Help w / haunted bag of holding

[Pooh]

I'm setting up a plot device for my adventure party. They will discover a bag of holding that looks like a little girl's play bag. Pastel colors, lacy frills and even a pink pony stiched in the side. In fact it will have a number of her things in it. Combs and braiding things, play clothing a rocking horse etc. When a PC takes possesion of it the little girl will appear. The PC can use it for anything he/she wants as long he/she doesn't remove any of her stuff. She will adopt that person as an aunt/uncle as long as the PC is in possession of the bag.
The little girl will be incorporeal, will appear and disappear from time to time and will mostly annoy the uncle with typical little kid questions and demands but will occasionally know things because she is from the area in the past and the PCs aren't.

Her history is that her father became obsessed with material wealth, especially after finding a cursed item (which the PCs may also find)and dragged his family into the dungeon. Her mother hid her in the bag of holding and disappeared (was killed mostly likely). I'd rather the little girl wasn't actually dead but had been transported to another plane.

What's the best mechanism for handling this? If there isn't one, I'm going to make one up and any thoughts the more knowledgable folks on this site are very welcome.

Pooh

[KenderKin]

I am thinking add the oracles curse (haunted) to trying to bring objects out of the bag.....

Haunted: Malevolent spirits follow you wherever you go, causing minor mishaps and strange occurrences (such as unexpected breezes, small objects moving on their own, and faint noises). Retrieving any stored item from your gear requires a standard action, unless it would normally take longer. Any item you drop lands 10 feet away from you in a random direction.

[Auxmaulous]

Well, I'll give this one a try -

You could have the little girl manifest and provide a limited knowledge check/auger for the possessor of the bag if:

1) He provides her with a new toy, it could be one that the possessor purchased (maybe need to check to see if she would like it) or something the spirit actually wanted. Cost may be an issue, but difficulty in finding a specific requested item can curtail the abuse or overuse of this ability.

2) Takes her (and the bag) to a requested area - this could be a hilltop at midnight near some haunted ruins or some other semi-dangerous area, etc.

It could be as simple as the PC giving up something which is hard to acquire or is tasked and may get a knowledge check or insight (which should be filtered through the eyes of a little girl who has passed on) in exchange.
So while her knowledge may be limited she may some insights from the other side (prophecy) or info about areas not normally traversed by the living. Again, the info should be riddled and she should not be used to see what is on the other side of the dungeon door, or something overly immediate. Shouldn't be a functioning NPC

Would be a good way to drop one clue if the party hits a wall, or again she could always serve as a distraction if she is brought forth - maybe convinces the group to go to X location just because she wants to see a waterfall - you get the idea. She could also become hostile (attack) if items are tossed out of her bag.

I have a question here - wouldn't a good PC try to find a way to put her spirit to rest/pull her out of the 4th dimension, even if it meant possibly nullifying the powers of the bag?

Edit: The actual ability can scale a little with the party's level - maybe at low-level augury or simple answers and progress in more detail as the characters progress in power.
I cannot stress the price/pay limitations in the use of something like this. This can easily be redlined by a desperate party looking for some quick answers. She should not always be available (maybe once per game week or every three days) and if provoked should could strike back. Not in a directly hostile way, but if the PC tries to game the bag by tossing her stuff he can easily finds some of his personal belongings tossed or missing.

[Pooh]

Auxmaulous wrote:

Well, I'll give this one a try -

You could have the little girl manifest and provide a limited knowledge check/auger for the possessor of the bag if:

1) He provides her with a new toy, it could be one that the possessor purchased (maybe need to check to see if she would like it) or something the spirit actually wanted. Cost may be an issue, but difficulty in finding a specific requested item can curtail the abuse or overuse of this ability.

** Good idea, At present the little girl will have limited knowledge. One thing she will know is the cursed item in another room because it is like the one her father had and is also the topic of local folk tales her mother told her.

2) Takes her (and the bag) to a requested area - this could be a hilltop at midnight near some haunted ruins or some other semi-dangerous area, etc.

** At present the plan is that she's lonely and wants someone to take care of her. So she'll want the PC to read her bed time strories, get her toys out of the bag, things like that.

It could be as simple as the PC giving up something which is hard to acquire or is tasked and may get a knowledge check or insight (which should be filtered through the eyes of a little girl who has passed on) in exchange.
So while her knowledge may be limited she may some insights from the other side (prophecy) or info about areas not normally traversed by the living. Again, the info should be riddled and she should not be used to see what is on the other side of the dungeon door, or something overly immediate. Shouldn't be a functioning NPC

Would be a good way to drop one clue if the party hits a wall, or again she could always serve as a distraction if she is brought forth - maybe convinces the group to go to X location just because she wants to see a waterfall - you get the idea. She could also become hostile (attack) if items are tossed out of her bag.

I have a question here - wouldn't a good PC try to find a way to put her spirit to rest/pull her out of the 4th dimension, even if it meant possibly nullifying the powers of the bag?

*** The plan is that the PCs won't know exactly what she is. She'll seem like a ghost though turn undead won't work on her. The party is only 3rd level at present so there is little they could do in any case right now. She is an obvious plot hook for a rescue later.

Edit: The actual ability can scale a little with the party's level - maybe at low-level augury or simple answers and progress in more detail as the characters progress in power.

*** Another very good idea. At first, here only powers will be some local knowledge and she'll like to serve tea and those that drink it recover 1 hp once per day. (so far)

I cannot stress the price/pay limitations in the use of something like this. This can easily be redlined by a desperate party looking for some quick answers. She should not always be...

** She won't have many answers, at least at 1st so I'm not terribly worried about that.

My main question was... what is she and how should I account for her in the framework of the rules?

Pooh

[Auxmaulous]

If starting out at 1st level having her give access to an Augury-like insight could be very helpful.

The time limitations and answers from the spell are pretty limited -only half an hour into the future with some limited responses. You could stretch out the time projected and answers but I would make it very vague and riddled. So they get the benefit at low level (maybe cast at the level of person tied to the bag) every so many days, but it's a lot of work and the answers may not even make 100% sense.
-hey its free right?

As the party (and ability) levels up they can get more info - maybe at 5th level the owner can get more info akin to a Scrying - but keep this in mind - the remote viewing or information on a area (or "bad man") is all going to be through the eyes of a little girl who may not be able to make distinctions on what exactly she is looking at. Sort of like a movie or TV show (maybe 1 minute worth) described through the eyes and understanding of a small whimsical/angry/bored child, depending on her mood or level of current happiness.
So trying to find the missing merchant may yield a very scary picture of the dungeon the guy is being held in, or the lair of the monster (overly hideous monster) which may have already eaten the said merchant.

So spell effects, magic items, monsters would be described in the most fantastical way or just not understood. Think of it as Scrying, light.

At higher levels the power could emulate a Legend Lore type ability -again, maybe leave it up to a place or famous thing from a limited time period. Any casting levels would be at the bag holder’s level -any results gained are owned and doled out by the DM.

As far as other mechanical aspects - say the low level augury - you need to use incense worth at least 25 gp. Now that is way higher than any kind of child’s toy or girls hairbrush, etc. You could have a price component and a time component. In other words, what is it worth to track down a specific doll, or worse - if she wants a specific doll that belongs to the daughter of a local lord/merchant? Now the PCs may need to shell out the cash or make the extra RP effort to get the item. To me as long as the money and effort add up, the benefit is paid for. Time limits and end results always being a consideration.
She shouldn't become a magic 8-ball that the party consults with the drop of 25 gp.

She should be a "possible" helpful resource, hook or even just a RP tool for some fun for both the players and DM and not the psychic hotline. Depending on how focal you want her in the story you can have items appear or disappear in the bag, and maybe even have a mid-level adventure culminating in her release or bringing to justice those responsible for her fate (father maybe somehow alive?)

Any abilities granted (augury, limited scry, and legend lore) may be available to the party at a level or two before they can cast them using the bag hook – that way these still retain some kind of boon to the party. The issue here is that each of these pseudo-spells should be limited in result, control and access

On the isssue of what she is - she should be some kind of low-level ghost. Nothing that the party will need to fight and not something they can use in combat to aid them, or to pull a key ring to them if they are trapped in a cell (unless that's what you want) or any kind of actual team support.

If you want her to be more of an NPC then yeah, she could be some kind of weak spirit (at low levels) and the party can always reward her with stuff for helping out - toys, shiny objects, figurines, bejewled combs and childrens books, etc. If you want her to have loot as part of the team they can dump it in as a one-way payment.
Personally I would make her have a very, very small role (no real stats) unless she is part of the larger story arc. In effect she is a set of conditional spells and abilities if conditions are satisfied - be they material or RP. Otherwise she would be stated up as an NPC, and an NPC ghost can be a VERY POWERFUL ally to any group of PCs.

[Pooh]

My intent is that she have a very small role and not be getting an NPC share of the treasure other than small gifts members of the party might want to give her. Having her be able to do simple augeries is an idea worth considering but she won't be a major resource.
The players who I game always look for bags of holding, now they'll get one but with strings attached.

I think I'll take your advise and leave what she is undefined (for now). the PCs are really to low level to figure it out on their own and are under a time crunch because of other events.

She will be something to add some flavor to the adventure and a possible plot hook for later on.

Pooh