Fortification (sage study)

Fortification is a sage study in the field of Architecture, providing knowledge that enables the character to design defensive military fortifications such as walls, towers, harbours, mottes and baileys, gates, drawbridges and siege engines. The knowledge extends to making plans — for the most part, actual construction may take years and even decades, and can be performed by simple labourers under the guidance of skilled workers.

The study includes a knowledge of how nature can be used to provide the most effective natural defences, such as large hills, cliffs, rivers, lakes or even caves. Additional details, such as machicolations, crenulations and parapets, are part of the study. The actual construction of these things is dependent upon others, but the architect can explain how they are made and where to place them for best effect.

Sage Abilities

The sage abilities below are those acquired by a character through the study, according to status.

Amateur Status

• Defensive Obstacles: providing the character with training in the making of field fortifications such as abatis, caltrops, cheval de frise and trou de loup. Includes earth or sand-filled gabions and revetments, used collectively to make a military camp improvement also counts as part of the ability.
• Rudimentary Defenses: allowing the design of practical, essential foundations and structures without elaborative features, such as palisades, simple curtain walls, square gatehouses and the like. The ability includes ditches and hinged gates.
• Siege Weapon-making I: allowing the creation of devices intended to break or circumvent castle doors or walls, such as battering rams, trebuchets, catapults, ballista and mangonels are part of the ability.

Authority Status

• Bastion-making: in which the character’s knowledge grants a full understanding of how basic structures can be enhanced with established defensive forms, such as those listed in the description above. With time and financing, most structures can be made impregnable to ordinary siege attacks.
• Sapping: provides skill in digging and shoring underground tunnels designed to collapse enemy fortifications.
• Siege Weapon-making II: enables the practical innovation of devices that may be larger than ordinary and unusual in design, or incorporate technologies such as rockets and other explosives and magical effects.

See Bard Sage Abilities