Castle on the Moors

In order to illustrate the design process, we will pause at this point and present you with an example of castle construction. Those of you who are familiar with the first book in this series, The Campaign Sourcebook and Catacomb Guide, will remember the Castle on the Moors from that text. For those of you who are not familiar with it, we have reprinted the map and a brief description of the structure at the end of this chapter.

The Castle on the Moors was built in temperate climate (Production Modifier of 1.25) on an area composed primarily of rolling hills (PM 1.00). The region around the castle was dominated by marshes and swamp lands (PM 2.00) and the available resources were somewhat distant, but of good quality (PM 1.50).

In determining the composition of the work force, we decide that the local culture is an agricultural one (PM 1.00). The local folk who will be called upon to build the castle are typical humans. However, because the king has commanded that this castle be built, he has sent along a team of experts to supervise. The DM considers the matter, and decides that their influence will increase the worker skill from “poor” to “average”, giving the project a PM of 1.00. Because the local people have been bothered by invaders from the swamps before, they support the construction of the castle and are considered to be of high morale (PM 0.75).

Putting the numbers all together, we find that we have the following modifiers:

• Temperate Climate 1.25
• Rolling Hills 1.00
• Swamp 2.00
• Distant/Good Resources 1.50
• Agricultural Society 1.00
• Average Workers 1.00
• High Morale 0.75

In order to determine the total production modifier, we multiply all these numbers together (and round to two decimal places) giving us a PM of 2.81. As you can see, the location chosen for the construction is hardly ideal, despite the worker’s enthusiasm for the job.

---

In order to help you better understand this phase of the design process, we will switch back to our example of the Castle on the Moors. As you know, we have already determined the various environmental and social features that will dominate the construction effort, now we must lay out the castle itself.

Looking at the castle floor plan that follows this chapter, you will see that the keep is intended to have four square towers, each of which is four floors high. Because a standard tower module is only two floors high, eight modules must be used. Since the towers are to be anchored to walls, the same size module can be used on the top and bottom of the tower. The castle is not intended as a great fortress, so the designer opts to use small towers.

Next, we move to the walls that link the towers together. A distance of 110’ separates each of the towers, so 44 wall sections will be required to complete the lower level of the wall. However, the wall is meant to be four floors high, so additional bracing must be included. Since three levels will be added to the lowest level of wall, three extra wall modules must be added per 50’ or fraction thereof. Thus, 26 additional modules must be added to support the second level. Since the second level must support two more above it, two modules must be added for every 50’ of its length, for a total of 18 modules. To support the upper level, 9 modules must be added to the third level. Note that this does not include the additional wall that is set up around the castle gate. This area works out to require 55 wall sections. Thus, for our whole castle, we will need 285 wall modules. The lower level of the main wall (which requires 70 modules) includes a glacis, but the other 214 sections are ordinary wall sections.

As you can see, we have already accounted for the vast majority of the castle’s construction. The designer wants to have the inside of the keep roofed over and split into 3 internal levels. These floors will be roughly 120’ squares, so each one has a surface area of 14,400 square feet. There are four such surfaces to be created (3 floors, including the bottom one, and the roof). In the interest of simplicity, the DM agrees to assume the roof is a flat surface, despite its angular nature. Thus, a total of 57,600 square feet of wooden flooring must be purchased. Since each section of wooden wall (floor in this case) is 150 square’, 384 such modules must be built.

The smaller aspects of the castle’s design, like the spiral stairways, internal furnishings, and main stairs are assumed to be included in the castle’s overhead costs (described later). Since the main entrance is not a grand affair, the DM agrees that it can also be included in the overhead costs. If the gate were larger, it would have to be bought as a barbican or gatekeep.

So, what do we have now? Our castle is going to require the following:

• 8 Small, square towers
• 70 Wall sections with glacis
• 214 Standard wall sections
• 384 Wooden wall sections (used as floors and roofing)

Going back to the Castle on the Moors project, we can total up the costs and times required as follows:

Eight small, square tower modules cost a total of 112,000 gold pieces to build and require 6,720 man/weeks of work.

Our wall requires 70 sections with a glacis, which requires 3,080 man/weeks to build and costs 50,400 gold pieces to finance.

The upper levels of our wall require 214 standard wall sections, for a total of 6,420 man/weeks and 107,000 gold pieces.

The wooden floors and roofing will require 384 wooden wall sections. The total time required for this phase of construction is 384 man/weeks and the total cost is 1,920 gold pieces. As you can see, this is cheap when compared to the rest of the project.

The castle is not intended to be overly ornate--after all, it’s in the middle of a swamp. However, the knight who must live here is not expected to be uncomfortable. Hence, the castle will not be spartan either. Cost and production time values are unmodified.

Thus, our total cost for the construction of this castle is 271,320 gold pieces. When we add in the overhead charges (which work out to be 27,132 gold pieces) we bring our total up to 298,452-- quite a lot of money.

As far as construction time is concerned, our base value works out as 16,604 man/weeks of labor. When we add our 10% overhead time to that, we have a total of 18,264 man/weeks--quite a lot of work, as well.

We’re almost through, but now we have to remember that these values assume that we are working in perfectly average conditions. The Castle on the Moors is being built in a region of swamps, far from its base of supplies. All of these things are part of our PM, which we determined was 2.81 in the first phase of design.

Our next step is to multiply our most recent values for cost and time by our PM. When we do this, we find that our castle will actually require 51,322 man/weeks to build. Further, it will cost us a staggering 838,650 gold pieces.

---

Well, construction of the castle is finally under way! The DM rolls for an event for the first four weeks of construction. The dice come up a 31, so there is no event in the first month. The die roll for the second month is a 61, again indicating “business as usual.” So far, construction is right on schedule!

Next month’s roll is a 78, indicating that the weather has turned severe. Not only will no work get done this month, pushing the completion date back by 4 weeks), but the DM rolls 2d4 and determines that the project has been set back another 7 weeks! This is almost a disaster. Because of the weather, the time remaining to complete the project is increased from 18 weeks to 29 weeks.

The fourth month rolls around, with the PCs and laborers hoping that it will be better. The dice come up a 94, indicating a civil war in the kingdom. The PCs decide to support the king, and travel to him with news. While they are there, however, they attempt to convince him to “let them off the hook” for donations to his war effort. They point out the damage done to the castle by last month’s severe weather and remind his majesty of the importance of the castle to his defense against the monsters in the swamps. The DM decides that they have made their case well, shown their loyalty to the crown, and deserve a break after last month’s events. The king agrees that their efforts to complete the castle are far more important and that he can deal with the rebels himself. The DM absolves the players of their responsibilities and does not impose the normal penalties associated with this event on them. Thus, the month’s labor goes as planned, leaving only 25 more weeks to completion of the castle.

Next month’s roll is a 29, allowing four more weeks of good work to be done. There are now 21 weeks of labor left on the castle. However, 20 weeks have passed and the season (which is only 21 weeks long) is coming to an end. The PCs order work stopped for the year and throw a grand feast to thank the workers for their efforts over the past few months.

Winter passes through the moors and work is ready to begin again the next year. For the first four weeks, however, the random event roll is a 98, indicating bad omens. The PCs decide to halt work and wait for things to improve. Five weeks pass without incident, and the bad omens fade from prominence. Construction can begin again.

Next month’s roll is a 19, indicating clear sailing for the castle crew. There now remain only 17 weeks of work to do.

The next three months also pass without problem. Twelve more weeks of work are added to the project, leaving only 5 more to go. Winter is closing in, however, and work must be halted for the year.

At the start of the next season, bad weather delays the project by four weeks. While this upsets the PCs, they remember the difficulties of the first year and consider themselves lucky.

Construction resumes with a roll of 27 for the next month, indicating that four more weeks of work are done. The end is right around the corner! There is only one week of work left to do!

As those of you who own a copy of the Campaign Sourcebook and Catacombs Guide know, the Castle on the Moors is fated for a bad end. The last roll on the events table comes up a 00, indicating a natural disaster. The DM sets up an adventure to give the player’s a chance at thwarting it, but they are unable to do so. Massive floods raise the water level in the moors, softening the earth, and causing the keep to sink into the morass forever.

As the last of the battlements is finally consumed by the mud and water, their stone giant assistant turns to his sons. “That’s why you should never build a castle in a swamp.”