I am looking for an alternative to bag of holding that is simpler and provides the weight reduction benefit without all the extra baggage from creating extradimensional spaces.

> 
> **Sack of Carrying**   
> 
> *Wonderous Item, Uncommon*
> 
> 
> This item appears like a normal, large sack that weighs 5 pounds. It can hold 12 cubic feet or 360 pounds, without changing its total weight. Creatures in the sack can breathe normally. You can put objects or creatures into the sack or take them out with a normal object interaction.
> 
> 
> 

Are there any balance, mechanics or wording issues this item would have?

---

**Background**:

The [bag of holding](https://www.dndbeyond.com/magic-items/4581-bag-of-holding) creates a permanent, extradimensional space and a portal effect to access it, quite the exotic effect for an item that is merely *uncommon*, too exotic for my tastes. It also has lots of additional clauses about bad stuff that happens if you put it into another extradimensional space (or vice versa), which for me makes it [unneccesarily complicated](https://rpg.stackexchange.com/search?q=%22bag%20of%20holding%22%20%5Bdnd-5e%5D).

While characters mostly use it to lug around equipment and loot, they can also can use it to hide items from divination spells that are limited to the same plane, which is an unrelated effect to providing carrying capacity. I am looking for a simpler item to add to the game.

I have no problems with bag of holding *per se*. Its a cool item I love like the next guy. I also have no issue with it being used with all its features, when the characters have one. But for tier one play, I feel a simpler item would be a better fit, and am looking to create one. Think of it like I'd like the option of a +1 sword, rather than just having a flametongue.
['https://rpg.stackexchange.com/questions/201308', 'https://rpg.stackexchange.com', 'https://rpg.stackexchange.com/users/75095/']
### I want a clear way to determine what fits into the bag and what doesn't.

You've touched on some of the problems with the Bag of Holding, but you have missed my single greatest pet peeve about the item: *I have no consistent method of ruling what fits through the mouth of the bag and what doesn't.* Does it stretch to accommodate oddly proportioned objects or creatures that meet the weight and volume requirements? I'm just tired of not having a good answer to "will X fit through the mouth of the bag?" I don't really have a good idea for a solution here, if I did I would have implemented it already. "Magically accommodates anything that meets the weight/volume limit" seems like the easiest thing to work with.

### I don't know the volume of a horse, or anything that isn't an elementary solid.

Related to the last point, *I don't know the volume of stuff*. Sure, I can convert gallons to cubic feet and tell you how much water the bag will hold. But what's the volume of a 359 pound pony? I don't know, *and I shouldn't have to know to tell you what a magic item can do*. I would do away with the interior volume limit and just use weight, because I am much better at knowing the weights of things.
It feels **reasonably balanced**, but feel free to add the fixes suggested by Thomas Markov. Stricter definitions removes the necessity for arbitrary judgements.

However, J. A. Streich makes a valid comment - **where does things go**, without a portal of some sort? As far as I understand your description, you're planning on not making things "go" anywhere, per se, just **lose all mass and volume** while inside the bag. Since that seems a bit weird in the D&D magic paradigm, I propose a fix:

> 
> **Sack of Reduction**
> 
> 
> *Wondrous Item, Uncommon*
> 
> 
> This item appears like a normal, large sack that weighs 5 pounds. It can hold up to 360 pounds, pre-reduction. Anything placed into the sack will, once fully inside, be subject to a Reduce effect, decreasing its size by one category, until removed from the sack or the sack is destroyed. Creatures in the sack can breathe normally. Putting held objects or physically compliant creatures into the sack or taking them out requires an Action. The mouth of the sack is malleable with a maximum circumference of 3 feet, and the depth of the bag is 4 feet.
> 
> 
> 

Now we're **using the existing magical ideas** of D&D, though the effects are significantly less than the Bag of Holding - the sack will grow in size and weight as you fill it, though not commensurate to what you stuff inside. I specified the mouth, and added the limitation that things must fit wholly inside before being Reduced.