[RPG] How could the enemies find the victims’ corpses left in a Magnificient Mansion

dnd-5espells

The magnificent mansion spell states:

When the spell ends, any creatures inside the extradimensional space are expelled into the open spaces nearest to the entrance.

Based on these two questions, it was determined that corpses are objects and that objects could be 'given' to the mansion (though I'm not sure I'm satisfied with that conclusion):

Regardless, if we take that conclusion as given, suppose I provided the servants poison for the entire banquet and had them use it to massacre a 100-person dinner party. When others attempt to find the deceased using divination magic, what sort of reading would they get? Assuming they could figure out where the bodies were, how could they go about recovering them?

Best Answer

Objects are Ejected When the Spell Ends

As of October 2020, the latest Sage Advice Compendium now says:

What happens to objects brought inside and left inside Mordenkainen’s magnificent mansion when the spell ends?

The intent is that the objects are ejected from the mansion when the spell ends and appear in unoccupied spaces closest to where the door was. This intent will be reflected in future printings of the Player’s Handbook.

Some additional points (for DM’s wishing for more context):

  • There doesn't appear to be a solid reason to assume that the spell can dispose of undesired objects by "giving" them to the Mansion
  • In previous editions, the description of the magnificent mansion spell did not address what happened to occupants when the spell ended, but we wouldn't have assumed that occupants could be "given to the mansion" and forever lost (just because the spell did not say otherwise).
  • 5e added what happens to occupants when the spell ends for clarity, but it doesn’t seem like the writers were intentionally trying to exclude objects.
  • The description of rope trick (a similar spell) says “Anything inside the extradimensional space drops out when the spell ends.”
Related Topic