Siege Battles - Monthly Turn

When a settlement (capital, village, town, castle, tower, city, or fort) is attacked, the participants conduct a siege battle. The defender may add a number of garrison units to their defending army as shown in the Garrisons table below. If the defender has no army present in the settlement, these garrison units are led by a +1 commander of your default class. Surviving garrison units and the commander are removed after the battle and that province cannot activate its garrison for 6 turns.

Garrisons
Settlement	Garrison Forces
Capital	2 heavy infantry units
Village	1 militia
Town	2 light infantry units
Castle	1 heavy infantry and 1 ranged unit
Tower	None
City	1 heavy infantry unit
Fort	2 light infantry, 2 heavy infantry, and 2 ranged units

Starving a Defender

Instead of a direct attack on a settlement, once per turn the attacking army can attempt to starve the defender. The defender rolls an Order (Administration) saving throw with a DC equal to the attacking army’s weight +10 − the defending army’s weight. On a failure, the defending army takes one level of starvation on the Starvation table. These effects are cumulative and end once no enemy army remains in the settlement.

Starvation
Level	Defending Army Units’ Effect
1	Unit initiatives have a −1 penalty
2	Morale modifiers have a −1penalty
3	Units lose 50 feet of movement
4(or more)	Units lose 50 feet of movement

Siege Defender

Before the battle, the defending player can make an Order (Administration) check to determine any additional defenses and preparations. Depending on the result of the roll, the DM may decide that you have been able to raise additional defenses affecting the battle map, including trenches, moats, oil-soaked fields, pits, magical traps, trou-de-loup, cheval de frise, etc. These effects, and their required DC, may include:

Cheval de Frise

(DC 13). These 100 feet by 50 feet crossed spear barricades force an enemy unit to end its movement when entering the squares of the barricade or that unit takes 1 piercing damage.

Moats

(DC 18). The terrain of a moat is 150 feet by 50 feet. They are considered deep water and impassable by units without swimming, burrowing, flight, or teleportation.

Oil Fields

(DC 14). Once per battle, if a unit on these 50 feet by 50 feet oil-soaked grounds takes fire damage, that unit takes an additional 1 fire damage.

Trenches

(DC 10). Trenches are 100 feet by 50 feet and are considered difficult terrain to enter, but ranged attack rolls made against units in trenches have disadvantage.

Trou-de-Loup

(DC 15). These 50 feet by 50 feet patches of hidden spiked pits force a unit to make a successful Rally saving throw when entered or that unit takes 1 piercing damage. A trou-de-loup can deal damage once per battle.

Walls.

Built well before the siege, a set of walls provides significant protection and defense as an impassable obstacle, allowing ranged units to make attack rolls with advantage from height as well as providing enough room for units to stand guard. Each 50-foot section of a wall has AC 15, HP 5, and is immune to non-siege sources of damage that are piercing, psychic, poison, necrotic, or slashing. Walls also have one or more gate entrances that are 150 feet by 100 feet, AC 14, HP 4, and immune to non-siege sources of damage that are piercing, psychic, poison, necrotic, or slashing. Units along the walls can walk across gates.

Siege Attacker

Similarly, the attacking player can make a Population (Raiding) check before the battle to conduct their own offensive siege efforts, including the construction of ladders, battering rams, siege towers, pestilent carcasses for siege ammunition, or sappers. These effects, and their required DC, may include:

Battering Ram

(DC 14). Battering rams provide advantage on melee attack rolls against a gate and convert that unit’s damage type to bludgeoning.

Ladders

(DC 9). Units with ladders can make melee attack rolls against units stationed along the tops of walls.

Pestilent Ammunition

(DC 15). Your siege units’ ranged attacks deal an additional 1 poison damage.

Sappers and Tunnels

(DC 19). Efforts to undermine portions of the defending walls result in destroyed wall sections (DM’s discretion) before the battle begins.

Siege Tower

(DC 15). Ranged attack rolls against units with these towers are made with disadvantage until they become adjacent to walls. Additionally, the unit pushing the tower can make a melee attack against a unit stationed on top of an adjacent section of walls.