Master the Art of Base Building with Incredible New Rules in Dungeons and Dragons Unearthed Arcana Playtest

Highlights

Dungeons and Dragons has released a playtest for a new feature called Bastions, which introduces official rules for creating bases and strongholds in the game.

Players can utilize Bastions to construct and enhance their primary hub, acquire gold and magical artifacts, and even revive characters unfortunate enough to perish during their quests.

Additionally, the playtest incorporates modifications to various cantrips, as certain spells are being revamped and some others are being weakened. The updated rulebooks are projected to be made available by 2024.

Dungeons and Dragons recently launched a playtest for Unearthed Arcana, unveiling official rules for constructing bases and strongholds. This new element, known as Bastions, will be incorporated into the upcoming rule books of Dungeons and Dragons set to be released in 2024.

In 2020, Dungeons and Dragons initiated One D&D, a continuous endeavor aiming to enhance the 5th Edition into an everlasting system. As part of this initiative, various Unearthed Arcana documents have been published, presenting revisions and enhancements to the fundamental rules of Dungeons and Dragons.

Dungeons and Dragons' latest Unearthed Arcana playtest has been released, featuring a new mechanic known as Bastions. This eighth installment of the series emphasizes the ability for players to build, expand, and control a personal home base that evolves alongside their characters' progress. While the appearance of the Bastions is customizable, they all offer avenues for accruing and utilizing gold, acquiring magical items, and employing special abilities that aid the players on their quests. Furthermore, the Bastions provide the unique opportunity to resurrect fallen characters from adventures. In-game, the Bastions take their turn approximately once a week or at the Dungeon Master's discretion. Players can issue orders to their specialized facilities, such as the Arcane Study, Armory, Sanctum, or War Room. These facilities are constructed automatically at specific levels and possess distinct actions to be performed during each Bastion turn. The special abilities of these facilities encompass a wide range of activities, such as item creation for sale, earning Bastion Points to trade for goods and services, raising an army, transcribing scrolls, or crafting useful magical items. The inclusion of numerous new non-playable characters available to be hired amplifies the potential for rich role-playing experiences for Dungeons and Dragons players.

Bastions dominate 21 out of the 23 pages in this Dungeons and Dragons UA document. However, the final pages of this playtest document also bring changes to several cantrips. Spells like Blade Ward and True Strike, which lag behind the best cantrips in Dungeons and Dragons, have undergone complete reworking. On the other hand, spells like Chill Touch and Shocking Grasp have been nerfed.

After extensive testing, Dungeons and Dragons is nearing completion of its user-friendly rulebook revisions. A forthcoming Unearthed Arcana will introduce further adjustments to the Druid and Monk classes based on feedback. Nonetheless, Wizards of the Coast is pleased with the progress made on many of the classes and subclasses covered in previous playtests. With 2024 just around the corner, players can anticipate an announcement of the release date for the first of these revised books. Subsequently, they will witness the implementation of the feedback provided over the past year.

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Source: D&D Beyond