To help balance flight and make it more accessible to lower level campaigns. Most of these rules only apply to creatures who fly via winged movement.
While flying you count as one size larger in terms of spacing and target area for enemies, you must have enough space to move as if you were one size larger or flight is impossible except on a dive. As a result you need reach weapons to melee in the air as your reach does not increase except on a dive, which you can only do if you both move, attack, and move again as part of the same action (which might provoke an attack of opportunity), or land at the end of your attack. Any ranged attacks made while moving in flight are made at disadvantage.
During the downswing of a dive attack you reacquire your normal spacing but regain your increased spacing on the upswing. Also, while hovering, meaning any turn in which you maintain flight without moving, all ranged shooters gain advantage on attacks against you, which might cancel out any disadvantage they have for range or any rough version of aerial cover you might attempt to use. Though you no longer suffer disadvantage for ranged attacks.
Also, if one does not have a natural hover ability, hovering can only be maintained for one round and requires a successful acrobatic check (DM can set difficulties), after which point the person begins to fall and must make an acrobatics check to stop their fall and begin moving again after falling 15 feet - 5 per for every 5 by which they beat the check modifier. Optionally such a character may instead try to slow their descent with the same check, acting as if under the effects of feather fall. Such a character may choose to begin their flight again at any time before they land.
I think this should include fall speed information. Like how far the player falls when forced into a freefall, or how much they're descent is slowed in situations where they don't have enough room to maintain sustained flight, but still technically have enough room to keep their wings unfurled.
I like most of it. It makes sense to consider wingspan of most winged creatures while they are trying to maneuver or gain altitude. I would amend it to apply to creatures of Small or larger so that pixies, ravens, etc. would not need to take up the space of a Small creature, which is the same space taken up by a Medium creature while on the wing.
The speed for a diving creature should be significantly faster than one which is not. Folding wings to the body decreases air resistance and letting gravity do most of the work both contribute to speed without expending much energy. Maybe increase normal flight speed by 2x while in the act of diving.
Re: disadvantage to ranged attack rolls while moving in flight... You could certainly justify that. However, that also means that ranged attack rolls from horseback on a moving horse should probably also be at disadvantage.
I agree with Transmorpher that we should incorporate details re: fall rate.
While discussing falling damage for cats on another thread, it got me thinking that fall damage is pretty unrealistic as well. Since we're discussing flying, I'll add those notes to another text box.
Yeah, but flapping or wings spread out get in the way of shooting or holding a ranged weapon, or pulling your arm back to throw something than riding on a horse does. Technically following this logic, could make range weapon attacks cause disadvantage while flying at any time.
So following your logic, Ardenwolf, if a Giant Owl carries a Halfling Rogue with a crossbow, the Halfling Rogue can roll for attack without disadvantage since the Halfling's own wings are not flapping?
The halfling is on the owls back, there are no wings in their way. They can comfortably put their arms into any position without hitting anything or anything getting in the way. They only need to contend with the movement of the owl, not obstruction.
You know, if people didn't whine and ***** about how broken flight was, I probably wouldn't care. I've never had an issue with PCs having flight. Then again, I pretty much never run modules, so, yeah...
If the disadvantage to attack rolls results only from the winged creature trying to attack while moving, then I'm okay with it.
I would guess that part of the reason why more people don't produce aerial-heavy campaigns is because the rules in 5e don't make it interesting. Or maybe AL limitations generally exclude flying races as PCs.
To help balance flight and make it more accessible to lower level campaigns. Most of these rules only apply to creatures who fly via winged movement.
While flying you count as one size larger in terms of spacing and target area for enemies, you must have enough space to move as if you were one size larger or flight is impossible except on a dive. As a result you need reach weapons to melee in the air as your reach does not increase except on a dive, which you can only do if you both move, attack, and move again as part of the same action (which might provoke an attack of opportunity), or land at the end of your attack. Any ranged attacks made while moving in flight are made at disadvantage.
During the downswing of a dive attack you reacquire your normal spacing but regain your increased spacing on the upswing. Also, while hovering, meaning any turn in which you maintain flight without moving, all ranged shooters gain advantage on attacks against you, which might cancel out any disadvantage they have for range or any rough version of aerial cover you might attempt to use. Though you no longer suffer disadvantage for ranged attacks.
Also, if one does not have a natural hover ability, hovering can only be maintained for one round and requires a successful acrobatic check (DM can set difficulties), after which point the person begins to fall and must make an acrobatics check to stop their fall and begin moving again after falling 15 feet - 5 per for every 5 by which they beat the check modifier. Optionally such a character may instead try to slow their descent with the same check, acting as if under the effects of feather fall. Such a character may choose to begin their flight again at any time before they land.
I think this should include fall speed information. Like how far the player falls when forced into a freefall, or how much they're descent is slowed in situations where they don't have enough room to maintain sustained flight, but still technically have enough room to keep their wings unfurled.
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How's that as an idea?
Awesomesauce, Aardenwolf. I will review these this weekend and post my ideas for underwater adventuring.
I like most of it. It makes sense to consider wingspan of most winged creatures while they are trying to maneuver or gain altitude. I would amend it to apply to creatures of Small or larger so that pixies, ravens, etc. would not need to take up the space of a Small creature, which is the same space taken up by a Medium creature while on the wing.
The speed for a diving creature should be significantly faster than one which is not. Folding wings to the body decreases air resistance and letting gravity do most of the work both contribute to speed without expending much energy. Maybe increase normal flight speed by 2x while in the act of diving.
Re: disadvantage to ranged attack rolls while moving in flight... You could certainly justify that. However, that also means that ranged attack rolls from horseback on a moving horse should probably also be at disadvantage.
I agree with Transmorpher that we should incorporate details re: fall rate.
While discussing falling damage for cats on another thread, it got me thinking that fall damage is pretty unrealistic as well. Since we're discussing flying, I'll add those notes to another text box.
Proposed modified rules for fall damage as a result of free fall. At the end of a such a fall:
* A Tiny creature takes 1d2 bludgeoning damage for every 10 feet it fell, to a maximum of 20d2.
* At Small creature takes 1d4 bludgeoning damage for every 10 feet it fell, to a maximum of 20d4.
* A Medium creature takes 1d6 bludgeoning dmage for every 10 feet it fell, to a maximum of 20d6.
* A Large creature takes 1d10 bludgeoning damage for every 10 feet it fell, to a maximum of 20d10.
* A Huge creature takes 2d10 bludgeoning damage for every 10 feet it fell, to a maximum of 40d10.
* A Gargantuan creature takes 2d10 X 2 bludgeoning damage for every 10 feet it fell, to a maximum of 40d10 X 2.
Yeah, but flapping or wings spread out get in the way of shooting or holding a ranged weapon, or pulling your arm back to throw something than riding on a horse does. Technically following this logic, could make range weapon attacks cause disadvantage while flying at any time.
So following your logic, Ardenwolf, if a Giant Owl carries a Halfling Rogue with a crossbow, the Halfling Rogue can roll for attack without disadvantage since the Halfling's own wings are not flapping?
The halfling is on the owls back, there are no wings in their way. They can comfortably put their arms into any position without hitting anything or anything getting in the way. They only need to contend with the movement of the owl, not obstruction.
You know, if people didn't whine and ***** about how broken flight was, I probably wouldn't care. I've never had an issue with PCs having flight. Then again, I pretty much never run modules, so, yeah...
If the disadvantage to attack rolls results only from the winged creature trying to attack while moving, then I'm okay with it.
I would guess that part of the reason why more people don't produce aerial-heavy campaigns is because the rules in 5e don't make it interesting. Or maybe AL limitations generally exclude flying races as PCs.
In the interests of time and thoroughness, I'm posting this here from another thread:
"The rules for falling from great heights is that you descend 200 ft immediately and then another 200 ft thereafter."