Help: 4e Dungeon Delve item with no definition!

[Dakaran]

Hey all,

So I used the Level 1 4e Dungeon Delve set of encounters to kick off a campaign and in the 3rd encounter there's an enchanted bearskin that works kind of like a small Battle Standard (Adventurer's Vault 1 page 951). The problem is that the Delve book only mentions the bonus for standing on the bearskin, but that's it. And of course my players rolled up the bearskin and took it with them at the end of the encounter in that room. Now they want to know what kind of action it will take, a Standard or a Minor, to roll out the bearskin amid combat and I'm left hanging without an official definition of the item. So I'm setting out to define the item. What I really need some help with is determining if the item should require a Standard or Minor action to "use", but I'll take any help refining the item. Any help would be greatly appreciated! I started a thread here (Enchanted Bearskin Help (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=231293)) in the Homebrew forum, but I wanted to put a note here as I think anyone that wants to use the Level 1 4th Edition Dungeon Delvebook encounters could benefit from this.

Thanks!
Dakaran

[INDYSTAR188]

Have you considered it taking the same actions to use as the Battle Standard? I'm not positive but I think it's a standard action to place and that makes sense if you think about it, it's not easy to unfurl a big stinkin bear skin in 3 seconds.

[Dakaran]

Have you considered it taking the same actions to use as the Battle Standard? I'm not positive but I think it's a standard action to place and that makes sense if you think about it, it's not easy to unfurl a big stinkin bear skin in 3 seconds.

I have considered it. My hesitance to do so is that a Battle Standard has a range of burst 5 at minimum while the bearskin is a 2x2 rug. It's 4 squares vs 25 squares. Does the benefit match that of a Standard Action? Would anyone spend a turn during combat to put up a 2x2 zone of defense?

[Kurald Galain]

Does the benefit match that of a Standard Action?
No, it doesn't. Note that most battle standards also aren't worth a standard action to put them up.

It's fine as a minor, particularly if you assume that characters need at least one free hand to unroll it. You could either wield a shield or parrying dagger, which gives a small consistent bonus, or you could hold and drop the carpet, which gives a slightly bigger bonus, costs an action, and leaves you vulnerable to forced movement. That's a decent tradeoff.