Manse Magnificent, for Dungeons & Dragons Fifth Edition (2014 and 2024 versions) and compatible systems, describes a single wondrous arcane item, the Cornerstone. Any player character can attune to the Cornerstone and become its Architect. Once a day, in a brief ritual, the Architect can use the Cornerstone to conjure the party's personal safe house, the hearth.
The hearth rises in level along with its Architect. A 4th-level character creates a humble shelter like the tiny hut spell. At higher levels the hearth opens a portal to a private astral demiplane that evolves over time into an ever more lavish villa, manor, estate, and ultimately a mansion. Give low-level characters the benefits of the 7th-level magnificent mansion spell – without breaking the game.
With Manse Magnificent, your players look forward to long rests. They don't stand watch around a campfire; they relax in their hearth, a cozy astral safehouse with comfortable rooms and good food. Residents gain a library, astral teachers, workshops, and other tools that encourage invention, advancement, and exploration. (What does the bellcrank lever do?) On their spacious grounds, they practice their skills in a private lodge, socialize with phantasmal foxes and rabbits in a zoological utopia, or run jousting tournaments in their own tiltyard. Enterprising residents can even open a restaurant, run a spy ring, or operate many other businesses.
But doesn't this spectacular realm unbalance the game? Manse Magnificent optimizes, not for combat, but for your player characters' comfort. When the PCs can bring nothing out of the astral hearth except what they brought in, you won't break the game by giving them a gourmet menu and a valet. After a hardscrabble day scrounging for treasure, your group can take the refuge that suits them. Is it a plausible medieval keep, a faintly anachronistic Renaissance villa, or a gonzo playhouse? The players choose. Eat a sedate meal, relax by the fireside, and retire to a dim bedchamber – or run bumper-car races in giant water bubbles rolling down the hallways. Make it the exact home you want.
And even this comfy retreat can prompt adventures. To stock their private labs and workshops, the residents need rare materials from the outside world. Their astral Host hears news and gossip from across the multiverse. The library holds untold secrets. Sometimes the residents discover an unexpected attic or sub-basement. As real estate agents like to say, this place is full of possibilities.
This free 34-page preview is a showroom display for the upcoming full-length 160-page Manse Magnificent sourcebook. (Note: This Free Preview isn't yet available on DriveThruRPG. Download your file from your Wizard's Cabinet download page on the Bundle site.)
Learn more at the September 2025 Kickstarter campaign page.
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