uses for a portable hole.

[Mystic Muse]

I'm talking ACTUAL uses in 4th edition. just reading the description I have absolutely no Idea what possible use it could have. a 5x5 foot hole wouldn't be enough to be an effective prison and I can't think of any other use except to carry items. give me a handy haversack or bag of holding any day over that.

[Shademan]

well you see.... characters have certain urges. urges that hit them some six hours after their last meal...
it would me very messy if they were to put their excrement everywhere...

I think you see where I'm getting at

[Yuki Akuma]

A portable hole is basically just for throwing stuff in and then carrying it around with you.

It's where you throw the dragon's horde, for instance.

[Quietus]

And 5x5 is a perfect sized prison for someone you don't like.

[Mystic Muse]

first person. only happens in extremely realistic D&D games if you're looking for realistic you should looks somewhere else

second. granted but a handy haversack is MUCH more useful.

third. the only problem is I don't know how many people would FIT into a 5x5 foot prison. it's sadly inadequate for those pests like Kyuss. of course you could put Acerak in there.

[Shademan]

you calling ME serious!?
... wow... that is the first time someone ever said that to me... feels strange to be the serious guy for once.

also: it was a joke. and a reference. you need to read Comissionedcomic

[Mystic Muse]

thanks for the suggestion but I hardly ever read things suggested to me

also people on forums can't hear your tone of voice and I don't have the faith in humanity any more to assume somebody is joking when they say something like that.

[Quietus]

third. the only problem is I don't know how many people would FIT into a 5x5 foot prison. it's sadly inadequate for those pests like Kyuss. of course you could put Acerak in there.

You'd be amazed how many humans you can fit in a 5x5 space.


... Oh wait. You want them kept in one piece, don't you? I guess you could always fold them up...

[Yuki Akuma]

Portable holes can carry more than handy haversacks. And you can carry more portable holes (they weigh as much as a handkerchief) than you can carry handy haversacks (they weigh five pounds).

The only thing a handy haversack has going for it is that you don't have to dive in and dig around for what you want. So you use the haversack to carry equipment and the hole to carry treasure with no actual use.

This is not a difficult concept.

[Coidzor]

first person. only happens in extremely realistic D&D games if you're looking for realistic you should looks somewhere else

second. granted but a handy haversack is MUCH more useful.

third. the only problem is I don't know how many people would FIT into a 5x5 foot prison. it's sadly inadequate for those pests like Kyuss. of course you could put Acerak in there.

Considering that you're adventurers and not adherents to the Geneva Accords... I'd say combining number 1 and 3 would be rather fun if tending towards chaotic evil. Though to be honest, anyone who gets captured by you that you need to stuff somewhere without air kinda deserves anything you could do to them....Don't know the specifics of 4e haversacks and portable holes, but last I knew of 'em, haversacks just didn't have the storage capacity to compete.

[Shademan]

thanks for the suggestion but I hardly ever read things suggested to me

also people on forums can't hear your tone of voice and I don't have the faith in humanity any more to assume somebody is joking when they say something like that.

true dat.

would it be possible to throw a portable hole at a wall and climb trough it?

[Coidzor]

true dat.

would it be possible to throw a portable hole at a wall and climb trough it?

Nope. They're basically opening into an extra or non dimensional space...

Though I always have wished for an object that acted like what you describe though...

As far as I know you need that magical paint set that makes whatever you paint with it become real...

[Shademan]

or just a "wall-eraser" looks like a regular rubber but can be used to make holes in walls and floors!

[Mystic Muse]

hehe the mischief I could cause with that.

I'm not saying the portable hole is entirely useless but it's definitely use impaired and doesn't seem to qualify for a 19th level item. maybe a heroic tier but not 19th.

[Zanticor]

A portable hole should be a portable lair. Who care the DM-guide says its just 5x5x5? If you get something as cool as a extra planar pocket it's your DM's obligation to make it awesome. So just make it 20x20x40 and have put in stairs and an ancient library! Preferably with a tomb of a lich or vampire at the bottom. Or make it into a weapon chamber for the general with a bunch of golems waiting to jump out and attack the enemy. A 5x5x5 hole were you have to get into to get something out is no excuse to tear a hole in the space time continuum for.

Zanticor

[shadzar]

ration storage. Never go hungry on the trail of adventure again!

You only need buy food and drink from the cheapest place you can find it and carry it around almost anywhere for any length of time!

Act now and get this nice pouch to carry your folded hole in for free!

Portable Hole = D&D version of Tupperware.

[hewhosaysfish]

4e nerfed potable holes. Hard.

With a standard action, any creature adjacent to a portable hole
can pick it up, provided there are no creatures or objects inside it.

Emphasis mine.

Also:

Though I always have wished for an object that acted like what you describe though...

I was once told the story of how a gamer I know used Nolzur's Marvelous Pigments to paint a door on a Wall of Force, in much the same manner as Wile E Coyote might. Apparently the DM wasn't sure if it was RAW legal but let it fly just because it was awesome and hilarious.

[Ravens_cry]

4e nerfed potable holes. Hard.

Emphasis mine.

That takes all the fun away! You can't even create the catgirl killing mini-ecosystem.

[Lunawarrior0]

My understanding was that in 3.x, that it was as shadzar said, tupperware, but in 4th ed it is a loony tunes hole. If you put a portable hole on a castle wall that is 5 feet thick, then you can crawl through. That is the only thing that I can see that makes it a level 19 item.
But even if your DM takes it a different route, it is 5 feet deep, stick it on the ground, have one of the people with range jump in, and you have instant cover. which while it might not be a level 19 item, it is quite useful.

[shadzar]

4th still allows you to place it on the ground, you jsut cannot pick it up or close it form the inside, so you would have your cover for being in a foxhole, but anyone could then pour stuff in the hole that could kill you and make for harder you to escape from it.

you just need a flat surface. I don't think they meant to say it must be glass like flat, but you couldn't make a rock disappear by placing it over a jagged spike like a stalaGmite*.

*G for ground, C for ceiling

[BobVosh]

4th still allows you to place it on the ground, you jsut cannot pick it up or close it form the inside, so you would have your cover for being in a foxhole, but anyone could then pour stuff in the hole that could kill you and make for harder you to escape from it.

you just need a flat surface. I don't think they meant to say it must be glass like flat, but you couldn't make a rock disappear by placing it over a jagged spike like a stalaGmite*.

*G for ground, C for ceiling

stalagmite
stalactite

When the mites come up, the tights come down >.>


And wow, 4ed portable holes suck. Hard.
Is the magic tapestry with the castle in it still around?

[Radar]

Climbing aid, if you have two of those - you can make yourself places for hands and legs, while you climb a glass wall or anything otherwise impossible to climb.

Portable hole as a cover isn't maybe that good, but why not use it in an old fashioned cartoon way: throw it in front of a charging oponent (hilarity ensues).

[Mystic Muse]

indeed it does. you just have to make sure your opponent isn't bigger than size category large and that you use it on a glass floor. like shooting fish in a barrel. or in this case stabbing enemies in a small hole.

[Roderick_BR]

And 5x5 is a perfect sized prison for someone you don't like.

That made me lol.

Hmm.. put it on the floor, fill with Create Water. Instant pool (not really swimming pool, but enough to refresh yourself in a hot day).

[Shpadoinkle]

You pretty much use it to carry all the stuff you want/need, but probably won't need in an emergency, like coins or food or that huge bulky set of +4 plate mail that, while valuable, isn't usable by anyone in the party (or everyone already has something better or whatever). They're kind of like external hard drives or Zip disks- they increase your carrying capacity.

[NecroRebel]

Is there any reason why you couldn't have 2 or more portable holes, and then fold out the second one on the bottom of the first? Then, you jump down into the second hole, duck so your head is below the level of the top hole's... hole..., and then be in a 5-ft-wide, 5-ft-deep tomb below the earth.

Then you put the first portable hole on the group below you again and go another 5 feet down, and then retrieve the second hole, then repeat with it. 2 holes, thus, could presumably work as an arbitrarily-long tunnel that simply vanishes without a trace once you're through it.



...I'm totally gonna hand out a couple of Portable Holes in my epic campaign once my players are a few more levels up, and then let them do this. It'll be useful if/when they go to Hell and need to get down a layer or two.

[shadzar]

The laws of hammerspace dealing with BoH and portable holes state you cannot put them inside each other without risking destruction of the fabric of the universe....IE destroying everything.

Extra-planar spaces cannot occupy the same space at the same time.

So you couldn't even take a bag of holding through a hole in a wall made by a portable hole without risking destroying everything as you know it.

[NecroRebel]

The laws of hammerspace dealing with BoH and portable holes state you cannot put them inside each other without risking destruction of the fabric of the universe....IE destroying everything.

Extra-planar spaces cannot occupy the same space at the same time.

So you couldn't even take a bag of holding through a hole in a wall made by a portable hole without risking destroying everything as you know it.

4th edition thread; read the original post. Portable Holes do not create hammerspace in 4th edition, and even if they did, there is no "hammerspace+hammerspace=BOOM" clause in 4th edition anyway.

...Which is why a lot of people are suggesting things that aren't actually possible with Portable Holes, but oh well.

[shadzar]

4th edition thread; read the original post. Portable Holes do not create hammerspace in 4th edition, and even if they did, there is no "hammerspace+hammerspace=BOOM" clause in 4th edition anyway.

...Which is why a lot of people are suggesting things that aren't actually possible with Portable Holes, but oh well.

I thought it WAS still true in 4th edition.

Now I need to find where to read portable holes on 4th. AV or PHB?

[NecroRebel]

I thought it WAS still true in 4th edition.

Now I need to find where to read portable holes on 4th. AV or PHB?

PHB, page 254. The exact text of the power is in the spoiler.

Spoiler

Show

Power (At-Will): Standard Action. Place a portable hole on
a wall, a floor, or a ceiling. (The surface must be flat for
the item to function.) The portable hole instantly creates
a 5-foot-wide, 5-foot-deep hole in that surface. With a
standard action, any creature adjacent to a portable hole
can pick it up, provided there are no creatures or objects
inside it.

Bags of Holding and Handy Haversacks are also in there, on the page before it and the same page, respectively. No hammerspace explosion clauses in any of them. You could store your Handy Haversacks in your Bag of Holding if you wanted.