Battle Bison Siege Wagon (5e Equipment)

Cost: 167,300 gp
Speed: Drawn

The Battle Bison is a gargantuan 100-ton iron wagon, 60 feet long and 20 feet wide with two decks. The lower deck holds 85-pounder bombards protected by gun ports; 2 facing forwards, and 4 on each broadside. The central deck holds similarly positioned heavy ballistae, protected by shutters. The top deck is armed with ten novel "rotary bombards" for anti-personel use, in addition to several archery towers.

The Battle Bison has eight pairs of dreadnaught wheels: huge iron wheels fitted with wide wooden boards that distribute the vehicle's weight over a larger area. This allows it to traverse muddy fields without becoming stuck. A huge number of creatures are required to pull the Bison. Individual animals or slaves routinely fall from exhaustion and are crushed under the wheels.

The wagon carries 25 stone shot per bombard, and the powder magazine holds enough serpentine powder for this. It costs 22,000 gp to restock the magazine with serpentine powder for the 85-pounder bombards.

Drawn vehicle The Battle Bison can be drawn by 150 elephants at a speed of 20 feet (2 mph); or by 1,400 slaves at a speed of 15 feet (1.5 mph).

Dreadnaught wheels The vehicle ignores difficult terrain caused by sand, mud or snow.

Size: Gargantuan
AC: 19
Hit Points: 1,700 (damage threshold 15)
Crew and Passengers: 80 bombard crew, 30 heavy ballista crew, 40 rotary bombard crew, 90 other crew or soldiers

Weapons

The heavy ballista and 85-pounder bombard statistics are repoduced by permission from VCK: Catapults and VCK: Gun Artillery.

85-Pounder Bombard

An 85-pounder bombard requires 8 crew. It takes 8 turns to load, aim and fire; optionally, you can use the recharge notation noted below (roll once for each artillery component at the beginning of each round).

Stone Shot (Recharge 6). Ranged Weapon Attack: +5 to hit, range 400/1,600 ft., one target. Hit: 44 (8d10) bludgeoning damage.

Each stone shot costs 17 gp.

Heavy Ballista

A heavy ballista requires 3 crew. It takes 6 turns to load, aim and fire; optionally, you can use the recharge notation noted below (roll once for each artillery component at the beginning of each round).

Bolt (Recharge 6). Ranged Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, range 120/480 ft., one target. Hit: 22 (4d10) piercing damage.

Each heavy ballista bolt costs 10 gp.

Rotary Bombard

A rotary bombard has multiple barrels that fires continuously as the gunner turns a crank. Like other bombards, it has smooth barrels, a breech loader and fires stone shot. However, it is fed ammunition and serpentine powder automatically from a set of hoppers. It is an exceptionally hazardous mechanism prone to misfire.

Burst Fire The rotary bombard sprays shot into a 10-foot cube area within 150 feet. Each creature in the area must succeed on a DC 12 Dexterity saving throw or take 3d10 bludgeoning damage. This action uses ten pieces of ammunition.

Reload (40). When fourty pieces of ammunition have been expended, the weapon must be reloaded.

Unreliable. After all the weapons in the rotary bombard component have fired, make a d6 reliability check. On a result of 1, the component receives one mark. If the component reaches its mark limit, one rotary bombard is disabled (its breech bursts) and each member of its gun team takes 1d10 piercing damage. The mark limit depends on the number of weapons that fired: 4 marks (1 weapon), 3 marks (up to 6 weapons) or 2 marks (up to 10 weapons).

A hopper of 40 x 4-inch stone shot costs 32 gp, and a hopper of serpentine powder costs 160 gp.

Vehicle Construction Kit

The following statistics are for use with the Vehicle Construction Kit.[1]

• Laden mass 100 tons
• Strength 23 (+6)
• Dexterity 7 (-2)
• Constitution 19 (+4)
• Turning performance 3 rotations
• Damage If the wagon takes 170 damage from a single attack, one component is disabled; if 850 damage, two components are destroyed.

Components

Slot	Component
1-2	Iron structure (front)
3-4	Gun deck (for 120 people)
5	2 x 85-pounder bombards (front arc; 25 ammo each)
6	4 x 85-pounder bombards (left arc; 25 ammo each)
7	4 x 85-pounder bombards (right arc; 25 ammo each)
8	Magazine (serpentine powder)
9	Dreadnaught wheels
10-11	Iron structure (center)
12	Dreadnaught wheels
13	10 x rotary bombards
14	2 x heavy ballista (front arc; 30 ammo each)
15	4 x heavy ballista (left arc; 30 ammo each)
16	4 x heavy ballista (right arc; 30 ammo each)
17-18	Gun deck (for 120 people)
19-20	Iron structure (rear)

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