My PCs have a portable hole on loan from house Jorasco (they're supposed to use it to move a heavy item from a location in the Mournlands). Some of them also have Bags of Holding/Heward's Handy Haversacks. When they got the Hole, they were warned not to mix it with bags of holding.


One of the traits of the Mournlands is that most forms of healing don't work there. Goodberries do, and warforged can be repaired, but natural healing and Cure spells don't. I kind of hinted to one player that there is a loophole around this, and one of his suggestions (I didn't confirm any of them) was to hop into the portable hole, which opens up to another dimension, and do the healing there. This does work, but I would not be surprised if one of the PCs that have a bag of holding wants to hop in, and will forget either that they're carrying one, or the dangers of it (since the warning was last session).

So, I'm considering giving the players a Wis check just as the player is about to go in, but I'm not sure what the DC should be. I'm currently leaning toward 15 for the player who's jumping in and 20 for everyone else (the guy who's jumping in gets it easier because he's presumably more aware of carrying a bag, and would probably have noted the warning), but I'm willing to be persuaded about other DCs.

Hold On!

Read your DMG...

Quote from: DMG, p.264Each portable hole opens on its own particular nondimensional space. If a bag of holding is placed within a portable hole, a rift to the Astral Plane is torn in that place. Both the bag and the cloth are sucked into the void and forever lost. If a portable hole is placed within a bag of holding, it opens a gate to the Astral Plane. The hole, the bag, and any creatures within a 10-foot radius are drawn there, the portable hole and bag of holding being destroyed in the process.

It doesn't say anything about killing or destroying a character... Only that holes into the Astral Plane get ripped open, stuff nearby gets sucked in, and the Bag and Hole are both ruined or lost.

So... Make the check to remember this property a Knowledge (arcana), Spellcraft or Use Magic Device check, whichever is highest (or let the player make all three and take the highest result). If he fails, tell him explicitly what he forgot to remember as he jumps into the bag (so he knows why this is happening to his character), and dont' kill him but instead have his character shunted into the Astral Plane, with no easy way to get home.

The other consideration is: How common are magic items in this game?  Is this something that most Arcane spellcasters and adventurers should simply KNOW?  The D&D equivalent equivalent of "Don't stick a fork in an electrical outlet"?  If so, just remind them straight out, and avoid the unpleasant situation.  If not, let them take their chances...

Dateline: Last night.

For reference, anyone who has Relics & Rituals: see the spell Shatter Soul.

My players are chasing down the recipients of soul fragments that have a tendency to jump from person to person. If the person bearing one is killed, it randomly jumps to a nearby living being.

They track one fragment down to a village, and find said village burned to the ground. A little investigation reveals that the town was burned to the ground by a Red Dragon.

So, the players contemplate the obvious question "well, where is the soul fragment."

And fail to come to the obvious answer...

Rather than have the game come to a halt, I allow all the players an intelligence check (DC 20) to give them a hint that the soul fragment now resides with the red dragon.

I think in the future, I'll adopt the spycraft "inspiration check" idea and at least cost them action points when they players are boneheaded.

I'd say DC 5 and 15.

If he succeed at DC 5, then tell him "As you were going to hop in the hole, a nagging feeling you've forgot something important troubles you and you reconsider. What do you do, do you proceed anyway?"

If they succeed at DC 15, then tell them "As you were going to hop in the hole, you remember the warnings about portable holes and bags of holding. You'd better leave it behind you before you proceed. So, what do you do?"

15 seems a fair target number for me : little point in making it so low the success is near guaranteed... but I'm wondering if an INT check would not be more fitting (it's a matter of memory, not willpower).

Either way, I'd ask the player to roll the check himself : if he can figure out why by himself, he would be allowed to save the character's bacon whether the check is made or not.

Quote from: Svartalf15 seems a fair target number for me : little point in making it so low the success is near guaranteed... but I'm wondering if an INT check would not be more fitting (it's a matter of memory, not willpower).

"Wisdom describes a character's willpower, common sense, perception, and intuition." This would be the "common sense" part.

QuoteEither way, I'd ask the player to roll the check himself : if he can figure out why by himself, he would be allowed to save the character's bacon whether the check is made or not.

Turns out it wasn't needed, the players who had a HHH remembered that it was bad mojo to put it in, and took it off before getting in to get healed.

Good news... my next question is : will MY DM allow for that loophole, and will I be able to get my mitts on a portable hole... Playing in Eberron wasn't my idea, and I'm getting downright leery  at how often my group finds itself having to venture in the mournland, which is about the place in Khorvaire my character would most like to avoid after Karrnath (He's an Aerenal elf, and deeply hates any fiddling with negaqtive energy and unnatural manipulations of (un)life)

It is canonically allowed. Well, almost - Five Nations mentions that spells like rope trick and Mordenkainen's magnificient mansion work, so a portable hole should too. Whether your DM agrees with this is another matter - when I dropped in on the WOTC boards, I recall there being some disagreement about the matter.

If a player is smart enought to ASK if it's a bad idea, then I'd tell them without a roll. If a player is stupid enough to do it without asking after you've already warned them... then stupid action X has the planned unfortunate circumstances, which then serves as their reminder for the rest of the campaign, graphically demonstrated...and a cool story besides.