Summary
Dungeons and Dragonsjust released an Unearthed Arcana playtest that introduces official rules to create bases and strongholds. Called Bastions, this new gameplay subfeature will appear in the newDungeons and Dragonsrule books coming in 2024.
Last year,Dungeons and DragonsintroducedOne D&D, its ongoing project to revamp5th Editioninto an evergreen system. Since then, it has produced several Unearthed Arcana documents introducingupdates to the core rules ofDungeons and Dragons.
Now,Dungeons and Dragonshas put out its next Unearthed Arcanaplaytest. The eighth in the series, this document primarily focuses on a new mechanic called Bastions. Using these optional rules, players can build, maintain, and command a home base that grows and improves as they gain levels. Bastions can look however players wish, but they all have ways to make and spend gold, obtain magic items, and use special powers to aid them on their quests. Players can even resurrect characters who die during an adventure via Bastions.
About once a week in-game, or when the DM says so, Bastions get to take a turn. Players can give orders to their various special facilities, ranging from an Arcane Study or Armory to a sacred Sanctum or a War Room. These facilities are automatically built at certain levels, and have unique actions they can take during each Bastion turn. Special facility abilities range from making items to sell or gaining Bastion Points to spend on goods and services to raising an army, scribing scrolls, or crafting useful magic items. With a bevy of new NPC hirelings to command, Bastions will also giveDungeons and Dragonsplayers tons of roleplaying opportunities.
Though Bastions take up 21 of the 23 pages from thisDungeons and DragonsUA, the last pages of this playtest document also introduce changes to several cantrips. Spells like Blade Ward and True Strike, which fall behindthe best cantrips fromDungeons and Dragons, have been completely reworked, while others like Chill Touch and Shocking Grasp have been nerfed instead.
After rigorous testing,Dungeons and Dragonsis almost done with its user-friendly rulebookrevisions. Players can expect a future Unearthed Arcana to introduce further tweaks to the Druid and Monk based on feedback, but Wizards of the Coast is satisfied with where many of the classes and subclasses covered in past playtests are at right now. 2024 is right around the corner, so players can expect to hear a release date for the first of these revised books soon, after which they can see the feedback they have given over the last year in action.
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