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MonkeySage
2016-10-20, 01:33 PM
Every dungeon I've run up til now has been an underground space, with a fairly asymmetric and often downright labrinthian layout.

This time, I want to do a castle; specifically, an imperial palace.

Now, I know a bit about castles and their different features based on the little bit of research I've done... But taking that knowledge and actually applying it has been a huge challenge.

I cannot draw the floor plan. I've even looked at real castle floor plans for inspiration, and haven't gotten anywhere. Not least because the floor plans I looked at were drawn on paper and were apparently not meant to be read....

ExLibrisMortis
2016-10-20, 01:48 PM
Well, castle shapes are determined primarily by terrain. Without a predetermined hill or river and its surroundings, it's hard to decide where you can build, and you don't know what you need to protect, tax, and survey.

Designing a castle can occur in phases (for an old build), or all at once (for a new build).

A design in phases starts with a keep (at, say, the highest point), then adds a courtyard (the nearest bit of fairly flat land), more towers (at likely places along the wall), another courtyard (next nearest bit of fairly flat land) and so on. For a flat-land design, it's more about artificial mounds and moats. Either way, adding a new tower is - on paper - a simple matter:

What bits of my land near my castle can physically support a tower?
Can I connect this tower to my castle, and cover it in case of attack? (or: Will this tower be too exposed to protect/supply it? Will it provide more entry points than it blocks? etc.)
Is there already a tower on or very near my prospective location?
(Do I need space? - I hope you've already answered this one before you start looking at extensions)

A design all at once will probably use more flat land for somewhat larger buildings early on. The keep and inner courtyard are a bit roomier, because they were never built to be a whole castle by themselves. There may be more proper windows and 'livable' quarters in the castle, for the same reason.

Vinyadan
2016-10-20, 01:53 PM
Want to start simple? Castel del Monte:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f8/Casteldelmontepln.png
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Castel_del_Monte

Aembrosia
2016-10-20, 01:59 PM
Buy a barbie dream house. Paint it grey. Add some sconces. Good to go.

Lord Torath
2016-10-20, 04:59 PM
Want to start simple? Castel del Monte:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f8/Casteldelmontepln.png
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Castel_del_MonteHuh. I think I just figured out where Hickman and Weis got the basic design for the High Clerist's Tower.

Also think about living spaces. The ruling family (whether Emperor, King, Duke, Baron, or lowly Knight) will have their private rooms, public rooms, and offices. There will be work rooms (kitchens, laundries, smithies, training), show rooms (great hall/throne room, dining/common room), servants' living quarters, possibly soldiers' living quarters, armory, pantry, cold storage, possibly jail cells.

I've designed a couple of castles, thought not completely.

First, decide what the general purpose of the castle is. Is it primarily a military fort? Or is it primarily a palace? If it's a palace, its purpose is to project a feeling of power. Place the rooms most important to the purpose in the most important locations. A palace might be dominated by the Great Hall and the Ballroom, with living quarters for the ruler next most important. A military fort will probably have defenses dominate, with military offices, armories, smithies, and barracks coming next, training grounds, stables, etc, with servants quarters and work rooms tucked into whatever spaces are left.

The most important functions get the best locations.

GreatWyrmGold
2016-10-21, 10:25 AM
You might want to consider playability as well. Castles were rarely designed with fun adventures in mind. Extra Credits's series on Durlag's Tower (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWgc20zbRXk&index=7&list=PLhyKYa0YJ_5CH8BA8XcqReieXLFf4afI0) has some good points on dungeon design, despite analyzing Baldur's Gate rather than a tabletop game.
For a little more freedom, a ruined castle gives you a chance to collapse some walls into passageways or somesuch. Or you could make an overlarge castle where someone has put up some quick wooden walls and whatnot for use as some other kind of structure. Or maybe a wizard's flying castle crashed into the ground.

CharonsHelper
2016-10-21, 01:51 PM
Much depends upon how much magic there is in your world. Real-world castles are built upon the assumption that there is no magic to deal with... because... there isn't.

If armies have level 5+ D&D style wizards running all over the place who can cast Fly/Fireball, castles will look rather different. If nothing else, walls will be more likely to have roofs and be at least somewhat fortified against attacks from the inside, while real-world castles have their defenses focused almost entirely outward.

How many supernatural enemies might threaten it? Are there units of Hippogriff riding knights? Ogres used as shock troops?

Also - as a palace, how much of it is form vs. function? How much of it is just lavish rooms etc. for the imperial family/retainers or offices for the bureaucracy?

etc.

Kami2awa
2016-10-23, 03:37 PM
Online, you can find a lot of premade castle maps. Why not use one of them?

wumpus
2016-10-24, 09:49 AM
Note: Castel Del Monte's layout screams "built to be defended by/from cannon". Players might wonder about the architecture, and if those towers are designed to give cannon/wizards/balistae (balistae wouldn't be historical, but would fit most games) overlapping lines of sight.

Note that "castle" might imply a fortress, but an Imperial palace likely has less concerns (unless there is a real fear of rioting in the Imperial City storming the palace). I'd suspect that the innermost bits really is an old keep, with all the defenses that implies (although large holes may have been cut at one point). Beyond that, "castle walls" are simply there to look more impressive than keep out scaling hordes.

"Barbie dream castle" may well be what you want. Just remember to include lots of places for bureaucrats/courtiers to actually run the empire. And expect plenty of intrigue (that the players might not bother with) as the same jostle for position.

GungHo
2016-10-24, 10:05 AM
Want to start simple? Castel del Monte:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f8/Casteldelmontepln.png
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Castel_del_Monte

Obviously built to protect the king's hoard of fruit cups.

Vinyadan
2016-10-24, 10:08 AM
Note: Castel Del Monte's layout screams "built to be defended by/from cannon". Players might wonder about the architecture, and if those towers are designed to give cannon/wizards/balistae (balistae wouldn't be historical, but would fit most games) overlapping lines of sight.

Note that "castle" might imply a fortress, but an Imperial palace likely has less concerns (unless there is a real fear of rioting in the Imperial City storming the palace). I'd suspect that the innermost bits really is an old keep, with all the defenses that implies (although large holes may have been cut at one point). Beyond that, "castle walls" are simply there to look more impressive than keep out scaling hordes.

"Barbie dream castle" may well be what you want. Just remember to include lots of places for bureaucrats/courtiers to actually run the empire. And expect plenty of intrigue (that the players might not bother with) as the same jostle for position.

It was built in the 1240s, so I don't know if it was meant to defend against cannons. The castle in general is very unusual, and it's possible that an outer wall is now missing.

MonkeySage
2016-10-24, 12:17 PM
Being a castle, priority goes to defense. Though there are some comforts that the family living here could enjoy. And I suspect, there'll be a separate wing where the lords of the realm can meet with the emperor.

Internally, the place should be easy for the family to navigate... probably have some abjurations to throw off teleporters, and a hidden exit in the event that the family needs to be evacuated.

Edit: OH. I never mentioned... The city this building is located in is a coastal town, with heavy influence drawn from Constantinople..
The sea here is a bit violent(Demon Goddess of Earthquakes is to thank for that), and it's a small miracle that major trade routes run through here.

VoxRationis
2016-10-24, 12:35 PM
Being a castle, priority goes to defense. Though there are some comforts that the family living here could enjoy. And I suspect, there'll be a separate wing where the lords of the realm can meet with the emperor.

Internally, the place should be easy for the family to navigate... probably have some abjurations to throw off teleporters, and a hidden exit in the event that the family needs to be evacuated.

Edit: OH. I never mentioned... The city this building is located in is a coastal town, with heavy influence drawn from Constantinople..
The sea here is a bit violent(Demon Goddess of Earthquakes is to thank for that), and it's a small miracle that major trade routes run through here.

Well, I'd make sure the grounds of the castle have terraces on the seaward side, leading down to some sort of private dock. The path from the dock to the main part of the castle can switchback, with towers enfilading the path at each turn. I'd go for a squarish building plan for the main buildings (the Byzantines liked squarer plans than Western Europe, an architectural legacy they passed to the Ottomans later).

MrStabby
2016-10-24, 01:51 PM
Some of this may depend on the level of magic in your world. If magic doesnt exist then look to reality for good ideas.

In a world where magic exists stone walls are not great defences, or at least not by themselves.

Spells to keep people out/prevent scrying may be as important features as walls. With that in mind (depending on your system) design features might be ensuring that important areas can be covered by overlapping defensive spells and so on.

Vinyadan
2016-10-24, 02:21 PM
Constantinople is somewhat extreme because of its enormous proportions, AFAIK there was e.g. no imperial palace, instead there was a complex of buildings and palaces dedicated to Emperor, court and imperial administration. The whole city was so heavily fortified, it pretty much counted as a castle as a whole.

Is the family living in there a noble family who wants to be ready in case the fortress has to be used by the emperor if the city falls out of his control? To whom does the fortress belong?

There were cities in northern and central Italy where internal strife among noble or important families was normal, which brought these people to turn their private residences inside the city into fortresses. The result:

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/39/San_gimignano_piazza_duomo_08_torre.JPG

This came about after a methodical submission of the nobles from the country to the city. When cities decided they had had enough of civil wars, the first order normally was that of cutting down the towers, so that the prominent families had no choice but peace if they wanted to stay safe.

But speaking of coastal cities and Constantinople, what about this? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rumelihisar%C4%B1 It looks cool for an adventure. You can say it's an imperial retreat outside but close to the city, and add a few things as you see fit.

Naples is a large coastal city with big castles inside of it. Some images:

Castel nuovo
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/28/Castel_Nuovo_%2829%29_%2815584302832%29.jpg
Castel dell'Ovo
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a6/Il_Castello_dell%27Ovo_In_Napoli.JPG
Castel Sant'Elmo
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/93/Napoli_s_Elmo_da_Castel_dell%27Ovo_1040688.JPG

And finally, the Krak in Syria(complete with planimetry):
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Krak_des_Chevaliers

DeathToGazeebos
2016-10-27, 09:38 PM
It may not be your usual style but have you thought of just stating up all the important rooms/scenes you'd like to play out to progress the plot and then just play them out in any convenient manner you like on the fly? You've got it easy since it's an Empirial castle and hence probably pretty darn massive. So you can just overwhelm the PCs with hallway door choices and then put the room you want them to encounter inn their way in the order you want (or randomly if needed sometimes).
For instance, you need
-A gatehouse scene stocked with chains, ropes, portculis and gears and of course guards
-An entrance/forier with high ceiling, huge stairs and massive chandeliers. Maybe some suits of armour in the corners ... and more guards
-A side entrance, 2 doors, guards, possibly stairs
-A hallway with many doors, stairs leading up, stairs leading down
-A small servant bed chamber with small beds, bed pans, dresser and small window overlooking roof/moat/etc.
-A fancy large bed chamber with canopy bed, large mirrors, wardrobes and windows overlooking courtyard/moat/etc.
-A library with towering shelves of books, massive chandeliers, ladders, tables, desks etc.
-A Wine cellar with rows of racks of barrels
-A courtyard .... with guards
-A kitchen with doors and a stair?

Then just put whatever room infront of the PCs as is necessary (or fun).
Example:
The PCs manage to sneak in under a suplpy wagon and slip right into a side entrance in a tower inside the outer walls. They encounter "The side entrance" with a pair of doors leaving the room, a small chanadleir, weapons rack ans 2 guards which attack immediately. Say the combat sounds draws another guard in from outside in the courtyard forcing the PCs to run through one of the doors and bar it behind them. Since we have a fluid floorplan lets grab something reasonable next like a hallway with more doors (and guards) or maybe the PCs are already a little worn down from the combat and we want to give them a lucky break and perhaps they find themselves in a kitchen bustling with servants who barely even notice them. They find more doors and stairs. They go down the stairs to find.... say the wine cellar where they manage to hunker down for a short rest and regroup.

I've found this to be less work and more fun, allowing you to pace, challenge or hinder the PCs as you like during play, or even go randomly sometimes. But it may take a little more improv so if it's not for you, then ingore previous transmission.

Templarkommando
2016-10-28, 01:11 AM
The best suggestion that I have is to look around for various Imperial and Monarchical palaces and see if there's anything that really makes you think of what a palace would look like in your campaign world. A few come to mind immediately for me: Versailles, Buckingham Palace, and buildings of that nature might help with inspiration. There are a couple of different sorts of palaces. If yours is intended to be more of a defensive fortification than a dwelling for a noble of some sort, castles and forts might be more appropriate to look at.

In general, to me, a palace is an enormous structure that is far larger than anything that I'd want to run my players through in a DnD campaign. Maybe the local King has a building like this, but as a general rule, I try not to map it out. I once tried to map out a Ducal estate. It took me a very long time to write room descriptions and I later had to scrap the project because all of the things that I wanted to implement were going to be way to complex for me to put together.

Personally, I would call it a wing of the palace. This does a couple of things for you. First, you can justify saying the palace is enormous without having to go through the task of actually drawing up every single aspect of a palace. Just as an example, maybe the residential wing is somewhere else... personally, after about the 4th bedroom that my party wanders into, they start to get bored with descriptions. Give the wing a couple of general purposes for use, and then have the party clear out whatever has taken up residence there. (be it evil nobles, vampires, dopplegangers etc.) Maybe the wing is for entertaining guests, so it's got a room with a lot of chairs a stage and a set for a play, or musical instruments. Maybe it has painting and sculpting materials... all that to say, I would really shy away from going to all the effort to draw out an entire palace... that';s just me though. You do you.

Kelb_Panthera
2016-10-28, 04:02 AM
So here's what I'm thinking:

Start with the non-military personnell. You've got the royal family, obviously. Then you look at their staff. Each of the members of the royal family needs at least 1 but more likely 2 or 3 ladies/lads in waiting to fetch functionaries and other servants. Then you need servants to perform basic palace functions; cleaning, cooking, mending clothes, emptying chamber pots, maintaing the grounds, handling the animals that belong to the royals and their guards/guests, and so on. These basic servants will need management staff to keep things organzied and a majordomo will be needed to oversee the household as a whole.

With this in mind, you can now figure out how many rooms you need to house them all; one for each of the royals; and, if you're feeling opulent, one for every 2-3 servants.

Next up, security: at bare minimum you'll want at least one guard per non-military person in the palace but more likely several times that. You'll want at least a handful with the monarch and each of his family at all times plus at least two to secure each of the royals' personal quarters. Each of those at least twice or even 3 times over so they can maintain security in shifts. Just that many will require a couple officers to keep organized and possibly a senior officer or two to coordinate them and to work with the civilian staff.

Garrisoning the troops you've worked out from that will require a barracks for every 10-12 men and quarters for their officers.

Once you've done all that, double it. A royal palace will be expecting visiting dignitaries either from neighboring nations or, at least, nobles from the far flung reaches of the empire. If that doesn't feel big enough, multiply it by 3 or 4 instead.

Now that you've got the interior of the palace worked out, you need to throw up curtain walls, towers, workshops for any smiths and tinkers, stables, kitchens, bathes, and any luxury facilities such as gardens, libraries, aviaries, etc.

Once you know what you need, it's just a matter of arranging them. You'll want to put an eye to defense, of course, but opulance requires open space and excess furniture. You also don't want guest quarters and royal quarters too close to one another if you expect any kind of court intrigue.

Since we're talking fantasy, you might also want to include quarters and laboratories for a court wizard(s) and/or a delegation from a/the church.

At least that's how I'd do it.

Storm_Of_Snow
2016-10-28, 05:10 AM
You'll also need storage areas for supplies, a water source for use during sieges, somewhere for sewage to go (maybe just a pit, hopefully a small diameter sewer), possibly somewhere to keep cattle (and somewhere to slaughter them).

As to realism, as a more general point, where's your castle and who owns it? The king's castle a mile from the capital will look a lot different to a local baron's small border fortress protecting a pass in the mountains.

If you want an imperial palace, then it's not really a castle. :smallsmile: Aside from the ruler's life guard, there's likely to be few defences (they'll be further away), and the design will be more to display wealth and political power than outright military strength. Depending on location, there might be areas for hunting and farmland dedicated to it, there'd certainly be formal gardens and possibly things like follys or a maze, and anything else will be added by successive rulers (and their consorts) over time - so plenty of portraits of previous rulers (except for those that have been overthrown), paintings and tapestries on the walls, possibly captured enemy banners and so on.

For rooms, there'll be formal areas, a ballroom, and so on, plus residential areas - the ruler's children may live there near permanently with a nanny, governess and tutors, and guest staterooms (varying in size and location in the palace depending on the importance of who they're housing). And then the "downstairs" quarters for the palace staff - they may actually be below ground, small rooms hidden away in various places around the palace, or separate out buildings.

Lord Torath
2016-10-28, 07:40 AM
Also, how paranoid is your ruling family? Are they afraid of their own subjects? Then there might indeed be a curtain wall around the palace. Has there been a history of military coups? There might be a standing army, and imperial guard, and a palace security force, which each force limited to specific areas around the palace (no army units may approach within 1 mile of the palace walls.

Is there a national religion? Expect a large chapel somewhere on the premises, with quarters for a high rama-lama if there is a close link between church and state. If there is a rift between the two, there may be mostly abandoned temples on the palace grounds, with more active ones out in the city.

GreatWyrmGold
2016-10-28, 08:00 AM
And while we're at it, location is important.

1. What was the land when the castle/palace/whatever was first built there? If it was near a border with a rival nation, or raiding grounds of orc tribes, or wilderness full of monsters, it'll probably be built with defense as its top priority, whatever its purpose is. If it was built in the middle of peaceful farmland with periodic famines, defense wouldn't be much of an issue (though there would probably be some basic defenses, or at least enough walls to keep out burglars and riffraf), but there would need to be nice, big granaries to store farming surpluses. And so on.

2. What is the land now, and how has it changed? How have these changes affected the need for structures which were originally necessary, and what structures have been added? A former border fort in a realm which has become the peaceful seat of one of the richest houses in the kingdom might let some of its defenses fall into ruin, but would probably build new opulent living quarters. If the peaceful land became war-torn, the largest granary might be converted into an impromptu keep. And so on.

Bohandas
2016-11-07, 11:53 PM
Buy a barbie dream house. Paint it grey. Add some sconces. Good to go.

I almost read that as "scones"

Kelb_Panthera
2016-11-08, 02:15 AM
I almost read that as "scones"

Scones might also be welcome at the gaming table. Just be sure beverages are handy. Rather a dry pastry, the scone.

Mr Booze
2016-11-08, 04:01 AM
Here are a lot of great castle/fort maps to draw inspiration from: http://www.estalia.net/estalia/country-of-estalia.htm

Braininthejar2
2016-11-08, 05:15 AM
Spiral stairs always clockwise - so it is awkward for intruders going up to use shields.

If you want something big (since you're going for an imperial palace) you can hardly go bigger that the castle-monastery of Malbork

http://co13.nevseoboi.com.ua/16/15427/thumbs/1383688626-3183299-nevseoboi.com.ua.jpg

The inner castle even had medieval central heating :smallbiggrin:

Storm_Of_Snow
2016-11-08, 05:49 AM
Spiral stairs always clockwise - so it is awkward for intruders going up to use shields.

Clockwise upwards, because most people are right handed and the supporting pillar in the middle gets in the way of their sword, but if you're defending, you've got free reign.

And they go anti-clockwise down into the cellars and dungeons for exactly the same reason.

Martin Greywolf
2016-11-08, 06:00 AM
Clockwise spiral staircase is a bull myth that tour guides keep parroting for some reason.

As for actual castle design, it's a messy topic. Most of the castle floor plans you'll find aren't good because they are maps of what the castle looks like now. That may or may not be what it looked like when it was functional for the last time, and it definitely isn't what the castle looked like during the actual middle ages. To get any idea what a particular castle was like, you need to either spend several months researching it, or find someone who did that to help you. Not the most practical of things.

Another complication is that castles used terrain - a lot of them are built on top of rocks and copy their shape, so you end up with something that can't really fit onto a hex/square grid neatly.

Also, for really realistic castles, there would be several phases of it being built - a king may build it, gift it to a noble, whose son builds up another layer of walls, his son builds an additional tower, then cannon comes along so they modify what was already there, and the interior is redesigned all the time (number of floors can and did change sometimes, you can see it even today when you know what to look for). This process takes centuries more often than not.

In general, you have two broad types of castles - plains fort and terrain castle. Plains fort is usually fairly symmetrical, because there is no terrain around to speak of, except maybe a river. Terrain castle uses a feature of the countryside to help with its defences, and its shape is dictated by it. A symmetrical castle is, for example, Krak des Chevalliers (http://www.wikiwand.com/sv/Krak_des_Chevaliers), built on top of a flat hill. Terrain castle is Beckov (http://www.pluska.sk/images/gallery/slovensko/miska-regiony/2014/04/beckov.jpg), built on top of a 60 meter rock outcropping.

So, think of where the castle is, then put it the appropriate rooms. Reading up on how castles actually functioned will help (Osprey has some books on the subject), unfortunately, it's a topic that is far to broad to cover in forum posts.

MonkeySage
2016-11-08, 10:40 AM
Someone on here gave me an idea; this empire is a few hundred years old, but originally was founded in the setting's dark ages. My thinking is that the Kingdom that gave birth to this empire would have had a castle, then as the empire grew and the city grew, the royal family moved to a dedicated palace. The castle is still used, but mainly as a military base. In times of emergency, the royal family probably goes there for protection.

Beleriphon
2016-11-08, 12:37 PM
Someone on here gave me an idea; this empire is a few hundred years old, but originally was founded in the setting's dark ages. My thinking is that the Kingdom that gave birth to this empire would have had a castle, then as the empire grew and the city grew, the royal family moved to a dedicated palace. The castle is still used, but mainly as a military base. In times of emergency, the royal family probably goes there for protection.

In that case look at something like Castel de Sant'Angelo in Rome. Its a massive medivalish fortress.

If you want fortified palace/castle combo Windsor Castle or even Buckingham Palace (which is really more Buckingham Royal Estate in the middle of London). As a complete aside, if you kind of want to get a feel for castles and how some buildings look at least from the outside the Assassin's Creed games despite their other faults feature highly accurate recreations of the major landmarks in the cities the games take place in.

The Tower of London is also a castle, albeit one built somewhat later than what one might think of a as a medieval styled castle. Windsor Castle has been around in one form or another since William the Conquerer invaded Saxon England in 1066. If you want a totally boss style you can emulate the Japanese castle design. Osaka-jo is a great example, as is Himeji-jo.

Clistenes
2016-11-08, 02:13 PM
Note: Castel Del Monte's layout screams "built to be defended by/from cannon". Players might wonder about the architecture, and if those towers are designed to give cannon/wizards/balistae (balistae wouldn't be historical, but would fit most games) overlapping lines of sight.

Note that "castle" might imply a fortress, but an Imperial palace likely has less concerns (unless there is a real fear of rioting in the Imperial City storming the palace). I'd suspect that the innermost bits really is an old keep, with all the defenses that implies (although large holes may have been cut at one point). Beyond that, "castle walls" are simply there to look more impressive than keep out scaling hordes.

"Barbie dream castle" may well be what you want. Just remember to include lots of places for bureaucrats/courtiers to actually run the empire. And expect plenty of intrigue (that the players might not bother with) as the same jostle for position.

I think Castel Del Monte was used as a hunting lodge of sorts. The emperor lived there with his retinue during his "holidays", but it didn't function as a full-fledged residence, military fortress or royal court, but more like a hotel with a lot of suites staked one on top of another.

Of course, emperor Frederick II had a ****ton of enemies, so he wanted it to be easily defensible, but I don't think it was intended to resist a serious siege; it is a relatively low for a castle... Also, I think it was never equipped with artillery.

Braininthejar2
2016-11-08, 05:11 PM
A realy big castle will be like a layered cake, with the most important things placed in the middle - so the defenders still have food, etc. if the outer wall falls.

Malbork is a good example - with three layers, of which the inner two still survive.

https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/89/242624377_37fe141c95_b.jpg


Two important issues are water and waste disposal - unless the inner castle hugs the river, it is well worth to have a well too, just to make sure. As for the toilets, unless your setting has artificers, it is unlikely to have proper plumbing. That makes the placement of a latrine crucial - too central, and it will stink up the castle. Too far out, and it might be a security hazard (it is one of the standard "adventurer entry points". )

Martin Greywolf
2016-11-09, 04:45 AM
Speaking of wells, Beckov is a very interesting case. It was a five-layer castle (six if you count the fortified town under it): main tower and upper walls were on top of a rock outcropping, small lower courtyard housed stables and led to bigger lower courtyard, these were both on top of a hill. The hill had a palisade surrounding the entire thing about midway up except for one side that was protected by a river.

Now, there was only one well, in big lower courtyard, and you had to go down a staircase of more than a hundred stairs to get to it. Not only are the walls there highest of the castle (maybe 20 meters at their highest point), the well had its own personal guard. This was obviously a problem for the upper castle if the lower walls were ever bleached, so they used a pretty common solution - rainwater cistern. Upper courtyard has a huge stone cistern under its floor, it was usually probably filled with rainwater, but I suspect that during dry moths, there were people responsible to fill it up with water from the well.

You can see it in this picture (http://www.obnova.sk/sites/default/files/imagecache/600xVYSKA/clanky/obrazky/beckov.jpg), the well is at the very bottom. To get a sense of just how high those walls are, this picture (http://www.discoverslovakia.info/img/hrady/beckov1.jpg) has them front and centre. Oh, an you can't see any river there because its path was artificially changed after WW2 to stop it from flooding everything - the castle got its name from the fact that the river often created a maze around it (castrum blundix in latin, it means "labyrinthine castle").

Oh, and those well guards? If they messed up and the water got poisoned, they got punished. With summary beheading.

Pugwampy
2016-11-09, 05:50 AM
Download the ascii game Castle Adventure . Its makes for a great castle dungeon map . Oh wait theres weblink .

http://www.welovedosgames.net/article/Castle+Adventure+by+Kevin+Bales+-+Maps+and+Walkthrough/