to the physical and emotional well-being of the citizens. Loyalty, Stability. Baths, Bridge, Cistern, Colossus, Crematorium, Dump, Everflowing Spring, Granary, Graveyard, Hanging Gardens, Hospital, Jail, Magical Streetlamps, Monument, Orphanage, Park, Paved Streets, Sewer System, Tunnels, Watergate, Waterway.

Each building then applies modifiers to Kingdom Attributes (Economy, Loyalty, Stability, Unrest), Settlement Attributes (Corruption, Crime, Law, Lore, Productivity, Society), Base Value, and Magic Item slots.

To calculate the size of the bonuses a building has on the settlement and kingdom, total up the capital bonus that the building generates for each type of capital (including gp). Take the highest total as a number of points to spend on the following table. A negative attribute will give back points which are available to spend equal to half the cost of a positive point (rounded down).

Table 3-1: Kingdom and Settlement Attributes

Kingdom or Settlement Effect

Point Cost

Kingdom Attribute (Economy, Loyalty, Stability) 5 per +1 Unrest 10 per -1 Settlement Attributes (Corruption, Crime, Law, Lore, Productivity, Society) 1 per +1 Base Value 1 per +500 gp Minor Magic Item 5 per item Medium Magic Item 20 per item Major Magic Item 40 per item Equivalent BP Cost

To calculate the equivalent BP cost of a building (either to allow a kingdom to build the correct building type, or for use with the bombardment rules), take the building’s gp cost under the downtime rules and divide by 100. Many other factors can modify this.

Some examples include low wealth occupants decreasing the BP cost, and high wealth occupants increasing it.

Buildings for which there will be only a limited number in any given settlement have an increased BP cost, whereas very common buildings have decreased cost.

These modifications are at the GM’s discretion, but should be carefully considered against the BP cost of existing buildings.

Exotic Strongholds

Classic castles of stone with soaring parapets and open baileys where knights and soldiers tilt at the lists are iconic elements of medieval lore and literature, but in a fantasy campaign your castles can be so much more! The rules describe a wide variety of exotic materials that can be used for creating rooms, buildings, and fortifications, including cost, time, strength, and more. When you’re creating a stronghold as part of an adventure, however, you don’t necessarily need or want to go through the mathematical exercise of building a castle brick by brick.

What is more important is the challenge such strange strongholds present for your PCs and how to use them as an organic and exciting part of the campaign.

Table 4-1: Exotic Walls

Type	Hardness1	Hp/Inch	Climb DC	Break DC
Bone	5	5	15	25
Cloud	0	0	–	102
Fire	0	(3)	–	–
Flesh	2	5	20	30
Ghostly	0	(3)	–	–
Glass	1	4	35	18
Ice	3	3	35	25
Insects	0	3	–	152
Magma	4	5	–	252
Ooze	0	3	0	202
Water	0	(4)	–	202
Web	0	2	20	202

1 Hit points per inch in parentheses indicate a wall that cannot be damaged by most forms of attack, but specific attacks listed in the wall’s description can damage it. The wall still can be dispelled even if it cannot be damaged.

2 This is the DC required to push through this semisolid wall, rather than to break it.

Elemental Strongholds

These strongholds form structures out of fundamental elements that are not usually solid and can be shaped and built only through magic or the intervention of powerful elemental beings. All elemental stronghold structures are held together by magic, and they can be unraveled with dispel magic that targets the elemental architecture spell that holds them together.

Cloud Castle

Skyfaring wizards and priests of the storm may craft castles from the congealed mists of the air, and cloud and storm giants are famous for their constructs among the clouds.

Walls: Cloud walls are formed of thick, semi-solid banks of cloud or mist bounded in by churning sheets of wind. Most cloud castle walls are opaque, blocking line of sight completely, but some might be semitransparent, only providing concealment to those behind the wall.

A cloud wall affects creatures or objects entering it as a combined wind wall and solid fog.

Hazard: The semisolid vapors of a cloud castle wall are choking to air-breathing creatures trying to move through them. Creatures not holding their breath must succeed on a DC 15 Fortitude save or be nauseated with choking and coughing for 1d4 rounds after passing through the wall.

Sky Floor: The floors of a cloud castle are generally as strong as stone and cannot be pushed through like cloud walls can. However, the floor of a cloud castle can be made either opaque or transparent, showing the vast gulfs of sky below the floor.

Hazard: Creatures not native to clouds or lacking a natural fly speed become frightened (DC 15 Will negates) and overcome with vertigo when faced with a transparent sky floor, remaining frightened for 1d6 rounds plus a number of rounds equal to the amount by which they failed their save. After this time, they can attempt a new Will save to overcome their fright.

Fire

Red dragons, fire giants, mighty elementalists, priests of the burning gods, demons and devils who crave the ever-burning pyres love to surround themselves with living fire and may ply their mastery of magic to craft a home framed in flame.

Damaging Fire Structures: Fire structures are immaterial and cannot be damaged by most effects; however, they can be damaged by water or cold effects, using the hit points listed above. Fire structures take full damage from magical cold effects and take 1 point of damage per gallon from water.

Walls: Walls constructed of flame block line of sight but shed bright light within 20 feet and dim light within an additional 20 feet. Walls of flame have physical substance but are soft and permeable, equivalent to solid fog.

Hazard: A creature entering or beginning its turn within a wall of or other structure made of flame structure takes 4d6 points of fire damage. A creature moving adjacent to a flame structure or beginning its turn adjacent to a flame structure takes 1d6 points of fire damage. Fire walls typically give off smoke.

Floors: Magically solidified, fire floors cannot be passed through and are as hard as wood. However, they deal 1d6 points of fire damage per round to creatures entering or beginning their turn on an area of fire floor.

A creature takes an additional 1d6 points of fire damage if it falls prone.

Magma

Molten rock can be shaped and formed into channels and sheets that flow in glowing sheets even as their surface cools into a smoldering crust only to crack and melt once again.

Damaging Magma Structures: Magma structures take half damage from most forms of attack, but they take full damage from cold effects. Water deals 1 point of damage per gallon to a magma structure.

Magma Walls: Walls constructed of magma are harder than fire walls, with chunks of solid stone floating and churning within them but are still only semisolid. Dealing 30 or more points of cold damage (or damage from water) to a magma wall in a single round causes it to solidify into a solid wall of unworked stone, with the hardness and hit points of typical stone. However, as long as any magma sections remain adjacent to sections of solidified stone, they re-melt 5 feet of stone back into magma every 2d6 minutes.

Hazard: Touching or beginning your turn touching a magma wall deals 2d6 points of fire damage. Strength check to push through. A creature passing through a magma wall takes 10d6 points of fire damage if they are able to pass through it on their turn with a single successful Strength check. Creatures remaining within a magma wall take 20d6 points of damage per round of exposure and must hold their breath or begin drowning.

Floors: Magma remains semiliquid when used as a floor, acting as difficult terrain and causing a -5 penalty on Acrobatics and Stealth checks for creatures moving through it. Water walk or similar magic allows a creature to step across the surface of a magma floor, taking only 2d6 points of fire damage each round they enter or begin their turn on an area of magma floor. A creature falling prone or beginning its turn prone on a magma floor takes 5d6 points of fire damage.

Water Walls

A wall of water may be a churning fluid mass held in place by elemental forces or a continuously renewing torrent cascading down in a perpetual waterfall.

Damaging Water Structures: Water structures take one-quarter damage from electricity, but creatures within the water wall take full damage from the electricity. Fire and force effects deal full damage to a water structure. A section of a water structure that takes 20 or more points of cold damage in a single round becomes an ice structure instead; however, if there is still a liquid water structure adjacent to an ice structure it begins melting the ice back into liquid water at a rate of 1d6 hours for each 5-foot section. A section of a water structure that takes 20 or more points of fire damage in a single round erupts in a cloud of steam that acts as obscuring mist within 10 feet of the water structure. This steam lasts for 1d4 rounds.

Water Walls: A water wall offers concealment to those behind it if it is less than 3 feet thick, or total concealment for thicker walls. Water walls cannot be climbed but can be ascended with a DC 30 Swim check. Moving through a water wall requires a successful DC 20 Swim check.

Hazard: The pounding torrent of a water wall deals 1d6 points of nonlethal bludgeoning damage per round (DC 15 Fort negates), and a creature failing its save is also knocked prone. Creatures with the fire subtype instead take 2d6 points of lethal damage per round, with no save allowed. A water wall poses a potential drowning risk for creatures unable to move through it or escape from it.

Floor: A floor of liquid water gains solidity through magic, treating it as a slippery surface (increasing the DC of Acrobatics checks by 5). Most water floors are relatively static, but some may support flowing water, which causes the floor to act as difficult terrain for creatures moving against the flow of water. Medium or smaller creatures running or charging in flowing water, whether moving with, against, or across the current, must succeed on a DC 11 Reflex save or fall prone and be pushed 1d4 x 5 feet downstream by the current. It is possible to create areas of open, non-solid water as part of a water floor. They are very difficult to distinguish from the surrounding water, requiring a successful DC 25 Perception check, with a +10 bonus if detect magic is being used. A rogue’s trap sense bonus also applies as a bonus on this check. A water walk spell allows a character to move easily across a water floor without impediment, whether the water is still or flowing.

Natural Strongholds

These strongholds are formed from naturally occurring materials and substance that can be shaped into strongholds with ordinary construction or through the application of nature magic.

Crystal Palace

The branching facets of crystal growths can be cultivated to massive size and forged into glittering palaces by the power of earthen magic and loving artistry.

Damaging Crystal Structures: Crystal walls take full damage from bludgeoning weapons but only half damage from piercing and slashing weapons. They take no damage from acid but take full damage from cold, electricity and fire, and damage from sonic effects is increased by 50% against crystal structures.

Crystal Walls: Walls of crystal or glass are not particularly strong, but some races favor them for their beauty. Crystal walls are generally translucent rather than perfectly transparent, blurring and distorting vision through walls and granting concealment to creatures on the other side of a crystal wall. Some crystal walls, however, may be as clear as glass and offer perfect visibility.

Hazard: Crystal walls typically are very slick and difficult to climb. While not difficult to break through, destroying a section of crystal wall causes it to shatter in a spray of shards. Any creature adjacent to a section of crystal wall when it is destroyed takes 2d6 points of slashing damage from razor-sharp fragments (DC 15 Reflex half), and all squares adjacent to the broken section are treated as if they were strewn with caltrops.

Floor: A crystal floor is generally very slick, treating them as slippery surfaces (increasing the DC of Acrobatics and Climb checks by 5), though they can be roughened to ease passage. A crystal floor is typically opaque or translucent, but a transparent crystal floor is clear as glass. If such a floor is used to bridge an abyss more than 100 feet deep, creatures traversing it that lack a natural climb or fly speed become shaken (DC 15 Will negates) until they can reach solid ground once again, at which point they can attempt a new saving throw each round at the beginning of their turn to recover their wits. Creatures that dwell on cliffs, high mountains, or other exposed heights may gain a circumstance bonus on this saving throw or may be immune, at the GM’s discretion.

Hedge Fort

Plants can be cultivated into powerful defensive structures comprised of tangled vines, living trees and shrubs, prickling brambles, and leathery greenery.

Damaging Plant Walls: Plant walls take only half damage from piercing attacks and acid and cold effects.

They take full damage from electricity and sonic effects, and fire effects deal full damage and overcome the wall’s hardness. As long ample sunlight and water are available, each section of plant wall regains 5 hit points per day, while a plant wall deprived on sunlight withers and dies over the course of several months. A plant growth spell can be used to repair all damage to one square of plant wall per caster level rather than having its normal effect. Tiny creatures can pass through a hedge wall with a DC 15 Escape Artist check, and Diminutive or Fine creatures can usually pass through plant walls without difficulty.

Floor: The floor of a hedge structure may be simple earth or wood, using the standard rules, but also may be cultivated vines and branches woven together. Hedge floors are unstable and full of potential gaps and trips. Creatures can move across a hedge floor at half speed without difficulty, but those moving at full speed must succeed on a DC 15 Reflex save or trip and fall prone at a random point during their movement. Creatures using feather step or similar effects that circumvent the effects of difficult terrain do not risk falling prone. In addition, hedge floors tend to be quite noisy, imposing a -2 penalty on Acrobatics checks and a -5 penalty on Stealth checks. These penalties do not apply to fey or creatures of the plant type, nor to Tiny or smaller creatures.

Hive Walls

In the sweltering jungle and the desert depths, endless swarms of insects and myriapods can be trained in their teeming masses to form living fortresses, with the carapaces of the dead merely adding to the bridges of the living as they continuously build and rebuild their mindless redoubts.

Damaging Crawling Walls: Crawling walls are made up of countless tiny insects and arthropods and can be damaged by effects similar to an enormous swarm. Crawling walls are immune to damage from weapons but they take 50% more damage than normal from area effects.

Crawling Wall: Walls formed of crawling bugs are not solid, requiring only a Strength check to force a way through. If a section of crawling wall is destroyed, the swarms that comprise it immediately begin to rebuild, extending the wall by 5 feet from any surviving sections each hour until it stretches back across the gap and reforms the wall.

Hazard: A creature climbing on a crawling wall or pushing through it is exposed to countless tiny bites, dealing 2d6 points of damage and becoming nauseated (DC 15 Fort negates) for as long as they remain in contact with the wall and for 1d4 rounds thereafter.

Floor: A floor carpeted in crawling insects, whether it is an ordinary floor covered in swarms or a magically suspended floor comprised of nothing but bugs, is unpleasant and unstable. The crunching of bugs underfoot causes a -5 penalty on Stealth checks, and an invisible creature’s location is easily marked by bugs crawling up and around their legs or any body part adjacent to the floor. These swarming insects deal no damage, but a creature beginning its turn prone on a crawling floor must succeed on a DC 11 Fortitude save or become nauseated for 1 round.

Special: A repel vermin spell causes a 10-foot-wide space to open in a crawling wall or floor.

Icewall

In areas of perpetual cold, glacial ice can be harvested and formed into permanent structures, and even in subarctic climes ice can be shaped and formed into strongholds in the depths of winter or through the frigid enchantments of cryomantic sorcery.

Damaging an Ice Structure: Ice structures take full damage from bludgeoning weapons and half damage from piercing and slashing weapons. They are immune to cold and take only one-quarter damage from acid but electricity and sonic attacks deal full damage. Fire effects bypass an ice structure’s hardness and deal 50% greater damage than normal.

Walls: Ice walls can be translucent if carefully polished or only a few inches thick, but most ice structures are opaque.

Hazard: An ice wall does not deal immediate damage on contact, but creatures spending more than 1 minute in contact with an ice wall treat it as exposure to extreme cold. Walking on top of an ice wall is not as dangerous, treating it instead as a cold environment.

Floor: An ice floor is a slippery surface (increasing the DC of Acrobatics and Climb checks by 5), though permanent structures built atop ice floors may be strewn with gravel, sand, straw, or other material to provide better footing, making the surface only slightly slippery (increasing DCs by 2) or normal. Direct contact with an ice floor is not inherently dangerous unless there is prolonged contact. Treat a creature prone on an ice floor as being in an environment one step colder than the ambient air temperature.

Web Walls

In caves and forests, the same arthropod affinity that some use to force numberless insectoid hosts to form structures with their bodies can be applied to arachnids, silkworms, and similar spinners to weave massive structures of curtained webs. These web structures may be solidified with enzymes or interwoven with existing undergrowth to create sweeping bridges, chambers, and tangled corridors.

Damaging Web Walls: Web structures take half damage from bludgeoning and piercing weapons but take 50% more damage than normal from fire effects. A destroyed section of web wall can be repaired within 24 hours by the innumerable tiny spiders infesting the web wall and spinning new webs constantly.

Web Walls: Web barriers typically provide concealment and cover, but not total concealment or total cover, though some exceptionally thick web barriers may provide greater screening.

Hazard: A creature failing its Strength check by 5 or more when attempting to break through a web structure becomes stuck and entangled by the webs. Breaking free requires a successful DC 15 Strength check or Escape Artist check to escape back the way the creature came in, or a DC 20 check to break through to the opposite side. A trapped creature also can escape by dealing at least 15 points of slashing or fire damage to the webs.

Web Floor: A web floor may overlay an existing floor or may be a structure entirely made of webbing. In any case, its stickiness and unsteadiness makes a web floor difficult terrain, with a -5 penalty on Acrobatics checks but a +5 bonus on Climb checks to catch yourself when falling. Creatures with tremorsense have the range of that sense doubled when in contact with web floors, and spiders and similar web-dwelling creatures ignore the penalties other creatures suffer when traversing web floors.

Ooze Pile

Oozes can be congealed through magical and alchemical processes into gelid piles of semisolid colloid. Ooze walls are often constructed by alien entities or mad scientists. They may be created to stand on their own or as sickening sheaths clinging to stone walls underneath.

Structures made of deliquescent fungus are basically identical to those formed from ooze, though they also may hold poisonous or hallucinogenic spores.

Damaging Ooze Walls: Ooze walls take only half damage from bludgeoning and piercing attacks and are immune to acid. They take full damage from cold, electricity, fire, and sonic effects.

Ooze Wall: A wall of ooze is faintly transparent, revealing only vague shapes and shadows but providing total concealment. DC 20 Strength check to push through. A creature forcing a way through an ooze wall opens a hole that lasts only 1d4 rounds before closing again. A destroyed section of ooze wall repairs itself after 24 hours and returns to its former shape.

Hazard: Creatures touching an ooze wall take 2d6 points of acid damage, with no save allowed.

Floor: An ooze floor is a deliquescent rubbery mass, prone to squelch and suck at the feet of those treading upon it as their feet sink in up to the ankles. Ooze floors can be overlaid on an existing stone floor or can be magically crafted out of distilled ooze. Ooze floors are treated as difficult terrain unless creatures have freedom of movement or water walking and also impose a -2 penalty on Stealth checks. The location of invisible creatures walking on an ooze floor can be clearly marked by their sunken footprints in the ooze.

Hazard: Creatures entering or beginning their turn on an area of ooze floor take 2d6 points of acid damage per round. This damage does not increase if they enter multiple squares of ooze floor.

Necromantic Strongholds

Some structures can be formed only by tapping into the dark arts of necromancy, binding flesh, bone, blood, and spirit into a grotesque mockery of classical architecture.

Bone Keep

Simple bone structures are not uncommon among primitive societies, using collected bones for structure and for decoration, but the application of necromantic magic makes them far more dangerous.

Damaging Bone Structures: Bone structures take full damage from bludgeoning weapons and from positive energy. They take only half damage from piercing and slashing weapons.

Walls: Crafted from innumerable skeletal remains, bone walls are infused with necromantic power.

Hazard: The semi-animate bony climbs of a bone wall writhe and grasp at creatures climbing on them. A creature ending its turn climbing on a bone wall has a 50% chance to become entangled (DC 15 Reflex negates). An entangled creature can free itself with a DC 15 Strength check or Escape Artist check or can be freed by dealing 15 points of damage to the section of bone wall adjacent to the entangled creature. Dealing at least 15 points of positive energy damage to a semi-animate bone wall suppresses this entangling effect for 1 minute.

Floor: A bone keep’s floor is littered with skulls and bone fragments, typically a mix of light rubble and dense rubble, with many areas scattered with bony caltrops. Some areas may have grasping bones similar to those on bone walls.

Flesh Palace

Necromancers, demons, and other corrupt and cruel creatures may build fortifications from tormented flesh, melding the carcasses of the dead into a gruesome half-life of pulsating muscles and pumping blood.

Damaging Flesh Structures: Flesh structures take full damage from slashing weapons but only half damage from bludgeoning and piercing weapons. They take full damage from acid, cold, electricity, fire, and sonic attacks, as well as negative energy. Flesh structures have fast healing 5, and even if a section is completely destroyed any adjacent sections can regrow at a rate of 5 feet for every 24 hours, growing together towards the other side of the severed gap.

Walls: Walls of flesh may look almost vital, pulsing with vital fluids and prone to bleed if attacked, or they may be gray and putrefied, scabrous and rotting yet losing none of their revolting resilience.

Hazard: Flesh walls have embedded eyes and ears and can sense nearby creatures with a +10 bonus on Perception checks and 60-foot darkvision. In addition, a flesh wall has tremorsense with respect to any creature climbing on its surface, and any creature ending its turn on a flesh wall has a 50% chance to be attacked by gaping maw or tearing limb that reaches out from the wall (+10 attack bonus, dealing 1d12 points of bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage).

Floor: A flesh floor is often uneven and soft, with grotesque bulges in places and a quivering softness in others, along with lumps of tumors, bones, and sensory organs jut out. Flesh floors are equivalent to light rubble mixed with dense rubble, and they are reactive and prone to shift where the more difficult terrain appears. For true body horror, certain areas of a flesh floor might be so yielding and soft that they function like fleshy quicksand (see Environment), and flesh floors also might contain mouths or limbs that reach out to attack nearby creatures just as fleshy walls do.

Ghostly Redoubt

The most sinister fiends and necromancers extract the immortal essence of their victims and knit their soulstuff together into a tragic and terrifying tower of tattered ectoplasm.

Damaging Ghostly Structures: Ghostly structures are comprised of ectoplasmic spirit-stuff and can be damaged only by magical weapons and effects, taking half damage from all such effects other than force effects and positive energy (or attacks with ghost touch weapons).

Ghost Walls: Ghost walls have no physical substance and cannot be climbed. Their opaque gossamer shrouds offer total concealment but grant no cover against attacks through the wall. Dealing at least 30 points of positive energy damage to a ghost wall in a single round quells the spirits within the wall for 1 minute, making it save to transit that section of the ghost wall. A dispel magic spell (DC 20 caster level check) suppresses the binding magic holding the spirits within the ghost wall for 1d4 rounds, making the wall itself safe to traverse; however, this also temporarily looses the spirits within the dispelled section of wall to rampage and swarm over creatures nearby. Each round, the spirits flood out in a 30-foot cone aimed in a random direction from the dispelled section(s) of wall, affecting creatures in that area as if they had passed through the ghost wall, though the power of the scattered spirits is dissipated somewhat, reducing the save DC to 15.

Hazard: A creature passing through a ghost wall gains one negative level (DC 20 Fort negates) and takes 1d4 points of Wisdom damage (DC 20 Will negates) from the howling madness of the spirits.

Floor: A ghostly floor is typically made of ectoplasmic force, which is weaker than a true force construct with the hardness and hit points of solid wood. Incorporeal undead creatures can pass through a ghostly floor without difficulty, as if it were normal stone.

A ghostly floor can be made either opaque or transparent. If a transparent ghost floor bridges an abyss more than 100 feet deep, creatures traversing it that lack a natural climb or fly speed become shaken (DC 15 Will negates) until they can reach solid ground once again, at which point they can attempt a new saving throw each round at the beginning of their turn to recover their wits. Creatures that dwell on cliffs, high mountains, or other exposed heights may gain a circumstance bonus on this saving throw or may be immune, at the GM’s discretion.

Hazard: Undead standing on a ghostly floor gain channel resistance +1 (+2 if they are incorporeal undead adjacent to the ghostly floor). This stacks with any other turn resistance they possess.