Thematic Bastion Facilities and Community Ideas

This note catalogs thematic custom Bastion facilities, campaign-specific adaptations, and creative ideas drawn from the Ghostfire Gaming “Fixing Bastions” video analysis and community discussion. It is intended as a “remix kitchen” for DMs who want Bastions that feel distinct for horror, urban intrigue, planar travel, Eberron, dark fantasy, and similar tones.

Ghostfire Gaming — Fixing Bastions (Ben Burns)

Source: Fixing Bastions to Work in Your DnD Campaign! | 5e 2024 — Ghostfire Gaming YouTube channel, hosted by Ben Burns.

Key Takeaways

• Bastions are a shared playground for players AND DMs.
• Basic facilities are “player-led worldbuilding” tools; reflavor them freely.
• Special facilities can and should be reflavored, reskinned, or outright homebrewed to fit campaign themes.
• Bastion events are best treated as quest hooks, not random tables played literally.
• The video explicitly encourages “theme packs”: Grim Hollow, Drakkenheim, Eberron, Spelljammer, Planescape, Ravenloft, moving bastions, etc.
• Half the special facility count for a mobile bastion.
• Combine bastions into shared locations to reduce DM load (five characters share three bastions).

Thematic Facility Ideas from the Video

Facility	Level	Space	Order	Setting	Notes
Prison	5+	Roomy	Recruit	Any; especially dark fantasy	Holds up to 12 prisoners. At 9th, gains Interrogation Chamber: d6 questions with advantage on Intimidation/Persuasion, then hostility.
Profane Chamber	9+	Roomy	Craft	Grim Hollow / dark fantasy	Craft shadowsteel trinkets and magic items. Hireling risk: corruption into shadowsteel ghoul.
Blood Altar	5+	Cramped	Empower	Vampire/Necromancer campaign	While in the Bastion, feeding timer pauses. Requires blood source or compact.
Throne Room (Meditation Chamber reskin)	13+	Cramped	Empower	Political/warlord campaigns	Hear petitions, receive worship. Instead of inner peace, choose between Bastion events. Saving throw bonuses come from inflated ego.
Moving Bastion (trait)	Special	---	---	Any; Spelljammer, Eberron, naval, caravan	Halves special facility count. Choose land/air/aquatic. Flight requires level 9+ and an engine/arcane facility. Travel order overrides all other facility orders.

Homebrew Bastion Events from the Video

Event	Trigger	Effect
Haunted	DM choice	Undead/fiend spirit haunts the Bastion. All facilities locked until the spirit is personally banished.
Siege	DM choice	Enemy faction besieges the Bastion. No Trade or Recruit orders; no other events until broken. Full story arc potential.
Blood Tax	DM choice	Vampiric nobility demands hireling sacrifice. Refusal creates Crimson Court enmity.
The Great Beast	DM choice (Burach Empire)	Beast visits the Bastion. Roll 6d6; each 6 saves one hireling/defender; rest are aberrated or killed.

Thematic Facility Homebrew Templates

Dark Fantasy / Grim Hollow

Facility	Level	Space	Order	Prerequisite	Effect
Crimson Court Pact Chamber	9	Roomy	Empower	Relationship with vampiric court	Gain a vampiric boon for 7 days. Boon fades if you refuse the court’s next request.
Bone Mill	5	Cramped	Harvest	Access to corpses	Process monster remains into alchemical reagents, bone meal, or necromantic components.
Charnel Chapel	9	Roomy	Craft	Divine or Primal focus	Craft unholy water, desecrated ground tokens, or death-ward trinkets.
Flesh Garden	13	Vast	Harvest	Access to aberrated/fey flora	Grow grafts, symbiotic organisms, or mind-affecting spores. Each harvest risks corruption.
Watchtower of the Weeping	9	Roomy	Recruit	Bastion in blighted territory	Recruits grim sentinels immune to fear. They report distant threats and cannot leave the Bastion.

Drakkenheim / Delerium

Facility	Level	Space	Order	Prerequisite	Effect
Delerium Purification Chamber	5	Cramped	Empower	Access to delerium sample	Reduce contamination levels, suppress mutations, or extract raw delerium essence.
Haze Observatory	9	Roomy	Research	Spellcasting focus	Predict haze surges, read delerium currents, and gain insight into the Deep Haze.
Relic Forge	13	Vast	Craft	Delerium shard	Craft contaminated magic items with unpredictable side effects or partial delerium blessings.

Eberron / Magitech

Facility	Level	Space	Order	Prerequisite	Effect
Dragonmark Hub	5	Roomy	Empower	Dragonmarked character	Enhance dragonmark abilities temporarily, grant access to House networks, or authenticate documents.
Lightning Rail Station	9	Vast	Recruit	Access to rail line	Attach a station to the rail network; gain fast travel between connected Bastions and cities.
Elemental Binding Chamber	9	Roomy	Craft	Spellcasting focus	Bind elementals to power vehicles, elevators, or forge items. Power source may become unstable.
Warforged Nursery	13	Vast	Recruit	Artificer or House Cannith affiliation	Create, repair, or upgrade Warforged retainers. Each new Warforged requires a soul-seed quest.

Planescape / Planar

Facility	Level	Space	Order	Prerequisite	Effect
Sigil Doorway	13	Cramped	Research	Planar attunement	Opens a temporary portal to a random or negotiated location in the Outlands/Sigil. Risky if uncalibrated.
Astral Observatory	9	Roomy	Research	Spellcasting focus	Read astral currents, locate color pools, and map demiplane locations.
Concordance Circle	9	Roomy	Empower	Alignment with a faction	Gain advantage on Charisma checks with planar beings aligned to the circle’s philosophy for 7 days.
Petitioner’s Rest	5	Cramped	Recruit	None	Attracts lost petitioners; they can provide obscure lore but may shift the Bastion’s planar essence.

Feywild / Fey

Facility	Level	Space	Order	Prerequisite	Effect
Faerie Circle	5	Cramped	Empower	Fey-touched or Archfey pact	Step into the circle to enter the Feywild. Return location is unpredictable without a guide.
Twilight Bower	9	Roomy	Harvest	None	Harvest fey fruits, glamour dust, and dream nectar. Each harvest may incur a fey debt or geas.
Hall of Reflections	13	Roomy	Research	None	Scry on any creature that has visited the Bastion. The target may sense they are being watched.

Ravenloft / Horror

Facility	Level	Space	Order	Prerequisite	Effect
Séance Parlor	5	Cramped	Research	None	Contact spirits of the dead. The spirit may lie, demand a price, or attract Dark Powers’ attention.
Sanctified Ground	9	Roomy	Empower	Holy symbol or druidic focus	The Bastion counts as consecrated ground. Undead and fiends have disadvantage on saves against turning within the Bastion.
Shadow Crossing	13	Vast	Empower	Ethereal or Shadowfell connection	Step into the Border Ethereal or Shadowfell from the Bastion. Requires guide or risk being lost.

Reusable Design Patterns

1. “Reskin, don’t rewrite”

Most official facilities can be reskinned instantly. A Meditation Chamber becomes a Throne Room. A Smithy becomes a Bone Mill. A Trophy Room becomes a Hall of Memories. The mechanical skeleton stays; the narrative changes.

2. “Facility → Event candidate”

Whenever you add a new facility, ask: “What happens when something goes wrong here?” That question generates a Bastion event. Examples from the video:

• Profane Chamber → hireling turns into shadowsteel ghoul.
• Prison → escaped prisoner warns enemy faction.
• Blood Altar → vampiric noble claims the Bastion as territory.

3. “Theme pack, not kitchen sink”

Ben Burns advocates giving players a curated menu of thematic facilities rather than the whole DMG catalog. For a Grim Hollow campaign, offer 6-8 dark-fantasy facilities instead of all 35 DMG options. This makes the Bastion feel native to the world.

4. “Combined Bastions as shared worldbuilding”

A single shared Bastion (village, castle, dread fort) with multiple characters contributing facilities creates collaborative worldbuilding and reduces per-player bookkeeping.

5. “Events drive story, not dice”

All Bastion events should be treated as adventure hooks. Even “All Is Well” can be a scene. The video strongly advocates ignoring the random table whenever a chosen event would better serve the campaign.

Implementation Guidance

When adapting…	Do this
Official facility to a theme	Change name and flavor text; keep level, space, hirelings, and core order intact.
New facility to the official system	Match the power curve in 03 - Balance and Homebrew Framework. Use the template there.
Creative idea from a video	Extract the mechanical loop, test it against two DMG facilities of the same level, then add flavor.
Multiple facilities to a new theme pack	Write 3-5 thematic facilities as a mini-catalog, assign events, and present to players as a curated menu.

Related Notes

• Bastions Index — main index with official catalog, rules, and framework.
• 03 - Balance and Homebrew Framework — approval checklist, power scale, and limits by order.
• 02 - Community and Third-Party Ideas — MCDM, Walrock, RPGBOT, Roll20, and other community sources.