Bag of Holding

[Finarvyn]

A friend of mine asked a question, which I thought I would bounce off of the group. I had my AD&D books handy, but I assume this could be an OD&D question just as easily.

From the AD&D DMG:
Bag of Holding: As with other magic bogs, this one appears to be a common cloth sack of about 2' X 4' size. The bag of holding opens into a non-dimensional space, and its inside is larger than its outside dimensions. Regardless of what is put into this item, the bag of holding always weighs a fixed amount.

So ... what happens if you turn the bag inside out?

My initial thought was that you would have to invert the entire "pocket dimension" and pull it through the bag's opening, but could you push on the bottom of the bag instead?

Anyone have any ideas?

[jcstephens]

Whatever the DM wants to happen, of course! Me, I'd just rule that it broke the enchantment, making it into an ordinary bag. A crueler sort might pop open a wormhole, and toss everyone into whatever dimension Bags of Holding exist in.

That's Old School.

[foster1941]

My initial thoughts:

1. You can't turn the bag inside out, no matter how hard you try

2. Turning the bag inside out turns it into a normal, non-magical bag (whether returning it to its original shape restores the enchantment or not depends on my mood, and what kind of munchkinism you were trying to accomplish by turning it inside out in the first place...)

3. Turning the bag inside out opens a rift in time and space and summons Yog-Sothoth

[WSmith]

I would say it is impossible to physically turn the bag inside out. However, I still am a fan of the whole rift in the time space continuum though, (especially if a sphere of annihilation somehow ends up in a bag of holding. )

[Finarvyn]

Aug 11, 2008 13:30:02 GMT -6 foster1941 said:

3. Turning the bag inside out opens a rift in time and space and summons Yog-Sothoth

Dang it. Wish I'd come up with that one. Any time a magic item can be tied somehow to Mythos stuff it's worth the effort!

[cadriel]

Monsters & Treasure, p.36:
"Bag of Holding: A sack-sized magical bag which will contain 10,000 Gold Pieces as if they were only 300. Objects up to 10' length and 5' width and 3' height may be stuffed into the bag, but the weight equivalent, regardless of the weight of the object, then becomes 600."

By the book, the OD&D Bag of Holding isn't really the same as its AD&D cousin. This leaves the OD&D DM latitude to make up the details as he or she sees fit -- obviously a plus. (This is really the beauty of OD&D, isn't it?) I like the idea that a Bag of Holding contains magically generated extra space, a sort of warping of reality. Violating the bag's integrity could create a case of explosive decompression as the spell is broken, the space that was magically generated ceases to exist, and the items within the bag suddenly have to fill their "real" volume and weigh their "real" weight. Of course, your Bag of Holding may vary.

[philotomy]

Aug 12, 2008 12:17:47 GMT -6 cadriel said:

Of course, your Bag of Holding may vary.

Heck, individual bags of holding within the same campaign may vary. I can see a wizard hearing about or seeing a bag of holding and doing research to create one of his own...but coming up with a different approach that accomplished the same end. In that case, turning this bag inside out might have Result A, while turning that bag inside out might have Result B.

[kesher]

Aug 11, 2008 14:06:44 GMT -6 WSmith said:

I would say it is impossible to physically turn the bag inside out. However, I still am a fan of the whole rift in the time space continuum though, (especially if a sphere of annihilation somehow ends up in a bag of holding. )

I would vote for turning it inside out creating a Sphere of Annihilation...

[Stormcrow]

A more interesting question: what would happen if you turned the bag inside out while it was full?