How do you all deal with broom of flying? I have a character that just went shopping in waterdeep and brought back a broom of flying saying 'from now on, i'm sitting on my broom, flying 6 inches off the ground".
An Uncommon item that permanently increases a character's speed to 50 flying. No attunement, no more pressure plate traps, no more water hazards, no ability to be tracked on the ground, and various other mechanics i'm not thinking of that it bypasses.
The only thing I can think of is all homebrew - the character needs to hold on with one hand and if it gets hit, it needs to make a dex save to stay on (otherwise falling 6 inches to the ground). The character is a caster so that doesn't bother him. It's other hand is always free for somatic/material components.
broom of flying = lets you fly forever, uncommon - acts as a mount
potion of flying = lets you fly for one hour, very rare and consumable
wings of flying = lets you fly for one hour, rare - requires attunement - uses cloak slot
carpet of flying = lets you fly forever, very rare - acts as a mount
winged boots = lets you fly for 4 hours, uncommon, requires attunement - uses boot slot
Sure, no more pressure plate traps...okay, use wire traps, and hidden wire traps. Sure they may spot one on the ground, so the wizard may fly up over it, only to trip the real trap.
No more water hazards? Use a water weird hiding in a puddle that they're floating under.
Ropers that grab the wizard and pull them off the broom.
Sure the wizard can't be tracked, but I assume they have a party? Track them.
As for the dex save, go for it, but if they fail and get knocked off, make them be prone. They roll sideways away from the hit and land on the ground on their shoulder prone.
It's uh... it's not well balanced. It should at least be considered a rare item. I'd say your best bet is that, honestly... people would try to steal it. It's super valuable and useful, so it would attract any thieves who saw them using it.
I was actually in a similar position as your friend. I was playing as Kenku in Adventure League, and just on roleplay I couldn't justify the character ever getting off the broom unless absolutely necessary. The DMs usually had some restriction on it... the obvious one is requiring keeping one hand on it at all times, but I was playing as a Warlock who never had any need to have both arms free. We never required DEX saves just to stay on, but the risk of falling was always there (I actually bought a climber's kit to stay strapped to it, so even if I fell off I'd still be attached to it). The other thing was that, in inclement weather, trying to fly basically gave disadvantage on everything.
No shields so reduced Armor Class for some flyers. Lots of monsters can force them to fly up higher than that... if not... stomp em. Once they do finally begin to fly higher, then you hit them with targeted attacks that force them to make strength checks to maintain their grip. Somatic components for Spellcasting can be interesting, especially if they have to hold a focus or use spell components with the other hand, then you get to have them make a ... Acrobatics check? Athletics check? Whatever suits your needs. And yes, I did say they need both hands for that as the spell contains both Somatic (the finger waggling bit) and Material components (the focus or spell components). Not all do, but some do, and this is a chance to do that. Unless conditions were bad, I wouldn't even make the DC be higher than 10. Just the fact that they have to make the check to stay balanced.
Now, that doesn't mean you needlessly need to target that one player because they bought a magic item that made them feel cool, you just need to teach them a lesson that they aren't suddenly invulnerable or that it isn't a situationally powerful item. Let them play, but the play comes with some risk from time to time... just like a fast horse does even though you never leave the ground.
Actually, any spell that has both material and somatic components officially can be done with just one hand. Whatever hand motions the character needs to do can be done while holding the material component or a spellcasting focus in that same hand.
Although now that I'm talking about it, there still is some danger in the case of spells that require a specific spell component with a GP cost. Going back to my experience with a broom of flying, some DMs state that utilizing your broom of flying consumes the "Use an item" action. Normally you can stow a spellcasting focus to pull out a required material component as a free action, but I think there could be some interesting challenges if doing so means the player has to choose between casting the spell, moving, or risking losing their balance to try and do both.
Just brainstorming. Not all of these are good, but might give you some ideas
50’ if they and their equipment is under 200lbs. Probably, but worth watching.
I think I would give advantage to attackers if the character tries to fly one handed during combat. No Dex to AC regardless. No spells with both somatic and material component.
Maybe some table rules around maneuverability if they are flying it that often. I don’t think I’d let it go sideways for example.
Saddle (pole) sores.
Maybe if they ride it too long, their legs or bottom goes numb and they have disadvantage on all attacks and physical saves/checks for a period after dismount. Lower movement as well.
If they are moving when they fall off, I wouldn’t just use the altitude. Maybe 1d4 per 10’ of movement prior to falling.
“Nice broom.” Give it to me and I won’t take it from you.
Lots of ways to counter that. Earthbind is one, knocking them off the mount is another, and not to mention someone wanting to steal it. Flashing around shiny magical items in the open is always a bad thing. Having it and using it wisely isn't a bad thing, but the more they flaunt increases their changes of being the target. I wouldn't consider that targeting the player specifically, just the player exposing themselves as a nice target themselves.
I would absolutely make things symmetric if I applied it to the players. Note it’s not against all flying enemies, but rather specifically on something you have to hold on to that isn’t really designed to sit on. Hasn’t really come up in my campaign
Using the wand would still mean you are one handed, though, so you’d be accepting that advantage attack on you to cast spells.
The sideways thing was just an example of a problem with flying. Clearly not specific. I was thinking along the lines that maybe the thing has a turning radius. Maybe not a big deal as I assume you can not move forward. It would be pretty funny if it was kind of like a bicycle where you can’t go below a certain speed without falling off.
I already homebrew that forward motion hurts if you fall. Falling off a horse isn’t without consequences.
How does a character just go shopping and find magic items to buy without your interaction? If you let them have it, it's on you, deal with it realistically without obvious "punishment bias". If they just thought they could buy it, say: "No".
How does a character just go shopping and find magic items to buy without your interaction? If you let them have it, it's on you, deal with it realistically without obvious "punishment bias". If they just thought they could buy it, say: "No".
they're in waterdeep. the idea that you couldn't find pretty much anything of common/uncommon rarity in that city is kinda silly. was just looking to see if i was missing something. imo, its balanced with boots at least - other than the attunement requirement is backward on the 2 items if i were to design them (not that its a big enough deal to do anything about). the time restrictions on the boots are kinda pointless for 99% of scenarios i'll ever have with my group.
How does a character just go shopping and find magic items to buy without your interaction? If you let them have it, it's on you, deal with it realistically without obvious "punishment bias". If they just thought they could buy it, say: "No".
they're in waterdeep. the idea that you couldn't find pretty much anything of common/uncommon rarity in that city is kinda silly. was just looking to see if i was missing something. imo, its balanced with boots at least - other than the attunement requirement is backward on the 2 items if i were to design them (not that its a big enough deal to do anything about). the time restrictions on the boots are kinda pointless for 99% of scenarios i'll ever have with my group.
If that’s your viewpoint on magic items then you should just deal with it...it’s on the DM to control what’s available, even in the big cities
Also your job to control how much things cost. Why not, "oh yeah, it's at the market, but it's way out of your price range"?
That being said, woulda, coulda, shoulda doesn't change the fact the player has it now. Aside from the 50 foot flight, how much does this really affect your game? No more pressure plates? In what universe is the party wizard the person who steps on the pressure plate? No more water hazards? What water hazard? No ability to be tracked on the ground? Unless he's traveling with LITERALLY one other person...
The problems you're listing are only problems if the player exists in a vacuum. If not, the party rogue will still be running point and setting off pressure plates, the party warrior in full plate will still... drown, I guess? And the party Cleric will make plenty of tracks to be tracked.
Free flight is a bit of a pain, tho. But, again, they're the party wizard - they're going to be the first in flight anyway. Deal with it the same way you'd deal with it in any other context: flying makes you a target. And a damn easy one, to boot. There are no bonuses to AC or saves for being in flight, and good luck finding cover in the sky. Anybody with any ranged ability is going to target them first, and anybody with any flight is going to want to pull them down out of the sky.
Really, flight is only situational useful as an escape method, or a means to get to an advantageous position. Barring those uses, mechanically, wizard hiding behind column > wizard on a magic broom any day of the week.
Also goes without saying, if the player went to the trouble of getting a broom of flying. If you punish them by weakening the broom, finding ways to undermine its effectiveness, or punish the player in an unfair way, you erode trust. If you think it's an unfair advantage, be honest with them and ask them to pick another item from a list you approve. If you want to proceed, be careful not to unduly punish the player for choosing the broom. And if you're going to make the broom part of any strategy to hurt the player (making them a target, for instance), then you need to provide appropriate rewards as well (giving them an obstacle made easier to overcome by the ability to fly).
Buying magic items is outlined for Downtime in XGtE, even if a character is looking for something specific. Maybe if the character had gone through this mini quest like process, you would feel it more justified for them to just enjoy their item.
nah the whole point of dragonheist is to find a pile of gold and be able to keep a few bags of it to go play with. don't think its reasonable to run WDDH and then say 'nah, you can't find much of anything in an entire city brimming with magic with more shops and markets than you can count - unless you run in circles for a month.' sure you can follow xge, but it gets you to the same place.
like i said - was looking to see if i was missing something.
How do you all deal with broom of flying? I have a character that just went shopping in waterdeep and brought back a broom of flying saying 'from now on, i'm sitting on my broom, flying 6 inches off the ground".
An Uncommon item that permanently increases a character's speed to 50 flying. No attunement, no more pressure plate traps, no more water hazards, no ability to be tracked on the ground, and various other mechanics i'm not thinking of that it bypasses.
The only thing I can think of is all homebrew - the character needs to hold on with one hand and if it gets hit, it needs to make a dex save to stay on (otherwise falling 6 inches to the ground). The character is a caster so that doesn't bother him. It's other hand is always free for somatic/material components.
broom of flying = lets you fly forever, uncommon - acts as a mount
potion of flying = lets you fly for one hour, very rare and consumable
wings of flying = lets you fly for one hour, rare - requires attunement - uses cloak slot
carpet of flying = lets you fly forever, very rare - acts as a mount
winged boots = lets you fly for 4 hours, uncommon, requires attunement - uses boot slot
Guide to the Five Factions (PWYW)
Deck of Decks
Sure, no more pressure plate traps...okay, use wire traps, and hidden wire traps. Sure they may spot one on the ground, so the wizard may fly up over it, only to trip the real trap.
No more water hazards? Use a water weird hiding in a puddle that they're floating under.
Ropers that grab the wizard and pull them off the broom.
Sure the wizard can't be tracked, but I assume they have a party? Track them.
As for the dex save, go for it, but if they fail and get knocked off, make them be prone. They roll sideways away from the hit and land on the ground on their shoulder prone.
It's uh... it's not well balanced. It should at least be considered a rare item. I'd say your best bet is that, honestly... people would try to steal it. It's super valuable and useful, so it would attract any thieves who saw them using it.
I was actually in a similar position as your friend. I was playing as Kenku in Adventure League, and just on roleplay I couldn't justify the character ever getting off the broom unless absolutely necessary. The DMs usually had some restriction on it... the obvious one is requiring keeping one hand on it at all times, but I was playing as a Warlock who never had any need to have both arms free. We never required DEX saves just to stay on, but the risk of falling was always there (I actually bought a climber's kit to stay strapped to it, so even if I fell off I'd still be attached to it). The other thing was that, in inclement weather, trying to fly basically gave disadvantage on everything.
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Pretty clearly should be Rare (it's slower than a 3x5 carpet and takes a hand, but that's not enough worse to be two stages lower rarity).
No shields so reduced Armor Class for some flyers. Lots of monsters can force them to fly up higher than that... if not... stomp em. Once they do finally begin to fly higher, then you hit them with targeted attacks that force them to make strength checks to maintain their grip. Somatic components for Spellcasting can be interesting, especially if they have to hold a focus or use spell components with the other hand, then you get to have them make a ... Acrobatics check? Athletics check? Whatever suits your needs. And yes, I did say they need both hands for that as the spell contains both Somatic (the finger waggling bit) and Material components (the focus or spell components). Not all do, but some do, and this is a chance to do that. Unless conditions were bad, I wouldn't even make the DC be higher than 10. Just the fact that they have to make the check to stay balanced.
Now, that doesn't mean you needlessly need to target that one player because they bought a magic item that made them feel cool, you just need to teach them a lesson that they aren't suddenly invulnerable or that it isn't a situationally powerful item. Let them play, but the play comes with some risk from time to time... just like a fast horse does even though you never leave the ground.
Actually, any spell that has both material and somatic components officially can be done with just one hand. Whatever hand motions the character needs to do can be done while holding the material component or a spellcasting focus in that same hand.
Although now that I'm talking about it, there still is some danger in the case of spells that require a specific spell component with a GP cost. Going back to my experience with a broom of flying, some DMs state that utilizing your broom of flying consumes the "Use an item" action. Normally you can stow a spellcasting focus to pull out a required material component as a free action, but I think there could be some interesting challenges if doing so means the player has to choose between casting the spell, moving, or risking losing their balance to try and do both.
Watch Crits for Breakfast, an adults-only RP-Heavy Roll20 Livestream at twitch.tv/afterdisbooty
And now you too can play with the amazing art and assets we use in Roll20 for our campaign at Hazel's Emporium
Just brainstorming. Not all of these are good, but might give you some ideas
50’ if they and their equipment is under 200lbs. Probably, but worth watching.
I think I would give advantage to attackers if the character tries to fly one handed during combat. No Dex to AC regardless. No spells with both somatic and material component.
Maybe some table rules around maneuverability if they are flying it that often. I don’t think I’d let it go sideways for example.
Saddle (pole) sores.
Maybe if they ride it too long, their legs or bottom goes numb and they have disadvantage on all attacks and physical saves/checks for a period after dismount. Lower movement as well.
If they are moving when they fall off, I wouldn’t just use the altitude. Maybe 1d4 per 10’ of movement prior to falling.
“Nice broom.” Give it to me and I won’t take it from you.
“Kill the witch”
So, for the first. Unless you're then giving the players advantage against flying enemies in combat, you're seen as targeting the player.
For spells, most use a focus (wand) which can take the place of material/somatic.
The player just flavors it as they turn, so it's not going sideways, problem solved.
Pole sores could work, same with legs/bottom numb.
Falling damage only goes off altitude...yes you can home brew it, but you'd also have to do the same if a monster moves and falls as well.
Lots of ways to counter that. Earthbind is one, knocking them off the mount is another, and not to mention someone wanting to steal it. Flashing around shiny magical items in the open is always a bad thing. Having it and using it wisely isn't a bad thing, but the more they flaunt increases their changes of being the target. I wouldn't consider that targeting the player specifically, just the player exposing themselves as a nice target themselves.
I would absolutely make things symmetric if I applied it to the players. Note it’s not against all flying enemies, but rather specifically on something you have to hold on to that isn’t really designed to sit on. Hasn’t really come up in my campaign
Using the wand would still mean you are one handed, though, so you’d be accepting that advantage attack on you to cast spells.
The sideways thing was just an example of a problem with flying. Clearly not specific. I was thinking along the lines that maybe the thing has a turning radius. Maybe not a big deal as I assume you can not move forward. It would be pretty funny if it was kind of like a bicycle where you can’t go below a certain speed without falling off.
I already homebrew that forward motion hurts if you fall. Falling off a horse isn’t without consequences.
How does a character just go shopping and find magic items to buy without your interaction? If you let them have it, it's on you, deal with it realistically without obvious "punishment bias". If they just thought they could buy it, say: "No".
they're in waterdeep. the idea that you couldn't find pretty much anything of common/uncommon rarity in that city is kinda silly. was just looking to see if i was missing something. imo, its balanced with boots at least - other than the attunement requirement is backward on the 2 items if i were to design them (not that its a big enough deal to do anything about). the time restrictions on the boots are kinda pointless for 99% of scenarios i'll ever have with my group.
Guide to the Five Factions (PWYW)
Deck of Decks
If that’s your viewpoint on magic items then you should just deal with it...it’s on the DM to control what’s available, even in the big cities
Also your job to control how much things cost. Why not, "oh yeah, it's at the market, but it's way out of your price range"?
That being said, woulda, coulda, shoulda doesn't change the fact the player has it now. Aside from the 50 foot flight, how much does this really affect your game? No more pressure plates? In what universe is the party wizard the person who steps on the pressure plate? No more water hazards? What water hazard? No ability to be tracked on the ground? Unless he's traveling with LITERALLY one other person...
The problems you're listing are only problems if the player exists in a vacuum. If not, the party rogue will still be running point and setting off pressure plates, the party warrior in full plate will still... drown, I guess? And the party Cleric will make plenty of tracks to be tracked.
Free flight is a bit of a pain, tho. But, again, they're the party wizard - they're going to be the first in flight anyway. Deal with it the same way you'd deal with it in any other context: flying makes you a target. And a damn easy one, to boot. There are no bonuses to AC or saves for being in flight, and good luck finding cover in the sky. Anybody with any ranged ability is going to target them first, and anybody with any flight is going to want to pull them down out of the sky.
Really, flight is only situational useful as an escape method, or a means to get to an advantageous position. Barring those uses, mechanically, wizard hiding behind column > wizard on a magic broom any day of the week.
Also goes without saying, if the player went to the trouble of getting a broom of flying. If you punish them by weakening the broom, finding ways to undermine its effectiveness, or punish the player in an unfair way, you erode trust. If you think it's an unfair advantage, be honest with them and ask them to pick another item from a list you approve. If you want to proceed, be careful not to unduly punish the player for choosing the broom. And if you're going to make the broom part of any strategy to hurt the player (making them a target, for instance), then you need to provide appropriate rewards as well (giving them an obstacle made easier to overcome by the ability to fly).
Buying magic items is outlined for Downtime in XGtE, even if a character is looking for something specific. Maybe if the character had gone through this mini quest like process, you would feel it more justified for them to just enjoy their item.
nah the whole point of dragonheist is to find a pile of gold and be able to keep a few bags of it to go play with. don't think its reasonable to run WDDH and then say 'nah, you can't find much of anything in an entire city brimming with magic with more shops and markets than you can count - unless you run in circles for a month.' sure you can follow xge, but it gets you to the same place.
like i said - was looking to see if i was missing something.
Guide to the Five Factions (PWYW)
Deck of Decks
Then you've solved your own dilemma by your own rationale. If finding said item is of nearly no consequence neither should be, having said item.
It's no big deal. Aarakocra can do the same thing and it's a racial.
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