AD&D - DMGR2 - Castle Guide (2e)

I

Dungeon Mastel"s
Guide

The

Castle
Guide

TSR, Inc.

Table of Contents

Introduction .... ... ........3 Chapter 6: Unusual Castles ..69 Designed by Grant Boucher, Troy
Chapte r 1: The Feudal Setting .5 Christe nsen. Arthur Collins, and
Oriental Designs ... _ ......69 Nigel Findley
Social Classes .............6
Members of the Court .......8 Thieves' Castles ..........69 Additional Design by Tim oth y B.
The Role of the Churc h ..... 10 Brown and William W. Connors
Politics a nd Ch urc hes ... .. . 13 Wizards' Keeps ...........69
Crimes and Punishmen ts ... 14 Edited by William W. Conno rs
Priests' Fortresses . ..70 Black & White Art by Jean
Death by Thxes ........... 17
Populating t he Castle ......21 Paladins' Castles . ........70 Elizabeth Martin
A Day in the Life of a Peasant 23 Color Art by Jean Elizabeth Mar-
Chapter 2: In The Days Rangers' Forts ...........71
Of Knights ...............25 tin, Erik Olson, a nd Ke n Widing
Knighthood for Non-Warrior s 26 Druids' Shrines ........ ...71 Graphic Design by Linda Bakk
The Road to Knighthood ...27 Typography by Gaye O'Keefe
The Chivalric Code . ..... . .29 Dwarven Citade ls .........7 1 Cartography: Supvr,/ Designer:
Falling from Grace ........32
Rogue K n igh ts ...........33 Elven Sanctuaries .........72 Dave S utherla nd
Heraldry ................33 Artist: Dave S utherla nd, Frey
Demi-Human Knights ......35 Halfllng S trongholds .......74 G ra p h i c s
Chapter 3: The Thurnament .38
Jousting ................39 Gnomish Castles ..........74
Archer y ................41
Chapter 4: The Evolution Of Orc is h Keeps .............75
Castles ..................42
The Castle's Role .... .....42 Chapter 7: Warfarel ........76
Types of CasLles ......... .43
Chapter 5: Castle Offensive Tactics ..........76
Construction ..............45
Acquiring Land ..........46 Investment ..............77
The Cons truction Site ... ...48
Climate T ype ........... .48 Starvation ....... .. ... . ..77
Geogra phy ............. .48
Ground Cover ... ...... ...50 Thirst .......... .. ... .. .78
Resource Availability ......5 1
The Work Force ..........5 1 Fantastic Combat .........79 ADVANCE D DUNGEONS & DRAGONS.
Local Social Structure .....5 1 AD&D. BATTLESYSTEM. PRODUCTS OF
Worker SkUl .............52 Reduction ........ . ......80 YOU R IMAGINATION, SPELWAMMER,
Worker Morale ...... .. ...52 FORGOTTEN REAL MS, and t he T SR logo
Castle Design ............54 Escala de . . . . . . . . . . .8 1 are lrademarks owned by TSR Inc.
Castle Modules ...........54
Average Construction Airborne Operations ..82
Time & Cost .............59
Works of Art .............59 Breaching the Walls . ......84
Overhead Costs .... ...... .59
Final Calculations. . . . .. .59 S iege Attack Values . ......84 Cl I990 T SR Inc. All Rights Reserved
The Work Force ..........60
Work Seasons ............62 Excavation ..............86 Printed In the U.S.A.
Mon thly Events ..........63
The Castle on the Moors ....67 Mining .......... .. ... . .87

Trickery and Corruption ....89 Distributed to the book t rade In the Un [tcd

Morale Issues ..... ... ....89 States by Random House Inc. and In Can·
ada by Random Hou se of Canada. Ltd. D[s·
Defe nsive Tactics .. . ......90 trlbuted to the toy and hobby trade by
region al distributors. Distributed [n th e
Fortifications ............90 United K[ngdom by TSR Ltd.

Sorties .......... . ......92

. Defe nding the Walls .......93 This product Is protected u nder the copy·
right laws of the United States of Am erica.
Morale Issues ............96 Any reproducUon or other unauthOrized
use of the material or artwork contained
S urrender ...............97 herein [s prohlb[ted Wi th out the express

Siege Engines . . . . . . . . .98 written permission ofTSR. Inc.

Chapter 8: Quick Resolution

Systems .. ............ . .106 TSR Inc. TSR Ltd.
POB 756 120 Church End.
Siege Resolution ... . ..... 106 Lake Geneva
WI 53147 Cherry H[nton
Fighting Campaigns ...... 108 U.S.A. Cambridge, CBI 3LB

War in the Medieval Age . .. 109 United Kingdom

War Pla ns .............. III

Battle Resolution .. . ..... 112

Campaig n Victory-

Winning the War ......... 115

Character Involvement .... 116

Chapter 9: Generic Castles . 11 8

Cyclops Thwer .. .. ... ... 11 8

Bremberthwaite Manor . ... 120

Klnnlve r Castle ......... . 122

1

Introduction

Prepare yourself for a voyage the evolution of castles In med i- Using The Castle Guide
eval Europe a nd provides an over- As you can see. there is a great
back In time. view of their advantages a nd
As you read t his book. you will disadvan tages. Following that. we deal of informalion in this book. Of
presen t a modular system for the course, you can u se as much or as
be drawn back th rough th e year s design a nd cons trucllo n of castles li ttle of It as you wan t in your
for use by Playe r Cha racters a nd AD&D gam e. If you are using the
to an age whe n castles dom inated NPCs alike. With this s imple sys- Complete Fighter 's Handbook In
the landscape of Europe. He r e, your campaign. you will find tha t
te m . the OM can de term ine Ju s t m uch of the information in this
am id t h ese mighty ston e halls. you h ow much it will cost a c ha rac ter book works well wi th the cava lie r
will find kn ights In sh ining armor to build th e keep of his dreams and a nd swas hbuckler kils especially.
and great battles (ought by m en how long th e cons truc tion will However. anyone who runs a cam -
and w om en with st eel swords and pa ign tha t has ele m en ts of feuda l
take . Included wi th th is a re rules Europe In it will find something of
iron nerves. for the use of m agical ite m s and valu e to them in this book .
We lcome to the Age of Chivalry. monsters in the building process.
For those who want to set their
What's in t his book? For those of you who a re fond of campaign agains t the backdrop of
a great war. as was done in
The Cas tle Gu ide Is a n out· th e BATTLESYSTEM '" m iniatu res lblklen's Lord of the Rings trilogy.
growth of th e AD&D® 2nd edition rules, we have Included the the quic k resolution systems pre-
game rules. In the Dungeon Mas- third portion of The Castle Guide. sented In c hapter 8 will a llow play-
Here. we expand upon the ers to focus on the role-playi ng
ter's Guide and Player's Handbook aspects of the game. while s tHl be-
BATTLESYST EM rules a nd pro- ing able to c hange the cou rse of a
a general rules system was estab- vide rules for resolving long Sieges ba ttle or turn the tide of an entire
a nd the defense of cas l les. Material war.
lished that allows th e Dungeon in thiS section addresses the ele-
ments of a fan tasy world that If you e njoy war ga m es a nd
Master to run a variety of fantasy make defendingacaslle more than wan t to m esh your AD&D~ game
role-play ing sty les. In lhis book. j u st a n exercise In historical simu- campaign more fully with your
however. we will focus in on a spe- lation . In add ition . we look a t the BATTLESYSTEM games, the sec-
c ific sty le of gam e. onc set in a soci- various types of casUes fou nd In tions on warfa re will a lso provide
ety s imil a r to t hat of fe ud a l the AD&O game, Incl ud ing those you wi th lots of information for
Eu rope. and give you the back- of the dwarves and elves. new scenarios. With the addition
ground InformaUo n you need to of th e m aterial in this book, role-
make It com e to life. If you aren 't Interested In fight- p laying's premier minia tures rules
system reaches new heights.
The first section of this book be- ing out indivi dual battles with
gins with a n overv iew of m edieval miniatures, we have taken care to Kn ights. mount your horses. The
society a nd the fe udal system in Incl ude a pair of quick resolution tim e for battle is at hand!
general. Here. you will come to un - system s. The firs t of t hese can be
derstand th e forces that dri ve a u sed to resolve Individua l s ieges.
fe udal govern men t a nd th e rela- while the second can b e e m ployed
Uons h lp between the state a nd Its to determine the vic tor in an indi-
c hurches. vidual ba ttle or a ll-out milita ry
campaign .
Following thiS, we go on to detail
the ways In which player c harac- Lastly. we have Included a trio of
ters can become knights. the stoul generic castles fo r u se by the
defenders of the realm. The code of Dungeon Master in setti ng up h is
c h ivalry is examined a nd the game. If time Is Ught. a nyone of
s ta nda rds by whic h a kn ight m ust th ese s truc tures ca n be eas ily
live h is or he r Ufe are a ddressed . In adapted to serve as a n NPC's base
closing the fi rs t section . we ofTer a ofoperations orasa modelofmedl-
guide to medieval tournaments. eval design techniques.
Here, c haracters get the c ha nce to
s how off their s kills a nd try for th e
hand of th e beautiful princess (or
handsom e prince).

Our seco nd sec tio n exami n es

3



Merging Fact and Fantasy along the lines of Thlkien's works the time they have reached ninth
and the s tories of King Arth ur. In leve l. the characters are us ually
Many of us got into role-play ing this book. we will assum e that this fairly well known a nd have ac-
is th e norm. Of course, becau se the quired the s ta tus offolk heroes. As
gam es when we m et some friend s AD&D gam e is your game. no sin- he begins to a ttract followers. the
who sim ply asked us to "come by gle s tyle of play is conside red to be c haracter cannot help but come to
correct. If you a nd your players a re the a tte ntion of the local govern-
and watch," LillIe did we know having fun. then you 're play ing m e nt.
tha t we had already wa tc hed the game pro pe rly.
plen ty of role-play ing gam es in our It is a lmost certai n that. given
a ll too s hort lives. In fact. the film s As with a ll things in the AD&D tim e. they w ill becom e as we ll
and novels we've read over t h e gam e. your interpretatio n is wha t know n in their hom e lan ds (or the
years hold that sam e spark of m atters, so feel free to pic k a nd region in whic h they adven ture) as
c hose. discard a nd exploit. The George Washington , Abraham
imagination t ha t drew u s in to more excited you get a bout you r Lincoln , or the Wrigh t brothers a re
choices. the more your campaign in th e modern United S tates. Of
these c razy ga m es In th e first wiJI thri ve a nd grow. Hopefully. co urse. this m ay a lso m ean that
place. this information will give you a they are expected to undertake
wealth of adventure ideas and add tasks whic h seem impossible and
Whe n settin g up a new cam- life to aU your future gam ing . confront unstoppable armies as a
paign world, there are two basic matter of routine duty to their
schools of thought: those who feel E n j oy. king. Oh well. that's what they ge t
the game should be very histori- for giving up the si mple life of a
cally accurate a nd those who do Notes on Campaign b la c k s m i t h .
not. Of course. the in troduction of
magiC in to the historic world is a Politics In a ny case. it Is important to
mainstay of the AD&D®gam e and note that re la tionships with the lo-
cannot help but distort an other- In many campaigns, the prob- cal nobili ty (even for those who a re
wise h istoric se tting. le m s of na tional polities fall into a pa rt of It) are not a lways cordia l.
th e backgrou nd fo r lower level Ju s t as the king can be a very valu -
So, which do you ch oose in your c haracters. After aU . the majority ab le fr ie nd , so too can he be a
campaign? Is your world going to of firs t level adven turers a re not d eadly adversary.
be classically accurate, as it was ab le to cope with problems like
seen in the great Roma n and Bibli- m aj or wars. thwarting the ulti- Feudal Society
cal epics we've a ll watc hed on TV? m ate evil. or s laying that most hor-
Or will the world have a n e lem en t r ible of horrors. t!1e dragon . At this The bas ic e lem en t of fe uda lism
of magiC a nd s upers titio n lurking poin t in their careers. th e c harac- is sim ple e nough to understand.
just out of s ight (or even in fu ll ters are not going to be overly con- All in a ll, it Is nothing m ore than
view), like the great epic stories of cerned with the ra m ificatio ns of a n agreem en t be tween two men. a
Excalibur a nd Conan t.he Barbar- the king's political a llia nces for the lord a nd a vassal. to wor k toge ther
same reaso n that most of us a re for their mu tual betterment.
ian? not experts in the deta ils of our
country's ow n fore ig n re lations: it The lord. who is th e recognized
If you c hoose the latter, you simply doesn't en ter into our daily owne r of a piece of land-gives it to
must decide how far to take the li ves. the vassal. who will manage and
magic, Ve ry popu lar in recen t fan- live on it. In excha nge for such a fa-
tasy literature a re th e "no holds As they progress in leve ls. how- vor. the lord is e n ti tled to certain
barred" magical worlds where ev- ever. thin gs will begi n to c h a nge. dulles and favors from the vassal.
e ryone a nd the ir brothe r li ves and At first. th is will be on ly a passing which include the payment of
breathes magiC. In many ways, th ing. Perha ps o ne adventure taxes and the requirement that he
this is similar to the way in which brings th ei r action s to th e a tten- support the military forces main·
the average person sees techn ol- Uon of a local ba ron who, for bette r tained by the lord .
ogy today. After a ll . most people or worse. makes a m en tal n ote to
have no idea how a televis ion set keep an eye on the characters. By In most cases. the owner of the
works. but they accept it as a com-
mon part of their daily lives.

The average AD&D campaign re-
main s somewhat in the middle.

land Is the kIng and the vassals are Of course. the key to the whole Serfs
his nobility. Of course. one can't thing is land. Whoever owns the
ex pect the nobility to work the land has the power. While th ere By the time of the middle ages.
land themselves. so we come to the are certai n regions which might s lavery had gradu ally fall en out of
serfs and com mon folk. not belong to the king (a yeoma- favor In feudal e urope. While there
m a n 's farm . for exam ple ) these are a re certain to be isolated pockets of
The vassal, in a n agree m ent insignificant when com paired to s lave trading in most worlds. the
similar to that he which he has the vast stretches of land owned by vast majority of a chivalric cam -
with his king. turns the land over th e king himself. Even s uch small paign world should not be a party
patches of independen t la nd will to it. While the distinction between
to the peasants a nd serfs to farm be forced to recogn ize the power of a serf a nd a s lave may be obscure
and live on . Like the vassal. they the king. of course, If they a re to to m a ny, the m ost importan t thing
agree to work the land a nd provid e expec t any protection or assis t- to unders tand is this: the serf had
their lord with Incom e and food an ce from th e crown during ti mes certain rights.
from it. Of course. the serfs ex- of war or cala mity.
pect to earn e nough money to live While he did not own the land
on and to be protected by the lord Social Classes which he worked and did not have
In times of unrest or military con - a say in the local governme nt he
flict. The lord knows this, Just as One importa nt aspect of the feu- was acknowledged to own h im self.
he knows that he can expect the dal system is Its clear a nd almost Unlike more primitive socie ties.
same from the king, and Is only too absolute recogniti on of soc ia l where m em bers of the lower class
happy to provide It. While this classes. Anyone born as a serf can were thought of as anima ls or
doesn't mean that life for the serfs ex pect to die as a serf. There is no property. the poor in a feudal soci-
is wonderful. It does a llow th em to provision In such a society for th e ety a re recognized as having a
live without fear of extreme repres- advancement of Ind ividuals from a right to fair a nd ju s t treatment by
sion or exploitation . lower class In to the higher classes. the nobility a nd society in general.
This is not to say that It is Impos-
The feu dal system works well so sible. only that it is very difficult. Most feudal estates have laws to
long as everyone in it recognizes protect the local serf popula tion
their own responsibilities a nd the How m ight som eone in a lower from abuse or mis treatment-even
rights of others. Since they are in a class make the jum p to a higher by m embers of the nobility. While
position where it is In their own place in society? Usually by doing these laws may be more or less en-
best interest to do so. they almost a great ser vice to one's lord or forced. depending on the disposiUon
always do. Those wh o ig nore thier church . In some societies. in fac t. of the local lord. the fact that they
duties or seek to take advantage of an y knigh t has the right to bestow ex ist at all is a major turning point
th eir own position are qu ickly the rank and title of kn ighthood on in cu ltural evoluUon.
pegged as trouble-makers an d any Individual who proves himself
may well be s trongly disciplined worth on the field of com bat. Of Yeomen
by the leaders hip of the society. course, the problem with such an
approach is that it often e nds up In Unlike the serf. who s pent his
The reasons for this are simple the would-be knight's death at the days la boring on land ow ned by
enough to understand. While the hands of a better trained and bet- his lord . a yeoman was recogn ized
King may not care too much about ter equipped warrior. As we said, it as the owner of his own farm . As a
the life of a single serf. he mus t is not easy to improve your place rule, it was not a large estate. but it
concern himself with their overall in s uch a system. was enough to provide for his
ha ppiness. Withou t the serfs. his needs (and those of his family). If
vassals have no power or income. In the following section. we will times were good. it migh t even pro-
Without the power and income of examine the many levels of society vide a surplus which could be sold
w hich characters In an AD&DI!l or bartered for a few choice items
the vassals, he himself is impo· game will encounter. or luxuries.
tent. Each block In the pyram id of
power rests very solidly on those In ma ny cases. of course. a yeo·
below it in t he fe ud a l syste m . m an will swear loyalty to a near-by
Without the support of the base, lord and pay him or h er some trlb·
the e nUre s tructure will collapse.

6

ute each year. This serves two pur· who work with precious materials Nobility
poses. Primarily. it allows th e yeo· (like a gem merch a nt) . This class
man to keep on good terms with m ay be the most diverse of any be- The nobility are second in sta tus
the lord and provides assurance cause it serves as a buffe r between on ly to the royal fa mily. In prac-
that his la nd will not be taken from the nobility and the com mon folk. tice, they a re perhaps the most
h im. Secondly, it obligates the lord in modern terms, the guildsmen powerfu l of the classes. Me m bers
to help protec t the yeoman's land m ig h t be conSide red to be the up· of the nobility. most of whom bear
in the even t of a disaster or attack. per middle class. the title of Count. Duke. Earl. or
In short. the gesture simply as· MarquiS. are each e n trusted with a
sures that the two will be "good As a s ide note. som e gu ildsmen large section of the king's land.
n e ighbors", migh t have m ore actua l power in a Th ey swear loyalty to the crown .
region than the nobles they serve. just as the members of the c hival-
Tradesmen Such power is proba bly not open ly ric class swear loyalty to them . It is
ma nifested , but u sed In s ubt le their responsibi lity to see to it that
TI-adesmen make up the lower ways to he lp the frie nds a nd fa mily a ffa irs In their lands a re orderly
classes of a feudal town. They in· of the guildsman. The most impor- a nd that a ll taxes a nd revenues
c1ude the common laborers. lesser tan t m embers of th is c lass m ight due to the King are colec ted In a
c raftsme n . a n d small business- be cons ide red nobles who just ha- timely m an ner.
m en. As Individuals, they hold lit- ven 't been given a title yet.
tle power. Becau se of their overall Mem bers of the nobility have a
importance in soc iety. h owever. Chivalries very close relationship with the
they are treated fairly well by the roya l fa mily. but they can c la im no
lord of the manor. The lowest ra nk of the noblltty. direct blood ties to the thro ne. In
the chivalric class is m a de up of the event that a great disaster were
As a rule , tradesmen m ake knights a nd ba rons who have been to decimate the ruling house, the
enough money to support them - give n agran tof la nd to a dminis ter. s uccessor to the throne would cer·
selves fairly well and to provide a In som e cases. they have earned talnly com e from this class. The
comfortable home for their faml· the la nd themse lves throu g h m eans by whic h such a n individ-
lies. In a modern sense. they might wealth . power. or service. In oth- ua l came to power might be vcry
be described as the middle c lass. e rs. the la nd m ay h ave been controve rsial and a politcal power
awarded to o ne of the ir a ncestors s truggle is sure to erupt wheneve r
Guildsmen and they have Inherited the title the throne is left uncaimed.
a nd responsibilities which come
In order to counter the power with s uc h a n estate. Royal Family
which a lord m a intains over his
holdings a nd make certai n tha t he Me mbers of this c lass a re en - At the top of It all Is the royal
does not abuse his status. the mem- dowed by the ir ow n lord (usually a fam ily. Me mbers of th is g roup can
be rs of many professio ns fo rm duke, count. o r earl) with land of trace a di rect family relations h ip
guilds. In essence. they fun c tio n their own and a manor house or to the ruling monarch. When the
like the thieves' guild which Is so keep in wh ich to dwell. In return . c urre n t king dies. o ne of them will
much a part of many AD&D'!I game of course. th ey s wear loyalty to be nex t o n the throne. In a ny feu -
campaigns. Guildsmen . the leaders their benefactor and vow to serve dal c u lture. m embers of this class
of such groups, have much power his interests In their dally lives. As a re the absolute upper crust. Ev-
in a town, for they can call on work- such, they pay a portion of their eryone. even the most powerful
ers to s top key activities o r delay own incomes to him as a measure members of the nobi lity, swears fc-
important projects. Likewise, they of their respect a nd g ra titude. in a a lty to the royal fa mily a nd to the
can urge Increased quality or quan- time of cris is. they are expected to king in particula r.
tity in times of s trtfe. come promptly to the aid of their
superiors. In the even t of a dispute between
In add ition to the importa nt the king a nd a member of the no-
members of the various guilds. bility. either In the form of a politi·
this class of citizens includes un- cal c ha ll enge or a n outright reo
usually gifted a r tisans or th ose bellio n. m e m bers of lower classes

7

a re ex pected to s ide with the king has acquired the power t o hold th is recUy fro m the lord a nd mus t be
a nd roya l fam ily. For e xa mple, if a a llia nce together after th e wa r. a n obeyed without question.
powerful count decides to make a e mpire m ay be forged.
gra b fo r the throne. m an y of the A number of individuals will re-
kn ights a nd barons who serve hi m T he re will a lways be m en who port to the Lord High Chamberlain .
may well be forced to turn agai nst clai m to ru le e m pires wh ic h exist It is h is job to coordina te reports
h im. Fail ure to s u pport the king in on ly in their own m inds. of course. from numerous lesser officials and
an interna l struggle can be disas- It is not u ncommon fo r a ki ng to re- present his lord with the informa-
terous if the king s hou ld prove to fe r to him self as e m pe ror a nd h is tion needed to make wise decis ions.
be trium pha nt in the dispute, lands as a n e mpire. For our pur- The Cham berlain e njoys the abso-
poses. however. th ese people are lute trust of his monarch and can
As a ru le. the king will be re- no more tha n kings with delus ions act in his behalf on any m a tter. In
placed by h is first born m ale c hild of gran duer. many cases where an audience has
when he dies or s te ps down _ If been requested with the lord . the
there is no s uc h heir. the n a pre-es - Members of the Court chamberain will be a ble to resolve
tablis hed pecking order exists to matters without having to "trouble
decide who has claim to th rone. In Any good noble will su rroun d his royal highness."
the event that no clear successor h imse lf with a d vis o rs. Eac h of
ex ists. the nobtlity wtl l s te p in to these m e n (or wom e n) will be a n Lord High Chancellor
select whic h member of the royal ex pe rt in a reas whic h the king
fam ily will becom e the ne w King. m ay not be knowledgable a bout. T he Lord High Chancellor is e n-
In s uch cases. a great deal of politi- By consu lting the m wh e n he is trus ted with the day to day opera-
cal ma nipula tion a nd deal making forced to m a ke a decis io n in som e tions of the governm e n t. He is the
can be cou nted u pon. a rea, the lord can ren der a fair a nd a bsolute head of the cIvil service.
competen t ru ling. a ns we ra ble only to th e lord h im-
The Imperial Family self. T h e only exception to th is
Because of the modular na ture would be in cases w h ere h is
In some cases, the re exists a n el- of fe uda l governme n ts. eac h of actions m ight have to be cleared
emen t of society above the trad i- these offices is likely to be re peated with th e Lord High Chamberlain .
tional royal family : th e impeiral a t differe nt le vels of th e govern - T h e rela tions hip be twee n th ese
family. Where a king is the recog- m en t. For example. the local baron two offi cials is close, if not always
n ized rul er of an ind ividual coun - is certain to have h is own sene- cordia l.
try, an empe ror has u n ited severa l schal. as does the coun t he re por ts
nations u nder his ow n ba nner. to and the king above them both. Nearly ever y m em be r of th e
Som e position . s uc h as the Lord lesser bu reaucracy is under the di-
Em pires a re very rare indeed . High Wizard . will not be fou nd in rection of the Lord High Cha ncel-
T he power requ ired to hold one to- most estates due to the expense of lor. His people orga ni ze ta x
ge ther Is alm ost im possible fo r one m a inta in ing s uc h a n advisor. collections. internal political rela·
ma n to a ttain . In m ost cases. a n tlons hips . a nd the pos ting a nd dIs-
e mpire is form ed by co nqu est. Lord High Chamberlain tribution of all royal decrees an d
Whe n one na tion becomes so pow- proclama tions .
erfu l that it can overr un a n umber Of all the positions in a lord's
of neigh boring s ta tes. its ki ng is el- cour t, none is more trusted or im - Lord High Justi ce
evated to the status of a n e m peror. porta nt to the da tly activ ity of the
esta te tha n tha t of the Lord High T h e Lord High J u s tice is in
There are other ways in wh ich Cha mberlain. In modern term s, c harge of a ll aspects of the legal
an em pire m ight be form ed , but the c ha mbe rlain is the lord 's right· system. It is his responsibility to
these a re rare in the extreme . Sev- ha nd m an . He con trols all access see to it tha t la ws a re e nforced a nd
e ral nations with the sam e religion to the Lord a nd can act on his be- tha t crim inals a re hunted down
might be united in a holy war half in a ny instance. Orders which a nd d etained. He oversees th e
wh ich causes the m to select a s in- a re issued by the Lord High Cha m - actions of the local j udges. all of
gle individua l as their leader. If ber lain a re assu med to com e di- whom a nswer to him . and the
things go we ll a nd the ne w leade r town militia .

8

Among t he people w h o re port d i- o f n ew militar y tech nologies an d spies almost a n eceSSity. The king
rectly to the Lor d H igh J u stice are stra tegies from oth er kin gdom s. wan ts to know what h is counts and
the High Sheriff (who heads the Because of his dealings with ad- dukes are up to. so he has men
town watch). the High Prosecutor ven turers and mercenaries. it is planted in t h eir courts lO provide
(who handles the prosecu tion of probable t h at the Lord High Mar- him w ith inform a tion . The counts
crim inals), and t h e H igh Forester sh al Is th e first indiv id ual which and du kes. of course. want to know
(who oversees t he lord's wood- player characters will come in to what the knights and barons who
lands and preven ts poach ing). contact with as they rise in levels. serve them are up to. so they send
their own spies to investigate. In
Lord High Marshal Lord High Inquisitor addition. they wan t to know which
of their own men real ly work for the
This individual is the head of the One of the more sinister sound- king. so they em ploy coun terspies
l ord's militar y fo rces. He com - ing offices. the Lord High Inqu isi- to root out the informants. As you
mands the armies and directs the tor is in charge wi th m ain tainence can see. t h is tangled web of age n ts
action s of the Ci ty watch in l he of the lord's intelligence network. can become quite complex. If used
event of an attack. In all matters He con trols the numerous spies correctly. though. such intrigue
which require the use of t he lord's whic h have been placed in t he can add a great deal to any chivalr ic
troops and knigh ts. the Lord H igh other branches of the castle's cam paign .
Marshal is i n absol ute ch arge. power struct ure. In addition. he reo
cieves reports from h is agents in Lord High Wizard
In addition to the lesser militar y the h oldi ngs of those who ser ve the
personel in the manor. the Lord i n quisitor 's lord and from men sta- One of the least com monly en-
High Marshal is In c h arge of t he tio ned in other realms. countered. the position of Lord
Royal Armorer and his armory. the High Wizard serves two purposes.
hiring of any mercenary troops or The n ature of the feu dal system F irst and foremost. it allows the
adventurer s. an d t h e acquisition makes the use of spies and cou nter-

9

Lord to have access to powerful A Note About Magic It is important to note that holy
magical spells. Perhaps more im- orders in a feudal society tend to
portantly. however. it shows the Of course. our ow n medieval per- mirror the political systems in
wealth and power of the lord. After Iod was not marked by the practice place around them . For example.
all . keeping a wizard on your staff is of magic. although s upersti tion an acolyte who works In a small
an expensive practice. Such advi- was widespread. In the typical temple located in the poor part of a
sors are known for their ability to fuedal court. magic (either clerical town swears his oath of loyal ty to
drain large amounts of revenue to or wizardly) are both looked upon the priest who is in charge of the re-
fund their experiments. spell cast- with sceptisism. To the average ligious order throughout the town.
ing. and research. Since only the warrior or bureaucrat. magic is The priest swears his loyalty to the
wealthiest (and therefore most both unimportant and unreliable. curate or canon above him. and SO
powerful) of lords can afford such a The noted cryptic nature of advice forth. In this way, it is easy for us to
burden. any court with a Lord High acquired from such spells as a u- draw a connection between mem-
Wizard is highly respected. gury lends credence to their bers of a church and their counter-
, While the court of a king or em- doubts. parts in the nobility_ Of course. in
peror is certain to have a very pow- an y society which has a dominant
erful Lord High Wizard. lesser In kin gdoms where m agiC is religion , all members of the ch urch.
estates may have only a token spell more common. these crafts may be be they acolytes or the high priest
caster. Of course. since the average looked upon with awe by those who himself. will be due some respect
non-wizard does not understand cannot control t hem. While from any m ember of the nobility.
the importance of various spells. a knights might recognize the value
flashy spell of minimal power will of a magical or holy weapon. they Lay Brethren
often be perceived by the lord as will consider the use of spells like
more valuable than a more power- fireball to be less than honorable T he lay brethren are not actually
ful spell which is less impressive in tactics. After all . they reason. a dis- m embers of the religious power
practice. pute should be settled by fair com- structure, bu t they do dese rve
bat with warriors testing th eir mention here. This group Includes
Lord High Chaplin metal and their skills. Duels be- all those persons who are of an un-
tween wizards are consldiered fair. usually pious nature and spend
The Lord High Chaplin is a repre- since both sides are using the same some (or much) of their time work-
sentative of the religious commu- weapons. Combating a knight with ing with or for the church . Exam-
nity in the lord's territory. In mos t spells (or cutting down an unar- ples might Include those who
cases. the Lord High Chaplin will mored wizard) is cons idered a vio- sweep the temple out after services
be a member of the most powerfu l lation of the Chivalric Code_ or even the cook who makes meals
church in the kingdom. In cases for the priests at their homes.
where two faiths of equal power ex- The Role of The Church
ist. there m ay be two separate of- Lay brethren do not expect great
fices. Although we have touched on he monltary rewards for their efforts,
importance of religion in feudal so- they work for the honor of serving
In manors where the lord is not ciety. we have not taken the time to their ch urch in the only way they
religious. the Lord High Chaplin examine It in any detail. In this sec- can. While it is true that many of
will be in charge of handling rela- tion, we will do that, although we them are paid some token salary
tions between the lord and the will on ly delve into the matter for their efforts. most do not depend
church. A similar state of affairs ex- briefl y. For those who wish to have upon the church for their living. As
Ists when the lord is religious. but is g reater de ta il on the various is often the case. of cou rse. there
not of the same faith as the major- churches represented in the typical are exceptions to this. A secluded
Ity of his s ubjects. In most cases. AD&D®game, we s uggest that you temple m ight require a fu ll ·time
the lord will. at the very least. pay consult the Complete Priest Hand- groundskeep or a pennanent cook.
lip service to the religion of the Lord book and take the time to research In both cases. the Individual would
High Chaplin. the various holy orders in place be paid a living wage and, probably.
during the middle ages. be provided with room and board in

10

the church 's fac Uities. vows. He is generally older (I n his thirties and has the holy powers of
Because of their great love for late teens or early twenties) and has a fifth or sixth level cleric.
a ttained the third level of experi-
their church. many members of ence. Upon reaching his new level. Priests a re selected from the
this group tend to adopt a " holier- the fo nner acolyte Is expected to ranks of the postulants and as-
than -thou" attitude. While this Is take on more responslbilitlcs. signed to serve in areas where the
certainly not a lways the case. It Is church needs to establish a new
easy for a person who has no other In addi tion to ove rsee ing the tem ple or replace a nother priest for
clai m to fam e In a feuda l society to training of the acolytes he has left som e reason. Each priest will over-
focus on the one thing they do beh ind. the postula nt Is now ex- see 1-6 postulants and (by defaultJ
which makes them feel valuable. pected to playa grea ter role In the 1-6 acolytes for each postulant.
This is unders ta ndable. b ut the wors h ip of the diety. In facL. lesser
PCs may not a lways find s uch ag- h oly se rvices m ay actu a ll y be In t he fe uda l socia l pyra mid ,
gressive followers of a fa ith to be wholly under the s uper vision of priests are rough ly equal to towns-
pleasan t company. the postulant. men . They are accorded more re-
spect than the lesser members of
Acolytes In term s of social level. postu- the fa ith . but are not recogn ized as
lants a re generally accep tcd as the true power fi gu res . This is often an
Acoly tes ar e studen ts of the faith equa ls of yeo m e n . They are unj us t assumption. as a charis-
who hope. through great study awarded some respec t but have m atic priest can have a strong in -
and devotion. to become active no real dec ision making power In fiu ence over those who worship a t
members of th e church In time. As the chu rch. Sti ll , their devotio n to his ch urch. but it is nonetheless
a rule. they are young (generally In th e faith Is noteworthy. and they the case.
their m id -tee ns) and very eager to are accorded their s hare of soc ia l
s how their devotion to thei r s upe- prtvalegcs. Curate
riors in the church.
A postulan t will usua lly have 1-6 The curate is recognized as the
Acoly tes tend to draw the least acolytes assigned to him as stu- head of a ll church activities In a
Interesting assignmen ts In a given dents. Of course. while they are g iven town or c ity. Depending
temple. They are in charge of copy- under the charge of the postu la nt. u po n th e size of the town , he will
Ing holy documents and assisting they are expected to fo llow his in - u s ually have 1-6 churches in his
in religious services. but they have structions In a ll m atters and oflen J u r i s dic ti o n .
no true power In the church . end up acting as private servants.
Thi s is u s u ally a lright. as it Because the curate is one of th e
Acoly tes are assumed to have teaches the acoly te to be humble most powerfu l members of the lo-
the powers of a firs t level priest. and show respec t to their be tters cal religious com m uni ty, he is as-
though are us ua lly not as fl.t for in th e churc h . If this power Is s umed to have roughly the samc
combat or adventuring as a player abused. however. It may resu lt In rights and prlvaleges as an impor-
character a t first level would be. In the Postula nt losi ng h is status or tan t guildsm a n . As you might ex-
other words. where m ost player being assigned to a h igh ly undesir- pect. a requ es t for favo rs from
character clerics represent m em - able aSSignmen t as a disci plinary such a n individual is a lways taken
bers of holy fi ghting orders. the action . very se riously by the local nobility.
NPC acolyte Is assum ed to be a In ma ny cases. a town which
non-fighting Indi vidual. StilI. they Priest might otherwise be In u nrest can
have begun to acqu ire certain holy be kept In ch eck by the aclions of
powers. and are often called u pon The priest is the backbone of any the local curate.
to em ploy thei r heali ng powers on religious order. Without them,
the faJ thful of the church . there is no church . Each temple Is In addition to their sway with
assumed to be under the guidance the local populace. Curates are re-
Postulant of one priest, who Is In charge of81l s pected for th e powerfu l m agiC
that goes on wi th in the temple he which they can em ploy. In ti mes of
T he postula nt is a n acolytelyte is associa ted with . A priest Is us u - crisis. a local noble who could not
who has proven himself to be true a lly in his la te twen ties or early a fford to m ain tain a powerful Lord
to the church and devoted In his High Chaplai n or a Lord High Wiz-

11

ard will petition the curate to act and the d esire to avoid '·gol ng ou t given kingdom. Becau se, in m any
on his behalL I f the r equest is rea- on a limb ·· ca n often cau se serious cases, a fai th Is popular on ly in a
sonable, ser ves t h e interests o f the proble m s. single ki ngdom . the h igh pries t is
chu rch , and is accompanied by an u sually the absolute ruler of lhe
ind ication o f t h e lord 's devoLion Primate ch urch. In cases where the same
(th at is, gold) , then the r eq u est Is diety Is worsh ipped by more than
like ly to be granted. Of cou rse. t his The primates of a church are one culture, a schism tends to de-
also places the noble in debt to the second in power on ly to the high velop alon g cu lture lines w h ich
chu rch , a situation which Is h ighly priest. They are able to command causes th e faith to splinter in to two
desirable. su ch m ighty power and have so or more groups. each w i th Its own
much say In m atters of the church h igh priest. If lhis is not the case.
Dean that they are assumed to be fully t h en the h igh priest s w ill answer to
as important as any m em ber of the a pa triarch w ho oversees t he
T h e n ext rung in the ladder o f noble class. c hurch as a whole (see below).
chu rch a ffai rs is occupied by the
dean. This powerful indlv iduaJ is Obviou sly. the year s o f devotion Eac h h igh priest will command
accorded all the respect and Influ- and study required to a tlaln this the powers of a cleric of no less
ence due LO a knight or sim ilar position m eans that the primate t h an 13th level. Because of this,
member of the Chivalric class. In w ill tend to be quite old. As a ru le, t h ey are generalJy treated as if
his hands is p laced the supervision the youngest of primates will be in they were mem bers of the royal
of all ch urch holdings in 1-6 town s. their fourties. W hile In modern so- fam ily ilself. Only a king who Is In·
The dean is an important link tn ciety this Is not "old·· by any san e or absol ute in his power w ill
the church structure, for h e often stretch of the Imagination , It repre- directly challenge the au th ority of
acts as an interface between the sen t a good portion of a man 's life t he high priest.
ch urch 's highest officials and the In a medieval setting. Of course.
local representatives of the faith the h ealing powers of the fai thful The average high priest is well
(in the person of the local cura tes t end to resu lt in ver y long-lived into his fifties by the time he as-
and priests.) member s of religious gr ou ps. sumes offices. T he rigors of his life
h ave been such that h e Is respected
Deans w ill tend to be in t h ei r Each primate is entrusted with as the fi nal authority on all m atters
mid-th lrLies, h avi ng devoted most the supervision of all church affairs o f faith. In m any church es, the
o f their lives to the service of t h eir In a given region . As a rule, any word of the h igh priest Is assumed
deity. As a resul t. th ey have ac- k in gdom w ill be spit Into 1-6 r e- to be divine and must be taken as
quired th e sp ell casting abili ties o f gions, each of w h ich w ill be under the word of the deity himself. No
a ninth or ten th level cleric. W ith the guidance of a singe primate. m em ber o f tJ1C church m ay refuse
suc h power and i nn uence, the to obey the instructions of his high
dean is clearly a force to be rec k- Prima tes. having the powers an d priest without risking the wra th of
oned with in any feudal nation. ablities of an II t h or 12th level the deity himself. Th be sure, t his Is
cleric. are recognized by their noble not something that any member of
T he dea n Is, obviously, en- peers as being very u sefu l friends. the church should take lightly.
trusted with a great deal of author- Conversely, they are also acknowl-
ity. In the absence o f clear ed ged as very dangerous foes. Just Patriarch
direction from his superiors in the as the primate's favor can be Impor-
ch urch , the dean is permUted (In- taOl to the operation o f any noble·s In the case of an empire, where
deed. expected) to m ake very i m- h olding, his wrath can be swift and severa l kingdom s h ave b ee n
portant decisions reguarding the eternal Few are the nobles who will forged i n to one governm en tal uni t.
practice of the fai th. As such , th ey not try to avoid a clash with this a single ch urc h l eader mu st
tend to be very con servati ve peo- level of the church. emer ge to manage the affairs of the
ple who seek to avoid making any religion as a whole. Th is person,
decisions which might be viewed High Priest selected from a mong t he h igh
as radical by their leaders. In tim es pr iests of t h e variou s sta tes, Is
o f crisis, su ch resistan ce to ch ange At the top of every religious or- known as a Patriarch.
der is the high priest. This person
Is the absolute ruler of th e faith in a

tl

A Patriarch will also be found in a belief that any king (or emperor) rate, however, political savvy be-
those rare cases where churches of is himself a vassal who holds his g ins to becom e an important part
the same deity exist within several own lands (the kingdom) through of a religious leader's job. In addi-
non-united nations a nd no sch is m the grace of whatever deily he wor- tion to dealing with the local c hl-
has resulted_ In both cases, the pa- s hips. This is genera lly accepted va lri cs a nd n obles. th e c u rate
triarch has clerical powers of at by th e royal fa mily because it be- must manage the affai rs of his own
least 15th level and will assume stows upon the king and his s taff. many of whom m ay have de-
the role of churc h leader from an y actions a n illusion of divine gU id- signs on his job. On the other
of the high priests_ The existence ance. It is because of this belief hand, he may well have his own
of a patriarch does not reduce the that m any nations have go ne to s ights set on the job of the dean
power of the high priests by very war with the thought that "the above him. If this sounds famil iar,
much_ as the ch urc h is so large gods are on our s ide." Of course. it's proba bly because t he same
that they must all manage the af- who would want to fight a war in sort of thing is a regular part of the
fai rs of an entire nation_ which the gods supported the a ffa irs of the nObility. Beyond a ce r-
other side? tain point it becomes a lmost im -
A patriarch, who will almost a l- pOSSible to tell a c hurch official
ways be at least 70 years old, is ac- By holding a special coronation apart from a politician.
corded the respect due a member service whenever a new ru le r as-
of the imperi a l family. As one cends to the throne, the church re- Conflicting Fa.lths
m ight Im agine, a call for revolu - gonizes him as the righ tfu l leader
tion or patience by a person in this ofa nation. The major drawback to In most kingdoms. th e major
position is so great. that m any em - such an act is that the ch urc h faith will be determined by the be-
perors will ope nly court the favor must strip a king of this divine liefs of the king him self. If the King
of a patriarch with gifts and oaths blessing If It s hould become impor- is a worshipper of the Egyptian
of loyalty to the doctrines of the tant that they oppose him on a ma- panth eon. then that is likely to be
church. Jor policy issu e. Usually, any king the state religion. If the King is not
who Is declaired to have faJlen out religious (seldom the case). he will
Politics And Churches of fa vor with th e most Important still find it wise to pay lip service to
fa ith In his kingdom will find him- a popular faith and a dopt it as the
The Divine Right of Kings self quickly opposed by a powerful state religion. In most cases. a king
nob le who has the backing of the who opposes religiou s practices in
Because of the awesome power ch urch. Such conflicts can often his realm or who actively con-
of c hurc hes in any feudal society, it lead to a civil war a nd are thus fro nts the various religious orders
is important to both the govern· avoided by both sides whenever popular among the serfs is going to
ment and religious leaders that possible. find himself with a revo-
both recognize eachother's power. lution or a revolt on his h a nds .
Politics Within The Churches
The government recognizes the In some cases. however, It is dif-
importance of the churches by con- Just as there is a grea t deal of po- ficu lt to say where the line must be
sulting with them on any important litical intrigue a nd acLi vity in the drawn. If the r oya l fami ly has
issues and seeking their guidance in feudal governm en t itself. so too is strong ties to two religions. th en it
most social matters. This trust is th e typical church hierarchy a hot- m ay be difficult for a ru ler to main-
best seen in the appointment of a bed of power s truggles . While this tain a s table governmen t. In some
Lord High Chaplin to the king's staff is not as true in the lower ranks of cases. a civ il war or internal power
of advisors. In addition, many soci- the c hurc h struc ture. it orten be- s truggle may erupt. with each side
eties grant the c hurc h certain prive- comes the case at hig her levels. being supported by a powerful
leges (like tax exemptions or free This is due mainly to the lack of c hurc h. In s uch cases. it is a lmost
use of the lord 's land) to further se- true power which lesser offiCials certain that both sides wil l. in the
c ure their friendship. have and the fact that many of e nd , turn out far worse for the
them a re not overly ambitious. whole affair.
For their part. churc hes promote
a belief in the divine right of kings. Once one reaches the level of cu- In cases where the fai th s are not
In s hort. this policy Simply reflects

incompatable. it m ay be possible In som e cases. the c h urch will feudal justice. For one thing. the
for a n agreement to be reached. As sanction such efforts a nd may penalties for those con victed of se-
a ru le. however, most religions are eve n fund spell research a nd sim i· rious crimes are quite severe. The
prone to dislike and distrust those la r projects on the part of wizards. death penalty is quite common, as
with differing beliefs. Even in the This is the case with temples to is branding. whipping. or even dis-
rare case where s upporters of si m i- s uch deities as the Egyptian god- memberm ent. While this is not a
lar. but different. fai ths reach a dess Isis or th e Greek goddess Hec· p leasan t thought. it is the way
concen sus, there is usua lly too ate, both of whom a re the patrons th ings a re. On the other hand. pen -
much suspicion and political rna· of magicians. alt ies are no t ge nerally ove rl y
nuevering to make any lasling a lli - cruel. Thrture. for exam ple, is al-
ance possible. On the other hand. some m ost never employed either to ob-
churches look upon the practice of tain confessions o r puni s h the
Of course. no king or high priest magic as an evil thing. In their opin - con victed.
(except for a fanati c or a fool) ion. use of magic is orten seen as an
wan ts a Holy War or a religious dis- attempt by man to s teal the powers The follOWing is a lis t of various
pute to erupt in their kingdom or of the gods a nd a ttain a divine status crimes and the generally admin is-
church. In addition to being ex- for himself. Obviously, they cannot tered punis hments fro those co n·
pensive, it makes them more vul- allow such blasphemy to continue victed of them . In som e places. the
nerable to their adversaries. Thus, u nch ecked . so t hey will often penalties will be more severe.
even in cases where a dispute ex- harrass or even declare a virtual while in others they w ill be more
ists, it is sometim es possible fo r Holy War agains t those who employ m erciful.
those on both s ides to "agree to magic.
disagree" and let things go at that Violent Crimes
for a little while. Su ch compro- T h is can bean Importa ntcons id -
m ises are. by and la rge. a good eration. A priest ch aracter who The c rim es. a ll of which are con-
t.hlng for both sides. The major worships a deity that cons ide rs all s ide red to be th e m ost vile of acts,
problem wi th them. however. is m agicians to be enemies of the are a ll subject to the death penalty.
that they do not tend to survive the faith. may well find him self a t odds As a rule, any given society will
test of time. with a fe llow party member who is
an illu sionist. Further. a king or have a standard means of execu-
A good assu m ption to make is lesser lord in a nation with suc h a
that any la rge kingdom which has religion is not gOing to have a high tion which is used for a ll offenders.
been around for a long lime will wizard on h is staff of ad visors. Typical m easures In clude hang-
have a s ingle powerful state reli- ing. beheading. an d burning at the
gion. Othe r faiths. although they Crimes and Punishments stake.
may be legal. a re not us ua lly popu -
lar. Although it is often al most im- Feudal societies are orten de- Arson
possible to utterly destroy a faith picted as hav ing ha rsh a nd un fair
which has gotte n a footho ld in a judicial systems in wh ich the de· This is defined as any setting ofa
given sOciety. it is possible to d is- fe ndan t has IiUle or no chance of fi re wh ich causes a loss of life or
cred it it a n d drive it underground . justice or mercy. In ac tuality. this property. Exception is made for
In such cases, the unified ac tions is seldom th e case. The same those fires which are acciden tal.
of the state and its official religion codes of honor, duty. and responsi- but not those wh ich are p urpose·
are generally effeclive. bility which pervade the rest of full y set and get out of hand.
feuda l cu lture a lso dominate th e
The Church a.nd Ma.glc legal profession . Thus. establish - Conspiracy
ing the truth in a case, either crimi-
An important question w hic h nal or civil . is considered to be a This Includes any attempts to
must be answered when setting up matter of grea t importance. A j us- make plans agai ns t the king or 10-
a campaign world is this: what is tice takes pride in hiS work. cal lord. It Includes plotting an as-
the church's view of the prac tice of sassination . m aking ready 1O stage
magic? There are a few concepts wh ich a coup . or (in very strict realms)
are important to unde rstand about even making casua l remarks
about deposing a monarch. As you

14

can see, this class of crime Is very
open to the whims of the local lord
and his justices.

Desecration

Most feudal societies hold a great
respect for the dead a nd the places
in which they rest. Thus, desecra-
lion of a tom b or burial area (a pop-
ular pastime with many
adventurers!) Is ranked among the
violent crimes and violators are
subject to the death penalty.

Drawing a Weapon

There are two ways in which this
law is en forced . The fi rst, and
more serious of the two. is Draw-
ing a Weapon on GenUlity. This in-
cludes a ny threatening use of a
weapon against any member of
the chivalric. noble, royal, or impe-
ria l classes.

The second aspect of the law is
intended to protect the common
folk fro m rough treatment a l the
hands of trained warriors. Anyone
who h as been tra ined in fi ghti ng
and threa tens to u se their s kills
agains t someone without su ch
training is breaking a major tenet
of the Chivalric Code. Because it Is
considered very improper to use
superior weapons agai ns t a fai rly
defenseless serf. this is a lso a death
offense.

In both cases, however, self de-
fen se Is considered to be an excep-
tion to the law.

Espionage

'Thchn ically. th is law applies to
all persons who act In a covert
manner to obtain the secrets of a
realm. However. it is seldom u sed
agaJnst the s pies of one's lord s.
which are an accepted part of fe u-
d a l l i fe.

15

However, the laws against espio- eludes any act which causes a loss any criminal can undertake. In
nage are enrorced when the crimi- or life. Il can be applied In matters many cases. even hardened crimi·
nal is a spy in the pay m en t or a where c riminal intent was involved. nals a re loyal to the c rown a nd will
hostile governme n t or oth er rac- but is also used to prosecute per- turn in tra itors to the local con-
lion. Such persons. when th ey a re sons who have caused a death stabulary. As described previous ly.
captured . are sometimes tried , through extre me carelessness. In treason is th e se lling of one's own
con victed. a nd th en traded bac k to realm s where chivalry is the a bso- nation's secrets to a riva l power. It
their masters ror a ran som. I cases lute rule a nd all citizens (or. a t least, is importan t not to conruse treason
whe re the spy's maste r holds one all warriors) are expected to act in with espionage .
or the lord's own me n. a n ex- defe nse of the weak. this crime can
c hange is orten made. be charged against someone who Crimes of Theft
has failed to act to save another per-
It is important to note the dirre r· son fro m death . These cri mes are all consid ered
ence be tween espionage and trea· to be of a non-viole nt nature. In
so n . Both c rim es in vo lve t he rurlury cases where a crim ina l uses vio-
giving or inrormation to the ene· le nce In his crimes. he is certain to
mies or the realm. but they are As has been stated . the fe udal be tried under one of the violent
very different. Espionage re rers to courts will alm ost always try very c rimes and executed if convic ted .
citizens or ano th er realm who are hard to determine actua l guilt or
sen t in to a roreign nation as spies. innoce n ce before passin g sen- Unless other wise noted. the fol·
Suc h ind ividuals are considered LO tence. One of the ir mos t importa nt lowing c rim es have a graduated
be simply "doing their job" when tools in this qu est for knowledge is scale of punis hment. The first or-
they act against a rival power. personal testimony by w itnesses. fe nse resul ts In 10 to 60 lashes for
Anyone who provides false or mis- the crimina l. A second con viction
Treason, on the othe r ha nd . reo leading evidence is s ubject 1.0 exe- results In branding, th e loss of a
rers to citizens or a realm who sell c ution as a perjuror. In addition . hand. or similar physical marking
its secrets to a roreign power. Since anyone who withhold s evidence a nd 20 to 120 lashes. A third or·
they are betraying the nation or which is vital to the court can also fe nse will resu lt In the execution of
their birth, their's is by rar the be tried unde r these laws. DisLOr- th e crimina l.
more serious crime. lion or the fac ts is a lso considered
to be purjury. Burgl&lry
M&llo r Assault
Rebellion Despite Its name, this c r ime does
This group or laws is a sort or not imply the theft ofa ny object. A
"catch ·all" ror law breakers who One of the most serious crimes person can be charged with bur-
use rorce in their actions. In s hort. in fe udal SOCie ty is tha t or taking glary sim ply fro breaking into a
maj or assault rerers to any use or arm s agaInst one's lord. In a cul- home. shop. or other building
violence in whic h the life of the viC- ture wh ic h is built on mutua l trust wi th out permiss ion. In modern
tim may have been in Jeopardy. a nd intricate webs of poli tical and terms. this might be taken as
Further, any attack with a weapon socialties. suc h a viola tion of trust brea king and entering.
of any sort (either an actual or im- is very dangerous indeed. In orde r
provised one) falls into this cata- to ma ke an example of those who Theft
gory. In short. anyt h in g more take such drastic action. the
dramatic than a fist fight is proba- m eans of execution employed on Any act which deprives another
bly going to be major assault. co nvic ted rebels is usually very person of their righ tfu l property is
u npleasant. cons id ered theft. It can Includ e
o r course, there are exceptions. shop lifting or a clever swindle. In
As with m an y or the other laws, Tre.uon addition to the penalties Indicated
self defe nse is not a crime. above, the crimina l is expected to
Th e c rime of treason is re- return the s tolen objects or. If that
Murder guarded as the lowest act whic h is n ot possible, r eimburse the
owner ror their value.
This crime, often considered the
ultimate violation of the law, In-

16

Minor ASSAult Breach of Contr.c.t falsification of a legal docu ment
(including coinage). The greater
Any ac t of violence Is considered Contracts in a feuda l socie ty th e money in volved. the grea ter
to be at least minor assau lt. A fist are far less exacting than they are the penalty. Persons who a re con-
fig ht or beating is the most com - In our own world . As a rule. a con- victed m ore t ha n once face t he
mon offe nse, bu t ph ysica l re- trac t is assu med to in cl ude any possibility of execu ti on. In a ll
straint of an individua l during a agreement by two parties. whether cases. a criminal m ust repay the
robbery Is also cons ide red to be verbal or wri tten. wh ich can be ver- m oney lost by his victims (if possi-
minor assault. Ified by a t h ird party. In cases ble) in addition to th e rest of h is
where a third party presents a fa lse sen tence.
In a ny case where a weapon is accounting of the transaction be-
used. however, the c rime is ele- fore a justice, he or s he m ay well be Death by Taxes
vated to major assault and may tried as a purjuror.
we ll result In the death of the of- Th e Roya l Exc hequ er's Office
fender. Only self defense is consid - Once a court rules on a breach of ove rsees th e collection of a ll of th e
e red to a ll ow one to use force contract. the losi ng party is ex- king's revenues and answers di -
against another person. pected to live up to their part in the rectly to the Lord High Chambe r-
bargain and pay a pen a lty to the lain . As a rule, the exchequer 's
Poaching opposing s ide in the case. This office assigns Agen ts of the Exche-
pena lty will be de te rmi ned by the quer to each sign ifican t portion of
The crime of poac h ing is defined value of the con tract and the mag- the real m . eithe r a county or s hire.
as hu nti ng on a nother 'S land with - nitude of the offender 's viola lion of They a re respons ible for seeing to
out permission. As a rule, the se- it. it that the klng's goal of "a copper
verity of the punishment is det- for every gold " is collected and
ermined by the s uccess of the Excessive Debt passed on to the royal coffe rs. Be-
poacher. A c riminal who sets a few cause it is possible for a ny given
s m a ll s nares might be tr eated Anyone who is unable to pay gold piece to be taxed more than
fairly ligh tly, while one who brings their debts to a merchant or tax once, however. the treasury often
down a deer migh t ex pect to see a coll ector m ay find t he m selves fares far better than this .
severe sen tence. tried fo r the c rime of indebtedness.
A con vic tion In s uc h cases will re- In som e regions. it is not uncom-
In cases where the land has been s ult In the violator bei ng required mon for a tax collector 1O take a lit-
set aside for use by the local nobility to sell off a ny personal belongings tle bit extra from the local pop-
or is deem ed to be the King's Woods. which they have to pay theirdebts. u lace for h im self. So long as he
the penalty for poaching is death. If they are unable to raise th e does not push the people to the
money they need. they may be or- verge of revolt. the king often al-
Business Law dered in to serv ice fo r a period of lows such " minor abuses" lO cpn-
ti m e. The length of such service tinue. However, revolutions like
Crimes of this sort are generally will be determined by the a mount those detailed in the classic tales of
app lied to dishonest m ercha n ts or of the debt. Robin Hood are born fro m just
traders. As a rule. even dis honest such "minor abuses."
businessm en wi ll not c heat those Fraud &. Forgery
who live in their tow n . In a small T he fo llowing Is a fai rly com -
com munity, on ly outsiders will be These two crimes cover a broad plete lis t of the common fees and
victi mized because the me rchant range of violalion wh ic h include taxes fo r a fe uda l fantasy ca m -
knows he must deal with his any attempt to obtain mon ey. fa - paign.
neighbors on a regular basis. In vors, or the like by fa lse represen -
larger town s and cities, the m er- tat ions or t ri c ke r y. Poss ibl e Everyday Taxes
chant may see so many customers examples include the u se of Incor-
In a single day that he ca n cheat reet scales in weigh in g goods, use This section details the taxes
many of them without concern for of low grade m aterials in construc- which are collected whenever they
such matters. tion . Inept la bor. or the ou tright are a pplica bl e. Unlike some taxes.

11

which are charged once a month normal Consumption Tax a nd Market Ta x
or once a year, these migh t be col- then th e Luxury Thx on top of it.
lected every day. Every town and city has a
Inheritance Ta.x monthly Market Day, when a ll the
Consumption Tax local citizens come from far and
All wealth and property inher· near to see th e latest wares for sale
Th is is a typical sales tax. It is ited by a person is subject to a tax by the oddest assortment of mer·
charged on a ll goods and is com- of 1 s ilver piece for every gold piece chan ts. Every person or beast en·
mon to most economic systems. It of value, or roughly 10% of the es· teri ng the town or city on Market
is paid to a merchant in addition to tate. This is a one-tim e tax only. Day mus t pay 1 copper piece for
the normal transaction cost. Mer- However. if the sam e property is entrance. Since Market Day in
chants are then charged this per- further passed on to a new benefi· tow ns is the common equivalen t to
cen tage of th eir profits separately. ciary, the esta te can be taxed yet the tournaments of the nobili ty,
The standard rate fo r this tax Is a g a in. this small charge is usually worth
5%, or 112 copper piece for every s Uo the wide variety of entertai n-
ver piece spen t. Tolls ments.

Luxury Tax The toll paid at m ost bridges, Seasonal Taxes
roads, a nd toll booths is 1 copper
Certain items, like rare furs,jew- piece per person or horse and 2 These taxes are only collected
elry, or ornamental crests, are con - coppers per veh icle (If a ny ). once a year, during a given season.
sidered to be luxuries. Their pur· The final payment to the king is
chase is taxed a further 112 copper Monthly Taxes due on that season's day of high
piece per s liver piece of price. festival. Often, the tax collec tors
Thus, som eone buying a fi n e fur These type of taxes are due are busy m any weeks, If not
coat would be required to pay the about once a month , as described months . in advance.
b e low.

•8

Spring-Hearth Tax fines of a protective wallis deemed usually the serf himse lf is taxed.
to be "fortified" . However, in richer lands the lord is
Every dwelling, whether serfs taxed instead.
hovel or duke's castle Is assessed a Summer- Nobility Tax
Hearth lax. Naturally, the amount Som e less reputable tax collec·
paid varies according to means. Each family that wishes to dis· tors tax both the lord a nd his ser·
playa crest or coat·of·arms within vants (who never know any better
Type of Tax the kingdom must pay 5 gold and are ordered never to compla in
Structure 1/2/6 cp pieces per year for the king's gra· about anything).
Simple dwelling 11216 sp cious n ess . This is part of the rea·
Large dwelling 5sp per room son the king likes creati ng new Catagory Taxlhead
Inn nobles whenever he can, whether Child I cp
Manor I gp or not th ey can afford their own Marketable beast I cp
Castle IOgp castle, or even own their own Adult 2 cp
home! Riding horse
I sp
Fall - The Tithe
In those entries which have mul· Magic Tax
tlple listings. the first is for a typl· All produce, rents, and profits
cal dwelling, the second Is for a from the lands themselves are In realms where m agiC Is rela·
dwelling in an unwalled town, and taxed at a rate of about 1 s ilver tively common . magical items are
the third is for any dwelJing within piece per gold piece earn ed, or considered signs of wealth and
a walled town. about 10%. This m ostly affects power. and therefo re ge t taxed
ric h la ndowners and, therefore, very h eaVily. The owner of a ny
Summer- Land Tax the nobility. magiC item can ex pect to be taxed
about 1 gold piece per 100 experi-
This is a big m oney·maker for Income Tax ence points of value in the AD&D®
the king, and he can always count 2nd Edition Dungeon Masters
on at least a certain amount of in · At the same time that the Tithe Guide. Thus, the owner of ring of
come from his estates. It shows is being collected from the rich, Invisibility would owe 15 gp whlle
quite clearly why land is su ch a just about everyone else is paying the holder of a vorpal sword would
valuable commodity In the feudal an Income Thx m uch like our own be taxed 100 gpo
society. system today. Each person's in·
com e is assessed by the local ex· Note that all magiC from scrolls
Every acre is assessed a function c hequ er 's office and taxed at a to potions and even artifac ts (If
and the legal owner of that acreage m odest rate of about I cp per gold known) is taxable. This is one very
is assessed a rated tax. In general. piece earned, or only 1%. good reason why player characters
the more useful or developed the new to an area should keep th eir
land is, the more it is worth, and While t his may seem extremely magical powers quiet. as even
therefore, the more it is taxed. fair to our eyes today, the combina· travellers a nd n onresiden ts jus t
tion of a ll of th e fees and taxes col· "passing through"' can be taxed If
Land Type Th.xIacre lected over the year, and other the collectors catch up with them.
Barren 1/2 cp manorial charges tend to eat up al· It is therefore possible fo r charac·
Pond or Lake I cp most half of a serfs incom e! ters versed in world-spanning ad-
Uncultivated I cp ventures to get taxed many times
Wood la n d I cp Winter- Poll Tax in th e cou rse of a year. However.
2 cp t hey can only legally be taxed once
Cultivated 6 cp Every head in the kingdom is in any kingdom, and are given a re-
Thwn I sp taxed according to the following ceipt to prove the paymen t.
Fortified scale. Im portantly, while serfs are
considered s laves by many soci·
On the above chart. land which etles, they are usually considered Sword Tax
free m en in the feudal SOCiety. So.
is owned within a non·wa lled city Every weapon In the kingdom Is
is deemed to be In a "town " for tax taxed, both as a means of making
purposes. Land within the can·

money and as a means of keeping School license another. The guild leaders hip is
a n eye on the re lative power of only required to co ntri bute 10 gold
arm s around the kingdom. Peop le Anyone who wants to open a pieces annua lly to mai ntain th eir
in trouble spots buy up weapons at school of a ny kind. or keep it ope n . monopoly in a give n a rea. but of-
an alarming rate and a good tax must pay I gold piece to the state. ten the perso na l gifts and free serv-
collector knows h ow to see t he This money is due on ly once a year ices accorded the king by the guild
warni ng s igns of revolution . and can be paid a t any time. For a (pri vately. of course) us ua lly ac-
one·time fee of 100 gold pieces. count for a great deal more. How-
Norma l weapons longer th an any school can be granted a Klng's ever. t h e aforementioned pr ice
daggers and knives are taxed at a License wh ic h lasts indefi nitely. gauging and control over the local
rate of 1 s il ver piece per weapon. marke t s till com pensates fo r the
Magic weapons are taxed as their Trade license lost revenue.
mundane counterparts. but are
a lso subject to the previously m e n - Much like th e Manufacturer's LI- Legal Fees and Duties
tioned Magic Th.x. censes a bove. tradesmen who cre-
ate perisha bl e goods like beer. Th bring a sui t to the royal court
Royal licenses wine. bread. e tc" must a lso have a costs 10 s ilve r pieces for th e privi-
license to do so. Coi ncide nta lly. the lege. Also. th e loser of a s uit m u Sl
It is necessary for th e king to fee is the same 2 gold pieces per an- pay th e king 10% of the am oun t
keep a tab on the grow th of indus- num. s u ed for. in addition to paying off
try. especially if he is to keep his the clai m .
personal monopolies in power. Monopoly licenses
Eve n ffhe can 't s low growth dow n . However. no one gets off that
he can at least make som e money In coun tries where many guilds eaSily. as the claim money is con-
from the expansion . have been formed. the guild will sidered taxable income. wh ich the
claim the right to regulate trade in winner of the s uit has to payoff lhe
Beggar's license its own a rea. As a rule. th e crow n top.
will recognize this rig ht a nd allow
Believe it or not. begging has a l- the guild to set prices. determi ne Also. a ny legal documents pre-
ways bee n a fin e way to make a liv- who is permitted to se ll their goods pa red by the royaJ court cost 5 sil-
ing. and it requires a fair amount of or services. a nd establis h m ini- ver pieces each for the respective
skill a nd work. T he fact that many mum quality standards. Ofcourse. plain tiffs.
beggars a re actua lly s pies. or are the king expec ts to be compen-
accomplished thieves. has not es- sated for allowing the g uilds s uc h Non-Resident Fees
caped the a ttention of the king's power.
tax collectors. Anyone not a nati ve citizen of
This fee varies fr om place to the realm is likely to pay som e
All beggars mus t have a license place and depends on th e goods kind of lax. Sometimes these are
to beg. otherwise they get thrown and services prov ided . but 5% of know n as "good be havior" fees.
in jail. Th e license costs 1 coppe r th e profi ts is c ustom a ry. Wh il e because th ey allow the local au-
piece a nd must he renewed every seem ingly high. th e guild a lways thorities to monitor newcomers to
season. boosts prices much higher than an area. In most places. this tax is
norma l and guild members end up 5 gold pieces per level per year.
Manufacturer's license making more money than they Spe ll cas te r s are noted troubl e
would have without such assist- makers. a nd are charged twice the
Any ma nufacturer of goods (i. e. ance. norma l tax.
carpenters. potters. e tc .) mus t
have a lice n se. It costs 2 gold In countries where such m onop- All non -h umans a re assessed a
pieces per year. but does not In- olies are allowed. the king usua lly lax of 8 gold pieces per year per
s ure you of fair compe tition (see must personall y gran t s uch a mo- level. This is one of the reasons
"Monopoly Licenses" below ). nopoly. a nd does so only to a fa - why most non-humans don't like
vored frie nd or som eone who has living in human lands If they can
helped the kingdom in o ne way or avoid it. If non -hum a ns do decide
to stay. they can becom e na tural-

20

ized citize n s after 2 year s of resi- " Coming and Going" Tax ways attended b y many well-
dency and no history of criminal treated serfs and while h e carries
actl vity_ The ch arge for naturaliza- Naturally. an y ship or caravan little or no power within the ma-
tion is 2 gold pieces per level. leavi n g the country is also ch arged n or, a person al friendship wi th a
10 silver pieces per veh icle. horse-loving king Is n ot to b e taken
Monsters are the m ost nonhu- l i g h t l y.
man of them all, and an yone pos- Moneylenders' Surtax
sessing a m onster or even a large Some kings have hunting dogs
animal must pay a fee of 1 gp per Bankers and other financial in- for ch asi n g faxes in the n earby for-
hit point of the beast every year! stitutions are taxed about 5% of ests. or falcons for hunting sm all
This is the primary r eason why their profits per year. This is one birds. and these dulies also fall un -
t ravelling carnivals t ravel so circumstance where the Royal Ex- der the marshal's supervision or
much, as they are always one step chequer often takes a personal lhose of his staff.
ah ead of t he tax m an . Also, i t hand i n verif yi ng th e accounting
makes owning an y sort of rare book s of an instilution. especially If the lord has a special m ount
beast anoth er Significant sign of a rich one. like a dragon or a pegasu s. the per·
wealth. sonal attention su ch a unique
Populating the Castle beast requires calls for the hiring
Commerc.e Duties of another Marshal of the Royal
Okay. your castle Is a lonely Steed. who is likely to have an in -
These taxes r elate directly to do- place of stone and wood. You h ave teresting back ground to say the
ing business in a feudal society. a few adv isors. a new brid e or least.
bride-to-be. and a town is sprin g-
Import Tax ing up n earby. Now w hat? Chief Porter

A ll good s imported in to a king- Well. here's a brief list of som e of The Chief Porter and his watch-
dom are assessed an average tax of the people you ' re goi n g to n eed to m en guard the castle during all
1 copper piece per 100 pounds of make y our castle run . Without hours of the day and n ight. As a
cargo. W hile this m ay seem to be a them . you 'd be one busy knight. rule, they an sw er to the Lord High
minuscule amount. it adds up Marshall .
when shiploads of cargo are in Squire
question. Sworn Executioner
Each king or knight has his own
Port Harborage personal squire. Most squires ar e If a lord is the sworn legal officer
knights-in-training who take car e in an area, most likely a n ew ly con-
Every ship is charged 1 sil ver of their lord's personal steed . see quered frontier. or he is the king of
piece per day for a birth in the pub- that his armor is repaired and pol- a land. he will have on his staff a
lic harbor. Priva te marinas often ish ed , sharpen hi s sword a n d Chief Executioner to handle the
charge much , much more. lan ce, and otherw ise tend to the messiest of trials. Such a man
lord 's mi scell aneous knightly earns a gr eat d eal of respect as it is
Import Lic.ense needs. Many of the noblest PCs an u gly job he does. and his loyalty
wlll h ave b een squired to a gr ea t to the king is never in question .
Every shipmen t of goods n oble or king. Note that many of
brought into a country must h ave th e wealthi es t l ords have m or e In h is off-h ours, t h e sworn exe-
a licen se. Norm al good s cost about than a few squires. and tha t such cutioner might be Captain of the
1 gold piece p er shipm ent to r egis- positions are rare and prized Guards. but he is also likely to be
ter. while va luable commodities within the kingdom. the Master Thrturer (if perm itted
like spices and wines often cost within the castle w alls) andlor t h e
twice that amount. or 2 gold pieces Marshal of the Stables on ly practicing doctor for miles.
per shipment. His talen ts a t breaki n g bon es and
The Marshal of the Stables is i n severing limbs gi ve him a lot of
charge of all of the lord's horses. knowledge about fix ing them as
w h ether for war or sh ow. He is aI - well.

2.

Wa.ltlng Women to hire th e best cra fts m en they can serfs In a feudal society, see "A Day
afford and many a feud has grown in th e Life of a Peasant" later on in
The lady of the castle is attended out of the refusal of a lord's em · this chapter.
by a large number of serv ing girls. ploym en t offer that s houldn't have
known as her waiting women. been refused. Paying for Your Castle or
They tend to her every need . and Kingdom
help supervise the many house· Serfs
hold duties and chores under the Natura lly, a ll of these ci tizens
lady's command . Of course, even the mig htiest m ust be paid . In this sec tion we
lord depends. in the long run . on have presen ted a q uick system for
Chief Steward the s upport of his subjects. These hand ling the financing of an estate
are the "little people" who tend the or k ingdom .
The steward oversees the cook· farms. work th e mines, a nd serve
Ing s taff and Is busy alm ost a ll of as can non fodder in mil itary cam· Assume that a typical m anor.
the time. Feeding an entire castle paJgns. Althou gh they are ofte n kingdom , or town recovers in
is not a simple chore! The Chief part of the background in a fe udal taxes and levees just e nough to
Steward has a lot of personal dis· setting. they are as Important as keep the estate operating nor·
cretion . but reports to the Castel· the unseen timbers which support m ally. a nd within the bounds of
Ian if a ny problems arise. the roof of your hom e. Without typical inflation. However, any u n·
them, th e e ntire structure col· us ual ex penditures (i.e. a ny thing
Castellan lapses. For more information on oth er than food. ma norial upkeep.

The Castella n s upervises the ba·
sic cleaning and household m an ·
agem en t of the castle. His duties
are many. and his knowledge of
formal affairs a nd ettlquete Is sec·
ond to none.

Chief Gardener

If the lady has a garden, it must
be tended. Note that these rich gar·
dens are often the personal groves
of ma ny retired druids. a nd a re
also the first training grounds for
ma ny young ones.

Men-at-Arms

These are the soldiers that m an
the castle. protect the lands. and
patrol the countrys ide.

Assorted Craftsmen

La rge castles h ave their own
dedicated carpenters, barbers.
s u rgeons, tinkers. potters, stone
masons, blacksmiths, and so on .
Staff craftsmen take the place of
those in town who often have other
obligations to attend to. Lords tend

2Z

normal taxes, a nd wages) must be Bribery A Day In the Life of a
handled s pecially by the lord in 1 s lot. Charis ma. 0 m odifier.
question . Peasant
T his s kill is open to a ll rogue
If t he duke wan ts to keep a ch aracters. If the OM agrees. it Okay. so en ough about the rich ,
dragon as a m ount. then a ll of the m ay b e a va ila ble to oth er the powerful. and the important.
drago n's ex penditures m ust be classes on a case-by-case bas is. W hat a b ou t t he li ttle people?
covered somehow, either by the Attempts a t bribery a re not re- What do the poor, downtrodden,
p ers on a l fi n a n ces of t h e lord s t ricted to those familiar with oppressed masses thin k abou t a ll
(gained either throu gh inheritance its intricacies, anyone may at- this feu dalism?
or adventurIng) or th rough a n in- tempt to bribe som eon e else.
crease in taxes on the genera l pop- Those with this s kill will be able Su rprisingly, fo r the most part
ulace. Naturally. th e OM s hould to determine a "fair" price and th e peasan t und er class is rela-
refer to the Am erIcan Revolution avoid a potentia l double·cross, tively well-off in m ost fe udal soci-
for som e ideas a bout the effects of Whe n ever a cha rac ter with out eties. They are a lways assured of
unfair taxation on the m asses, bribery sk ill attempts to us e work, th eir life spans hover around
this skill. they mus t ma ke a forty years or so, a nd they rarely
For PCs and NPCs alike. this sys- Cha risma ch ec k a t -4. Failure go hungry. When th ings get dan-
tem is the easiest to use on a large indicates that the bribe is gerous in times of war, they us u-
scale. It Is assumed that the various refused a nd tha t the cha rac ter a lly h ave a place to hid e a nd.
exchequers. both royal and noble. may be turned over to the despite the myths to the contrary,
are com petent enough and s uffer wa tc h fro his actions, Those the nobility treats most of their
only from a minimum of corruption. with this s kill will obviou s ly servants extrem ely well .
s uffer no s uch pena lty. It's Im -
T h is system a ll ows b oth t h e portant tha t the OM not a llow But aren 't they s laves. pressed
player a nd OM to concentrate on the u se of bribery skill to r e- in to service by the wealthy aristoc-
the importa nt changes made to place the Iole-play ing aspects racy? Well . sure th ey are, In a way,
t h e esta te a nd get on wi th th e of such tra nsactions . Players But the key poin t here is that the
gam e Itself, who role-p la y s u ch a tte mp ts serfs un derstand the fundame nta l
well should be given a pos itive principles of fe udalism . and so do
Bribery Is Your Friend modifier to their bribery check their masters,
while those who do not should
As one might expect . bribery is a s uffer for it. In truth , the majority of the
useful tool in dealing with often cor- ser fs are not s laves. as open s lav-
rupt bureaucracies. tax collectors. As you can see, there is much ery of on e 's own countrymen is
and other petty (and often not so m ore to bribery than jus t saying frown ed upon in a fe uda l soc iety.
petty) officials. Someti mes It is However. they are not comp letely
cloaked in semi-legal things like p0- " r'u offer h im 10 gold pieces to look free. In fac t. m os t ser fs are victims
litical donations or monopoly taxes. of economic s lavery. While th ey
but usually bribery Is in the form of the other way." It's m uch more in- don 't wear cha ins or find them-
expens ive " birthday" gifts, wed- t eres ting to negotiate s kill fully selves bough t a nd sold on the a uc-
ding presents to the father of the you rself. with phrases like "Hello. tion block , they face no prospect
bride (as well as the young couple), Sir Walter! I' m so ha ppy you could of a better li fe. Like s laves. they
or outright purses of gems passed in attend . I didn 't have tim e to get a wor k a t seeking ou t a n ex istence
a handshake from briber to bribed . gift for you r lovely wife, so why day by day, While t hey are able to
don 't you take this sm a ll gem and pay their bUls and s u ch , they are
Bribery is a m ost usefu l s klll for pick som ething up fo r her your- u n able to set aside m oney for sav-
charac ters. While a nyon e ca n self?" ings, Still , that's th e way the sys-
m ake an offer of cash In excha nge te m works and m ost a re willing, if
for favors, there is often m ore to not eager, to keep it tha t way.
bribery than tha t. For those of you
who wis h to incorporate bribery as Fo r exampl e. wh ile t he ser f
a non weapon proficiency, the fol- works the land u n der a grant fro m
lowing descr iption s hou ld be used . the lord . a ll bu t a little of the pro-
d uce from tha t land goes back to

23

the lord as ren t. Usu ally. a li ttle bi t and no place which looks better to from a revo lt o f t h e ser fs. as labor
of U1at food is left o ver to feed th e go to. why s hou ld h e? strik es are not an i n ven tion o f the
serf an d h is family (w h o also work twe n tie th ce n t u ry.
that sam e lan d ). Som e o f t h at food You see. the lord need s his se rfs
can be sold for m oney at market. as much as the ser fs need th eir The serfs can also see tha t th eir
or bac k to th e lor d for a fai r price. lord. L an d is no good u n less l abor goes in to su p por tin g lhe
bu t the lord has charges for ever y- there's som eone to work it. and no lord'sarmy, w hich in turn protects
th ing on his estate that a serf one is going to work dangerous th em . As lo ngas war is a comm on
migh t need or wan t. land or land owned by a cruel task- danger. and could com e at any
m ast er. time. the b c tter p repared t h e arm y.
There are charges for using the th e safer th e peasan ts. A fair old
oven s. for usi ng th e tools on loan Serfs ex pec t protection from en- lord beats an unknown new one
from the lord. for k egs of salt and emies i n times of wa r. a fa i r any day.
spices. etc. In short. since t h e ser fs am oun t of freedom (Le. trips to
can't afford to buy these th ings for Market Day. some privacy. enough So. wh at's t he down side? A
themselves, they have to pay the food . and th e like). no uncalled-for ser rs life Is si m p le. d ul l. and unre-
lord for them . and becau se all of bea ti ngs or har sh treatment. and ward i ng. Th e average peasan t has
their money goes to the lord. they not to be taxed to the point of dis- no hope of an im proved status in
can never afford these thi n gs for tress and starva Lion. li fe. Likewise, his c h ildren w ill b e
themselves. As you can see, we born i n to the sa m e lot th at he was,
have a viciou s cycle o f lnler- Th e lord . in turn, exp ec l s good an d he can see no bright fu ture for
dependance. workers that w ill insure the con- them. Those w ho d o want som e-
Li n u a tion or growth of his estate. th ing better. and are w illing to risk
The ser f is free to pack up h is You see. w i thout the m oney earned everyth i ng for it. tend t o becom e
fam ily an d leave at an y ti m e. But from the agricultural products of adven turers like the player char-
since h e is usu a lly fairly we ll t h e ser fs. t he local manor would acters. They eith er d ie. or t h ey be-
treated . has no money of h is own. collapse q Uick ly from th e lack o f come heroes. Mostly. they die.
reven u e. Man y a castle has fallen

2.

Th is ch apter is dedicated to the goals. an d despite thei r ev il cores, His cr es t an d stan dar d co m ·
film Excalibur, w hich is requir ed often followed th e same princip les m and respect a nd trust (unless the
viewing for anyone wish ing to as their good counterparts. family is an i n fam ou s on e). H is
bring "real" knights into a fantasy word is usu ally taken as law. for
campaign. Herein. everyth ing However, in a game w here team- knights are r enow n ed for their
abou t both h istor ical knights and work is more im portant than solo honesty. integrity. and honor. In
their fantasy equivalen ts is laid gallivanting. the singl e h eroic fig- fact . tru th and honor are the meat
ou t in an effort to add n ew layers of ure can som etim es be lost. This and d rink of true knights.
depth to you r feudal campaign , doesn't have to happen.
Their armor is clean. their
Hopefull y, you ' ll find th is m ate· An air of m ystery around a m ou n t pr oud and strong. A
rial fascinating enough to make k n ighted character helps keep the kn ight's sword is aJways sh ar p.
the k nights in your cam paign campaign ten se . May b e th e pala- and even th e thieves give way
more than j u st a few two di m en · d in is hunti ng for his missi n g fa- w hen a knigh t comes down l he
sional paladi n ty pes, En tire cou n· ther. or the dragon that burned his road.
tries have been conq ue red by j u st village. The cam paign should not
a few of these noble warriors. for revol ve around this lone q uest. as Sim ply pu t. kn igh ts recei ve all
better or for wor se , alm ost all knigh ts look for a "sign the public respect accorded any
from ab ove" for gui da n ce. This noble. and all of the private respect
The classic knigh t is the holy plot paint can be brought u p occa- as well. Kn ights are strong de-
warrior i n sear ch of glor y for his sionally. in between adven tures fo- fen ders o f the people. and are see n
god, king, and fam ily. He r epels cused on other charactcrs. This as the real power beh ind the
hordes of invader s, drives the h ea- enh an ces t he sense of desti ny t h ron e. Thies of lon e war riors de-
then s back acr oss the water s, and around the knight an d adds im- feating barbarian hordes are al-
recover s stolen holy artifacts from mensely to the atmosphere of the ways popular at Market Day
the m inions of evil. campaIgn . In short. knigh ts are fes tivals. A nd any grea t battle, no
su pposed to be a special. elite m atter h ow it was fou gh t. or by
However, h istor y is filled with grou p of warriors. They shou ld b e whom , is always attribu ted to a
variations on the theme, and fan · as qu irky as you r w izard . as de- gr ea t knigh t. w h ether h e deserves
tasy takes th ings m uch fu r ther vou t as your priest. an d as cun- the credit or n ot.
than that. History tells us of the ni ng as your r ogue-bu t in
great german iC ki n g Ch arlemagne d iffere nt ways an d for uniq u ely K nigh ts even get to have th ei r
who was known as m uch for his ch ivalric reaso ns. own castles an d marry beautiful
great heigh t (as tall as a modern princesses. usually of their own
m an) as h e was for his skill in bat· Knights of Glory ch oosi n g! Ah. to be big and strong
tle, Fan tasy tells us of warrior s lik e and wear expensive ar mor .
Per seus. B eowul f. L ancelot, Sig- As mention ed befor e. k n igh ts
fried , an d EI Cid. These m ythical are the eli te o f warrior s. They are Nothing Is free
men fought dragon s w i th t heir a l ways con si dered to be nobl e,
bare han ds an d wore t he horns as eve n if they were not born so. as We ll , w hy isn' t ever yone a
trophies, Si nce we are dealing w i th k n ighthood is one of th e few ways k n ight? T he answer to that is fairly
a fantasy game, t hese are th e for a person of common roots to en- simple: Not ever yon e h as, as lh ey
knights and he roes w h ich b est su it ter t he nobility. say. t he r igh t stu ff.
our mold.
For t his and o ther reasons, For one thi ng. k n ighls d ie a lot.
Knights ar e ded icated, al most al- k n ights are accorded t h e h igh est You see. it seems that ch argi ng
ways to extremes. Lancelot would measure of respect in the k ing- in to danger isn't the safestoccupa·
not give way to a k ing's army sim - dom . If a knigh t is travelling tion in th e world. T hus, knigh ts
ply on pr inciple. while Don Quix- with in his r ealm or the realm of a h ave very sh ort life expectan cies
ote stepped over the edge and beat major ally, h e can stay at any in n (usually in the neighborhood of
u p hel pless w i ndmil ls. The dar k h e wan ts for free. In t h e friendlier one or two ba ttl es) . T h e hon or
k nigh ts of flctlon -Mordred and of in ns. his entourage can stay as t hing also seem s toge t in the way a
the legendary Black K night-also well. lot. since a k night won't back
were dri ven to single·m inded down from a figh t no matter what

2S

the odds a re. In such cases, a From the campaign point of Strictl y speaking, a nyone can be
knight eith e r fl ees (and disgraces view, a knight's mount can be a a knigh t as knighthood Is be-
himselO or dies. Because they are source of drama and personality. stowed by the king upon those
known to be stubborn people, they Remember tha t s uch an a nimal is who have done him and the coun-
often choose the latter option. known for his unusual intelligence try a great service worthy ofrecog-
When this happens, their armor is a nd his loyalty to his master. By nitlon. While such occasions are
brought home. fix ed up. and giving the war horse a few interest- extremely comm on for warriors In
passed on to the oldest son. ing traits, the DM can add a great
deal of color to the knight's life. Urnes of war. It is possible for any
Knights m ust be ready to leave Pity the poor thief wh o is cau ght
for battle at a moment's notice, going through the master's pack character to become knighted.
whether for god, king, or family by his mount. .. It is also true that a real warrlor-
honor, and this a lso tends to make
that marriage to the beautiful prin- In Search of High Adventure knight travelling with the party
cess a short-lived a ffair. m akes such recognition easie r to
High adventure. This Is not the come by, but it is a lso true that
Taking orders without question crude wench-mongering of s uch many deserving party members
and following a rigid code of war- salty warriors as barbarians. No, have been passed by at times like
rior ethics tends to make a knight's these are noble quests in search of this, while the warrior of the group
job a bit of a roller-coaste r ride. great treasures and the downfall of is accorded full honors as ifhe had
One minute, you 're riding a white vast evU powers-where dragons' done the entire deed alone!
palomino to glory, lance in hand , hordes are s tripped from their evil
and the next minute your brave clutch es in confli cts steeped in Howe ve r. tha t is rare, Most
warhorse has left you s u rrounded b lood, Ore, a nd steel. knights are warriors raised by the
by the great khan and his three n obility and then sent out on mis-
hundred angry sons. Alright. you probably get the sions of conquest or defense.
idea. The AD&D* game lets you Freelance adventuring warriors
It's a dirty job, but someone's got leave the boredom of real life a nd are always considered to be
to do it. .. jump right into the very m yths of knights errant, privately working
our past. Note that the classic epic for the king a ll a long.
Warhorses hero has always been a warrior,
s ince wizards never existed, priests All persons knighted get to add
While we're diSCUSSing som e of don't cast spell s in reality, and the prefix "Sir" or "Lady" to their
the good and bad points of knight- thieves only adventure when they
hood, it's time someone men- have to. names. Failure to address a
tioned the knight's faithful side- knighted individual In the proper
kick, his warhorse. Unfortunately, that leaves some m anner is an ins ult which has , on
of the other character classes out more than one occasion, led to a
Any knight worth his silver in the cold, but that's okay, they
~purs has spe nt a lot ofUme choos- have their ow n ways of achievi ng challenge. Further, knighthood is
ing. raising, training, and pamper- g lory, wealth, power, and (best of heredi tary. Thus, a knight's heirs
ing his mount. Whether this Is the a ll) knighthood. will claim his title when he dies.
silver dragon given to you by the Non -warrior knights are not likely
elven king, or a real good deal you Knighthood for to be given castles in s trategic loca-
found ata farm, a moun t is often a Non-Warriors tions in order to defend the king-
knight's only method of travel. dom. Still, they can be granted
This brings us to knighthood in control over a town , receive a grant
Knights are very close to their gene ra l. As most o f you tech· of land . or even a pOSition of advi-
moun ts, A well ·trained warhorse nically-oriented types already sor to the court!
can be counted on to drag a fall en know, the terms "knight" and
knight to safety, defend his master'S "knighth ood " have been rather In campaign terms, knighthood
body a fter a staggering blow, or loosely th rown around here. is a nice way of taking c haracters
even return a slumped rider to his from the position or" low-level wan-
manor. A good mount Is not only an dering nobodies" to " name-level
aid to a knight. but a necessity. noble m em bers of society worthy of
honor and respect." Naturally.
s uch positions are a lways to the
benefit of the king, and are also

26

likely to indicate that the king is now does it? Also, more impor· fam ily favor. by being chosen by
now ready to watch carefully a ndi tantly. where'S the charac ter de· the High Priest at festival time. or
or utilize his new "resources." velopment? Does the whole story by sheer luck. In a ny case. the
get made up and wasted In 100 imagin a tion of the OM Is the only
Fealty goes both ways though. words or less on a 3x5 card? lim it. and as we all know, there Is
While the characters can expect to no lim it to that.
be the king's errand boy every It seems m ore logical to a llow
once In a while , they also earn the the young cavalier or paladin to Questing for Knighthood
right to contact him when things
are getting out of hand and they train until m an hood and then be The best way (from a campaign
need help. More than likely, the stance) to become a knight is by
king would want to know about a llowed to make his own m ark completing a quest. Now. trad i·
such problems anyway. upon the world . Som e knights·ln- tl on a ll y. qu est s have invo lved
training stay back and train the thin gs like recovering the Holy
Let the knights In your cam· next group. guard th e fort. or take Grai l from Mordred and Morgan La
paign "strut th eir stuff' as much a safe job at home with "Daddy." Fey. or th rowing a cursed ring into
as they want when things are Those are the NPC kind of knigh ts. a big volcano. Howeve r. unl ess
quite. Remember the old saying. They reac h na me level at the age of your PC knigh t wants to wait until
"with great power com es great reo 50 a nd get knighted for "meritori- 20th level to be truly knighted. it
s ponslbili ty." Things will turn might be better to stick to some·
n asty soon enough a nd the wou ld- ous service in the name of the thing s maller.
be heroes will find themselves up kin gdom ." which is a fancy way of
to their visors In danger. saying "he didn't get killed or What kind of quest m ight do it?
screw up real badly in all his Well . t hat depends a lot on the
The Road to Knighthood campaign. If th ere is a dragon in
years." the land who is a real nuisance to
Most knigh ts must be s quired to But PC kni ghts·in·trai ni ng go the kingdom. r emovi n g it is a
a noble lord or knight. and the n pretty big favo r for the king.
trained in the arts of war by their out and seek little dragons. As they Maybe tha t dragon Is in a very In ·
masters. One cannotjust choose to years go by, t hey gradua lly allow accessible place and no one knows
be a knight and sign up som e· where the lair is, turning that in ·
where. SUII . there are other ways their Increased skills a nd abilities formation over to His Royal High ·
to attain the status of knight with- to gUide their sigh t's higher and ness would certa inly be worthy of
out this long training process, but higher until they a re con fron ti ng attention. Perhaps someone im·
they usua lly invol ve great risk to world -s hatte ring h orrors and portant was taken by the beast and
one's hea lth a nd a lmost foolis h stand ing alone agai ns t the great· the trick is to return the prisoner
bravery. est of foes. Training for levels can safely. In short. the perceived m ag·
. In some campa igns. the OM can be done on the road. as earned by nitude of the deed (i.e. d id it make
choose to assign knighthood to a deeds. or by the PC's lord. who gets a really heroic tale afterwards) is
character at first level. assuming to keep tabs on him and contin ues more Important tha n the experi·
that his training as a squire was his fatherly guidance over those ence points earned.
completed on the way to man- years .
hood. and now the young warrior Destroy ing a cu rsed object
is ready to step out on his own . It is a lso s uggested that. In a feu- migh t in volve nothing more than
dal campaign , the criteria for ob· dropping it in a regular old run"'Of·
However. depending on the cam· taining a stronghold not be fixed at the-m ill volcano. Of cou rse. that
palgn. this may not be the best 9th level. Bei ng knighted , wh ich might still require s ix m on ths of
way. After a ll , where is the great mayor m ay not come at 9 th level. travelling the high seas at co nsid·
deed done in service to god, king. erable risk.
or coun try? Face it. at fi rst level. s hould be the campaign cr iteria for
killing an ogre Is a great act of he· such a n importa nt event. It makes In all cases. try and let the player
roism, but it doesn 't rank up there the gift more logical in s uch a set· make the quest choice. Give h im
on the royal top ten of heroic acts, tlng and gives the charac ter an ob· or her as m a ny s u b tl e hints.
vlous reward to work fo r in his
travels and ba ttles.

You can become a squire through
bribery, by being left on a doorstep.
by cooking an unus ually good rab-
bit for a knight. by calli ng In a n old

27

om e ns. and porten ts as you wan t.
but the decision should renect a
p e rson al c h oice of the p layer. not

an en forced requ irem ent. Accom-

plis hing one's objective fee ls a lot
better when it was their idea.

By th e way, don 't forget to make
th e trip worthw hil e to th e other
playe rs. Inclu de eq ua lly un iq ue
reasons to go a long. if the usua l
q uest [or random experie nce. trea-

sure. an d h igh adve nture doesn't

boil t heir blood. Howe ver. stress

t hat this ti me ou t. it's th e k n igh t's

c ha nce for glory. Note that a good
OM gives similar chances for the

o ther char ac ters as well, bu t for

reasons that mus t vary from char-
acter to characlCr.

Any Excuse for a Party

H ooray! The d eed is don e. the

beast vanq uished. the accu rsed ar-

tifact destroyed! Now w hat?
Depending on tradition . the cer-

emon ies of kn ig h t h ood can eith er
be a solemn. private affair or j ust
an oth er exc u se for a really b ig
par ty.

In classic English history. kn igh t-
hood was a solemn gift. bestowed
u pon t h e wort h y subject with
much pom p and circu mstance.
The church gave its blessin gs. as
did the k ing.

However. In lands where t he
k ing isn 't quite so stuffy. a royal
knighthood is often a time of great
celebra Uon. A good ru ler knows
th e political value of associating
himself quickly with the doers of
brave deeds. A lso. t h e oa th o f fe-
alty to the king from the b rave
knight adds to the king's prestige
im m ensely.

For purposes of the AD&D®
ga m e. the follow ing order of eve n ts
is suggested.

On t h e day o f the ceremony. the

28

capital city and the castle grounds concerned are ei ther drun k. broke. EI\'e n r a rtles
h ave a carnival -like a tm osph er e or both . A wise k ing th rows in a
about them. In fact. the m onth ly fair number o f su rprises. like free The elves get d ru nk. si n g very
Market Day may be r ushed or post- chickens at the market grounds. or well. and chase members of the op-
poned just to take advantage of all a ch ance to visit the royal stab les. pOSi te sex. They take a very ligh t-
of the newcom ers attending the I f he own s a mount o f power, like a hearted approach to the ceremony.
ceremon y. Such an event is adver- dragon or p egasu s. h e undoubt- as t h ey see su ch spectacles man y
tised at least a m on th in advance edly circles th e castl e and city ti m es over their long life span s. No
to get as much of a turnout as pos· many ti m es to show o ff. disr espec t is intended . In fact.
sible. II is also not uncommon for nothi ng is more resp ec ted t h an an
the king to waive th e Market Tax In short. make it an Interesting elven protector.
and provide a pavilion o f free food affair. full of fun and ce lebration,
and drink in order to prom ote a but don't forge t the adven tu r ing The weal th spen t on su ch affai rs
bigger turnou t. possibilities. Such even ts ar e field is en ormou s. b u t many of the deco-
days for thieves and troub le- ratio n s have been u sed befo r e.
At high noon. t h e cerem onies be- makers. and if the party starts Gem -laden strings of mlthrli wrap
gin with the most powerful local trouble. they migh t have to he lp the trunks of trees. and gleami ng
church presiding. The service w ill clean it u p after wards. shirts of mithril arm or com e out of
be hosted by the local curate at the storage fo r the occasion . E lven
very least, and may even merit the Also. as su c h events are an- parties last for weeks. and li ttle is
attention s of a dean or pri mat e. In n ounced i n advan ce, an opposing accomplish ed d uring su ch h igh
all cases. the importance of the arm y am assed nearby (that had re- f e s t i v a l s.
knight's social status and th e main ed undetected) surely t akes
greatn ess of the d eed w ill de ter - the chance to attack the ill· Dwarven rartles
mine who conducts the affair. In defended capital , hoping to strike a
the case of a multiple knigh ting single k illing stroke. Such an at- On the other hand . the Dwarves
which Involves Individu als from tack Is certain ly dish onorable In get drunk. sing r ather badly. and
different religions, represen ta ti ves the extreme. so m ake the land and ch ase member s of the opposite
of each faith w ill attend t h e ser v- lord In question an Infamous one. sex. Dwarves take su ch signs of
ice. Usually. the state religion w ill glor y very. very seriously. The high
assume a leading role. bu t oth er How ever. such an attack is likely ceremony is attended only by a
compromises are possible. to be a random. haphazard affair, few and i nvolves a blood-bondi ng
and the players migh t playa major between th e lord and h is new vas-
Once the blessings and sacra- role in turning back the impetuous sal. Dwarves know war Is a ser ious
ments h ave bee n perfor med, t h e invaders. I f they do. then they earn m atter. and glory attained in war is
royal procession begins. The king even more fam e and glory. If not. worth y of the high est h onor.
traditionally taps the kneeling the townspeople are not going to be
knight on each sh oulder . u tterin g ver y pleased abou t the lack of pro- However. after the solemn cer e-
some standard secular blessing. It tection. let alone any unplanned- m onies are over. the dwarves go
m ayor may not have religious con- for change i n leadershi p. cr azy for a few weeks just like the
n otation s. depending on t h e na- elves. Visitors trapped in the dwar-
ture of t he campaign . Deml-Human Celebrations ven caves during these times may
be overwhelmed by the wildness of
The kn igh t Is then expected to Okay. so the humans get drunk. su ch a n or mally solemn r ace. Still.
kiss the sword of the ki ng as a sym- sing a litlie, and ch ase m em bers o f few who have ever lived through a
b ol of subser vience to h is n ew lord. the opposite sex. but wha t do other dwarven celebration w ilJ ever ex-
and swear open allegiance and fe- races do at such occasions? While perience any thing like it again.
alty before all present. T h is con- t h e dwarven and elven versions o f
tinues until all eligible person s are chivalry an d knighthood are dis- The Chivalric: Code
knigh t ed. c u ssed later on . this seem s the
best place to describe non-h u m an The ch ivalric code Is the set of
Hip hip hooray! Now the fun re- celebration s. ideals which all knights are ex-
ally begi ns. The tow n sp eop le cele- p ected to follow to the letter. H ow-
brate upwards of a week. until all

19

ever. this code of honor and tru th who oppose his cause in battle. spans . Rolling up a new knight
often causes a lot of confli ct for Note that s lay ing your enemy is every level is nobody's idea of fun .
both the kn ight and those he trav- not always the best way to make Here is a modified code whic h
els with. your poin t. Driving off an invader migh t be m ore fu nctional in the
with a great s how of force a llows typical AD&D®game.
Wh il e th ese gu ideli nes h ave ta les to be to ld. rumors to be
been presented In many ways in spread. a n d kee ps som eone a live FAithfuln ess
previous AD&D®ru les books, a n d to warn aga inst fu rther invas ions .
A kn igh t m u st be true to h is god .
they have also been reprised in the A knight must choose death be- Any lack of faith is a sign of s pir it-
AD&D 2nd Ed iti o n Compl ete fore dis honor. Why live if one must ual weakness a nd im m oral ch arac-
Fighter's Handbook , space has live in disgrace? Much li ke b u- ter. In the event of an a rea of
prevented a detailed accounting of shldo. the sam urai's code of honor. uncertainty. the knight should
the reasons that such a code is fol- t he knight Is supposed to die be- seek out a priest of h is fai th a nd re-
lowed. and what the many conse- fore s u rrende ring h is c harge. How- qu est guidance. In the case of mi-
quences of failure m ight be . ever. while a knight who blindly nor tra nsgress ion s, t he k n ight
Herein. the code of chivalry is de- charges the barbarian horde may m ight be assigned a task to s how
tailed with an eye to playability in seem ludicrous, the u ltimate re- his desire to make amends for h is
a feudal campaign. sult is the same. honor Is served. m isdeeds.

Medieval Code of Chivalry A knight must show respect fo r Loyalty
a ll peers and equ a ls . honor a ll
A kn ight must cheerfu lly per- those above his station (social A knight must be true to his
form any noble service or quest class or rank). and scorn those who coun try a nd h is ki ng. The e ntire
asked of him . Ifa ny person or item are lowly and ignoble. A kn igh t kingdom would collapse s hould
is placed in his care. a kn igh t m u s t does not aid the ilI -man-nered. the the oaths of feal ty be dissolved. Be
defend, to t he death if necessary. coarse. the crude. Th is applies to loyal to your lord. and your vassals
his c harge. Naturally. any task in- goods a nd services as we ll. A will learn from your example. Be
comple tely accompli sh~d is a s ign knigh t does not use eqUi pment disloyal. and beware eve ry time
of physical weakness a n d spiritual whic h is badly-made or in fe rior, as you turn your back.
faiJu re. he chooses to figh t on foot before
r id in g a nag. Respec:t
A knight mus t perform m ilitary
service to his lord whenever asked A knight m ust s how courtesy to A knight must be true to wom en
and must s how courage a nd enter- a ll ladies (also see "Maid to Fit" ). or those who are less fortunate than
prise when obeying bis lord. T h is Women are fra il things to be pro- him self. and honor those who have
is the very heart of th e fe u dal ideal, tected. T hey are to be cherished achieved greater glory for their god
a nd form s the backbone of m edi- a nd honored. watched fro m afar and country. Those who lie. cheat.
eval military organization. a nd never handled roughly. and steal are beneath contempt as
they are honorless cowards.
A knight regards war as the A Modern Code of Chivalry
"flowering of chivalry" a nd. there- Honor
fore. a noble en terprise. For the Some of the positions held by
knight. battle is the test of man- classic knights make It diffic ult to A knight must be true to one's
hood. and combat Is glorious. A playa fa n tasy kn ight correctly. Af- s elf. Only you r god and you know if
knight's first goal as a war rior, ter a ll . m uch like the sam u rai war- you have been tr uly honorable,
therefore, is the personal achieve- rior. a true kn igh t would only j u st and lying to one's self can only lead
m e nt of glory in battle. Without getout on his own before he had al- to the fu rther corru ption of lyin g to
glorious deeds in times of war, a ready headed off in searc h of the others. All lies. no matter for what
knigh t is considered to be noth ing evil high king across the sea. Th is cause they are told. are dishonor-
more than a fancy mercenary, hav- makes for very one-sided adven- able. It Is better to not provide a n
ing was ted years of h is life train ing tures (an noying the othe r players a nswer at all than it is to deceive
for u lUmale fa il ure. imme nsely) an d ve ry s hor t li fe

A knight must defeat a li those

30

anyone for a ny reason . This in-
cludes shading the truth or lies
based on the omission of facts.
Any intent to deceive is considered
a lie.

V~lor

A knight mus t be true to his pro-
fession . A warrior who is a coward
is not a warrior at all , but a worth·
less retch In armor, preaching lies
to all around him . You cannot earn
respect In s uch a manner, a nd you
cannot keep a clear con scious by
retreating from glory. It Is better to
die for your cause than to surre n -
der It. If a cause is not worth nght·
Ing for. then war is to no avail. A
c ha lle n ge . especially to si n gle
combat. Is always the best way to
achieve valor and glory for your
cau se,

Maid to fit

A short note Is needed here to
discuss the role of -women as
knights. Women, especially th ese
days. play In a lot of AD&D* game
campaigns. Now, in a classic m edi-
eval settin g. women got to oversee
th e knitting, or th e temporary
command of the castle while the
lord was away-hardly a grea t
role-playi ng ex perience. However.
with a little work describing a fe-
male knigh t. we can get an Idea of
some ways a round the rather sex-
Ist codes of chivalry.

Since you are unlikely to be
playing with m ajor cha uvinists In
your gam e, once the fem a le knight
has " prove n herself' In th e eyes of
her fellow warriors things s hould
go rather s m oothly and the prob-
lem is solved . Otherwise, chauvin ·
Ism will be a constan t cam paign
problem.

Instead of seeing all women as
things to be put upon a pedestal

3'

and ad mired, a female knig ht sees ure, and not every transgression is lalion. the knight's liege-lord is
all women as a llies, and has a firm a world-shaking event. In order be- fu lly within h is rights to repeal the
grasp on the real behind-th e- low are some of the punishments oaths or realty sworn rrom such an
scenes working ofa kingdom and a com m on in such ci rcum s tances, obviously dishonorable character.
castle. Female knights get to use and th e level of transgression re- The revoking or lands. the rreezing
cunning and diplomacy to greater quired to receive said punishment. or assets. and the bitter scorn of
effect in such a campaign. the general populace are usually
Loss of Personal Honor humbling enough to the fallen
However, if t here are enough knight.
women to support a gu ild. they A knight who has shown minor
can either have big chips on their cowardice in battle (by avoiding a Some ra llen knights choose to reo
shoulders (as a resu lt of overcom- battle. etc.) or who has offended a pent thei r sins through the per-
ing ou trigh t preJudice) or they lady. has su ffered a loss of personal rormance or some great quest. or
might jus t have earned a fair mea- honor. He has bee n marked as spir- by entering into a monastery
sure of respect from the general itually impure. a nd the OM is en · where. after serving their god for
populace. Female arc hers are par- cou raged to inform the knight that many yea rs, penance might be
ticularly formidable for they tend he is now displaying tendencies to· gra n ted.
to spend more lime perfecting sub- wards neutral or evil. The player
tle movements than raw physical s hould be inform ed or this change. Other knights might opt to re-
power. and s uch fa ilures become id le gos- nounce the same titles they have
sip in the kingdom very quickly. lived by. having had a more perma-
As seen in heroic fantasy, female Further failings will result in an ac- nent change of heart. and become
warriors are just as powerful as the tual align ment change and force knights-errant. or rogue knights.
men, but stress different things the knight to deal with a ll th e nega-
about combat. While a male bar- tive erfects or s uch transrorma- Loss of Royot;l Honor
barian lord is capable of splitting a tlons.
sku ll with his axe. a female knig ht Now, the knight's crim es are get-
might prefer removing that head Recovering from s uch a trans- ling serious by anyone's s tandards.
in a more surgical fashion, by gression orten involves nothing The knight has fled the scene or a
passing her blade through the more than a courageou s stand in battle. demoralizing his forces to
throat. the next battle. or championing the point or turning the course or
said lady in the upcom ing tourna- the battle. or the knight has
Falling from Grace ment. While the stain is not per- harmed or s la ndered a lady or noble
manent and alignment can return blrth-a chaste daughter or the
A lot has been madeofthe power to normaL rurther transgressions, realm!
of the chivalri c ideal to control even ir normally only minor. are
one's destiny and outlook on life. now treated with eve n less toler- Including a ll or the punishments
In fact. it is ex pected that the code ance and might cause the loss or detailed under the "Loss or Per-
chosen be followed to the letter, one's family honor (see below). sonal and Family Honor" sections,
even to the point of extremes-like the knight and quite possibly his
single-handedly charging the an- Loss of Family Honor entire ramily line is likely to be
cient red dragon when there is no banished forever rrom the king-
hope of success. Outright cowardice In the line or dom. As enemies orthe real m . and
duty that does not result in the loss to save the face or the ruling lord.
However, as is bound to happen of the battle or the striking of any the knight risks imprisonment or
sometime in a knight's life. he may women. a re the sorts or things that execution Ir he returns.
"fall from grace". Even a momen- not only incur the penalties stated
tary lapse of will can cost a knight above under " Loss of Personal Nothing short or saving the
dearly. Honor". but also can have long- king's daughter from the clutches
lasting efrects on the ofrending of ultimate evil can win back the
It cannot be emphasized how knight's entire ramily line. fallen hero's lands. By default.
much a breach of trust and faith it since they no longer have any lord
is to fail to perform honorably. Besides flagrant alignment vio- to serve or lands to represen t. a ll
However. there are degrees of fail- such knights become rogue

31

knigh ts. This knight 's family cr est when no on e b elieves you ? How grea t art of h eraldry. However, any
becomes a beacon of distrust that ca n you challenge th e knigh t who n oble ca n bear a coat-of-arm s, and
haunts him the rest of h is life. fram ed y ou if you have al ready any important personality (PC or
been banish ed from th e kingdom ? NPC) ca n have their own personal
Heinous Cri mes Against The Gods Do you start a new life. only to re- etched rune. wizard mark. or Iden-
or The king turn decades latcr to right t he tifying glyph, and these gUidelines
wrong. or does the kn igh t get the can be used by any person Inter-
T his particular category Is t h e ch ance to ch allenge before the ested In addingju sta little bit m ore
most seriou s becau se such Ollngs king? And what If the fram er is of flavor to thei r fantasy person a.
do not occur accidentally. Su ch h el· much high er l eve l that of th e
nous crimes are p remedllated and fram ed? I f you die defending you r Standards
all t he more despicable, T h is type of h on or, then you ' ll be considered
crime is distinguished by the fact gUilty. and i f you fail to ch allen ge. Most no tably. a knigh t's stand -
that It must be so awful that lhe then you are also assumed to be ard appears in five places: on his
knight In question's alignment is g u i l ty. arm or. his shield . his lan ce-ba nner
now Irrevocably shifted to evil, (when leading a ch arge to ballie or
And what about the problems shown at the beginning of a tour-
Using our progressive examples, faced by m en like Sir Robin of nament), on a large banner or flag
this time the knigh t h as actu ally Loksley (Robin Hood)? His lands fly ing high above h is castle. and on
led h is lord's forces in to an am· were taken by an evil usurper to his pri vate Signet ring (which is
b u sh , turning sides and h el ping to the throne while the true kin g was u sed to leave an impression in
slaugh ter his own m en , or the h eld capllve across the sea. Which sealing wax on lctters and legal
knigh t has ca ptured , ransom ed, king do you serve and which is the co n tracts) ,
and possib ly even killed t h e k lng's m ost honorable road to travel? Do
own daughtcr. you dare fig ht your old comrades? The standard can i nclude any-
thing from the favorite nowers of a
Now, all of t h e p en alties dis- As you can see, k ni ghts and knlght 's lady to the d epiction of the
cu ssed above are j u st for start ers, rogue knights m ake not on ly the knlgh t 's most h a ted en emy or hero-
T h is h orrible criminal's life is now best NPCs. but also add spice to ically van quished foe. In classic
forfeit. Banish m en t Is -proc laimed, any PC background story. Better medie va l history. the objects
bu t hardly necessary, as the cu i· yet. the DM can th row such a curve placed on the standard usually had
prlt Is no doubt long gone after the into the cam paign as It Is runn ing. no appar en t meaning to those out-
deed. His crest, should he r em ain ca u sing a ll so rts o f g r eat rol e- side t he family. Often that secret
bold en ou gh to present it. atlracts playing opportun ities. was no t passed down to the nex t
boun t y hunters and loyal aveng- gen era Uon o f t he fam il y ei ther,
Ing knigh ts until the scoundrcl is Heraldry m aking things very confusing in-
cau ght and brough t to justice. deed If a gen ealogy is a ttempted.
Every knight or noble worth h is
Such a knight is the w orst kind castle has a family crest or banner. H owever, for our purposes. it re-
of rogu e. a Black Knight. and this In fact. once a new noble is ally adds very IiLUe to the ga m e if
is the kind of man great chivalric knighted, a banner bearing the suc h standards are u seful for noth ·
villains are made of. family heraldry must be sent to ing more than identifyi ng the en -
the kin g's castle where it is hung em y d uring a foggy battle. For all
Rogue Knights proudly in his great throne hall. player s interested in adding some
anot h er sign to all visitors of a colo r to th eir cha r acters, som e
Now. you ca n u se t he above k ing's vast wealth and power. m ore thou ght is required .
guidelines to keep you r kn ights In
ch eck or to build a better history for While every noble has a coat of The royal standard is born on ly
your n oble houses, but there are arms, this sec tion Is specifically by th e king. his squ ires. and his
oth er ways to ulill ze the rogu e tailored to warrior knights in par- person al knights. guards. and
knight's life. ticular. As their standards are the ar m y. However. some kings re-
most colorfu l and m eani n g ful. quire at least a portion of their
What if it's a frame-up? How do t h ey offer the best examples of t h e standard to be included some·
you proclaim your In nocence

33

where in the standards of an y If the OM is uSing the optio n o f of h is own standard a difficult one.
sworn vassals. noble or knighted. waiting to k n igh t his war riors un t il It is now readily apparent why
In such cases. the king's symbol is they have become worthy of the
something si m ple and easily r ec- honor t h rough gr ea t deeds. t h en t h e Her aldry skill in the Players
ogn ized. like a sun. m oon . lion. t h e knigh t- in-train in g m ust bear Hand book becomes usefu l. With
si ngle bar. background color. or the standard of h is lord un til he th is skill. it is possible to deduce
even a dragon . w h ich Is easily In- has earned the chance to create his another kn igh t's allegiances. fam -
corporated in to any lesser stand- own noble li n e. Oth erwi se, p layers ily history. and record of previous
ard. should detail their family crest and deeds or cri m es. It also becom es
h istory during the character crea· equally apparent w hy t he OM
Before a campaign is begun. at tion phase and submit this to the needs to whip up som e of th is in-
least the klng's standard should be OM for approval and i nclu sion in to formation beforehand ! Use il to
descri bed to t h e ch aracters. as his the cam paign. drop h ints abou t an an cient
followers are to be t reated with t he weapon k nown to be w ielded by a
utmost care at all levels of adven - In particularly large kingdoms fam ou s. or i n famou s. k n igh t. It
turing. The standards of any or worlds wher e there is an em· also comes in very handy during a
neighboring a ll ies and enemies peror, it Is possible for a newly tourn ame n t.
and the local noble m anor should k nigh ted wa rrior to h ave more
also be determined before pl ay than one required symbol in h is In an y case. t he exact nature and
commences fully. standard. m aking the customizing m eaning of the standard is left up
to the char act er and t h e OM. Below
we presen t two exam p les. one
from h istor y and on e from fiction ,
to guide the DM in this matter.

Rich ard the L ion-H earted
Rich ar d t he Lio n -Hearted. reo

now n ed kin g of Englan d. bore a
" lion ram pan t" (i.e. attacking lion)
u pon all of h is noble devices . Th is
symbolized h is stren gth and ag-
gr essiveness in battle. W hile there
is no realHon i n Rlc hard's past. the
sym bol of the lion was based on his
deeds as a young m an , his large
sta ture, an d h is skill in battle.

While some standards bear li ttle
resemblance to the historical per-
ce ption of some k nigh ts, Richard's
was em inently appropriate. Since
then, many of England's kings
have followed Richard's exam ple
and have i ncorporated lions in to
th eir standards.

In an AD&D® gam e, thou san ds
of animals and m onsters. both
good and evil. can be u tilized in a
sim ilar fashion .

L an cel ot Du L ake
Lancelot, as portr ayed in t he

fil m ExcaJibuf. bore an embossed

34

picture of the Holy Gra il on his Howeve r. so m eon e w ho has Elven Knights
chest as a symbol of h is search for s uch funds aVailable usually goes
perfection. It was legend that only to the trouble of embossin g his Elves follow the code of ch ivalry
the truest knight. perfect In a ll reo standard more permanently. This to the letter. except when it comes
spects, could find the lost Holy includes actua lly denting and to battle. Elven life is too precious
Grai l. Wh ile th e existence of the shaping the a rmor In and around to be squande red n eed lessly
Grail can be doubted. It Is n ot Its the symbol like a bas relief sculp- agains t lost causes. When th ey do
reality th a t is Importa n t. as the sacrifice th emselves. it Is only for
Grail was a visible symbol of ture. This can then be augmented the greatest good of the elven
something tha t was not visib le to by gems. precious m etals. or any- kingdom or in defense of t hei r
the knights: perfection. Such thing else the knight desires. Since companions. In s hor t. elves as a
symbolism ca n add greatl y to a this increases th e value of the a r- peopl e avoid war wh enever possl·
PC knlght's coa t-o f·arms. m or. and th e expenses to re pair It ble . T h ey pre fer to de pend on pol!-
once damaged , only the very tics to settle disputes. and are fa r
The King 's Sta.nda.rd wealthy prepare their ba ttle armor less aggressive tha n most of the
in s uch a fas hion . Usua lly. a sec- other races in an average cam -
As an exam ple of Incorpora ting ond set of armor. not s ullab le for paign.
the lord's standard into one's own. combat use Is prepared for specia l
Imagine that the great overlord's occasions and hig h ceremonies. Elven knights place a high reo
standard is a gold dragon. If a king like weddings. knlghthoods. a nd gard for the cerem onial aspec t of
under h im has a sliver dragon. in· councils of war. c hiva lry. as well as respecting their
tertwinlng the two dragons is a peers and superiors. However.
standard rich In artistry and sym- Even the very arm or Itself can be they are qu ick to the point of snob-
bolism for a feudal environment. m odified s li ght ly, to look more bery In s howing con tempt of those
rounded or sharp. depending on be neath their station a nd those of
If the king uses the symbol of a the effect desired. Some things. Ignoble Ideals. 1b their credit. eI-
stone tower to remind people his however. speak loud er than any ve n knights place no weigh t on
castle has never fallen to siege. the crest of standard when it concerns c lass differences In s uc h Judg-
emperor's go ld dragon ca n be one's armor. Any knight walking ments. Just on personal character
spread out behind the tower. Indi- the la nd in a suit of blue-green a nd reputation.
cating that the tower Is protected metal embossed with ru nes of
by a greater power as well. m ystic power Is not to be taken S ince women are equa ls among
IightJ y. men in elven society. the respect
Altering the Armor Further elven knights s how for wome n is
Deml-Human Knights more courtesy tha n ou tright ado·
When knights spent more time ration . Im portan tly. while the ma-
dressing themselves for war than Knighthood a nd the Code of Jo rity of the e lven cava lry is
actually flghtlng. they continued to Chiva lry are primarily s tates of comprised of male elve n knigh ts.
alter their armor In decorative ways. m ind and occupations chosen by most elven archer compa n ies con-
One of these ways Included modify- the person In qu estion. In fact. tain a majority of women.
ing the helmet to resemble some- adapting knigh thood to o ther
thing In the knight·sstandard. like a deml-human societies can add a Elven knights almost never
hawk's beak. the wings of a pega- lot of spice to the campaign. a nd a wear plate a rmors. but prefer more
sus, or the fangs of a va m pire. great deal of depth to some non- lightweight. flexible armori ng
huma n societies. Fo llowin g th e made of fine chaIn. As elves prefer
Another a lterallon In volved the gUidelines presented In th e two ex- battle within forested environ-
outer appeara nce of the arm or. amples below. an a mbitious DM ments where they can rely on the ir
While It Is cu s tomary to pain t the can throw all sor ts of curves to his natural adeptness in such sur-
noble s tanda rd on the armor, Itcan players. roundings to give them an added
be quite an elaborate affair. Molten edge. they cons ider plate armor
precious meta ls like s li ver and too noisy and bulky fo r such m a-
gold can be used like pain t at such neuvering .
times.
It is Important to note that magi-

35

cal elven chain m ail is only given Dwarven Knights dwarfwill not wear arm o r forged by
asa gift to worthy men and women an y other race. for their pride is
who have honored themselves in Dwarves take their warring very quite strong and thei r codes of
the defense of el ves a nd elven seriously Indeed. and th ei r views honor very exacting on such
lands. It is rare. but not unheard on war and honor would make any poin ts.
of. for non·elves to earn such a gift visiting samurai warrior proud.
if t h eir deeds warrant It. Non ·e lves Dwar ves. in stark contrast to the W hile elven ar mors requ ire con-
are never taught the secr et of m ak· elves. would rather die i n glorious stant repair if they are to remain
ing and en chan ting el ven c hain battle than any other way. It is attracti ve. dwarves p lace less
mail. even said tha t dwarves always lai r valu e on appearance and more
near a dragon or a large colony of value on defense. Dwarven plate
Magical elven chai n can be gia nts j ust to keep a steady sce-
found i n treasure hoards, of nario of connic t goin g. 1b thei r arm or is treated as plate mail + I.
course. but if know ledge escapes c redit the dwarves are always
of i ts recovery. elves are sure to ready for war. but is almost 50% heavier than hu -
converge on the discoverer with m an plate. T h is m ea ns that a
offers for the suit's purchase. A In fact. dur ing the numerou s dwarve n se t of p late armor {sized
reasonable price is offered. and battl es between elven and dwar· for a 4 ' tall dwarO weigh s just
any person who does not sell th eir ven forces, it has always been the abou t as m u ch as a human set of
prize, is h ounded for man y years elven k inship with animal and p la te (sized for a 6 ' tall knigh t ).
until death takes the short·lived plant life t hat has k ept them one
mortal. or u n til a bette r price is step ahead of their dwarven ene- Un fortunately. dwarves rarely
reached. m ies. T he el ves al ways seem to m ake th eir armor for hu m an s. and
have enough lime to get ready for a do not know how to make ei th er
The elves will not give up the battle, no matter how well t he field or full plate arm ors. Their
quest. as th ey see t h e common u se d warven fo r ces try to conceal own limbs and joints do not h ave
of such a great prize ten ds to them se lves. the mobility necessary to m ake a
lessen ils overall val u e and slgniH - functiona l set of those fu ll -body ar-
cance for all others. Alsb, t he elves As m entioned earlier. the mors. an d so the dwarves will have
do not want untrustworthy armor· dwarves take the cer emonial as- none of it. Just like the elves.
ers t o get a hold of any elven chain pects of their idea of chivalry very dwarves don't teach non -dwarves
mail. lest they m anage to discover seriously. but keep su ch things their m etallurgy sec rets.
its sec rets through magiC or reo rath er priva te.
search. Such a discovery by out· Dwarves dwell extensively on
siders would risk war. The "respect for women" no- their own version o f heraldry.
tions ar e preu y much ignored by a based on the personal histories
Elven k n ights that ch oose to rather chauvin istic male dwarven and fam ily genealogies of the en-
wear pla te ar mor (ver y rare) al · hierarchy. In a socie ty gear ed for tire dwarven race. Dwar ves ar e r e-
ways make them look like they war and hard work i n the m ines. markable at rem embering long list
were m ade from mith r il. A highly there seems to be no glory availa- of names. and s pen d a g rea t dea l o f
polished coating of the sh iny silver ble for the little ladies. their lives memorizing details
metal is applied alm ost like paint abou t everyone t hey ever see.
to t he arm or. and th e suit t h en Now, thalls not to say that dwar- meet. or hear about.
g leams and shines in even the ven women ar e m istreated. That is
most indirect lightin g. In fact. t h e far from the truth. They are given
greatest of kings or t he richest of equ al rights and protection under
knights often take th eir armor to all laws. and dwarven marriages
the el ves for such detailing once it are on es of partnersh ip. not obedi-
has been purchased. ence,

T h e dwarves like to m ake t heir
armor heavy. plated. and black. A l-
most w i thout excepti on . all
dwarven -sl zed armor is actually
m ade from dwarven forged iron. A

36



So maybe your player charac- at s uch soul-search ing Urnes. cially if there has been a lack of
ters haven't earned the fame a nd Agricultural h olidays are ce le- war recently. or too m any inCi-
glory which s hould get them a cas- dences of coward ice or bumbling.
tle of their own yet. Maybe the brated by the rich and the poor. There might even be a regularly
thought of chasing a dragon, even a nd there will be both com m on sched u led test every other year or
a little one. is stili the s tuff of their fairs and a royal tournament held so. depending on the s ize and na-
dreams. What does the wou ld-be to mark such occasions. Those ture of the campaign.
knight do in such cases? marking the harvest in autumn
and the end of the planting season Challenges
Well, organ ized competitions or in spring usually las t fo r a week at
tournam ents a re a great way for a time. while a ll others last but a Whether as a friendly com peti -
the player characters to " m ingle" d ay. tion between two rival lords. or as
with the local nobility and s how off a hosti le cha llenge betwee n two
their s tuff. It m ay be that a good Political holidays are times of knights In dispute (see " Perso na l
performance in, say. the a rchery private parties. town parades. a nd Challenges"). cha llenges make for
con test will earn the character the local noble tourna m ents. Unless th e most In te restin g of tourn a-
righ t to marry the prince or prin- the political deed had grea t s ign ifi- m e nts.
cess of the realm. Once everyone cance to the realm and the king In
knows how good you are. fam e and power. no royal tou rna ment is For example. the royal arc hery
glory are only a few steps away l likely to be held on this day. In es- tournamen t depicted in the n1m
sence. towns hold large Market The A dvent ures of Robin Hood
High Holidays Days on these days. supplanting was h eld for the sole purpose of
the need for the usual monthly Id entifyi n g a nd trapping Robin
All societies take time ofT for one Market Day. Hood. well-known as the "finest
reason or another. Usually these of- archer In England."
ficial holidays are: religious (if one Private Celebrations
reUglon Is truly dominant In the It Is also a grea t way to lure an
areal. agricultural (commonly a t the OccaSionally a lord or king will enemy 's fi nest knights into a m -
equinox and solstice). or Political in be particularly blessed during the bush. or a way from something
nature. In the latter case. they often course of a year. Some examples of they are protecting. However. such
mark the fou nding of the country or such blessings Include a wedding. an evU deed Is most unsportlng
som e great victory of war or revolu- birth of a first born heir (or a ny and would only be a ttempted by a
tion. Usually. one can cou nt on one royal prince or princess). major black knigh t.
offiCially recognized holiday every victory in war, successful truce, or
other month or so. th e defeating of some a ncient li n- Fortunately for the plotte r. Lh e
gering menace to the rea lm . like a code of chivalry requires that any
Re ligiou s h olidays rarely In - dragon. charge or challen ge be taken up.
volve either fairs or tournamen ts. Since a tou r nament is anoth er
T hese are traditionally times of Often this involves only the lord form of combat. a n d combat is
fasting and personal sacrifice to in qu estion t h rowing a lot of glory. no knight can refuse s uch a
one's church . They a r e a lways money a nd food around at the next challenge. But tha t doesn't mean
placed on days significant to the Market Day. the knight can not be prepared. I.e.
given religious calendar (i.e. the bring along some friends in case of
death of a saint. the resurrection of How ever. th e loca l lo rd may trouble. put his lands on a lert sta-
a god. the founding ofa new order). wish to sponsor a tournament or tus. etc. Natura lly. this assumes he
Holy knights. like paladins. tithe fair. He mIgh t want to graciou s ly knows or suspects that the chal-
their Incomes to the church during inv ite the n ew a lly or vanqUis h ed lenging knight is up to something.
cerem onies held on th ese occa- foe to attend. He mightJust want to
sions. They also spend a lot of lime show off his new son. or give a big Local Fairs
seeking guidance from both their sendoff to his departing heirs.
local priest and their patron detty. Local fairs are like carnivals and
Visions of great quests often com e Tests circuses are today. All manner of
strange and exotic beasts and mon-
Som etim es a king or lord feels sters are paraded before the mystl-
the need to test his knights. espe-

38

fled public. T here are games of r ules and u se blun ted lances. m igh t boost the betting odds the
chance like the dagger toss. dun k Winning such a contest often next time around.
the peasan t. a nd chasing a greased
pig with prize money tied around gets the victor a nd his lord muc h Sometimes. for show, the wi n-
its neck. There are competitions for prestige. a nd sometimes a better ner of the open Joust com petes
chopping down trees the fastest . hom e. Another lord may o ffe r to against the winner of the royal
catch ing the biggest fish . baking " take over the knight's tra ining" jOust. bu t us ua lly th e forme r backs
the best pie. racing horses, ale guz- for a hefty su m If the win ner is al· down without loss of honor. defer-
zling. and a variety of sporti ng ring to his obvious s uperior. the
events. including tossing horse- ready a knigh t-in-tra ining. Or. the Royal Champion.
shoes and medieval versions ofsoc- rogu e squire or warrior who wi ns
cer a nd stickball . m ight get an offer of patronage Magic item s of all kinds are per·
from a noble house interested in m itted at a jOust. bul a nything
Noble Tournaments traIning knigh ts. In a ny case, the which is dee m ed dishonorable by
the list offic ials cannot be u sed.
Noble tour naments are very r ich reward money is usually enough Som e examples wou ld include a ny
in adventuring op portun ities. Un- to e ncou rage the victor to furth er item tha t removes the chance ele-
less the tournamen t is private it is competitions in the future, men t to the game (I.e. a lance that
a lways open to the general public wherei n he m igh t j ust make qui te never m isses. or a s h ield that al-
as well as th e nobility. However. ways blocks). S uch a n item . if d is-
the very types ofcompetition leave a na m e fo r him se lf. covered after the jou st has begun.
lillie room fo r non professionals to The main joust is also round causes th e wielder to forfeit auto-
earn a ny honors. If they do prevail . matically. A minor "Loss of Per-
however. the prize monies a re robin but open on ly to kn ights of sonal Honor" ensues (see "Falling
enormous-often enou gh to a llow the realm. In additio n . each knight from Grace"), as it is the knight's
a serf to retire or buy his way in to c hooses a lady to cham pion. If he responsibili ty to be fair. Some
the yeoman class. wins honorably. the victor bri ngs jousts even go as far as to ban
honor to h is na m e. the lady he has m agiC altogether. provid ing their
These affairs are a tfe n ded by the chosen. and the sponsor of the own lances a nd s u its of ar mor for
nobility, first and fore m ost. The tournament. Disgraci ng the jOust. the combatan ts to wear.
food is prepared by gourm ets. the either by kU ling a n una rmed foe ,
ten ts a re of the fi nest li nens. local har m ing or kill ing a moun t. or In Quick J ousting Rules
cavalry troops ride by on parade, som e other man ner. is considered 1b run the actual combat of a
and all of the kn ights a nd nobles a " Loss of Fa mily Honor" or worse
are try ing to outdo each other. (see "Falling fro m Grace"). joust. each knight should have a
However. the real com petition Is bl unted la n ce. a horse , a n d a
down on the fie ld . a nd that is wha t Winni ng a royal joust often s hield of so m e k ind. Nat ura ll y,
everybody has come to see. earns the knight the position of the riding or horsemanship non-
Royal Cha mpion . meaning some· weapon profi ciency is requ ired in
Jousting tim es tha t there's going to be a order to safely ride the horse, but
new Captain of the Royal Guard, profi cie ncy in th e lance is not a ne-
Squires and wou ld-be knigh ts Lord High Cham berlain. o r Lord ceSSity, although it never hurts.
com pete in their ow n jous ts. These High Marshall in the realm. At the
con tests are round robin even ts. ve ry least. the knigh t earns the Each kn igh t squa res ofT a t oppo·
with the victors of each con test righ t to hold the next royal tourna· site ends of the fie ld, or on either
moving on to th e next rou nd. Note m e n t at h is caslle. Ifhe decides not side of the list (a long low fence).
that the com petition is open to rich to do so. for whatever reason . there Lances are levelled as the com bat·
and poor allke. Officials inspect a ll is no loss of honor. an d the tou rna- ants charge one a nother. but no
lances before the com petition and ment returns to the royal caslle ini tiative is requ ired, as both
no contesta n t is allowed to batlle the next time. The knigh t retai ns lances a re of equal length. A si m·
without a s hield. All such contests the title of Royal Champion un til pie roll to hit is a ll that is requ ired
are cond ucted u nde r nonletha l the next royal tournamen t. Note and any rider so struck must make
tha t the resul t of lesser jous ts has a s uccessful horse ma nship prof!-
no bear ing on the s ta ndi ng of the
Royal Champion. although an um ·
ber of losses to th e sa m e rival

39

40

ciency check or be forcibly dis- and men alike. Depending on the A ny natural 20 is a perfect bulls-
mounted. Whoever is still up wins d egree of integration . tourna- eye and au tomatically beats any
and gets to m ove on to the next ments m ay be open to all comers. other arrows that round. no matter
round. If both rider s rem ain viable I f the tournam ents are separated. how high Lhe "to hit"" roll. Any r oll
competitors. they turn an d ch arge half-elv es may compete in either (if that totals 20 or h igher including
again . This contin ues until som e- they are allowed lo compete at all). bonu ses is clustered near the cen·
body falls. I f boLh k n igh ts are dis- ter. and i f a n atural 20 is rolled at
mou n ted si m ultan eou s ly. both are Archery con tests are run a little such a time. th e arrow splits the
removed from the tournament. differen tly. Usually. the royal con- best sh ot (I.e. highest rolled "to
lest is held first. again in rou nd hi t") on the target and wins.
A natural 20 au tom atically dis- robin fashion. However. the last
moun ts an oppon en t. while a natu - 3·5 archers (depending on the size Ho ly Debates
rail strikes the opponent 's mount of the tournament) do not finish
(doing half n ormal damage). This against each other. but rather chal- Wh ile priests have little to fight
Is a dishonor to the knight and he lenge all comers. noble or poor. about. they do tend to m ake excel·
m ust forfeit the co ntest. However. The competition again proceeds lent debaters. as they are sup-
since It is obviously acciden tal. no nor maJly. t h is time until a victor is posed t o be wise an d learn ed .
further pun itive action Is taken chosen. Usually. the debates will center
and no sign ifican t loss of personal aroun d a specific question. like
honor ensues. Note that the archer is not ac- "why are we h ere?" or "what is the
corded the kind of honors a Royal true nature of good an d evil?".
Personal Challenges Champion receives. except in th e They tend to avoid questions of
case of the elven kingdoms. where polit iCS and never directly con-
In the case of a personal chal- the Royal Archer and the Royal front each other about the ir faiths.
lenge between two knights. the Champion are accorded eq ual sta- W h ile such ev ents are not well at·
lances are not blunted. and a fallen tus (and as m entioned earlier. tended by t h e uneducated. t hey
kn igh t is not ou t u nless he begs for migh t well i nc lu de wome n ). draw more than th eir share of
mercy or is knocked unconscious. sages, l uminaries. and the like.
The knigh t on horseback has the As with t h e j ou st. m agiC Items or
advantage because of h is height spells that render the game unfair W izardry Competitions
above his opponent and the length are grounds for for feiture of the
of his w eapon. T h e fallen kn ight competi tion. Wizards engage in new spell
can only use his sword. and any competi tions. showin g off the lat·
roll of a natural I m eans the horse Quick A rch ery Rules est creations from the laboratory.
is struck. Unlike the fairness Each of the competitors is al- Spells are compared with in spell
shown above. this is a serious loss levels, an d originality is more im-
of personal honor. and m eans the lowed to fir e three arrows at me- portant l h an improv ing on an ex·
loss of the challenge an d possibly dium range (giving everyone a ·3 i stlng spell. Note that most
other repercussions as well. to h it penalty) at a target treated as wizards never se ll the ir spells af·
AC 10. Each contestan t is judged terwards. no matter how many of-
1\vo challenging knights taken only by his best shot (I. e. h is h igh- fers they get. as the envy they
to the groun d are provided with est total rolled "to hit:' including receive is reward enough to a wiz-
m aces or hammers for the con tin- all bonuses for specialization . dex- ard and his sponsoring lord (i f
uation of the battle. Whoever is up terity. and magic). an y). Those that do se ll their se-
and alive at the en d wins. and he crets often risk giving the competi·
has the ch oice of slayi n g h is foe. or After all shooters have launched lion a big boost for next year!
gran ting him m ercy. Usu ally. a their best arrows. the archer with
knight gran ts mercy. the best shot of them all gets to In particularly powerful cam ·
move on the next round. In the paigns. there m ight be royal com-
Archery case of a tie. t h e targets are moved petitions for best new magic items.
ca tegorized alon g the lines of the
Arc h ery. because of its useful- to long range (I.e. -6 to hit) an d tables in the AD&D® 2nd Edition
n ess. is practiced by bolh elves
each co ntestant gets o n e addi- Dungeon Masters Guide.
tional arrow. The firing of single
arrows continues until lhe tie is
broken .

4'

. . ..... ". ..'"' " ' ~''. , '

Every character 's dream is to tary needs may sound enormous. A castle is a lso more tha n the
find a plot of la nd . in som e area of this aspect of the castle construc- stone towers and wa lls that arise
the realm. and pla n t t he found a· tion is one of the easier tests that from a pic turesque hill or outcrop·
tions of his kingdom by building a will bare itself before the castle is ping of rock. 1b prov ide fo r the lord
castle or keep. But there are a fini s hed . of the castle. his m a ny retinue. and
number of vexing obstacles that for t he s killed artisans em ployed
will need to be hurdled before the The Castle's Role b y h im . a cas tl e must a lso be
dream can com e true. The m ost though t to include the land that is
A castle is m uch more tha n a farm ed by the local peasan ts and
obvious problem . a nd the one that building s urrounded by s tone the large tracts of forests where
will be pa ramount In the player 's walls or wooden palisades. It is deer. wild boar. elk. and other a ni-
m ind , will be acquiring en ou gh more th a n a hea dqua r ters fo r m a ls ca n b reed a nd t h e n be
revenue to build his cas tle. knights and th eir arm ies during hunted .
battle or a s torehouse for goods In
In feuda l Engla nd , cas tles were the wilderness. A castle is built for As ide from h avin g fi e lds r ipe
very expe ns ive to build. A s imple a lord and his family. as a cu ltura l wi th crops a nd copses of trees and
motte a nd ba iley cos t a local ba ron centerpiece to the coun tryside. s h ru b. a castle serves as a gather-
700 English pounds, or more tha n a nd as a bastion of defense fo r the ing pl ace for sk ill ed c ra ft s m e n
seven hundred and fifty thousand loca l peasantry a nd fa rm ers in s uch as blacksm iths. bakers. and
gold pieces in game mone ta ry case of war or in vasion : it is the ca rpenters. As the castle grows
terms. 1b build a large concentric heart and m ind of the s u rrou ndi ng an d takes on new dim ensions. a
castle cost more than 2000 En· civili zed la nds. village. town or. city m ay a ppear
glish pounds or nearly two million around it. bringing in m ore profes-
gold pieces. Although the m one·

42

sional artisans such as a lchemis ts. fications orhis keep. Thch leve ls will T h is basic dere nse system
be la ter used in describing castle proved s trong enough until the
bankers. a nd cartographers. modules in which the player uses early rourteen th century. But th e
to cons truct his castle. castle design had two major flaws.
A casUe serves as the seat of the the first was in its series or barriers
Technologica.l Levels (the palisades and ditches). whic h
local government and a base for ju- could not su pport each other and
TL Rem a rks
dicial administration . A cas tle. 1 Early Wooden a llowed the attackers to concen -
tra te their rorces agai nst each bar-
more than likely. will also have a C o n s tr u c tio n rierone at a ti me. The second fl aw.
2 Ad vanced Wooden an d one that wou ld soon be reme·
prison or jail . a stoc kade ror lesser dlcd . was the cons truction or the
Co n s tr u c tio n castle rrom wood . which tended to
orrenders. a n d the guillotine or 3 Early Stone Cons truction m ake it easy prey to fi re. Nonethe-
4 Advanced Stone less. castles or m otte and bailey
block ror mu rde rers. highway- construction were built and in hab-
Construction
me n . or seriOli S oITe nders or the 5 Early Gatekeeps & Hoard- ited th roughou t medieval Europe
ror several ce nturies.
law. ings
6 Adva nced Gatekeeps & The motte a nd bailey design be-
T he casUe will have at leas l one gan to change as early as the
Machicola tions
c hapel w hi ch sma ll ham le ts or 7 Grand Gatekee ps twelfth cen tury by fi rst replacing
8 Full Concentric Cas ties the wooden tower on the motte
tow ns without a monas tery or w ith a stone tower or building.
Motte and Bailey castles: The Later the Inner and outer bailey
tem ple m ay use ror religious cere- molle and bailey castle of the elev- was changed over to stone as we ll.
e nth and twelrth ce nturi es con- Subsequen tly. the baileys accrued
monies. holidays. a nd restivals. A sisted ora large mound or earth or a battlem en ts in the rorm of arrow
natu ral hill (the molte) lopped by a s lits. guard towers. and trap doors
castle may also act as a school ror wooden keep or tower surrou nded rro m which roc ks or boiling oil
by a paJisade and ditch . In ma ny could be rained down on Invaders.
the loca l gentry. e nabling their cases this was surrou nded by a
nu m ber or buildings (the bailey) The castle proper. th e tower on
ch ildren to learn to read and write . used asaccom modation s ror g uests the motte. was replaced by two ba-
or extensions or the ramlly (older sic types or keeps. sometim es re-
Others. the select rew . will come son. brother. mother. etc.). servant rerred to as donjons. The easiest
quarters. guard towers or posts. a nd ch eapest type or donjon was
here in hopes or learning the vows troop barracks. stables. livestock the s hell keep. wh ich was s imply a
pens. or storage buildi ngs. T he s tone wall rollowing the line of the
a nd codes which will lead to their whole area was derended by an- motte palisade. with hou sing and
other palisade and dilch. T he pali- other buildings taking the place or
becoming a knight. sade of the bailey orten continued the tower. and u s ing the stone pal!-
up the motte to connect wit h the sade as their outer wall. Wi th s uch
The casUe. in s hort. Is the nexus palisade there. Entrance to the cas- a construction a n ope n courtyard
tle was through an outer draw- In the ce n ter or th e m o tte ap-
ror a ll activity and comm erce bridge a nd a gate keep whic h peared . The main advantage to the
normally consisted or two sturdy s hell keep was t ha t it co uld be
withi n the la nds controlled by the towers nanking the drawbridge qu ick ly added to or taken down .
with winches within controlli ng a nd that its weight was evenly dis-
lord or king. - the lowering and raising or either a t ributed over th e h ill so t hat it
wooden or partial metal gate. could be constructed on artificial
Types Of Castles mou nds or dirt with little chan ce or

T hough the p layer need not rol-
low anyone casUe diSCipli ne In de-
s ig ni n g h is kee p . th ere a r c a
number or design types that he
s hould be aware or. There are
three basic h uman castle designs.
which Include the Molle a nd Bai-
ley. the Curtain Wall Oerense. and
the Concen tric Castle. T he style in
which the OM desires to play his
campa ign . will ultimately deter-
mine exactly which design type or
parameters the player will be a ble
use in building his casUe .

There are several distinct phases
or technological achievements in
buildi ng castles. The OM may s tip-
ulate from wh ich tech nological
level. as desc ribed below. the
player can choose the design speCI-

4]

the walls crumbling under their nal wooden towers ofearlier cen tu- barrier. As time wen t b y, fortifica-
own weight. r ies. with a strong cross wa ll so tion d esig n techniqu es from the
that. should th e entrance to the east spilled i nto Eu rope. Many new
The other type of donjon that ap- donjon be forced. the defenders fea tu res bega n to be added to t h e
peared from t h e m otte and bailey could retire behind yet another existing cast les and many totally
d esign w as th e s ton e tower_These line of defen se. Th e cross wall. on new desig n s b egan to appear. The
massive buildings of stone were so t h e firs t and second floor. was well sig nificance began to shift away
heavy that they had to be built on built and had only one door j oining from the supposedly im pregnable
natural h i ll s. since con stru cted the tower together. As with its donjon to the bailey wall s. for i t
mattes tended to shift and crack ou ter spiral staircase to the main w as wiser to k ee p the attackers
the walls of th e stone tower. W hen door of th e keep. all internal stair- fro m breaching t he ou te r m os t
a stone tower was built. and no cases wou nd clockwise giv ing the wall. then to let h im in to ravage
suitable motte w as available. the defenders room to swing their and plunder t h e m an y buildings
eng ineers sometimes built the sw ords free ly, wh ile the a ttackers and storage h ou ses on the inside of
tower on flat ground then buried h ad a tough time u sin g their t h e outer baUey.
half of th e tower, c reati n g. in es- swords and shields (assum ing tha t
se n ce. an arti fi ci al moUe. T h e they were right h anded . of cou rse). The main improvem ents to t he
walls of a ston e tower averaged 15 fortified w alls were m easu res al-
feet thick and stood as high as 50 Th e greatest w eakness of th e lo wing cover for arc h ers, modified
feet. Suppor ted by large stone or SLOn e towe r was its squared cor- battlem en ts to w it h s tand Siege en -
heavy wood buttresses, the tower n ers, w h ic h wer e easily brok en by gines an d m ov in g ram parts. an d
widened at the base to protect it- Siege weapons and were quite diffi- wide walkways (catwalks) giving
self from the ons laugh t of a ram or cult to defend (the defen ders had free move m ent of large n um bers of
pick. An aver age ston e tower to expose most of their bodies t o troops and knights on th e walls.
would measure approxima tely shoot at invaders at the base of the There sti ll ex is ted t h e m ain prob-
3.600 square feet. or an aver age o f w all). By the begin n i n g o f th e thi r- lem of sapper s (min er s) and Siege
teenth century this problem w as weapons at the base of the bailey.
60 feet on a si d e. At t h e lowest slightly alleviated by rounding the The on ly sol ution to k eeping the
corners of the building and con- attack ers away from the bailey
leve ls. ther e woul d be- numer ou s struc ting a cylindrical kcep . How- wal l. was not to allow the a ttackers
windows and sli t s u sed (at first) for ever. j u st as thc d esign started to to get close. This was solved by the
ve n tila tion and lig ht. L ater. these take h old across Europe. o ther ad- i nven tion and u se of th e m erion,
becam e arrow slits a nd assumed a van ces beyond the forti ficaLion of
vital role in the keep's defenses. On t h e k eep itsel f. forcver c ha nged the which was a raised portion of a
t he secon d and third floors of stone view that the stone tower was the
towers. the air slits enlarged to ultimate d efen se of a castle, and wall. with arrow slits. murd er
about two feet wide and four feet only a few rounded stone towers h oles . and machi co latio n s en a-
tall, bu t rarely were th ey left open w er e built. b ling full scale bombardment of
(more ofte n than not, they were warriors at th e base of the forti fica-
, heavily barred and shuttered). Curtain Wall Defenses: Until tion .
the mid-thirtee nth ce ntury almost
En trances to a stone tower were all the castles of Eu rope were built A n o th er way to protec t the wall
either through a broad door at the with the motte and bailey d esign . a from Siege en gin es like the ram .
bottom level. or through a m ore defen se system based on uncoor - pick . or screw was throu gh th e u se
personable entry on the second dinated walls and towers to wear o f braUices and hoardings, a cov-
floor. The second floor en trances, the attacker down and permit the ered wooden platform built on the
however. were accessible only by a defender many opportunities to battlements to allow missiles and
narrow stairwell tha t wound clock- strike back. This rarely worked. ston es to be dropped through slots
wise to the doorway. In either case. however. and the attacke r more of- in th e floor. These si m ple d evices
m any of t h e sLone towers h ad a t en than not simply tackled eac h had been used since the earl y
sm all gatek eep constructed to wall separ ately, r ed ucing it to ru b· twelft h cen tury. but h ad b een over-
guard th e entrances of both doors. ble and then m oving on to the next looked b ecau se they tended to be
W ith in the stone tower th e design easy targets for catapu lts and
followed qu ite si milar to th e origi- ballista-like weapons. but the u se

44

of the merion and hoardings to- ers. u sually quadrangular in plan . A t this ti m e however. the four
geth er proved an effective w ay of su rrounded by another lower wall towers were still squared block
k eeping at tackers at bay. with its own fl an king tow er s. The buildings. Drawing into the m ld-
area between these two walls. u su - t hirteenth cen tury t h ese squared
Th e gr eatest ad vancem ent in ally only a few ten s of feet apart. tow er s evol ved into r ounded or cir-
caslle design an d fortification was was divid ed by a number of s h ort cu lar tower s. B y t h e fourteenth
the u se of the flan k ing l ower, w h ich cross wall s th a t segm en ted t h e century the four towers had been
first began to appear i n the late tigh t in ner cou rtyard: thus. if an y connect ed by short h allways al-
twelfth to early thirteen th cen tury force pen etrated the first wall. they lowing freed om and security of
in parts of south ern Europe. Before would be confined to a sm al l spe- troops within the guarded gate-
th is time , square tower s or merlons c ific area and i mmedia tely con- keep. Now, troops were able to
had been set even with the outer fr onted with a like secondary m ove freely from one tower to an-
bailey, but b y exten ding severa l d efensive wall. The area i n the con- o th er with ou t fear of being struck
tower s ou tward, away from the rest fin ed space becam e known as the by en emy artillery.
of the wall. it allo w ed the d efender s killing groun d. since almost all of
to fire from arrow slits on the sides the in itial troops into th is s mall W it h t h e invention and u se of a
o f th e towers along the length oflh e area w er e decimated b y arch ers guar d ed gatek eep. th ese bu ildings
castle's outer w all. This m ean t tha t and fallin g stones from the second t ook on a m ore important ro le i n
the warrior did not have to expose wall . fighti ng off invaders. Since they
his body to attacking archers in an stood. literally. a t the doorstep of
a ttempt to shoot invader s nearing By the end of th e fourteenth cen- th e cas tle. t h e defe n d er s insid e
the wall. tury castles were so strongly d e- h ad opportuni ties to sally for th
fended. that attacking them was outside the castle. In t h is way. they
Each flanking tower also pro- n earl y ou t of the question. The engaged the enemy. yet cou ld
vided cross fire for its n eighbors. only option open then . was a long qu ic kly wi thdraw from the field of
When the ou ter wall was and draw n ou t Siege w h er e m a- battle w ithou t enda ngerin g t he
breac h ed, it cornered or con tained chi nes of war sat idle until famine castle itse l f.
the i n vading arm y intQdistin c t re- and pestilence killed all wil hin the
gions. The first flanking towers massive stone wall s. As this princi ple of design took
w er e thr ee-sided, w it h t h ei r bac k s h old in Eu r ope . add i ti ona l d e-
open to the inner bailey, so th at in Thus. th e castle slo wly faded fenses. ca lled barbicans. were of-
the event the tower was captured from the focal poinlofwar and lost ten buil t to protect the gatehouse.
by the Invadi n g force, they would its w eil know n role as the d efe nder The barbican acted as a min iature
prove of little worth. As time went of p easan ts and the gen try. bailey. extending walls at righ t an -
b y, the flanking towers became gles from the castle's fortifications.
squar e and protec ted on all sides. The Gatekeep: T he player Any a ttack to t h e ga teh ou se t h en
should take note of on e v ital aspect had to pass through a very nar row
T he advancem ents in the ability of castl e deSign- th e gatekeep. cleft. from which artillery and
to make circular keeps also cam e During the eleven th and most of arch er s from w ithi n t he gat ek eep
to apply to t he con struction of the twelfth cen tu r ies, the gatekeep could rain death down upon the in-
flanki ng towers, and by t h e close (a structure whic h pro tec ted the truders. A s ti m e went by. t hese
of the thirteen t h cen t ury m ost new entr ance way into th e castle) con - outer ba iley wa lls also too k on
flankin g towers w ere cylindrical. sisted of two square towers on s tone towe r s. mottes. ditch es.
each side of the bailey wa ll. Th- drawbridges. or water filled m oats
Concentric Castles: The great- wards the thirteen th century this to fur th er s tren g then the entrance
est period in castle development oc- was replaced by four towers. two way i nto t h e castle proper .
curred during t h e last days of the at each end of th e en trance way.
thirteen th cen tury and the begi n- connected by a short stone wall
ning of the fourteen t h with the ad - that p rovided excellen t p ro tection
vancem ent of t h e con centric caslle an d bottled up the en em y in th e
i n Europe. The castles origin s fol- event that the gatekeep was
lows the crusad er s back to the dis- breach ed .
tant lands of Syr ia and consisted of
a number of circuit walls and tow-

45

Now tha t you have a basic un - Acquiring Land the name of the crown. As a ru le,
ders tanding of the evolution of cas- s uc h c harters are issued fo r land
tle designs during the Middle Ages, Obviously. in order to build a cas- whic h is not within the bounda ries
tle one must have la nd on which to of the kin gdom . but which is
it's lime to get on with the ac tual p lace It. In the ty pica l AD&D® claimed by the throne. As suc h. a
construction of a castle of your gam e. there are ma ny ways to ob- Royal Charter may give away land
own . tain land. Some are a bove board which is als o cla imed by another
and heroic. others are not. The governm en t. In s uc h cases. open
The fi rst s tep in this process Is c hoice of tech niques possible in a warfar e or occasional s kirmis hes
fai rly s im ple: u se your imagin - cam paign is left up to the DM. wi th are possible,
ation. Take a few moments to vis u - the exact method em ployed left in
ali ze th e castle you wan t to build in the hands of the players. Land Grants
your mind . Is it going to be a s m a ll
frontier fort or the major military Royal Charters A land grant is issued to cha rac-
structure of a mighty e mpire? ters who have done some great
What is the area around it like? One of t he most we ll k now n service to the crown. As a rule.
Are the local serfs going to support means of coming into possession they are accompanied with a pat-
the castle's construc tion or oppose of an estate is th rough the a ttain- en t of nobility for th e rewarded in·
it? Once you have an unders tand- men t of a Royal Charter. A charter dividual. La nd acqui red in th is
ing of the overall natu re of your is a n official document from a k ing fas h ion is s tili assumed to belong
castle a nd its climes. the n you can or e mperor wh ich gives legal per- to the person issuing the grant, but
get down to business. mission to an indi vidual or group the vassal is give n free c harge over
to ad mi nister a sec tion of land in a ll that occu rs on i t. Th is is the tra-

46

dilion al means by which feuda l fetching a price upwards of 100 IS pos sible to " claim Jump ". In
kingdoms a re s plit up into man· times its " true" va lue. s h ort . a force moves in , ma kes
a geable sections. Since a la nd their cla im . a nd establishes a kee p
grant Is norma lly within th e bor· Persons buying land will want to or village of some ty pe as quickly
ders of th e kingdom . It is seldom keep in mind that tiley should . as a as possible. They then a ttempt to
d ispu ted . rule. buy enough land for the castle ho ld th e la nd . often ass ertin g
Hsclf. all the farms required to sup- "squa tter 's righ ts" and Oghling off
Conquest of Land port It. a s mall vUlage for those who a tlempts by others to reclaim their
work the farms, and woodla nds for rightful territory.
One of the more infamous hunting a nd future development.
m eans of coming into possession As you can see. buying la nd can be· Another possibility is the theft of
ofland on w hic h to build a castle is come a very ex pens ive problem. la nd . Althoug h it is obvious ly not
by taking it with force. Examples possib le to actu ally gra b the land
of s uch ac tions mig ht Include the Claiming: Land a nd run with It. there a re m a ny
" libera tio n " of a land whic h is dis honest m ean s by which owner·
righ tly th e king's (in his opinion) Among ad venturers a nd explor- s hip can be had . For example. a
bu t which has been taken ove r by ers. cla imin g la nd is a favo rite land owner could be forced in to
a nother state and the ta king of means of setti ng up housekeeping. betli ng his la nd in a dis honest car d
land held by a nation of oppos ing If the character or party are recog· gam e. When the last ha nd is dealt.
alignm ent. As a rule. la nd ta ke n In nized as the Orst Individua ls ever he has lost. Fa ls lOed bills of sale or
this m a nner will elimin a te a ny to ta me or explore a give n region of wills are a nother possibility. As a
chance of popular support for the the world. then they a re free to rule. on ly those of evil alig nment
castle con s tru ction projec t. In claim it. If they a re pla nning to es- will us e s uch means to acquire
game terms. this means tha t tablish their own country. the land.
worker m ora le (deOned in the nex t cha racters a re free to claim th e
section) will never be better tha n la nd for themselves. Of course. if Leasing:
"average". someone else com es along and
claims it as well (see claim jump- Althou gh not a common prac-
Purchasing: Land ing). th en a ba ttle may ensue. tice, it Is som etimes possible to
Hopefully. the cha rac ters a re pre- lease property from a la nd owner.
In som e cases. it m ay be possible pa red for this a nd will be a ble to This is much like buy ing the la nd.
to buy land from a king or other In· keep their a ttackers from de feat· bu t assumes that a monthly pay-
dlvidual on which to build your ing them . ment will be made to the lord-a
castle. S in ce m any fe uda l kin g· sort of rent.
doms do not recognize the right of If the players lack the resources
a n individua l (other tha n the king) or the desire to set up their own In return for his paym ents. the
to own land . this is often not a pos· kingdom . they will wa nt to claim land is und er the complete control
si bllit y. the la nd in the nam e of the ruler of th e leasing character. Often , a
they serve. By so doing. they are lease will be set up to allow the
1b determine the purchase price a lm ost assu red to receive a Royal cha rac ter a cha nce to begin build-
for la nd (whe n It is availa ble) s ta rt Ch arter or land gra nt which lis ts ing a castle before he has acqu ired
with a base value of tOO go ld th em as the rightful rulers of the the fund s to buy the land outrigh t.
pieces per acre for undeveloped a rea . Kings and emperors will al - The price ch arged for a land lease
property. Divide the base value by mos t always look very favorably is hig hl y n egotiable . and OMs
the Production ModlHers (see the on those wh o work to ex pand their s hould base the monthly payment
nex t section) for its climate. geog- lands. on the value of the land (as com-
ra phy. a nd ground cover. Devel- puted In the section on buying
oped land will be more expe nsive. Theft or Claim Jumping: land ) a nd the perceived wealth of
with property in a town costing the character.
perha ps 10 limes the computed In regions wh ich are only p arti-
value a nd la nd in a m ajor city ally explored or which have been
claim ed by a r ival government. it

41

The Construction Site going to have to b e supplied with th ei r seats in su ch r egion s.
imported provision s. as t h er e \ 1ill Examples of moderate regions
Now tha t you have deter mined be no local agricultu re possib le.
on Earth In clude m uch of th e
how the c ha rac te r will co me into E xam p les o f ar ctic climat es i n southern Un ited S ta tes an d most
our own world include both the of the region s around t h e Med iter-
possession of t h e lan d on w hich h e ar c lic an d an tarc tic. as we ll as t h e r an ean Sea.
w ish es to build . it's tim e t o look at peak s of som e moun tain s.
the land i tself. T he designer of the Sub-Tropical ( 1. 25 )
Sub -Arctic (2 . 50)
castle m us t lake in to accoun t the A lthoug h these r egi on s are
c li ma te in whi c h w o rk w ill b e While not as hostile as the ar ctic. m arked by an al m ost year -round
su b -ar c tic c limates are harsh and growing season . they ar e gen erally
done. the terrain whic h workers d ifficu lt to work in . While a shor t too w ar m for op timum com for t.
mus t d eal w i t h , t h e v egeta tion on gr owi ng season is possible. i t is fol- Win ter s are s hort and , as a rule.
low ed by a lon g and d eadly winter . not harsh at al l. Many r egions in
the site, and the availa bility of re- Castles in this area will be very t h is clima te w ill never see snowfall
sm all i f for ced to d epend on t h eir un less a t h igh er elevations,
sou rces. own agric u lture. If food can b e im -
ported r egular ly. then a larger cas- On Ear th . m uc h o f n orth ern A f-
Climate Type tle is possible, rica an d lar ge portions of South
A m erica w ou ld fall into th is cate·
The fi rst piece of i nform ation Mu ch of A lask a. Can ada . an d g o ry .
Scandinavia fall In to the sub·arClic
that mus t be generated abou t the ca tegory. as do portion s o f G reen - Tropical ( 1.50)
castle is its Cli ma te T ype. As you lan d . Icelan d. and t h e Soviet Un -
ion. The hottest regions in the world .
migh t imagi ne. bu ildin g a castle in the tropics are m arked by ver y
Temperate ( 1.25) h igh temper a tur es and n on ex ist-
a tempera te region is fa r easie r en t w in ter s. The gr owin g season
than building one in the frozen A r egion ma r k ed b y di s t inc t h as no end . b u t t h ere is no r elief
north or blis tering heat of the trop- c h an g es In seaso n . Temper a t e from the h arsh tempera t u res tha t
zon es h av e sh ort. bu t ad equate. dominate such areas.
ics. growi n g seasons an d p r o d u ce
good h arvest s. Wi n ter s are h arsh . M u c h of Cen tral A m erica and
Eac h of the s ix c li mate ty pes but can be w eath er ed by those portions of Afr ica fall In to this cate·
lis ted be low Includes a Pro duc tio n who ar e r ead y for th em. gor y. as do sections o f southeast
Asia an d the Ind ies.
ModifierjPM). T h is number r al es E xam pies of t em pera te zon es on
Earth inclu d e New England . por - Geography
the diffic ulty associated with cas- tions o f N orth ern E u ro p e_ and
much o f sou th ern Can ada an d th e T he next im por tan t aspect that
tle construction in tha t c lim a te. A Soviet U nion. must be consider ed ab ou t a poten -
valu e of " 1.00" is t h e average fr om t ial buildi n g site is t h a t of geo-
w hic h all ot h er number s d eviate. M o derate ( 1.00) graphy. In i ts m ost si m ple ter m s.
W hen you r ecord th e climate ty pe. th is can b e thou gh t of as the
also note the PM associat ed w i th it. Perhaps t h e best sui ted for hu - rou gh n ess of t h e terrain .
PMs will be u sed later to d et ermine man c iv ili zations. t h ese c lim a tes
how m u ch It costs to b uild your o ffer fa irl y m ild win t er s, lon g O n Important distinc tion m u st
castle and how long it will take to gro w ing seasons. and ar e o t h er- b e mad e h er e. An ar ea's geogr a-
com plete. When ever you r ecord a wise com fortab le to dwell in . p h y r efer s only to t h e earth itself.
PM . r em ember t h a t a lo w number Nearly any ty pe of h u m an so c iet y an d n o t to what is grow ing on it.
indicates better conditions and . can b e found in a moder a te zone. Thus, a barren arc tic plai n and a
t h er efore. fas ter and c heaper con - with great empires o ften hav in g fla t field in a tempera te r egion both
struction . fall In to t h e pla jns category. Later.

Arctic (4 .00)

T h is area of t h e w orld is m arked
by Its frigid t empera t u r es and oth -
erwi se hostil e condit ions. The
ground is mad e u p of sn o w an d ice.
for t h e region seldom gro w s warm
enou gh for w a ter to m elt. A cas tle
buil t in such a region is probably

48

when we discuss ground cover,
you will see t he forestation an d
vegetation of an area com e into
play. For now, though . think only
about the rocks and soiL

As with climate type, an area's
geography w ill gen erate a PM that
must be recorded for later u se.

High Mountains (4.00)

The most daunting and danger-
ous of geographies. high moun-
tains include only the most lofty of
peaks. Travel to and from such r e-
gions is assumed to be almost im-
possib le, unless magical m eans
are used to aid the voyager. Even
dwarves tend t o aVOid such rugged
lands. although they greatly ad-
mire them and their solid con-
struction.

On Earth, the m ountains of Ti-
bet migh t fall into this categor y.

Moderate Mountains (3 .00)

Somewhat less imposing than
the high mountains. these r egions
are still overwhelming. Dwarves
and gnomes dearly love su c h
places, and will seek th em out
above all oth ers to make their
homes in. Human cultures In su ch
places will be few and far between,
but not unknown.

The Swiss Alps and Rocky
Mountains both have areas that
fall into this category.

Low Mountains (2.00)

A lthou gh rough and challeng-
in g. these areas are far more
friendly to human societies than
the other mountain t ypes. Those
cultures tha t do thrive in such r e-
gion s will t end to b e small. for the
difficul ties in h erent In su ch places
make large cities difficult, If not
Impossible. to maintain .

49