My players were recently given a piece of land with a wizard tower on it, cared for by a pride of sixteen sentient cats.  I stocked it with all kinds of goofy items, including some failed and quirky magic items.  One of these, an old rug, had been intended to be a normal Rug of Smothering, but it absorbed so much ambient magic from the cats that it became a Rug of Dog Smothering— it only attacks dogs.  I though that the players would have a good laugh, maybe put it in the front hall, and that would be that.

Instead, one player, a Monster Hunter fighter, gets a maniacal look in his eye, and asks me, “A rug of dog smothering?”  I confirm.  “So, a rug of canine smothering?”  I agree, wondering where he’s going with this.  “So it could smother wolves??”  Um, yes, I guess so.  By now I’m wondering if he plans to carry this rug around and unroll it on the off chance that they run into wolves at some point.

”So, what about werewolves???”

I told him I’d get back to him on that.

So, do I let him have his Rug of Werewolf Smothering?  I’m not planning to use werewolves in the campaign in the foreseeable future, and I’m not sure if carrying an enormous carpet everywhere he goes would really be a great strategy.  My first instinct is to let him have it, with the caveat that the werewolf has to be in wolf form for the carpet to work, but I wanted feedback before making a ruling.  I know that if an item becomes a problem, I can always talk to my players about it, but I’d rather avoid letting it become a problem in the first place.

I’m also not sure if I’m comfortable with the idea of directly telling him that I don’t currently plan on using werewolves, but it feels wrong to let him carry a 4ft x 8ft carpet around for no reason.  I’ve already determined that it won’t fit into the party’s one Bag of Holding, based on what’s already in there, but I haven’t yet had a reason or opportunity to tell him.

Does anyone have any advice?  It seems harmless enough, given the circumstances, but I know that innocent-looking ideas can turn around and bite you in the rear.  I should probably add that the Rug of Dog Smothering doesn’t have any extra properties; the only change is that the rug only attacks canines.

I think pointing out the difficulties in carrying the rug around would solve the issue. Point out that the rug is particularly thick and heavy, and would take 2 people to carry it around. And, the people carrying it would not have any free hands for carrying weapons. 

And, I think you could tell him that the rug only works on non-magical dogs (i.e., wouldn't work on a druid shape-changed into a dog nor on werewolves).

I think you’re right.  I was kinda thinking the same thing last night.  And I hadn’t thought of the magical dog angle.  That sounds like a reasonable way to handle my problem!

Plus it sort of brings the whole room together, man.  It wouldn't be right to roll it around and travel with it.  

Seriously, as mentioned, rugs are realistically undwieldy, it's not a bathmat.  It's heavy and bulky and "deploying" it would be an additional complexity in addition to transporting it.  

I don't mind the fighter's logic in its potentially being agressive toward werewolves.  They can be proud their stronghold is werewolf proof, at least in the threshold or wherever the piece brings a particular room together.  

Sadly for this plan, the damage from a rug of smothering is not tagged as magical, and therefore it doesn't do any damage to a werewolf.

Quote from Pantagruel666 >>

Sadly for this plan, the damage from a rug of smothering is not tagged as magical, and therefore it doesn't do any damage to a werewolf.

 Duhh.  I can’t believe I didn’t catch that!  That certainly solves the problem!

While I hate to be *that* guy, even if the rug of smothering is unable to deal damage to a werewolf, it could feasibly still...well...smother it...

Quote from Mezzurah >>

While I hate to be *that* guy, even if the rug of smothering is unable to deal damage to a werewolf, it could feasibly still...well...smother it...

 Pretty sure a werewolf can break free in the three minutes it takes it to suffocate.

Quote from Pantagruel666 >>

Quote from Mezzurah >>

While I hate to be *that* guy, even if the rug of smothering is unable to deal damage to a werewolf, it could feasibly still...well...smother it...

 Pretty sure a werewolf can break free in the three minutes it takes it to suffocate.

 Probably yeah, but the possibility still exists even if it's slim.

Also worth noting that a Rug of Smothering is a creature, so would have to consent to being carried around. Just make it agoraphobic and have it refuse to leave the building! Then it can still attack werewolves if they aver attach the place (which would be a cool thing for the party to use) but it would not be carried around by them.

Quote from ThorukDuckSlayer >>

Also worth noting that a Rug of Smothering is a creature, so would have to consent to being carried around. Just make it agoraphobic and have it refuse to leave the building! Then it can still attack werewolves if they aver attach the place (which would be a cool thing for the party to use) but it would not be carried around by them.

 Another player of mine mentioned recently that he’d like to play out a siege, so maybe I’ll have a group of lycanthropes attack their stronghold!  In a few dozen levels or so... they’re only level three.

One further thing to consider is that the Rug is influenced to hate dogs by the cats. Perhaps, as they carry it away from that influence, it starts becoming more and more dangerous. They start finding other animals smothered when they wake up from long rests, until one day the innkeeper, a traveling merchant, one of their pets or something winds up being smothered, and they realise it's no longer only attacking dogs.

Dude. You need to allow this AND throw a werewolf at the character every few session for laughs!

I would say that a werewolf is a humanoid/polymorph and a real dog/wolf is a beast, so they are different and the rug would not work.

I would let it work and throw a werewolf at them at least once so he could use it. Assuming he actually goes through the effort of lugging that carpet around, as others have commented lugging a carpet around is not easy! 

I wouldn’t build a campaign around it, but I would reward him for being creative by letting him use the carpet to rescue a village that’s being terrorized by a werewolf once. 

In our game session yesterday, I explained that the rug is a creature, and that it is agoraphobic, and doesn’t want to be removed from the tower.  I did say that if a werewolf ever attacked the stronghold, it would be happy to help defend its home and friends.  The monster hunter mentioned that it felt like I was just making things up just to stop him from getting a fun option, but he’s pretty good-natured, so he let the subject drop when I explained that I was worried about it causing logistical problems.

So now I’m wondering if I made the right decision.  They do have a pair of donkeys and a cart; maybe I should have just let him have it.  Any opinions?

Sometimes my philosophy as a GM is, "it's your game, I just run it."  But there has to be balance.  So if you think it would interfere with plans, then go with your gut.  There has to be some limits.  And in real life, a 16 x 70 foot carpet weighs 400 lbs.

But keep in mind there are no "wrong" decisions in a game that moves and is fluid like D&D.  You gave the rug a personality.  That is cool, and it can change it's mind later.  The rug could get to know the adventurers and decide it wants to defend them.  It could develop a crush on someone.  It could get a taste of adventure and want to see the world.  

Let it lie for now (ha, pun intended) and then let the adventures get attacked, and then let it go from there.

The next time they come home, there's a dead werewolf wrapped up by the front door, and a VERY pleased with itself carpet.

Add in a clue to their next adventure, and boom. Problem solved.

Yeah I would have let him have it AND design a mini encounter where it makes all the difference (locked room mystery WHO is the werewolf!? Argh James just got eaten by the rug I guess it was him) because I think that would be fun for everyone.

It's hardly game breaking - you decide when they players will/will not encounter any werewolves after all. You could give them a sword that kills any dragon in one hit and it would only be overpowered if they end up fighting a dragon with it. No dragon no problems. Same with the rug and werewolves.

We spend so much time throwing obstacles at players, it can be easy to forget that our job is to make the players feel good. Allowing them to win because they made a clever choice that we did not foresee is a great way to make them feel good (even though it can be very uncomfortable for us in the moment!).

BUT I am ok with it because that sort of thing fits my world and play style. There is no one right answer. Everyone's game is different.

I really like the idea of giving the rug a mini story arc.  Maybe it is influenced by the adventurers, and decides it wants to kill werewolves, enough that it is willing to go on an adventure with them.  I gave it altered intelligence, wisdom, and charisma stats, as well as telepathy out to a range of 60 feet, so it can communicate.  

I think I’ll treat it as an NPC for now, and when it has sufficiently imbibed the spirit of adventure from the PCs (when they get to a high enough level to tackle a werewolf), it will ask to go on a mission with them.  I’ll find a way to toss a few lycanthropes in their path, to satisfy the rug, who will then be so alarmed by the dangers of adventuring that it decides to stay at home from now on.  I hope.  I might have to flat out explain that this isn’t going to be a regular part of their adventures, but that I wanted to salute a cool idea!