Rope trick and bag of holding? What to do?!?

[Aberzanzorax]

I have a VERY paranoid character who memorizes two rope tricks and two undetectable auras per day. That is where he lives.


The trouble comes in that this works well for me now, but as we level there's SURE to be at least one bag of holding in the group. As we adventure and sleep in dungeons, any creative solutions for our group?

Thanks!

 

[Alan Shutko]

Don't try to hang the bag by a rope outside the opening. That doesn't end well.

 

[Saeviomagy]

By raw, there is no issue.

In terms of the actual game, if you have a cool adventure idea then feel free to make something of it. Otherwise leave it alone. Sucking all or half of your characters to another plane (or killing them all, or destroying all their equipment) when you have nothing planned is just going to be boring.

 

[Vorput]

Hide the bags under a rock. Or a dead goblin. Or whatever.

Magic aura will insure that no one looking for magic items picks up the bags.

You will however run into problems from low level farmers looking for ordinary bags to haul their manure in though...

 

[Aurumvorax]

Bag of holding is a nondimensional space, not an extradimensional one. In other words, it doesn't exist within the multiverse. Unlike the space within a rope trick, you can't planeshift or use extradimensional spells to affect a bag of holding. The only item bag of holding negatively reacts to is a portable hole.

 

[Aberzanzorax]

Interesting distinction. However, I notice, from the SRD that a portable hole is described as both a nondimensional and extradimensional space.

Portable Hole

...When spread upon any surface, it causes an extradimensional space 10 feet deep to come into being. This hole can be picked up from inside or out by simply taking hold of the edges of the cloth and folding it up. .... Each portable hole opens on its own particular nondimensional space. If a bag of holding is placed within a portable hole, a rift to the Astral Plane is torn in that place. Both the bag and the cloth are sucked into the void and forever lost. If a portable hole is placed within a bag of holding, it opens a gate to the Astral Plane....


So I guess the question now becomes: Is it safe to put a bag of holding or portable hole in a rope trick?

 

[FunkBGR]

Does the Rope Trick + Aura enhance or detract from the game?

The last time I ran 3.5, it detracted from the game, so I ruled that Bags of Holding couldn't go in, which got rid of the 'problem'. The player's agreed, and we moved on. If they disagreed, we'd probably have a discussion, and see if we could compromise on the rules' bits.

If it enhances the game, I'd rule otherwise, saying you could do it, and then also ask the players' whether they feel it makes sense. Some might like the 'challenge' of coming up with a way to make sure their bags stick around.

 

[Kerrick]

So I guess the question now becomes: Is it safe to put a bag of holding or portable hole in a rope trick?

Funny thing.. I came up with an answer to that question, and people made fun of me for doing it (they said it wasn't worth the bother). I had to change a few things around for the sake of consistency, but here's the result:

Note: Extradimensional spaces (such as that created by a portable hole) cannot be created inside an existing extradimensional space – any item or spell that does so simply fails to work. An object that creates a nondimensional space (bag of holding, e.g.) can be used normally in an extradimensional space.

Each portable hole opens on its own particular extradimensional space. Items that create nondimensional spaces, like a bag of holding, can be safely opened inside an extradimensional space. Creating or opening an extradimensional space inside a nondimensional space, however (putting a portable hole inside a bag of holding, e.g.) opens a rift to the Ethereal Plane – any creatures in a 10-foot radius are sucked through, and both items, along with all their contents, are destroyed in the process.

So, in summary:

Bag of holding + rope trick or portable hole = fine.

Portable hole + rope trick or bag of holding = bad.

 

[Aberzanzorax]

Funk, in answer to your question, it's actually making the game playable. We're an entirely stealth party, so a "full frontal assault" party would have much more staying power than we do, and so we need this for places that really overwhelm us with numbers.

It's a fun experiment to do "all stealth" for a veteran group.



To Kerrick, that makes sense...sorta like you can divide 0 by infinity but you can't divide infinity by zero.

 

[Charwoman Gene]

sorta like you can divide 0 by infinity but you can't divide infinity by zero.

I weep for the state of mathematical education today... infinity is not a number, you can't perform operations with it.

You can argue for an alternative math where infinity can be used as a number, but it gets weird fast.