Stronghold Builder's Guidebook (Dungeons & Dragons d20 3.0 Fantasy Roleplaying) [Paperback]

Matt Forbeck (Author), David Noonan (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 2002

Defenses Wrought of Mortar and Magic

Heroes need impregnable fortresses to assault, wondrous towers to explore, and majestic castles to protect. This book is stocked with everything needed to design any fortified structure imaginable, including:

Over 150 new magic items .

More than two dozen magical augmentations for stronghold walls.

Rules for magic portals, mobile strongholds, and trap creation.

Five complete strongholds, including maps, ready for immediate use.

Players and Dungeon Masters who want to create customized strongholds will find all the construction materials they need within these pages.

To use this accessory, a player or Dungeon Master also needs the Player's Handbook.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

MATT FORBECK is the cofounder of Pinnacle Entertainment Group and is best known in the gaming industry for his work on Deadlands and the creation of the superhero roleplaying game Brave New World. Forbeck lives in Wisconsin.

DAVID NOONAN is an editor for the Wizards of the Coast Core D&D team. His credits include the Hero Builder's Guidebook. Noonan lives in Washington state.

Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Wizards of the Coast (May 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0786926554
• ISBN-13: 978-0786926558
• Product Dimensions: 10.7 x 8.5 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (20 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #530,996 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent rules, good instructions, clear maps, March 11, 2003

By 

J. Roberts "RP madman" - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Stronghold Builder's Guidebook (Dungeons & Dragons d20 3.0 Fantasy Roleplaying) (Paperback)

It's now possible for even the severely map-challenged, namely yours truly, to design dungeons that are something more than an endless string of boxes connected by doors.

I realize that many resources existed before, but until now I hadn't found all those resources in bascially the same place, outlined so simply.

Whil agree with some critics of this book who claim that it makes building an impenetrable castle a little too affordable, I've always believed that it's the DM who's responsible for keeping the game from tipping too far in the player's favour, not the sourcebook.

What I really appreciated were the simple rules for figuring out how much staff a given structure would need, and how much you ought to pay them.

24 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Solid instructions for a good solid keep, May 20, 2002

By 

Darren Sweet (New Brunswick, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Stronghold Builder's Guidebook (Dungeons & Dragons d20 3.0 Fantasy Roleplaying) (Paperback)

The Stronghold Builder's Guidebook (SBG?) provides both players and GMs with a simple solid system for building everything from massive castles in the clouds to dungeons in the underdark. I've purchased books on the subject before. Most are quasi-historical texts done up in game terms. The SBG is different. In addition to covering the usual subjects, it expands the concepts into a true high fantasy setting.

The book is broken into three chapters. The first chapter layouts out the steps for building your dream structure. The second chapters goes on to describe in detail a wide variety of components to use in building your stronghold. These components include everything from the mundane (i.e. a basic kitchen) to the wondrous (a Bier to Resurrection). Details are also given on magically enhanced walls and traps. Please note some of the information on traps is a repeat of that found in Song & Silent. The third chapter deals with how a stronghold interacts with the fantasy world around and also gives some good example keep.

All in all the SBG is a good solid reference for gamer who want a solid foundation for their castle building adventures.

16 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Castles, Dungeons, and Forts, Oh My!, July 31, 2002

By 

Steve Stoehr "rockon66a" (Westerly, RI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Stronghold Builder's Guidebook (Dungeons & Dragons d20 3.0 Fantasy Roleplaying) (Paperback)

I remember a short campaign I ran a while ago, where my players amassed so much wealth that they decided to buy a tavern and some empty lots in the city they were basing out of. On those empty lots, they were hoping to open shops selling the jewels that some gnomes were going to sell to them. Having recently cleared out a gem mine, they had met the enterprising gnomes and struck a deal. Also, they were hoping to build a mansion on the biggest lot. I did not have this book at my fingertips, so I guessed and estimated. I now realize how wrong I was.

This book has cleared up everything I found difficult about building strongholds. It gives you details on how to build everything from a one-room cottage to a 200+ stronghold space dungeon. The rooms are not broken up into 5 feet and such, but into stronghold spaces, which are something like 20 square feet, maybe more. There are everything from privies to huge, fancy libraries, magic labs to heavily fortified barbicans and gatehouses, and nearly a dozen or more different wall types, both interior and exterior. It also gives you three or four premade strongholds, and details on how to run, assault, and conquer strongholds. All in all, this book is a godsend both to PCs and NPCs alike.