Siege Equipment for Small Users

[Benejeseret]

Greetin's

1) Are their rules for siege equipment? Are they in the core books (all I have access to)?

2) My inspiration is the Kroot and Krootox from 40k and I am looking for ways to have mounted attackers use ballista or mini-trebuchets etc from on top of moving animals.

3) My second inspiration is mongol hordes...so lots of mounted ranged weapons all around. More-over I envision the mounted hordes of this world as Goblins.

4) Most of the horde will be goblins with shortbows and be mounted on warponies. But, I am looking for smallish sized siege weapons to fit onto larger animals (something like a Kodo from WoW...maybe with Bison-stats).

Can anyone help orientating me to A) siege weapons of the sort useful above, or B) a good animal that Goblins would use as a mounted platform?

Thanks

*EDIT* oh yes...appropriate for 6 PC's lvl 2 and a score of NPC's in a wooded barricaded outpost.

[JackMage666]

I can only answer a few (I don't play 40K or WoW)

A) Yes, but not in core. Look in Heroes of Battle, if you can, as they're all stated out. Other than that... Good luck?

B) Worgs are a good, classic mount for Goblins. They also speak Goblin, so it makes perfect sense. Wolves and Dire Wolves work too, and they're less intelligent, which may work better for you (easier for the PCs). Horse and Ponies work, but they're more often used by civilized creatures. My vote goes to Worgs - Don't fix what's not broken.

[Neon Knight]

I think the Dungeon Master's Guide has rules for siege weapons in one of the sections.

[Benejeseret]

Thanks

No access the Heroes of Battle I'm afraid. Perhaps someone in my group has it, doubtful though.

Wolves are worgs are indeed classic. I must admit however, that I like to make things a bit less convensional whenever I can. They just don't feel like Steppe warriors of the Khan though...

I am even thinking of putting the Khan (Goblin Tribes leader) on an elephant, but do not want a battle ground full of elephants.

Maybe I'll make chariots sporting the siege weapons and thatway all of the hord exept Khan can have the same mounts.

[BRC]

We had an idea in one game for the fighter to use a seige crossbow as a handheld crossbow, ALA Detrius, but our DM nixed it.

[JackMage666]

Thanks

No access the Heroes of Battle I'm afraid. Perhaps someone in my group has it, doubtful though.

Wolves are worgs are indeed classic. I must admit however, that I like to make things a bit less convensional whenever I can. They just don't feel like Steppe warriors of the Khan though...

I am even thinking of putting the Khan (Goblin Tribes leader) on an elephant, but do not want a battle ground full of elephants.

Maybe I'll make chariots sporting the siege weapons and thatway all of the hord exept Khan can have the same mounts.

It's conventional, yes, but it's likely. Wolves are found easily in nature, while Horses almost have to be bought. Elephants, are, well, expensive and rare, and require quite a bit of work. Goblins are small, remember, so it's harder for them to bully animals around. Wolves and Dogs should make a majority of the mounts, at least, due to ease of access.

[dyslexicfaser]

I advise mounting your goblins on war-rams.

Just the mental image of your goblin horde sweeping down on your PCs atop a wave of sheep is a classic.

[Pironious]

Siege Weapons

It's in the DMG. Somewhere.

[Funkyodor]

Well, my advice if you want some make-shift rules for a siege creation. Use Large or Giant Warg/Wolf mounted Heavy Crossbows or Repeating Crossbows. Enchant some quarrels with the Beads of Force / Necklace of Fireballs enchantment and have go. Fire enchantment is cheap for the area of effect damage, but the Force damage for the Beads of Force is hard to be negated.

[Storm Bringer]

when you say you're after the krootox type weapon system,are you looking for a seige weapon that can keep up with the cav in battle and be fired on it's mount in a field battle (i.e. a horse artillary unit), or just a heavy siege system that won't slow the army down on the march?

historically, Balista/seige crossbows were mounted on elepants in parts of Burma (i think, the book i got this form is not at hand. A jungle people at least)

[BardicDuelist]

I would have the goblins riding worgs, because it makes sense. But if you want somthing different, boars (because that just seems fun to me) and dire bats. Instead of siege engines, I would use the bat riders as an "air strike." A mobile siege engine just isn't feasable without an animal the size of an elephant, even for small creatures (because a siege engine that small wouldn't do enough damage to be a good siege engine). While you could use necklace of fireballs or beads of force, for second level characters that could be way to powerful. Annother problem could be that the PCs could get these items and all hell break loose.

[Benejeseret]

Siege rules right on D20 org....bah! I searched through it many times....they should really be in the weapon section, not in the Wilderness entry.

Thanks!

I like the war-rams, and the dire bat bombers.

I think I will do it in a series of battles. Round one will be classic Goblin scouts mounted on wolves. They will not directly attack the settlement but will try to sneak in at night and cause chaos if the PC's do not deal with them early. If the PC's do not kill them all as soon as they appear, some will ride back and report outpost location to the horde (giving the PC's and village less time to prepare for the main assault)

Assault 2 a small unit of dire bat mounted goblins a few days later throwing javalins and each has 1-2 alchemists fire. Their aim is to 1) burn food stocks, 2) buildings 3) defensive walls.

Main assault: A number of war-ram pulled chariots with light catapults mounted on the platforms. The Khan will also be on a chariot. The remainder of the goblin horde mounted on wolves with shortbows.

Thanks everyone