Organizational Tips

Now that you have your tools, here are some hints about how to shuffle those bits of paper—literal or virtual—around.

When the characters are in the stronghold, they’ll probably spend the majority of their time in the residential components of the place such as bedrooms, kitchens, workshops, and sitting rooms. After all, they’ll sleep and eat there, which covers more than a third of the day already. As such, start by mapping out the residential components, and place them conveniently close to each other.

Also give some early thought to the entry into the residence (often a common room or hall). If this room doubles as a dining room, attach the kitchen to it. Otherwise, place a dining room near the common room and then attach the kitchen to the dining room.

Kitchens are often in the back of the residence. A lot of work goes on in a kitchen, and this isn’t the kind of thing you want to bother your guests with, so it’s kept out of sight. Kitchens also generate a lot of heat—an advantage in winter but quite a nuisance on a summer afternoon.

Baths and privies are often placed next to the water source. Water is heavy, and the shorter the distance you have to haul it, the better.

Bedrooms are usually near the baths or privy, but on the opposite side from the kitchen.

Courtyards

Courtyards are generally in the center of the stronghold, but they can come in many forms if you’re willing to be flexible about your definition of the word. It’s reasonable to buy a courtyard component and put it in front of your stronghold. This gives visitors a garden view as they arrive.

Traditionally a courtyard sits at the center of the stronghold, with the rest of building arranged around it like a box. This produces a private, sheltered area protected from prying eyes. Some larger strongholds have two or more courtyards embedded within the larger structure in this way, creating different areas for the residents to grab some fresh air without leaving the main building proper.

Finally, you can surround your stronghold with huge, sprawling gardens if you purchase enough courtyard components. Security-minded builders construct a freestanding wall around the entire place, although this prevents passersby from being suitably impressed with such grand gardens.

Functional Components

Functional components such as workshops and laboratories are often on the opposite side of the building’s main hall, creating two wings: one for living and the other for working.

This popular arrangement keeps the living area insulated from the work area. Components such as smithies can be noisy, smelly places, so you improve your comfort by separating them from the residential components. Some builders put work areas in separate buildings for this reason.

Stables are often put in separate buildings, as far from the living area as possible. They smell to the heavens, and it’s worst in the summer when the windows are kept open.

Military Components

If you have an exterior wall, your military components should be near it. A barbican, for instance, works best near the front gate or entrance, as well as at least one guard post.

The placement of the remainder of the rest of the military components depends on the focus of the stronghold. If you want to present a peaceful face, keep the military components either off to one side or behind the residential areas, preferably nearer the functional areas than to the residential ones.

If you want a military stronghold, though, a show of strength might be a fine idea. In that case, put the military components closest to the stronghold’s entrance. Be sure to put at least one guard post behind the residential area as well, to make sure that it’s always covered.

Defensive Extras

Once you have the rest of the place set up, decide if you would like to have any freestanding walls around the place or not. With a sturdy main stronghold, you might be able to do without the extra expense.

If you do go with the walls, think about how you want them to work. If you have plenty of space, move them out a bit from the interior buildings. This helps make sure that someone can’t just top the wall and enter your house through a nearby window or by leaping onto the roof.

If you don’t have that much space, consider attaching the wall to one or more sides of your main building or buildings. Make sure that you don’t have any windows in the building until you get higher than the top of the wall. Otherwise, the wall doesn’t do much good.

Alternatively, you could bar the windows, but they’re not as secure as a solid wall.