RULEBOOK CONTENTS SECTION 1 - INTRODUCTION section 2 - Starting to play Serim Ral section 3 - General Information section 4 - Miscellaneous Orders section 5 - Castles section 7 - Thief / Rogue Abilities section 8 - Rangers / Hunters section 9 - Magic section 10 - Combat section 11 - Repeat Orders section 12 - Religions section 13 - Advanced Classes Appendices

SECTION 5 - CASTLES 5.1 - CASTLE PRODUCTION 5.2 - CASTLE RELATED ORDERS 5.3 - BUILDING NEW CASTLES 5.4 - CITADELS 5.5 - CREATING EXTENSIONS 5.6 - DELIVERING 5.7 - DEMOLISHING CASTLES 5.8 - FORTIFICATIONS 5.9 - MANUFACTURING 5.10 - PURCHASING GOODS 5.11 - SURVEYING THE LAND

SECTION 5 - CASTLES

Castles play a major part in Serim Ral. A castle automatically gains a certain amount of production from the land each turn and all troops within a castle increase by a percentage based upon the rate at which each of the troop races within the castle breed. Peasants looking for shelter and recruitment of passing monsters also account for some of the troops your castle will gain each turn.

Some races will multiply faster others, though the rate of increase is usually around 10%. Dwarves, Elves, Goblins etc will all breed at about 10%, whereas Dragons will breed, very, very slowly. Please note that a castle can contain up to 2 million encumbrance points of Troops and Items (Gold, Iron, Wood etc etc), before becoming overcrowded. You can have more than 2 million encumbrance points in your castles, but troops breeding rates will be affected.

Each player usually begins with one castle (although this can vary from game to game), but you can build more when you acquire the necessary resources. Castles can never be totally destroyed through combat but the walls can be knocked down with the use of catapults in combat or a siege. The only way to totally destroy a castle is to DEMOLISH it or invoke some extremely powerful spell. Stone or wood can be used to increase the strength of the walls. Farms, quarries, mines, timber yards, training centres, libraries, stables, forges, shipyards etc. can all be built as castle extensions. All these will be explained later. Losing all of your castles is an extreme set back, but not the end of the game. Without castles, stone, iron, wood and gold are difficult to come by and food becomes a major problem for large armies. Castles that are besieged get hardly any production, the siege will have to be lifted by defeating the sieging army.

5.1 - CASTLE PRODUCTION

Each week your castles will receive an amount of Food, Gold, Iron, Wood and Stone. All except gold are gathered from the terrain square the castle stands upon and the eight surrounding squares. A tax of 1 Gold Piece (gp) is levied upon all troops, (but not horses or livestock) which dwell in the castle. All this produce is placed within the massive castle stores, for you to use as you see fit. Each terrain square produces a different amount of each resource and these amounts can be affected by bad weather. The amounts produced in each game are as follows:-

* If your game isn't listed below, check your 'Game Specific Rules', given out with your first turn.

Deep Dominions Terrain Type Food Iron Wood Stone Forest 1250 150 1300 150 Mines 1250 1300 150 150 Solid Rock 1250 150 150 1300 Plains 1800 350 350 350 Sea 2400 150 150 150

Keltica Terrain Type Food Iron Wood Stone Forest 1250 50 1500 50 Hills 1250 1500 50 50 Mountains 1250 50 50 1500 Plains 1750 250 250 250 Sea 2000 0 150 0

Ocean Lords Terrain Type Food Iron Wood Stone Forest 1250 250 750 250 Hills 1250 750 250 250 Mountains 1250 250 250 750 Plains 1750 250 250 250 Sea 2400 0 100 0

Renaissance Terrain Type Food Iron Wood Stone Forest 1100 140 1100 140 Hills 1050 850 100 100 Mountains 1050 250 100 1000 Plains 1900 300 300 300 Sea 3000 0 500 0

As an example, lets say Stumpo Forkbeard, (an inhabitant of the Renaissance world) was to build a castle in forest, with mountains occupying the squares to the NW, N, NE, W and SW, Forest to the E and S and Water to the SE (as below).

Stumpo's castle would receive roughly 11550 Food per turn. (5 x 1050 for the Mountains squares, 3 x 1100 for the Forest squares and 1 x 3000 for the Sea square). The Castle would also receive 1670 Iron, 4300 Wood and 5420 Stone. If Stumpo had 700 Dwarves and 50 Goblins in his castle, he would gain 750 Gold as well.

The raw materials produced by each castle are essential for a variety of tasks. Food is obviously necessary to feed your Troops and Mounts. Stone is used for Creating extensions, Fortifying and as ammunition for catapults. Wood is used to Make longships, catapults and bows. Iron is required to make weapons and armour. If you find that you are in need of a material that is only produced in meagre quantities in your lands, you'll have to expand your Domain and try and Build or capture a castle in a more favourable terrain.

5.3 - BUILDING NEW CASTLES (250)

Building new castles can be carried out by use of the BUILD order. It requires 2,000 each of Food, Gold, Iron, Wood and Stone. The new castle MUST be situated more than two squares from any other castles and cannot be built on Water or in Solid Rock. Your leader will build a castle where he stands when you issue this order. He does not need any specialist men or any specific amount of men. (The local peasant population will be drafted in to complete the building). Initially the castle will have no defences, these must be built later. A castle will take only a week to build (these peasants are no slackers) and it will instantly start reaping the produce from the surrounding land. This command takes 150 hours. The format for the BUILD command is -

{Leader} BUILD {Castle}

Ordersheet Example:

LANCELOT BUILD "SKULL TOWER"

If a castle already exists with the same name you have chosen, the name will be altered. There is no limit to the number of castles that an Empire can build. You cannot issue any other orders relating to this new castle on the turn that it is being built, although each new Castle could potentially allow you to find a new Leader (subject to the usual Leader Limit of 5 + 1 per Castle) - A Find order can be issued the same turn as a successful Build.

5.4 - CITADELS (330)

You can elect to declare one castle a Citadel, the economic and military center of your empire (Citadels are known as 'Fortified Cities' in Seri Ral Keltica.) Castles which have a garrison of 1 Million Spiritual Powers worth of troops (not mounts), Fortifications of at least 60,000, and 40 or more extensions can elect to become Citadels. Changing to a Citadel requires 20,000 gold. Your city commanders will inform you as to how many more troops or extensions you need to meet the requirements when you are close.

A Castle changing to a Citadel immediately receives an extra 2 of each extension type. As your Domain expands, your Citadel will gain extra Levels. With each level that a Citadel gains an extra 2 of each extension type will automatically be created. If your Citadel loses levels, these extensions will be lost. A Citadel will also produce a huge map of the surrounding lands each turn, detailing all castles and major armies. Citadels can also DELIVER and be delivered to at half cost, with a maximum distance of 8 + 2 per level (instead of the usual 5 squares). Losing your Citadel in battle will possibly lead to desertions and the Citadel will revert to normal castle status. Each turn Citadels will also receive a tribute from each square which you own. To change a castle in to a Citadel, simply submit the following order

{Castle-name} CHANGE CITADEL

Each player may have only one Citadel.

5.5 - CREATING EXTENSIONS TO YOUR CASTLE (260)

Libraries, Stables, Forges, Shipyards, etc. can all be built by your castle with the use of the CREATE order. Some extensions are more useful than others e.g. Temple and Guardposts can boost a cities defences hugely and Barracks enable your castles to recruit new troops. The cost of building each type of extension is listed below, along with a brief description of its use:

TAVERNS : Each Tavern costs 1500 Gold and will increase your castle's gold revenue by 10%. Castles can only have two Taverns. Taverns can be VISITed automatically by your leaders if they have sufficient time after completing other orders, for the purposes of gathering information and relaxation. Thieves can also be ordered to VISIT Taverns to help bring in the cash.

STABLES : Can be built with 100 Wood, Iron, Stone and Food along with 500 Gold. Stables are used to produce 'mounts' for your troops via use of the MAKE order. Available mounts and Make costs vary from game to game.

SHIPYARDS : require 500 Iron and Gold. Ships are built in Shipyards. Each Shipyard can MAKE 1 ship each week, if there is enough wood. Each castle can have a maximum of nine. Ship types may differ from game to game.

FORGES : require 100 Food, Iron, Wood & Stone & 500 Gold. Forges are used to produce weapons, armour (bows can also be made by forges, assuming they exist in your game). Each Forge can MAKE 100 weapons, armour and bows each week, providing there is enough iron and wood. Each castle can have a maximum of 9 forges. The more forges you have, the cheaper the manufacturing costs. There are no bonuses above 9 forges.

LIBRARIES : require 100 Wood, 100 Iron, 100 Stone and 100 Food as well as 500 Gold. Libraries are used by Wizards to RESEARCH spells. Each Library can produce one random spell each week, if required. Each castle can have a maximum of 9.

TRAINING CENTRES : require 500 Wood, Iron, Stone, Food and Gold. Your castles garrison will use the Training Centres to practice their weapon skills and to increase their ability to fend of sieges. Castles can only have two Training Centres.

FARMS : require 500 Food as well as 500 Gold and 500 Wood. Each Farm will increase a castle's food production by 10%. Each castle can have a maximum of nine.

QUARRIES : require 500 Wood, Stone and Gold. Each Quarry will increase stone production by 10%. Nine is the max.

MINES : require 500 Iron, 500 Stone and 500 Gold. Each Mine will increase a castle's iron production by 10%. Each castle can have a maximum of nine.

TIMBER YARDS : require 500 Wood, Iron and Gold for specialist cutting implements and will increase wood production at your castle by 10%. Each castle can have a maximum of nine.

DUNGEONS: These are used to hold captured leaders, reducing their chance of escaping and increasing the chances of a successful Brainwash. (See section 10.6 - Dealing With Prisoners). Dungeons are created using 500 gold and 250 stone, wood, iron and food. Only two can be built in any one castle.

TEMPLES : Up to 9 temples can be built in a castle. These will increase the Spiritual Power of any Priests, Paladins or Demigods within the walls. They cost 500 Food, Iron, Wood and Stone as well as 2000 Gold. Your troops will defend the Temples with religious fanaticism.

TRADING POSTS : Each castle can have up to 9 Trading Posts, and they require 2000 gold to promote and set up. These will attract wandering merchants with whom you can trade using the PURCHASE order.

BARRACKS (not available in games of Keltica) : A very useful extension used to recruit troops to swell a castles garrison. Each Barracks extension will automatically recruit a set amount of new base race troops each week - no orders needed. They cost 250 Wood, Iron, Stone and Food plus 2000 Gold to create. Once again nine is the limit.

SLAVE PENS (Keltica Only): Each Slave Pen will automatically convert around 50 slaves to fully fledged members of your tribe.  They cost 250 Wood, Iron, Stone and Food plus 2000 Gold to create. Once again nine is the limit.

GUARD POSTS : These will boost the defence of a castle and reduce the chances of thieves committing their dastardly deeds. Yet again, 9 is the maximum, and they cost 250 Wood, Iron, Stone and Food plus 500 Gold to construct.

The following table summarises extension costs:-

The format for the CREATE order is -

{Castle} CREATE {Extension} {No of Extensions to create}

{Extension} can be any of those mentioned above. Building each extension requires 40 hours so normally only 4 will be built per turn.

5.6 - DELIVERING (130/700)

Castles can deliver much needed troops and supplies to other Castles or Leaders by employing wandering merchants to carry out the delivery. As you might expect, to persuade merchants to do this service you must cross their palms with Gold Pieces. The cost of this is 1 Gold Piece for every 10 encumbrance being transported. If you are delivering creatures that eat, sufficient food will also be taken to ensure that they do not starve to death in transit. The encumbrance of the food must also be paid for. The cost of Delivering to and from Citadels is half price, due to well maintained roads. Castles can deliver goods a maximum of 5 squares, but Citadels can deliver and receive up to 8 squares plus 2 per level.

The Merchants will leave your Castle at 130 in the OOE (Order Of Events) and head towards the recipients current location. They won't arrive till 700 in the OOE, so if anything happens during this time and the recipient is no longer at that location (e.g. a leader Moves from the square), the Merchants will return the goods to the Delivering Castle.

There are a few other important things to keep in mind:-

You can only deliver to a castle/leader if they are in a 'friendly' domain. Domains are not re-assigned until the end of the week (OOE 950), so you cannot Deliver to a Castle you've just  taken in enemy territory.

Merchants will refuse to take Deliveries to a Castle under Siege or to Leaders who have Retreted in combat.

The merchants will refuse to carry something as valuable as a magical Artifact along with them. Attempts to Deliver such items will fail.

Your Troops are extremely loyal to your Empire and will refuse to be handed over to another Empire, so you can only Deliver Mounts and Stockpiles to an Ally.

When Delivering Troops, any training they may have accumulated will be lost in transit. Discipline breaks down very fast for any troops not accompanied by a Leader or kept in a castle. (Handy hint: Thieves can Smuggle Troops to another castle with no training loss!).

The format for this order is-

{Castle} DELIVER {Castle or Leader} {Amount} {Item} {Amount} {Item}

Ordersheet Example:

STYX DELIVER SKULL 100 DWARVES

The total encumbrance being delivered would be (100 X Dwarf Weight) + (100 X Food Weight) = 10,400 encumbrance. Thus, this would cost a total of 1040 Gold Pieces (10400 divided by 10).

5.7 - DEMOLISHING CASTLES (520)

At some time during play you may find that some of your castles have been built in awkward positions which prevent the building of other castles on more productive lands. The answer to this is the DEMOLISH order, which will totally destroy the castle, evict the entire populous and dump them along with the castles stores upon the square which the castle previously occupied. The materials used in the castle's construction will NOT be returned. The syntax for this order is -

{Castle} DEMOLISH

The castle must have a population of at least 400 prior to demolition and not be involved in combat. The actual process takes 150 hours and only ONE castle can be Demolished per turn.

5.8 - FORTIFICATIONS (270)

Using the FORTIFY command, extra castle walls and Fighter fortifications can be built. Both types of fortification can be used to protect the Fighter's or castles troops.

Building either type of these fortifications requires the use of material components, such as wood or stone. Newly built castles begin with a defense rating of 0. The higher the defense rating, the more of your enemies attack will be absorbed by the walls. Every unit of wood will increase your defenses by 1 point, every unit of stone will increase your defenses by 2. This defense rating will go down if your castle or fortification is under attack by catapults or creatures with a special missile attack. The format for the FORTIFY order is:-

{Leader or Castle} FORTIFY {Amount} {Item} {Amount} {Item}

Ordersheet Example:

LANDSEND FORTIFY 300 STONE 4000 WOOD

Building fortifications will take 1 hr per 100 defensive points i.e. the example above would take 46 hours.

The {item}s must be either WOOD or STONE. The {amount} specifies the amount of that item you will use in the walls. No-one other than FIGHTERS and CASTLES may use the fortify order. You cannot Fortify if you have Retreated that week.

Fighters who have fortified their position and are then forced to Retreat in combat or decide to move will automatically destroy their fortifications to prevent them falling into enemy hands.

Any of your leaders or an Allies Leaders at these castles or fortifications will be able to gain full benefit from the defenses. It is also possible to build fortifications outside an enemy castle if desired. Any leader building Fortifications on the same square as existing 'friendly' fortifications will build a separate set of fortifications. If combat occurs, Leaders will use the largest set of defenses.

The following table shows the Percentage of an enemies attack that would be 'soaked up' by various example defences:-

E.g. A castle with a fortification rating of 10,000 will reduce the attackers combat strength by roughly 20%.

No matter how strong you build your fortifications, no wall can absorb more than 75% of an enemies attack. Guardposts and Temples will provide extra defense over and above 75%.

5.9 - MANUFACTURING (290)

Castles and Citadels can produce certain items by using the MAKE command. The following charts list the items that a castle can Make, along with costs and limitations (the 'Make list' may vary from game to game - If your game isn't listed here, check the 'Game Sprcific' rules sent with your first turn):-

Deep Dominions

Keltica

Ocean Lords

Renaissance

* Although the limit for Making food for a castle is 10,000, Citadels can Make a maximum of 50,000 food + 10,000 per level of the Citadel above level 1. e.g. a 5th Level Citadel can make 90,000 food.

** Using the MAKE ALL order will not make anything using Food due to the risks involved in accidentally starving garrisons. Separate MAKE orders will have to be issued for anything that uses food.

The formats for the MAKE order are -

{Castle} MAKE {Amount} {Item}

Ordersheet Example:

GREYSKULL MAKE 10,000 FOOD

{Castle} MAKE {Amount} {Item} {Amount} {Item}

Ordersheet Example:

GREYSKULL MAKE 100 ARMOUR 100 FOOD

{Castle} MAKE {Amount} ALL*

Ordersheet Example:

GREYSKULL MAKE 500 ALL

{Castle} MAKE {Amount} ALL EXCEPT {Item}*

Ordersheet Example:

GREYSKULL MAKE 350 ALL EXCEPT LONGSHIPS

* Click here for notes on ALL EXCEPT

If there are not enough materials or extensions within the castle to manufacture your desired items, your craftsmen will make as many as they can. This order takes no time.

Each forge can make 100 Armour, 100 Weapons AND 100 Bows every week. Weapons, Armour and Bows will cost significantly less if you have more than 5 forges (No extra bonuses above 9 forges). The same goes for the price of longships in relationship to the number of Shipyards. Both these reductions come about due to the economies of scale, less wastage and all that.

Make sure you check the 'Make list' issued with each new game as all the above extensions and costs are different in each game.

5.10 - PURCHASING GOODS FROM WANDERING MERCHANTS (220)

If you have set up a Trading Post within your castle (see Section 5.5 - CREATE order), the chances are that you will receive a visit from a wandering merchant. Each merchant will offer his goods in exchange for either Food, Iron, Wood or Stone. You can also use Gold to purchase any of the items.

Offers will be displayed on your turnsheet in the following way:-

1) 2836 Bows are being offered for 2 Stone or Gold each.
2) 647 Orcs are being offered for 20 Wood or Gold each.
3) 1797 Wood are being offered for an Iron or Gold each.
4) 800 Goblins are being offered for 6 Iron or Gold each.


You can Purchase any of the goods displayed by using the PURCHASE order:

{Castle} PURCHASE {Lot Number} {Amount} [GOLD]

e.g. If you wanted to purchase some of the Orcs above for wood, you might issue the order:-

Ordersheet Example:

HIGHWALL PURCHASE 2 500

This would instruct Castle Highwall to Purchase 500 Orcs from Lot 2. In the above example this would cost 500 x 20 = 10000 Wood.



Any lot can be bought using Gold. To do this you need to add the word GOLD to the end of the order, e.g.:-

Ordersheet Example:

HIGHWALL PURCHASE 2 500 GOLD

This would cost 10000 Gold instead of Wood.

Ancient Realms: Has a slightly different system – See Ancient Realms Rules supplement available from Downloads section of our website.

5.11 - SURVEYING THE LAND (480)

Issuing a SURVEY order will order your castle to hire a group of scouts to see if they can find a nearby spot where it is possible to build a new castle. If they find a space they will return with the co-ordinates.

The syntax for the SURVEY order is -

{Castle} SURVEY

Only a castle can SURVEY. This is specialist work and will cost 500 gold, but takes no time. It is not necessary to have surveyed an area before attempting to build a castle, it will just improve the chance of finding an available location - any location found may not necessarily be the nearest to the castle.