D&D's 2024 Dungeon Master's Guide: A Much-Needed Bastion Overhaul!
D&D's Bastions: A Great Idea, But a Few Problems!
The new Dungeons & Dragons Bastion system is a really cool addition to the 2024 Dungeon Master's Guide, adding a unique base-building mechanic! This is all well and good in theory. Players build and manage their own headquarters, something to be proud of and work towards; however, this raises a number of critical issues and there are a lot of reasonable concerns that needed resolving; particularly during its early introduction. Base building, and management in D&D, previously required heavy homebrew rules and specific campaign modifications. Bastions give consistent guidelines for base-building mechanics – and thus create that base game appeal and integration which many fans would expect.
Bastions first appeared in Unearthed Arcana playtesting—yet unlike other frequently revised class options–only getting that one pass! It was mostly complete when added, though it was still missing various elements and required much further work for integration; most significantly the micromanagement concerns. While many D&D players love crunching numbers in the middle of epic battles and between encounters—that's just not for everyone; meaning that added overhead significantly hurts those other players interested. That was before its reworking. And this changed things significantly.
Goodbye, Bastion Points: A Smart Simplification
One HUGE issue was Bastion Points; this unique resource initially tied to Bastions, used primarily for crafting magic items! This seemed nice in theory: incentivizing base-building and offering those additional abilities at later character level growth; it was, as mentioned above; not great, mostly due to many mechanics related to management and creating that overhead mentioned. It became really problematic.
The 2024 Dungeon Master's Guide simply cuts this entire element. No more Bastion Points! That's really, really important. Special Facilities within a Bastion gained Bastion Points and accomplished specific actions (and previously provided those resources)! Instead, Special Facilities provide unique direct benefits, thus reducing a major overhead; preventing an increase in bookkeeping.
That removal of the crafting reward element initially seemed concerning. A main reward for having Bastions–magic item creation–now requires a change! It’s better as it removes micromanagement; those aspects that required several key mechanics for interaction.
Special Facilities are changed to add direct magic item crafting! Starting at level 9, Arcane Study crafts common and uncommon Arcana items. A Sacristy creates Relics. A Smithy makes Armaments. And the Workshop gives Implements.
The New System: Tradeoffs and Considerations
It's not perfect. That replacement lacks completeness, heavily encouraging those Special Facilities over others! For instance, an Arcane Study might be less useful than other items, particularly for those who didn't plan on this. That's why this design decision must also be examined; as that ability to craft high quality items is incredibly important; however it does require changes and is not easily done.
Crafting Rare, Very Rare, and Legendary items is removed (this is an incredibly significant change from how this aspect initially functioned), making a large difference between earlier development in play testing, through the changes here.
However, Dungeon Masters can always still work magic items into campaigns; completely outside of Bastions. There was no point requiring strict enforcement; preventing people to access and enjoy those rewards!
Conclusion: A Step in the Right Direction
It’s a shame Bastions didn’t get longer testing and improvement periods! Yet getting rid of Bastion Points seems hugely effective and makes this D&D mechanic far, far better overall for players and improves on initial play test concerns. Removing micromanagement significantly impacts and opens this opportunity to those who couldn't stand the thought of yet another gameplay system overlay! This improvement to Bastions completely alters and enhances it as a viable gameplay alternative; opening this opportunity toward those additional players previously unaffected due to concerns mentioned previously.
