Siege Weapons: Chapter 6

In order to add a more frantic element to fortress battles, Dark Tides staff encourages units/players to design and use siege weapons. Please contact the event staff about siege weapons before the event.

General
Firing siege weapons must pass a hit test similar to that of archery or javelins at a range of 20 feet. Arrow or bolt style ammunition follow the Dagorhir javelin rules as described by the MoA. Round/shot/rock ammunition follow the Dagorhir rock rules as described by the MoA. Event coordinators have final say on what is considered a safe, passing, and legal siege weapon. For safety, siege weapons may not be fired if any enemy combatant is within 5 feet of the siege weapon or any of its three-man crew; siege weapon crew must stop if a hostile fighter approaches within 10 feet of a moving siege engine. Siege engine crew may defend themselves in any Dagorhir legal manner when not operating the siege engine.

Dark Tides administrators strongly suggest that when you move a siege weapon, you find a herald. The herald will follow the siege weapon to ensure the ten-foot radius is maintained and to immediately settle disputes between parties.

Movement and Firing
Three ICs are required to move and fire a siege weapon. This means that while a siege weapon is in play (being carried or firing), three characters must be in immediate proximity with the siege engine/in contact with the siege engine. A siege weapon may only be fired once every 10 seconds. Between shots, one of the weapons crew must give a standard "10 Dagorhir count" out loud; the crew may load and reset the siege weapon during the 10 second count. If a combatant comes within 10 feet of a moving siege weapon or its three-man crew, it must be stopped and placed on the ground. For safety, siege weapons may not be fired at any targets if any enemy combatant is within 5 feet of the siege weapon or any of its three-man crew.

A siege weapon may be carried away by three dead players of the unit/camp it belongs to, in a similar manner which a dead archer retrieves arrows. The siege weapon is considered "out of play" during this time, and does not need to stop if enemies are within the 10 foot radius (this is simply to prevent a character from "camping" by a siege engine, preventing the crew from standard resurrection procedures). However, for safety, players should avoid fighting near a "dead" siege weapon crew, and a "dead" siege weapon crew should avoid moving near fighting players. Use common sense.

Combat
Siege weapons will be placed into one of two categories; direct or indirect. Event coordinators have final say on what is considered a Direct siege engine or an Indirect siege engine.

Direct
Direct siege weapons are those which propel ammunition in a straight line towards a fortress and CANNOT be fired at targets within 15 feet. Examples are ballista and sling style catapults. Direct siege weapons can bring down a rope fortress wall by landing 5 shots over the wall and into the rope fortress. Direct siege weapons deal Black Damage (instant death if struck, regardless of contact with armor, shield, weapon, or body part); this applies even if the struck player is an NPC with Stone Skin.

Indirect
Indirect siege weapons are less accurate but usually more devastating. Examples: trebuchet and catapults that "lob" ammunition with an actual arm. These weapons can bring down a rope fortress wall by landing 3 shots inside the walls (even if the ammunition bounces/rolls out). Indirect siege weapons deal Black Damage (instant death if struck, regardless of contact with armor, shield, weapon, or body part); this applies even if the struck player is an NPC with Stone Skin. Any player struck by fired indirect siege weapon ammunition before the ammunition stops moving is killed on contact.

Damage to Walls
A wall is destroyed by 5 shots from Direct siege weapons. A wall is destroyed by 3 shots from Indirect siege weapons. If a siege weapon fires multiple projectiles in the same load, those projectiles are all considered to be the same shot; two projectiles from the same loading and firing only do one shot worth of damage to walls, regardless of the number of projectiles that hit.

For simplicity's sake, if a wall of a fortress is struck by multiple types of siege ammunition, any Indirect shot is considered to have done damage equal to two Direct shots. (e.g. A wall is shot by 1 Direct shot and 1 Indirect shot. The wall is considered to have taken damage equal to 3 Direct shots; one more Indirect shot or two more Direct shots will destroy it.) Think of it this way; a wall has five "hit points", Direct shots deal one damage and Indirect shots deal two damage.

Fort Gates
If the fortress has a gate, the first successful siege ammunition shot into a fortress is considered to have destroyed the gate and does not count towards the total number of hits the walls may take.

Ammo Recovery
Siege weapon ammunition fired into a rope fortress will remain in the fortress until the owner of the ammunition requests its return or the fortress owners pay to have it removed (see Purchasable goods: Appendix III).

Requesting the return of siege weapon ammunition thereby reverts the damage done to the wall by said ammunition. In other words, asking for your ammo back undoes the damage to the wall. To successfully destroy a wall, all successful shots must remain inside the walls until the walls are destroyed. Requesting ammo to be returned does not undo damage to a gate, only a wall.

Destroying Siege Weapons
Siege weapons can only be destroyed by torches (which can be purchased at a vendor, Church, or the Tavern). If a siege weapon is struck by three torches, it is considered destroyed for the night or until a repair is purchased at a vendor. Torches may not strike a siege weapon while it is being moved; however, approaching within ten feet of a siege engine's crew causes the siege engine to stop. Torches may be thrown or placed on a siege engine. Do not intentionally strike someone with a thrown torch. Once a torch is used, it is expended. Torches MUST be held above your shoulders and MUST be the only item in your hand.

Important Note
Darks Tides administrators strongly suggest that when you move a siege weapon, you find a herald. The herald will follow the siege weapon to ensure the radius is maintained and to immediately settle disputes between parties.