The Rug of Smothering?

[Moroz]

The Rug of Smothering. Does anyone know how it moves about? Can it climb walls and become a Tapestry of Smothering or hang itself on the ceiling above a door? :confused:

The “Rug” in Rug of Smothering kind of implies it stays on the floor but I am curious what others think. ;)

As players in AD&D we abused this cursed item. It didn't seem so cursed after a while...

[Nylanfs]

It's an animated object in my games, limited to horz surfaces.

[LordEntrails]

What game system/ruleset are you wondering about? This item has been in most/all editions of D&D, probably is in both editions of Pathfinder, as well as numerous OSR and D&D clones.

Myself, in 5E I believe it has a movement speed. So it would be able to move around and even climb walls (at half speed). Seems like fun to me if a RoS might act like a cloaker in some instances. Just like when a mimic takes the shape of a door, or fountain, or statue.

[Moroz]

I am using 5E and figured going by the rules it would be allowed to climb walls at half speed.
The idea of the Rug dropping on players (they never look up), used as a quilt on a bed, or surprising them when they look behind a tapestry is too good to pass up. But I see the players stabbing every tapestry in the future before looking behind it. Very Hamlet or Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead.

I have a square four-story Roman style house with an open courtyard in the middle of a city. The courtyard is filled with a foot or two of trash and debris and all the entrances from the yard to the main building have been sealed. I was looking for a monster/NPC that exists that could not climb to the second floor balcony or burrow away that was not a plant or entirely new. The Rug was the strength needed. I was just going to make it Medium size and lower a few stats etc. I know as DM you can make a creature as needed but I enjoy using the NPCs in the books just with a slight twist.

[Moroz]

The Rug is out. Looking at the image they have for the Rug of Smothering there is some logic to allowing it to climb all over and up walls. Tassels or a small amount of fringe on the edges could work like the legs of a millipede. Whelp back to the drawing board.

[Zacchaeus]

There’s no reason why you can’t have a tapestry, or bedsheet of smothering. Just because the monster manual only mentions a rug doesn’t prevent you from creating your own take on the monster.

[Moroz]

There’s no reason why you can’t have a tapestry or bedsheet of smothering. Just because the monster manual only mentions a rug doesn’t prevent you from creating your own take on the monster.
I do agree. I needed to brainstorm and these posts helped me get new ideas. I just didn't solve what to put in the courtyard.

I was trying to make the Rug fit my scenario but the more I looked into it the more fun it would be to have it move up walls etc. A tapestry would be a surprise. I got to thinking of what we do with rugs, tapestries, and sheets and an idea came to me. Binding one up with cords and deliver it to the player's home. It will need a lot of cord because the Rug has a 17 STR. Using something in an unconventional way is more of a surprise than me just making something new.

I wasn't too clear on what I had in mind. The creature in the courtyard doesn't want to be there. Think of it as a cage with no roof, with walls about 12ft tall. I was looking for a simple solution that could not fly, climb, or burrow away that was not a plant. Sure I could make something up but finding a solution that already exists with a little modding is the way I like to do things.

[Ulric]

There’s no reason why you can’t have a tapestry, or bedsheet of smothering. Just because the monster manual only mentions a rug doesn’t prevent you from creating your own take on the monster.
You are my kind of gamer!

[Moroz]

While doing work on the adventure with the courtyard I had a YouTube nature documentary going. It came to a part about carnivorous sundew. I firmly believe everyone likes nature videos and the cinematography is excellent so I figured I would link it. After that, I went looking for but didn't see Giant Sundew as an official NPC for D&D5E is that correct? I only own the Monster Manual.

The video is timestamped to open where needed and the part about sundews ends at 4:12.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6isd5xy4Z2M&t=161s&ab_channel=FreeHigh-QualityDocumentaries

[LordEntrails]

After that, I went looking for but didn't see Giant Sundew as an official NPC for D&D5E is that correct? I only own the Monster Manual.
Not 'official', but I believe Legendary Adventure has a 5E version in their Latin American Monsters book.

[Moroz]

I went looking to see what I could find on the Giant Sundew. Where I thought I saw it turns out to be the cover of Expedition to the Barrier Peaks, which is not a Sundew. I did find it in the Monstrous Manual 2nd Ed and another online.
The sundew in the Monster Manual has some good ideas. It just needs some updating. Oddly both entries give it a movement speed, slow but it can move. Figured I would share the info.

Monstrous Manual 2nd Ed:
The sundew detects moving creatures by vibrations. When anything moves within 5 feet of it, it lashes out with its tendrils. Its body is covered with hundreds of tendrils, and a maximum of six can attack each creature in range, each round. The tendrils exude sticky globs of sap. For every three tendrils that attach to a victim, the victim suffers a — 1 penalty to attack rolls. The sap contains a mild enzyme that inflicts 1 point of damage per round for each tendril striking the victim, regardless of whether or not the tendril is still attached, A successful open doors roll breaks a tendril; each tendril must be checked separately, up to once per tendril per round. If a sundew's attack roll is an unmodified 20, it has struck the victim's mouth and nose, clogging them with sap; suffocation occurs in ld3 +1 rounds unless the sap is removed. The sap may be dissolved by vinegar or alcohol.

The one found online is here. It seems to be more of a physical attacker than I imagined. The Stupefaction Pollen attack and the adhesive dissolving after it dies seem a bit odd but not beyond reason
https://www.d20pfsrd.com/bestiary/monster-listings/plants/sundew-giant/

What the website GrowSundews.com has written gives one a lot of ideas.
The leaves of sundews are covered with "tentacles". The tip of every tentacle contains a nectar gland, which produces a globule of a sticky digestive enzyme. When an insect lands on the leaf, they get stuck on the dew. As they struggle to get out of the dew, the tentacles/leaf start(s) to wrap around the insect (through a complicated biological process involving several action potentials). The dew eventually suffocates the insect, and it stops moving.

Reading about sundews the older Monster Manual has the right idea. A grappler, suffocating, acid-attacking creature, the more you struggle and don't get away the more you are attacked. The chance to suffocate is too good an idea. One of the few simple deaths that strikes fear into the hearts of players.