Magic Item Woes

[vonFelsenheim]

I always like to run magic items I homebrew past someone who's been playing longer than me. Here is a thread for magic items to be judged and tweaked by the community.

The item I have in mind is this: a minor bag of holding, weighing only two pounds and having an interior space of only two cubic feet. I originally had this in mind to make my Furtive Filcher homunculus more effective. Upon reflection though, it's a really useful place for all those damn coins, especially at low levels. I was thinking along the following lines:

(Faint transmutation; CL 3rd; Craft Wondrous Item, rope trick; Price 400gp)

I know this is going away from the guidelines set by yer basic average bags of holding (transmutation instead of conjuration), but I wanted it available to a lower level and Rope Trick seems thematically appropriate. What do you think, sages?

 

[Celebrim]

I know this is going away from the guidelines set by yer basic average bags of holding (transmutation instead of conjuration), but I wanted it available to a lower level and Rope Trick seems thematically appropriate. What do you think, sages?

I think you are the DM and you should do what you want.

Personally, I think bags of holding are underpriced and that they are mostly tolerated at that price because they allow most encumbrance issues to be handwaved at best or made static at worst (because your weight never changes as all additional weight goes into the bag). On that grounds, they are something like 'common'. DMs let it slide because its a pain when they don't.

On those grounds and many others, its your campaign - do what is right for it.

I'll probably let some basic holding type stuff into my game around 6th or 7th level mostly for gamist reasons like the above, but I don't really have a problem with any range of play choices.

 

[vonFelsenheim]

Actually, I came up with this while playing a wizard with a little cadre of homunculi of various shapes and sizes.

 

[Celebrim]

Actually, I came up with this while playing a wizard with a little cadre of homunculi of various shapes and sizes.

Ok, so now I'm confused.

You aren't the DM in the game you want to introduce this?

Then why do you think our opinions have any bearing on that subject? I can't begin to tell another DM what sort of magic items he should allow into his game, at what price, or at what stage of the game.

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

It depends upon the DM, of course, but if someone presented me with a well-thought out magic item and it conformed to the game rules closely enough, I know I'd allow it to come in.

And I think the OP is just looking for some help to design a well-thought out magic item.

OP: You might want to look at the spell Familiar Pocket.

 

[vonFelsenheim]

Well, what I'm looking for is how you, as DMs, would modify this item before allowing it. If there seems to be some consensus, I can give my DM the item most likely to be acceptable. On the other hand, I am an occasional DM myself. Can anyone think of a reason not to introduce this item at all (as DM or player)?

The last thing I want as a DM is to introduce an item that will break my game, and the last thing I want as a player is to invest in a cool new toy that the DM takes away when he figures out how it breaks his.

Edit: No, hang on. The last thing I want as a player is to be recruited as a nalfeshnee's dentist. The toy thing is pretty bad though.

 

[jefgorbach]

Your suggested design seems reasonable, however Rope Trick normally creates a space capable of holding upto eight creatures weighing a max of 16,000 pounds each - so why reduce it to a mere two cubic feet?

The problem I see however is Rope Trick's descriptive fluff implies the resulting space is immobile. However irc one of the Dragon issues had a spell (Deep Pocket?) which enchanted a pocket into a small mobile dimensional space akin to what you seek.