D&D 5E (2014) Flying carpet. How durable do you rule it is, how easy do you rule it is to be knocked off it?

[miniaturehoarder]

Flying carpet. How durable do you rule it is?

How easy do you rule it is to be knocked off it?

 

[Lanefan]

Durable? Depends what's hitting it. Against any sort of bludgeoning it's great. Against slashing it's poor. Against piercing...well, probably also poor; though easier to repair than slashing. Against fire or acid, vulnerable. Against cold or sonic, no real problem. Standard against lightning. And so on.

Being knocked off it? Again, depends on circumstance - what's doing the knocking, and whether the riders are sitting, standing, prone, etc.; also how fast the carpet's moving and-or at what angle.

What I do rule is that if you try to fly one in conditions of high or gusty winds you're asking for trouble as the wind can easily catch and tip it, or even flip it.

Lan-"when a party I was DMing once tried to use a magic carpet in a full gale at sea it didn't end well...but it did end quickly"-efan

 

[CaptainGemini]

It depends.

Bludgeoning- Good. It's really, really hard to defeat a lot of cloth items with a hammer.
Slashing- Poor
Piercing- Average. While it doesn't have any real protection against piercing, it also doesn't have the material that most living beings have for an arrow to get lodged in.
Fire- Vulnerable
Acid- Poor
Cold- Poor (most carpets don't stand up well to being frozen, in my experience)
Sonic- Good
Lightning- Average

Getting knocked off? Easier than on the ground, but not pretty much a guarantee like something as thin as a broom would be. And you can hold onto a carpet to keep yourself on it a lot easier.

 

[Zaruthustran]

Durable: The short answer is, "as durable as it needs to be" to fit your intended level of drama/threat.

Knock off: I'd say fairly hard to knock off--I figure since the carpet is designed for travel, the magic of the carpet would help keep users aboard.

• No check to stay on the carpet during normal maneuvers.
• Dex save with Advantage to stay on carpet during extraordinary maneuvers (high speed chase, dodging obstacles).
• Dex save to stay on carpet during each round of combat. Made with Advantage if sitting, such as if using a lance, shooting a crossbow, or casting a spell).

 

[epithet]

Magic items are all really durable in 5e. If someone were to try to destroy a magic carpet, I suppose I would rule that the item would be immune to non-magical damage, and have a high damage threshold even then.

Why would anyone want to destroy a magic carpet, though?

As for being knocked off, it depends on whether the passenger is standing, kneeling, or prone. It would require a grapple to remove a prone person from the carpet against his will, the other two I would adjudicate as a shove attack. The kneeling one would get advantage on his ability check to resist the shove. If a person is shoved off of the carpet, I would possibly let them make a dex save to grab the edge of it before falling, depending on the circumstances.

 

[Uchawi]

I would look at the spell animate object for durability, or look at the animated objects/monsters in the MM. The materials should determine any type of special resistance depending on the source of the thread, like silk, wool, exotic creature, or material like glass (heat resistant). For knocking off I would treat it like an equivalent space in the prime material, based on the size of the carpet, in reference to falling off an edge.

 

[Scorpio616]

Why would anyone want to destroy a magic carpet, though?

Your enemy is ON it and you are not in melee reach.

 

[epithet]

Well, your enemy is probably a lot more fragile than the magic carpet is. You're probably better off targeting Aladdin directly.

 

[CaptainGemini]

Why would anyone want to destroy a magic carpet, though?

The sadistic joy of watching my opponent fall to their doom.

 

[Koranak]

Page 141 of the DMG suggests that all magic items are "at least as durable" as a non magic item of the same type, plus have resistance to all damage.