D&D 5E Bag of Holding Question

[Jfdlsjfd]

This is from Roll20 so Im going to assume is current and correct for 5E.

"This bag has an interior space considerably larger than its outside dimensions, roughly 2 feet in diameter at the mouth and 4 feet deep. The bag can hold up to 500 pounds, not exceeding a volume of 64 cubic feet. The bag weighs 15 pounds, regardless of its contents. Retrieving an item from the bag requires an action.

I know its clearly definiens that the bag is 64 cu. ft. and can hold 500 pounds, This meticulously requires the players and DM must book keep. Thats not something I'm interested in but I also don't want the party thinking this is a never ending well of storage.

Has anyone ever came up with another method/system for tracking contents, remaining space in a BoH? As in a small item takes up "x" amount of storage and cu. ft, etc? I underatand the opening is a 2' Dia so theres no need to discuss what can fit in it.

When I first read the rule, I immediately discarded the volume restriction. I can convert pounds to kg, I cringe at feet but... cubic feet? There is no way I will calculate the volume of an item to check if it can fit in the remaining volume. Metric system wizard lose 9.6 cm on their fireball's radius and move 14cm less each round than their imperial counterpart, I balance it by removing any restriction based on cubic feet.

More seriously, there is no way to be sure, by RAW, of how items are stored inside the bag. 64 cubic feet is a volume unit, and a halberd is 5 to 6 ft long but not very wide or deep. Its volume would feet easily because we don't know the inner dimension precisely. It could be 2x2x16ft for all we know. It could keep the form of the outer bag, so it would be a cylinder 1.75ft of radius and 7 ft deep. We can't know. So, maybe you could just keep track of the weight limit? The bag of holding allows you to carry 500 pounds "for free".

 

[not-so-newguy]

So this ignores the 500# weight limit of the bag itself in lieu of the person carrying it? I was also thinking of implementing a slot type of system but haven't gotten past that initial thought yet.

Weights aren't used at all.
Items take up a certain amount of slots (e.g. a dagger takes up 1 slot, a long sword takes up 3 slots) A Bag of Holding takes up 1 slot but increases 30 slots of space.

It isn't an exact system and I'm sure it can lead to some ridiculousness if you allow it.

 

[CleverNickName]

Has anyone ever came up with another method/system for tracking contents, remaining space in a BoH? As in a small item takes up "x" amount of storage and cu. ft, etc? I underatand the opening is a 2' Dia so theres no need to discuss what can fit in it.

Tracking the contents of a Bag of Holding can be tedious, for sure. I don't blame you for not wanting to keep track of it.

The way I handle it: make an 8x8 grid on a sheet of paper. Each square represents one cubic foot of material. Then, whenever a character puts something in the bag, have them write the item's name in one or more of the squares, depending on how many cubic feet of space it would take up (minimum 1 cubic foot¹). When they run out of squares, the bag is full.

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1. A lot of players will balk at this, so expect arguments. "But I can fit all of this stuff into the same cubic foot!" My usual answer to that is "If it's so small, why are you putting it in a Bag of Holding, instead of your belt pouch?" But I digress. If players have a problem with the "one item per square" minimum, you can invite them to tediously keep track of every ounce and cubic inch of every item in every Bag of Holding instead. I recommend a spreadsheet for that.

 

[Maxperson]

This is from Roll20 so Im going to assume is current and correct for 5E.

"This bag has an interior space considerably larger than its outside dimensions, roughly 2 feet in diameter at the mouth and 4 feet deep. The bag can hold up to 500 pounds, not exceeding a volume of 64 cubic feet. The bag weighs 15 pounds, regardless of its contents. Retrieving an item from the bag requires an action.

I know its clearly definiens that the bag is 64 cu. ft. and can hold 500 pounds, This meticulously requires the players and DM must book keep. Thats not something I'm interested in but I also don't want the party thinking this is a never ending well of storage.

Has anyone ever came up with another method/system for tracking contents, remaining space in a BoH? As in a small item takes up "x" amount of storage and cu. ft, etc? I underatand the opening is a 2' Dia so theres no need to discuss what can fit in it.

I just don't deal with it. As long as they track the weight, I really don't care about the dimensions. Excepting things that don't fit through the opening or are too long.

 

[Maxperson]

That's the exterior space. It's bigger inside. That's the whole point! Polearms and multiple suits of armour are fine.

Armor may not fit through the opening and polearms are longer than 4 feet, so are unable to fit in due to the depth.

 

[R_J_K75]

I kind of go with a bag of holding being about a 5x5x5 cube of space and there is no weight limit, only space limit. The party mostly gives these to the mage or the halfling to use as a strength-dump work around. I cannot recall a problem where it was a problem except once with a dragon horde and trying to transport a lot of coins and the player just saying to put it in the bag of holding. I let them put in 25,000 coins and they needed to come back

You are correct this is rarely a problem and Im not a "Killer DM" whose out to screw the players unless they do something stupid like try and use the BoH to bypass a waterfall by putting the water into the bag, as an example. I think a very easy if not realistic abstract account of how much cu ft each item takes up, and roll a d20, on a 1 threes an incident. I want a simple solution that benefits the DMs in group (as of now its 3 and counting) as well as the players.

 

[R_J_K75]

I just don't deal with it. As long as they track the weight, I really don't care about the dimensions. Excepting things that don't fit through the opening or are too long.

Kind of thinking each item takes up one cubic foot as unrealistic as it is, seems easy. As far as weight say each item weighs 5#. A potion might weigh 1/2# but then the anvil they acquired my be 50#, so it may even out. Think its an easy way to say, youve reached your weight limit or space limit.

 

[Maxperson]

Kind of thinking each item takes up one cubic foot as unrealistic as it is, seems easy. As far as weight say each item weighs 5#. A potion might weigh 1/2# but then the anvil they acquired my be 50#, so it may even out. Think its an easy way to say, youve reached your weight limit or space limit.

That definitely works. For me, I don't mind if they get more square footage out of it. It's a magic item and it being a bit more wonderous than written doesn't bother me. As long as they limit themselves to the weight and few restrictions from my last post, it's all good.

 

[R_J_K75]

Tracking the contents of a Bag of Holding can be tedious, for sure. I don't blame you for not wanting to keep track of it.

The way I handle it: make an 8x8 grid on a sheet of paper. Each square represents one cubic foot of material. Then, whenever a character puts something in the bag, have them write the item's name in one or more of the squares, depending on how many cubic feet of space it would take up (minimum 1 cubic foot¹). When they run out of squares, the bag is full.

-----

1. A lot of players will balk at this, so expect arguments. "But I can fit all of this stuff into the same cubic foot!" My usual answer to that is "If it's so small, why are you putting it in a Bag of Holding, instead of your belt pouch?" But I digress. If players have a problem with the "one item per square" minimum, you can invite them to tediously keep track of every ounce and cubic inch of every item in every Bag of Holding instead. I recommend a spreadsheet for that.

See my post above, kind of along the same lines. But this sounds like another option. I want a hard fast abstrat rule that both the DMs and Players/PCs are cool with but there needs to be some chance for error.

 

[turnip_farmer]

Armor may not fit through the opening and polearms are longer than 4 feet, so are unable to fit in due to the depth.

I'm pretty broad-shouldered, but would still have sufficient clearance to squeeze armour in my size in, I think. I wouldn't fuss about that as DM. Unless I was in a really bad mood.

As for the depth, I think you're not really grasping the concept of 'larger on the inside than the outside'.