Wall Defenses

A simple wall offers no cover to characters standing on it. Castle designers, however, had several ways to rectify the problem:

Battlement: This is a barrier about six feet high with alternating solid parts (merlons) and openings (embrasures). A battlement gives Man-sized creatures standing behind it 50% cover while actively defending the wall against attacks coming from below the battlement. The best cover an active defender can claim from attacks coming from the battlement’s level or higher (for example, from attackers atop a siege tower) is 25%. A wall less than 10 feet thick requires a catwalk to make a battlement useful.

Catwalk: This is a narrow ledge that allows defenders to hide behind the wall. It grants 25% cover against attacks coming from below.

Embrasure Shutter: These heavy wooden shutters can be added to a battlement to increases the cover value to 75% against all attacks.

Hoarding: This wooden construction is similar to a catwalk, but it is built on the outside of the wall. It gives 90% cover to creatures attacking opponents at the base of the wall, and 75% cover otherwise. A hoarding made of stone is called a machicolation.

Splay: This is an angled area at the base of a wall. It helps support the wall, and makes it difficult for siege engines to attack the wall directly. If the defenders drop rocks from atop a wall fitted with a splay, the weapons scatter if they miss. Use the bombardment engine scatter diagram, but treat a roll of 5, 6, or 7 as a roll of 2. The rock bounces one square in the indicated direction. War machines are automatically struck and creatures must roll a successful saving throw vs. breath weapon or be struck, regardless of Armor Class.

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