What Rooms Would You Put In A Fantasy Castle

[Miles Lacey]

I haven't seen "Wine Cellar" yet.

Brewery: Got to lift the spirits of the folks with... well... spirits or beer! The more posh might want their wine so a wine cellar is useful, I guess.
Storage Rooms: We've got to have somewhere to put the firewood, food, dead servants and all the other stuff that may or may not be useful later.
Printing room: Aristocrats need fancy stationary to write their orders, speeches, memoirs, letters and porn. Let's just hope they don't mix them up. Good for publishing books when things are quiet.

 

[ChasingSuns]

If you want to cover the basics, I would recommend checking out Shadiversity's videos about castles. The guy is pretty extensive. Beyond that, I would consider the needs of the specific ruler. For example, a king in my story has a personal guard specifically for his queen. They have their own quarters near the queen's chambers. If there is a court wizard, do they have their own separate tower, or are they housed within the castle walls? Is the lord or lady a very religious type? If so, then add a temple or church. If there is a sort of elite troop of warriors, do they train on the grounds? Gryphon eyries, underground tunnels, a portal to another realm... the possibilities are endless. It all depends on what the needs of the ruler are, and furthermore, what the story needs.

 

[ShadeZ]

Does the castle generally take in lot's of prisoners?

Yes and no. They take monster and dragon prisoners. They rarely take human prisoners and being that they can easily take captive a dragon human captives don't tend to last.

 

[ShadeZ]

s the lord or lady a very religious type? If so, then add a temple or church.

What if this is a castle built by and belonging to gods?

 

[ChasingSuns]

What if this is a castle built by and belonging to gods?

As in the gods reside within the castle, or that the castle is owned by them and merely lived in by others? My biggest questions would probably center around the nature of these gods. Is this castle on the mortal plane? Are the gods active in the world? What are they like? Benevolent? Vain? Hedonistic? Do they care about devotion? Do they have specific spheres of influence? Are they against anything in particular, whether it be physical or ideological? All of these would probably affect the contents of the castle in some form or another.

 

[ShadeZ]

As in the gods reside within the castle, or that the castle is owned by them and merely lived in by others? My biggest questions would probably center around the nature of these gods. Is this castle on the mortal plane? Are the gods active in the world? What are they like? Benevolent? Vain? Hedonistic? Do they care about devotion? Do they have specific spheres of influence? Are they against anything in particular, whether it be physical or ideological? All of these would probably affect the contents of the castle in some form or another.

As in they reside in the castle. It is on the mortal plane in the far northern reaches where the land of magic meets the land of men. The primary four are, a god of ice and war who is ironically benevolent he believes his kind should help humans, the goddess of magic energy and wildness who is impartial to humans she prefers the fae whom the humans often are at war with, she stays out of the war because he brother is the ice and war god and she knows he loves humanity. Then there is the young god of bloodshed, violence, and desire he will kill anything or seduce anything he respects only his own kind and his followers, he remarkably is quite fond and protective of his followers as his father before him was. Then there is the goddess of archer and all things sky and air, she is extremely hostile towards all beings except some of her own people, she gets along with the god of ice and war, she is often condescending to humans if not outright lethal and sadistic, this changes because of her admiration for the god of ice. There is an understood law of no indivines permitted except for dragons and each god/goddesses "prophet/speaker" and spouse (it isnt common for them to marry indivines though). They didn't make humans their creator did, they all generally consider humans and the like lesser sometimes calling the main character a human scholar and ice mage a pet some of them often call him easy prey or a parasite or pestilence on the land.

Additional characters include
A god of light-God of Paladins, very kind and benevolent to all.
A god of warriors-Father to the ice and war god, often found seeking a challenging rival.
The goddess of shadow and covert operations-usually popular with the assassins and theives.
A god of the hunt and forests- followed by hunters and healers usually.
A god of carnage/murder-father of the god of bloodshed, he is currently unable to take a physical form.
A goddess of kindness-also banished from he physical world, sister of the god of bloodshed.

 

[ChasingSuns]

As in they reside in the castle. It is on the mortal plane in the far northern reaches where the land of magic meets the land of men. The primary four are, a god of ice and war who is ironically benevolent he believes his kind should help humans, the goddess of magic energy and wildness who is impartial to humans she prefers the fae whom the humans often are at war with, she stays out of the war because he brother is the ice and war god and she knows he loves humanity. Then there is the young god of bloodshed, violence, and desire he will kill anything or seduce anything he respects only his own kind and his followers, he remarkably is quite fond and protective of his followers as his father before him was. Then there is the goddess of archer and all things sky and air, she is extremely hostile towards all beings except some of her own people, she gets along with the god of ice and war, she is often condescending to humans if not outright lethal and sadistic, this changes because of her admiration for the god of ice. There is an understood law of no indivines permitted except for dragons and each god/goddesses "prophet/speaker" and spouse (it isnt common for them to marry indivines though). They didn't make humans their creator did, they all generally consider humans and the like lesser sometimes calling the main character a human scholar and ice mage a pet some of them often call him easy prey or a parasite or pestilence on the land.

Additional characters include
A god of light-God of Paladins, very kind and benevolent to all.
A god of warriors-Father to the ice and war god, often found seeking a challenging rival.
The goddess of shadow and covert operations-usually popular with the assassins and theives.
A god of the hunt and forests- followed by hunters and healers usually.
A god of carnage/murder-father of the god of bloodshed, he is currently unable to take a physical form.
A goddess of kindness-also banished from he physical world, sister of the god of bloodshed.

Now my next question would be, do they have any needs? Do they eat, even if just for the sake of doing it? Do they engage in any recreational activities? I feel like, since they are gods, without the needs of humans you technically eliminate a lot of the more practical facilities. That being said, that depends on how the gods function when it comes to things such as eating, sleeping, and whatnot. That being said, I imagine that they would have facilities for any visiting prophets. Another idea I would suggest is looking into the planes of Oblivion in Elder Scrolls. Each daedric prince has a pocket dimension that suits their needs/personality. I think this might help with the design of your castle. Having several deities devoted to some level of war/violence/hunting, I could see a hunting grounds or some sort of area/dueling area. Perhaps your shadow god has a hidden space in the castle, which can only be entered through some secret means. Think about the needs/wants of each deity, and take that down to even the most mundane form and see what it looks like. Also on a side note, considering dragons are visiting, they'll definitely need some sort of eyrie/food supply available, so I would take that into account.

 

[Aldarion]

Basics:
Great Hall / Mead Hall
Kitchen
Lord's Quarters
Living Quarters
Storage
Armoury
Stables
Food Storage
Fodder Storage
Wine Cellar
Forge
Woodwork
Mill
Practice grounds
Apothecary
Chapel
Dog kennels

Extras:
Library
Cartography room
Treasure room
Dungeon / prison
Torture chamber
Dragon kennel
Monster room

 

[ShadeZ]

Now my next question would be, do they have any needs? Do they eat, even if just for the sake of doing it? Do they engage in any recreational activities? I feel like, since they are gods, without the needs of humans you technically eliminate a lot of the more practical facilities. That being said, that depends on how the gods function when it comes to things such as eating, sleeping, and whatnot. That being said, I imagine that they would have facilities for any visiting prophets. Another idea I would suggest is looking into the planes of Oblivion in Elder Scrolls. Each daedric prince has a pocket dimension that suits their needs/personality. I think this might help with the design of your castle. Having several deities devoted to some level of war/violence/hunting, I could see a hunting grounds or some sort of area/dueling area. Perhaps your shadow god has a hidden space in the castle, which can only be entered through some secret means. Think about the needs/wants of each deity, and take that down to even the most mundane form and see what it looks like. Also on a side note, considering dragons are visiting, they'll definitely need some sort of eyrie/food supply available, so I would take that into account.

They have hobbies. They love meat and ale and honey as a rule of thumb some love apples as well. Cider and mead are both very popular and some of them make mead. They have "bed rooms" in the castle. These "bedrooms" often have a strong influence in the favor of the god/goddess. For example the wilds goddess room has an abundance of stone, wood, hide, and even random animals in it. The ice and war gods room is chilly the stone walls always wintery a giant white wolf ice spirit resides here as a pet/guard this "pet" was trained by the magic goddess. His walls are lined with weapons and trophies from battles and rivals he has slain.

 

[ChasingSuns]

They have hobbies. They love meat and ale and honey as a rule of thumb some love apples as well. Cider and mead are both very popular and some of them make mead. They have "bed rooms" in the castle. These "bedrooms" often have a strong influence in the favor of the god/goddess. For example the wilds goddess room has an abundance of stone, wood, hide, and even random animals in it. The ice and war gods room is chilly the stone walls always wintery a giant white wolf ice spirit resides here as a pet/guard this "pet" was trained by the magic goddess. His walls are lined with weapons and trophies from battles and rivals he has slain.

I guess then my answer is that, you have some of your answer. If they love mead, then have a meadery, for example. Like I said, you can likely eliminate many usual parts of castles in favor of what operates due to their personal needs, or in this case, personal hobbies. At that point, it just depends on where the exploration of said hobbies goes. Castles are very practical structures, so think of how they would practically meet the needs of your gods.

 

[Vaporo]

Castles are very practical structures, so think of how they would practically meet the needs of your gods.

Perhaps the word we're looking for here is "palace" rather than "castle."

 

[ChasingSuns]

Perhaps the word we're looking for here is "palace" rather than "castle."

I suppose it comes down to fortifications. Is this a fortified structure? If not, then palace would definitely fit, although it would still have similar functions in terms of rooms and such.

 

[ShadeZ]

I suppose it comes down to fortifications. Is this a fortified structure? If not, then palace would definitely fit, although it would still have similar functions in terms of rooms and such.

Yes, my grandfather recently mused that he would want a castle not a palace. Naturally this left my grandmother confused and he explained the difference. Castle- Simalar to a Fort. Serves for defense. Palace-to show off. Not defensive.

 

[Cu Mara]

Library
Orrery/Clocktower
Solars
Reception Halls
Church/Prayer Rooms

Yes Definitely a library!

 

[Chasejxyz]

Conservatory/greenhouse/orangery. Flex your money/magic/tech by having plants from other regions kept alive in a totally different biome. Plus you get to fight off scurvy, and you can impress folx with fresh produce from far-off lands.

 

[Toby Johnson]

a library that seems smaller on the outside but has every book imaginalb inside