Pixie in heavy armor: Penalty to fly speed?

[OnlineDM]

I think this is an area where the Character Builder is a little bit off, but I wanted to see what other people think.

If you build a pixie character, it normally has a speed of 4 and a fly speed of 6. If you put it in heavy armor like chainmail, the armor has a -1 penalty to speed. The Character Builder reflects this on the character sheet by showing a speed of 3, but the note below that box still says "Fly 6 squares".

I can't find anything explicit in the rules that addresses this one way or the other, but I would expect the heavy armor penalty to speed to apply to walking speed, climbing speed, burrowing speed and flying speed (though not teleporting speed). So, a heavily armored pixie should have a speed of "3, fly 5".

What do you think?

 

[Ryujin]

For reasons of consistency I think that I would drop BOTH speeds by one, in heavy armour, barring future errata.

 

[the Jester]

If anything, flying should be hindered more by heavy armor than walking is, not less.

So yeah, I'd apply the speed penalty to the pixie's fly speed too.

 

[OnlineDM]

Thanks for the confirmation that I'm not nuts! Like I said, I think it's just an oversight in the Character Builder, or possibly a technicality in the rules that everyone should house-rule away.

 

[Shadus]

I'd say it depends more on how you view flight. Most abilities that allow one to fly are magical, and therefore shouldn't be affected by armor. So the general rule would not affect a flying ability, while a house rule for creatures that gain wings (Dragonborn paragon path) might take a negative.

So I'd rule that it depends on how you interpret how pixies fly. Is it magic or like semi-realistic bug wings.

 

[OnlineDM]

I'd say it depends more on how you view flight. Most abilities that allow one to fly are magical, and therefore shouldn't be affected by armor. So the general rule would not affect a flying ability, while a house rule for creatures that gain wings (Dragonborn paragon path) might take a negative.

So I'd rule that it depends on how you interpret how pixies fly. Is it magic or like semi-realistic bug wings.

That's a fair point in determining a house rule.

In the case of the pixie, the rules specifically say "You cannot use this fly speed if you are carrying more than a normal load." That implies that, even if it's magical flight, it's somewhat limited by physical reality (ignoring for a moment that a strong pixie can still fly with 100 times its body weight in gear). So, either way (wings vs. pure magic) it probably makes sense to say a pixie in heavy armor has a speed penalty, at least at my table.

 

[mcmillan]

possibly a technicality in the rules that everyone should house-rule away.

I think the technicality is the answer. The compendium defines speed as "The distance (in squares) that a creature can move using the walk action." and says armor "imposes a penalty on its wearer's speed", not movement or something like that. In contrast the slowed condition specifically calls out that it decreases the all modes of movement. I wouldn't be surprised to see this get changed in errata in some way though.

 

[OnlineDM]

Thank you, [MENTION=6681949]mcmillan[/MENTION] - you're absolutely right.

So, by RAW the speed penalty from wearing heavy armor ONLY applies to walking (and running by extension). It does NOT apply to flying or burrowing (if there's ever a PC with a burrow speed).

Thus, we have the answer. The Character Builder is right, but I think it's a reasonable house rule to say that a pixie in heavy armor has a -1 penalty to fly speed as well as walk speed.

 

[john112364]

I think that's reasonable. The game was not originally set up for pc's with an inherent fly speed. I would guess it was thought that any pc fly speed would be a class or item power which wouldn't be affected by armor. I would be very surprised if errata wasn't forthcoming.

On a side note; you're really fascinated by the pixie aren't you? Especially pixies that go against type. I'm following your obsession with interest.

 

[Incenjucar]

Hopefully they eventually go back and tweak the rules to cover characters with unusual forms of transportation. These rules should apply to monsters, as well, in the rare situation that they actually come up.