Bastion System in D&D 5e

The 2024 edition of the Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition Dungeon Master’s Guide (referred to as the DMG from here on out) contains a variety of useful tables, rules, magic items and guidelines for would-be Dungeon Masters (or DMs) to follow. However, the most interesting thing it introduces is a system for players to create, maintain, and expand a base of sorts. In a similar vein to the keeps that Fighters would gain in the 1st and 2nd editions of D&D, provides, this system provides players with keeps/parcels of land  that they can purchase, maintain, expand, and even grow stronger from.    This in turn provides the players with not only endless amounts of opportunities for mechanical growth, but also roleplay and even worldbuilding. While there have been homebrewed systems for players having “home bases” of a sort in the past, this is the first time in 5th edition that there are official rules to create and maintain one. As such, this can be rather overwhelming for players and DMs alike to understand and effectively apply.

This guide will seek to explain this new system, how it works, and the best ways to implement it in your games.

The Basics of Bastions

To start, the 2024 DMG describes the process of gaining a this “home base”, also known as a Bastion, as such:

If you allow Bastions in your campaign, characters acquire their Bastions when they reach level 5. You and the players can decide together how these Bastions come into being. A character might inherit or receive a parcel of land on which to build their Bastion, or they might take a preexisting structure and refurbish it. It’s fair to assume that work has been going on behind the scenes of the campaign during a character’s early adventuring career, so the Bastion is ready when the character reaches level 5. The shape, style, and function of a character’s Bastion are up to the player to determine.

In essence, this means that once the players hit level 5, they acquire a Bastion. Many of the interesting roleplay opportunities immediately present themselves here. The DM could provide the players with a side quest that results in them getting the deed to a parcel of land to build the plot on, or a character’s personal quest could involve them reclaiming land that once belonged to them, or perhaps the party even cleared out a dungeon or occupied structure and decided to claim it for themselves. While the wording implies that each player gains their own Bastion, I would recommend that new groups get a single Bastion for the entire party to acquire, develop, and maintain. This not only reinforces the cooperative nature of D&D as a game, but it makes things significantly easier for both the players and DM to handle. The DMG also mentions that “The shape, style, and function of a character’s Bastion are up to the player to determine”, and gives examples of how players could flavor their Bastions to fit their classes, such as Clerics having shrines, Fighters might have keeps, and Rogues might have guildhalls. This is yet another way that Bastions open themselves up to ample roleplay opportunities. However, given my previous advice on there being one Bastion for your entire party, I would recommend that the flavor and function of a Bastion be discussed and agreed upon across the entire party rather than immediately assigned to a single class (unless the party agrees of course).

To summarize, they are designated keeps, estates, or parcels of land that members of the party (or the party as a whole) gains once they reach a certain level. While this describes what Bastions are, this doesn’t quite describe what they do.

But at the very end of the introductory page for Bastions, the DMG reads as follows: “Every Bastion has facilities that serve basic needs as well as special ones, such as libraries, menageries, and workshops”. These facilities are, in essence, the true function of Bastions. They provide the majority, if not the entirety of the Bastion system’s mechanical benefits and complexity. However, before we discuss the Bastion facilities, we must first talk about the system that dictates their function, the system known as Bastion Turns.

Bastion Turns

The DMG defines Bastion Turns as such:

As time passes in the campaign, players take Bastion turns to reflect the activity occurring in their Bastions, whether or not the characters are present. On a Bastion turn, a character can issue orders to the special facilities in their Bastion or issue the Maintain order to the entire Bastion.

In summation, a Bastion Turn is when the the players actually get to make use of the facilities of their Bastion, whether that be reaping the mechanical rewards or just making sure that it is still standing as they go adventuring.

The actual length of a Bastion Turn in the DMG is defined as being around 7 in-game days, but it does mention that you can make this period longer, extending it out to weeks or even months to fit either longer campaigns, longer stretches of in-game time, or just to make sure you or your players are not reaping too many rewards at once. Now, if you or your party is not too keen on doing meticulous time keeping for your game, I would advise simple taking a Bastion Turn when you feel it is appropriate, such as before or after a major dungeon, quest, or plot revelation.

On each Bastion Turn, the Bastion’s owner can issue something called a Bastion order. Bastion orders are issued to the special facilities (discussed in the next section), and most of them are specific to that facility, such as Craft, Empower, Harvest, Recruit, Research, and Trade. The only exception is Maintain, which is issued to the entirety of the Bastion. This order has the hirelings (also discussed later) that work at the Bastion focus on maintenance and upkeep. It also has the DM roll on something called the Bastion Events Table, which can result in a variety of things, from outside forces attacking to receiving refugees to being asked to host a festival to even finding treasure and magic items.

The DMG mentions that if the players are not present at the Bastion during a Bastion Turn, it is assumed that the Maintain order is issued. As a DM, you can enforce this, though I’d also recommend that you allow the players to perhaps use items such as Sending Stones or spells like Sending to issue orders from afar.

Facilities

Now that we have gone over the basics of what a Bastion is and how they work, we can go over their most important component: Facilities. To start, each Bastion starts with two free basic facilities, which can include a Bedroom, Dining Room, Parlour, (or Living Room), Courtyard, Kitchen, or Storage Room. These basic facilities do not have mechanical benefits. Instead, they are more meant for roleplaying opportunities. By spending various amounts of money and time, players can add more basic facilities or even make them bigger. 

We’ll be discussing special facilities, which make up not just the bulk of the Bastion system’s complexity, but also provide the actual benefits of it as well. Similarly to basic facilities, each Bastion starts with two special facilities. Unlike basic facilities however, you cannot have multiple of the same special facility, and they are not gained with money. Rather, special facilities are gained via level advancement, with each Bastion gaining two more facilities at level 9, one more at level 13, and one final one at level 17. In addition, each time a character gains a level, they can replace one of the special facilities with another one, so you are not locked into a specific facility.

Each special facility occupies a specific amount of space within the Bastion. This space can be modified or even enlarged for enough time and money. Enlarging a special facility may even grant special benefits. Each facility also comes with hirelings, who work in, maintain, guard and carry out the Bastion orders for it. They are all unquestionably loyal to the Bastion’s owner,  and each facility automatically generates enough money to pay them.

Many of the special facilities have special requirements in order to be able to build and use them. Some of them, such as Arcane Study and Sanctuary require the Bastion owner have specific proficiencies, such as an Arcane Focus for the former or Holy Symbol for the latter.  Others, such as the Theater and Archive, require the Bastion owner to be a specific level, such as 9 for the former or 13 for the latter. Some, such as the War Room, even require a combination of both, with it requiring that the owner be both level 17 and possess the Fighting Style or Unarmored Defense feature.

In addition, as stated before, the orders that can be issued to each facility depend on the facility itself. For example, the Arcane Study can be given the Craft order to craft an Arcane Focus or book. Not only that, but some facilities even gain the ability to do more with the orders they are given as the owner gains levels. With the Arcane Study, one the Bastion owner hits level 9, they gain the ability to issue the Craft order to have the hirelings (and even the player themselves with some assistance) craft a Common or Uncommon magic item of their choosing.

Furthermore, some facilities even provide benefits outside of orders. For example, the Observatory can grant the Bastion owner a charm that allows them to cast Contact Other Plane once within the next 7 days after they take a long lest within the facility. Similarly, the Sanctuary can grant the owner a charm that allows them to use Healing Word in a similar fashion after taking a long rest there as well.

As stated before, some facilities gain additional benefits after being expanded. The Barrack, for example, can hold up to 12 Bastion Defenders (who can be recruited via the Recruit order to help defend the Bastion from attacks such as those mentioned in Bastion Events) when initially built. When it is expanded, this amount doubles, letting it house up to 25 Bastion Defenders.

While most special facilities are limited to one per Bastion, ones such as the Barrack, Garden, Stable, and Training Area can be built multiple times.

Ultimately, the special facilities that you or your party should put in their Bastion is  so dependent on the party composition, campaign style, campaign length and general player needs that a “one size fits all” ranking of them is near impossible. For instance, the Demiplane, with its ability to grant substantial amounts of temporary hit points to anyone that uses it, is strong, but it is also locked to level 17, so campaigns that never get that far will never have any reason to use it.  

The Garden’s ability to generate poisons and potions may be strong for some parties, especially those that lack dedicated healers. But parties with ample healing from classes like Druids, Paladins, or Clerics, or those with ample enough gold to simply buy the products that the Garden produces may find it far less useful. Longer campaigns may find the profit generation of a Storehouse to be very powerful, especially once they hit level 13,  but shorter campaigns will likely not benefit from the minimal short term gains of a level 5 Storehouse. In the end, just as each party is unique and has their own wants and needs, so too does every Bastion have its own ways to meet them.

There is still more to be explored, as doors, rooms and secret paths in your Bastion. The DMG provides a comprehensive overview for your next campaign.

Conclusion: Bastion System 5e

The Bastion system is one of the most complex, yet rewarding systems introduced into D&D 5e 2024. While not every party will want to engage with it owing to the circumstances of their campaign and the system’s inherent complexity, those that do will find something with deep roleplaying potential and mechanical rewards like none other. Whether you’re using the Bastions to supplement roleplay through the use of the basic facilities, create plot hooks via Bastion Events, or even make you or your players stronger through the special facilities, the Bastion system has a little bit of something for everyone. I highly recommend that every DM who is looking at starting their own campaign look at this new system and see if it works for them.