Siege Warfare (POCT)

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Small frays between bands of adventurers and their foes are not the only battles fought in a fantasy world. Companies of brigands roam the countryside, and there might be scores of troops in a town guard or castle garrison. In times of war, armies numbering in the thousands might take to the field.
Nor are hand-held weapons such as swords and spears the only deadly implements a hero is likely to face. Well-prepared opponents often employ war machines of ingenious design and fearsome potential. Likewise, defenders need not depend solely on the local terrain for protection; instead they might employ all manner of constructions and fortifications.
This chapter's first section, War Machines, discusses fighting equipment that generally is larger than typical hand-held weapons. Bombardment engines, vehicles, and miscellaneous devices are included. Escalades covers a wide variety of actions, including battering down common portals and scaling walls. Sieges and Fortifications discusses the lengthy processes of smashing through fortifications through brute strength. Mass Combat provides a way to quickly determine the outcome of a battle too large to play out using the Player's Option combat system. Finally, Proficiencies gives details on two new warrior proficiencies introduced in the previous sections.
==Does This Belong in My Campiagn?==
Few campaigns will use the material presented here all of the time (castles, artillery, and massed troops are hardly commonplace), but most campaigns will find it useful occasionally.
The majority of the material in this chapter is intended for use with the combat system from Chapter One and the Battlefield rules from Chapter Three. It is not necessary to use the combat system with any of the material in this chapter, but your games will be greatly enhanced if you do. The rules on fortifications presented here use many terms and concepts from the material on battlefields, and it is necessary to be familiar with Chapter Three before using them. The material on sieges and on mass combat is intended to stand alone.