Dwarven Engineering

The Quintessential Dwarf II: Advanced Tactics

Author	Alejandro Melchor
Publisher	Mongoose Publishing
Publish date	2004
OGL Section 15	qdwfii

The material below is Open Game Content

Dwarven Craftsmanship

Dwarven craftsmanship is not made to be pretty and fascinating, such as elves designs, nor are they complicated pieces of minute engineering like those of gnomes. Dwarven crafts are made to last a century or two with only a few dents and cracks due to heavy use. Dwarven craftsmanship is mainly utilitarian, built to withstand the worst conditions to which an object can be subjected.

To a dwarf artisan, a masterwork item is simply something that someone spent more time and money to make; a true work of art is something only a few people are capable of, for few can match the patience of a dwarf craftsman as he toils for months to make an item perfect.

Besides masterworking, dwarf artisans know of different procedures to enhance an item: these superior techniques are treated as templates that can be added to an item at the moment of its crafting but not at any later point. Each template has its own component cost and DC, just as a masterwork has a component cost of 150 gp for armour and 300 gp for weapons and a DC 20 Craft check. Access to the new technique templates is available only to those artisans who devote all their effort to their craft, which is represented by a prerequisite number of ranks in the appropriate Craft skill. Having 10 ranks in Craft (weaponsmithing) does not enable a character to add the shock property to armour, for example, since he would need those ranks in Craft (armoursmithing). Otherwise, these new characteristics obey all the rules for the Craft skill.

Balanced

Craft DC: 20
Prerequisite Craft Ranks: 5
Component Cost: 250 gp
Effect: The balanced template can only be applied to weapons. A balanced weapon reduces the penalty to attack rolls for two-weapon fighting by 1. This reduction only applies to the penalty for the hand in which the balanced weapon is wielded, not for both hands. It is possible that the two-weapon fighting penalty is reduced beyond 0, after which it becomes a bonus; this bonus stacks with bonuses from any of the masterwork templates as well as with the bonus from magic enhancement.

Balanced, Superior

Craft DC: 25
Prerequisite Craft Ranks: 10
Component Cost: 500 gp
Effect: As a balanced weapon, but the penalty for two-weapon fighting is reduced by 2.

Balanced, Greater

Craft DC: 30
Prerequisite Craft Ranks: 15
Component Cost: 800 gp
Effect: As a balanced weapon, but the penalty for two-weapon fighting is reduced by 3.

Honed

Craft DC: 20
Prerequisite Craft Ranks: 5
Component Cost: 400 gp
Effect: The honed template can only be applied to weapons. A honed weapon has a +1 bonus to damage rolls. This bonus does not stack with the bonus from magic enhancement. A honed weapon cannot also be a masterwork weapon.

Honed, Superior

Craft DC: 25
Prerequisite Craft Ranks: 10
Component Cost: 600 gp
Effect: As a honed weapon, but the bonus is +2. A superior honed weapon can be a masterwork weapon, but the masterwork component is added independently of the superior honed component, adding its own cost.

Honed, Greater

Craft DC: 30
Prerequisite Craft Ranks: 15
Component Cost: 800 gp
Effect: As a honed weapon, but the bonus is +3. A greater honed weapon can be a masterwork or superior masterwork weapon, but the masterwork component is added independently of the greater honed component, adding its own cost.

Masterwork, Superior

Craft DC: 25
Prerequisite Craft Ranks: 10
Component Cost: 250 gp for armour, 500 gp for weapons, x2.5 other items
Effect: A weapon made as a superior masterwork item has a +2 bonus to attack rolls, while armour has a check penalty +2 points better. Other objects grant a +2 bonus to a skill to which they are related. As per the normal masterwork item, a superior masterwork bonus does not stack with magical enhancement bonuses, and the item must be made as a superior masterwork item from the start. The superior masterwork component cannot be added later.

Masterwork, Greater

Craft DC: 30
Prerequisite Craft Ranks: 15
Component Cost: 350 gp for armour, 700 gp for weapons, x3.5 other items
Effect: As superior masterwork equipment, but weapons have a +3 bonus to attack rolls, while armour has a check penalty 3 points better. Other objects grant a +3 bonus to a skill to which they are related.

Shock

Craft DC: 20
Prerequisite Craft Ranks: 5
Component Cost: 125 gp
Effect: The shock template can only be applied to armour. Shock armour absorbs and redistributes the impact of slashing attacks, giving the wearer damage reduction 1/bludgeoning, piercing. This benefit stacks with the damage reduction of adamantine armour. For example, medium adamantine armour has DR 2/-; the same armour made with the shock template would have DR 2/- but DR 3 against slashing attacks.

Shock, Superior

Craft DC: 25
Prerequisite Craft Ranks: 10
Component Cost: 250 gp
Effect: As shock, but the armour gains DR 2/bludgeoning, piercing.

Shock, Greater

Craft DC: 30
Prerequisite Craft Ranks: 15
Component Cost: 375 gp
Effect: As shock, but the armour gains DR 3/bludgeoning, piercing.

Slide

Craft DC: 20
Prerequisite Craft Ranks: 5
Component Cost: 125 gp
Effect: The slide template can only be applied to armour. Slide armour deflects the impact of piercing attacks across its surface, giving the wearer damage reduction 1/bludgeoning, slashing. This benefit stacks with the damage reduction of adamantine armour. For example, medium adamantine armour has DR 2/-; the same armour made with the slide template would have DR 2/- but DR 3 against piercing attacks. If the campaign has firearms with damage defined as ‘piercing’, slide armour does not protect against them (see the weave template).

Slide, Superior

Craft DC: 25
Prerequisite Craft Ranks: 10
Component Cost: 250 gp
Effect: As slide, but the armour gains DR 2/bludgeoning, slashing.

Slide, Greater

Craft DC: 30
Prerequisite Craft Ranks: 15
Component Cost: 375 gp
Effect: As slide, but the armour gains DR 3/bludgeoning, slashing.

Solidity

Craft DC: 20
Prerequisite Craft Ranks: 5
Component Cost: 100 gp for armour, 150 gp for weapons, x1.5 other items
Effect: An item made with solidity increases its hardness by 2 points. In the case of armour, this is not a damage reduction increase that protects the wearer, it is just a measure of how much more resistant to sunder attempts the armour is in relation to a normal version.

Solidity, Superior

Craft DC: 25
Prerequisite Craft Ranks: 10
Component Cost: 180 gp for armour, 300 gp for weapons, x1.8 other items
Effect: As solidity, but the item’s hardness increases by 4 points.

Solidity, Greater

Craft DC: 30
Prerequisite Craft Ranks: 15
Component Cost: 310 gp for armour, 600 gp for weapons, x2.2 other items
Effect: As solidity, but the item’s hardness increases by 6 points.

Sturdiness

Craft DC: 20
Prerequisite Craft Ranks: 5
Component Cost: 80 gp for armour, 100 gp for weapons, x1.2 other items
Effect: An item made with sturdiness has its normal hit points multiplied by 1.5, regardless of its nature. Items that measure their hit points by inch of thickness gain these bonus hit points per inch.

Sturdiness, Superior

Craft DC: 25
Prerequisite Craft Ranks: 10
Component Cost: 150 gp for armour, 200 gp for weapons, x1.5 other items
Effect: As sturdiness, but the item’s normal hit points are multiplied by 2.

Sturdiness, Greater

Craft DC: 30
Prerequisite Craft Ranks: 15
Component Cost: 250 gp for armour, 350 gp for weapons, x1.8 other items
Effect: As sturdiness, but the item’s normal hit points are multiplied by 2.5.

Weave

Craft DC: 20
Prerequisite Craft Ranks: 5
Component Cost: 125 gp
Effect: The weave template can only be applied to armour. Weave armour absorbs and redistributes the impact of bludgeoning attacks, giving the wearer damage reduction 1/piercing, slashing. This benefit stacks with the damage reduction of adamantine armour. For example, heavy adamantine armour has DR 3/-; the same armour made with the shock template would have DR 3/- but DR 4 against bludgeoning attacks. If the campaign has firearms, weave armour protects against their damage as well, whether it is damage defined as ‘ballistic’ or ‘piercing’.

Weave, Superior

Craft DC: 25
Prerequisite Craft Ranks: 10
Component Cost: 250 gp
Effect: As weave, but the armour gains DR 2/piercing, slashing.

Weave, Greater

Craft DC: 30
Prerequisite Craft Ranks: 15
Component Cost: 375 gp
Effect: As weave, but the armour gains DR 3/piercing, slashing.

Superstructures

The most impressive exponent of dwarven construction is their superstructures, which allow them to build great empires beneath the mountains. Most of these structures are hidden under the ground, unseen by other races or, in the case of their formidable defences, by their enemies.
Some dwarven clans make their resources available to other races, hiring out their engineers for exorbitant sums or as a gesture of extremely good will to allies. Humans are their most frequent clients, and dwarven battlements are the pride of any human fortress. The strained relationship between the mostly lawful dwarves and the free-spirited chaotic elves limits the architectural cooperation between both races, not to mention their radically different approaches to construction and habitat. Gnomes and dwarves cooperate to create marvellous pieces of machinery and engineering, but these joint projects are mostly limited to smaller buildings and machines, not the great buildings that are the trademark of dwarven engineering.

Engineering

What other engineers define as ‘impossible,’ dwarven builders see as merely ‘challenging.’ Generally a structure must be no taller than twice its width, but the dwarf engineer laughs at this presumption, although it comes at a price. Buildings that violate this rule must be carefully designed before the foundations are laid; this is a Knowledge (architecture and engineering) check with a base DC of 13. This DC increases by +2 for every multiple that the height surpasses the width beyond twice, so a structure that is three times as tall as it is wide has a DC of 15, while one that is four times as tall as it is wide has a DC of 17. Only if the check fails with a natural 1 does the engineer not realise the structural flaws in the construction; any other failure eventually becomes evident in the blueprints.

Sections

Dwarven superstructures are massive by definition, standing at impossible heights and with overwhelming thickness thanks to the patience and ingenuity of dwarven engineers. Because of their great size and resistance, dwarven structures are divided into sections, which are basically building blocks measuring 10 feet in length and height, and 5 feet in width. Each section has its own hardness and hit points, and anyone attacking a dwarven superstructure finds that ceaseless battering only results in the destruction of one section, while the rest of the structure still stands.

When designing a structure, a section can be halved in any of its dimensions, reducing the cost to 75% each consecutive time.

A section is not necessarily a monolithic block of stone; what gives dwarven constructions their great strength is the dwarves’ ability to combine materials. A section of a large building is composed of stone, steel girders, ventilation ducts, supports and other engineering elements.

Spaces

A space is another building block of dwarven structures, but instead of being a solid piece of construction, it is a hollow space meant for habitation, work or other tactical or strategic purposes. As per a section, a space is not completely hollow, but it may be full of tubing, columns, trenches, ditches and other engineering elements, not to mention furniture. A space is a measure of the structure’s capacity, and so it has no hardness or hit points.

Damage and Collapse

Destroying a single section in a dwarven structure is not necessarily a sign that an ongoing attack is successful. Dwarven structures are incredibly resilient and can stand tall even after repeated assaults. A structure built with dwarven methods can resist the destruction of half the sections in its base before it starts showing signs of collapse. For every section destroyed after that, the structure makes a Fortitude save (DC 15 + number of sections destroyed after half the total sections in the base); the structure uses the average hardness of its sections as a save bonus.

If the destruction is not only targeting the base sections but is scattered through its different faces, the structure can withstand the destruction of up to two-thirds of its total sections and spaces before it begins to show signs of collapse.

Once the structure fails a saving throw, then and only then does it collapse. It is possible to create a breach in a dwarven great wall by destroying linear sections across the wall’s width, but the rest of the wall will remain standing.

Repairing a damaged structure means restoring the destroyed sections and spaces; it takes half the time and costs half the money to restore a destroyed section or space. When a structure collapses, things are a little different. The Games Master makes one last Fortitude save for the structure (DC 25); if the save succeeds, enough of the structure’s foundations and framework survived for a construction team to put the structure together once again at two-thirds the cost of the original structure. If the save fails, the structure is unsalvageable and must be remade from scratch.

Structures

These are some of the better known types of dwarven superstructures, described as follows:

Section: This describes a single section of the structure, defining an average of the whole, as some sections may be more or less complex than surrounding sections. It provides the section’s hardness and the amount of hit points it has, as well as how much it costs and any special property it may have (whose cost is already included). Each section is 10 feet in length and height, and 5 feet in width.
Space: This describes the cost of a single unit of space in the structure. It is not an empty space per se, but one that contains equipment or is in itself essential to the structure’s function. Each space is a cubic area 10 feet per side.

Description: The structure’s purpose, general physical description as well as its most common dimensions, sections and spaces.

Construction time is one week per 1,000 gp of the total cost of the structure, adding up the cost of all sections and spaces. This time can be increased to one week per 5,000 gp by increasing the cost per section by 50%. Construction costs include payment for workers, which include one engineer per 50,000 gp of the total cost.

Aqueduct

Section: Hardness 8; 600 hp, 550 gp
Space: 20 gp

Inside a dwarven hold, an aqueduct is a complement of water pumps, but it is one of those works of dwarven origin that may dot the surface landscape, built by commission of a kingdom of another race. Great dwarven aqueducts make ingenious use of inclinations, water pressure and gravity to transport water across great distances, and their price represents not so much the sturdy construction materials, but the precision with which they are assembled. The largest aqueducts can double as artificial waterways for small boats even, although it is recommended that they run with their own propulsion and do not rely on the aqueduct’s current.

Elevator (and Shaft)

Section: Hardness 8; 400 hp, 350 gp
Space: 250 gp (car, shaft and cables)

Dwarven kingdoms, unlike those of other races, tend to have a vertical dimension. Several levels may act as districts in more horizontal cities, with the largest of realms having more levels than a surface kingdom has provinces. While the hardy nature of dwarves allows them to use stairs without becoming too winded by the effort, quick transportation of both people and goods between levels is performed by elevators of varying complexity. An elevator can range from a simple space that transports a few people up and down to great platforms capable of transporting whole regiments. The operation of these structures is a combination of workforce and weights, with the most important elevators operated by teams of animals, and the less important by teams of dwarves of the lower castes in a clan. The cost of sections and spaces includes the mechanism of chains, weights, pulleys and rails, as well as the animals needed to operate it.

Opening System System	Additional Cost per Section
Workforce	0 gp
Pulley	+200 gp
Weights	+500 gp

Great Bridge

Section: Hardness 10; 500 hp, 200 gp
Space: —

A great bridge is meant to cross huge chasms and surmount otherwise impassable obstacles. Each section is composed of a web of support beams whose combined strength allows the bridge to have greater length. Great bridges have a variety of optional construction methods, and each dwarf engineer selects the one he deems most appropriate for the given obstacle. Since a bridge is secured at two ends to solid ground, it can be up to five times as high as it is wide before requiring Knowledge (architecture and engineering) checks to perform its construction.

Columns: A great bridge can be supported by great columns and arches. This is the preferred method for long gaps with relatively shallow depths. A column bridge does not collapse completely when destroyed, giving it a +2 bonus to its Fortitude checks against collapsing, and a +4 bonus for the final Fortitude save to see how easy it is to rebuild it.

Hanging: A hanging bridge is a very ingenious piece of dwarven work, designed to cross very deep chasms with a relatively short gap.

Collapsible: Any bridge can be built with a last-measure defensive option, and that is the ability to collapse its span at will. It takes a Strength check (DC 15) to liberate the mechanism that retracts support beams and detonates placed charges across the bridge’s length. Creatures within 10 feet of either of the bridge’s ends can make a Reflex check (DC 12) to leap to safety; all others fall along great chunks of the bridge, usually to their deaths. A collapsible bridge costs +200 gp per section and actually includes narrow tunnels that engineers use to place and give maintenance to the explosive charges. The advantage of this bridge is that, since it is meant to collapse, it is easier to rebuild, costing only half the original price if it collapses due to the detonation mechanism.

Great Gates

Section: Hardness 10; 800 hp, 900 gp
Space: —

One of the few great works that other races see regularly is the entrance to the dwarves’ realm. Great gates are more resistant than most walls built by other races, and since they are often mounted upon the very face of a mountain, unauthorized access to a dwarven hold proves extremely difficult, if not impossible. The overall cost of great gates increases depending on their opening mechanism.

• Swinging: Twin swinging gates rest in great hinges and rotate open and shut.
• Sliding, Horizontal: A single gate that slides upon rails or grooves from one side to the other, hiding inside rock when open.
• Sliding, Vertical: As the horizontal gate, but this one hides in the space above the entrance; it can be closed in a hurry, but it takes a stronger mechanism to open it and hold it open.
• Workforce: The door is opened and closed by the ages-old method of pushing and pulling manually. A total Strength modifier of +4 is required to move a one-section gate; this workforce is most often pack animals, but warriors and other dwarves step in during emergencies.
• Pulley: Through a system of chains and pulleys, a smaller force is needed to open and close the gate. A pulley gate needs a combined Strength modifier of +2 per section to open and close.
• Weights: A simple weight system ensures that a great gate can open and close with the pulling of a lever.

Great Walls

Section: Hardness 8; 900 hp; 1,000 gp
Space: 150 gp

Next to a great gate, a great wall is the dwarves’ most popular work and the one that is most often shared with other races, especially humans, who are eager to have a dwarven great wall protecting their city or keep. A single section is enough to be a wall on its own, but many dwarves construct their walls as buildings in and of themselves, hollow inside to accommodate barracks, protected communication corridors and roads, and even traps for enemies who breach the outer wall. For every 10 sections of width, a great wall must have one tower, which is simply a sturdier and better-packed edifice that fits seamlessly within the wall. A tower is costs 1,500 gp per section of height.

Hidden Entrance

Section: Hardness 8; 100 hp, 150 gp
Space: —

The smallest of the dwarven structures, a secret entrance is usually a strategic backdoor to the dwarves’ realm. Most of these entrances are used to break sieges, with the dwarven army or a crack commando team emerging from an unsuspected spot in the mountain while enemy armies are busy trying to break down a great gate. The hidden entrance is carved to look just like the rock it is embedded in, and is extremely hard to identify as such (Spot DC 30, Search DC 25). A hidden entrance is lighter than a great gate, requiring a total Strength modifier of +2 per section to open and close, and may also use the pulley and weights opening system at the same costs as a great gate.

Labyrinth

Section: Hardness 8; 300 hp, cost varies
Space: 100 gp

A labyrinth is a maze, a collection of twisting corridors, dead ends, crossroads and intersections that are meant to confuse anyone who enters and to get him lost. Labyrinths are a special superstructure in that they have many levels of design, which range from a very simple maze to a legendary labyrinth that none can escape.

The two main factors in a labyrinth are its complexity and size. Complexity sets the difficulty for the checks to navigate through the corridors; a simple maze has very straightforward intersections and few and short false routes.

To navigate a labyrinth, the character makes Wisdom checks or Survival checks if he has 5 or more ranks in the skill. The DC of these checks determines the cost of the labyrinth as per the Labyrinth Complexity table. A character makes one such check at different intervals depending on the size of the labyrinth.
Escaping a labyrinth is a lot like using the Craft skill. The target number is equal to the number of spaces in the labyrinth multiplied by 20. The character multiplies his check result by the labyrinth’s DC and adds the results together with each check until the total sum equals the target number. Large and complex labyrinths may take a person even days to escape.

Multilevels: A labyrinth can be built with multiple levels that are part of solving the labyrinth, not merely stages where a person solves one level after another, which is already accounted for in the standard labyrinth’s complexity. A true multilevel maze forces anyone trapped inside to enter a different level in order to reach another otherwise inaccessible part of the level he just left. A multilevel labyrinth increases the DC by +3 and multiplies the overall cost by 1.2.

Traps: Truly vicious labyrinths have traps in some of their spaces. Detailing each and every trap is more the activity of dungeon building. To deal with traps in a labyrinth that is solved through checks instead of minute-by-minute mapping, decide the density of traps from the following table. Roll 1d20 with every one of the character’s Wisdom/Survival checks, if it comes up a number in the density, the character stumbled upon a trap during that time. Roll 1d8 to determine the trap’s CR or decide beforehand (the preferred option when gauging the level of the characters solving the labyrinth), then select a random trap from those listed in the SRD. Multiply the total cost of the labyrinth by the density multiplier.

Labyrinth Complexity DC	Cost per Section
12	100 gp
15	200 gp
17	300 gp
20	400 gp
25	550 gp

Labyrinth Size

Size	Sections/Spaces	Time Between Checks
Tiny	40/20	5 rounds
Small	80/40	1 minute
Medium	160/80	5 minutes
Large	320/160	10 minutes
Huge	650/325	30 minutes
Gargantuan	1,500/800	1 hour

Density	Roll	Multiplier
Light	1–2	x1.1
Moderate	1–4	x1.3
Dense	1–6	x1.5
Lethal	1–8	x2

Pump

Section: Hardness 10; 500 hp, 1,200 gp
Space: 1 gp

Water supply is one of the main problems in any sizeable dwarven community, since for them water is not as easy to find as simply finding a river during exploration. Underground rivers and lakes may be encased in stone and hidden from normal exploration, and once found, they are very hard to follow in order to locate the best spot to build a well. To solve part of this problem, dwarves use fairly advanced pumps to transport water from its basin to all levels in a dwarven hold. Most pumps comprise a system of buckets that dip into the water and are hauled mechanically upwards, although more advanced principles use a complementing air pump to literally suck the water upwards. A section in a pump represents the mechanism used to transport the water, while a space represents water deposits and maintenance tunnels.

Pump, Air

Section: Hardness 8; 450 hp, 900 gp
Space: 2 gp

Members of other races hardly see the need for an air pump in their daily activities, but dwarves live in places without wind currents, and their mining way of life exposes them to unusual dangers and conditions, such as tight passages where the flame from a lamp or torch consumes the air around it. Air pumps are used as safety devices for miners, clearing stale air and noxious fumes, but also as complements to other technologies and as the foundations of primitive hydraulics systems, such as missive tubes (see slope chambers) and complex water pumps. Fully dedicated air pumps have a vent to the outside world, secured heavily against intrusion and hidden from normal view. These vents tend to be large in order to supply copious amounts of air to the whole dwarven hold. The sections represent mechanisms such as fans and compressors, while the spaces are the main vents and maintenance corridors.

Slope Chamber

Section: Hardness 12; 400 hp, 600 gp
Space: 200 gp

Many foolish invaders think that sneaking up on the dwarves is just a matter of walking carefully to the hold’s entrance, but dwarven security is much better than any suspect, as witnessed by the undetectable sentry posts at the base, and many points in the slope, of a mountain. Several viewports are cleverly camouflaged so that they can only be found by someone standing 30 feet or closer to them (Spot DC 25). Chambers closer to the main hold are only accessible from inside the mountain and are little more than outposts, while those closer to the base have a secret entrance (Search DC 25) and are large enough for a small squadron or even a family.

Communication Tube: The slope chamber can be equipped with a communication tube that bounces voices from the chamber to a destination in the hold. The cost is 2 gp per feet of length.

Vacuum Tube: A more complex communication system that uses an air pump (see below) to send capsules back and forth between the chamber and the main hold. The capsule is large enough for a quiver of crossbow bolts. The cost is 10 gp per feet of length.

Volcanic Furnace

Section: Hardness 8; 600 hp, 500 gp
Space: 200 gp

A volcanic furnace is a communal smithy that harnesses the power of a semi-dormant volcano. It uses magma flowing through specially treated canals that pour into vents, furnaces and forges to provide incredible heat to a variety of substructures within the building. Each space of a volcanic forge allows one smith to ply his trade, but larger smithies allow apprentices and group efforts. Volcanic furnaces are also used to smelt ores and create alloys, with additional storage space for the ingots of different minerals that get carted off towards individual smithies, ensuring a smooth flow of work. A volcanic furnace often incorporates a small temple to the dwarven deity of the forge to pray for productive days and also for the volcano not to erupt, although the cost of the furnace includes safety valves and blast doors that can block the conduits when detecting an undue amount of pressure.

Watchtower

Section: Hardness 8; 700 hp, 600 gp
Space: 150 gp

Dwarves are not much into the practice of building towers, but some dot the mountainside to watch over the terrain below and above, and to indicate the presence of a dwarven stronghold to any creature that might have the wrong idea about settling or attacking. Dwarven watchtowers are literally fortresses on their own, nigh-unassailable and equipped to defend themselves against surface attacks. The largest towers are the homes of dwarven warrior garrisons or even entire families tasked with the defence of the ancestral home. The cost does not include siege weaponry, but it does include all the necessary commodities for a standing army to live in comfortable vigilance.

War Machines

As imposing as dwarven superstructures are, the most terrifying aspect of their engineering prowess is their war machines. These monstrosities are built not only for their devastating effectiveness, but also for their impact on the enemies’ morale when they see a large iron dragon rolling towards their city walls or the side of a mountain hurtling down into the midst of their ranks.

War Machine Characteristics

War machines are like equipment with their own characteristics:

• AC: Some machines can move and participate actively in battle, or can be themselves the target of siege weaponry, and therefore have an Armour Class that takes into account their size and manoeuvrability.
• Structure: Based on the body and the quality of its construction, this characteristic defines the machine’s hardness, which is basically damage reduction that can be defeated by adamantine weapons, and the machine’s hit points. A machine reduced to half its hit points suffers a –2 to all rolls and checks involved in its operation, and one that reaches 0 hit points is completely destroyed.
• Operation: The type of roll needed to operate the machine, such as a skill check or an attack roll, as well as the size of the crew needed. A machine with half the minimum required crew takes double the time to enact all actions it can take.
• Attack: The type of attack the machine can inflict upon its targets, as well as any bonus due to its accuracy, its range increment and reload times with a full crew and damage.
• Speed: The machine’s speed and type of movement, if applicable.
• Cost: The cost in gold pieces.

Armoured Cart

AC: 15 (–1 size, +6 armour)
Structure: Hardness 8; 120 hp
Operation: Handle Animal (DC 10, normal operation, opposed to attack), 2 crew
Attack: 1 trample –2 melee (3d6), 5 crossbow slits
Speed: 40 ft.
Cost: 1,200 gp

This frightful contraption is an armoured box with wheels, driven by two strong warponies tied to a harness at the centre of the cart, and therefore protected from outside attacks. The crew sits on a post higher in the cart, looking out through a turret built on top of the vehicle. The front and sides of the cart are fitted with spinning sharp spikes and blades that mow down the enemy as the cart moves through their ranks. To attack, the driver makes a Handle Animal check to aim at a particular creature or group of creatures, with a –2 penalty due to the vehicle’s handling. All creatures standing in the cart’s way have the chance to jump aside with a Reflex save (DC equal to the Handle Animal check) to avoid the damage of the blades. However, they are then vulnerable to the 2 crossbowmen on each side of the cart aiming at them once they are safe from the cart’s charge. The second crewman can grant an aid another bonus to the Handle Animal checks, but he is usually too busy surveying the battlefield. If the driver has the Trample feat, targets suffer a –2 penalty to their Reflex save.

Assault Tower

AC: 14 (–2 size, +6 armour)
Structure: Hardness 5; 180 hp
Operation: Strength checks, Int-based attack rolls (catapult), 11 crew
Attack: 1 ballista +0 ranged (3d6), 2 full-round actions to reload
Speed: 10 ft.
Cost: 3,000 gp

An iron-clad structure that offers total protection to assault. Outside of battle, the assault tower is transported by a team of pack animals, but once it approaches an enemy wall, it is pushed by 10 warriors on the base. The tower’s height can be adjusted from 30 to 60 feet, and even then it has additional ladders that can be thrown from the top to the wall. This height is adjusted before approaching the wall. The top of the tower has a ballista and battlements for crossbowmen.

Greater Trebuchet

AC: 9 (–1 size)
Structure: Hardness 5; 80 hp
Operation: Int-based attack roll (DC 15), 5 crew
Attack: 1 boulder +1 ranged (8d10), 800 ft. range increment (100 ft. minimum), 1 full-round reload, 4 full-rounds to aim
Speed: 10 ft (pushed, cannot attack)
Cost: 1,000 gp

The trebuchet is the king of siege weapons, capable of launching overwhelming attacks against structures and relatively immobile targets. Due to its arching fire trajectory, the trebuchet can hit targets out of sight with a –6 penalty. The fixed DC of the attack roll (modified by Intelligence instead of Strength or Dexterity) indicates that the trebuchet aims at a fixed spot, not a moving creature. The chief engineer gains a +2 competence bonus for every successive failed shot, as he is able to adjust his calculations accordingly, if he can see where the shots are landing, or +1 if he cannot see them but has someone relaying the information. Once the trebuchet hits its target, the chief engineer stops aiming and every successive shot lands on the same place until he aims at another spot, or until the wind conditions change. Trebuchets ignore the hardness of any structure they hit.

A trebuchet can move when dragged along in a cart, but it must be disassembled. It takes a full crew 10 minutes to assemble or take apart a trebuchet. While moving, the trebuchet cannot be used to attack, and when attacking, it cannot move.

Horizontal Catapult

AC: 11 (–1 size, +2 armour)
Structure: Hardness 5; 60 hp
Operation: Int-based attack roll (DC 15), 2 crew
Attack: 1 boulder +1 ranged (4d6), 150 ft. range increment, 1 full-round action to reload, 1 full round to aim
Speed: 20 ft. (dragged)
Cost: 800 gp

When besieging underground objectives, parabolic arcs strike a cavern ceiling more often than their actual objective, and so dwarves adapted the technology of the crossbow to catapults. The horizontal catapult looks like a ballista with a catapult on each arm. The arms winch with the same mechanism, and when released, they multiply their force with a simple pulley mechanism to shoot a boulder along the central groove. As it fires in a direct trajectory, it is slightly easier to aim than a normal catapult, and it can be used to strike at targets right in front of it. The fixed DC of the attack roll (modified by Intelligence instead of Strength or Dexterity) indicates that the catapult aims at a fixed spot, not a moving creature. The chief engineer gains a +2 competence bonus for every successive failed shot, as he is able to adjust his calculations accordingly, if he can see where the shots are landing, or +1 if he cannot see them but has someone relaying the information. Once the catapult hits its target, the chief engineer stops aiming and every successive shot lands on the same place until he aims at another spot. Any creature in the way of the shot must make a Reflex save with a DC equal to the attack roll to evade the boulder. Each successful impact on the way, however, reduces the boulder’s strength, subtracting one die of damage per impact; if the damage is ever reduced to 0 dice, the boulder stops with the last target. Catapults ignore the hardness of any structure they hit.

Reverse Tower

AC: 14 (–2 size, +6 armour)
Structure: Hardness 8; 100 hp
Operation: —
Attack: —
Speed: —
Cost: 1,200 gp

Assault conditions underground may require an army of dwarves to climb down rather than climb up while subjected to missile fire from their enemies. A reverse tower resembles a giant multi-segmented worm; each section is semi-independent from the others, allowing this structure to take a variety of shapes and routes, becoming a tunnel or a covered ladder that protects characters as they climb down. The reverse tower has two ladders, and each section has a number of hooks to secure ropes, which in turn are tied to spikes sunk in the bare rock.

Shattering Vice

AC: 9 (–1 size)
Structure: Hardness 5; 120 hp
Operation: Knowledge (architecture and engineering) (DC 15), Strength check, 2 crew
Attack: 1 vise +0 melee (see text)
Speed: As carriers
Cost: 1,200 gp

This special ram is used to defeat gates not with brute force, but with applied mechanics. Because it requires a much smaller crew than a battering ram, the shattering vice is faster and easier to protect from defenders. The shattering vice is a clamp that inserts in the juncture between gates, or between a gate and a wall or floor. This requires a Knowledge check (architecture and engineering). Once secured, the crew turns a screw that begins to open the vice with a Strength check. The DC of this check is the gate’s DC to break, but the vice provides a +10 equipment bonus.