Casting spells while flying?

[Vegepygmy]

I thought it was a rule that a flying creature can only carry a light load aloft? At least...every flying creature that could potentially serve as a mount seems to have such text in their descriptions...

Can you cite some? I just looked up hippogriff and didn't see anything like that.

The only actual rule I can find is in the PHB (page 131), under barding: "Flying mounts can't fly in medium or heavy barding." But that's not at all the same as saying they can only carry a light load.

Wouldn't the creature's size affect its carrying capacity? As a tiny creature, a strength of 4 would result in a heavy load of 20 pounds.

Good catch. I forgot about that.

The Rules of the Game: All About Movement articles on the Wizards website are extremely helpful for expanding on the somewhat sketchy rules in the DMG. They cover such scenarios as mid-air grappling, striking objects, stalling, free-falling, turning (changing direction also uses movement for most creatures) and so on, as well as explicitly clarifying that creatures can only fly with a light load, as does the FAQ.

You'd just as well regard these articles as definitive: it's not like there's anything much else to go by!

I agree, though it is unfortunate that there is nothing (AFAIK) in any of the core rulebooks that actually says creatures can only fly with a light load.

I wonder if this is still true for familiars.

It's not true for familiars. Since all familiars have an Intelligence score of 6 or better, they understand at least one language (MM, page 7). You don't have to train or "push" your familiar to do anything; you can just tell it.

 

[StreamOfTheSky]

Can you cite some? I just looked up hippogriff and didn't see anything like that.

I...can't... I could swear i saw that in monster descriptions before, now I feel like I'm going crazy. Might have been a 3.0 thing that got lost in transition? I don't know, only solid rules reference I can find is one that basically counters this:

The only actual rule I can find is in the PHB (page 131), under barding: "Flying mounts can't fly in medium or heavy barding." But that's not at all the same as saying they can only carry a light load.

Carrying Capacity :: d20srd.org

"If you want to determine whether your character’s gear is heavy enough to slow him or her down more than the armor already does, total the weight of all the character’s items, including armor, weapons, and gear. Compare this total to the character’s Strength on Table: Carrying Capacity. Depending on how the weight compares to the character’s carrying capacity, he or she may be carrying a light, medium, or heavy load. Like armor, a character’s load affects his or her maximum Dexterity bonus to AC, carries a check penalty (which works like an armor check penalty), reduces the character’s speed, and affects how fast the character can run, as shown on Table: Carrying Loads. A medium or heavy load counts as medium or heavy armor for the purpose of abilities or skills that are restricted by armor. Carrying a light load does not encumber a character."

But even if that makes my original view techincally correct, it's not really satisfying enough for me. I thought it was laid out clearer than that...

 

[Theo R Cwithin]

Can you cite some? I just looked up hippogriff and didn't see anything like that.

The only actual rule I can find is in the PHB (page 131), under barding: "Flying mounts can't fly in medium or heavy barding." But that's not at all the same as saying they can only carry a light load.

I think a creature can only fly at its full flight speed with a light load. Carrying a heavier load slows it down as per normal encumbrance rules, and if that takes it below its minimum forward speed (if any) it can't fly.

 

[StreamOfTheSky]

Ah, the actual Fly ability description, didn't check there. :embarrassed:

 

[Persiflage]

I think a creature can only fly at its full flight speed with a light load. Carrying a heavier load slows it down as per normal encumbrance rules, and if that takes it below its minimum forward speed (if any) it can't fly.

The actual quote is "A creature with a fly speed can move through the air at the indicated speed if carrying no more than a light load."

This can be read in one of two ways:

1) It can only move through the air if carrying no more than a light load: the reference to "the indicated speed" is just because this rule is talking about creatures with a listed fly speed... It's badly written, is all.

2) It can still fly provided it can maintain minimum forward speed in a round, but its movement rate is reduced if carrying more than a light load... It's badly written, is all.

The evidence in favour of the first reading is:

a) The FAQ says so
b) The Rules of the Game articles say so
c) The Reinforced Wings feat description:

Benefit: You can fly in medium armor or with a medium load. Your speed is still reduced by encumbrance due to armor or total weight.

Normal: Flying creatures can’t fly in medium or heavy
armor or when carrying a medium or heavy load.

e) The final and probably the most compelling argument, preceded by a brief history... The original 3E Monster Manual had the same sentence as the one I quoted initially but with "medium load" instead of "light load", which was confirmed by the Sage (yeah, I know, but bear with me) to mean that a creature couldn't fly with greater than a medium load (rather than meaning that its speed would be reduced if it did so). In Monster Manual III, this was corrected to "light load", and Masters of the Wild further clarified the position. The reconstructed passage in Masters of the Wild was eventually pasted exactly into D&D 3.5, theoretically ending the argument...

The trouble is where it was put in D&D 3.5: you'll find it in the DMG, page 204, under the section on Unusual Mounts!

Suitable Mounts: You have the final decision on what is or is not a suitable mount. At its most basic level, a mount should have the following characteristics:

• Able and willing to carry its rider in a typical fashion. (A camel is able and willing. A tiger might be capable but may not be willing. A giant might be willing but not truly able.)

• At least one size category larger than the character. Also, a flying mount can carry no more than a light load aloft.

• The mount’s Challenge Rating should be no more than 3 less than the rider’s character level. If the mount can fly, its Challenge Rating should be no more than 4 less than the rider’s character level.

Doubtless this is where StreamOfTheSky remembers the information about flying mounts from. The emphasis on the carrying capacity of flying mounts is underscored by the accompanying table footnote:

Carry: The weight of the heaviest load the mount can carry—the light load limit for a flying mount, or the maximum load (heavy load limit) for a nonflyer.

(Incidentally, the table also definitively answers the question of whether a flying quadruped's weight capcity is increased in the same way as a ground-bound one: whether or not you think it makes sense, the answer is unequivocally "yes".)

So, the question as to how much a flying mount can carry whilst flying is answered. However, if you want to be really pedantic about it, this passage strictly doesn't cover flying creatures that aren't acting as mounts. Nonetheless, I think the inescapable conclusion is that it was intended that creatures should not be able to fly with more than a light load.