Well, at least it was faster the second time, as a lot of it was from memory. Also on the plus side, I caught a couple more things I missed on the first pass. Hopefully I didn’t miss anything I originally caught…
Chapter 2: Equipment
Pg. 40 Under Craftsman’s Tools, “Craftsman’ tools are required…” should read, “Craftsman’s tools are required…”
Pg. 41 Under Crutch there’s no mention of what a effect a crutch actually has…
Pg. 41 Under Howdah conversions are given for weights from Stone into Pounds (e.g. 6 stone (60lb)) when no prior conversions were given for anything other than capacity. Why?
Pg. 41 Under Pavilion, “…measuring 24’ diameter and 12’ in height…” should read, “measuring 24’ in diameter and 12’ in height.”
Pg. 42 Under Prosthesis multipliers are given for different construction material (e.g. silver (x5)) with no explanation as to what is multiplied. Cost?
Pg. 42 The listing for Quintain has been pushed into the text for the previous entry (Prosthesis) by the formatting
Pg. 42 Under Shield, “…the shields’ interior can be used as a mirror…” should read, “…the shield’s interior can be used as a mirror.” (misplaced apostrophe)
Pg. 42 I’m a bad person because I lol’d at the example for Surgical Saw
Pg. 42 The “Artillery” table lists weight conversions from stone into pounds for all artillery. Why?
Pg. 43 Under Crew and Rate of fire it states the negative effects of not having an artillerist; can a siege engineer replace an artillerist?
Pg. 44 Under Battering Ram, “A battering ram weighs must be crewed with 5 man-sized creatures…” should read, “A battering ram must be crewed with 5 man-sized creatures…”
Also, the damage is listed in the description, giving both standard (“4d10 shp”) and 1/10th (“1d4 shp”) damage (for wood and stone, respectively). There is some inconsistency in that artillery doesn’t do this, and these rates (x1 and x1/10th) are explained under structures, later, which could result in confusion (e.g. 1/10th of 1/10th for stone structures).
Pg. 45 Under Moveable Gallery and Moveable Mantlet it states that, “creatures gain a +4 bonus to saving throws versus Blast caused by artillery, burning oil, or similar effects.” Does that exclude breath attacks, spells, etc.? The wording of, “…or similar effects…” seems to imply so.
Pg. 45 Under Screw it states that, “Each bore deals 3d10 shp of damage to wooden structures and 1d4+1 shp of damage to stone structures…” but this is at odds with the “SHP” entry on pg. 47, which would mean 3d10 shp to wood and 1d4-1 shp (or better, 1d3 shp) to stone.
Also, see the note for Battering Ram above.
Pg. 46 Under Siege Tower see the note for Moveable Gallery (pg 45) above.
Also, a huge siege tower lists its drawbridge as only 10’, as well as being on the 5th floor, 75’ up, all identical to a large siege tower. Is this correct?
Also, I know virtually nothing about classical siege warfare, but the siege tower entry states, “External crew generally stand outside the tower and pull it with ropes.” How do these crew members avoid being slaughtered when so exposed? The wikipedia (I know, I know!) entry for Helepolis suggests the crew pushed the tower from behind (though it doesn’t explain how). Please illuminate the darkness of my ignorance…
Pg. 46 Under EQUIPMENT AVAILABILITY ON CAMPAIGN the paragraph beginning, “An army of even modest size will be accompanied by a baggage train…” should be moved to before the “Army Size/Market Class” table for clarity. It’s a personal, minor thing, but starting a sub-section with a table is cumbersome. The next sub-section on STRONGHOLDS AND STRUCTURES suffers from the same problem, but there is no introductory text to move.
Also, “…as shown on the adjacent table…” should then read, “as shown on the table above.”
Pg. 48 Under Arrow Slit and Battlement: see Moveable Gallery (pg 45) above
Pg. 48 Under Wall it states, “Walls may be built up to 200’ high, but cost is doubled.” Is the cost doubled for anything over 60’ high?
Pg. 49 Under The Typical Labourer, “…every laborer has a construction rate of 1 2/3 sp…” should read, “…every laborer has a construction rate of 2/3rds sp per day…” for both correction and clarity.
Also, “…differentiate between unskilled laborers, skilled laborers craftsmen, and engineers…” should read, “…differentiate between unskilled laborers, skilled laborers, craftsmen, and engineers…” (missing comma)
Also, “Workers may be unskilled laborers, skilled laborers, craftsmen,
and/or engineers…” should probably be moved to directly after the sub-heading. I would also suggest the following for clarity (though it may be more trouble than it’s worth):
"The Typical Worker: Workers may be unskilled laborers, skilled laborers, craftsmen, and/or engineers.
If you don’t want or need to differentiate between unskilled laborers, skilled laborers, craftsmen, and engineers, you can simply assume that every worker has a construction rate of 2/3rds sp per day. Every 3,000 workers will construct 500gp per day. This is a good option for large armies on long campaigns.
Unskilled laborers might be peasants, slaves, prisoners, conscripts, or even mercenaries on labor detail." This improves clarity, but introduces another term that would need to be updated in subsequent paragraphs (although some already use the term “workers” interchangeably with “labourers”).
Also, undifferentiated labourers has a construction/wage rate lower than unskilled labour. Why? Balance? I seem to recall this being asked and answered before, but I can’t find the reference…
Also, “Characters with just one rank of Siege Engineering proficiency count as skilled labor, not siege engineers…” should read, “Characters with just one rank of Siege Engineering proficiency count as skilled laborers, not siege engineers.”
Pg. 50 Under CONSTRUCTION SITES it states, “Thus a project built with a work force of more than 3,000 workers will end up costing more (in gp of wages paid) than the labor cost of the project. However, the project will get built faster.” After reading this several times, it’s perfectly clear, but on initial reading it seemed counter-intuitive. The last sentence is the sticking point, as for workers beyond the first 3,000 the rate per labourer is SLOWER. Just wanted to mention my initial reaction.
Pg. 50 Under CONSTRUCTION MATERIALS the paragraph beginning, “Alternatively, raw materials may be bought with cash at a market…” should be moved to before the “Back to Basics” sub-heading for both clarity and continuity with costs and methods of obtaining construction materials.
Pg. 50 Under ASSISSTING CONSTRUCTION WITH MAGIC, “This construction rate only can be used on ditches, moats, and earthen ramparts!” should read, “This construction rate can only be used on ditches, moats, and earthen ramparts!”
Pg. 51 Under ASSISSTING CONSTRUCTION WITH MAGIC in the sentence that reads, “Apply 500gp towards the stronghold’s construction cost per wall of stone spell cast…” the word spell should not be highlighted in bold based on previous usage
Pg. 51 Under ARTILLERY AND SIEGE EQUIPMENT CONSTRUCTION, “The normal limits regarding construction sites not apply to artillery and siege equipment…” should read, “The normal limits regarding construction sites do not apply to artillery and siege equipment…”
Pg. 51 Under the “Spells Cast/Construction Effect” table spell-name highlighting in bold is applied inconsistently