D&D: New ‘Unearthed Arcana 8’ Adds Bastion System and More
Of all the things we’ve seen for One D&D, the surprise Unearthed Arcana 8 is the most exciting. Bastions, weapons, and more!
Unearthed Arcana 8 for One D&D was released unexpectedly over the weekend. And with it comes the news that some classes are “finished playtesting”, a whole lot of updated cantrips, and something very few people were expecting, the Bastion system, a sort of custom base-building system for adventurers.
What does it all mean? How can you get your meathooks, grubby or otherwise, upon it? Well, the answer my friend is far from blowing in the wind—it’s embedded into a link somewhere in this article. Probably the little clicky button at the very end of it, if you’re both curious and impatient. Which, look, I get. Nobody has time to solve mysteries these days. You gotta look up where the hidden stars and moons are so you can 100% that last level and get on with your life.
Unearthed Arcana 8 – Bastions and Cantrips
First things first, the new Bastion system. This isn’t quite the tactical base-building XCOM like of my incredibly specific dreams. But it is a system for establishing a base of operations and putting it to use in the world. It’s still a little bit rough at this state, but the bones are there.
In a nutshell, you pick a base, lay out some basic facilities, and as you level up you can buy more and more specialized buildings to make a part of your weird little home. Your buildings can do different things when you give them orders, but the main thing they do is generate resources that you can use to activate them when you take a more active turn.
There’s also the bones of a downtime system at play here as well. Including guidance on how you might handle running a Bastion turn while characters are out adventuring. All in all, it’s pretty neat.
Second of call, Cantrips got some much-needed love. A number of Cantrips that just weren’t up to snuff are a little more up to snuff. For one, True Strike, as a spell, actually works. And in this incarnation, it’s that you make an attack with your melee weapon that deals extra radiant damage. Which might play well with the various gish builds out there. Especially Eldritch Knights, who can now just replace one of their attacks with a cantrip. Which is an attack that deals extra damage. It’s a surprisingly good time to be a Fighter.
Other Cantrips that got some attention include a reworked Chill Touch (now actually a touch spell), as well as a revamped Poison Spray, Shillelagh, and more.
Time to build your Adventurer Dream House.
