Strength of 0 and flying

[Trellian]

OK, last session, the gnome warlock in the group (who has a 24 hour fly effect on him) got poisoned to 0 strength. In the rules it says that a character who reaches 0 strength falls helpless to the ground. But what if you're flying magically? You're basically just using your magic to propel you forward, not your physical strength?

 

[FEADIN]

OK, last session, the gnome warlock in the group (who has a 24 hour fly effect on him) got poisoned to 0 strength. In the rules it says that a character who reaches 0 strength falls helpless to the ground. But what if you're flying magically? You're basically just using your magic to propel you forward, not your physical strength?

For me he can fly, he can't move by himself but the magic will do it for him he couldn't he was unconcious.
SRD:
Ability Damaged
The character has temporarily lost 1 or more ability score points. Lost points return at a rate of 1 per day unless noted otherwise by the condition dealing the damage. A character with Strength 0 falls to the ground and is helpless. A character with Dexterity 0 is paralyzed. A character with Constitution 0 is dead. A character with Intelligence, Wisdom, or Charisma 0 is unconscious. Ability damage is different from penalties to ability scores, which go away when the conditions causing them go away.

Helpless
A helpless character is paralyzed, held, bound, sleeping, unconscious, or otherwise completely at an opponent’s mercy. A helpless target is treated as having a Dexterity of 0 (-5 modifier). Melee attacks against a helpless target get a +4 bonus (equivalent to attacking a prone target). Ranged attacks gets no special bonus against helpless targets. Rogues can sneak attack helpless targets.

 

[frankthedm]

If the warlock ability works like the Fly spell, he crashes when KO'ed.

Using a fly spell requires only as much concentration as walking, so the subject can attack or cast spells normally.

 

[Zelc]

I'd treat flying from magic spells as physical actions as opposed to mental actions. Otherwise, you get into tricky situations like whether you can fly while affected by Hold Person. So, I'd rule that when your Str hits 0, you can't fly. Also note that the Flying spells are often affected by encumbrance, so there is some support for this argument.

 

[Trellian]

Thanks for the replies. The Hold person comparison and the encumbrance part must sway the player as well (he's a rules lawyer and would argue my decision).

 

[Folly]

The warlock ability functions as per the spell with the exception of using the warlocks land speed. Fly says "The subject of a fly spell can charge but not run, and it cannot carry aloft more weight than its maximum load, plus any armor it wears." Since, the warlock is at 0 strength, he is now above his maximum capacity. How I read fly suggests that the warlock would than fall from the sky. Though I would allow for the 1 round of feather fall as if the spell had ended.

 

[mvincent]

In the rules it says that a character who reaches 0 strength falls helpless to the ground. But what if you're flying magically?

You can take purely mental actions when at 0 strength, but I would not consider any magical flying as purely mental unless is says so (as it does for example: on the astral plane).

Edit: I stand corrected. The RotG (if desired) does indeed say:
"Paralyzed: Paralyzed creatures can take only purely mental actions. In most cases, that prevents the character from using most move, standard, or full-round actions. If the paralyzed creature has some form of movement that doesn't require it to move its body (such as a fly spell), it can use a move action to move, but it cannot take other sorts of move actions, such as drawing weapons."

 

[Trellian]

Well, if there is a definite ruling of something, that must be it.

Thanks again! It now looks like the warlock can fly.

 

[s-dub]

I personally don't see any reason why they couldn't fly in this particular situation.

I would read the rules that a character with 0 str is helpless due to effective paralyzation..

In any case, it's not that big of a game upsetter

#1 They cannot attack, unless perhaps they are a psionic character or have the silent/still feats, so the extra mobility isn't really all that exciting.

#2. The weight limit mentioned earlieris there to prevent abuse of Tp/Fly with the intent to drop something very heavy. A normally loaded character wouldn't really do much damage with their pack and couldn't even loosen it while str = 0

#3. Hold person is a magical effect and IMO would magically keep the subject immobile which would prevent them from flying.

An interesting application would be to create a magic item based off the fly spells to create a flying levitating wheelchair for a mage who's lost his legs in a terrible polymorph accident.

Extra points for someone who can name the Orson Scott Card seriers featuring such a device.

 

[MarkB]

If the warlock ability works like the Fly spell, he crashes when KO'ed.

Using a fly spell requires only as much concentration as walking, so the subject can attack or cast spells normally.

It says it requires as much concentration as walking, not that it requires any of the same physical movement as walking. Indeed, concentration is essentially a mental process.

I'd let you keep flying, but any form of non-magically-powered physical action is impossible.