| Dragon | Magic Items | Dragon 45 | Miscellaneous Magick | 1st Edition AD&&D |
A Box of Many Holdings
is a cubical, oaken chest. Each face of this
chest may be decorated by ornate carvings
of a similar nature (75%)
or without any artwork at all (25%), and
there does not appear to be
any obvious lid to the chest. A Detect
magick spell will reveal that
magick is emanating from the direction
of the chest.
Each side of the Box of many holdings
can be treated as a “lid” to
the chest; each side may be opened to display
a compartment the size
of the chest itself. (Note: While 1 side
of the chest is opened, the remaining 5 become locked and no amount of
prying or “thieving”
abilities will open any of them). Each
side is opened by the same
method: A small hole on each side accommodates
a small peg, rod. or
small finger (?) which must be provided
by the character. This trips a
latch allowing the side to swing back on
hinges, much the same as a
normal chest lid would.
Each compartment thus revealed is capable
of holding its own contents, not to exceed the volume of the box itself.
This enables the
possessor of the chest to store 6 times
the volume that would
normally be expected from a chest of similar
size. (E.g., in a Box of
many holdings with the dimensions
of 2’x2’x2’. 48 cubic feet of material could be stored instead of just
the expected 8 cubic feet). The
weight of the chest, when fully loaded,
is equal to the weight of the
chest itself plus the weight in the compartment
containing the heaviest
contents.
As with many magical treasures, the Box
of many holdings is not
without its drawbacks. 1 side of the chest.
chosen randomly by The DM, issues a random curse
when opened. Treasure may
be stored in this space with no ill effect
to the treasure itself, but each
Time the side is opened, a new curse, randomly
chosen by the DM,
takes effect upon the opener. (Among magical
scholars, it is not
known whether the curse is inherent in
the creation of the box or if it
was purposely placed there by THE
WIZARD of yore who created
these boxes). A Remove
curse will remove the curse upon the next
opening only, and NOT subsequent reopenings.
If the box is destroyed, (SAVE
applicable as for hardwood
with magical bonuses), it will do 1 point
of damage for each 1 inch
along one of its sides to all within a
radius of 10 feet. (E.g., if the box is
2 feet on all sides, it will do 24 points
of damage to those within 10
feet of it). There is no saving
throw for this damage. In addition, all objects or creatures inside the
chest will disappear upon the chest’s
destruction.
Experience point value: 3,500
Gold piece sale value: 16,000*
*Gold-piece value is a function of size.
The value given here
is for a box that has dimensions of
2'x2'x2'.