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A bag of holding has a special caveat:

Placing a bag of holding inside an extradimensional space created by a Handy Haversack, Portable Hole, or similar item instantly destroys both items and opens a gate to the Astral Plane.

Now, the 2nd level spell Rope Trick says:

(...) At the upper end of the rope, an invisible entrance opens to an extradimensional space that lasts until the spell ends.

The extradimensional space can be reached by climbing to the top of the rope. (...)

Is it safe to bring a bag of holding inside the rope trick extradimensional space?

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Mindwin Remember Monica
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3 Answers3

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No the bag will not burst, because Rope Trick is not an item

The key word in the caveat you cite is "item":

Placing a bag of holding inside an extradimensional space created by a Handy Haversack, Portable Hole, or similar item instantly destroys both items and opens a gate to the Astral Plane.

The two examples the text gives are also items.

However, the extradimensional space created by Rope Trick is created by a spell, not an item, and so does not fall under that clause.

There are many spells that generate extradimensional spaces (such as Mordenkainen's Magnificient Mansion)--if the designers intended the Bag of Holding to explode when it entered such spaces, they could have easily made the text refer to any extradimensional space, or used spells as examples.

bobsburner
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Icyfire
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7

If historical canon from previous editions is desired, the official D&D 3e FAQ (p.33) stated:

Note you can freely go plane hopping with portable holes, bags of holding, and the like. Spells that produce their own extradimensional spaces, such as rope trick, pose no danger to occupants who may be using portable holes, bags of holding, and the like.

Matt Vincent
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    This answer could use a little elaboration on how this information about a past edition can be applied to 5e - does anything in 5e indicate that such a ruling would make sense (or not) in 5e? – V2Blast Aug 09 '19 at 22:56
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Yup, it does open a gate to the Astral Plane, according to Mike Mearls:

If I cast rope trick and intentionally throw a bag of holding into it, can I get to the Astral Plane?

You do indeed purchase a gate to the astral with that move

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Christina
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    Welcome to RPG.SE! Please note that 1. we prefer answers to explain themselves (and not just link to a source) and 2. that Mearl's statements are not official rulings and so hold little gravitas. Take the [tour] if you haven't already and see the [help] or ask us here in the comments (use @ to ping someone) if you need more guidance. Good Luck and Happy Gaming! – Someone_Evil Aug 09 '19 at 21:55
  • As stated by Someone_Evil, Mearls' tweets are not considered official rulings - and they are also frequently wrong. Can you support your answer by citing any rules, or explaining how Mearls' ruling matches what is stated in the rules? Have you ruled in this way in your own games - if so, how did you and your players feel about the ruling? (Did your group find it fun/logical/illogical/annoying?) – V2Blast Aug 09 '19 at 23:00