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Bag of Tricks 5e: The Gray, Rust and Tan Tables, Odds and Commands
A Bag of Tricks is an uncommon wondrous item, no attunement, that lets you pull out a fuzzy ball and throw it up to 20 feet, where it becomes a random beast from a d8 table set by the bag's color: gray, rust or tan. You get three pulls per day, and each creature stays until the next dawn or until it drops to 0 hit points. It takes an action (a Magic action in 2024) to throw, and a bonus action each turn to direct a creature. The verdict: a real fight-changer at levels 1 to 4, where a dire wolf or a brown bear is a strong ally, and a source of scouts and pack animals after that.
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Bag of Tricks Rules Text
The 2014 card (SRD 5.1) is first, then the 2024 card (SRD 5.2.1). Both include all three tables.
Bag of Tricks
2014 rules
Wondrous item, uncommon
UncommonNo attunement
This ordinary bag, made from gray, rust, or tan cloth, appears empty. Reaching inside the bag, however, reveals the presence of a small, fuzzy object. The bag weighs 1/2 pound.
You can use an action to pull the fuzzy object from the bag and throw it up to 20 feet. When the object lands, it transforms into a creature you determine by rolling a d8 and consulting the table that corresponds to the bag's color. The creature vanishes at the next dawn or when it is reduced to 0 hit points.
The creature is friendly to you and your companions, and it acts on your turn. You can use a bonus action to command how the creature moves and what action it takes on its next turn, or to give it general orders, such as to attack your enemies. In the absence of such orders, the creature acts in a fashion appropriate to its nature.
Once three fuzzy objects have been pulled from the bag, the bag can't be used again until the next dawn.
This bag made from gray, rust, or tan cloth appears empty. Reaching inside the bag, however, reveals the presence of a small, fuzzy object.
You can take a Magic action to pull the fuzzy object from the bag and throw it up to 20 feet. When the object lands, it transforms into a creature you determine by rolling on the table that corresponds to the bag's color. See "Monsters" for the creature's stat block. The creature vanishes at the next dawn or when it is reduced to 0 Hit Points.
The creature is Friendly to you and your allies, and it acts immediately after you on your Initiative count. You can take a Bonus Action to command how the creature moves and what action it takes on its next turn, such as attacking an enemy. In the absence of such orders, the creature acts in a fashion appropriate to its nature.
Once three fuzzy objects have been pulled from the bag, the bag can't be used again until the next dawn.
Reach in and there's always one fuzzy object. Pulling it out and throwing it is one action in 2014 and a Magic action in 2024, up to 20 feet. It becomes a creature when it lands; roll a d8 on your bag's table. You don't choose the creature, and you can't pick the table: a bag's color is fixed.
After the third pull, the bag stops working until the next dawn. The three creatures can all be on the field at once, since each one lasts until dawn or until it's reduced to 0 hit points.
Turn order
In 2014 the creature acts on your turn. In 2024 it acts immediately after you on your Initiative count. Either way it doesn't roll its own initiative, and it acts in the same round you throw it.
Commanding the creature
The creature is friendly to you and your companions (your allies, in 2024). As a bonus action you can tell it how to move and what action to take on its next turn. The 2014 text adds a second option: give it general orders, such as attacking your enemies, which carry on without a new command each turn. The 2024 text drops general orders. In both versions, a creature with no orders does whatever suits its nature, which for a goat or a weasel may not involve fighting.
The text describes commanding "the creature," singular, and never says what one bonus action does when you have two or three out. DM ruling: one bonus action commands one creature. In 2014, give the others general orders and they follow them; in 2024 the others act on instinct unless you command them.
Bag of Tricks Creature Tables
Every creature uses its stat block from the same SRD as the bag. Challenge ratings are the same in both editions; hit points differ for seven of them.
Rust is the swingiest: the most big creatures (including the CR 2 giant boar) and the most duds. Tan is the steadiest, with no 1-hit-point results and the giant hyena's 45 hit points at the top. Gray's best roll, the CR 2 giant elk, is a Huge creature with a 10-foot-reach Ram and a 60-foot speed.
Bag of Tricks: 2014 vs 2024
2014 (SRD 5.1)
2024 (SRD 5.2.1)
Rarity / attunement
Uncommon, none
Uncommon, none
Weight
1/2 lb
Not given
Pull and throw
An action
A Magic action
Creature's turn
Acts on your turn
Acts right after you on your Initiative count
Orders
Bonus action to command, or general orders
Bonus action to command; no general orders
Tables
Gray, rust, tan, d8 each
Same creatures, same order
Stat blocks
2014 creatures
2024 creatures (fewer HP for dire wolf, lion, brown bear, tiger)
Value
No price in the SRD
400 GP (uncommon)
What this means at the table:
•2024 asks for more bonus actions. Without standing general orders, keeping a creature on task costs your bonus action every turn, which competes with class features that use it.
•The top results got weaker in 2024. A 2024 dire wolf has 22 hit points instead of 37, and the brown bear 22 instead of 34. In exchange, many 2024 beasts knock targets prone on a hit: the dire wolf's Bite and the brown bear's Claw do so against Large or smaller targets with no save.
Is the Bag of Tricks Worth It?
At levels 1 to 4, yes. Three extra bodies per day, any of which can soak a hit or flank an enemy, is a lot for a party of four. Characters who already spend their bonus action every turn, such as a rogue using Cunning Action, get less from it, especially under the 2024 rules.
Beyond combat, the creatures last until dawn, so a pull can fill a gap: an owl to scout from the air with 120-foot darkvision, a mastiff to keep watch, a giant goat or bear to clear a path.
By level 7 or so, a CR 1/4 boar won't change a fight, and the bag becomes a utility item. It costs no attunement, so it never has to leave the pack. For a guaranteed creature instead of a roll, look at the Figurine of Wondrous Power or the Conjure Animals spell.
Bag of Tricks for DMs
Pacing. Three summoned creatures slow combat down. Ask the player to have the creatures' stat blocks ready before the session, and roll all three d8s up front if the bag is used repeatedly in one fight.
Pricing. The 2024 SRD values an uncommon item at 400 GP. The 2014 SRD gives no magic item prices. The magic item generator can stock the rest of the hoard.
Hooks.
•A traveling performer's "trained animals" all come out of one tan bag. The tiger got loose last night and is still out there until dawn.
•A goblin war band keeps a bag of tricks and throws it at intruders. The party wins the bag, and the goblins want it back.
•A druid's grove guardian is a giant elk that vanishes every dawn. Someone has to pull it out of the gray bag again each day, and that someone has gone missing.
Which creatures came out of the bag, and which are still around until dawn, is easy to lose mid-session. Loreify records your game and puts it in the recap.
Frequently Asked Questions
What animals are in a Bag of Tricks?
It depends on the color. Gray: weasel, giant rat, badger, boar, panther, giant badger, dire wolf, giant elk. Rust: rat, owl, mastiff, goat, giant goat, giant boar, lion, brown bear. Tan: jackal, ape, baboon, axe beak, black bear, giant weasel, giant hyena, tiger.
How many times per day can you use a Bag of Tricks?
Three. After the third fuzzy object is pulled, the bag can't be used until the next dawn. Each creature lasts until that dawn or until it drops to 0 hit points.
Does a Bag of Tricks require attunement?
No. It's an uncommon wondrous item with no attunement in either edition.
Which Bag of Tricks color is best?
Rust gives the best chance at a CR 1 or 2 creature (3 in 8) but also the most CR 0 duds. Tan never rolls a 1-hit-point creature and has the highest average hit points. Gray sits in between, with the CR 2 giant elk as its top roll.
How much is a Bag of Tricks worth?
400 GP under the 2024 SRD, the value of an uncommon magic item. The 2014 SRD doesn't price magic items.
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.