I have a player playing a homebrew race that has the Flight trait, the same as how the Aarakocra function. I know that the trait itself specifically mentions that they are unable to use the flying speed if they are wearing medium or heavy armor, however I was unable to locate anything in regards to carrying capacity. My assumption is that if they are unable to flying while wearing medium armor which ranges from 12-40lbs, that their carrying capacity while flying would be less than that. Though it could also be that the armor itself literally inhibits the wings from working properly which is why they can't wear armor and their carrying capacity would remain the same as normal.
I have a player playing a homebrew race that has the Flight trait, the same as how the Aarakocra function. I know that the trait itself specifically mentions that they are unable to use the flying speed if they are wearing medium or heavy armor, however I was unable to locate anything in regards to carrying capacity. My assumption is that if they are unable to flying while wearing medium armor which ranges from 12-40lbs, that their carrying capacity while flying would be less than that. Though it could also be that the armor itself literally inhibits the wings from working properly which is why they can't wear armor and their carrying capacity would remain the same as normal.
What are your thoughts?
Many thanks.
The armor restriction doesn't equate to a weight restriction under variant encumbrance just like mountain dwarves don't gain the ability to ignore a lot of weight under variant encumbrance, RAW, but your DM might well rule otherwise, especially since you're a homebrew race to begin with.
One of the reasons Aarakocra got banned at so many tables was the fact they had a 50ft fly speed. Why is that a problem? Well, flight by itself is super powerful navigation/problem avoiding in the exploration side of the game but the real craziness came in during combat. You see, they could grapple a guy and then... just fly up. And, when they run out of movement just let go. They'd end up dealing like 2d6 damage and cause prone. Which was pretty powerful for baseline L1. Stack speed boosts, bonus action dashs, etc, and it could get outrageous, like 6d6+. The 50ft speed was just too much distance for baseline. But any flying character can do this, in practice, just slower/less height/less d6s. But they can absolutely do it.
All thanks to their ability to fly while carrying their full carrying capacity of 15 x strength.
Is it realistic? Eh. Is it balanced? Eh. Is it how the game works for the sake of simplicity? Yup.
Your movement type and your carrying capacity don't really depend on each other. You can carry what you can carry, and you can move how you can move.
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I'm probably laughing.
It is apparently so hard to program Aberrant Mind and Clockwork Soul spell-swapping into dndbeyond they had to remake the game without it rather than implement it.
Flying mounts such as griffons can have armor (barding) made for them and still fly. Aarakocra can't, because they have a specific rule that says so. It has nothing to do with weight. They can carry as much as they could carry walking, which is quite a lot.
If you're worried about a player picking up and dropping enemies for damage, don't worry. It's only pretty good as a tactic, not amazing. Edit: less reliable than just shooting a bow from the sky. Which is what they'll do if you prevent them from grappling.
Question for all the wonderful folks here,
I have a player playing a homebrew race that has the Flight trait, the same as how the Aarakocra function. I know that the trait itself specifically mentions that they are unable to use the flying speed if they are wearing medium or heavy armor, however I was unable to locate anything in regards to carrying capacity. My assumption is that if they are unable to flying while wearing medium armor which ranges from 12-40lbs, that their carrying capacity while flying would be less than that. Though it could also be that the armor itself literally inhibits the wings from working properly which is why they can't wear armor and their carrying capacity would remain the same as normal.
What are your thoughts?
Many thanks.
I believe it’s the armor itself that inhibits flying. Beyond that I’d just use the strength score limits for carrying capacity and encumbrance.
The armor restriction doesn't equate to a weight restriction under variant encumbrance just like mountain dwarves don't gain the ability to ignore a lot of weight under variant encumbrance, RAW, but your DM might well rule otherwise, especially since you're a homebrew race to begin with.
One of the reasons Aarakocra got banned at so many tables was the fact they had a 50ft fly speed. Why is that a problem? Well, flight by itself is super powerful navigation/problem avoiding in the exploration side of the game but the real craziness came in during combat. You see, they could grapple a guy and then... just fly up. And, when they run out of movement just let go. They'd end up dealing like 2d6 damage and cause prone. Which was pretty powerful for baseline L1. Stack speed boosts, bonus action dashs, etc, and it could get outrageous, like 6d6+. The 50ft speed was just too much distance for baseline. But any flying character can do this, in practice, just slower/less height/less d6s. But they can absolutely do it.
All thanks to their ability to fly while carrying their full carrying capacity of 15 x strength.
Is it realistic? Eh. Is it balanced? Eh. Is it how the game works for the sake of simplicity? Yup.
Your movement type and your carrying capacity don't really depend on each other. You can carry what you can carry, and you can move how you can move.
I'm probably laughing.
It is apparently so hard to program Aberrant Mind and Clockwork Soul spell-swapping into dndbeyond they had to remake the game without it rather than implement it.
Flying mounts such as griffons can have armor (barding) made for them and still fly. Aarakocra can't, because they have a specific rule that says so. It has nothing to do with weight. They can carry as much as they could carry walking, which is quite a lot.
If you're worried about a player picking up and dropping enemies for damage, don't worry. It's only pretty good as a tactic, not amazing. Edit: less reliable than just shooting a bow from the sky. Which is what they'll do if you prevent them from grappling.
Awesome! Thank you all for your input that really cleared things up for me!
Many thanks!