D&D (2024) Bonus Unearthed Arcana Reveals The Bastion System

A 'bonus' Unearthed Arcana playtest document has appeared, and it shows off D&D's upcoming Bastion System.

This October, we’re bringing you a special treat. While we’re continuing to develop and revise public playtesting material for the 2024 Player’s Handbook, we’d thought you’d enjoy an early look at what we’re cooking up for the 2024 Dungeon Master’s Guide.

The coming Dungeon Master’s Guide will be the biggest of its kind in decades and contain an assortment of new tools for DMs and their tables. In Bastions and Cantrips, we’re showcasing one of these tools, the Bastions subsystem. Dungeon Masters and their parties can use this subsystem to build a home, base of operations, or other significant structure for their characters.

And if you’re raring to test out more character options, we’re also including revisions for 10 cantrips in this playtest packet.

Claim Unearthed Arcana now! - D&D Beyond

www.dndbeyond.com

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[Parmandur]

Putting Cunning Strike in the final book certainly seems like the right call. That said, I think it would very much be worth putting it in another playtest to work out the details. Which of the specific options are people most and least excited about? Should every Rogue have access to all of the options, or should they choose a subset? Cunning Strike is comparable to Weapon Mastery in its novelty, complexity and importance, and I think it merits similarly detailed playtesting to get the details right.

That's what actual playtesting is for, I'm sure they got enough details for UA purposes.

 

[fluffybunbunkittens]

This playtest material is not perfect. I am incensed!

It's not that it obviously needs work, it's more that there's base assumptions there that, again, make you wonder what game WotC are playing.

But, if they're going to put it in anyway, I'm glad they put it out as a playtest so we can at least try to comment on it before it's printed.

 

[Parmandur]

I don't see either of these as a hole in the system. Personally my players would enjoy having their own strongholds as opposed to being forced into a group one (though group strongholds should be an option). And D&D is a level based game so I expect level gating.

The clever tie-in to Level and advancement is one of the most D&D touches here.

 

[Alby87]

"Bastioni turn". This is a good signal that in the book we will see "Dungeon turn" and "Wilderness turn". Procedures are really back baby!

 

[Parmandur]

Agreed, as long as there is at least the customization of like 2 traits per critter you can choose between, like the Tasha’s summons. I’d want more than that, but I get folks get overwhelmed when they gotta choose a bunch of individual bits in order to do a thing.

I think that customization is less needed if people can shop the Monster Manual, if both are open, but some would be nice.

 

[Zaukrie]

I don't think there really would be one, honestly, but that kind of just doubles-down on the "money sink" issue.

The big hole with that system is really the fact that it's not a group project and then all the stuff being level-locked is just weird.


This has been discussed heavily for decades, and nearly a decade with 5E specifically, and if you didn't get it at any point before, I think it's safe to say you're never going to understand it, and I think it's probably because don't want to understand it.

What a rude way to disagree with em.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

Sloppy introduction of ideas drains enthusiasm. Introducing a good idea with easily criticized and obvious execution flaws triggers defensive cynicism.

This and WotC also never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, have the option to say "The concept is good, the execution is completely wrong", they only let you say "I LOVE THIS!" or "I think this is okay" or "I HATE THIS".

It's current implementation, for me, is an "I HATE THIS". But conceptually? It's "I LOVE THIS". So how am I supposed to answer the dumb survey? "I think this is okay"? Split the difference? But it's not true, and it won't match up with any text I right in the unlikely scenario that I read it.

I don't see either of these as a hole in the system. Personally my players would enjoy having their own strongholds as opposed to being forced into a group one (though group strongholds should be an option). And D&D is a level based game so I expect level gating.

I think that's a unhelpful response, frankly.

Very few groups which aren't full of the most separatist/unique players around will actually want separate bases for every PC, in my experience. So the fact there's absolutely no provision for group strongholds, indeed you'd be penalized for trying to do it, is bananas.

Secondly, the idea that a level limit on casting a spell or using a special ability is the same as a level limit on owning a pub is just totally unserious lol. And that you think that it's acceptable for the level minimum to own a pub be LEVEL FRICKIN THIRTEEN lol, higher level than most campaigns even go to is just wild.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

What a rude way to disagree with em.

Who is "em"? I was responding to you, not Imaro. I'm not even disagreeing per se, I'm saying I don't believe you actually want to understand if you totally don't understand at this point. It's been discussed so much, and you've been part of some of those discussions.

It's fine to not want to understand something, there are some things I'm just not interested in understanding either, but I generally avoid discussions of those things, rather than bringing it up as if it needed to be explained to me.

 

[TwoSix]

This playtest material is not perfect. I am incensed!

My $0.02, as someone who's not getting the new books, so take it for whatever it's worth:

It would be one thing if WotC was popping out new playtest material every week, and gave the important pieces a good 8-10 public iterations before finalizing, like most of the reputable homebrewers do. But they're just pretty slow, and a lot of the major changes are getting 1 or 2 tested revisions, at most.

So if you don't see (what you consider) important issues being addressed by the 1st, maybe 2nd release, there's a pretty good chance they're going to stay unaddressed in the finalized product.

 

[Leatherhead]

They finally fixed True Strike!

But it's weird that True Strike does Radiant Damage and Shillelagh does Force damage. You would think it would be reversed.