D&D 5E Bag of holding and portable hole interaction, thoughts on a scenario.

[Mort]

Has anyone actually seen a portable hole /bag of holding interact and the consequences that resulted? In years of playing, I never have!

Now the following possibility has come up and I'm asking the collective resource of ENWorld about the following scenario.

Is it cool, fun, mean, stupid, too cheesy, etc.?

My players have managed to anger a powerful noble, who has access to pretty impressive resources (magic and mundane).

He's tried few plots to get rid of them already :

1. Bribe them to go away;
2. Send thugs after them;
3. Put them into the path of some serious monsters ;
4. Frame them for a crime to get the Watch after them.

Next, he's thinking of something a bit more exotic:

Namely, he has access to both a bag of holding and a portable hole, and knows the dangers of the two interacting.

His plan is to put the bag into the path of the PCs - (expecting them to collect it) and then drape the hole in a place where they will mistake it for a portal (he knows the PCs have found and used similar looking portals in the past) - thereby hopefully getting them out of his hair.

This is a ridiculously expensive solution but the noble is wealthy enough and mad enough (in both senses of the word) to do it.

Thoughts, comments, suggestions?

 

[Oofta]

Yes, I have seen it. I had a PC once that levitated a fellow bag-of-holding PC into a rope trick. In my defense, he was dominated at the time.

In 5E, this won't kill the PCs it will "just" transport them to a random location in the astral plane with no way of reopening the portal. So if they have a spell such as plane shift they can get back with fairly minor inconvenience (assuming you rule that they all end up in the same place). Another option of course is that they find someone or something that can send them back, perhaps at a price.

So ... this could either be a speed bump, a side-quest, or a "I'm the DM and if I say you're all dead you are!" The first is a bit annoying, the second could be interesting if you can come up with an interesting situation. The third option? That's just a dick DM move. Don't be a dick.

Whichever option you choose, you might want to foreshadow a bit. Why is there a bag of holding available? Is there a way they could tell that this portal is "fake"? Would the noble reasonably think sending the group to the astral plane is a death sentence?

Remember, as a DM you can always wipe out the party. That doesn't mean you should.

 

[Mort]

Yes, I have seen it. I had a PC once that levitated a fellow bag-of-holding PC into a rope trick. In my defense, he was dominated at the time.

In 5E, this won't kill the PCs it will "just" transport them to a random location in the astral plane with no way of reopening the portal. So if they have a spell such as plane shift they can get back with fairly minor inconvenience (assuming you rule that they all end up in the same place). Another option of course is that they find someone or something that can send them back, perhaps at a price.

So ... this could either be a speed bump, a side-quest, or a "I'm the DM and if I say you're all dead you are!" The first is a bit annoying, the second could be interesting if you can come up with an interesting situation. The third option? That's just a dick DM move. Don't be a dick.

Whichever option you choose, you might want to foreshadow a bit. Why is there a bag of holding available? Is there a way they could tell that this portal is "fake"? Would the noble reasonably think sending the group to the astral plane is a death sentence?

Remember, as a DM you can always wipe out the party. That doesn't mean you should.

I'll definitely provide context for the bag of holding but the players have been in a very "loot first and ask questions later mode"

The group is pretty arcana light, no wizards or bards, just a sorcerer with a low int. I won't railroad them into the "portal" but suspect they'll walk into it.

From a game perspective, the whole point of this trap is that it won't kill them. It will put them in a totally foreign scenario ( the astral plane) and scrambling to get back home - which can lead to all sorts of new and fun situations.

 

[TaranTheWanderer]

I'm sure this isn't new to most people but I thought I'd post it. It's kind of funny:

 

[aco175]

I have seen a fighter sacrifice himself by combining the two during a fight with an ancient red dragon. He took the dwarfs portable hole and ran forward. The dwarf cried after the battle, since the celebratory ale was in the portable hole.

As to your plan to dispose of the PCs, I would just make it fair and allow something to maybe notice before they charge in. It is never fun to have the DM describe something to make you think it is one way and then say, "You're dead". thanks for playing.

 

[Satyrn]

I'm sure this isn't new to most people but I thought I'd post it. It's kind of funny:

View attachment 103253

Mr Matulich is a gnome, I presume.

 

[Mort]

As to your plan to dispose of the PCs, I would just make it fair and allow something to maybe notice before they charge in. It is never fun to have the DM describe something to make you think it is one way and then say, "You're dead". thanks for playing.

In 5e, the interaction doesn't kill. It deposits everyone sucked in onto the Astral plane.

This would present a new and novel adventuring opportunity for the group, not eliminate the characters.

 

[Satyrn]

His plan is to put the bag into the path of the PCs - (expecting them to collect it) and then drape the hole in a place where they will mistake it for a portal (he knows the PCs have found and used similar looking portals in the past) - thereby hopefully getting them out of his hair.

This is a ridiculously expensive solution but the noble is wealthy enough and mad enough (in both senses of the word) to do it.

Thoughts, comments, suggestions?

This plan would be immediately foiled if the first player stepping into the "portal" doesn't have the bag. I mean, if it was me going on, I'd probably stop the moment I saw I was just in a hole.

So, like, you're gonna have to figure out how to describe the inside to make the whole party want to enter, otherwise the guy with the bag might never go in.

 

[Mort]

This plan would be immediately foiled if the first player stepping into the "portal" doesn't have the bag. I mean, if it was me going on, I'd probably stop the moment I saw I was just in a hole.

So, like, you're gonna have to figure out how to describe the inside to make the whole party want to enter, otherwise the guy with the bag might never go in.

That's a good point.

Not too insurmountable though.

The "room" would just have to be furnished in a way as to entice everyone to want to search it.

Thinking about it though, this is ridiculously over complicated. And if it doesn't work, the group gets 2 pretty nice magic items.

Just as easy to have a modified glyph of some kind plane shift the party.

 

[TaranTheWanderer]

Ok, I’ve been thinking about this. If the rich guy is eccentric, he may prefer a super complicated, in efficient expensive way of dealing with this.

1. He puts the portable hole on a wall so it creates a large room or closet and then He hires a mason or a carpenter to build a a room inside it and cover up the fact that it’s a hole. So maybe makes a small sitting room and makes it look like part of the building.

2. He hires someone to hire the pcs to do a simple job. Like get back these jewels that were stolen. It’s all a set up of course. The job is easy, maybe they even kill the jewel theif. (All the better, leaving less people behind to track it back to him)

3. When they go to get paid, the guy gives them each their own bonus and talks to them one at a time and then sends them to the ‘waiting room’ where there is a locked chest. He will open the chest for them after he gives everyone their bonus. He gives a he last guy a bag of holding as his bonus. . Chaos ensues as the whole room is sucked into the astral plane.

Bonus points if the room is set up as a jail cell. That way, when the whole room is sucked into the astral plane, they are also locked in a small cell.

The jail cell would work if they have to go in somewhere for questioning after a crime and are waiting in a holding cell. Maybe a fake cop arrests them after they kill the jewel theif.

Edit: lots of opportunity to figure things out.
1. Why was it so easy to get the jewels back
2. Why does the inter tier of the house not match the exterior
3. Maybe the dwarf notices new construction
Etc...