D&D 5E How do you do Bastions?

[Shades of Eternity]

I've heard a lot of vitriol toward Bastions online so I'm curious...

How would you do Bastions?

What are your underlying assumptions of what they should do?

Would it be an individual or group location and why?

How do you use it to drive stories?

What should it do?

Should they be portable and how? (I don't know about you, but I'd save up good money for my own Baba Yaga's dancing hut).

any other questions of note go for it.

 

[Lazybones]

I have baked them into the plot of an existing campaign that I've updated to the 2024 rules, just moving a few events around so that the option becomes available as the group reaches 5th level. It's a city campaign with guilds and great houses that the players interact with so the Bastions will come out of the connections that the party make during the first part of the campaign. The party is only second level at this point so there's plenty of time to work out the details.

I will let the players decide whether to combine them as suggested in the DMG. I have six players so I may discourage them from all selecting separate locations just to keep the logistics under control. I have stressed that this is an optional system, so I don't think all of the players will bother with it. Otherwise I think I'll stick to the DMG rules, as this is our first time using them.

 

[Tonguez]

How would you do Bastions?

What are your underlying assumptions of what they should do?
PCs get to design the Bastion within the setting framework set by the DM, primarily freeform narrative unless Players want to go big on details. Mapping optional, NPCs should have names and motivations

Would it be an individual or group location and why?
I tend to plot things out in square mile areas (using five 120acre hydes within a square mile) so there might be a Village, a Keep, a Temple Area, a 100 acre wood and an Owlbears lair.

Bastions will be one of those Hydes with PCs expected to place their personal bits within the same vicinity (not necessarily the same building, but close enough to walk)

How do you use it to drive stories?
Primarily downtown but also a site for Social encounters especially if the PCs become influential due to their actions. It should get some degree of immunity from GM fiat and destruction, but random events including intrigue, betrayals, attacks and losses are fair game.
Naturally random events might spin out into adventures if the PCs choose to respond

What should it do?
Be the homebase and site of NPC relationships and entanglements

oh and the rules need to add an Embassy Structure for diplomatic actions

Should they be portable
Ship, Wagon and Camp based Bastions ought to be a thing. My character spent years as part of a travelling Circus Troupe, with everything (including my alchemy lab) carried on wagons

 

[M_Natas]

I've heard a lot of vitriol toward Bastions online so I'm curious...

How would you do Bastions?

What are your underlying assumptions of what they should do?

Would it be an individual or group location and why?

How do you use it to drive stories?

What should it do?

Should they be portable and how? (I don't know about you, but I'd save up good money for my own Baba Yaga's dancing hut).

any other questions of note go for it.

I wouldn't do them abstract and automatically, but integrated into the world.
Building a Bastion cost time and money. You can build one or several(like having a Tavern in the city and a Castle in the mountains).
Certain rooms and buildings can have benefits if you hire henchman who can use them (or you use them yourself).

So in detail, we would have building costs for the structure. So for example to build a 10x10 foot shag or room made from cheap wood cost... 10gp. Furniting it with a shabby bar furniture would cost another 10gp.
A hireling or you yourself can now run your shabby bar, making 1d4 silver a day (but your hireling costs 2sp per day). You can upgrade your shabby pub or train your hireling to be better.
So in the end I would go full simulation on the system.

 

[Micah Sweet]

I wouldn't do them abstract and automatically, but integrated into the world.
Building a Bastion cost time and money. You can build one or several(like having a Tavern in the city and a Castle in the mountains).
Certain rooms and buildings can have benefits if you hire henchman who can use them (or you use them yourself).

So in detail, we would have building costs for the structure. So for example to build a 10x10 foot shag or room made from cheap wood cost... 10gp. Furniting it with a shabby bar furniture would cost another 10gp.
A hireling or you yourself can now run your shabby bar, making 1d4 silver a day (but your hireling costs 2sp per day). You can upgrade your shabby pub or train your hireling to be better.
So in the end I would go full simulation on the system.

Full simulation is my vote too. A "bastion" can do in the world anything a home base can do in the real world. Act as a home, cultural center, strategic strong point, center of trade and other commerce, etc. I would expect those functions would lead to emergent fiction just like everything else that happens in the campaign.

 

[FitzTheRuke]

I'm not sure yet. I'll have to try the published version fist, though I doubt that I'd long-term stick with that without modification. We'll see.

 

[TiQuinn]

How would you do Bastions?

What are your underlying assumptions of what they should do?
PCs get to design the Bastion within the setting framework set by the DM, primarily freeform narrative unless Players want to go big on details. Mapping optional, NPCs should have names and motivations

Would it be an individual or group location and why?
I tend to plot things out in square mile areas (using five 120acre hydes within a square mile) so there might be a Village, a Keep, a Temple Area, a 100 acre wood and an Owlbears lair.

Bastions will be one of those Hydes with PCs expected to place their personal bits within the same vicinity (not necessarily the same building, but close enough to walk)

How do you use it to drive stories?
Primarily downtown but also a site for Social encounters especially if the PCs become influential due to their actions. It should get some degree of immunity from GM fiat and destruction, but random events including intrigue, betrayals, attacks and losses are fair game.
Naturally random events might spin out into adventures if the PCs choose to respond

What should it do?
Be the homebase and site of NPC relationships and entanglements

oh and the rules need to add an Embassy Structure for diplomatic actions

Should they be portable
Ship, Wagon and Camp based Bastions ought to be a thing. My character spent years as part of a travelling Circus Troupe, with everything (including my alchemy lab) carried on wagons

I would type up my view on it but you’ve completely beaten me to the punch.

 

[Shades of Eternity]

okay here are my own assumptions.

Base Camp Rules

Overview

• The Base Camp is a shared resource for the entire party, representing their collective effort, resources, and vision.
• Each player contributes to its development, whether through skills, time, or funds.
• Use the Base Trappings Table to determine the starting theme and notable features:
• The Base Camp gains new features or upgrades based on the party's average level.
• Maintenance requires time, effort, or money based on the party's level and the base’s upgrades:
• Neglecting maintenance results in penalties, such as structural damage or reduced functionality.
• Hirelings or NPCs can be recruited to manage the Base Camp, allowing the party to focus on adventuring:
  • Roles include:
    • Caretakers (general maintenance)
    • Guards (security)
    • Traders (generate income or provide supplies)
    • Specialists (e.g., engineers, medics, arcane scholars).
  • Hiring costs scale with NPC skill and Base Tier.
• A functional Base Camp provides tangible and intangible benefits:
  • Rest and Recovery: Grants access to long rests and reduced downtime penalties.
  • Crafting and Storage: Dedicated spaces for crafting, alchemy, and storage of resources.
  • Defenses: Protection against random encounters or hostile intrusions.
  • Research and Training: Bonus to knowledge checks or skill training opportunities.
  • Community Influence: Allies may rally to the party’s cause if the Base Camp is well-maintained.
• The Base Camp acts as a narrative hub, generating plot hooks:
  • NPCs seeking aid or delivering warnings.
  • Enemies targeting the base.
  • Discoveries made during repairs (e.g., hidden rooms, ancient artifacts).
  • Resource shortages or sabotage requiring adventuring to resolve.
  • New factions interested in the Base Camp (positively or negatively).
• The Base Camp remains static but can still evolve through upgrades or expansions.
• Mobility mechanics (e.g., converting it into a vehicle or teleporting it) can be explored in future iterations.

however, I do think that Baldur's Gate 3 has made me wonder if it needs to be revised to be a base camp (or your caravan, or if in a more modern game, your RV/ Adventuring Bus)

Thoughts?

 

[aco175]

My current group is like half in with a bastion. I found some maps of an abandoned village with a keep on it which they liked and set up some ideas on bringing in some people to farm and such. I made a few side trek adventures that are more one-shots with low-level PCs to use on off nights. Each one-shot opens a new area that fits with the bastion for the other characters to use. I have been just giving each PC a set of followers that just show up on a rotating basis.

My problem is that the players keep taking all the followers with them on adventures. The fighter had a group of 12 guards show up who are 1st level with a 3rd level leader. All of them came on the next adventure. Granted, they did not come inside the dungeon and hung out with the wagon and camp.

I wanted to make a chart to roll for followers, but do not have the motivation.

 

[Lazybones]

In one of my non-2024 campaigns, my players have a villa with a dozen employees and a ship with a crew of thirty, including five officers/specialists. I laid out the basics (number of retainers needed, their respective roles, monthly payroll, etc.), and told them if they wanted the NPCs to have names and/or personalities they were welcome to develop them, otherwise they would tend to fade into the background. That's separate from some long-term NPCs that the party has had a more substantial relationship with (the steward of their villa is a guard that they rescued early in the campaign, for example).