A key part of System Reference Document (SRD) 5.2 under a Creative Commons license. The document provides a portion of Dungeons & Dragons' newest ruleset for third-party creators to use and reference when creating their own material. This functionally creates a framework for third-party Dungeons & Dragons material, setting the tone for the supply of new releases that will the game in coming years.

While the new SRD contains several subsystems introduced in Dungeons & Dragons' 2024 Core Rulebooks and also provides guides for creating monsters compatible with the new rules, there is one key subsystem missing from the document. The Bastion system, which gives players tools for creating their own home base, complete with mechanical benefits, is not in the new SRD. This means that creators can't make new bastion material for Dungeons & Dragons, thus limiting what material will appear in new third-party material.

What's In The SRD 5.2 And What's Not

Weapon Mastery System & New Species/Background Rules Are In, But Bastions Aren't

The new SRD contains all 12 core classes found in the Player's Handbook, along with one subclass per class. Most backgrounds and species also appear in the new SRD, although rules for aasimar are notably missing from the document, as Wizards of the Coast considers the aasimar part of its intellectual property. A number of monsters also appear in the SRD, including the iconic dragons for D&D. However, some iconic monsters like mind flayers and beholders aren't in the SRD, again due to intellectual property rules.

In of new mechanics and subsystems, the Deck of Many Things and Orb of Dragonkind have both been renamed in the SRD, once again due to protecting intellectual property rights. Unlike the previous SRD, references to most Planes and some iconic creatures like Strahd and Tiamat have been totally scrubbed from the publicly usable ruleset.

Bastions Are Missing From D&D's New SRD

Base-Building Rules Will Not Be ed By Third Parties

The most notable exclusion from the SRD 5.2 is Bastions, a new ruleset that allows for the creation of home bases with mechanical benefits for players. This missing system not only contains rules on how to build bastions, with numerous facilities that could be added or upgraded over the course of a campaign, but also details on how bastion turns work within the new ruleset. Bastion turns provide players with a mechanical turn to activate various facilities and make repairs to existing ones.

SRD 5.2 can be viewed in full in a document available on D&D Beyond.

Bastions are intended to be used in between campaign arcs, as well as provide some additional material for DMs to use when crafting longterm storylines. The Bastions system is one part of D&D's ruleset that was not found in the 2024 Player's Handbook despite being a player-facing system. Instead, Wizards of the Coast included the new ruleset in the Dungeon Master's Guide, locking it behind a second rulebook.

The reasoning for this choice is that it's up to the DM to decide whether to give Bastions to players, as the ruleset allows players to act as mini-DMs when crafting their own home bases. Wizards has stated that it plans to Bastions in future setting rulebooks, including the Eberron: Forge of the Artificer.

Why The Exclusion of Bastions Is Bad For D&D

SRD Excluding Bastions Just Encourages Competing Systems

Keeping bastions out of the hands of third-party creators is a weird decision by Wizards of the Coast. Excluding bastions from the SRD means that third-party material won't be able to offer up its own bastion , either in the form of new facilities or expanded rules on existing facilities. While Wizards may want to reserve future Bastions updates for its own creators, it also means that other creators will be more likely to create rival systems to bastions that may upstage them in some games.

Because creating home bases is such a popular part of many D&D campaigns, Wizards choosing not to promote their own homegrown Bastion system is a shocking choice. While excluding some material due to IP protection is reasonable, there's no reason why Bastions shouldn't be included in the SRD.

Choosing not to put Bastions in the SRD simply means more disted and competing rulesets while also ensuring that the official Bastions ruleset doesn't get the same as other new Dungeons & Dragons rules. It's ultimately a short-sighted decision that only hurts one of the more promising new parts of Dungeons & Dragons.

Source: D&D Beyond