Our party is still pretty low level (level 5), and while we were passing through town, our DM just made the Gray Bag of Tricks available to our party through a local merchant trading shop. I have never used or seen a Bag of Tricks before, but it was there for the taking for a not-so-inexpensive 500gp. For a level 5 PC, I could probably afford it if I cashed out all of my coin and borrowed a small sum from a party mate.
Question is, is it worth it? I am playing as a Bard so aside from Inspirations, don't have a ton of things to do with my Bonus Actions (making commanding a summoned creature around possible). But is such a magic item worth such a steep price? Would love to hear the perspective of anyone who has used one in a campaign, or if that price is an acceptable quantity?
It's always worth seeing if you can bargain someone down or do a partial trade for something other than coin. 'Expensiveness' can vary from table to table, as some DMs are free with coin and others less so, or you just might be in a party working far from civilization. I've got a level 9 cleric with only about 300 GP to his name, because we keep doing stuff in the middle of nowhere for his church in the name of staving off ultimate evil. We get other rewards, but not a lot of gold.
The Bag of Tricks can be useful -- animals that can help in combat, animals that can act as mounts when traveling, or other non-combat utilities -- but they're also chaotic because you don't control what you get. And it's an action to initially use -- are you going to use it before you go into combat in case you run into combat, and then have to walk around all day with a panther? In that case you might get combat either way. Or you might cause general chaos by pulling out a giant rat in the marketplace. Which can still make for a memorable session (a party member did this once by pulling a lion out of the rust bag of tricks while we were in a tavern).
I am leaning toward scrapping and clawing to pull the money together to get it. As a Bard, I think it plays well with my playstyle and I think the game of chance is a nice RP piece. I suppose I am more worried about the longevity of such an item in a campaign. I have no doubt that a Giant Elk 12.5% of the time and something useful >50% of the time would enhance the party. But I am less confident that come mid-game, whether even a Giant Elk becomes mostly useless, especially vs. being able to drop a Hypnotic Pattern on a group of baddies. So in my head, I am debating whether 500gp is worth 4-5 levels of improved play.
Personally I love it, Surprisingly I actually had the most combat effectiveness out of the Giant Weasel due to the randomness of dice rolls. But yeah it is pretty awesome.
I use the gray bag of tricks which the DM gave me. 8th level moon druid. I draw out 3 at the beginning of the day and give general commands, before combat it's attack enemies, then i wildshape so there's 4 animal attacks and I get to use flanking rules too. it's a great item to have, even though I have to track 4 attacks, AC's and HP levels. Last night the weasel with 1 hp rolled a nat 20 and bit out a dire wolf's neck.
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Our party is still pretty low level (level 5), and while we were passing through town, our DM just made the Gray Bag of Tricks available to our party through a local merchant trading shop. I have never used or seen a Bag of Tricks before, but it was there for the taking for a not-so-inexpensive 500gp. For a level 5 PC, I could probably afford it if I cashed out all of my coin and borrowed a small sum from a party mate.
Question is, is it worth it? I am playing as a Bard so aside from Inspirations, don't have a ton of things to do with my Bonus Actions (making commanding a summoned creature around possible). But is such a magic item worth such a steep price? Would love to hear the perspective of anyone who has used one in a campaign, or if that price is an acceptable quantity?
Thanks!
It's always worth seeing if you can bargain someone down or do a partial trade for something other than coin. 'Expensiveness' can vary from table to table, as some DMs are free with coin and others less so, or you just might be in a party working far from civilization. I've got a level 9 cleric with only about 300 GP to his name, because we keep doing stuff in the middle of nowhere for his church in the name of staving off ultimate evil. We get other rewards, but not a lot of gold.
The Bag of Tricks can be useful -- animals that can help in combat, animals that can act as mounts when traveling, or other non-combat utilities -- but they're also chaotic because you don't control what you get. And it's an action to initially use -- are you going to use it before you go into combat in case you run into combat, and then have to walk around all day with a panther? In that case you might get combat either way. Or you might cause general chaos by pulling out a giant rat in the marketplace. Which can still make for a memorable session (a party member did this once by pulling a lion out of the rust bag of tricks while we were in a tavern).
Birgit | Shifter | Sorcerer | Dragonlords
Shayone | Hobgoblin | Sorcerer | Netherdeep
Thanks for the feedback.
I am leaning toward scrapping and clawing to pull the money together to get it. As a Bard, I think it plays well with my playstyle and I think the game of chance is a nice RP piece. I suppose I am more worried about the longevity of such an item in a campaign. I have no doubt that a Giant Elk 12.5% of the time and something useful >50% of the time would enhance the party. But I am less confident that come mid-game, whether even a Giant Elk becomes mostly useless, especially vs. being able to drop a Hypnotic Pattern on a group of baddies. So in my head, I am debating whether 500gp is worth 4-5 levels of improved play.
Personally I love it, Surprisingly I actually had the most combat effectiveness out of the Giant Weasel due to the randomness of dice rolls. But yeah it is pretty awesome.
I use the gray bag of tricks which the DM gave me. 8th level moon druid. I draw out 3 at the beginning of the day and give general commands, before combat it's attack enemies, then i wildshape so there's 4 animal attacks and I get to use flanking rules too. it's a great item to have, even though I have to track 4 attacks, AC's and HP levels. Last night the weasel with 1 hp rolled a nat 20 and bit out a dire wolf's neck.