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Bag of Devouring

Bag Of Devouring
  • Category: Wondrous Item
  • Rarity: Very Rare

This bag resembles a Bag of Holding but is a feeding orifice for a gigantic extradimensional creature. Turning the bag inside out closes the orifice.

The extradimensional creature attached to the bag can sense whatever is placed inside the bag. Animal or vegetable matter placed wholly in the bag is devoured and lost forever. When part of a living creature is placed in the bag, as happens when someone reaches inside it, there is a 50 percent chance that the creature is pulled inside the bag. A creature inside the bag can take an action to try to escape, doing so with a successful DC 15 Strength (Athletics) check. Another creature can take an action to reach into the bag to pull a creature out, doing so with a successful DC 20 Strength (Athletics) check, provided the puller isn't pulled inside the bag first. Any creature that starts its turn inside the bag is devoured, its body destroyed.

Inanimate objects can be stored in the bag, which can hold a cubic foot of such material. However, once each day, the bag swallows any objects inside it and spits them out into another plane of existence. The GM determines the time and plane.

If the bag is pierced or torn, it is destroyed, and anything contained within it is transported to a random location on the Astral Plane.

Tactical Applications​

Combat Strategy: Extremely dangerous utility item that can permanently eliminate enemies but poses significant risks to users. Best used as a trap or last resort against powerful foes.

Class Synergies:

  • Rogues: Can potentially use for assassination attempts, though extremely risky
  • Creative Tacticians: Appeals to players who enjoy high-risk, high-reward strategies
  • Desperate Characters: Most useful when facing overwhelming odds

Build Considerations: Not suitable for routine use due to extreme danger. Requires careful planning and emergency protocols for safe handling.

Acquisition Methods​

Crafting Requirements: Cannot be intentionally crafted. Results from corruption of bag-making processes or interference from extradimensional entities.

Common Sources:

  • Corrupted magical item workshops
  • Treasure hoards where bags of holding have been compromised
  • Gifts from malevolent extradimensional entities
  • Results of failed attempts to create portable holes or bags of holding

Alternative Acquisition: Sometimes discovered when legitimate bags of holding mysteriously change behavior, suggesting extradimensional interference.

Value & Trade​

Estimated Value: Negative value to most buyers due to extreme danger. May command 5,000-10,000 gp from specialized collectors or those with desperate needs.

Trade Considerations: Extremely dangerous to trade without full disclosure. Many regions have laws against possessing such items.

Character Integration​

Roleplay Elements: Possession suggests extreme desperation, suicidal tendencies, or specialized knowledge of extradimensional threats. Creates constant tension.

Character Concepts:

  • Researcher studying extradimensional entities despite the risks
  • Desperate individual willing to use any tool to achieve their goals
  • Former victim of the bag who now seeks to understand or destroy similar items
  • Specialist in containing or neutralizing dangerous magical artifacts

Adventure Hooks​

The Feeding Frenzy: Multiple bags of devouring have appeared in a city, and the party must track down their source while avoiding becoming victims themselves.

The Extradimensional Threat: The creature connected to the bag is growing stronger and threatens to break through into the material plane permanently.

The False Gift: An enemy has gifted the party what appears to be a bag of holding, but is actually a bag of devouring, leading to potential tragic consequences.

The Rescue Mission: Important NPCs or allies have been swallowed by a bag of devouring, requiring the party to find ways to retrieve them from the creature.

Variants & Customization​

Greater Bag of Devouring (Legendary): Connected to an even larger creature with faster consumption and more dangerous side effects.

Selective Devouring Bag (Artifact): Can be programmed to target specific types of creatures or materials while sparing others.

Temporal Devouring Bag (Mythic): Victims are displaced in time rather than consumed, potentially allowing rescue missions.

Specialized Variants:

  • Planar Devouring Bag: Connected to creatures from specific planes with unique properties
  • Intelligent Devouring Bag: The creature can communicate and might be reasoned with
  • Dormant Devouring Bag: Appears normal until triggered by specific conditions

Lore & History​

Origins: Result of attempts to create bags of holding that accidentally connected to hungry extradimensional predators instead of benign pocket dimensions.

Historical Significance: Several mysterious disappearances throughout history may have been caused by bags of devouring masquerading as normal storage items.

Cultural Impact: In magical societies, the existence of such items has led to extensive testing protocols for all extradimensional storage devices.

Extradimensional Ecology: The creatures connected to these bags represent a poorly understood ecosystem of interdimensional predators.

Balancing Notes​

Introduction Timing: Should only be introduced when the party can handle the moral and practical complexity of such a dangerous item.

Campaign Impact: Can eliminate major threats permanently but creates significant ethical and safety challenges for the party.

Risk Management: The extreme danger prevents casual use while maintaining potential for desperate situations.

Encounter Design​

Recommended Challenges:

  • Encounters where permanent enemy elimination is worth extreme risks
  • Situations testing the party's ethics around using dangerous weapons
  • Scenarios involving the investigation of mysterious disappearances
  • Encounters with extradimensional entities related to the bag's creature

Tactical Adjustments: Enemies who know about the bag will take extreme precautions to avoid it or attempt to turn it against the party.

Dangerous Storage: Other extradimensional storage items with significant risks or corrupted properties.

Extradimensional Items:

  • Portable holes, bags of holding, and other safer storage options
  • Items that interact with or protect against extradimensional threats
  • Tools for detecting or identifying corrupted extradimensional items

Complementary Equipment: Items that might help safely handle or contain the bag when necessary.

Roleplay Opportunities​

Moral Complexity: The ability to permanently eliminate enemies raises questions about the ethics of using such extreme measures.

Trust and Safety: Party members may develop trust issues around the bag's presence and the judgment of whoever carries it.

Risk Assessment: Every use becomes a high-stakes decision that could have permanent consequences for party members or important NPCs.