Technically, an escalade is an attempt to storm a castle or fort by scaling the walls, usually with ladders. Rules for doing so are included here, but this section also includes rules for other types of actions that can take place during a Player's Option combat scenario, including combat between war machines.
The Approach of a Castle[]
The area around a castle usually provides clear lines of fire out to the maximum range of the castle's defensive weapons. For example, a castle equipped with light ballistae offers a clear line of fire out to 330 yards. The encounter range is always the same as the maximum missile range.
Footing around a castle varies with the terrain. A castle built on a plain has good footing. Mountain castles are surrounded by rocky slopes (2⁄3 or 1⁄3 movement when going uphill), forest castles tend to be surrounded by masses of stumps where trees have been cut to provide clear lines of fire (1⁄3 movement).
Cover is generally not available to creatures attacking a castle once they enter maximum missile range, regardless of the quality of the footing.
A castle's walls present an obvious obstacle to attackers. In addition, castles often are surrounded by ditches or moats, usually from 10 to 20 feet deep.
Walls[]
One way to capture a castle or fortress is to climb the walls and overpower the defenders inside. This sort of undertaking is very dangerous, but its simplicity and speed makes it an obvious choice for small bands of heroes.
There are four basic types of castle walls in the AD&D game:
Wooden Palisades: These walls usually are made from sharpened logs about six inches thick. They typically are 10 to 15 feet tall. Defenders cannot fight from atop a palisade unless it is provided with a catwalk or hoardings (see below).
Stone: These walls are made of a single layer of stone or brick and are otherwise similar to palisades.
Curtain Walls: These walls are built of two layers of dressed stone with dirt and rubble packed in between. Curtain walls generally are thick enough to provide a fighting platform and are usually battlemented (see below) to provide extra cover. Curtain walls are usually 30 to 60 feet high and can be from 10 to 30 feet thick.
Earth ramparts: These walls are mounds of dirt, usually carefully packed and braced. Unlike the other three types of walls, which are vertical, a rampart slopes upward at a steep angle. Defenders can fight from atop a rampart, but a stone wall, palisade, or catwalk often is added at the top to provide extra cover. Ramparts are usually 20 to 40 feet high and 40 to 80 feet thick.
Wall Defenses[]
A simple wall offers no cover to characters standing on it. Castle designers, however, had several ways to rectify the problem:
Battlement: This is a barrier about six feet high with alternating solid parts (merlons) and openings (embrasures). A battlement gives Man-sized creatures standing behind it 50% cover while actively defending the wall against attacks coming from below the battlement. The best cover an active defender can claim from attacks coming from the battlement's level or higher (for example, from attackers atop a siege tower) is 25%. A wall less than 10 feet thick requires a catwalk to make a battlement useful.
Catwalk: This is a narrow ledge that allows defenders to hide behind the wall. It grants 25% cover against attacks coming from below.
Embrasure Shutter: These heavy wooden shutters can be added to a battlement to increases the cover value to 75% against all attacks.
Hoarding: This wooden construction is similar to a catwalk, but it is built on the outside of the wall. It gives 90% cover to creatures attacking opponents at the base of the wall, and 75% cover otherwise. A hoarding made of stone is called a machicolation.
Splay: This is an angled area at the base of a wall. It helps support the wall, and makes it difficult for siege engines to attack the wall directly. If the defenders drop rocks from atop a wall fitted with a splay, the weapons scatter if they miss. Use the bombardment engine scatter diagram, but treat a roll of 5, 6, or 7 as a roll of 2. The rock bounces one square in the indicated direction. War machines are automatically struck and creatures must roll a successful saving throw vs. breath weapon or be struck, regardless of Armor Class.
Scaling Walls[]
It is possible for most characters to climb a castle's walls. See the Player's Handbook, Chapter 14, for basic climbing rules. Treat palisades as rough surfaces, stone and curtain walls as very smooth surfaces, and ramparts as sloping walls (see PHB, Table 27). Note that climbing movement is measured in feet per round. Characters scaling a wall suffer a number of restrictions and penalties:
· A climber loses all Armor Class bonuses from a shield and Dexterity;
· A climber suffers a –2 penalty to attack, damage, and saving throw rolls;
· Attacks directed at a climber from the ground gain the standard +2 bonus for rear attacks. Attacks directed at a climber from atop the wall gain the standard +1 bonus for an attacker on higher ground;
· A climber struck for any amount of damage must succeed with an immediate climbing check or fall to the ground. If an attack also causes a knockdown chance or a forced retreat, the climber must make a successful saving throw roll vs. death or fall to the ground;
· A climber cannot employ a two-handed weapon.
Ladders[]
This is the best way for an unskilled climber to get up a wall. Carrying a ladder requires two Man-sized creatures per 10 feet of length. The carriers move as though heavily encumbered. A ladder can be put in position against a wall in the End-of-Round step of any round when it is carried to the base of the wall. A ladder must be at least as long as the wall is tall, plus five feet. A character can climb four feet of ladder per movement point each round.
Defenders atop a wall can use an attack to push a ladder away. If the ladder is not braced or loaded with climbers, the attempt always succeeds. Otherwise, the ladder falls if the defender makes a successful open doors roll. Trying to push a ladder away provokes attacks of opportunity if the defender is threatened.
When a climber reaches the top of a wall, he can step onto the wall during the round's resolution phase if there is an empty square in front of him (this could provoke an attack of opportunity). If there is no empty square, the climber must slay a defender or force a retreat and create an empty square before stepping from the ladder.
Grappling Hooks[]
To set a grappling hook, the wielder makes an attack roll vs. Armor Class 5, adjusted for range. It takes a full round to hurl the hook and set it firmly or to recover the grapple after a miss.
A character climbing by means of a rope and grapple moves at the rope and wall rate and receives a bonus to his climbing chance (see PHB, Chapter 14).
A defender can cut the rope attached to a grapple by attacking it with a slashing weapon. The rope has an Armor Class of 5 and 5 hit points. A length of light chain can be attached to the grapple to make cutting more difficult. A chain reduces the grapple's maximum range in half. The chain has an Armor Class of 0 and 20 hit points.
War Machine vs. War Machine[]
A siege is a slow-moving process that can take months to resolve—not the best subject for a heroic role-playing game. However, an artillery duel or an attempt to storm a castle's walls, supported and opposed by war machines, provides lots of action for battle. The table on the next page gives attack and defense values for all the common war machines listed in this chapter. Defensive values for some common structures are also included. Note that statistics for true fortifications are not included here—it takes more than a few combat rounds to bring down a castle wall. Rules for true sieges are given in the next section.
Fires[]
Wooden constructions, including most war machines (but not cannons) can be set ablaze by Greek fire, flaming oil, incendiary missiles, and the like.
Unprotected wood catches fire whenever struck by a fire attack. Wood protected by wet hides or continual soaking catches fire only on a 1–3 on 1d20. Green or freshly wet wood catches fire on a roll of 1–11 on 1d20.
The structure takes normal damage from the attack the first round. On the next round, the attacker rolls 1d20 for each point of damage inflicted in the first round; on a roll of 10 or more, one additional point is inflicted. If defenders spend the whole round fighting the fire there is more damage only on a roll of 15 or more. If no damage is inflicted, the fire goes out. The process is repeated each round until the construction loses all its structural points or the fire goes out.
Door, Common: This is a regular door made of heavy planks.
Door, Reinforced: This is a typical dungeon or castle door strengthened with metal bands and studs.
Gate/Portcullis: This refers to large portals for admitting vehicles and mounted troops. A gate is double valved and made from heavy planks or metal bars. A portcullis is a metal grillwork. Drawbridges also fall into this category.
Ladder: A typical ladder is made from a pair of half-inch rails with rungs about the same size lashed on.
Walls: Values given are for a section 10' square.
Brick: This includes walls made from fired brick, tile, adobe, or soft stone about six inches thick. Hard stone such as granite has twice the structural value.
Thick Wood: This includes walls made from rough hewn logs or heavy timbers.
Thin Wood: This includes walls made from ordinary planks, wattle and daub, and similar lightweight materials.
Rocks: The first number indicates structural damage inflicted when the rock is dropped a short distance. The second number indicates a medium drop, and the third number indicates a long drop. Structures and war machines have an Armor Class of 10 when attacked by rocks.
Sapping[]
Teams of four Man-sized creatures can inflict 1d2 points of structural damage each round if armed with picks, crowbars, or weapons that can serve as picks or crowbars. Teams of less than four creatures also can inflict structural damage, but there is a one-round delay for every creature missing. For example, a team of three humans could inflict 1d2 points of structural damage every two rounds. Sapping is a no-move action that occupies a creature for the entire round.
Two Small or four Tiny creatures count as one Man-sized sapper; one Large creature counts as two Man-sized sappers, one Huge creature counts as three Man-sized sappers, and so on. Burrowing creatures inflict triple damage dice. For example, a single umber hulk (a Large burrowing creature) inflicts 3d2 points of damage every two rounds.
Petards[]
A petard is an explosive charge placed against a wall or portal in an attempt to blow it open. Generally gunpowder or smoke powder is the explosive. Every 10 charges of powder inflicts 1d4 points of structural damage to the target.
Creatures Inside Destroyed Targets[]
Defenders inside a structure that is destroyed (loses all its structural points) must roll successful saving throws vs. death or be killed in the collapse. Success indicates 2d6 points of damage.
Magical Attacks[]
The following spells and magical items can be useful during an escalade:
Bigby's Clenched Fist[]
Bigby's Clenched Fist: A blow from this spell inflicts 1d4 points of structural damage. The disembodied hand is a Man-sized target.
Dig[]
Dig: This spell allows the caster to dig through earth ramparts at the rate given in the spell description. If a hole dug through a rampart collapses, the area above it becomes damaged (see the Sieges section, below).
Disintegrate[]
Disintegrate: Because this spell obliterates a 10' cube of nonliving matter when it strikes, most war machines and portals are effectively destroyed when struck. If the DM decides a target is not destroyed, it still suffers 2d10 points of structural damage—and has a 10' hole in it.
Earthquake[]
Earthquake: Buildings suffer 5d12 points of structural damage from this spell. The spell also caves in mines and tunnels and can cause the ground to crack open and swallow up war machines as though they were Large creatures. Siege towers have a 50% chance to fall over even if they do not fall into a crack.
Fireball[]
Fireball: This spell inflicts 1d2 points of structural damage against wooden targets (including those protected by wet hides) for every two dice of damage it normally inflicts; round fractions down. For example, a fireball from a 5th-level caster inflicts 2d2 points of structural damage. A fireball can set wooden constructions afire.
Horn of Blasting[]
Horn of Blasting: A blast from this item inflicts 4d4 points of structural damage against stone or metal targets and 6d4 points of structural damage against wooden targets.
Incendiary Cloud[]
Incendiary Cloud: This spell does not harm structures or war machines directly, but it can set fire to wooden constructions during the fourth round of its existence. Roll for a fire once for each level of the caster.
Lightning Bolt[]
Lightning Bolt: This spell damages wooden constructions just as a fireball does. It inflicts 1d2 points of structural damage against stone or metal targets for every three dice of damage it would normally inflict; round fractions down. For example, a lightning bolt from a 7th-level caster would inflict 3d2 points of damage against a mantlet (a wooden target) and 2d2 points of damage against a portcullis (a metal target). A lightning bolt can set wooden constructions afire just as a fireball can.
Potion of Fire Breath[]
Potion of Fire Breath: The tongue of flame from this potion can damage wooden constructions. It inflicts 1d2 points of structural damage for each die of damage it normally inflicts. For example, a single draught inflicts 1d2 points of structural damage. It also can set wood constructions afire.
Mattock of the Titans[]
Mattock of the Titans: This item can be used to bore through ramparts or walls at the listed rates, similar to a dig spell, except that it can also bore through stone.
Maul of the Titans[]
Maul of the Titans: When employed against small constructions or war machines, this item inflicts 2d8 points of structural damage.
Move Earth[]
Move Earth: This spell can collapse ramparts (or sections of ramparts) up to 240 yards long and up to 60 feet thick. A rampart collapsed in this manner is treated as damaged; if less than a third of its original volume remains, it is considered destroyed (see the Sieges section, below). A rampart can be made resistant to move earth spells by facing it with brick or stone or bracing it internally with timbers or stone. A rampart reinforced in this manner resists a move earth spell on a roll of 10 or higher on 1d20. If the rampart is faced and internally braced, it is immune to move earth spells.
Ring of the Ram[]
Ring of the Ram: This item inflicts 1d4 points of structural damage per charge expended.
Ring of Shooting Stars[]
Ring of Shooting Stars: This item's ball lightning effect inflicts structural damage as a lighting bolt spell does. If multiple balls are discharged against the same target in a single round, total the normal damage dice before calculating the structural damage dice. For example, if the wearer creates two balls of lighting (5d4 points of damage each) and directs them both at a single target, the balls would inflict 5d2 points of structural damage against a wooden target or 3d2 points of structural damage against a stone or metal target.
Transmute Rock to Mud[]
Transmute Rock to Mud: This spell effects only “natural” stone. Stone which has been created or protected by magic is unaffected, as is stone which has been artificially shaped on all four sides. For example, the walls in a simple tunnel driven through solid rock are subject to this spell, but if the tunnel were lined with brick or stones that had been worked into blocks, a transmute rock to mud spell could not harm them. This spell still is very useful in a siege, however, as virtually all castles must be built upon bedrock in order to support the weight of the walls. It is possible to use a transmute rock to mud spell to undermine a wall by attacking the bedrock underneath, provided that the spell has enough area to reach under the wall and that the mud can flow out and leave a cavity under the wall. In some cases it might be necessary to employ sappers or a dig spell to get at the bedrock and provide a place for the mud to go. If these conditions are met, the wall still remains unaffected if the defender rolls a 10 or more on 1d20.
Wall of Fire[]
Wall of Fire: This spell can set fire to wooden structures as mentioned in War Machine vs. War Machine, above, if it is placed against them. Roll for a fire once for each level of the caster. If a wooden construction passes through a wall of fire, it suffers 1d3 points of structural damage plus one point per caster level and can start a fire as noted above.
Wall of Iron[]
Wall of Iron: A plain iron wall created by this spell has five structural points per 1⁄4 inch of thickness.
Wall of Stone[]
Wall of Stone: A plain stone wall created by this spell has two structural points per 1⁄4 inch of thickness.
Warp Wood[]
Warp Wood: Wooden bombardment engines and wheeled vehicles are disabled if affected by this spell. Doors and walls suffer 2d8 points of structural damage.