Pouches of Plenty
It’s Wednesday, and that means it’s time for another Magic Market. For today’s assortment of wondrous items, I thought it might be fun to take a look at purses and pouches, and so I’ve got five such containers here for your perusal.
Moneychanger’s Purse
These purses are typically made of silk, or another fine, light cloth, and are often embroidered with symbols of trade, wealth, or status. Any coins placed into the moneychanger’s purse immediately vanish, never to be seen again. However, as long as there are no other items in the purse, its owner can reach in and speak a command word, and magically produce coins as if from nowhere. The produced coins can be of any denomination the user desires (platinum, gold, silver, copper), and can be the currency of any specific nation, region, race, etc. However, the moneychanger’s purse can only produce as much wealth (in coins) as it has consumed. For example, if one were to put 100 gold pieces into the purse, you could produce 10 platinum coins, or 100 gold coins, or 1,000 silver coins, or whatever combination of coins added up to the appropriate amount, after which the purse would cease to produce coins until more coins had been placed inside it and lost.
Pouch of Surprises
A pouch of surprises is often covered with fake jewels and gaudy doo-dads, and they are often seen in the hands of travelling circuses and fairs as a sort of curiosity game. Once per day, the pouch’s user can place a single item in the pouch and speak its command word. If he does, the item placed in the pouch vanishes, and another item appears in its place. This item can be just about anything, but there are a few restrictions. First, the item must be small enough to fit within the pouch (roughly 1 cubic foot, no side longer than 14 inches). Second, the item must be worth somewhere between 80% and 120% of the item that was placed in the pouch in the first place (for those who want to determine the value randomly, the value will be 80 + 2d20 % of the original item’s value. This roll should be made in secret by the GM, who can choose to arbitrarily decide the value of the new item, as long as it is within the given range). Magic items can be gained in this way, if they are of an appropriate value.
Note that items that disappear into a pouch of surprises eventually wind up in another pouch of surprises, potentially making it a good way to hide or get rid of items temporarily.
Purse of Mists
Perhaps the greatest form of protection against pickpockets and purse-cutters, a purse of mists is normally completely insubstantial, little more than a hazy, purse-shaped brown cloud. Even the string that tethers it to its wearer’s belt is made of mist, and it is a mystery to all but the most wizened of sages (and those who enchant such purses themselves) how the purse of mists remains attached to its wearer. Whatever the case, while in its hazy, mist-like form, the purse of mists is incorporeal, and so is immune to nonmagical attack forms (and combat maneuvers). With a command word, the purse’s owner can cause it to become substantial again, allowing him to place items inside or take them out, etc. Note that the purse’s contents are also made incorporeal, and do not fall out of the pouch when it becomes insubstantial.
Smuggler’s Pouch
These pouches tend to be fashioned from plain, unassuming brown leather, with little or no indication to set them apart from a perfectly mundane pouch. Similar to the much better-known bag of holding, a smuggler’s pouch contains an extra-dimensional space inside, although, unlike most objects containing extra-dimensional spaces, it isn’t to provide for more storage space. Instead, there are effectively two different “insides” to the pouch, both identical in every way, except for whatever objects the user chooses to place inside. A command word (usually something innocuous that can easily be slipped into conversation with a customs official, such as “officer,”) allows the user to determine which version of the pouch’s “inside” will appear the next time the pouch is opened. For example, one might fill one of the pouch’s “insides” with something innocuous, like marbles, or hay, while filling the other with contraband or stolen property. If someone were to inspect the pouch’s contents, the owner could ensure that they found only the innocent items, and not the hidden ones.
Because only one of the two “insides” of the smuggler’s pouch is an extra-dimensional space (the other is just the normal inside of the bag), the items in that version of the pouch can still be accessed if it is brought within an extra-dimensional space (such as a rope trick or a bag of holding).
Vicious Purse
Among the more unusual (although, according to its creators, also among the more effective) anti-pickpocketing enchantments is the vicious purse. This semi-animated purse bites anyone who attempts to put their hand within its opening unless they first speak the proper command word. The bite automatically hits, dealing 1 point of damage, and the vicious purse then attempts to hold the thief’s hand fast, preventing him from running off. It attempts to start a grapple (CMB +15). It cannot deal any further damage to the thief, nor can it perform any of the other special actions that can generally be performed in a grapple, but it can keep the thief from moving away. A second command word will cause the vicious purse to release a thief that it has caught.