Idea Introduction: The historic precursor to stone castles, the Motte-and-Bailey layout is an ideal early-to-mid survival game medieval kingdom strategy that is quick to erect and highly defensible.
What This Idea Means: Features an artificial earthen mound (the Motte) topped with a wooden or stone keep, connected by a bridge to a lower palisaded courtyard (the Bailey) housing stockades, stables, and workshops.
How to Make It: Build a large raised earthen mound (10-15 blocks high) using Dirt and Coarse Dirt. Construct a sturdy wooden Keep or stone watchtower on top of the mound. Surround the mound base and adjacent bailey yard with a double-layered pointed Wooden Palisade Wall made of stripped logs and pointed dripstone tops. Encircle the whole fort with a dry ditch filled with wooden spikes (fences/pointed dripstone).
Tips & Variations / Needs to Make That Thing:
Palettes: Stripped Oak Logs, Spruce Wood, Dirt, Coarse Dirt, and Pointed Dripstone.
Variation: Upgrade the wooden palisade into stone walls as your survival resources grow.