Monstrous Compendium Vol. 1: Spelljammer Creatures
Frozen Sick
D&D Beyond Basic Rules
Basic Rules (2014)
Sign in to view your library & saved favorites.
Sign in- Marketplace
Monstrous Compendium Vol. 1: Spelljammer CreaturesFrozen SickD&D Beyond Basic RulesBasic Rules (2014)Sign in to view your library & saved favorites.
Sign in
Hi there!
So in a recent campaign I'm allowing flying races, and one of my players is gonna play a winged Tiefling. I don't think there will be any problems with that throughout the campaign, but could you give me some advices to counter the advantage that flying characters may have? Just in case things go south. 😂
Thanks in advance.
You need a clear ruling up front about whether they can carry other characters.
Most of your encounters should include some kind of ranged capability, even if it's just throwing spears. Doesn't mean every enemy should have them, but some of them should. (Having a ranged component is good for making encounters more interesting anyway.)
There's a bunch of obstacles that become trivial, or at least easier, if there's a flying PC. You're going to forget sometimes.
Ranged weapons work quite well.
Ranged weapons, as the others said. There’s typically no cover when you’re up in the sky. You’re just a really nice, easy target.
Besides that there’s a ceiling, flying doesn’t help much inside. Or something like a tree canopy. If the flyer is up above it, they can’t see the enemies, and I usually treat flying through the branches as difficult terrain. (This can also work for things like a cave opening, or the awning of a roof. If it stops a person from getting rained on, it will stop many of the advantages of flying.) The Earthbind spell is an option, but I wouldn’t do that much. It’s the kind of thing you throw out there once early on, just to let the player know it’s a possibility. It can make them think twice before they start flying around.
The other piece of advice I’d have when flying is, think of the character occupying a 5’ cube rather than a 5’ square. Even if they are more than 5’ tall. It can matter for who they are able to reach, and who reaches them in melee. And be warned that the game can really get stressed when you add that third dimension, be it flying or at different depths while swimming. Suddenly things like how high up they cast the fireball really matter. I usually (house rule) start thinking of things like fireball as a cube rather than a sphere; it just makes it way easier than trying to calculate if someone is in it or not around the edges.
The Prone condition is your friend. Some monsters, like Earth Elemental will knock a player prone when they hit them with their ranged attack.
You can also use your own flying monsters, or monsters with long range. Mage-like monsters (Mage Apprentice, Mage, Archmage) have an attack called Arcane Burst that has 120ft of reach and deals an atrociously high amount of damage for their CR.
Spells like Hold Person, or Earthbind will force a player to the ground if they fail the save. Flesh to Stone will make a player fall to the ground no matter what, even if they succeed the save (but it's kinda dickish to cast that spell on a player)... You have a lot of options :)
Thank you very much for your answers, guys! They helped me a lot! ❤️❤️
Flying monsters
Your player will have no backup except for the ranged attacks from the ground, and if a flying monster drags them up higher and higher, it becomes a 1v1.
He doesn't have much besides the skin on his bones. Me: I'll take the skin on his bones, then.
"You see a gigantic, monstrous praying mantis burst from out of the ground. It sprays a stream of acid from it's mouth at one soldier, dissolving him instantly, then it turns and chomps another soldier in half with it's- "
"When are we gonna take a snack break?"
Ban flying tiefling it is too op.
Hi!!!! Wanna make a pact with him? Pm me if you want to! IL tell you the take offs!
I'm also an Anime and Fortnite fun.(and homebrewing student-master)
Ext Sign
The Club
Pm me the word avocado.
Hahaha I can't. I allowed it, so now I must face the consequences.