Theres a reason there are rules for while your away from your bastion. Even in high travel campaigns you may want to return to your base for a bit to recover or see if theres any developments. Additionally you will notice there really arnt any rules for how long it takes to give a bastion order, and while all the suggestions are given that you are at your bastion, nothing says you half to be to give orders. By level 5 (the level they are suggesting to reward your players with a bastion) spell casters are given an assortment of contact spells and abilities from animal messenger, to sending, and if you have no such magic in your group, most worlds would have a mail system of some type. Nothing really states you half to be there, it's just those are the only examples they give.
As of now, while there are no rules for mobile bastions, the rules are open for them. Like there really isn't anything that contradicts the idea of putting some of these faculties into a spelljammer, caravan or something else. Like heck, im going to be using these rules soon for a train.
Additionally you will notice there really arnt any rules for how long it takes to give a bastion order, and while all the suggestions are given that you are at your bastion, nothing says you half to be to give orders.
In the orders section, it specifically says “a character in their bastion” can issue orders. Then further on, it says if a character is not in the bastion, it will act as if the maintain order was given.
And as far as mobile bastions, you are right nothing specifically forbids them. However, the room size does make it tricky. Not necessarily impossible, but certainly more complicated.
Additionally you will notice there really arnt any rules for how long it takes to give a bastion order, and while all the suggestions are given that you are at your bastion, nothing says you half to be to give orders.
In the orders section, it specifically says “a character in their bastion” can issue orders. Then further on, it says if a character is not in the bastion, it will act as if the maintain order was given.
And as far as mobile bastions, you are right nothing specifically forbids them. However, the room size does make it tricky. Not necessarily impossible, but certainly more complicated.
i feel like someone on the dev team had to bite their fingers to keep from adding in dirigibles, abandoned cloud giant homes, and [Figaro/Howl's] moving castles. noooot yet. save something for the print version! fantasy trains caught me off guard briefly, but who hasn't heard of a fantasy air ship? yeah, no way they missed mobile bastions.
even so, i feel like the real beauty to bastions will be returning to a non-mobile fort to find encampments around the walls and the beginnings of a well worn trade path forming. the idea of slowly, organically founding a new Phandalin just by being a waypoint in the wilderness would be pretty cool. looking forward to more. the question has been asked before "what would get you to re-purchase a revised DMG" and i think this might do it.
Opps, didnt notice the order section rule on it. but honestly, that makes no sense. Unless they in the future specify how you need an hour to talk to the hirelings to explain things, It really shouldn't matter if the command came from a message or a spell. Like were getting armies at the higher levels, and your telling me we arnt gonna communicate?
yeah but thats just how making vehicles is. You need to plan out the space for what your doing before you put it together. But it is by no means impossible. Luckily the room sizes arnt XxX, but are instead just a number of squares, so you could honestly get pretty creative, specially with bigger ships like a warship.
Going back to the original posters comment. It wouldn't be too hard to just flavor the bastion as a moving Vistani camp for your planar travels adventures. even if it requires larger space than a wagon the bastion can Be 'Packed up' and is only operational when fully setup. (Cooking or practice yards outside with fence or other boundaries).
For that matter a ranger or druid should just be able to set one up in the forest. (even in Barovia ).. so it functions as a temporary base to plan and 'build up resources' until they can escape. Actually Bastions solve A lot of interesting PHB Ranger issues. I may make a thread at some point.
that being said the tone of a Ravenloft game with a base is different than one without it. can a bastion be in any campain? YES ..... should bastions be in every campaign? NO Should DND have bastions as an option? probably
Having mobile bastions can be interesting, but perhaps a design challenge so that people don't break the game with it.
But yes, having mobile bastions, or the option to make them mobile (perhaps by investing one of your slots for special buildings); could open this game option to many more campaigns.
gives your bastion the ability to raise itself above the earth and fly about.
8th level spell: AT-AT Bastion
gives your bastion legs to walk across the earth.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
Only a DM since 1980 (3000+ Sessions) / PhD, MS, MA / Mixed, Bi, Trans, Woman / No longer welcome in the US, apparently
Wyrlde: Adventures in the Seven Cities .-=] Lore Book | Patreon | Wyrlde YT [=-. An original Setting for 5e, a whole solar system of adventure. Ongoing updates, exclusies, more. Not Talking About It / Dubbed The Oracle in the Cult of Mythology Nerds
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Theres a reason there are rules for while your away from your bastion. Even in high travel campaigns you may want to return to your base for a bit to recover or see if theres any developments. Additionally you will notice there really arnt any rules for how long it takes to give a bastion order, and while all the suggestions are given that you are at your bastion, nothing says you half to be to give orders. By level 5 (the level they are suggesting to reward your players with a bastion) spell casters are given an assortment of contact spells and abilities from animal messenger, to sending, and if you have no such magic in your group, most worlds would have a mail system of some type. Nothing really states you half to be there, it's just those are the only examples they give.
As of now, while there are no rules for mobile bastions, the rules are open for them. Like there really isn't anything that contradicts the idea of putting some of these faculties into a spelljammer, caravan or something else. Like heck, im going to be using these rules soon for a train.
In the orders section, it specifically says “a character in their bastion” can issue orders.
Then further on, it says if a character is not in the bastion, it will act as if the maintain order was given.
And as far as mobile bastions, you are right nothing specifically forbids them. However, the room size does make it tricky. Not necessarily impossible, but certainly more complicated.
i feel like someone on the dev team had to bite their fingers to keep from adding in dirigibles, abandoned cloud giant homes, and [Figaro/Howl's] moving castles. noooot yet. save something for the print version! fantasy trains caught me off guard briefly, but who hasn't heard of a fantasy air ship? yeah, no way they missed mobile bastions.
even so, i feel like the real beauty to bastions will be returning to a non-mobile fort to find encampments around the walls and the beginnings of a well worn trade path forming. the idea of slowly, organically founding a new Phandalin just by being a waypoint in the wilderness would be pretty cool. looking forward to more. the question has been asked before "what would get you to re-purchase a revised DMG" and i think this might do it.
unhappy at the way in which we lost individual purchases for one-off subclasses, magic items, and monsters?
tell them you don't like features disappeared quietly in the night: provide feedback!
Opps, didnt notice the order section rule on it. but honestly, that makes no sense. Unless they in the future specify how you need an hour to talk to the hirelings to explain things, It really shouldn't matter if the command came from a message or a spell. Like were getting armies at the higher levels, and your telling me we arnt gonna communicate?
yeah but thats just how making vehicles is. You need to plan out the space for what your doing before you put it together. But it is by no means impossible. Luckily the room sizes arnt XxX, but are instead just a number of squares, so you could honestly get pretty creative, specially with bigger ships like a warship.
Going back to the original posters comment. It wouldn't be too hard to just flavor the bastion as a moving Vistani camp for your planar travels adventures. even if it requires larger space than a wagon the bastion can Be 'Packed up' and is only operational when fully setup. (Cooking or practice yards outside with fence or other boundaries).
For that matter a ranger or druid should just be able to set one up in the forest. (even in Barovia ).. so it functions as a temporary base to plan and 'build up resources' until they can escape. Actually Bastions solve A lot of interesting PHB Ranger issues. I may make a thread at some point.
that being said the tone of a Ravenloft game with a base is different than one without it. can a bastion be in any campain? YES ..... should bastions be in every campaign? NO Should DND have bastions as an option? probably
Having mobile bastions can be interesting, but perhaps a design challenge so that people don't break the game with it.
But yes, having mobile bastions, or the option to make them mobile (perhaps by investing one of your slots for special buildings); could open this game option to many more campaigns.
New 9th level spell: Sky Bastion.
gives your bastion the ability to raise itself above the earth and fly about.
8th level spell: AT-AT Bastion
gives your bastion legs to walk across the earth.
Only a DM since 1980 (3000+ Sessions) / PhD, MS, MA / Mixed, Bi, Trans, Woman / No longer welcome in the US, apparently
Wyrlde: Adventures in the Seven Cities
.-=] Lore Book | Patreon | Wyrlde YT [=-.
An original Setting for 5e, a whole solar system of adventure. Ongoing updates, exclusies, more.
Not Talking About It / Dubbed The Oracle in the Cult of Mythology Nerds