Martellus

Similar to a catapult, this siege device is designed and balanced to fire a gigantic throwing hammer. These massive hammers can deal devastating damage to a structure, although they are very expensive to Craft and hard to load on the launcher.

Ultimate Equipment Guide II

Author Greg Lynch, J. C. Alvarez
Publisher Mongoose Publishing
Publish date 2005

The missile of a martellus has the exact shape of a thrown hammer, only its stone head is about 6-foot wide and its wooden ‘handle’, here used for throwing balance, measures more than ten feet in length. It requires the efforts of at least four characters to pick this enormous object up, while another two hold the launcher ready.

As a catapult, a martellus throws its missile in a relatively high arc. It could theoretically attack a square out of its line of sight, if its range was long enough. However, the sheer size of its missiles limits the range of a martellus significantly, causing most of its targets to fall within line of sight anyway. When attacking with a martellus, the chief of the crew manning the weapon must make an attack roll, using only his base attack bonus plus any range modifiers.

If the attack hits, the martellus hits the square it was aimed at and no further attack rolls are needed to hit the same square unless the martellus is reaimed for some reason. If the attack misses, the missile falls in one of the eight squares surrounding the target, determined randomly by rolling 1d8. A martellus deals the indicated damage to any creature and/ or structure located on the square it hits; creatures are allowed a Reflex save for half damage.

Loading a martellus requires four full-round actions, two to prepare the engine and two to actually load the missile. Aiming a martellus is a full-round action, firing it is yet another one. A martellus that has successfully hit any given square does not need to be aimed to hit that same square again. It requires at least six characters to load a martellus and two to aim and fire it. A martellus can be rolled along at a base movement speed of ten feet.

• Martellus: 1,400 gp; Damage 8d6; Critical x3; Range 75 ft.; Typical Crew 6
• Martellus Missile: 175 gp; 2,000 lbs.