D&D General How long does a body take to decompose in a bag of holding? (Asking for a friend...)

[Umbran]

a nice collection of potted plants

... and a very small sun...

 

[Fenris-77]

... and a very small sun...

That's the easy part though, right? Maybe a variation of continual light might do the trick. It could be a winner for fantasy urban gardening too.

 

[Coroc]

Never watched Breaking bad at all.

you should, this was one of the most hilarious scenes, the acid they used was far to strong, so it dissolved the bottom of the bathtub and the floor underneath and the corpse soup came down through the ceiling, in front of the guy who just wanted to inspect his eventual new mansion

 

[Khelon Testudo]

What you need is Heward's Handy Bodybag.*


*This is a throwback to Wulf Ratbane's Story Hour for you old timers.

I'd go with Tenser's Tote-able Tomb.

 

[Mercurius]

42.

 

[Bedrockgames]

So, with all the heavy conversations on the board lately, I thought I'd post a fun, uplifting topic.

But, yeah, seriously. Our kobold PC artificer has been secretly stashing body parts in his bag of holding to use for his future...creations.

I didn't realize this until we were talking out of character and someone mentioned that a bag of holding can preserve stuff and I said, "Uh, no it can't, the magic affects space, not time". Then he dropped the bomb of, "oh, that's not good, what will happen to all the bodies?!"

So we have this long conversation of, "how dry is it in a bag of holding? Is there bacteria? It's airtight when sealed, will that effect the rate of decomposition?" etc, etc...

Essentially, how many days will it be before he opens the bag and a horrible, horrible smell wafts out and hard questions start being asked?

Thanks in advance, I look forward to your answers!

This is one of the best sage advice questions I have ever seen

 

[Li Shenron]

So, with all the heavy conversations on the board lately, I thought I'd post a fun, uplifting topic.

But, yeah, seriously. Our kobold PC artificer has been secretly stashing body parts in his bag of holding to use for his future...creations.

I didn't realize this until we were talking out of character and someone mentioned that a bag of holding can preserve stuff and I said, "Uh, no it can't, the magic affects space, not time". Then he dropped the bomb of, "oh, that's not good, what will happen to all the bodies?!"

So we have this long conversation of, "how dry is it in a bag of holding? Is there bacteria? It's airtight when sealed, will that effect the rate of decomposition?" etc, etc...

Essentially, how many days will it be before he opens the bag and a horrible, horrible smell wafts out and hard questions start being asked?

Thanks in advance, I look forward to your answers!

Since there is no rule for/against it, I would rule that the bag of holding preserves stuff indefinitely, and you could stash your dead comrade for later resurrection and a few sandwiches for as long as you wish, retrieving both of them fresh.

I might justify it by saying that it's a demiplane where time doesn't pass, the rules neither say it is nor say it isn't, but they do mention multiple times that the bag of holding is somehow related to the Astral Plane, which is timeless (at least in 3e MotP, while the 5e DMG merely says you don't get old or hungry while in it).

 

[Li Shenron]

This is one of the best sage advice questions I have ever seen

Unfortunately it is also one of the most dangerous thing to ask the Sage about! Because, whatever the answer, it will surely spoil your fun, or at least the fun of a good amount of DMs who had their legitimate way of handling it, and will be bothered by the usual player comin' up with "but the Sage Advice says differently"

 

[Eyes of Nine]

How long does a body take to decompose in a bag of holding?
(Asking for a friend)

 

[Khelon Testudo]

Since there is no rule for/against it, I would rule that the bag of holding preserves stuff indefinitely, and you could stash your dead comrade for later resurrection and a few sandwiches for as long as you wish, retrieving both of them fresh.

I might justify it by saying that it's a demiplane where time doesn't pass, the rules neither say it is nor say it isn't, but they do mention multiple times that the bag of holding is somehow related to the Astral Plane, which is timeless (at least in 3e MotP, while the 5e DMG merely says you don't get old or hungry while in it).

Time is implied to pass, as you begin to suffocate after ten minutes.