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.


Heavily padded, like most 3rd Edition D&D books from WOTC   September 11, 2003
 25 out of 43 found this review helpful

This book has the basics of "stronghold" construction, of course, and some of the rules are quite helpful, especially the advice on how and where to build a stronghold, and how and when to defend -- or attack! -- one. However, instead of providing solid historical examples of REAL strongholds and ACTUAL sieges, the authors pad the book in the typical 3rd edition style favored by WOTC ("Wizards of the Coast" -- D&D's current publisher).

For example, instead of saying that a spell is Reversible, as in 2nd edition, 3rd edition allows writers to simply rewrite the same basic paragraph over and over again. Millions of 2nd edition players were expected to be able to figure out that a reversible ward, or protection, or barrier against (e.g., Evil, Chaos, etc.) would work against the opposite alignment if the spell was simply reversed. In 3rd edition, these are ALL separate spells, not just variations on a theme, so if a spellcaster can place a Protection From Evil spell on a wall, for instance, the 3rd edition writers have the opportunity to insert three nearly identical paragraphs into the same section for the spells Protection Against Good, Protection Against Law, Protection Against Chaos, etc.

This cheating of readers (and especially buyers!) is carried on in the Stronghold Builder's Guidebook and amplified. The writers, for example, describe a "Bedroom, Basic," but don't add one or two sentences that "Fancy" and "Luxurious" variants take up this much extra space, cost this much extra gold, and need these staff members. Instead, we are treated to a separate section on "Bedroom, Fancy," and "Bedroom, Luxurious." ONCE might have been tolerable as an example, but this happens over and over again: we do not REALLY need, but the writers dump on us, repeated descriptions of "Basic," "Fancy," and "Luxurious" spaces in the stronghold for everything from bathrooms (despite the fact that, as the writers describe, the Medieval toilet was a "garderobe," a room with a hole which allowed the human waste to fall outside the castle wall) to throne rooms. ONE description of the difference between the three categories of space would have sufficed, but the reader must endure numerous repetitions of this type of room and that type of room as it ranges from a dirt floor with no staff member to one with marble floors and one or more servants.

All of the space wasted by repetitions could have been used for additional information about (for example) ALL of the staff needed for the stronghold and detailed descriptions of what their jobs are, or the many different types of siege equipment which might be brought in and the best ways to defend against them (there is a website for amateur siege engine makers which DOES provide that information, though -- just in case someone attacks your own, mundane home with a catapult or trebuchet!).

One area where there was a huge gap was the failure to establish the "Siege Engineer" as a prestige class (a gap filled by an article in "Dragon" magazine, which allowed the company to rake in even more money by filling a gap which they themselves had created).

Another huge gap which this reviewer noticed was the description of the counter-siege: an encirclement of a besieging army by allies of those besieged in a stronghold; many times in history a besieging army has been driven off or destroyed by a counter-siege, but we're talking about PC's and NPC's here, and they deserve to be told (or reminded) that one of Julius Caesar's greatest victories was in a siege directed against the Gallic King Vercingetorix and the counter-siege laid around Caesar's army by the tribes allied to Vercingetorix; although caught between the hammer and the anvil, Caesar and his men defeated the allied force AND took Vercingetorix and his fortress -- just the sort of inspirational story a player needs to know of, even if it is rephrased in Dragonlance or Forgotten Realms terms.

Still another huge failing is the lack of information about the realities of BEING a castellan -- how are the farmers treated? Are they free peasants or serfs, or slaves? Are the field workers marched off with the castellan's army when s/he goes off to wage war? What is the appropriate tax level which a Lawful Good castellan may impose? What about swearing fealty to the local Lord or Monarch? Players interested in those details should skip this book and buy the game "Stronghold," available for both the Mac and (broken) Windows. At $4 or $5 --used -- this book isn't a bad buy (bearing in mind that the "Siege Engineer" and who knows what else were published separately in "Dragon"). Anyone who can afford to pay full price, however, should look instead at books on war and fighting published by AEG, Mongoose, and other D20 System publishers -- the information in their books is fully compatible with D&D, and THEY don't pad their books with endless repetitions (bad grammar and typos, maybe, but not endless repetitions!).


Excellent rules, good instructions, clear maps   March 11, 2003
 19 out of 19 found this review helpful

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.


Mediocre work, but worth the cost if...   May 24, 2002
 15 out of 19 found this review helpful

Similar products in the past have allowed for more customization, this seems a bit simplistic. If you dont want to invest a lot of time in creating a castle this is the right book for you. However, it has always been my feeling that if my character reached a high enough level to build himself a castle he will want to be picking out floral patterns for the drapes.

It's still a good product, well written and creative, but in the end you will hunger for more content that just isnt there. Look for a similar product by Mongoose as thus far their Quintessential books have far exceeded the WotC books.


Castles, Dungeons, and Forts, Oh My!   July 31, 2002
 14 out of 16 found this review helpful

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.