D&D 5E Bag of Holding Question

[MarkB]

Does it actually say that*? Could it also be 2x4x8 or 2x3x10.66 or whatever you need that interior space to be? It is magic. I always assumed it conformed to whatever it need to be.

Sure. It's a bag, it's flexible. Just not infinitely so.

* It does not. The description describes the exterior only:

"...its outside dimensions, roughly 2 feet in diameter at the mouth and 4 feet deep."

The phrasing is ambiguous, but at least quote the whole thing.

"This bag has an interior space considerably larger than its outside dimensions, roughly 2 feet in diameter at the mouth and 4 feet deep."

And the picture of it, a satchel with a shoulder strap, is clearly not of a bag four feet long.

You could read it either way, but I don't think it's a coincidence that a symmetrical space four feet deep has a capacity of 64 cubic feet.

 

[dave2008]

Sure. It's a bag, it's flexible. Just not infinitely so.

The phrasing is ambiguous, but at least quote the whole thing.

"This bag has an interior space considerably larger than its outside dimensions, roughly 2 feet in diameter at the mouth and 4 feet deep."

And the picture of it, a satchel with a shoulder strap, is clearly not of a bag four feet long.

You could read it either way, but I don't think it's a coincidence that a symmetrical space four feet deep has a capacity of 64 cubic feet.

I didn't look at the picture, so that is a good point. You are probably correct that the intent is 4x4x4; however, that is rather boring to me and I much prefer magic that conforms to your needs. IMO, it is a space of a particular volume, but no particular dimensions. More magical to me and I how I let my players use them.

 

[MarkB]

I didn't look at the picture, so that is a good point. You are probably correct that the intent is 4x4x4; however, that is rather boring to me and I much prefer magic that conforms to your needs. IMO, it is a space of a particular volume, but no particular dimensions. More magical to me and I how I let my players use them.

Yeah, I absolutely agree with that, and it's how I use it in my games. I was just trying to disambiguate the way it was written.

 

[Voadam]

The practical problem of 64 cubic feet of flexible dimensions is judging the actual cubic feet of stuff.

A polearm is long, but narrow, and a suit of armor has a lot of empty inside space so neither would take up a lot of volume of potentially perfectly flexible extra-dimensional space. You could measure the actual exact absolute volume of things by placing them in water and seeing how much water you displaced, but judging how many suits of armor displace 64 cubic feet of water as an abstraction thought experiment is not an easy judgment call to make without any actual references.