Advice about carrying characters through Dimension Door

[elijahmonster]

Dungeons and Dragons Player handbook version 3.5

Dimension Door states that a player may bring his equipment through the dimension door as well as 1 extra person for every three levels plus that character's equipment.

One player would like to place another player character into a bag of holding and carry the bag through the dimension door in order to bypass the restriction on the number of persons to be allowed through the dimension door.

Player argument:
1) One argument to support this proposition is that the character in the bag of holding is not being carried through. The point of entry into the extra dimensional space is being carried through the dimension door.

2) Another argument to counteract the power imbalance of bypassing the spells restrictions is that the characters have to set up the spell scheme first before enacting the spell thereby causing a 10 round preparation prior to dimension door travel and 5 rounds regrouping afterward.

DM argument:
1) Dimension door was not intended to carry more than 1 character per 3 levels and to go above that would be to bypass the necessary restrictions on the spell.

2) Dimension door only carries the equipment of the character. If the player character is not considered equipment (and sentient beings are not equipment) then the scheme will not function. (argument 2 is almost argument one)

3) the policy of allowing players to bypass spell restrictions through minute semantic exceptions is dangerous because it could lead to long term eradication of power controls in the game.

What do you think? Is there an errata or other publication to explain the effects of carrying a bag of holding with a player character inside through a dimension door in order to bypass the level restriction on the number of being passing through the spell?

[Kipi]

First of all, if players were allowed to carry more PC through Dimension Door by using bag of holding, why would they carry only one? Type IV (DMG, page 248) Bag of Holding can contain 1,300 lb. worth of stuff, which definately would mean at least 2 - 3 characters with normal equipment. And, if we get precise, nothing forbids players to put Bag of Holding inside of Bag of Holdin, which practically means unlimited carrying capacity, and thus one player could carry the rest of the party with him through DD, even though the limit would have been only the caster himself.

Also, the rulebooks doesn't state HOW the extra persons are going through the DD, so basically, DM could claim that character inside Bag of Holding is counted to the limit, as the character ain't equipment, and there is no mention of how the player must go through the portal.

So, I would say that there is enough arguments to deny the "extra" person carried in Bag of Holding.

Oh, and we should remember that living thing can only stay alive in Bag of Holding 10 minutes, so usually that would be deadly to the extra person.