This "Bag of Holding" is more than it
seems...
The group approached the display
slowly. The glow of the magic plate mail
added a blue hue to the torchlight. After
checking for traps, Rolf declared everything
safe. “It’s clear, but how are we going to
carry all this with the treasure we’re
already hauling?”
“Mayhap this bag of storage could be of
use,” said Argo. He pulled the
rune-embroidered bag from his robes and held
it out. “I think I’ll compose a ballad to
describe our exploits here in this
treacherous vault while I pack this morsel
away.” He pulled up the sleeves of his
frilled white shirt and his delicate fingers
began to pluck pieces of armor from the
stand and place them in the bag. He began to
sing a rollicking tune, which slowly slid
into an idle hum as he removed the heavy
plate from the stand and placed it into the
bag.
“Make it quick,” muttered Bragg. “I want to
be drinking mead in Himmsdale by sunset.”
Still humming, Argo put the last of the
armor in the bag and stepped away from the
display. “Me am done,” he muttered. He
turned back to the rest of the party.
Everyone turned and looked at the bard. His
usual intelligent gaze was gone. His face
was wrenched into a puzzled look.
The Bag of Diminished Capacity
Most game masters and role-players are familiar with bags which hold
more than their size should permit, and
which reduce the weight of the carried items
to prevent encumbrance. The “Bag of
Diminished Capacity” is an evil twist on
that highly useful tool.
Produced by the notorious Grumple
Grimwolde’s Impish Hex-Works, the bag is
almost identical to a “normal” magical bag.
Like its more useful cousin, this bag allows
more items to be stored inside than the
exterior should allow. Items carried in the
bag only encumber at 10% of their normal
weight. But this is evil Impish magic.
Grimwolde wove a curse into its very fabric
so that those who use it become less
intelligent.
The curse strikes anyone who places an item
into the bag. The amount their intelligence
is decreased is based on the total
unmodified weight of the items stored in the
bag. For every 25 pounds stored in the bag
the curse decrements the victim’s
intelligence stat by 1. As more weight is
added to a bag, every person affected by the
curse receives the negative intelligence
modifier.
Example: Geoffry, already unknowingly
cursed, is holding the bag and has 25 pounds
of goods inside. He currently has a “-1”
applied to his intelligence. Geoffry’s
friend Thordag puts a 25 pound silver bar
into the bag. Now the effect of the bag
overall is a -2 and both Thordag and Geoffry
will receive it.
It will also hold any item that can fit
through the bag’s opening (1 foot diameter).
The affected character’s intelligence can
not be decreased below an unmodified "1," so
if other items add to the character’s
intelligence, the modifiers can keep the
intelligence stat artificially higher than
"1" even if the character's natural stat has
reached this lowest limit.
Removing the items from the bag will not
remove the curse. A "remove curse" spell can
stop the effects on the characters, but
removing the curse itself from the bag will
destroy the bag's weight-reducing abilities.
Removing the curse on the bag will also
destroy any items inside the bag. Also,
someone who has not been cursed may safely
remove items from the bag. Only adding items
will incur the curse.
Grimwolde designed the bag to be almost
irresistible to most people. It is a
beautiful silk bag died royal blue, with
golden runes embroidered around the sides,
and with a drawstring ending in two black
pearls.
Game masters may consider the item as a
cursed wonder which the players find in the
course of a dungeon crawl, but the following
scenario is suggested. Have the players
encounter a village idiot bearing the bag.
This NPC can display the wondrous properties
of the bag by pulling any number of things
out during the course of the session. The
players could secure the bag in a number of
ways, finding an assortment of odds and ends
inside already (fish, ale, a chicken, dung,
a mug, copper, gravel, lint, etc…). If the
players figure out that the bag is cursed
they may go help the idiot who could turn
out to have a real reward for their efforts.
Perhaps this idiot is really a prince from
the north, missing all these years. Let your
imagination be your guide.
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