Ballista
Ballista: Resembling a massive crossbow, a ballista’s power is provided by twisted skeins of animal sinew used as torsion springs driving a pair of adjustable arms. A cord attached to both arms is winched back and a projectile is loaded into a grooved slider for release. Ballistae are direct-fire weapons.
Light: This common type of ballista, also called an arbalest or scorpion, is size Large, maneuverable, and often mounted atop towers or even vehicles. Light ballistae have a hardness of 5 and 50 hit points. Light ballista bolts cost 10 gp each and weigh 10 pounds.
Heavy: These Huge-sized siege engines are commonly used as castle defenses, as well as on large warships. Heavy ballistae have a hardness of 5 and 100 hit points. Heavy ballista bolts cost 30 gp and weigh 20 pounds each.
Gate Breaker: This massive ballista fires specially weighted quarrels with blunt metal tips. These are used as long-range battering rams, shot at walls or the gates of castles. When they hit a wooden structure, they have a critical range of 19–20/×3. Gate breaker ballistae have a hardness of 5 and 200 hit points. Gate breaker ballista bolts cost 50 gp and weigh 30 pounds each.
Siege Engine Qualities
The following are the various entries on the equipment tables for siege engines. While ranged siege engines use most of these entries, close-assault siege engines only use some of them.
Cost: This value is the siege engine’s cost in gold pieces (gp). The cost includes gear needed to work the engine as well as gear for upkeep. Typical ammunition costs and weights are given in siege weapon description.
Damage: This column gives the damage typically dealt by the engine. If the engine has a special mode of attack or damage, this space is marked by the words “see description.” If the siege engine does not deal any damage, but rather is a tool for getting close to or over fortifications, this entry features a dash (—). Some ranged siege engines can be loaded with special ammunition that affects or overrides the weapon’s typical damage or range. As large and imprecise weapons, siege engines do not deal sneak attack damage or any other kind of precision damage.
Critical: The entry for this column notes how the engine is used with the rules for critical hits. Unlike normal ranged weapons, siege engines can deal critical damage to objects as well as creatures.
Range: Any attack at more than the distance listed in this entry is penalized for range. Beyond this range, the attack or targeting check takes a cumulative –2 penalty for each full range increment (or fraction thereof ) of distance to the target. Some siege engines have a minimum range for effectiveness. If that is the case, the range of this weapon is followed by a parenthetical with the minimum range, followed by the abbreviation “min.”
Type: Like weapons, siege engines that deal damage are classified according to the type of damage they deal: B for bludgeoning, P for piercing, or S for slashing. Some engines deal damage of multiple types.
Crew: This column gives the number of creatures needed to properly use the siege engine, assuming Medium creatures. Some siege engines can be used with a smaller crew, but there are usually consequences such as slower aiming, firing, or movement.
Aim: This column gives the number of full-round actions (or move actions if the crew leader has the Master Siege Engineer feat) required to aim a siege engine. If the siege engine is being controlled by less than its normal crew complement, the number of actions it takes for the crew to aim the siege engine is doubled.
Load: This column gives the number of full-round actions (or move actions if the crew leader has the Master Siege Engineer feat) required to load a siege engine.
Speed: This is how fast the siege engine can be moved with move actions made by its entire crew.
Ranged Siege Engines
Ranged siege engines assault structures and people from a distance, by propelling ammunition in some fashion. Siege engines hurl massive projectiles in one of two ways: direct fire or indirect fire. Both take a number of actions to load or aim, and the basic rules are described below.
Load Ammunition: In order for a ranged siege engine to fire, it needs to be loaded with ammunition. Loading ammunition takes a number of full-round actions depending on the siege engine (this time can be reduced to move actions if the crew leader has the Master Siege Engineer feat.
Aiming a Siege Engine: Ranged siege engines must be aimed in order to attack a desired target (in the case of direct-fire siege engines) or square (in the case of indirect-fire siege engines). Aiming takes a number of full-round actions (or move actions if the crew leader has the Master Siege Engineer feat, with the number depending on the specific siege engine. Aiming a siege engine with a diminished crew doubles the amount of time it takes to aim the siege engine. Each time a new target or square is chosen as the target of a siege engine’s attack, that engine must be aimed anew.
Direct-Fire Ranged Siege Engines:
Direct-fire weapons launch their projectiles on a relatively flat trajectory, allowing them to more easily target creatures or pummel barriers directly in front of them. A direct-fire weapon uses a normal attack roll, with the normal penalty for nonproficient use. In addition, a direct-fire weapon takes a –2 attack roll penalty per size category that the weapon is larger than the creature aiming it. Creatures that have ranks in Knowledge (engineering) or use a targeting platform (see below) are not adversely affected by their size when firing direct-fire ranged siege engines. Sheer manpower can also reduce the penalties for size. Increasing the crew of these weapons by 1 or more can reduce the attack roll penalty for creature size: as long as an extra crew member is no smaller than three size categories smaller than the direct-fire weapon, it can reduce the penalty due to the aiming creature’s size by 2. For example, a Huge ballista fired by a Medium creature that is part of a crew of two (the creature aiming the ballista and someone to help position it) takes only a –2 penalty on attack rolls.
Light: This common type of ballista, also called an arbalest or scorpion, is size Large, maneuverable, and often mounted atop towers or even vehicles. Light ballistae have a hardness of 5 and 50 hit points. Light ballista bolts cost 10 gp each and weigh 10 pounds.
Heavy: These Huge-sized siege engines are commonly used as castle defenses, as well as on large warships. Heavy ballistae have a hardness of 5 and 100 hit points. Heavy ballista bolts cost 30 gp and weigh 20 pounds each.
Gate Breaker: This massive ballista fires specially weighted quarrels with blunt metal tips. These are used as long-range battering rams, shot at walls or the gates of castles. When they hit a wooden structure, they have a critical range of 19–20/×3. Gate breaker ballistae have a hardness of 5 and 200 hit points. Gate breaker ballista bolts cost 50 gp and weigh 30 pounds each.
| Name | Cost | Dmg | Critical | Range | Type1 | Crew | Aim | Load | Speed | Size |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ballista, light | 500gp | 3d8 | 19-20/x2 | 120ft | p | 1 | 0 | 2 | 10ft | Large |
| Ballista, heavy | 800gp | 4d8 | 19-20/x2 | 180ft | p | 3 | 2 | 3 | 0ft | Huge |
| Ballista, gate breaker | 1200gp | 5d8 | 19-20/x2 | 100ft | p | 5 | 3 | 5 | 0ft | Gargantuan |
Direct-fire weapons launch their projectiles on a relatively flat trajectory, allowing them to more easily target creatures or pummel barriers directly in front of them. A direct-fire weapon uses a normal attack roll, with the normal penalty for nonproficient use. In addition, a direct-fire weapon takes a –2 attack roll penalty per size category that the weapon is larger than the creature aiming it. Creatures that have ranks in Knowledge (engineering) or use a targeting platform (see below) are not adversely affected by their size when firing direct-fire ranged siege engines. Sheer manpower can also reduce the penalties for size. Increasing the crew of these weapons by 1 or more can reduce the attack roll penalty for creature size: as long as an extra crew member is no smaller than three size categories smaller than the direct-fire weapon, it can reduce the penalty due to the aiming creature’s size by 2. For example, a Huge ballista fired by a Medium creature that is part of a crew of two (the creature aiming the ballista and someone to help position it) takes only a –2 penalty on attack rolls.
