My AD&D 1e website - Articles - glossary

Glossary entrance

Bill George — Mon, 16 Jun 2014 19:02:26 +0000

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I got many of these terms from one book and modified the meanings to fit my game world. The rest are from my understanding of the books. The definitions of terms I have in this glossary may vary from my interpretation of the same terms.

The name of the book is: ‘The Castle Explorer’s Guide’ by Frank Bottomley published by Avenel Books.

True, its a castle guide. But the first 200 pages is a castle parts dictionary, with illustrations. I found it to be very useful. The castle guide part is a short paragraph on each castle listed taking up the last 50 pages.

glossary: A, B, and C

Bill George — Mon, 16 Jun 2014 19:00:10 +0000

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Allure: The wall walk along the top of the curtain (qv) to aid in its defense. Access to the rampart walk could be by wooden or stone stair parallel to the wall. Access via the towers is also possible. It is unknown when the allure first came into use; however, Carden the Sage believes it has been in use for over 1,000 years.
Arrow: of different designs according to their purpose. Long bow war arrows are of two lengths: flight arrows ( 37 inches) for high trajectory long-range fire; sturdier sheaf arrows ( 27 inches) for close-range pircing of mail armour and plate armour. The arrow shafts are made of ash and their fletchings of goose feathers.
Astral: about or within the Astral Plane

Bailey: A word meaning “palisaded enlosure”. Apparently first applied to the defended area of a summit of a motte (qv). later; Age 11 Year 5; used of the enclosure of a castle which gave additional space beyond that of the inner strongpoint, i.e. motte, mound, keep. Some baileys are so small as to be really an additional protection to the staircase of the mound e.g. keyhole plan. Larger ones defended the cattle and horses and later; Age 11 Year 100; provided additional accomidation for the lord and garrison, e.g. hall, kitchen, chapel, and workshops. More elaborate castles had outer and inner baileys; Age 11 Year 127; and large baileys were sometimes interrupted by a cross-wall whose purpose was to block the free circulation of troops who had invaded the area.

The bailey could take a variety of shapes of which the most popular was a circle or oval. This was easier to lay out than a rectangular shape and obviated the problem of accumulated earth from the corners of the ditches. The ‘kidney’ shape is probably the most common form of bailey.
Ballista: Artillary engine in the form of a very large bow which discharges heavy spears. First used by dwarves in Age 9 c. year 200. It fires a huge spear out to 320 yards.
Barbican: exterior defence protecting an entrance. Besides increasing protection at this necessary weak point, they could shelter a large group of fighters who need to cover a retreat or make a quick assault or sortie outside the walls. The barbican also confined attackers producing a larger target and making it more difficult to bring all forces to bear on the defenders. This marks a shift from the castle to the curtain wall. This also could confuse an enemy, as did the prehistoric; Age 7 (?); earthwork entrances.

Originally, they consisted of a simple wood palisade (qv); Age 4; or an earthwork and were usually circular or semi-circular. Some were larger or smaller portions of a circle. Usually depending on local or construction necessity. Later they were made of masonry and became a mostly rectangular form: Age 11 year 45.
Bartizan (Crow’s Nest, castle version): Small turret or lookout point corbolled out at an angle on a tower or part of the curtain wall. These are the stone version of a wooden hoarding on a curtain wall.
Battlement: One of the distinguishing features of a castle, i.e. a fortified residence. A license to crenel (qv) is required in many countries, especially the feudalistic nations. The first curtain walls; Age 11 Year 5; were not crennallated.
Bolt: A short arrow fired from a crossbow. The head of varied which according to purpose: warfare, practice, bird-shooting, or game hunting. Battle bolts are of seasoned hardwood about 1/2 inch to one inch in diameter. At a fair range these sharply pointed bolts could pierce most armor except perhaps when striking a glancing blow on a curved surface. To obviate this weakness the quarrel (qv) was devised.
Buttery: ‘Butter’ presided over by the ‘Bottler’. A small room between kitchen and hall. Where beer and wine is distributed to the diners during meals.
Buttress: Thickening of a wall for strength and support, usually tapering towards the top. Also an additional strip of masonry to give additional strength and support. Sometimes clasping buttresses at the corner of great keeps are of such dimensions as to be able to house spiral staircases.

Campaign: general term refering to one referee’s adventures as a whole rather than indivudually. An on going series of games based upon a created millieu (qv).

Castle: A term applied to the fortified houses which developed in Age 9, year c. 300. The word ‘castle’ originally applied to the enclosure while the motte (qv) within it was applied to the ‘tower’.

Charm: a magical form of minor mind control.

Chivalry: The institute of knighthood, i.e. the qualities idealized by knighthood, such as bravery, courtesy, and honesty.

City-state: A country (state) comprised of an autonomous city and its surrounding territories.

Code of Chivalry: A code of conduct and rules. ( I’ll type up my campaign’s list of these later. )

Crestar: The name of my campaign planet, ‘Crest of a Star’, not a parallel Earth.

Crenel: The embrasure in a parapet between merlons (qv). To ‘crenelate’ means ‘to fortify’. A license is required before a residence can legally be crenellated.

Curtain ( wall): A stretch of wall between two towers, but often used of the whole wall including the towers. The cross-curtain divided the bailey (qv) into two wards.

glossary: D, E, and F

Bill George — Mon, 16 Jun 2014 18:59:11 +0000

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Damage: The number of hit points inflicted on a person or structural damage points done to a structure.
Ditch: Even the early palisades; Age 4(?); had a ditch around them. A ditch can be as much as 60 feet across and vary in shape from a sharp V to a more rounded U. Outworks (qv) of thorn-walls, or other obstacles, usually protected them.
Earthworks: ( see also Motte and Ditch): The first “castles” basically relied for defense on mound (motte), ditches, and dirt ramparts. A low mound was used for a residence castle, while a motte was used for a garrison fortress or seige-castle.
e.g. for example
Erg: a sea of sand. The Great Erg and ‘the small erg’ are two on this game world.
folowers: a loyal group of associates garnered by a character at a certain level, usually nineth.
Fumble (house rule): Rolling a Natural 1 (qv) or a Natural 2 (qv), depending on the character’s level. ( Fumble procedure added later on ‘house rules’ page.)

glossary: G, H, and I

Bill George — Mon, 16 Jun 2014 18:57:56 +0000

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Gate: The main entrance gate to a castle usually had two leaves, with a wicket in one, closed by locks and bars which slid into slots. The gate is made of oak planks with thick cross-braces behind external planking to prevent axes from splitting the timber.
‘Gate’: A magical transport/teleport device that can send a character to anywhere/anytime. Some are trapped or are traps. Many sages and adventurers believe that The Little old man in Gray (qv) uses ‘gates’ to take adventurers he hires to the many places that could not possibly be in Crestar(qv).
Gatehouse: As the entrance was the weakest part of a castle, its strengthening was a first priority and probably the first built in stone, date unknown; probably before Age 9. The word ‘gatehouse’ extends to a complex system of fortification which can include bridges, gates, barriers, and the defensive walls and towers which cover the entrance. many different versions and styles exist.
Green Guild: A group of green-clad messengers. They take honest, truthful messages only. They deal harshly with anyone that falsely wears the clothing of the guild or has them carry messages that turn out to be lies. The first recorded instance of a Green Guild messenger is Age 10 c. year 500. They travel any distance, anywhere. Their base fee is 1,000 gold pieces, but they guarantee delivery. Many intelligent monsters will not stop a member of this guild from delivering a message. Ocean voyages add a base 1,000 gold pieces to the costs. (Note: I got this idea from a trilogy of books about the Towers of Tornor.)
Helmets:
```
my campaign names:  AC:  visual type:                       Earth history type:
  Arnan helm         4     conical metal                      Norman type
  Bartan helm        4     conical metal with nose guard      Norman type
  Celtan helm        3     helm with cheek pieces             Roman Legion
  Dartan helm        2     helm, enclosed                     Middle Ages Great helm
  Ertan              5     iron or leather cap                plain iron or leather cap
```
Ertan first came about, probably, in Age 5, year and artisan unknown.

Arnan probably Age 5 as well.

Bartan probably Age 5.

Celtan, named after its maker Chago Celtran. He lived sometime in Age 7.

Dartan, named by its maker John Shoethumper. He lived in Age 9, and developed the habit of thumping shoes and feet during battle with his mace.

Some Bartan helms have added cheek pieces.

A nose guard with wire cage, or nose guard, was added to some Celtan helms in Age 10, Year 127 by armorer Yalno Tak-Nok.
Drawn using CC3’s Character Artist.
Henchman: A low-level non-player character whose loyalty is to one member of the party rather than the party itself..
Hireling: A non-player character hired to accompany a party on an adventure, or employed for some purpose.
i.e.: That is
Inches: game scale of 10 feet on the indoor (dungeon) scale, and 10 yards on the outdoor scale, range only. For area of affect, it means feet.
Identify: In my campaign the spell Identify doesn’t use a gold fish, and it only gives approximate pluses of a magic item. Few is +1 or +2; several is +3 or +4; many is +5 or +6. Most of the +6 items are Unique. Broken or gone, they are gone forever.

glossary: K, L, and M

Bill George — Mon, 16 Jun 2014 18:55:28 +0000

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Keep: The strong point and ‘last resort’ of earliest castles, normally separate from the first line of defense and often with direct communication to the field. The earlier word used was dinjon. The shell-keep (qv) came into use in Age 10, year c. 10; the square keep Age 11, year 1; hexagon keep Age 11 year 110; and the round keep Age 11, year 200.
“Killer” dungeon: a dungeon/adventure in which the player characters have no chance to survive. Not how I gamed.
Little Old Man in Gray: A man in a gray outfit that hires characters to clean up various areas, usually places that are not located in or on the normal Prime Material Plane that is Crestar (qv). They could be located anywhere, even a parallel Crestar. Mad Rock and my version of Tomb of Horrors comes to mind.
Loop: A vertical narrow slot, usually splayed, to provide light or an offensive aperture through a wall for bow and crossbow fire. A narrow aperture that resembled a Y-shape, with the open part of the Y, as part of the outer wall.
Machiolation: A stone projecting gallery at the top of a castle wall, supported by a row of corbelled arches, having openings in the floor through which stones and boiling oils could be dropped on attackers. The wooden version was removable and was called a hoarding.
Manor: The main house of a landed estate; Dtranyo Castle is a typical example from the Age 11, year 100. The name ‘Dtranyo’ comes from the strange arch on the estate; possibly an entrance to a no longer present castle. Strange events happened to the last group to investigate the arch. ( Dtranyo Castle is the manor house won by one group of players for their continued valor. They remodeled it in stone. ) [ The module I altered for this was ‘The Lone Tower/Clearmoon Castle’ by Judges Guild. This evidently came out of a book of adventures, as the last page has the map for Willchidar’s Well on the back of it. ]
Manor House, fortified: A towered or crenellated manor. First seen about Age 10, year c. 840.
Merchant Guild: A guild of powerful merchants that goes beyond territorial bounderies of any one country. To sell large amounts of any item, a retail license is necessary at 30 gp per year. The guild fee is 5 gp per transaction or 50 gp/year. This includes such things as horses, food, armor, weapons, etc.
Merlon: The solid portion of a crenellated wall between the two open spaces. They are usually 5 feet to 6 feet wide and about 6 feet tall. Some have arrow loops.
Millieu: A unique game setting embodying numerous possible variables in its creation, i.e. the ‘world’ in which the adventures take place.
Missle: any object flung or projected towards a target.
Monty Haul: A campaign, or the DM ( referee) running it, in which greatly excessive amounts of treasure and/or experience are given to the player characters for little difficulty or little effort. Example: characters kill 2 orcs, and get 1,000,000 gp. Not how I gamed.
Motte: A wide mound of dirt or stone, crowned by a wooden tower as a lookout. The motte must be designed for a stone tower or the motte will collapse. This earliest form of a castle is believed to have first occured in Age 7.
Motte-and-Bailey: A very early, but very effective, type of surface gnome castle ( c. Age 9). It was soon adopted by everyone. It consisted of a mound with a ditch and a further area defended by another ditch and palisade (qv). The many variations included up to three baileys. It could be constructed in as few as 7-20 days; it was later constructed of stone.
Mound: An early type of motte, date unknown.
Murder holes: A name given to holes in the vaulting of an entrance passage, used to harass an enemy with missile fire.