D&D 5E Pteranodon Ranger

Mecheon · Jan 6, 2016

Pteranadons, if assuming a male P. longiceps (Because of course there's that lovely debate over where P. sternbergi fits) are kind of eehhhh mount-sized in my opinion

Now, if your player wanted to truly be Op he would go with the king of the sky, the mighty Azdarchidae Pterosaurs such as Quetzalcoatlus which were the size of giraffes and ate anything smaller than them, along with being part of the pterosaurs who were more about being on the ground than flying

I mean, it could fly, but this was the type of thing that flew in order to find somewhere to land and start eating

dmnqwk · Jan 6, 2016

Just because it's Medium sized doesn't have to mean it can be ridden.

You could rule that, due to the strange curvature of it's body, the animal is not a suitable mount for the gnome. You could also rule that the Gnome has no ability to ride this beast, and would need to train for 250 days to be capable of riding it (as per downtime rules of learning a new skill). It's not even being mean to deny someone what would essentially be "a free permanent fly spell".

Alternatively, you could remind the player that Animal Companions are there to be just that, companions. If you wish to ride it all the time then it's more a master/slave kind of relationship, and that's not what the animal signed up. Sure, allowing it to be ridden in an emergency is a good thing but if the Gnome wishes to ride it 24/7, then have the Animal Companion misbehave, or consider leaving.

Mecheon · Jan 6, 2016

... Strange curvature? Errr... Pterosaurs are pretty normal. That's just sort of searching for an excuse. Which I can do with everyone's favourite, excessive scientific data.

I wouldn't even go with that. Sure its medium, but 75% of its body mass are those wings. I'd just go with 'Its too small. Even for you, a gnome. No, seriously, this thing's body is tiny and most of it are these massive wings. There is no room for you.'. And once again point at things that might be able to carry you. Like Azdarchids. I mean, let's compare Pteranadon to both Q. northpi and Q. sp

Evidently my answer is do not ask to ride a pteranadon in my game because I will just smile and drag out a god damn textbook on the Pterosauria.

Warmaster Horus · Jan 6, 2016

Why oh why did I immediately think of this?

View attachment 72873

Wrathamon · Jan 6, 2016

They can't hover so he has to do flyby attacks. Not sure the turn radius but he might only get to attack every other round and it might have to fly fast to stay aloft and have a min speed it must move or it has to land.

It is only awesome in open air combat. He would have to fly down to attack and that would make it vulnerable during that sequence with OA and readied attacks. Any damage it takes might require a Dex Check to stay seated and since he wont have a finely crafted saddle it could be risky.

Others have mentioned it would be a ground animal or out of combat during any underground or jungle sequences.

He would also be all alone in the air if a random encounter of other flying reptiles appeared. Crashing could kill him.

If he is trying to be an Archer like in Avatar ... then you can give him a firing arc that doesnt allow for backward shots and he might be at a disadvantage with his ranged attacks when in combat, since he isnt a master of mounted flying.

maybe a Feat Mounted Flyer can remove this

mellored · Jan 6, 2016

Flying in combat is fine because falling is very painful. A simple ensnaring shot or kobold glue pot and down he goes.
And it's not that different from standing behind people to begin with.

Out of combat there's not much he can do that an owl familiar can't.

60' speed could be an small issue, but beast master's tend to be underpowered as is.

So let him have it.

KahlessNestor · Jan 7, 2016

Wrathamon said:
They can't hover so he has to do flyby attacks. Not sure the turn radius but he might only get to attack every other round and it might have to fly fast to stay aloft and have a min speed it must move or it has to land.

It is only awesome in open air combat. He would have to fly down to attack and that would make it vulnerable during that sequence with OA and readied attacks. Any damage it takes might require a Dex Check to stay seated and since he wont have a finely crafted saddle it could be risky.

Others have mentioned it would be a ground animal or out of combat during any underground or jungle sequences.

He would also be all alone in the air if a random encounter of other flying reptiles appeared. Crashing could kill him.

If he is trying to be an Archer like in Avatar ... then you can give him a firing arc that doesnt allow for backward shots and he might be at a disadvantage with his ranged attacks when in combat, since he isnt a master of mounted flying.

maybe a Feat Mounted Flyer can remove this

None of that really applies. There are no minimum fly speeds or turning radiuses in 5e. And hover only means of they go unconscious they don't fall. No movement is required to stay airborne.

Wrathamon · Jan 7, 2016

It's his game, he can apply additional rulings, as he sees fit. These are examples of how you can balance flying mounts using logic. Since Flying Mounted Combat isn't really detailed much in the rules and if he feels Hovering characters that are always out of reach an issue that have super fast speed then there is no reason he couldn't add more detailed mechanics to his game, while maintaining the cinematic theme of a flying dino rider zooming in and out of battle.

http://tribality.com/2014/10/07/dd-5e-aerial-combat/

Blue · Jan 8, 2016

You're not making a permanent change - you're giving him a flavorful story-connected one-off because of where he his. Think of it like a consumable magic item. If he kills it off elsewhere, it's replaced with a normal companion. He might end being more careful of it (and therefore getting less use). He might be also be able to use it to do cool things because it flies and it's niftier than a hawk. GREAT. That' what stories are made of.

Say YES.

Mecheon · Jan 9, 2016

Blue said:
He might be also be able to use it to do cool things because it flies and it's niftier than a hawk. GREAT. That' what stories are made of.

Say YES.

... As a person who knows a thing or two about ancient and modern archosaurs (The group to which crocodiles, pterosaurs and dinosaurs(Yes, including birds!) belong to), the hawk would be the smarter choice choice

Unless you're fighting fish

Pteranadon? Dang good against fish. But I'm not lying when I say that thing is like an albatross

D&D 5E Pteranodon Ranger

Mecheon

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dmnqwk

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Mecheon

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Warmaster Horus

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Wrathamon

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mellored

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KahlessNestor

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Wrathamon

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Blue

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Mecheon

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