Howdy all! My players recently botched a high level encounter and the player with the bag of holding burned down in the house. I am pretty sure they are going back in once the fire is out to retrieve the bag, it had all their extra magic items and gold. Think it would survive the inferno or explode it’s contents over the wreckage? DMG isn’t specific about fire on the item, just overloaded/pierced/torn. Thanks!
Up to DM. Magic items are more durable than mundane ones, but only artifacts (and maybe legendary) are indestructible. A bag of holding could certainly handle being singed, but probably not incinerated.
According to RAW magic items can not be destroyed except by exceptional means. The Weapon Shatterspike for example can destroy weapons, but not magical weapons. So I'd say the bag of holding would make it out relatively unscathed. IF they can find it among the rubble. and IF someone hasn't claimed it first.
If you want to give the players a challenge, make them each make one investigation check through the rubble to see what they can recover. If there are still magic items lost in the rubble after that, maybe they will need to do something story-related to retrieve the rest of the items.
Most magic items are objects of extraordinary artisanship, assembled from the finest materials with meticulous attention to detail. Thanks to this combination of careful crafting and magical reinforcement, a magic item is at least as durable as a regular item of its kind. Most magic items, other than potions and scrolls, have resistance to all damage. Artifacts are practically indestructible, requiring extreme measures to destroy.
*Where "resistance to all damage" means takes half damage.
Per the DMG, small items that are "resilient" have 10 (3d6) hp. Magic items have resistance to damage, so the question is whether the fire dealt 20 (or 36 if you max the object hp) points of damage to it.
Ultimately, it's up to you. There are RAW (rules as written) precedents for it being destroyed, but you could easily have it be a modified bag that was enchanted to be extra durable or even immune to fire. Not only do they get the bag back, but find out that it's a top tier bag of holding instead of just a basic one.
thought they were immune. in case of resistant. And a bag not having that much HP. I'd say that being in a 2 minute long burning environment would've destroyed the bag. even if you take a low default of 4 fire damage per turn. halved. Making the destruction of the bag 20 rounds. 2 minutes at most when you use a very very very generous 40hp for the bag.
Not sure if the destruction of the item would spit out all the items. Usually it means the items would be spread across the astral plane and lost forever.
If you don't want to go the destroyed/untouched route you could leave the item damaged. Something mundane like everything you take out of the bag has a scent of wood burning or tastes like it's been cooked on a wood fire too long, or something a little more serious like it's more difficult/chance of failure to call items from the bag/can't call items from the bag until it's repaired.
In case you were actually asking what RAW is not what RAW says: RAW = Rules As Written, which is different from RAI = Rules As Interpreted or Rules As Intended.
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Thanks for all the great info! I was asking about the specific acronym, but the follow on info was great. Looks like the bag will have burned to a crisp in the house fire. I’ll have to think about them looking all the items to the astral plane or spread out amongst the fire.
Here’s an idea.. not sure how it would work. It’s kinda a starting concept that needs fleshed out.
Say the bag of holding burned but the content inside didn’t. The players find the content. Kinda. But it’s stuck between planes and creates some type of rip in the planar structure.
Maybe displacer beasts appear or some other weird planar gig.
Here’s an idea.. not sure how it would work. It’s kinda a starting concept that needs fleshed out.
Say the bag of holding burned but the content inside didn’t. The players find the content. Kinda. But it’s stuck between planes and creates some type of rip in the planar structure.
Maybe displacer beasts appear or some other weird planar gig.
That's actually pretty interesting. A little pocket of other space that is permanently fixed to this location.
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"Sooner or later, your Players are going to smash your railroad into a sandbox."
-Vedexent
"real life is a super high CR."
-OboeLauren
"............anybody got any potatoes? We could drop a potato in each hole an' see which ones get viciously mauled by horrible monsters?"
Here is an interesting fact that might help you give a rational reason why the bag could survive.
A styrofoam cup full of water will not burn in a camp fire. You can boil an egg in it. The reason is that the water absorbs the heat from the styrofoam fast enough that the cup never reaches it’s melting point.
If the space inside the bag is a big enough heatsink and the bag transfers the heat to the space fast enough, the bag could survive.
Plus it’s magic.
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Howdy all! My players recently botched a high level encounter and the player with the bag of holding burned down in the house. I am pretty sure they are going back in once the fire is out to retrieve the bag, it had all their extra magic items and gold. Think it would survive the inferno or explode it’s contents over the wreckage? DMG isn’t specific about fire on the item, just overloaded/pierced/torn. Thanks!
Up to DM. Magic items are more durable than mundane ones, but only artifacts (and maybe legendary) are indestructible. A bag of holding could certainly handle being singed, but probably not incinerated.
According to RAW magic items can not be destroyed except by exceptional means. The Weapon Shatterspike for example can destroy weapons, but not magical weapons. So I'd say the bag of holding would make it out relatively unscathed. IF they can find it among the rubble. and IF someone hasn't claimed it first.
Ah, good points both. What is RAW?
If you want to give the players a challenge, make them each make one investigation check through the rubble to see what they can recover. If there are still magic items lost in the rubble after that, maybe they will need to do something story-related to retrieve the rest of the items.
"Not all those who wander are lost"
The DMG says this:
*Where "resistance to all damage" means takes half damage.
Per the DMG, small items that are "resilient" have 10 (3d6) hp. Magic items have resistance to damage, so the question is whether the fire dealt 20 (or 36 if you max the object hp) points of damage to it.
Ultimately, it's up to you. There are RAW (rules as written) precedents for it being destroyed, but you could easily have it be a modified bag that was enchanted to be extra durable or even immune to fire. Not only do they get the bag back, but find out that it's a top tier bag of holding instead of just a basic one.
thought they were immune. in case of resistant. And a bag not having that much HP. I'd say that being in a 2 minute long burning environment would've destroyed the bag. even if you take a low default of 4 fire damage per turn. halved. Making the destruction of the bag 20 rounds. 2 minutes at most when you use a very very very generous 40hp for the bag.
Not sure if the destruction of the item would spit out all the items. Usually it means the items would be spread across the astral plane and lost forever.
If you don't want to go the destroyed/untouched route you could leave the item damaged. Something mundane like everything you take out of the bag has a scent of wood burning or tastes like it's been cooked on a wood fire too long, or something a little more serious like it's more difficult/chance of failure to call items from the bag/can't call items from the bag until it's repaired.
In case you were actually asking what RAW is not what RAW says: RAW = Rules As Written, which is different from RAI = Rules As Interpreted or Rules As Intended.
If not - sorry for the pointless digression :)
My DM Philosophy, as summed up by other people: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rN5w4-azTq3Kbn0Yvk9nfqQhwQ1R5by1/view
Disclaimer: This signature is a badge of membership in the Forum Loudmouth Club. We are all friends. We are not attacking each other. We are engaging in spirited, friendly debate with one another. We may get snarky, but these are not attacks. Thank you for not reporting us.
Thanks for all the great info! I was asking about the specific acronym, but the follow on info was great. Looks like the bag will have burned to a crisp in the house fire. I’ll have to think about them looking all the items to the astral plane or spread out amongst the fire.
That is a good idea! An UA artificer made it as part of his class, he sadly did no special enchantments.
Here’s an idea.. not sure how it would work. It’s kinda a starting concept that needs fleshed out.
Say the bag of holding burned but the content inside didn’t. The players find the content. Kinda. But it’s stuck between planes and creates some type of rip in the planar structure.
Maybe displacer beasts appear or some other weird planar gig.
That's actually pretty interesting. A little pocket of other space that is permanently fixed to this location.
"Sooner or later, your Players are going to smash your railroad into a sandbox."
-Vedexent
"real life is a super high CR."
-OboeLauren
"............anybody got any potatoes? We could drop a potato in each hole an' see which ones get viciously mauled by horrible monsters?"
-Ilyara Thundertale
Here is an interesting fact that might help you give a rational reason why the bag could survive.
A styrofoam cup full of water will not burn in a camp fire. You can boil an egg in it. The reason is that the water absorbs the heat from the styrofoam fast enough that the cup never reaches it’s melting point.
If the space inside the bag is a big enough heatsink and the bag transfers the heat to the space fast enough, the bag could survive.
Plus it’s magic.