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View Full Version : Bag of Duplicating 3.5 [PEACH]



Waffle Iron
2011-03-01, 10:20 PM
This is a medium size leather sack that duplicates whatever you put into it, but it has a chance to destroy it, just take it apart (i.e. a bow turns into string and wood), or a random item pops out. The die is a D8 at first, but when it duplicates, then roll a D6 to see how many duplicates are made (the number on the die corresponds to the number of duplicates).
1-4 Duplicates
5-7 A random Item comes out (DM's decision)
8 destroys

15,000GP

edits:
-Can only be used 10 times per day.
-Only something 3'x3'x4' or smaller.
-Only Non-magic items.
-Only organic matter

What does everyone think?

Noblesse
2011-03-01, 10:42 PM
This thing can pay for itself by placing 10 gold pieces in at a time.

50% - 20 gp
25% - 10 gp + another item (for the sake of argument--- string, i.e. nothing of value)
12.5% - solid gold return (no change in value according to the phb on raw gold)
12.5% - lose your money

87.5% safe

use it 1000 times you get
Gain 5,000
Lose 1,250
-------------
total: +3,750 gp

-----and that's only risking 10gp, not taking into account the 10 gp becoming anywhere from 20-60gp

edit: As for the price... as is it's priceless. But add x/day or some clause preventing the abuse above and who knows. I am absolutely horrid at figuring out prices on items.

Waffle Iron
2011-03-01, 10:48 PM
Okay, maybe not take it apart, maybe 5-7 makes it a different item.
edit: I made a limit clause to make people not overuse it.
I was thinking 15,000 GP because you could duplicate an expensive item and get much more than what you paid for out of it.

Welknair
2011-03-01, 11:29 PM
Is there a... size limit? Or any constraints on what's allowable? Can I stick my party's Half-Orc Barbarian in, accepting the 50% death rate? Can I jump random enemies stuffing them in this bag, either killing them instantly or creating a clone who has no idea what's going on?

Hyooz
2011-03-01, 11:32 PM
This seems like something just begging to be abused. You should probably limit it to strictly non-magic items.

Waffle Iron
2011-03-01, 11:35 PM
Well.......
I guess the limit could be a 3x3x4 object, because I'd really love to see this kill something bigger than a rat. :) Otherwise, you'd be screwing yourself, or giving yourself a random trinket.
Bam, size limit.
edit: Bam non-magic items.

Welknair
2011-03-01, 11:43 PM
What's important is the ratio of duplicating to destroying/making unusable. If it's 50/50... then I'd allow magic items. If it's even slightly tilted towards duplicating, then NO.

Oh, and "Hmm. I'm a random necromancer with five corpses and a Bag of Duplicating. I know! I'll start cutting them into bits to duplicate individual limbs and other parts, then put them back together! INFINITE CORPSES! Then I can rent out my zombie army for profit in order to buy more bags! Eventually I'll hire an Arcane Engineer to hook up a mechanized system to deploy zombie parts into my thousands of bags, empty the contents and repeat. Then my Necromancer Hirelings can start making more zombies!"

In other words: If it's 50/50, then it's circumstantial and unreliable. If it's anything more than that, then it's game-breaking. Anything less, and why bother?

Waffle Iron
2011-03-01, 11:50 PM
If someone were to put in a magic item, then possibly it could take away it's magic power on the chance that it rolls a 5-7?
edit: I mean if the person rolls a 5-7 then the item is returned with out magical properties? OOOOH! Maybe cursed even!

Re'ozul
2011-03-02, 01:24 PM
Broken:

A small Block of Gold (and that is what everyone will try) maybe 1000gold-pieces worth:

1-4 Duplicates with an average of 3.5 extras

so on each try you have 1.75 extra blocks of gold (assuming that any other outcome does not create anything worth more than that).
There is also the chance that it is destroyed, but thats only 0.125.

At 10 times per day without crafting individual duplicates into one block, you get 17.5 times the original as extra, and lose 1.25, plus the original so you have a geometric increase of 17.25^x where x is the number of days your characetrs have it.

Best way to negate that:
It only duplicates organic matter.
That way you can always have crude arrows, javelins, Torches, Food, bandages.
But also pictures, wooden holy symbols, bones, "darts".

Problems: If a player comes up with the argument "Diamonds are made of carbon" hit him in the head with 1d6 duplicated DMGs.

Waffle Iron
2011-03-03, 12:10 AM
That's a good point....
And you could still kill stuff if it were only organic matter. :D
That sounds more reasonable, and less broken. I shall add that.
Thanks!

Waffle Iron
2011-03-07, 11:00 PM
Does this sound good?
Anything else?

Re'ozul
2011-03-07, 11:19 PM
As it currently is I don't see much wrong about it. (aside the afforementioned Diamond problem and similar.)

Maybe make an example of it once they have it that each time a random item comes out, the threat it poses becomes greater:

1st time: tin coin / rat / spark
2nd time: gold coin with poison coating/ badger / alchemists fire
3rd time: cursed Ruby (-2 con on touch)/ dire wereboar / Explosive rune
and so on

Threat resets at start of new day.
This might make your characters more creative but might also make them a bit more respectful towards the bag.