Better 5e Bastion Facility Boons

As discussed in my last post, the new Bastion system is inspiring, but its reward system (and a few fundamental systems) lacks a clear motivation for players to utilize it: Harvesting ten floral bouquets worth 5 gp each? Recruiting guild members to make fifty barrels of ale worth 10 gp each? Crafting some sovereign glue for 100,000 gp?!

I'm confident that the roleplaying and story-focused aspects of Bastions will be taken care of automatically by the players themselves. What players and DMs need in an established system are facilities that provide useful, mechanical rewards they can award players with. Each benefit should be be temporary, consumable, or incremental, and should have a cost of some kind. I put a special emphasis on spending gold. Players get treasure all the time and never have anything to spend it on but magic items! Why not buildings that give them lasting benefits on their future adventures?

Below are some ideas for mechanical benefits for Bastion facilities. Not breaking the game is hard to do without playtesting, but I organized the facilities by power level to hopefully at least get that aspect of this homebrew headed in the right direction.

Also, I've eliminated facilities that do not directly affect the players from adventure to adventure, such as the Armory and Barracks. The rules involved with an actually interesting "Bastion Defenders" system are beyond the scope of this post, likely happen at much higher levels anyway, and honestly probably depend a lot on the individual campaign run rather than on a prescribed set of rules.

Assume that each of the bullet points under the facility takes a week of downtime spent to gain the benefit, unless specified otherwise. Also, a facility's hireling is occupied while doing a task, but more hirelings can be hired to do more things at once, and a player character can perform the task if they have the proficiency to do so. Any task can be performed only 3 times during a single week.

Upkeep and Defense

In the event that an attack does happen on a Bastion, these simple statistics can probably replace the "Bastion Defenders" rule smoothly, or at least help you run it better in a pinch.

• Each skilled hireling increases the lifestyle expenses of the Bastion's owner by 60 gp per month. Skilled hirelings use the statistics of guards.
• Each unskilled hireling increases the lifestyle expenses of the Bastion's owner by 6 gp per month. Unskilled hirelings use the statistics of commoners.
• Wooden walls on a Bastion have AC 15, 20 hit points per 5-foot-square panel, and vulnerability to fire damage. (And of course, immunity to poison and psychic damage)
• Stone walls on a Bastion have AC 17 and 30 hit points per 5-foot-square panel (and immunity to poison and psychic damage)

Basic Facilities

Each of these facilities costs 500 gp and 3 weeks to construct.

Arcane Study

Employs 1 skilled hireling.

• Empower Arcane Focus. Empower an arcane focus to grant its user a +1 bonus to spell save DC and spell attack rolls for the next 7 days.
• Spellbook Research. If a wizard scribes a spell from a spell scroll into his or her spellbook, the spell scroll is not consumed.
• Identify Item. Study books about magic items during a long rest here, and you can cast identify for free 3 times during the next 7 days. 

Clinic

Employs 1 skilled hireling. Can be upgraded into a Hospice.

• Recovery. You recover from 1 lingering injury, disease, or effect that reduces an ability score.

Garden

Employs 1 unskilled hireling. Can be upgraded into a Greenhouse.

• Harvest Food. You gain 10 rations.
• Harvest Herbs. You gain 1 potion of greater healing. The potion changes into a common potion of healing after 3 days.
• Harvest Poisons. You gain 2 vials of either antitoxin or basic poison

Jail

• Imprisonment. You have advantage on Charisma checks against creatures who spend at least 24 hours locked up in this cell.

Laboratory

Employs 1 skilled hireling. Can be upgraded to an Alchemist's Laboratory.

• Brew Chemicals. You gain 1 vial of acid or alchemist's fire.
• Brew Potion. You spend the money for components to craft a potion of Common or Uncommon rarity. The potion takes 7 days to brew.

Library

Employs 1 skilled hireling. Can be upgraded into an Archive.

• Topical Study. You gain advantage on Arcana, History, Nature, or Religion checks for the next 7 days.
• Donate Book. Each book donated to the Library adds 50 gp toward its upgrade into an Archive.

Pub

Employs 1 skilled hireling. Can be upgraded into a Tavern.

• Carouse. Make a Charisma (Persuasion or Performance) check. On a 19 or lower, you gain 1 Contact Point. On a 20 or higher, you gain 2 Contact Points. A Contact Point can be spent during downtime to create an NPC who will do you one favor subject to the DM's approval and based on your lifestyle.
• Liquid Courage. For the next 7 days, you have advantage on saving throws against being charmed or frightened. 

Sanctuary

Employs 1 skilled hireling. Can be upgraded into a Sanctum.

• Empower Druidic Focus. Empower a druidic focus or a holy symbol to grant its user a +1 bonus to spell save DC and spell attack rolls for the next 7 days.
• Speak with Animals. Meditate during a long rest here, and you can cast speak with animals for free 3 times during the next 7 days. 

Shrine

Employs 1 skilled hireling. Can be upgraded into a Sacristy.

• Bless Water. You gain 1 flask of holy water.
• Divine Protection. Pray during a long rest here, and you gain the effect of a sanctuary spell (DC 15) that can last up to 7 days.

Scriptorium

Employs 1 skilled hireling. Can be upgraded into a Scribe's Scriptorium.

• Spell Scroll Inscription. Spell scrolls up to Uncommon rarity can be scribed here.
• Spread the Written Word. Make a Charisma (Persuasion or Performance) check. On a 19 or lower, you gain 1 Contact Point. On a 20 or higher, you gain 2 Contact Points. A Contact Point can be spent during downtime to create an NPC who will do you one favor subject to the DM's approval and based on your lifestyle.

Smithy

Employs 1 skilled hireling.

• Sharpen Weapon. A weapon gains 1 charge. You can expend 1 charge when you hit a target to turn the hit into a critical hit. Additional charges (maximum 3) can be purchased for gold equal to the weapon's cost.
• Fortify Armor. A suit of armor or a shield gains charges equal to your adventuring tier. When someone scores a critical hit against you, you can expend 1 charge to turn the hit into a normal hit. Additional charges (maximum 3) can be purchased for 50 gp each.

Stable

Employs 1 unskilled hireling. Can hold 3 animals that are Large or smaller. Can be upgraded to an Exotic Stables.

• Invigorate Mount. For the next 7 days, a mount gains advantage on Constitution saving throws and temporary hit points equal to 5 x your level.
• Reinforce Horseshoes. For the next 7 days, a mount gains 10 feet of walking speed.

Treasury

• Protected Items. Items and money stored here are protected with an arcane lock and one glyph of warding spell.

Trophy Room

• Relive the Glory. Admire trophies from past adventures and get Inspiration each time you complete a long rest for the next 7 days.
• Trinket Trophy. Take a trinket from a previous victory. For the next 7 days, it can cast a spell once for free, then the magic fades. Choose the spell from the following: clairvoyance, death ward, find traps, locate creature, magic weapon, remove curse, or speak with dead.

Workshop

Employs 1 skilled hireling. Can be upgraded to an Artisan's Workshop.

• Craft Item. Craft nonmagical items with a combined total of 50 gp or less.
• Craft Magic Item. Put 50 gp toward the crafting of a Common magic item you have the reagent for, or a consumable magic item of Uncommon rarity.

Advanced Facilities

Each of these facilities costs 1,000 gp and 6 weeks to construct.

Artisan's Workshop

Employs 1 skilled hireling. Can be upgraded to a Master's Workshop

• Craft Item. Craft nonmagical items with a combined total of 100 gp or less.
• Craft Magic Item. Put 100 gp toward the crafting of a magic item of Uncommon rarity or lower that you have the reagent for, or a consumable magic item of Rare rarity or lower.

Alchemist's Laboratory

Employs 1 skilled hireling. Can be upgraded to a Master's Laboratory.

• Brew Chemicals. You gain 2 vials of acid or alchemist's fire.
• Brew Potion. You spend the money for components to craft a potion of Rare rarity or lower. The potion takes 7 days to brew.

Exotic Stables

Employs 1 skilled hireling per creature housed. Can stable 4 creatures Large or smaller, including flying creatures.

• Invigorate Mount. For the next 7 days, a mount gains advantage on Constitution saving throws and temporary hit points equal to 5 x your level.
• Reinforce Horseshoes. For the next 7 days, a mount gains 10 feet of walking speed.

Great Hall

Employs 1 skilled hireling and 3 unskilled hirelings.

• Banquet. Spend 5 gp per person. Each person has resistance to poison damage and does not gain exhaustion from hunger for the next 3 days.
• Heroes' Feast. Spend 1,000 gp to replicate the effects of a heroes' feast spell.

Greenhouse

Employs 1 skilled hireling.

• Harvest Food. You gain 10 rations.
• Harvest Magical Fruit. You gain a fruit that duplicates the effect of a lesser restoration spell when eaten. Its magic fades after 24 hours.
• Harvest Herbs. You gain 1 potion of superior healing. The potion changes into a potion of greater healing after 3 days.
• Harvest Poisons. You gain 2 vials of antitoxin, or 1 vial of midnight tears, pale tincture, torpor, or truth serum.

Hospice

Employs 1 skilled hireling.

• Recovery. You recover from 1 lingering injury, disease, or effect that reduces an ability score. You can also purchase a prosthetic limb for 50 gp if you are missing a limb.

Meditation Chamber

• Fortify Self. After meditating for 7 days, make a Wisdom check. On a 15 or higher, choose a type of saving throw. On a 14 or lower, roll randomly on the table to determine the saving throw type. You have advantage on that type of saving throw for the next 7 days.

d6	Saving Throw
1	Strength
2	Dexterity
3	Constitution
4	Intelligence
5	Wisdom
6	Charisma

Observatory

• Peer into the Planes. Spend a long rest peering into the stars and you can cast contact other plane for free once during the next 7 days. 
• Planar Petition.  Spend 7 days exploring the eldritch mysteries of the stars and roll a die. On an even roll, nothing is gained. On an odd roll, you gain one of the following supernatural charms: charm of darkvision, charm of heroism, or charm of vitality.

Ritual Circle

Can be upgraded to a permanent circle of teleportation at a cost of 10,000 gp. Also can be upgraded to a Portal. 

• Arcane Ritual. You can cast any spell with the Ritual spell for which you have the level of spell slots, without material components, even if you do not know the spell.

Sacristy

Employs 1 skilled hireling and 3 unskilled hirelings. Can be upgraded into a Chapel.

• Bless Water. You gain 1 flask of holy water.
• Divine Protection. Pray during a long rest here, and you gain the effect of a sanctuary spell (DC 17) that can last up to 7 days.
• Sacred Relic. You can spend 200 gp to bless an item that acts as one of the following magic items, but only for the next 7 days: pearl of power, periapt of wound closure, ring of water walking, sending stones, staff of the adder, staff of the python, wand of magic detection.

Scribe's Scriptorium

Employs 1 skilled hireling. Can be upgraded into a Master's Scriptorium.

• Spell Scroll Scription. Spell scrolls up to Rare rarity can be scribed here.
• Spread the Written Word. Make a Charisma (Persuasion or Performance) check. On a 19 or lower, you gain 2 Contact Points. On a 20 or higher, you gain 3 Contact Points. A Contact Point can be spent during downtime to create an NPC who will do you one favor subject to the DM's approval and based on your lifestyle.

Tavern

Employs 1 skilled hireling and 3 unskilled hirelings.

• Carouse. Make a Charisma (Persuasion or Performance) check. On a 19 or lower, you gain 2 Contact Points. On a 20 or higher, you gain 4 Contact Points. A Contact Point can be spent during downtime to create an NPC who will do you one favor subject to the DM's approval and based on your lifestyle.
• Liquid Courage. For the next 7 days, you have advantage on saving throws against being charmed or frightened. 
• Gambling. Invest at least 50 gp into the house, then roll percentile dice and consult the table to determine your portion of the house's winnings.

d100	Winnings
01–11	You lose the amount invested and incur a debt equal to the same amount.
12–25	You lose the amount invested.
26–75	You gain half the amount you invested.
76–95	You gain money equal to the amount you invested.
96–00	You gain money equal to three times the amount you invested.

Theater

Employs 1 skilled hireling and 3 unskilled hirelings.

• Perform. Make a Charisma (Performance) check. On a 9 or lower, you get nothing. On a 19 or lower, you gain 2 Bardic Inspiration dice. On a roll of 20 or higher, you gain 4 Bardic Inspiration dice. The Bardic Inspiration dice are d10s, and you can expend them on yourself or on an ally within 60 feet.

Training Area

• Skill Training. You gain proficiency in Acrobatics, Athletics, Performance, Sleight of Hand, or Stealth for the next 7 days.
• Battle Training. Make a Strength (Athletics) check. On a roll of 19 or lower, you gain 2 Superiority Dice. On a roll of 20 or higher, you gain 4 Superiority Dice. You can spend Superiority Dice to perform any Battle Master maneuver during the next 7 days.
• Unarmed Training. Make a Strength or Dexterity (Athletics) check. On a roll of 19 or lower, you gain 2 charges. On a roll of 20 or higher, you gain 4 charges. You can expend 1 charge when you hit a target with an unarmed strike to turn the hit into a critical hit. These charges last for the next 7 days.

Grand Facilities

Each of these facilities costs 3,000 gp and 12 weeks to construct.

Airship Dock

Employs 3 skilled hirelings. Has a dock for 1 airship.

• Construct Airship. Spend 250 gp worth of work on constructing an airship. Each additional hireling can contribute an additional 250 gp worth of work per week.
• Recruit Crew. Hire 10 skilled hirelings as a crew for an airship.

Archive

Employs 1 skilled hireling.

• Research. Choose a lore type: Arcana, History, Nature, or Religion. Make an Intelligence (Investigation) check. On a 19 or lower, you gain 1 Lore Point. On a 20 or higher, you gain 3 Lore Points for the next 30 days. A Lore Point can be spent at any time to automatically succeed on an Intelligence check based on the lore type chosen.
• Topical Study. You gain advantage on Arcana, History, Nature, or Religion checks for the next 7 days.
• Lore of Legends. You cast legend lore without any material components.

Arena

Employs 1 skilled hireling and 3 unskilled hirelings. Counts as a Business (see downtime activities).

• Arena Battle. Fight a battle against one or more creatures from your Menagerie. You gain 1d4 x 100 gp per creature that you kill in the battle.

Chapel

Employs 3 skilled hirelings. The ground of the chapel is under the hallow spell.

• Bless Water. You gain 2 flasks of holy water.
• Divine Protection. Pray during a long rest here, and you gain the effect of a sanctuary spell (DC 20) that can last up to 7 days.
• Sacred Relic. You can spend 200 gp to bless an item that acts as one of the following magic items, but only for the next 7 days: pearl of power, periapt of wound closure, ring of water walking, sending stones, staff of the adder, staff of the python, wand of magic detection.
• Reliquary. Bless a religious item. The reliquary acts as a holy symbol that ignores material components, including ones that have a cost of 1,000 gp or less. Once it has been used, its blessing fades.

Engineering Yard

Employs 1 skilled hireling.

• Construct Siege Equipment. Spend 250 gp to construct 25 hit points of a ballista, mangonel, ram, siege tower, or trebuchet.

Guildhall

Employs 3 skilled hirelings.

• Recruit Sidekick. Hire a sidekick to join your party. The sidekick has a level equal to yours and charges an amount of gp per day equal to your level.
• Sponsor Quest. Offer an amount of money for lower-level adventurers to perform a quest for you. This could be to retrieve a specific item, seek out a reagent for a magic item, capture a beast, or a similar task. A quest takes a random number of days to complete, based on the price you offer and the difficulty of the quest.

Guardian Shrine

• Summon Guardian. Make an offering worth 1,000 gp to cast planar ally. The guardian will guard your Bastion for 24 hours, and will help you do something else for 1 hour during this time period. A guardian may help more if you offer it more payment.

Master's Laboratory

Employs 1 skilled hireling.

• Brew Chemicals. You gain 3 vials of acid or alchemist's fire.
• Brew Potion. You spend the money for components to craft a potion of any rarity. The potion takes 7 days to brew.

Master's Scriptorium

Employs 1 skilled hireling.

• Spell Scroll Scription. Spell scrolls up to Very Rare rarity can be scribed here.
• Spread the Written Word. Make a Charisma (Persuasion or Performance) check. On a 19 or lower, you gain 3 Contact Points. On a 20 or higher, you gain 5 Contact Points. A Contact Point can be spent during downtime to create an NPC who will do you one favor subject to the DM's approval and based on your lifestyle.

Master's Workshop

Employs 1 skilled hireling.

• Craft Item. Craft nonmagical items with a combined total of 100 gp or less.
• Craft Magic Item. Put 200 gp toward the crafting of a magic item of Rare rarity or lower that you have the reagent for, or a consumable magic item of Very Rare rarity or lower.

Portal

• Scry-Proof Demiplane. The portal leads to a large demiplane that can't be scried upon using divination magic. When you enter the demiplane, you gain temporary hit points equal to 5 times your level.
• Fabrication. While in the demiplane, you can magically create a nonmagical object of your choice from nothing. It must be no bigger than a 5-foot cube and must be made of wood, stone, clay, porcelain, glass, paper, nonprecious crystal, or nonprevious metal. You can do this only once per day.
• Teleport. The portal can be magically set to lead to another destination as per the teleport spell. It can only be set to a new destination in this way once every 7 days.

Sanctum

Employs 1 skilled hireling. 

• Empower Druidic Focus. Empower a druidic focus or a holy symbol to grant its user a +2 bonus to spell save DC and spell attack rolls for the next 7 days.
• Speak with Animals. Meditate during a long rest here, and you can cast speak with animals for free 3 times during the next 7 days.
• Reincarnation. You provide the material components and cast reincarnate. 
• Word of Recall. This counts as a sanctuary for the spell word of recall, and it contains a tree accessible using the transport via plants spell. When you use either of those spells to arrive in the sanctum, creatures of your choice regain 70 hit points divided up as you choose between them. 

Shipyard

Employs 3 skilled hirelings. Has docks for 3 ships. 

• Construct Ship. Spend 250 gp worth of work on constructing a galley, keelboat, longship, rowboat, sailing ship, or warship. Each additional hireling can contribute an additional 250 gp worth of work per week. Constructing ships in this way makes them cost half as much.
• Recruit Crew. Hire a number of hirelings required for a ship's crew.

Vault

• Magically Protected Items. Items and money stored here are protected with a magically sealed door that you choose the password for, as well as the following permanent spells: alarm, arcane lock, guards and wards, and symbol.