Artillery: A character must have this skill if he is to command the crew of a piece of artillery (catapult or trebuchet). He does not have to make his skill roll with each shot; merely knowing the skill is enough. The DM can call on him to make his skill roll each time the character or the crew aims at a new target; the skill allows the character to make all pertinent calculations of trajectory, distance, and throw weight. This skill can alternatively allow the character to oversee the building and repair of all varieties of siege equipment. The character cannot know both how to build and how to effectively operate artillery weapons unless he takes the skill twice.
🏹 Racial Variants #
| Variant | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Dwarven | Seismic Calibrator | (Operation) Dwarves don’t just aim at the wall; they aim at the fault line. They can “feel” the resonance of the stone, allowing them to deal double damage to structures on a successful skill roll. |
| Gnomish | Modular Over-Engineer | (Building) Gnomes build siege engines like giant watches. Their machines are easier to transport (collapsible) and can be “re-tooled” in the field to fire different payloads (flame, gas, or stones) in half the time. |
| Orcish | Scrap-Iron Savant | (Building) Orcs can build a catapult out of anything. They ignore the need for “quality timber” or “forged iron,” using bones, hide, and scavenged wood. The machine is ugly and has a 5% chance to explode, but it’s cheap and fast to build. |
| Elven | Aero-Dynamicist | (Operation) Elves treat a catapult stone like a massive arrow. They calculate wind-shear and thermal uplift. They can fire into high-wind conditions without the usual “scatter” penalties. |
🗺️ Regional Variants #
- The Citadel Master (Metropolitan/Fortified)
Trained in the fixed-defense batteries of the world’s greatest cities.
- Specialty: Range-Marking. They have “pre-calculated” every inch of the surrounding terrain. When firing from a permanent fortification, they gain a +4 bonus to their first shot at any new target entering their “kill zone.”
- The Jungle “Slinger” (Wilderness/Tropical)
Siege engines in the jungle are often made of Living Torsion (bent trees).
- Specialty: Tension-Grafting. (Building) They can oversee the construction of “natural” artillery that uses the jungle’s own canopy for power. These machines are naturally camouflaged and nearly impossible for scouts to spot from a distance.
- The Deck-Gunner (Coastal/Maritime)
Artillery on a ship is a nightmare of Shifting Platforms.
- Specialty: Sea-Leg Ballistics. (Operation) They are experts at “timing the swell.” They ignore the penalty for firing from a moving or rocking vessel. If they hit another ship, they have a higher chance of striking below the waterline.
- The Trench-Engineer (War-Torn/Industrial)
In areas of prolonged siege, artillery is about Angle of Descent.
- Specialty: Indirect Fire. (Operation) They excel at “Lobbying.” They can arc shots over high walls or mountains to hit targets they cannot actually see, provided they have a “spotter” (someone with the Alertness or Mapping skill) to signal them.
🛠️ The “Double Slot” Rule #
As per the description, if a character takes the skill twice, they become a Master of Siege.
- Design Tip: A character with both can “Push the Engine.” They can repair a damaged piece of artillery while it is being fired, or increase the weapon’s range by 25% through dangerous modifications to the tension springs.
