Items · Equipment Listing · Cursed
Sid's Bag of Treasures
Sid's Bag of Treasure is in every way an exquisite bag of holding, but Sid continues to profit long after the bag has left his possession.
Full Item Description
Sid's Bag of Treasures is an exquisite bag or pack of holding. These bags come in all shapes and sizes, but they are always top notch. For starters, they store far more than
a normal bag their size, and weigh far less.
Water proof, acid proof, and spell resistant, these bags were made for the long haul. The mouth will stretch wider than visibly suggested to allow storage of unusually bulky items, and a command word will cause the bag to transform into a large chest for easier searches for your most prized possessions
Sid
Sid is many things. A violinist, a prankster, a lady's man, a scoundrel, a poet, an enchanter, a vagabond. The list goes on and on.
One thing that Sid isn't, is poor. He is considered a world class enchanter and lives better than most kings...when he isn't traveling that is.
Sid is rumored to possess the Philosopher's Stone, and is considered by many to be one of the most powerful men in the world.
Sid literally has a vast treasury of stuff at his disposal. This means that he is not only extremely wealthy, but is also the go-to-guy for rare items.
He is a well-respected trader of rare and valuable items. His collection may be extensive, but his vast knowledge of ancient and valuable relics and collector's items is unmatched by even the most sought after traders.
Magic Properties
Sid's Bag of Treasures does indeed have an extra-dimensional storage space. What only Sid knows, is that that space is accessible from two locations.
The first is from the mouth of the bag, as is normal. The second is from a special wooden chest that belongs to Sid. Each time he makes one of his bags of holding, he attunes a special key of his to that location. When he places the key in the chest, it selects the next location that it is attuned to, and anchors the chest to that location. Neither the key nor the chest will work without the other.
The second entrance is a sort of anomaly. It is supposed to be impossible to have more than one entrance to a single extra-dimensional space, however, Sid accidentally stumbled upon a back-door when he mis-casted the enchantment for a normal bag of holding. Normally, a mis-casting causes the space to implode upon itself, permanently severing all anchors to that space, but to Sid's surprise, the anchor remained intact. The unique result allowed an infinite number of anchors per location. The exact process of doing this is extremely dangerous, and known only by Sid himself.
The bag itself is not detectable as a cursed item. In fact, it isn't cursed at all. It works exactly like a normal bag of holding. It is the extra-dimensional space that is unusual, in that it has two entrances, and that it is imploded.
Sid is very careful not be be obvious about drawing from his many bags. He never takes more than one item, and it is usually very small. Something that could be easily lost. He especially prefers to take items that have little obvious value, but have great, but obscure worth. Sid also never takes from the same location more than once every month.
Every now and then, Sid will break his own rule. If there is a mythic, legendary, or drastically valuable item in one of his bags, he will give into temptation, even knowing that the bag will be discarded as cursed, and never used by that person again.
In such a case, he will simply lock the other extra-dimensional entrance, effectively disenchanting the now empty bag, and leaving Sid with all of it's prior contents. Then after a month, he will re-open the entrance, and if he is lucky, the bag will have been inherited by a new owner.
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So let me get this straight, This guy basically steals from his own customers using his special bags of holdings? Cool! It would be a fantastic plot hook to have the pcs purchase a bag and loose an item! cruel plot twist.
The bags could also have some unusual uses if the PCs find out. They could be used as doorways from one place to the next, a la teleport gate, allowing for some hillarious gateways:
'We're surrounded, we'll never get out of this one!, Everybody: Jump in the bag!'
or, if the chest is opened at the bottom of a lake, the bag could be used as a makeshift waterhose(ok, maybe not sid's own, but the idea of a two entrance bag does allow for that.)
oooh, the mischief that can be caused by this item! probably not a good thing to give to the PCs, then, but can lead to all sorts of trouble!
I like this item in that it tweaks some generally accepted stereotypes but overall I think the post and the story behind the bag need some work. My first complaint is the grammatical set up of the post, it reads as if I were listening to someone refer to them self in the third person; its choppy and honestly a little annoying. Secondly, assuming this item is mass produced it would quickly become known as defected or regarded as cursed when similar instances of theft began to take place among the holders of this brand of bag (assuming that the exquisite quality is a constant that consumers can identify the craftsman by). Next, Sid, if I presented this story to my party and omitted the bits about him stealing they would still instantly know, and moreover stage an assault on him to steal his bag. Sid is written as a character of vast fame, fortune, etc but he lack consequence, no one seems to have put two and two together. Why has he been able to pull this off so often and not be found out? Now I don't completely understand the chest, key, location, anchor, and attuning set up but I don't see why people don't reach through there bags into his chest, if it is a two way street it seems like the first thing I would do. And I know that if my party just spent X days/weeks/months questing down a distinctly important piece of gear just to have it stolen by this guy they would think I set it up just to keep this item just out of their reach. I really think it needs work.
My first complaint is the grammatical set up of the post.
A: I need more specifics. I don't know what you mean. I will look over it again.
Secondly, assuming this item is mass produced it would quickly become known as defected or regarded as cursed when similar instances of theft began to take place among the holders of this brand of bag (assuming that the exquisite quality is a constant that consumers can identify the craftsman by).
A: Not true. Sid doesn't mass produce them. The creation of them is highly dangerous. There are probably a few hundred in the world, not a few thousand per city. Bags of holding are still expensive, and only travelers tend to have use for them, so unless all the adventurers of the world are getting together to discuss containers...
And if they spot it as cursed, it's just another bag of devouring. Not linked to Sid at all. A good adventurer will disenchant the bag and be on his way. It's just another cursed item. They exist.
Also, other than good craftmanship, there is nothing to distinguish Sid's bags from any other. If somebody did an in depth magical analysis, they could find a few call signs, but it is very rare to look that hard. Sid might not even sell many of them, preferring to leave them for people to find.
And last, rogues (at least in my games )target PC's just like anybody else. It isn't that far fetched to have something stolen unless special precautions were taken.
Next, Sid, if I presented this story to my party and omitted the bits about him stealing they would still instantly know, and moreover stage an assault on him to steal his bag.
I wholeheartedly disagree. Sid reads as a very wealthy trader who is on the non-lawful side. Given his frequent travel, it would literally be impossible to pin down a source of wealth, even if he was on the up and up. PC's might assume that he wasn't buying all of his merchandise, or maybe that he was running a shady bussines on the side, but I think it would be a stretch for them to assume that he was reaching through bags of holding and taking people's possesions.
As for assaulting Sid, good luck. As a powerful trader, Sid is an asset to everybody who is interested in rare things, and his contacts and allies span the world. That aside, the PC's would have to track him down first. He doesn't exactly hold still. Even if they find him, you have to assume that the PC's aren't the only brigands that Sid has ever handled. He wasn't rumored to have a philosopher's stone because he has a large inventory, and he does take precautions.
Sid shouldn't be presented alongside the bags of holding. They should be separate stories, not linked at all.
I don't see why people don't reach through there bags into his chest, if it is a two way street it seems like the first thing I would do.
There isn't anyting to reach into. It's just an extra-dimensional space that Sid also has access to. The evidence of that connection is MAGICAL, not physical. Imagine a room. In this room are two magical portals that only open up when somebody is reaching through. How would one person know that the second portal existed unless they were specifically looking for it.
Besides, you can only reach outside the chest...into what? Thin air? He doesn't put his own stuff into the chest. There is nothing to take.
I know that if my party just spent X days/weeks/months questing down a distinctly important piece of gear just to have it stolen by this guy they would think I set it up just to keep this item just out of their reach.
Did you?
I should add this to my list of DM tricks to keep overpowered items out of PC hands. The point is, that as the DM, it's your call as to what gets stolen. If you don't want the PC's to lose their favorite stuff, then don't let it happen.
Besides, it is usually in Sid's best interest not to take something that will be noticed.
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I really don't think that this scenario is that far fetched. If you have any more questions or commments, please let me hear them.
Thanks for the input,
-Nobody
Sid shouldn't be presented alongside the bags of holding. They should be separate stories, not linked at all.
Maybe you should do two separate writups then, one which fleshes out sid fully, with backstory and motivations, and another on the bags of holdings, listing some possible uses, hooks, and quirks, fleshing them out separately. Maybe that would work better.
(I still like it for the million+1 things you can do with a two ended bag of holding...)
I think it is a useful item - in my mind related to the Bag of Other People's Stuff though a much more in depth post. I'll admit that Sid's name is used perhaps a little too often in the Sid section - 'he' would suffice - though this is not really that important.
A useful item, especially with moderation.
I agree with dark dragon about the plot hooks, but i have to also agree with Valadaar. But other then that good post.
I think that Sid deserves his own write-up. Since he has no real need to steal from these bags, he probably does it for the thrill of it, much like some teenagers that shoplift.
It's all pretty much been said. A nice minor magical item.
And I also would love to see Sid in a sub of his own.
Updated: Replaced Sid's name with a few pronouns
Comment: I will be giving Sid his own sub pretty soon. I just have to do some work first.
Question: Should Sid's section just be removed entirely from the post?
Don't remove Sid from the post, just abbreviate his section and add a link to his sub.
Once the idea 'leaked' to other mages, the idea of bags of holding that could be accessed other ways would become a subject of aggressive magical research, so there might be a number of other mages trying to investigate the properties of Sid's bags.
'I checked to see if it tied in to the extradimensional creature known as 'the Devourer', but came up blank. Nonetheless, there is something odd about those bags,' said the magus...
The additional work has improved the piece. I am not overly thrilled with it, but it is a solid piece.
Sid's section should be included, but in an abbreviated form. Sid should have his own submission.
I think the 'hook' is almost too obvious. So you need to include why people have not taken Sid out yet. You also should include a few 'plot hooks' on how Sid uses the bag without making it obvious.
(Sid's write up should have a number of plothooks and places/ events he can be found in).
I am still holding my vote until this all gets put together.
In regards to the grammatical portion it sounds like a conversation with someone talking about themselves in third-person. Sid is referred to rarely with pronouns, it makes the post choppy.
And one of my party members knew instantly how to track him down, and that would be to lay in wait in his own bag. I reread the post to see if this was not possible but the mouth of the bag does widen without limit so I could not deny them that liberty.
Now you just have to beat Sid. Good luck. But I do have to commend good, clever thinking. Give that player a cookie.
Thanks for the help,
-Nobody