Hello! My D&D group and I had a debate where they insist that you must use a magic action every single time you want to use the Carpet of Flying. In combat, this would be frustrating because it essentially wastes your action economy.
My argument is that you only need to use a magic action once to activate it, and after that, you can command it to move or fly without needing to use a magic action on subsequent turns.
What is the correct ruling on this? I wish I could send this question to the Sage Advice Compendium!
I interpret the Magic action as only being taken at the beginning, to activate the Carpet, and then it moves according to your directions if you are within 30 feet of it.
For comparison, this is from 2014 and I was ruling the same way.
You can speak the carpet's command word as an action to make the carpet hover and fly. It moves according to your spoken directions, provided that you are within 30 feet of it.
Under the 2024 rules, the Magic action is now a common way to activate Magic Items.
You spend an action to activate the carpet and then give it a flight instruction, which it will follow until you change the instructions with another action or it gets too far away from you.
Those instructions may be "I'm going to ride you, move in the direction i steer you in" or "follow 10 feet behind me at a height of 10 feet".
And then like say... Tiny Servant, the carpet follows those instructions until it completes them.
Similar to the Broom of Flying.
You spend a magic action to either have the broom start flying beneath you so you can ride it, or you use a magic action to send it off somewhere on its own (or call it back).
Use an action to activate it and give it an instruction. Use an action to make it start doing something else.
Hello! My D&D group and I had a debate where they insist that you must use a magic action every single time you want to use the Carpet of Flying. In combat, this would be frustrating because it essentially wastes your action economy.
My argument is that you only need to use a magic action once to activate it, and after that, you can command it to move or fly without needing to use a magic action on subsequent turns.
What is the correct ruling on this? I wish I could send this question to the Sage Advice Compendium!
I interpret the Magic action as only being taken at the beginning, to activate the Carpet, and then it moves according to your directions if you are within 30 feet of it.
It doesn't have the usual "on your later turns" from some spells: Control Water, Grasping Vine or Mage Hand.
EDIT: for clarity.
For comparison, this is from 2014 and I was ruling the same way.
Under the 2024 rules, the Magic action is now a common way to activate Magic Items.
I'd interpret it like with a summoned creature
You spend an action to activate the carpet and then give it a flight instruction, which it will follow until you change the instructions with another action or it gets too far away from you.
Those instructions may be "I'm going to ride you, move in the direction i steer you in" or "follow 10 feet behind me at a height of 10 feet".
And then like say... Tiny Servant, the carpet follows those instructions until it completes them.
Similar to the Broom of Flying.
You spend a magic action to either have the broom start flying beneath you so you can ride it, or you use a magic action to send it off somewhere on its own (or call it back).
Use an action to activate it and give it an instruction. Use an action to make it start doing something else.
RAW, because it doesn't say it uses your action on subsequent turns, any ruling that it does is a homebrew ruling.