(I'll freely admit this is a repost :)
I've read the bag of holding chapter from Classic Treasures Revisited, and I have a question about the bag of concealment that was created for the book.
I get it that a bag of concealment is a bag of holding that only one person (at a time) can be keyed to, and to everyone else it looks like a regular bag. And the cost is about double that of a bag of holding, too. So far, so good - maybe.
Question is, what kind of an idiot is going to pick up an empty sack that weighs 25 pounds and think "nothing to see here!"
So I see three possibilities (I'm sure there's others):
1. This was overlooked during the item design. Unfortunate.
2. The bag of concealment actually weighs the same as a regular sack, rather than being ridiculously heavy for an empty sack. In that case, sign me up! I'll carry a whole pile of them :)
3. This was considered during item design and ignored, assuming that the owner would do something like have a friend fill the sack with rocks so that it seems to be the correct weight. Of course, that means it's a huge pain to get the actual contents out. And any guard with half a brain is going to want to see what's hidden in those rocks ...
Any insight from Jacob Burgess on this one? Can someone poke him and check? I don't recall seeing him on the boards all that often.
I have always taken the weight of bags of holding as representing the item's maximum loaded weight. Unloaded, they weight 1/2 pound.
I have always taken the weight of bags of holding as representing the item's maximum loaded weight. Unloaded, they weight 1/2 pound.
Not an unreasonable house rule, but according to the RAW, bags of holding have never worked that way - they've always been a fixed, heavy weight, even in AD&D.
Perhaps you simply need to modify the bag such that there is a public and a private space. The public space can be filled with obvious stuff to approximate the standard weight of the item.
Joe stranger opens the public space. You may choose. If you leave your public space empty there is nothing to steal but your bag is strikingly heavy.
S
I have always taken the weight of bags of holding as representing the item's maximum loaded weight. Unloaded, they weight 1/2 pound.Not an unreasonable house rule, but according to the RAW, bags of holding have never worked that way - they've always been a fixed, heavy weight, even in AD&D.
True. If you want to stay by RAW, have the bags made of unusual or exotic materials, or from durable mundane materials. For example, a sack made from heavy, wax treated leather will skew the weight toward the 25 pound mark (actually around 6 to 10 pounds depending on size of the bag).
Perhaps you simply need to modify the bag such that there is a public and a private space. The public space can be filled with obvious stuff to approximate the standard weight of the item.
Joe stranger opens the public space. You may choose. If you leave your public space empty there is nothing to steal but your bag is strikingly heavy.
S
That's actually exactly how it works, which is what raised my question. But in any event, Sean commented on it here.
Contributor
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gbonehead,
So, er...
Sorry it's taken so long to get back to you on this. I've just gotten back to the country (USA) and back into my digital life.
The item weight was not overlooked during the item creation.
Option 3 above is the closest to accurate. The idea is not to leave the "public space" of the Bag of Concealment empty.
As for the difficulty of getting something out of the Bag, well, smuggling is never easy.
I hope I've answered your question and, again, sorry it took so long for me to comment.