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Bag of Beans 5e: the d100 Table, the Explosion and 2024 Changes
A Bag of Beans is a rare wondrous item, no attunement, holding 3d4 dry beans (7 or 8 on average). Dump beans out and they explode for 5d4 damage in a 10-foot radius, you included. Plant one in dirt or sand and water it, and a minute later something from a d100 table appears: toadstools, a geyser, a treant, a hungry bulette, a pyramid with an undead lord inside, or a giant beanstalk. The verdict: a chaos item. It's fun at the table and dangerous to the party, and the 2024 version gives you more control over the explosions.
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Bag of Beans Rules Text
Bag of Beans
2014 rules
Wondrous item, rare
RareNo attunement
Inside this heavy cloth bag are 3d4 dry beans. The bag weighs 1/2 pound plus 1/4 pound for each bean it contains.
If you dump the bag's contents out on the ground, they explode in a 10-foot radius, extending from the beans. Each creature in the area, including you, must make a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw, taking 5d4 fire damage on a failed save, or half as much damage on a successful one. The fire ignites flammable objects in the area that aren't being worn or carried.
If you remove a bean from the bag, plant it in dirt or sand, and then water it, the bean produces an effect 1 minute later from the ground where it was planted. The GM can choose an effect from the following table, determine it randomly, or create an effect.
d100
Effect
01
5d4 toadstools sprout. If a creature eats a toadstool, roll any die. On an odd roll, the eater must succeed on a DC 15 Constitution saving throw or take 5d6 poison damage and become poisoned for 1 hour. On an even roll, the eater gains 5d6 temporary hit points for 1 hour.
02-10
A geyser erupts and spouts water, beer, berry juice, tea, vinegar, wine, or oil (GM's choice) 30 feet into the air for 1d12 rounds.
11-20
A treant sprouts. There's a 50 percent chance that the treant is chaotic evil and attacks.
21-30
An animate, immobile stone statue in your likeness rises. It makes verbal threats against you. If you leave it and others come near, it describes you as the most heinous of villains and directs the newcomers to find and attack you. If you are on the same plane of existence as the statue, it knows where you are. The statue becomes inanimate after 24 hours.
31-40
A campfire with blue flames springs forth and burns for 24 hours (or until it is extinguished).
41-50
1d6 + 6 shriekers sprout
51-60
1d4 + 8 bright pink toads crawl forth. Whenever a toad is touched, it transforms into a Large or smaller monster of the GM's choice. The monster remains for 1 minute, then disappears in a puff of bright pink smoke.
61-70
A hungry bulette burrows up and attacks.
71-80
A fruit tree grows. It has 1d10 + 20 fruit, 1d8 of which act as randomly determined magic potions, while one acts as an ingested poison of the GM's choice. The tree vanishes after 1 hour. Picked fruit remains, retaining any magic for 30 days.
81-90
A nest of 1d4 + 3 eggs springs up. Any creature that eats an egg must make a DC 20 Constitution saving throw. On a successful save, a creature permanently increases its lowest ability score by 1, randomly choosing among equally low scores. On a failed save, the creature takes 10d6 force damage from an internal magical explosion.
91-99
A pyramid with a 60-foot-square base bursts upward. Inside is a sarcophagus containing a mummy lord. The pyramid is treated as the mummy lord's lair, and its sarcophagus contains treasure of the GM's choice.
00
A giant beanstalk sprouts, growing to a height of the GM's choice. The top leads where the GM chooses, such as to a great view, a cloud giant's castle, or a different plane of existence.
This heavy cloth bag contains 3d4 dry beans when found. The bag weighs half a pound regardless of how many beans it contains and becomes a nonmagical item when it no longer contains any beans.
If you dump one or more beans out of the bag, they explode in a 10-foot-radius Sphere centered on them. All the dumped beans are destroyed in the explosion, and each creature in the Sphere, including you, makes a DC 15 Dexterity saving throw, taking 5d4 Force damage on a failed save or half as much damage on a successful one.
If you remove a bean from the bag, plant it in dirt or sand, and then water it, the bean disappears as it produces an effect 1 minute later from the ground where it was planted. The GM can choose an effect from the following table or determine it randomly.
1d100
Effect
01
5d4 toadstools sprout. If a creature eats a toadstool, roll any die. On an odd roll, the eater must succeed on a DC 15 Constitution saving throw or take 5d6 Poison damage and have the Poisoned condition for 1 hour. On an even roll, the eater gains 5d6 Temporary Hit Points for 1 hour.
02–10
A geyser erupts and spouts water, beer, mayonnaise, tea, vinegar, wine, or oil (GM's choice) 30 feet into the air for 1d4 minutes.
11–20
A Treant sprouts. Roll any die. On an odd roll, the treant is Chaotic Evil. On an even roll, the treant is Chaotic Good.
21–30
An animate but immobile stone statue in your likeness rises and makes verbal threats against you. If you leave it and others come near, it describes you as the most heinous of villains and directs the newcomers to find and attack you. If you are on the same plane of existence as the statue, it knows where you are. The statue becomes inanimate after 24 hours.
31–40
A campfire with green flames springs forth and burns for 24 hours or until it is extinguished.
41–50
Three Shrieker Fungi sprout.
51–60
1d4 + 4 bright-pink toads crawl forth. Whenever a toad is touched, it transforms into a Large or smaller monster of the GM's choice that acts in accordance with its alignment and nature. The monster remains for 1 minute, then disappears in a puff of bright-pink smoke.
61–70
A hungry Bulette burrows up and attacks.
71–80
A fruit tree grows. It has 1d10 + 20 fruit, 1d8 of which act as randomly determined potions. The tree vanishes after 1 hour. Picked fruit remains, retaining any magic for 30 days.
81–90
A nest of 1d4 + 3 rainbow-colored eggs springs up. Any creature that eats an egg makes a DC 20 Constitution saving throw. On a successful save, a creature permanently increases its lowest ability score by 1, randomly choosing among equally low scores. On a failed save, the creature takes 10d6 Force damage from an internal explosion.
91–95
A pyramid with a 60-foot-square base bursts upward. Inside is a burial chamber containing a Mummy, a Mummy Lord, or some other Undead of the GM's choice. Its sarcophagus contains treasure of the GM's choice.
96–00
A giant beanstalk sprouts, growing to a height of the GM's choice. The top leads where the GM chooses, such as to a great view, a cloud giant's castle, or another plane of existence.
Roll 3d4: 3 to 12 beans, 7.5 on average. In 2014 the bag weighs half a pound plus a quarter pound per bean, so a full bag of 12 weighs 3.5 pounds. In 2024 it weighs half a pound no matter what, and becomes a nonmagical bag once the last bean is gone. You can roll the 3d4 here.
Dumping beans: the explosion
Every creature in a 10-foot radius, including you, makes a DC 15 Dexterity save against 5d4 damage (12.5 on average), half on a success.
•2014: you dump the bag's contents, all of them. They explode as one blast of fire damage, and the fire ignites flammable objects nobody is wearing or carrying. The entire supply goes in one go for the same 5d4.
•2024: you dump one or more beans. The dumped beans explode and are destroyed; the rest stay in the bag. The damage is force, which very few creatures resist, and nothing catches fire.
The 2024 change turns the bag into a set of 3d4 small bombs. They still go off around you, since the text includes you in the save, so it suits a character with good Dexterity saves or a lot of hit points, standing among enemies.
The text treats removing a bean (to plant it) and dumping beans as separate acts, and only dumping sets them off. Taking one out to plant is safe.
Planting a bean
Take a bean out, plant it in dirt or sand, water it, and 1 minute later an effect rises from that spot. The GM picks an effect or rolls d100; the 2014 text also lets the GM invent one. In 2024 the bean disappears when its effect starts. It needs only dirt or sand and water, so the party can choose the spot and how far away to stand.
The geyser and campfire, 19 percent together, are harmless. The treant (Huge) and bulette (Large), 20 percent together, put a big monster on the spot one minute later; the bulette always attacks, the 2014 treant half the time. The 2014 pyramid always holds a mummy lord (CR 15) and counts as its lair: a 9 percent chance per bean of a CR 15 undead on its home ground. The 2024 pyramid drops to 5 percent and lets the GM choose a mummy (CR 3), a mummy lord or another undead.
The eggs need a careful look. Eating one forces a DC 20 Constitution save. Succeed and your lowest ability score rises by 1 permanently; fail and you take 10d6 force damage (35 on average). A character with +5 to Constitution saves succeeds only 30 percent of the time. One egg per character is a fair risk for a high-level party and a likely death for a level 3 wizard.
Bag of Beans: 2014 vs 2024
2014 (SRD 5.1)
2024 (SRD 5.2.1)
Beans
3d4
3d4 when found
Weight
1/2 lb + 1/4 lb per bean
1/2 lb regardless; nonmagical when empty
Dumping
All contents at once
One or more beans; the rest stay
Blast
5d4 fire, ignites objects
5d4 force, no fire
GM options when planting
Choose, roll or invent
Choose or roll
Geyser
1d12 rounds; berry juice among the liquids
1d4 minutes; mayonnaise replaces berry juice
Treant
50% chance it's chaotic evil and attacks
Odd/even roll: chaotic evil or chaotic good
Campfire
Blue flames
Green flames
Shriekers
1d6 + 6
Three
Toads
1d4 + 8; monster of GM's choice
1d4 + 4; monster acts by its alignment and nature
Fruit tree
One fruit is an ingested poison
No poison fruit
Pyramid
91–99: mummy lord, lair
91–95: mummy, mummy lord or other undead
Beanstalk
00 only
96–00
Value
No price in the SRD
2,000 GP (rare, halved as a consumable)
What this means at the table:
•The explosion is now a reusable weapon. A 2014 bag is one 5d4 blast; a 2024 bag can be 3d4 separate blasts.
•Planting got safer. The 2014 treant attacks half the time and the pyramid is a guaranteed mummy lord; in 2024 neither is certain to be hostile or deadly.
•The beanstalk got five times likelier. 1 percent in 2014, 5 percent in 2024.
Is the Bag of Beans Worth It?
As a weapon, barely. 5d4 averages 12.5, a little more than a level 1 Burning Hands (3d6, 10.5), but Burning Hands is a cone you aim away from yourself and the beans go off around you. In 2024 a handful of bombs that also hit you is a niche tool.
As a planting item, it's worth it for parties who want to roll the dice. The fruit tree, the eggs at high level and the beanstalk are the rewards. The bulette, the hostile treant and the pyramid are the cost.
When it's a trap: at low levels, where a bulette or the 2014 mummy lord ends the campaign, and in a party with a player who will plant every bean the moment they get it.
Bag of Beans for DMs
Decide before they plant. The text lets you choose the effect instead of rolling. Use that. Roll in secret, and if the result would wipe out a level 4 party, choose something else from the same table. In 2014 you can also invent an effect.
The beanstalk is a campaign hook in the text itself. The top leads where you choose, with a cloud giant's castle named as an option. If you have a cloud giant adventure in mind, this item is the door to it.
The statue lasts a day. For 24 hours it tells everyone who passes that the planter is a villain and knows where they are on the same plane. Run it as a social problem in a town, not as a monster.
Pricing. SRD 5.2.1 values a rare item at 4,000 GP and halves the value of a consumable item, one used up when activated that loses its magic once used. The 2024 bag fits that definition (each bean is destroyed or disappears, and the empty bag becomes nonmagical), so its value is 2,000 GP. The 2014 SRD has no prices. The magic item rarity calculator can help set a shop's prices.
Hooks.
•A farmer sold "magic beans" to a passing adventurer, then planted the one he kept back. There's a pyramid in his field now.
•Someone left a Bag of Holding and a Bag of Beans in the same chest, unlabelled. One is safe to tip out.
•A hedge witch sells fruit that works like potions. Each batch was picked from a bean-grown tree that stood for one hour, and picked fruit keeps its magic for only 30 days. Her oldest stock is about to go bad, and she's out of beans.
Beans get planted and forgotten. Loreify records the session so the recap knows what grew where.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many beans are in a Bag of Beans?
3d4, so between 3 and 12, about 7 or 8 on average. In 2024 the bag becomes a nonmagical bag once it's empty.
What happens if you dump out a Bag of Beans?
The dumped beans explode in a 10-foot radius. Every creature in it, including you, makes a DC 15 Dexterity save or takes 5d4 damage, half on a success. In 2014 all the beans go at once as fire damage that can ignite objects; in 2024 you can dump one or more beans at a time and the damage is force.
What does a planted bean do?
One minute after you plant a bean in dirt or sand and water it, an effect from a d100 table appears where it was planted. The GM can choose it or roll; in 2014 the GM can also invent one.
Does a Bag of Beans require attunement?
No, in either edition. Anyone can dump or plant the beans.
How much is a Bag of Beans worth?
2,000 GP under the 2024 SRD: a rare item is worth 4,000 GP, halved for a consumable, and the bag's beans are used up and the empty bag loses its magic. The 2014 SRD has no magic item prices.
Item text: System Reference Document 5.1 (2014) and 5.2.1 (2024), Wizards of the Coast, CC-BY-4.0. Analysis, rulings and ideas are Loreify's own.
This page includes material from the System Reference Document 5.1 and 5.2.1 by Wizards of the Coast LLC, available under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. Loreify is not affiliated with Wizards of the Coast.