Level Up (A5E) Magnificent Mansion: No Haven or Supply

Pedantic · Jan 8, 2025

W'rkncacnter said:
tiny hut is explicitly a haven in A5e.

That is the crux of the issue. Really feels like it needs to be an neither or both situations for TH/MM.

Distracted DM · Jan 8, 2025

Pedantic said:
That is the crux of the issue. Really feels like it needs to be an neither or both situations for TH/MM.

From my point of view, MM is a haven based on the requirements for Havens. TH is only a haven because it's stated, otherwise it doesn't meet the requirements for being a haven.

Chaltab · Jan 9, 2025

I mean I don't really care much for all the cruft A5E adds to exploration to begin with so I admit I'm not coming at this from the same angle. It's just that by the level where Magnificant Mansion comes into play, travel and exploration aren't exactly challenges unless you're in the literal hells, elemental planes, or some otherwise super hostile environment. And if they have gone extraplanar then it's easy enough to say 'this plane futzes with the magic and makes your rest in the Mansion uneasy, you don't lose any strife' or even 'the spell fails & you hear the laughter of some distant wicked Power'

Honestly I made a custom milestone system where exploration was a faster way to level up than doing quests in my game and my players largely still avoided exploration for its own sake and pursued quests (while complaining about slow leveling). Obviously it depends on the player, but engaging with the game systems is a choice rather than something you can force.

Distracted DM · Jan 9, 2025

I do care about the survival stuff buuut MM is a 7th level spell. At that point, you can just teleport around the world or step to other planes... survival becomes less of an issue at those levels.

Himbo_Jones · Jan 9, 2025

While it is true that by the time PCs have access to 7th level spells, teleportation and travel to other planes becomes possible and even common place, I am also of the opinion that the cost for those spells should be far higher than what they are currently

Imo, the teleport spell should require, at minimum, a material cost of ~2,000-4,000 gold that is consumed with each cast, and the material cost for travel to other planes should be bumped up to around 1,000 or 2,000 gold.

Do note that I got these numbers from the Treasure By Level table from Trials & Treasures, and am operating on the principle that the ability to effectively circumvent one of the three key pillars of gameplay should cost at least half of a player's earned gold.

But I know all of this is personal preference, of course, and nobody is wrong for disagreeing with me here. I am also the "gritty realism" resting guy, so...

Andrew Cooper · Jan 9, 2025

I'd be interested in the design decision to make Tiny Hut a haven. It doesn't seem to fit the requirements. You really need to set guard shifts even in a Tiny Hut. After all, anything with the equivalent of Dispell Magic will instantly bring a Tiny Hut down. There are lots of nasty things intelligent foes can do to a party in a Tiny Hut if they aren't watching. I get that the 200gp cost does mitigate the use of the spell but it still doesn't make sense in the fiction to me.

W'rkncacnter · Jan 9, 2025

Andrew Cooper said:
I'd be interested in the design decision to make Tiny Hut a haven. It doesn't seem to fit the requirements. You really need to set guard shifts even in a Tiny Hut. After all, anything with the equivalent of Dispell Magic will instantly bring a Tiny Hut down. There are lots of nasty things intelligent foes can do to a party in a Tiny Hut if they aren't watching. I get that the 200gp cost does mitigate the use of the spell but it still doesn't make sense in the fiction to me.

most of the things foes can do while you're in a tiny hut only really effect you once the hut ceases to exist, so technically there's no reasonable risk of attack during the rest.

i think it is mainly just to make the spell useful as a way to recover from fatigue and strife, though.