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I’ve read a lot of RPG content and advice over the years, much of it D&D related. I’ve contributed my fair share to that total, it must be admitted.

Every D&D supplement (that’s not explicitly a collection of monsters) contains new magic items. Websites and magazines abound in them. AD&D creatures, at least came with a “Treasure Type” that informed the GM what loot an encounter with the creature should yields – sometimes with a context, more frequently with a context simply assumed.

And (almost?) every one of these sources and references overlook something significant – the containers that the loot, magical or otherwise, comes in.

Once again, the AD&D DMG fares slightly better than average. They at least had a table for loot containers – part of the random dungeon generator, as I recall – and with absolutely no certainty that the treasure in question would actually fit within the container – but it at least listed several different possibilities.

My attention was first called to this situation by an article in The Dragon which looked at the specific volume and stacking of coins, both loose and tightly packed. But beyond this side issue, there was little-to-no acknowledgment of the problem. Sometime after that, containers seemed to degenerate into a parking place for traps, an obstacle between the party and the loot that had to be overcome, one final hurdle to clear.

Things improved ever-so-slightly in the latter days of 3.x, when enchanted scabbards began making token appearances here and there in selected supplements. But this idea seems to have made little impact and quietly vanished again shortly thereafter, thrown under the bus driving to fixed-magic-slot heaven. Pathfinder lists only two forms of magic container: Handy Haversacks and Bags Of Holding.

This state of affairs is intolerable, a collective failure of imagination on the part of published GMs everywhere. So let’s get some remedial action started…

Potion Bottles

• Lemarzixs’ Potion Bottles: A potion bottle that, when activated by the command word coupled with the removal of the stopper, flies through the air to an indicated target (friendly or otherwise) and pours its contents down the target’s throat. Range of 10′ per caster level, consumes a 1st level spell slot as though a 1st level spell had been cast. If the bottle is retrieved, it will be ready to be refilled with another potion from a standard potion bottle in 24 hours. Usually found in matching sets of 2-6, usually pre-filled. Minor Wondrous Item, 150 gp per bottle in the set.
• Lemarzixs’ Rogue Bottle: When a bottle in a set of Lemarzixs’ Potion Bottles is not retrieved, it becomes a Rogue Bottle. If the user makes a Will Save at DC 20, it behaves as usual, but the effect of the potion it contains is reversed (GM’s call on effect interpretation if necessary). If the save fails, the potion behaves as intended but the bottle targets a random character within a 20′ range of the intended target (which does include the intended target). Minor Wondrous Item, 50 gp.

Oil Flasks

• Kulkin’s Oil Of Inflammation: This magic item is a misnomer because it’s not the oil itself that is (necessarily) magical, it’s the flask. When the command word is uttered, loud enough to be heard at the location of the bottle, it shatters, and (if it contains ordinary lamp oil), 1-3 rounds later, ignites the oil. In addition to ordinary lantern oil, any potion with “oil” in the name can be used; when this oil is burned, through the magic of the flask, it becomes a cloud 10’x10′ which applies the magic of the oil to anyone passing through that space as though the oil had been splashed on the target via a thrown flask. 24 hours after use, the flask reforms and can be refilled. Minor Wondrous Item, 300 gp.

Pots

• Mannorkan’s Watched Pot: When this pot is filled with water and placed in a fire or on a stove, the water inside will never boil – it won’t even get warm. However, any water in a metal container of any sort that is brought within 10′ of the Watched Pot will boil within seconds as though it had been placed in the same fire for as long as the Watched Pot has been exposed to the heat. Removing the Watched Pot from the heat ends the effect but does not cool any water already heated. Minor Wondrous Item, 500 gp.
• Mannorkan’s Cooking Pot: Anything cooked in this pot is cooked perfectly; it will resist (STR 15) being removed from the heat until that is achieved. If a spice rack and a few handfuls of fresh or preserved herbs are placed within 10′ of the Cooking Pot, whatever is cooked will also be perfectly spiced and the flavor herbally enhanced. The result is a +8 to the results of the cooking check of the chef, enough to turn adequate ingredients into a royal feast, poor ingredients into a sumptuous meal, or an old boot into a deliciously tasty main course. What’s more, it can work this magic on up to three dishes at a time, magically separating each of the dishes into separate servings, simply by putting the ingredients for each into the pot in succession (but don’t get the order mixed up or the courses will also be muddled). Minor Wondrous Item, 500 gp.

Chests

In many ways, chests are the ultimate containers. They typically come in four sizes (the first of which is fairly rare):

1. Ginormous
2. Large
3. Medium
4. Small
   

   Ginormous Chests

   • The Many-fold Chest Of Things: This chest contains 6 layers of compartments. Any non-magical object or set of objects valued at less than 5 gp that is placed in one of the compartments of the bottom layer is magically replicated in similar compartments on the the other 5 layers. These objects must occupy a space of less than 2 x 3 x 3 inches in the case of 6 compartments, 4 x 3 x 3 inches in the case of a seventh, and 12 x 6 x 3 inches in the case of the eighth. Exception: For some reason, it doesn’t work with coins or gemstones, no-one knows why, and if such valuables are placed within the chest it will lock for eight hours, during which time the valuables simply vanish, seemingly into non-existence, though it’s possible that they are transferred into some extra-dimensional space that no-one has worked out how to access. The objects created by the Chest will last for eight hours before vanishing. Each time a duplicate is removed from the chest, the original object becomes more insubstantial; when the final copy is removed, the original vanishes. The chest is exotically decorated with inlaid woods and lined with soft velvet and a leather under-layer that makes each compartment waterproof. It weights 250 lb, which is considerably lighter than it looks like it should be from the size of the chest. It’s also notable that the volume of the compartments adds up to considerably less than the interior volume of the chest; what the “missing space” contains is another unknown. The scale of the difference varies from example to example, no two examples of this magic item are the same. Minor Wondrous Item, 500 gp.

   Large Chests

   • The Rummage Luggage: This is The Luggage from Terry Pratchett’s Discworld. It contains at least one of every mundane item listed in the Core Rules (unless an item has been ruled culturally inappropriate by the GM). Finding any given item requires d12-1 minutes of rummaging around – there is a chance that it will be right on top! But, on a result of 11 (i.e. 12-1), the item cannot be found at all for the next 24 hours. The luggage itself is self-mobile and will follow its owner almost anywhere – though it might take it a while if it has to work it’s way through a stone wall. The luggage has 200hp, AC 15, and heals at the rate of 1hp a day; experts are divided on whether or not it is alive. Medium Wondrous Item, 20,000 gp.

   Medium Chests

   • Wakasham’s Portable Bookshelf: This chest is packed full of copies of books and (non-magical) scrolls, all related to the one subject. Once a book is removed from the chest, it locks until that book is opened to the last page or (if in scroll form) unrolled all the way; a magical sigil at the end of the ‘book’ then unlocks the chest and causes the book to evaporate. No more than one can be removed per day. Whenever the last book is removed from the Portable Bookshelf, it magically refills with books on a random variety of subjects; the next book removed from amongst those present “seeds” the Portable Bookshelf, replacing the rest of the contents with books related to that subject. Note that the contents are magically populated and can include any book ever published (but not books that have yet to be published). Making the Library even more useful is another property of the Portable Bookshelf; if, when it opens for you to take another book, you instead place a book from the outside into the “bookshelf” and close it for 24 hours, it will use that book as it’s “subject guideline” and repopulate itself with related books. GMs, take note: Any given book can be interpreted as relating to multiple subjects, it’s up to you to determine how a book’s “subject” is to be interpreted. Use this as a way to put relevant backstory in the hands of the PCs, not as a shortcut to secrets that you want to keep. Major Wondrous Item, 45,000 gp.
   • Manusian’s Compartment: This is a flat box about 1 inch in depth and 12 inches x 8 inches in plan size. When placed inside a chest, it forms an extra-dimensional secret compartment that can only be accessed by utilizing the command word that was written on the lid of the box. The chest must be large enough to contain the box, which will ‘stretch’ to the same size. Anything that will fit inside the chest plan dimensions and the one-inch depth will take up no space within the chest and have no weight. If it won’t fit in that space, it won’t go into the hidden compartment. Minor Wondrous Item, 15,000 gp.

   Small Chests

   Small chests are most commonly used for containing valuables, and these two magic items are no exceptions.
    

   • The Currency Converter: This is a small chest with the capacity to hold 500 coins. If it is completely filled with coins of the same denomination and closed for 24 hours, it will replace those coins with the same value (less 5%) in the next larger denomination. If fewer coins than the 500 limit are placed in the chest, they will be converted into the next lower denomination (again less 5%), (but any coins beyond the 500 limit are then lost. (NB: Money-changers would typically charge 10-20% for the same service per step in denomination) – copper to silver to gold = 20-40% in fees). Minor Wondrous Item, 3,000 gp.
   • Laphalion’s Strongbox: If you wrote advertising for magic items, this would be the dream product – “the world’s strongest lock-box, all but unpickable, keeps your hard-earned money safe, safe, safe”! Laphalion’s Strongbox holds 300 coins. The strongbox has 500hp and ignores the first 10+d6 points of damage from any attack (roll for each attack as it happens). The lock is partially extra-dimensional in nature and has a DC of 30 to pick, i.e. only the best thieves in the world have even a small chance. Any failed attempt to break into the box (i.e. actually inflicting damage or attempting to pick the lock) triggers a Magic Mouth on the strongbox that screams “Stop Thief! I’m being robbed!” continuously at the top of “it’s lungs” until the command word etched on the inside of the lid is uttered. Minor Wondrous Item, 6,000 gp.

Coin Purses

• Light-fingered Louie: This is a coin purse and matching pair of soft silken gloves (usually black in color but variations are known to exist). When the gloves are worn by a thief, he can make a pick pockets attempt on a target, and – if successful – the stolen item (be it coins, keys, jewelery, or whatever) will appear in the coin purse provided that the coin purse is within 25′ of the thief. While thieves who are confident in their abilities may choose to wear the coin purse themselves, most will entrust it to a confederate whose job is to stay within the 25′ range without getting too close to the thief. Minor Wondrous Item, 1200 gp.
• Light-fingered Limwicke: Exactly the same as a Light-fingered Louie except that the coin purse can be within 75′ of the thief. Medium Wondrous Item, 6,000 gp.
• Light-fingered Lusan: Exactly the same as a Light-fingered Louie except that the coin purse can be within 250′ of the thief. Medium Wondrous Item, 3,0000 gp.
• The Purses Of Pashtachus: Reaching into the bottom of this coin-purse, a DEX roll against a DC of 15 enables the possessor to find a hidden seam. Pushing the fingers through this seam enables the hand to reach through an extra-dimensional space to another location and retrieve an object, or emplace an object. This location is usually a tabletop in a secure place, or something similar. A will save vs DC25 lets the owner alter the location to another place, but the owner must be physically present with the purse at the new location in order to do this. Note that anyone gaining physical access to the location has free access to anything stored through the coin purse, or may leave something for the owner to retrieve. Other limitations: the character must be physically able to touch/grasp the item to be retrieved as though they were physically present at the location, and objects must be able to physically fit through the Purse, whose opening is 1″ x 3″ in size. The Purses come in ten varieties, distinguishable by the color of the lining (see below). Category IV and above can also reach the location from another plane, the separation (number of intervening planes) being equal to the Category number minus 4 (so a Category VII purse could reach “through” 3 intervening planes). What this means in practice depends on the Cosmology decreed by the GM. Inter-dimensional access raises the DC of the DEX roll required by 5 per intervening plane, plus 15 (so a Category IV at maximum ‘range’ has a DC of 15+15=30, a Category V at maximum ‘range’ has a DC of 15+5+15=35, and so on).
  &nbsp:
  Limits:
  • White (Category I): Location must be within 10 miles of the purse.
  • Gray (Category II): Location must be within 20 miles of the purse.
  • Black (Category III): Location must be within 40 miles of the purse.
  • Violet (Category IV): Location must be within 100 miles of the purse (or in an adjacent plane at DC30).
  • Blue (Category V): Location must be within 200 miles of the purse (or through a maximum of 1 intervening plane at DC35).
  • Green (Category VI): Location must be within 400 miles of the purse (or through a maximum of 2 intervening planes at DC40).
  • Red (Category VII): Location must be within 750 miles of the purse (or through a maximum of 3 intervening planes at DC45).
  • Copper (Category VIII): Location must be within 1,000 miles of the purse (or through a maximum of 4 intervening planes at DC50).
  • Silver (Category IX): Location must be within 1,500 miles of the purse (or through a maximum of 5 intervening planes at DC55).
  • Gold (Category X): Location must be within 2000 miles of the purse )or through a maximum of 6 intervening planes at DC60).

  Values & Classifications:

  • White (Category I): Minor Wondrous Item, 1,000 gp.
  • Gray (Category II): Minor Wondrous Item, 2,000 gp.
  • Black (Category III): Minor Wondrous Item, 4,000 gp.
  • Violet (Category IV): Medium Wondrous Item, 8,000 gp.
  • Blue (Category V): Medium Wondrous Item, 12,000 gp.
  • Green (Category VI): Medium Wondrous Item, 16,000 gp.
  • Red (Category VII): Medium Wondrous Item, 3,0000 gp.
  • Copper (Category VIII): Major Wondrous Item, 45,000 gp.
  • Silver (Category IX): Major Wondrous Item, 60,000 gp.
  • Gold (Category X): Major Wondrous Item, 100,000 gp.

  (Inspired by the magic bag of Nakor in Raymond E. Feist’s novel, Prince Of The Blood).

Scabbards

• Scabbard Of Linostas: This scabbard is richly decorated and alters its size to accommodate any weapon. It comes in five varieties (class 1-5), and has a value of 2,000 x class number x class number x class number in gp (so 250,000 for a class 5). For a number of melee rounds equal to the class number, the scabbard increases the magic plus of the weapon by an amount equal to the class number. Types 1 and 2 are considered Minor Wondrous Items, Types 3 and 4 are Medium Wondrous Items, and Type 5 is a Major Wondrous Item.
• Scabbard Of Restoration: This scabbard restores a broken sword to pristine condition as though it were never damaged, provided that the owner of the broken weapon still lives. This process takes an hour, during which time the owner cannot do anything else (including rest). Minor Wondrous Item, 500 gp.
• Scabbard Of Life: This scabbard links the life of the wielder with the ‘life’ of his sword. If the owner is ever ‘killed’, the blade shatters and the weapon is destroyed, restoring the wielder to 1/2 of his normal hit points. Major Wondrous Item, 50,000 gp.
• Scabbard Of Nine Deaths: If any weapon drawn from this scabbard scores a critical hit, in addition to any critical multiplier, the base damage inflicted by the sword can be increased from +1 up to +9 dice. Each such increase consumes one “life” from the weapon (including a magical plus 1 from any enchantment within the weapon); when the ninth “life” is consumed, the sword shatters, doing 9d4 damage to anyone within 30′ range of it, including the wielder. Once a weapon so affected loses all of its magical pluses it becomes a cursed weapon; any other sword held by the character is instantly destroyed, he can wield no other. If the sword so destroyed is also enchanted, a “life” may be restored in the process, but each time this occurs it requires a sword of greater “plus” to be consumed – a +1 the first time, then a +2, then a +3, and so on.Medium Wondrous Item, 50,000 gp.

Money-belts

• Nysterial’s Money-belt: This magic item is very desirable for merchants because it offers them two large advantages – one, it automatically exchanges coin denominations down one when a single coin is fed into the money-belt, and two, it limits the amount of currency a merchant needs to have on hand, minimizing his exposure to thievery. It is actually a two-part item, the Coin Box and the Money-belt. The coin box is left in a secure location of the merchant’s choosing within 1/2 a mile of the place of business and stocked with the merchant’s change supply. The money-belt consists of a series of bone tubes, one for each currency denomination; When a coin is placed into the money belt, it is transported to the coin box and replaced with the equivalent value in the next smaller denomination, if there is one, unless the coin tube for the appropriate denomination is already full, in which case the coin is simply transferred to the coin box. Placing a coin in a full tube transports all but one of the coins in the tube to the coin box. Coins can be retrieved from the bottom of each tube by actuating a catch. Using the money-belt takes a little practice, but can usually be picked up quickly – If the merchant is being paid one gp and needs 3 silvers and 4 coppers to make change, he places the gold coin in the money-belt, receiving 10 silvers back; he then withdraws 4 silvers, giving three to the customer and placing the fourth back into the money-belt, receiving 10 coppers back; he then extracts 4 of them and gives them to the customer. Once practiced, change can be made in seconds. This behavior means that at any given time, the belt contains just no platinum, 1-10 gp, 1-10 sp, and 1-10 cp, representing the entire “exposure” of the merchant. The third ability of the pair is less frequently invoked, but is very useful when it becomes necessary: the coin box can be used to track the money-belt if it is stolen to whoever has come into contact with it, in chronological sequence. Exactly how this function operates is up to the individual GM, every box-and-belt combination is different; this was the one aspect of the design of the belt that Nysterial was not completely happy with, and he kept trying different approaches in search of the “perfect” solution. Medium Wondrous Item, 10,000 gp.

Quivers

• Quiver Of Three: A favorite enchanted quiver amongst the few archers who posses one; any time an archer scores a critical hit with an arrow drawn from this quiver, two more fly from the quiver to strike the same target. These additional arrows do not gain any additional damage or effects from class abilities, spells, or bow enchantments (unlike the actual arrow fired), but they do benefit from any magical enhancement incorporated into the arrows themselves. Minor Wondrous Item, 7,0000 gp.
• Quiver of Capacity: This is a matched set of three quivers, two of which can be placed in the baggage of the wearer or carried by a second party. Provided the archer is within 100′ of these quivers when he fires an arrow drawn from the quiver, it is automatically replenished from the stored quivers, effectively tripling it’s capacity from 20 arrows to 60. Popular with archery corps because each of the quivers can be used by different members of the company and continue to supply another member of the corps even if an individual archer falls in battle. Minor Wondrous Item, 4,000 gp.
• Quiver of Retrieval: After an arrow drawn from this quiver is fired, it is retrieved if intact when a command word is spoken. If the arrow shaft is broken but the arrow head is intact, the head is retrieved and placed in a compartment at the side of the quiver. If the head has been shattered but the shaft has survived, that is retrieved and placed in a compartment on the other side of the quiver. NB: most editions of D&D and Pathfinder don’t include rules on arrows breaking. I’ve placed the rules that I normally use in a sidebar below. Minor Wondrous Item, 2,000 gp.

Sidebar: Breaking arrows and bolts

Arrows normally break on a 1 on a d6 (if they hit the target) or 1 on d12 (if they miss). Bolts strike with greater force, so these break on a 2 (wooden shafts) (on d6 or d12, respectively) or 1 on a d20 (metal shaft).

Magical enchantment of the arrow or bolt reduces this chance by requiring the rolling of a second die at the same time, which must also come up with a 1 or 2. The die size depends on the enchantment: d4 for +1 or equivalent, d6 for +2, d8 for +3, d10 for +4, d12 for +5. If you have one (and you can get them from various specialty dice suppliers on the net), you can continue this progression with a d14, d16, and d18, but whenever you run out of by-two die sizes, the rest are rolled on a d20. So, if you have neither a d14 or d16, it’s “+6 or better: d20”. If you have a d14, it’s “+6: d14; +7 or better, d20”, and so on.

Magical enhancements of the bow or crossbow increase the risk. It is assumed that 1/2 of the magical enhancement takes the form of improved accuracy or target-seeking, and 1/2 takes the form of increased force of attack. Therefore, each +2 enhancement to the “delivery system” increases the risk of breakage by 1.

If the arrow or bolt has a non-metallic head (usually wood, bone, or stone), it will break/shatter in 25% of cases and remain intact the other 75% of the time. Metallic heads are blunted/bent (destroying them) in 10% of cases and remain intact the other 90% of the time. GMs can roll for each arrow/bolt (not recommended) or simply apply the percentages and round appropriately. Technically, the first approach is more accurate, but the second is much better for game-play.

Over To You….

These 22 Wondrous Items are just the beginning of what’s possible, created in just four hours or so to illustrate the point of this article – the utility of containers as magic items.

Nor are these all the possible sub-categories within this overarching category – I haven’t done jugs, urns, barrels, hip flasks…. heck, even clothes can be considered a container for the body that wears them!

The original intent was to list one item in each sub-category as example and inspiration, but when you get on a roll… Even now, I’m thinking up new ideas – a trapped coin pouch that entices would-be thieves to steal it (in preference to any other that the character might be wearing, for example….

But there’s still more! A Post-script Bonus

Every magic item has an original creator. Sometimes those are unknown, or simply not credited; in other cases, the creator’s name is announced right there in the spell title. Each and every spell in the game tells you something about its creator, especially if your interpretation of the spell mechanics is such that spells are very hard to tweak and play with other than through the use of metamagics. The alternative is to treat magic as a form of physics in which the input conditions can be varied in any number of ways (e.g. component substitution) and doing so can profoundly influence or shape the resulting spell. The more rigid the definitions of the process, the more a spell is like a “recipe” or “blueprint” that must be followed, the more the peculiarities of the spell speak to the character and abilities of the spellcrafter who created it. The more flexibility there is, the more a spell may have been tweaked this way and that, customized and modified and revised by multiple hands, and the more diluted the original contribution becomes.

You can even have it both ways – the spells that still bear their maker’s name are still (pretty much) “as they made them”, while those who no longer have a creators’ name attached have been optimized and tweaked until a consensus developed as to the most efficient variation – and that’s the one that everyone knows.

Every spell or magic item with a creator’s name therefore also creates an NPC, either past or present (or in the case of Temporal Magic, perhaps future?) and tells the world something about them – hints and teases, if nothing substantive.

And every act of creation has a story attached to it. Was the discovery a happy accident, a paid-for work-product, or the fulfillment of a need, real or anticipated? When you create a campaign, what are the unique needs that arose and the magic items that can only have been created in response to those challenges? The trials of yesterday are reflected in the capabilities of today – and that makes every spell list a distillation of campaign history. At least potentially. Furthermore, each tells you a little something about the society and culture of the time, when collated in aggregate and examined for trends.

And each is also potentially the gateway to an adventure, if you think about it. What back doors may have been secretly incorporated to keep spells out of the wrong hands? What else is a spell or magic item designed to do?

It cuts the other way, too. If you have a significant NPC Mage, what’s he done to earn his reputation?

It’s up to you to unify all these things. The door is there, if you want (and have the time and creativity) to step through it!