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Writer's pictureDevon Thurgood

The Magic Mansion

Updated: Aug 8, 2020

The Magic Mansion is a dungeon unlike any other. Everything about it seems strange. For some reason, it only appears at night. Doors never seem to lead where they ought to. One door could take you eight different places in the same night, and the dusty halls of the Magic Mansion are home to an eerie presence.




The Magic Mansion has a mysterious enchantment on it. Whenever someone opens a door in the Haunted Mansion, they roll a D8. The room the door leads to is determined by the result. The door always leads to a room on the same floor, and it cannot lead back into the room you're already in. The front door of the mansion, marked in green, always leads outside, but may slam behind the party and lock after they enter. The back door to the mansion, in the Den marked in light brown, always leads outside, but may behave in the same way as the front door. The brown door in the kitchen always leads to the brown door in the Dining room, even though those rooms are physically across the house from each other. The same goes for the Master Bedroom and Master Bathroom doors marked in grey.



The mansion can be navigated by using special keys found hidden throughout the mansion. Each room has it's own special key. If you insert the kitchen key into any door on the first floor, it will always lead you to the kitchen. (The key will not fit into second floor locks) The interior doors are not locked, but if someone tries to pick the locks anyway, they will trigger a trap. (The locks are only used for navigation via the keys) The trap could be the chill touch spell firing at the lock-picker, or an electric shock that mimics the shocking grasp spell. You might choose to make the boss room in particular inaccessible, except through using the proper key.


If the party is between levels 1 and 5, this mansion could challenge them with swarms of bats, spiders, and rats, and encounters with Poltergeists, Specters, Ghosts, and Wraiths. If your party is a higher level, than the Magic Mansion makes an excellent lair for a vampire.


Here is a run-down of each room in the Magic Mansion.

Rooms:

Foyer-

This room is right inside the mansion. There's a couch to the left, and to the right is a staircase leading to the second floor. Under

the staircase is a closet (marked by the orange door). Straight ahead on the ground floor is the door, and there's also a door to the

left. Up the staircase, there's a door at the end of the room and a door on the side. The red door on the second floor always leads to

the second floor hall. You may decide to hide a room key, or some coins underneath the couch cushions or in the closet under the stairs.


Dining Room-

There is a long table in this room with six chairs around it. Each corner of this room has a potted plant. You may decide to hide a room

key inside one of the pots.


Kitchen-

In this room you'll find a fridge or icebox, a sink, a stove, furnace, trash can, and some cupboards. All of these are good places to hide

loot, or a room key. This also might be a location where the party encounters an animated knife, or a swarm of rats. If the party is a

high level, and the boss is a Vampire, there might be a fire elemental trapped inside the furnace, imprisoned by the vampire. It'll be

angry when it gets out.


Gallery-

There are three stone busts on pedestals and a small grand piano in this room. There is a soft chair and couch, two lamps, and a potted

plant as well. There are also a number of paintings on the wall. Inside the piano, or behind a painting, is a great place to hide room

keys or other items.


1st Floor Hall-

The only thing of note in here is a long red rug on the ground. if you're going to hide a key in this room, it's best to do it under the

rug, or under the floorboards. If you want to include a trap in this room, a classic pitfall trapdoor might work best.


Study-

There's a small table in the corner of this room with a candle and some papers on it. You'll also find a few lamps, some bookshelves, a

desk and chair, a couch, a low table with a potted flower on it, a fireplace, and a rug on the floor. There can also be some pictures on

the wall, and maybe a map of your world or nation setting. There are many good places to hide a key in here. This is also a good room for

the players to encounter Mimics, spiders, or swarms of spiders. There's a trap in the bookshelf. If a certain, large, eye-catching book is

pulled, the entire bookshelf will fall forward with it (surprisingly easily), crushing the person pulling it. A strength saving throw can

stop it.


Nursery-

There is a baby carriage in the corner, and a ball and doll on the ground. More baby toys can be found in one of the cabinets on the wall.

The other cabinet might contain supplies for caring for a child. I think the baby carriage is the best place to hide a key in this room.

This is a room where the player might encounter a mimic, specter, Poltergeist, or a ghost.


Bathroom-

The bathroom has tile flooring, unlike the wood floors in most of the house. There are three towel hooks to the right wall when you walk in.

One of them has a towel on it. There's also a towel bar with another towel in the back of the room. In this room you'll find a bathtub,

shower, toilet, sink, potted plant, and wastebasket. I think under the sink would be a good place to hide a key in this room. The sink in

this room is trapped. If you turn on the sink without pulling a hidden lever under the sink, it will blast you with a torrent of highly

pressurized water, dealing 1D6 Bludgeoning Damage This is a good room to encounter a rat, spider, swarm of spiders, or Giant Rat.


Den-

The most notable feature of this room is the large pool table. There are 14 pool balls if you count the cue ball, and two cues. A key could

be hidden in a pocket of the pool table. There is a green chest in the corner. It could either contain loot, or random board games. This is

a room where you could encounter Mimics, a Swarm of Spiders, Specters, a Cat, or Poltergeists. The back door here always leads outside, but it might

be locked.


-2nd Floor-


2nd Floor Hall-

There is a suit of steel armor in this hallway. You may choose to make it animated armor. You could also choose to hide a key inside the suit of

armor's helmet or in his fist.


Attic-

The attic contains some barrels, an old bed, and a chest. The attic is a thin walkway, and to the left is the empty ceiling. This is a great room

for hiding loot for the party to find. It's also one of the best rooms to encounter Swarms of Bats, Swarms of Rats, and Swarms of Spiders. You may

also encounter Mimics.


Living Room-

There is lots of furniture and a fireplace in this room. There are also some potted flowers, and windows.


Kid's Room-

This room has a twin bed, a piano, dresser, mirror, and chest. The chest can contain loot, or maybe children's clothes. This is a good room to

encounter Poltergeists, Specters, Ghosts, or perhaps a Wraith. This room can function effectively as a sort of mini-boss room, and as such, would

be a great place to hide the key to the boss room (I recommend the library for the boss room).


Greenhouse-

This room is full of plants, and a large section of the wall is windows. One notable feature is a bronze telescope pointed out through the window

at the stars. You can hide a room key among the plants.


Master Bedroom-

This room has a king-size bed, love-seat, dresser, wardrobe, lamps, mirror, and a small fireplace in the corner. It is one potential option for a boss

room, but there are windows in this room too, and the party might try to enter through a window initially, so I prefer to use the library, since it

has no windows. The grey door in here always leads to the master bathroom. This is another good potential mini-boss room.


Master Bathroom-

Physically this bathroom is the same size as the other one, but it is more extravagent, with a bigger bathtub, two potted plants, one on either side

of the toilet, a blue rug beneath the sink, and a bronze suit of armor. You can decide if the suit of armor is animated armor.


Laboratory-

This room has a cement floor, a bronze table, a furnace, and a locked metal cabinet, as well as a small window high on the wall. There might be signs

of a dark history in this room. The cabinet could contain poisons, alchemists supplies, tinker's tools, strange drugs, medical instruments, or many

other things. This is a good room to encounter a wraith.


Library-

This is my recommendation of what you should use as the Boss room of the mansion. It has two cabinets, a wooden table, two chairs, and three large

bookcases. There are no windows in this room. This is a good room to encounter a Wraith, a Ghost, or a Vampire, whichever you would use as the boss

of the dungeon. You may also add a Swarm of Spiders, or an owl, to provide backup for your boss. This is a good room to hide things like spell scrolls

or tomes.

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