Placing a Bag of Holding inside an extradimensional space destroys the items and a gate to the Astral Plane.

The section on alterations to magic in Curse of Strahd (page 24) says: No Spell-not-even wish allows one to escape from Strahd’s domain. Astral projection, plane shift, teleport, and similar spells cast to leave Barovia fail.

So, the above rule makes many D&D players wonder what will happen if they put a Bag of Holding inside another Bag of Holding (or Handy Haversack) while in Barovia, and what might happen if the portal fails.

What Happens if You Put a Bag of Holding Inside Another Bag of Holding in Barovia in D&D?

If you put a Bag of Holding inside another Bag of Holding in Barovia, the items break, but nobody can leave since Barovia has already considered that option.

Curse of Strahd explains it in the “you cannot leave” aspect of Barovia, which says, No spell-not even wish-allows one to escape from Strahd’s domain, spell cast for the purpose of leaving Barovia to fail, as do effects that banish a creature into another place of existence.

The constraints listed above apply to magical items and artifacts that have the ability to transport or banish beings to other planes.

However, Bag of Holding of 5e includes the warnings: If the bag gets overloaded, pierced, or torn, it ruptures, gets destroyed, and its contents get scattered in the Astral Plane.

When you place a bag of holding inside an extradimensional space concocted by a Handy Haversack, Portable Hole, or similar item immediately destroys both the items and opens a gate to the Astral Plane.

One of the meta-rules of D&D is “specific beats general,” which means a more-specific rule can override a more general rule. The Barovia rule is more specific than Bag of Holding’s rule- it applies only in one place, whereas Bag’s rule applies everywhere, and the Barovia rule explicitly states that it overrules other, more general rules.

As a result, Bags of Holding cannot spill creatures onto the Astral Plane, nor can a Bag of Holding and a Portable Hole could create a portal that allows the creatures to enter the Astral Plane with Barovia.

However, it is unclear whether the non-creature contents of an exploding bag would be ejected into the Astral Plane or not.

Can I Defeat Strahd von Zarovich by Stuffing Him in a Bag of Holding and Tearing It?

No, you cannot defeat Strahd von Zarovich by stuffing him in a Bag of Holding and tearing because this plan will cause some problems:

• The size of a bag of holding is limited. While it has an eternal volume sufficient to hold Strahd, getting it inside may prove impossible because the bag is roughly 2 feet in diameter at the mouth and 4 feet deep.

• Strahd has legendary resistance. 5 Casting of Tasha’s Hideous Laughter might not incapacitate him, even with portent dice. If Strahd fails a saving throw, he can choose to succeed instead of getting trapped in the bag of holding.

• The lucky cannot be applied here because it only affects attacks against you and your attacks. It does not save you against your spells.

• It might be possible that Strahd may have a way back from the Astral Plane because he is a powerful spellcaster, a vampire, and has made many deals with the dark powers.

FAQs

Does a Bag of Holding Burst if Brought Into the Space Created by Rope Trick?

No, the Bag of Holding will not burst because Rope Trick is not an item in D&D. The keyword in the caveat is “item.”

According to the rules, Placing a Bag of Holding inside an extradimensional space created by a Handy Haversack, Portable Hole, or similar item immediately destroys both items and opens a gate to the Astral Plane.

The extra space created by the Rope trick is a spell, not an item, so it will not burst the bag of holding.

Can Creatures From the Material Plane Survive Being Sucked Into the Astral Plane?

The Astral Plane is a life-threatening place for any character. According to the DMG, page 47,  A character who travels bodily to the astral plane has no silver cord, and only the severing of a character’s silver cord while on the astral plane can result in the character’s actual death.

It means the character will be transported to the Astral Plane and then be at the mercy of everything the astral plane can throw at them, such as psychic wind and githyanki.

The character would not die en route. It will likely die there unless it finds a color pool for the prime material plane, which is silver, as stated on page 47 of the Dungeon Master’s Guide (DMG).