Hey, first post, looking for some advice. I'm rolling a back-up character just in case (also for fun) and I decided on an Aarakocra Ranger. The Swarmkeeper Archetype looks interesting, but some of the abilities seem a little inflexible. The "Writhing Tide" in particular could be be really useful depending on how striclty it's interpreted. The text is as follows;
Writhing Tide
Beginning at 7th level, you can condense part of your swarm into a focused mass that lifts you up. As a bonus action, you gain a flying speed of 10 feet and can hover. This effect lasts for 1 minute or until you are incapacitated.
You can use this feature a number of times equal to your proficiency bonus, and you regain all expended uses when you finish a long rest.
An Aarakocra can fly naturally, so granting themselves a 10 foot flying speed is purposeless (but would be funny).
If this ability could be used on another player character or a friendly NPC, that's a whole different story.
I'm looking for suggestions on how to apply this to play. Should suspending another character require concentration checks? Or maybe burns through two or three uses at once? If anyone has ideas on how to make this feature more interesting in play, while keeping it balanced, I'd like to hear them.
If you've had similar experiences with GMs bending the rules when certain races and class archetypes interact in strange ways, I'd love to hear those too.
It lets you hover. That’s huge. It means if you get knocked prone, you don’t fall to your death, instead staying nicely in the air. It’s a good enough ability, even if you have innate flight, so you don’t really need to give the Swarmkeeper extra buffs to make it useful.
That's a good point, I've never played a flying character before, but I have heard a lot about this "falling damage". It's like a magical parachute. Made out of countless animals. Like you do.
If that ten feet of movement stacked with the natural fifty that would be amazing, but maybe that's a bridge too far.
With my DM Hat on, I would allow an aarakocra Swarmkeeper to burn a use of their Writhing Tide to aid them in carrying someone else. Mostly because with the same hat on, I would not allow most aarakocra to pick a target that weighs twice what they do up and fly off with it, especially if both that target and the aarakocra are carrying three hundred pounds of adventuring gear.
Writhing Tide would not boost your flight speed or allow you to let someone else fly independently. I would, however, allow it to essentially be a very healthy carry weight boost to the aarakocra in question, which would be a considerable benefit for overall party mobility. Provided the party makes proper use of it.
That is an angle I had not considered. My aarakocra definitely isn't strong enough to transport most other player characters, or most NPCs. A Writhing Tide boosted carrying capacity would be an incredible tool, especially out of combat.
I appreciate your input, thank you.
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Hey, first post, looking for some advice. I'm rolling a back-up character just in case (also for fun) and I decided on an Aarakocra Ranger. The Swarmkeeper Archetype looks interesting, but some of the abilities seem a little inflexible. The "Writhing Tide" in particular could be be really useful depending on how striclty it's interpreted. The text is as follows;
An Aarakocra can fly naturally, so granting themselves a 10 foot flying speed is purposeless (but would be funny).
If this ability could be used on another player character or a friendly NPC, that's a whole different story.
I'm looking for suggestions on how to apply this to play. Should suspending another character require concentration checks? Or maybe burns through two or three uses at once? If anyone has ideas on how to make this feature more interesting in play, while keeping it balanced, I'd like to hear them.
If you've had similar experiences with GMs bending the rules when certain races and class archetypes interact in strange ways, I'd love to hear those too.
Thanks.
It lets you hover. That’s huge. It means if you get knocked prone, you don’t fall to your death, instead staying nicely in the air. It’s a good enough ability, even if you have innate flight, so you don’t really need to give the Swarmkeeper extra buffs to make it useful.
That's a good point, I've never played a flying character before, but I have heard a lot about this "falling damage". It's like a magical parachute. Made out of countless animals. Like you do.
If that ten feet of movement stacked with the natural fifty that would be amazing, but maybe that's a bridge too far.
With my DM Hat on, I would allow an aarakocra Swarmkeeper to burn a use of their Writhing Tide to aid them in carrying someone else. Mostly because with the same hat on, I would not allow most aarakocra to pick a target that weighs twice what they do up and fly off with it, especially if both that target and the aarakocra are carrying three hundred pounds of adventuring gear.
Writhing Tide would not boost your flight speed or allow you to let someone else fly independently. I would, however, allow it to essentially be a very healthy carry weight boost to the aarakocra in question, which would be a considerable benefit for overall party mobility. Provided the party makes proper use of it.
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That is an angle I had not considered. My aarakocra definitely isn't strong enough to transport most other player characters, or most NPCs. A Writhing Tide boosted carrying capacity would be an incredible tool, especially out of combat.
I appreciate your input, thank you.