FRP castles and fortifications
Ok, I've pretty much always thought that standard castles were a bad idea in a world with large flying monsters and wizards who can at as field artillery. You just can't have things open to the air like that.
Just roofing everything over won't work because then the bad guys can just land on the (mostly flat) roof. Or if its all slanty bits, then the valleys in between become weak points.
I seem to recall some folks suggesting domes, but that runs into a problem On hills, there's what's called the "military crest". That's the farthest up the hill that you can still see the base. That's important because if you can't see the base, then troops can gather there to attack you and you can't shoot at them.
With a dome, the military crest *is* the base because of the way a sphere curves outward. So what's needed is a constant slope.
and that's when it hit me. The ideal fortification for an FRP world is a bloody *pyramid*! Sure, you'll want to "towers" and "balconies to fire from, but the base structure is still a pyramid.
Yeah, the slope is easier to climb than a vertical wall, but not *that* much easier And the various strongpoints running up the edges and spaced along the faces will discourage that a lot.
Damn, I wish I'd thought of this when I was running a campaign. Seeing the players faces when they run into one would have been priceless.
Just roofing everything over won't work because then the bad guys can just land on the (mostly flat) roof. Or if its all slanty bits, then the valleys in between become weak points.
I seem to recall some folks suggesting domes, but that runs into a problem On hills, there's what's called the "military crest". That's the farthest up the hill that you can still see the base. That's important because if you can't see the base, then troops can gather there to attack you and you can't shoot at them.
With a dome, the military crest *is* the base because of the way a sphere curves outward. So what's needed is a constant slope.
and that's when it hit me. The ideal fortification for an FRP world is a bloody *pyramid*! Sure, you'll want to "towers" and "balconies to fire from, but the base structure is still a pyramid.
Yeah, the slope is easier to climb than a vertical wall, but not *that* much easier And the various strongpoints running up the edges and spaced along the faces will discourage that a lot.
Damn, I wish I'd thought of this when I was running a campaign. Seeing the players faces when they run into one would have been priceless.