I am in a campaign where all of our characters are in a magical middle school. That being said, I decided on a halfling monk, since I usually play tall, elegant, spellcasters. During one of the classes however, my character was given the opportunity to bond with a pseudodragon. Being that my character would only be about 2 feet tall and 40 lbs, would it be unreasonable to say that he could be carried by the pseudodragon to grant him a decent fly speed? With a strength of 6, even as a small sized character, it's carrying capacity should be able to withstand that. Of course, it could get to be a pain, but is there any reason this shouldn't work?
There are a couple issues. First of course is that you have to make sure you are super nice to the pseudodragon or he will leave you since he isn't a familiar. They are mercurial and may leave you after a while anyway, and arguably should, since otherwise you are stepping on the toes of warlocks that require a class feature to get a pseudodragon familiar. So if you want to keep him, I'd take at least 3 levels of warlock.
Beyond that is the issue of anatomy. It is smaller than you so there's no way you could sit on it's back without interfering with wing movement. It doesn't have opposable thumbs so would have difficulty carrying you that way.
The last issue is strength. With a strength of 6 and size tiny it has a carrying capacity of 45 pounds. The lightest a halfling can be is 37, which leaves 8 pounds of stuff. As a monk you don't need much gear, but a waterskin and 1 day of rations is 7 of your 8 pounds. 50 feet of rope is 10 by itself. A bag of holding is 15. A handy haversack is only 5, so it could work if you can find one and get past other issues.
I once considered a halfling warlock using it's familiar to fly and concluded it only works with an Imp (same strength, opposable thumbs) and only with the handy haversack.
This is likely up to the DM. Let me share a few thoughts that I believe may help, though:
1. The pseudodragon is a tiny creature. That means he's about the size of a basketball or beach ball, and his carrying capacity is halved.
2. It has a strength of 6, giving it a carrying weight of 45 pounds.
3. Halflings are usually around 3 feet tall (you're short even for a halfling!) but do usually weigh 40-45 pounds.
All things considered, and assuming no optional encumbrance rules, it's possible if severely unwieldy. I'd certainly allow it for a critical moment (to escape something bad, to reach something unreachable, etc).
Would I allow it as a common mode of transportation? Depends on your relationship to the pseudodragon. You'd be asking him the equivalent of an average human walking around while carrying (on his hands, assuming no harness to the dragonling) around 150 pounds. So, while a mindless servant would do it, and a slave would just swallow his complaints, anything else would likely tell you off sooner or later. :p
Edit: Ninja'd by an unruly cow. Who'd believe it? Also, apparently I take more than 15 minutes to check my references before posting. >.<
My problem would be that the physics don't make sense.
A pseudodragon is about the size of a housecat, probably about 10-15 pounds. Its wings probably allow it to carry an additional 10 pounds or so (for moving killed prey). A 40-pound creature, while *technically* within its encumbrance, would be too much weight. The poor pseudodragon would barely be able to move carrying that much, much less fly.
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I am in a campaign where all of our characters are in a magical middle school. That being said, I decided on a halfling monk, since I usually play tall, elegant, spellcasters. During one of the classes however, my character was given the opportunity to bond with a pseudodragon. Being that my character would only be about 2 feet tall and 40 lbs, would it be unreasonable to say that he could be carried by the pseudodragon to grant him a decent fly speed? With a strength of 6, even as a small sized character, it's carrying capacity should be able to withstand that. Of course, it could get to be a pain, but is there any reason this shouldn't work?
There are a couple issues. First of course is that you have to make sure you are super nice to the pseudodragon or he will leave you since he isn't a familiar. They are mercurial and may leave you after a while anyway, and arguably should, since otherwise you are stepping on the toes of warlocks that require a class feature to get a pseudodragon familiar. So if you want to keep him, I'd take at least 3 levels of warlock.
Beyond that is the issue of anatomy. It is smaller than you so there's no way you could sit on it's back without interfering with wing movement. It doesn't have opposable thumbs so would have difficulty carrying you that way.
The last issue is strength. With a strength of 6 and size tiny it has a carrying capacity of 45 pounds. The lightest a halfling can be is 37, which leaves 8 pounds of stuff. As a monk you don't need much gear, but a waterskin and 1 day of rations is 7 of your 8 pounds. 50 feet of rope is 10 by itself. A bag of holding is 15. A handy haversack is only 5, so it could work if you can find one and get past other issues.
I once considered a halfling warlock using it's familiar to fly and concluded it only works with an Imp (same strength, opposable thumbs) and only with the handy haversack.
This is likely up to the DM. Let me share a few thoughts that I believe may help, though:
1. The pseudodragon is a tiny creature. That means he's about the size of a basketball or beach ball, and his carrying capacity is halved.
2. It has a strength of 6, giving it a carrying weight of 45 pounds.
3. Halflings are usually around 3 feet tall (you're short even for a halfling!) but do usually weigh 40-45 pounds.
All things considered, and assuming no optional encumbrance rules, it's possible if severely unwieldy. I'd certainly allow it for a critical moment (to escape something bad, to reach something unreachable, etc).
Would I allow it as a common mode of transportation? Depends on your relationship to the pseudodragon. You'd be asking him the equivalent of an average human walking around while carrying (on his hands, assuming no harness to the dragonling) around 150 pounds. So, while a mindless servant would do it, and a slave would just swallow his complaints, anything else would likely tell you off sooner or later. :p
Edit: Ninja'd by an unruly cow. Who'd believe it? Also, apparently I take more than 15 minutes to check my references before posting. >.<
My problem would be that the physics don't make sense.
A pseudodragon is about the size of a housecat, probably about 10-15 pounds. Its wings probably allow it to carry an additional 10 pounds or so (for moving killed prey). A 40-pound creature, while *technically* within its encumbrance, would be too much weight. The poor pseudodragon would barely be able to move carrying that much, much less fly.