One D&D Playtest 8: My Survey Responses

Here follow my responses to the Playtest 8 survey questions. I decided to compose them externally again since I didn’t want to lose anything in case the survey glitched out. Minus some minor formatting for this post, this is verbatim what I submitted.

For more context and my Standard Disclaimer, check out the introduction to this series.

Bastions

Overall

Very satisfied.

This is a really cool and fun-looking system that I’m eager to fold into existing 5E games as well as using in future campaigns. It gives players something interesting to do with their coinage, a way to build some income in low-coinage-loot campaigns, and a more reliable source of craftable items. It also gives me some nostalgia for the barebones 1E AD&D material on building and staffing a stronghold. Please, definitely publish it as part of the 2024 refresh!

I question whether it should be in the DMG, though, as it seems like something that belongs in the PHB so that players can be aware of it and start aspirationally planning for their Bastions. And while the rules are easily shared online, DMs might not want to keep handing their physical DMGs to players in order for them to reference how the system works.

Gaining a Bastion

Satisfied.

I’m a little on the fence about whether level 5 might be too soon to receive a Bastion, but I think it’s probably fine since so many campaigns end by level 10. It’s nice to have something to look forward to that will also get at least one upgrade in a typical campaign.

I noticed that in the paragraph about basic and special facilities that the starting number of special facilities is explicitly called out, but the number of basic facilities isn’t. It would probably be helpful to repeat that here too.

Bastion Turns

Dissatisfied.

I like the concept a lot, and the examples of typical Bastion turns are good. I struggle with the 7-day pacing and the 6-8 Bastions turns per level guidance, and there’s not enough meat to the “Bastion action economy.”

7 days doesn’t align well with the default Forgotten Realms campaign setting and its use of tendays instead of 7-day weeks. While settings like Barovia do use 7-day weeks, Curse of Strahd is well known to not require more than a few weeks, or perhaps a month, of in-game time.

This brings us to the guidance of having 6-8 Bastion turns per level, which just doesn’t fit with published campaigns. I kept meticulous track of time when running Princes of the Apocalypse for my players, and they finished in about 70 in-game days. Using milestone leveling, they advanced from 3-14 over the course of the campaign. Based on 6-8 Bastion turns per level, the campaign would have taken 336 to 448 days! (Note that I’m not including level 14 in the math here because that was their reward for finishing the last elemental node). I doubt they would have sat still for that long while the crises mounted.

But if Bastion turns are sped up, then there’s risk of them being over-productive, which could be world-breaking (in terms of economic impact).

Further, the “Bastion action economy” is unclear. When exactly does a turn start or end? Is an order issued at the start of a turn, the middle of a turn, or the end? Can a player interrupt a “Maintain” turn to issue a new order? I see this leading to a lot of “well if I had known before we left” arguments at the table. A brand new system like this needs more guidance on how to run it.

Finally, the 7-day Bastion turn also doesn’t align with the time costs for adding and enlarging basic facilities, which feels like a miss, though I guess it makes sense given the flexible duration of Bastion turns.

Bastion Points

Overall Comments

Dissatisfied.

The concept of having an abstract currency generated by Bastions that’s useful to the party is good. Keep it!

I don’t think I like that Bastion Points can’t be pooled if a party has combined their Bastions into a single larger facility.

I wish there were some more ways to spend them.

However, I don’t love the “100 BP to undo death” mechanic, especially if the party’s journey has taken them far from home – imagine being literally dead in Thay and waking up the next morning in Waterdeep like it was no big deal. How did the character travel so far, so quickly, while also being dead? How will they get back to the rest of the party (or will they?). This problem only becomes worse in a Spelljammer campaign, and will probably be even more ridiculous in the upcoming multiverse-oriented adventure. What happens if characters start Curse of Strahd after establishing a Bastion back home on their native world? Does a Bastion beat the Mists of Barovia?

I’m also on the fence about the “spend BP to get Advantage on Charisma checks” rule. It makes sense for “civilian” NPCs (shop keepers, faction contacts, etc.), but would an arch villain like Strahd really be THAT impressed with a character who sets up a Bastion down the road in Vallaki?

Feature Comments

Accumulating Bastion Points: Satisfied.

The first paragraph is quite dense and I had to read it several times for it to really sink in. I’m on board with all of the rules here, though, and I especially like the “spend gold to have Advantage on Bastion Point rolls” mechanic a lot.

Acquiring Magic Items: Dissatisfied.

As a player, I like having a mechanic that helps me acquire interesting magical items! But as a DM, I don’t want characters to acquire magic items too quickly, but if we assume two Special Facilities producing 4 BP per Bastion Turn, it would take ~63 days to acquire an Uncommon item – roughly a tenday less than the entire length of my Princes of the Apocalypse game, so we have more time scale problems with published campaigns here.

Fall of a Bastion

Satisfied.

This is fine. I can see players being upset about losing a Bastion through no fault of their own though, if they’re far away and unable to communicate with their home base. I’m glad to see a facility (haha) for establishing a replacement Bastion.

Bastion Events

Dissatisfied.

I do like that there is a mechanic for things to happen at the Bastion asynchronously, while the party is away, and the selection of events is good. This needs to be kept in some form!

But if a Bastion only generates events when it’s in Maintain mode, and the chief cause of the Maintain order is the character being away adventuring, then this setup may take away interesting RP opportunities for the character. Many of these events would be fun to have happen while the party is at their Bastion as they would give the character a chance to do something besides just go out adventuring. How would the mighty Conan the Barbarian handle unexpected house guests? We’ll never know, because people only stop by when Conan’s out, leaving it to his staff to deal with.

It also seems unrealistic that events wouldn’t happen during other kinds of orders. A Bastion that just follows endless crafting orders won’t ever have anything interesting happen to it.

Finally, the “Bastion action economy” needs to be clarified. If a character leaves their Bastion with no order issued, and returns before the Bastion turn is completed, can they interrupt what would be a Maintain turn to issue a different order? (Thus preventing an event from being triggered.)

Special Facilities

Satisfied.

I’m really happy with the variety of special facilities. I also like that it’s possible to change one out per level so that there are more chances to get a player’s Bastion dialed in to a satisfying configuration.

I am a little disappointed that not all Special Facilities can be expanded/upgraded, though.

Given the richness of orders that can be given, it might be interesting for special facilities to have more than one order that can be chosen – otherwise it’s just Maintain or Do Your One Specific Thing. If a special facility can only do one kind of order or else Maintain, and Maintain makes ALL facilities in a Bastion go into Maintain mode… then this is kind of boring and/or broken, because there’s not really any player choice – there’s just “do your thing” if the player shows up in time to give an order, or telling every facility to “Maintain” if they don’t.

Arcane Study: Satisfied.

I like this allowing access to Identify (handy if you don’t have a Wizard in the party).

Archive: Satisfied.

I like this giving access to Legend Lore. The various book effects are a great starting point. I also like that the Archive is upgradeable/expandable.

Armory: Dissatisfied.

I like the concept here, and I think it’s cool that it can leverage a Smithy, but it seems really expensive to stock.

Barracks: Satisfied.

I like that Barracks are upgradeable.

Demiplane: Satisfied.

This is a really fun, creative location! But it provides a LOT of temporary HP (maybe I’m not used to playing at this level?).

Also I’m not wild about how Fabrication can be spammed to create mundane artisanal trinkets that could be valuable for sale.

Gaming Hall: Satisfied.

This is fun, and it’s always nice to give the d100/percentile dice a workout, since they aren’t used too much in 5E.

Garden: Dissatisfied.

I really like that the Garden is expandable, and that doing so can let you choose to have one or two types of Garden within it.

What confuses me is whether Garden produces Potions of Healing or just the herbs? Greenhouse explicitly produces Potions of (Greater) Healing, and Laboratory seems to craft potions all by itself (with no input needed from a Garden).

Greenhouse: Satisfied.

Nice, keep it.

Guildhall: Dissatisfied.

This is a great concept, but I wish that it had more variety of assignments for the guild. Once you pick what type of guild you operate, it just does the same thing over and over and over again.

Laboratory: Satisfied.

It’s unclear whether a Garden needs a Laboratory to complete crafting of potions and poisons. Otherwise, this is fine.

Library: Satisfied.

It would be nice for this to be upgradeable somehow.

Meditation Chamber: Dissatisfied.

I wish the Meditation Chamber’s interaction with the “Bastion action economy” was better specified. It’s somewhat confusingly worded.

Menagerie: Dissatisfied.

I LOVE the concept of this one! And it’s very cool that Menagerie creatures are able to help defend the Bastion during an attack event.

I wish the wording was clearer about whether it had 1 enclosure or 4 enclosures, rather than just room for “four Large creatures”. It’s hard to understand the true limits here as written.

Observatory: Dissatisfied.

The idea is interesting, but with 50/50 odds, this could be a huge time sink for little reward, and really disappointing for players in a taut campaign with relatively few Bastion turns.

Pub: Satisfied.

I really like the spy mechanic, and the magic drinks are a fun idea, but if having them on tap means they’re available to NPCs, that could be quite problematic for the balance of the game world.

Reliquary: Satisfied.

Can this be used to spam Greater Restoration daily?

Sacristy: Satisfied.

I like having a dependable source of (upgradeable!) Holy Water, and the temporary magic items are interesting.

Sanctuary: Dissatisfied.

Why does Sanctuary’s freely craftable item only command half the selling price (5 gp) of an Arcane Study’s (10gp)? That seems unfairly biased in favor of arcane casters.

Sanctum: Satisfied.

Does Sanctum’s beneficiary need to Long Rest in the Bastion?

Scriptorium: Dissatisfied.

Does a Scriptorium’s output not have monetary value? If not, why not?

Smithy: Satisfied.

I really like the variety of crafting choices available on the Smithy. This makes it far more interesting than most “push button, watch the same thing come out” Bastion actions.

Stable: Satisfied.

This is a flavorful facility, but it’s also not terribly exciting. I’m glad to see that this is upgradeable, though.

Storehouse: Satisfied.

This is fine. I like that it scales with the level of its owner (rather than having to physically expand it).

Teleportation Circle: Dissatisfied.

The idea is interesting, but with 50/50 odds, this could be a huge time sink for little reward, and really disappointing for players in a taut campaign with relatively few Bastion turns.

Theater: Dissatisfied.

I really like the Theater as a concept, and it needs to stay – but it needs clarification and more work. As presented here, Theater takes 3 Bastion turns to complete the prep/performance cycle. Does it pay out in Bastion Points on every turn, when the order is given, or when the cycle completes? It’s honestly kind of a mess.

Training Area: Satisfied.

I like the variety of benefits that can be chosen; they help to give a player meaningful choices when interacting with their Bastion.

Trophy Room: Satisfied.

This seems both flavorful and fun.

War Room: Dissatisfied.

I really like the idea of this facility.

I am confused though about the cost structure – the cavalry option is so much more affordable (40 gp/day/Lieutenant) than the infantry option (100 gp/day/Lieutenant).

Workshop: Satisfied.

So basically players can recharge Heroic Advantage if they get back to their Workshop to have a nap? Okay, I’ll buy that.

It’s maybe a little strange that you can only create one shoe at a time though.

Cantrips

Overall Comments

Very satisfied.

For the most part, the updated cantrips are good improvements over the 2014 versions, transforming many of the least-loved options into viable choices. I look forward to similar thoughtful updates of leveled spells in the 2024 refresh.

Specific Comments

Acid Splash: Very satisfied.

I like giving Sorcerers and Wizards early access to basic AoE damage right out of the gate. It makes this an interesting competitor to more commonly selected damage cantrips like Fire Bolt and Ray of Frost.

Blade Ward: Very satisfied.

This version actually makes this cantrip a worthwhile choice! It doesn’t take up your turn doing something that you might not get any benefit from, so you can do something more fun like casting a leveled spell, and fall back on Blade Ward when trouble gets too close.

Chill Touch: Dissatisfied.

I like the upgraded die size here, and I don’t mind losing the special undead mechanic. The loss of range is a bummer though – I understand that it makes more sense for a spell with “touch” in the name to have Touch range, but maybe it could have just been renamed instead to retain that utility? I also question whether it should have “chill” in the name when it does Necrotic rather than Cold damage. “Touch of the Dead” would be a great name at Touch range; if keeping it at its prior range, it could be “Necrotic Blast”. Either of those makes it clear what the spell is going to do.

Friends: Very satisfied.

I really like this new version. I avoided it in the past because it didn’t really make friends, but made enemies instead (by turning neutral creatures hostile)!

Poison Spray: Satisfied.

I like this change a lot. It provides a Poison alternative to Fire Bolt and Ray of Frost, with bigger damage dice, and a more usable range. Like those other single-target damage cantrips, it puts the burden of success on the caster rather than the target, which I typically find to be more fun when I’m playing. A little more range wouldn’t hurt, though!

Produce Flame: Satisfied.

I like the boosted range, though it is weird that the radius of illumination doesn’t match the range of the spell attack. I like the idea that I can ready the flame with a Bonus Action and still do something else with my Action that isn’t necessarily hurling the flame at something. Finally, I LOVE that this can now target objects in addition to creatures, which is going to open up fun new possibilities for casters who take this cantrip.

Shillelagh: Dissatisfied.

The damage scaling is definitely welcome, since this otherwise falls off very quickly, but I’m not sure that upping the die size is going to cut it, when other cantrips – like the new True Strike, which is also doing melee attacks – scale by adding additional dice. This got better, but not better enough.

Shocking Grasp: Dissatisfied.

I think I’ve reached the “Acceptance” part of my grief stages here. I don’t mine losing the Advantage-against-metal-armor mechanic, since it eliminates arguments during play, but it was flavorful with it in place. If monster design is moving away from Legendary Actions and toward creatures having multiple Reactions, then I guess I can accept the changed effect, but it’s definitely a drag to reduce its usefulness.

Spare the Dying: Very satisfied.

I really like the increased range here, and love that the range scales as you gain levels. This update makes it easier for a Druid to stand in for a Cleric (nice if you don’t have a Cleric in the party), and it’ll certainly be useful when party members get into trouble but aren’t immediately reachable.

True Strike: Very satisfied.

I love this new version. The old True Strike was genuinely awful, and just didn’t make sense to use. Please keep the new version!

My only issue is that it highlights how Shillelagh wasn’t tuned up enough. Looking at the top end, which comes online at level 17, True Strike is going to do 1dSomething + 3d6, for a minimum of 4, maximum of 26 (on a Great Club, Quarterstaff, or Spear when wielded with two hands). Meanwhile Shillelagh will do just 2d6, for a minimum of 2, maximum of 12.

Additional Comments

This was a really solid UA. The Bastion system shows a lot of promise, and the cantrip updates show a lot of thoughtful design that’s paying off in meaningful ways. You’re definitely on the right track here, so please recognize that many “dissatisfied” ratings will be people (like me) saying they like a thing but just want it worked on a little more, not that it should be rejected outright and removed from the game.

Based on the cantrip changes here, I am hoping we’ll see additional thoughtful tweaks, tune-ups, and redesigns of leveled spells.

As always, thanks for all your hard work and for giving us a voice in the future of the game. I’m still feeling optimistic about the process, and I’m looking forward to the 2024 release!