5e PHB specifies that mage hand cannot 'activate magical items'.
A magical item (two rocks, which when touched together produce a magical effect) was stowed in a bag on my ally's back during a fight. He had very explicitly specified (many sessions ago) that he stowed them beside each other in his pack, 'separated by a thick piece of cloth, which covered one, but not the other'.
On my turn, in desperation, I used mage hand to retrieve that thick piece of cloth from his bag.
The orbs were then touching together – so technically the magical item activates… So I've used mage hand to activate a magical item, which isn't allowed RAW.
How should this have played out? Does the mage hand fail to pull the cloth? Does it suddenly dissipate as it tries to break the bonds of its creation? Do the magical rocks (or other items which activate in this way) need 'intent' of a person to activate them, to avoid these shenanigans? Or does this loophole work?
Best Answer
Homebrew items require homebrew adjudications
Unfortunately, because this is a homebrew item and there really isn't an equivalent official item to base a ruling off of, you are left with a DM ruling on the action.
If the DM felt that this was an unacceptable action based on the item they created, then that's the ruling.