Fantasy RPG Plot Hooks/Dungeon/Unreliable Backpack
From Create Your Own Story
Unreliable Backpack
When looting the latest dungeon the PCs find an odd backpack. It's large and sturdy, but serves as very unreliable storage. You can never retrieve the same items that were put into it. When you try to take out something you put into it you get something similar but never identical to what was originally put inside.
For example if a weapon such as a long sword is stored in it someone might pull out a scimitar or rapier instead. It's always an item in similar condition and of similar weight and utility. A rope might be replaced with a hammock or a bedroll with a horse blanket.
Usually an item is replaced with something of approximately equal value, a pearl may turn into an opal worth the same amount. But each time an item is retrieved there is a %5 chance the item loses about half of its value and a much cheaper alternate is retrieved, such as a silver locket instead of a golden necklace or a dagger instead of a short sword.
A unique irreplaceable priceless artifact will become different in appearance but functionally the same. Although a unique but replaceable item will be functionally different, a key placed inside may come out as a key for a different lock at random.
If the player characters absolutely ‘'need’’ their exact items back, for instance the only key to the treasure chest or the map to the secret temple, they can follow the normal procedure for uncursing items in your chosen game system to return the item to its original state.
