Small Castles

DanHoward · 02-13-2012, 06:25 AM

I'm looking for a book or website with illustrations and floorplans of small castles - single towers, border keeps, frontier forts, fortified manor houses, etc. I've found plenty of stuff for larger castles but very little about smaller fortified buildings - those intended to hold no more than a dozen or so soldiers. I've found one or two examples here and there (there are a couple of good ones in the Palladium book for example) but I was hoping that someone had compiled a bunch of them in one location. Any suggestions?

Gorkamorka · 02-13-2012, 07:46 AM

Don't know of one. But if you find it please share it with us.
Thanks

Turhan's Bey Company · 02-13-2012, 08:08 AM

Hmmm. If you haven't already, I believe you can find examples, particularly of stone manor houses, in Sydney Toy and Banister Fletcher, but I can't think of a good single source on small fortifications. The impression I get, though, is that any really small fortification ends up being some variation on the theme of a rectangle (possibly with the door off the ground level somewhere to make access that much more difficult). There's not really much scope for much more diversity than that.

SCAR · 02-13-2012, 08:15 AM

I've seen a couple of items on DTRPG which cover this sort of thing:
Castle Builder Volume 1: Strongholds
Castle Builder Volume 2: Manor Houses
Not sure how useful they are.

robkelk · 02-13-2012, 08:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Turhan's Bey Company

... The impression I get, though, is that any really small fortification ends up being some variation on the theme of a rectangle (possibly with the door off the ground level somewhere to make access that much more difficult). There's not really much scope for much more diversity than that.

Well, there are Martello towers to provide some diversity...

The Colonel · 02-13-2012, 08:31 AM

I think some of the Harn products may be good for this ... but I forget who our resident Harn booster is.

thrash · 02-13-2012, 08:46 AM

The British government publishes small books about each of the castles in the heritage trust. These typically include floor plans. If you sort through the list and pick out some examples of the size you want, you may be able to find the plans online through a Google image search. Sorry, though: I can't remember which agency produced the originals.

Castle Coch is the smallest that comes readily to mind: it's a reconstruction on the original foundations, but that may make it more suitable for a fantasy campaign. It does have a round plan.

Part of the problem may be that small fortifications were more likely to be torn down, so there are actually fewer examples left.

Jovus · 02-13-2012, 09:53 AM

I don't know how small you want, but you can find maps of various Swiss castles online, like Chillon

Hans Rancke-Madsen · 02-13-2012, 11:15 AM

Google 'small castle floorplan', then select the pictures. Many will be floorplans of castles too big for your purpose, but the small castles will stand out to your eye.

Hans

ak_aramis · 02-13-2012, 12:12 PM

Palladium's book of weapons armor and castles has several.

Pendragon's Nobles Book has several, as well.

None of them are "game ready."

There is also the old Judges Guild castles book for the campaign hexagon system.

02-13-2012, 06:25 AM	#1
DanHoward Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Maitland, NSW, Australia	Small Castles I'm looking for a book or website with illustrations and floorplans of small castles - single towers, border keeps, frontier forts, fortified manor houses, etc. I've found plenty of stuff for larger castles but very little about smaller fortified buildings - those intended to hold no more than a dozen or so soldiers. I've found one or two examples here and there (there are a couple of good ones in the Palladium book for example) but I was hoping that someone had compiled a bunch of them in one location. Any suggestions? Last edited by DanHoward; 02-13-2012 at 06:38 AM.

02-13-2012, 07:46 AM	#2
Gorkamorka Ceci n'est pas un hyperlien Join Date: Oct 2005 Location: Iceland	Re: Small Castles Don't know of one. But if you find it please share it with us. Thanks

02-13-2012, 08:08 AM	#3
Turhan's Bey Company Aluminated Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: East of the moon, west of the stars, close to buses and shopping	Re: Small Castles Hmmm. If you haven't already, I believe you can find examples, particularly of stone manor houses, in Sydney Toy and Banister Fletcher, but I can't think of a good single source on small fortifications. The impression I get, though, is that any really small fortification ends up being some variation on the theme of a rectangle (possibly with the door off the ground level somewhere to make access that much more difficult). There's not really much scope for much more diversity than that. __________________ I've been making pointlessly shiny things, and I've got some gaming-related stuff as well as 3d printing designs. Buy my Warehouse 23 stuff, dammit!

02-13-2012, 08:15 AM	#4
SCAR Join Date: Oct 2004 Location: Yorkshire, UK	Re: Small Castles I've seen a couple of items on DTRPG which cover this sort of thing: Castle Builder Volume 1: Strongholds Castle Builder Volume 2: Manor Houses Not sure how useful they are.

02-13-2012, 08:31 AM	#6
The Colonel Join Date: Jul 2006	Re: Small Castles I think some of the Harn products may be good for this ... but I forget who our resident Harn booster is.

02-13-2012, 08:46 AM	#7
thrash Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: traveller	Re: Small Castles The British government publishes small books about each of the castles in the heritage trust. These typically include floor plans. If you sort through the list and pick out some examples of the size you want, you may be able to find the plans online through a Google image search. Sorry, though: I can't remember which agency produced the originals. Castle Coch is the smallest that comes readily to mind: it's a reconstruction on the original foundations, but that may make it more suitable for a fantasy campaign. It does have a round plan. Part of the problem may be that small fortifications were more likely to be torn down, so there are actually fewer examples left.

02-13-2012, 09:53 AM	#8
Jovus Join Date: Sep 2008	Re: Small Castles I don't know how small you want, but you can find maps of various Swiss castles online, like Chillon

02-13-2012, 11:15 AM	#9
Hans Rancke-Madsen Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Copenhagen, Denmark	Re: Small Castles Google 'small castle floorplan', then select the pictures. Many will be floorplans of castles too big for your purpose, but the small castles will stand out to your eye. Hans

02-13-2012, 12:12 PM	#10
ak_aramis Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Alsea, OR	Re: Small Castles Palladium's book of weapons armor and castles has several. Pendragon's Nobles Book has several, as well. None of them are "game ready." There is also the old Judges Guild castles book for the campaign hexagon system.