Siege Equipment
Castles and fortified towns are usually well-defended, and arrows might not suffice to penetrate thick stone walls. Whether your heroes purchase and use siege equipment or must fight against it, these machines can significantly increase the tension in a combat scene.
Siege equipment is a little like the weapons and armor that an adventurer might use, but has more intricacies.
Ranged
A siege weapon will have the Ranged property, which is functionally the same as any weapon’s Ranged property.
Ammunition
All nonmagical siege weapons will have the Ammunition tag. Unlike normal weapons, a number of AP will be listed immediately after the ammunition type. It takes that many AP to load a siege weapon. A siege weapon cannot make a ranged attack if it is not loaded.
A siege weapon lists the type of ammunition it uses: a ball or a bolt. A standard ball or bolt will deal the damage listed by the weapon, but specialty ammunition will have other effects.
Reload
Many siege weapons have a Reload feature. After it is fired, a creature must spend the appropriate number of AP to set the weapon for usage again, whereupon ammunition can be applied.
Area of Effect
Ammunition fired from a siege weapon generally causes a shockwave of blunt force, a hail of sharp blades, or an explosion of fire or other elemental energy. The AOE column specifies a radius (from the point of contact) or a line or cone (drawn from the siege weapon) to a target point within range. The attack is made against every creature in that area.
Heft and Speed
Siege equipment is large and cumbersome. A Heft score provides an abstract way of measuring the amount of force it takes to move that equipment.
When a number of creatures collectively pull or push the equipment, they must spend 3 of their AP on a turn to move it. A creature must count as Medium or larger for the purposes of lifting, dragging, and carrying to contribute. When a creature contributes to moving a siege engine, add its STR to a collective pool. At the start of its next turn, the creature removes its STR From the pool unless it uses its turn to move the engine again.
If a humanoid counts as Large or larger for the purposes of lifting, dragging, and carrying, they can add double their STR.
When the collective pool of STR meets or exceeds 1⁄2 or all of a siege engine’s Heft score, the creatures that contributed may move the machinery accordingly.
They must achieve a total of at least 1⁄2 the equipment’s Heft. If they do, they can move the equipment up to 1⁄2 its speed; if they achieve a total of equal to or greater than the equipment’s Heft, then it moves its total speed. Any creature that contributed to moving the equipment immediately moves with it when this occurs.
Health and Armor
Siege equipment has HP, AR, REF, and FORT just like any creature. Most siege equipment also has DT or other forms of resistance to damage. It does not have ANT, LOG, or WILL, however, and cannot be affected by any ability or attack that would target those defenses.
Attack Bonus
When making an attack with a siege weapon, choose AWR or INT. For every 3 points you have in that attribute, add +1 to your attack roll. Additionally, for every 4 points you have in the Vehicles [Land]* skill, add +1 to your attack roll. This will generally mean that attacks with a siege weapon have much lower modifiers than attacks with a normal weapon. This is intentional; siege weapons are devastating when used on easy-to-hit targets such as buildings, but are not as effective against individual targets. Furthermore, many siege weapons still deal half damage even if they miss.
Crit Fails
Siege engines are very particular mechanisms and many things can go wrong with them. They crit fail on a roll of 1 or 2. When they crit fail, they no longer function until they are repaired by a craftsperson with the relevant skill set.
Examples of Siege Equipment abilities & stats
Costs
CRB Costs
Armies might implement one or more of these items when they lay siege to an enemy city.
| Item | Cost |
|---|---|
| Ballista | 4000 |
| Battering Ram | 1000 |
| Catapult | 5000 |
| Trebuchet | 9000 |
| Siege Tower | 8000 |
| Watch Tower (Stone) | 25,000 |
| Watch Tower (Wood) | 6000 |
MCG Costs
| Item | Cost |
|---|---|
| Ballista (Portable) | 1500 |
| Battering Ram | 500 |
| Cannon | 2200 |
| Catapult | 1900 |
| Siege Tower | 5000 |
| Trebuchet | 8000 |
| Trebuchet (Automatic) | 20000 |
Specialty Ammunition
Besieging armies often bring specialty ammunition on their military expeditions, enhancing their siege weapons. Here are some example specialty munitions that an army might implement. Siege weapons can only use specialty ammunition if the ammunition is categorized as the same type (a ballista cannot fire any type of ball, for example).
| Ammunition | Type | AOE | Damage | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beehive | Ball | 20 ft radius | 6d4 sharp and it spawns a Swarm of Insects | 1 |
| Boling Oil Pot | Ball | 10 ft radius | 4d6 sharp and Burning 1d6 condition | 10 |
| Buckshot Balls | Ball | 60 ft cone | 8d4 blunt | 4 |
| Cluster Grenades | Ball | 40 ft radius | 3d6 fire | 50 |
| Diseased Corpse | Ball | - | 2d10 blunt and the disease (typically Boil Plague) might spread | 1 soul |
| Frag Cannonball | Ball | 20 ft radius | 3d10 blunt and 4d6 fire | 40 |
| Hail Bolt | Bolt | 30 ft radius | 3d8 sharp | 40 |
| Lightning Bolt | Bolt | 500 ft line | 3d10 lightning | 80 |
| Weighted Net | Ball or Bolt | 5 ft radius | 2d6 blunt and targets are Restrained (escape DC 14 STR or DEX) | 5 |
| Weighted Razor Net | Ball or Bolt | 5 ft radius | 2d6 sharp, targets are Restrained (escape DC 14 STR or DEX), and targets are Bleeding 1d6 while Restrained | 30 |