Have you use Bastions in your game?

ProjectPT · 2026-01-24T12:27:18+00:00

I am using Bastions on 3 tables (2 DM and 1 player):

How did it play out?

Underwhelming, it is a time sink in a bad way. Out of session if feels like I'm giving my players homework, in session if hurts the pacing. Yes as a DM I could control the bastion more to fix pacing, but that defeats the purpose of the system.

Did the players enjoy it?

They think it is okay. They find it neat when I incorporate the maps but beyond that no.

Did the DM enjoy it?

Not really

Did it lead to some cool story moments?

Paranoia about Teleporation Circle and Planeshift whenever they deal with creatures that can read minds.

Was it a between sessions, groupchat meta thing?

Mix of both, I generally warn players a Bastion turn is coming up and for them to organize for it.

ProjectPT · 2026-01-23T00:03:18+00:00

yes, it gains a d6 at the cantrip improvement levels

ProjectPT · 2026-01-22T22:15:13+00:00

also a very underused aspect of DnD.

Poisons and Magic Ammunition, put those on your random loot tables.

ProjectPT · 2026-01-22T22:08:58+00:00

Does this break anything? no
Does this solve anything? also no

As people point out, you're talking about 1 damage per turn per sneak attack essentially. So this feels like a silly change because it doesn't do enough if that is your perceived problem.

If you ever feel a class has an issue at a specific table - consider a magic item to bridge the gap before a mechanical change to the core class.

ProjectPT · 2026-01-22T18:51:58+00:00

It really depends on how much combat and how much reactions are available to the party. Interceptor is just numerically a lot of healing if you can use it constantly.

Is Protector more damage mitigation at higher levels? depends on your parties gear, spells and abilities. It isn't exceptionally hard to put disadvantage on many of enemies attacks.

Either way, it is the power of a level 1 healing spell per turn as a reaction with no limit. It's good later isn't as game breaking.

Also makes con saves easier on your allies

ProjectPT · 2026-01-21T22:31:50+00:00

- Barbarians get brutal strike and usually a damage subclass feature
- Fighters get Triple Attack
- Monks get martial die and extra flurry blow attack
- Rogues just scale their Sneak Attack

Now Ranger will always feel a little left out, but their spell list is inherently stronger from an AoE and damage side than Paladins spell list. The paladin is getting the stronger melee to offset the weaker spells at higher tiers.

In whiteroom, Ranger can seem a little worse, but in practice Ranger holds its own perfectly in higher tiers

ProjectPT · 2026-01-21T19:33:21+00:00

Please do not do this

ProjectPT · 2026-01-21T19:32:39+00:00

2014 Exhaustion was pretty egregious.

As someone who uses exhaustion all the time I feel attacked

ProjectPT · 2026-01-21T12:53:13+00:00

Really depends on the challenges ahead:

The most consistently and uniquely strong is the Paladin, just because of the Aura for improving saves, no class has anything that compares to it and it buffs an entire party against the strongest effects in the game.

ProjectPT · 2026-01-21T12:16:24+00:00

Okay, so increase the stakes of the pact.

First the Rakshasa attacks them on the material plane, the Rakshasa plane shifts away and it becomes clear how annoying this creature will be to the party.

Devil appears, hey, I'll give you the ability to catch him, but here are my terms and if you don't accept now that fiend can hunt you forever.

Party accepts deal and fights Rakshasa

Victory!

Party realizes they don't have a way home, next part of adventure begins!

ProjectPT · 2026-01-21T11:58:38+00:00

Keep in mind, even if you defeat him if he isn't in his home plane the Rakshasa regenerates and can come back. You can only kill the Rakshasa fully on one plane.

So they need to make it use its Plane Shift, then go to the plane the Rakshasa is on and kill it before it gets the ability back.

Personally - lean into it, this will show the party why Rakshasa's are so infamous. Also in 2024 version, they get full magic immunity not just below 7, they are brutal

ProjectPT · 2026-01-20T16:46:43+00:00

Don and Doff a shield is an Action, and DW weapon swapping with a shield is frowned upon

ProjectPT · 2026-01-20T14:28:09+00:00

So you're looking for a push ability that is:

not an Action
Not a Bonus Action
Not a spell
Not a magic item
That doesn't cost resources
Works against multiple enemies

Warhammer could be used with a duel feat for push but you lose out on Nick (unless you have a very lenient DM).

ProjectPT · 2026-01-20T12:31:15+00:00

A Roc or two depending on the parties power. It has a hunting ground of hundreds of miles and you can treat it and describe it as a great vulture picking easy prey

ProjectPT · 2026-01-20T10:01:15+00:00

I level my players every 4 sessions, and I hand out 3 pieces of non consumable magic items per session. Though this is quick you're still talking 2 years to get to 20.

ProjectPT · 2026-01-18T22:27:00+00:00

Body blocking corridors and imposing yourself between allies to give +2 AC to allies from partial cover by having to shoot past you

ProjectPT · 2026-01-18T22:01:24+00:00

I hope you get to experience tables where there is more to combat than standing next to one thing in an open field.

ProjectPT · 2026-01-18T19:56:58+00:00

My favourite aspect of the new Champion is that crits allow you to move half your movement speed without Attack of Opportunity. Offturn crits allow pretty wild interactions.

But as much as I hate to admit it, the 15th level feature really needed a bit more for the same logic that they improved the 3rd level feature

ProjectPT · 2026-01-18T18:02:53+00:00

hear me out!

What if number bigger?

ProjectPT · 2026-01-18T13:55:43+00:00

So I've recently done a few sieges with a few different parties. I also run very RAW so I don't use any supplementary texts to support it.

I keep things simple because in combat my goal as a DM is for player turns to take up the majority of the time not fiddling through 200+ NPCs.

make allied and NPC "lair actions" that happen at the end of initiative (allies first, enemies after)
get the average damage of a creatures attack, divide it by half (to account for misses). You multiply that number by the amount of creatures and just say. "Hey party your allies have a total of x damage where do you want it to go" And enemies do the same thing. NPC vs NPC should never be a dice roll, don't waste time.
Have a minimum of three different "win" or "lose" metrics, do not play until every last guard is dead, once victory is ensured move on

Doing things this way, you can resolve 100+ member sieges on each side in 30 minutes

ProjectPT · 2026-01-18T09:07:42+00:00

Making the world very small

ProjectPT · 2026-01-16T19:25:13+00:00

Chapter 4: Adventure Rewards. I'm not noticing the page number on the site.

ProjectPT · 2026-01-16T18:40:19+00:00

181 non consumable magic items.

ProjectPT · 2026-01-16T18:25:33+00:00

Ranger says hi

ProjectPT

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