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Dungeons & Dragonsreveals two of its tropes in the title. They don’t appear in the name, but castles are also an iconic part of the D&D experience. The fantasy genre has produced some unique and memorable castles, like Minas Tirith, Castle Gormenghast, and Winterfell. The castles of history are almost as magnificent on a slightly smaller scale.
Sure, players and DMs can rely on their shared vision of a generic fantasy fortification. But with so many fictional and real-world castles for inspiration, why not make each location a living, breathing space with its own looks, sounds, smells, and feel? Let’s check out some memorable castle features for your next D&D campaign.
Tips For Creating Memorable Castles
Castles don’t just spring up overnight. Historical castles are often built upon the ruins of older, more primitive forts.People chose the same location for their stronghold over and over because it offered some advantages.Before building a castle, leaders would consider a location’s defensive capacity, access to food and water, and potential for trade.
The parameters for where to place your castle are much broader in D&D than in reality.Magic, powerful monsters, teleportation, and other fantastical elements mean you may get truly imaginative with D&D castles.The castle should make sense in the context of the game world. Cinematic fun beats slavish historical accuracy.
What’s The Purpose?
Defense is a castle’s primary function, but it’s not the only one. Castles also appear at busy rivers, crossroads, and strategic mountain passes.These locations allow for control over traffic, trade, and the movement of enemy armies.
A thick stone fortress atop a sheer cliff serves a different role than a decorative urban noble’s castle. The kind of people inside will differ, too.The fortress might be full of grim martial types, while the decorative urban castle could feature more servants and courtiers.A castle in a realm in active conflict should feel different from a castle where no threats are expected.
A castle at a busy intersection may feature a busy market outside, nobles passing through, or a retinue of traveling jugglers. Port-side castles should have a distinctive feel. Seabirds, salty air, secret cave docks - all of these features hammer home the unique feel.
High Ground
Just like Anakin Skywalker, castles favour high ground. Historical castle builders would raise a mound to put their castle on if no natural hill was available.Elevation meant better defense against projectile weapons and siege engines.Lookouts would use the castle’s highest point to watch for approaching enemies. Even if the castle is more decorative than defensive in an urban area, it should still occupy the high ground.
The laws of physics don’t apply the same way in the magical realms of D&D.However, people will still take every advantage they can get. D&D’s castles don’t need to be realistic, but they should feelbelievablewithin the game’s universe. A castle should occupy the most naturally defensive position in a landscape.
Castle Components
A castle needs a keep and curtain wall, at a minimum.The keep is a castle-within-a-castle and acts as both the living quarters and the final line of defence.Towers were built on the outer walls for observation and defensive reasons. In D&D, towers make great locations for libraries, laboratories, and wizard’s workshops. The castle’s gatehouse should be heavily guarded and in a defensible position.
Once again, D&D’s magic systems do away with the need for many castle components.For example, some castles can only be entered through magical portals or on the backs of flying beasts. As long as it makes sense in your game world, go nuts.
Diverse Decor
Castles have bare stone walls because the plaster and paint have fallen off over the centuries.The interiors of castles were brighter and more varied than we often imagine.Kingdom Come Deliverancedid an excellent job showcasing the colour, detail, and variety of medieval castle interiors.
Real castles often featured religious motifs on the walls in tapestry and paint. In D&D, you can decide which gods the castle owner favours and decorate accordingly. Castle exteriors were often plastered and whitewashed, too.Use colour, furniture, and decoration to illustrate the character of the castle’s lord.
Functional Rooms
Each room in your castle should serve a function. It doesn’t have to be grand or epic. Storerooms, kitchens, servants' quarters, and armouries are all valid uses of castle real estate.Having a use for each room allows you to determine who and what is in there quickly.
The lord and lady’s sleeping quarters are typically in the best room of the keep.The keep may also house the great hall, dining room, kitchen, chapel, and solar (which is a private family room generally on the upper floor.)
Sensory Feedback
It’s easy for DMs to focus on what the players can see andwhothey can hear.However, ambient noise is a huge part of our sense of place.Think about the processes and movement of people through the castle every day. What background noises are there?
A castle could feature stables, kitchens, courtyards, chapels, and forges. Each of these places produces unique sensory information.Hit the players with the full range of senses as they move through the castle.
Classic Castle Locations
Fantasy allows us to push the limits of practicality regarding castle location.Depending on how fantastical you want to get, you can include castles straddling active volcanoes, floating on suspended rock formations, or even castles on different planes of existence.
Magical teleportation opens up wild new possibilities for castle locations. In D&D, you can make castles without gatehouses, accessible only by magical means.Just remember to make spaces playable and navigable by the humans at your table. A castle’s location should always reflect its function - even in a high fantasy setting.
Function
Active Volcano
The active volcano castle is a Saturday morning cartoon classic for a reason.No location better reflects the volatile malevolence of a despotic bad guy than an active volcano.you may even have it erupt dramatically when the bad guy goes down - like the volcano knows!
Mountain Pass
Minas Morgul is one of the most iconic mountain pass castles in fantasy.It defends the route into (or out of) Mordor and watches for approaching enemies.Castles in locations like this are hard to supply and often uncomfortable.
Crossroads
Historical castles were often placed near the intersection of busy trade routes. (Which were also the roads armies would march on.)Placement at a crossroads allowed the lord to collect taxes, accumulate wealth, and access various goods and trade services.
Moving Castle
Studio Ghibli’s classic Howl’s Moving Castle is probably the best-known walking castle movie.But walking, rolling, and floating castles have been part of the fantasy genre for a long time.Moving castles feature in the Planescape: Adventures in the Multiverse module.
River Crossing
Building a castle at a strategic river crossing allowed its lord to control trade and traffic. This kind of castle can even feature a shipyard depending on how far it is from the sea. The Twins, the castle of the Frey family in Game of Thrones, is a great example of a river-crossing castle in fantasy.
Clifftop
The ancient Celts built ring forts high on cliffs, with one side facing the ocean.With a sheer drop to one side, their position was easier to defend - and almost impossible to flee.Supplying this kind of remote fortress was also a headache.
