from high and in front, low and to the right side, high and
from the rear, and even straight down from above. Clearly,
standard methods of defense and attack that work on the
ground are going to do him little good here.
There are two ways of running aerial battles: the Tourna-
ment rules and the Optional rules. The Tournament rules
can be used in any situation, but rely on the descriptions of
the DM and the imaginations of the players for much of
their effect. The Optional rules provide a more detailed sys-
tem for fighting aerial battles with miniatures. The Tourna-
ment rules begin below.
Maneuverability Classes
How tightly a creature is able to turn is an important
factor in aerial combat. To measure this, all flying crea-
tures have a maneuverability class ranking from A to E
(with A being the best). In general, creatures with a better
maneuverability class can attack more often and more
effectively.
Class A creatures have virtually total command over their
movements in the air; it is their home. They can maneuver in
the air with the same ease as a normal person on the ground,
turning at will, stopping quickly, and hovering in place. For
them, flying is the same as walking or running.
Class A creatures can face any given direction in a round,
and are virtually impossible to outmaneuver in the air. Fight-
ing in the air is no different from fighting on the ground for
them, so they can attack every round. This class includes
creatures from the elemental plane of Air and creatures able
to fly magically, without wings.
Class B creatures are the most maneuverable of all
winged creatures, although they lack the utter ease of move-
ment of class A creatures. They are able to hover in place,
and so are the only winged creatures that do not need to
maintain forward movement in a battle.
The creatures can turn 180 degrees in a single round
and can make one pass every round. This class includes
pixies, sprites, sylphs, and most giant insects.
Class C includes most normal birds and flying magical
items. Forward momentum must be maintained by moving
at least half the normal movement rate (although some
magical items are exempted from this). Creatures in this
class can turn up to 90 degrees in a single round and can
make one pass every two rounds. Gargoyles and harpies fall
into this class. Dragons, although huge, are amazingly
maneuverable and also fall into this class.
Class D creatures are somewhat slow to reach maxi-
mum speed, and they make wide turns. Forward movement
equal to at least half the movement rate is required. Turns
are limited to 60 degrees in a single round. Class D crea-
tures make only one pass every three rounds. Pegasi, pter-
anodons, and sphinxes fall into this class.
Class E is for flyers so large or clumsy that tight maneuver-
ing is impossible. The creature must fly at least half its move-
ment rate, and can only turn up to 30 degrees in a single
round. Thus, it can make just one pass every six rounds. This
class includes rocks and other truly gigantic creatures.
Levitation
Levitating creatures don’t truly fly, and their movement is
generally limited to up or down. Levitating creatures that are
able to move freely are assumed to be class A. Otherwise,
the power does not grant any maneuverability and so is not
assigned a class.
Altitude
The relative elevation of combatants is important for a
variety of reasons, but as far as combat goes, it has little real
effect. If flying creatures wish to fight, they must all be flying
at approximately the same height. If one of the creatures
flees and the others do not pursue, he gets away. Simple.
Altitude affects the action. The DM should keep the fol-
lowing guidelines in mind as he listens to what players want
to do and decides how creatures and NPCs will react.
Creatures cannot charge those above them, although
those above can dive, gaining the charge bonus.
Only creatures with natural weapons or riders with “L”
weapons, such as a lance, can attack a creature below them.
Attacks from below suffer a –2 penalty to the attack roll, as
the reach and angle make combat difficult.
Combat Procedure
Aerial combat is based on maneuverability. When flying
creatures fight, compare the maneuverability classes of the
different combatants. If these are all identical, the combat is
conducted normally. When maneuverability classes differ,
creatures with the better class gain several advantages.
For each difference in class, the more maneuverable
flyer subtracts one from its initiative die rolls. Its maneuver-
ability increases its ability to strike quickly and to strike areas
that are difficult to protect.
Breath Weapons are more problematic in aerial combat
than on the ground. Creatures using breath weapons find their
fields of fire slightly more restricted, making the attack harder
to use. Dragons, in particular, find it difficult to use their breath
weapons to the side and rear while flying forward.
Those within a 60-degree arc of the front of the creature
roll saving throws vs. breath weapons normally. Creatures
outside this arc save with a +2 bonus to the die roll.
Missile Fire is also difficult in aerial combat. Those
mounted on a flying creature or magical device suffer all the
penalties for mounted bowfire. Hovering is the same as
standing still and incurs no penalty.
Characters using missile fire while levitating suffer a –1
cumulative penalty for each round of fire, up to a maximum
of –5. Levitation is not a stable platform, and the reaction
from the missile fire creates a gradually increasing rocking
motion. A round spent doing nothing allows the character to
regain his balance. Medium and heavy crossbows cannot be
cocked by levitating characters, since there is no point of
leverage.
Air-to-Ground Combat
When attacking a creature on the ground (or one levitat-
ing and unable to move), the flyer’s attacks are limited by
the number of rounds needed to complete a pass.
A dragon flies out of its cave to attack the player char-
acters as they near its lair. On the first round it swoops
over them, raking the lead character with its claws. Since
its maneuverability is C, it then spends a round wheeling
about and swooping back to make another attack on the
third round of combat. Of course, during this time, its flight
will more than likely take it out of range of the player
characters.
Escaping
When a creature tries to break off from combat, its ability
to escape depends on its maneuverability and speed. Crea-
tures both faster and more maneuverable than their oppo-
nents can escape combat with no penalties. The free attack
for fleeing a combat is not allowed, since the other flyer is
also in motion (probably in the opposite direction).
If a creature is faster, but not more maneuverable, it can
break off by simply outrunning its opponent. The other can-
not keep pace. In this case, a free attack for fleeing is
allowed.
If the creature is slower, regardless of maneuverability, an
initiative roll must be made (modified by the maneuverabil-
ity of the flyers). If the fleeing creature’s initiative roll is lower
than that of the pursuer, the creature has managed to flee,
although suffering the usual attack for fleeing.
Damage
Any winged creature that loses more than 50% of its
hit points cannot sustain itself in the air and must land as
soon as possible. The creature can glide safely to the
ground, but cannot gain altitude or fly faster than half its
normal movement rate. If no safe landing point is avail-
able, the creature is just out of luck. Since the circum-
stances of a crash landing can vary greatly, the exact
handling of the situation is left to the DM. The falling rules
may come in handy, though a vivid imagination may be
even more helpful
Aerial Combat
(Optional Rule)
These optional rules provide more preci-
sion about just what is happening in an aerial
battle. However, these battles require the use
of miniatures or counters and generally take
longer to resolve. All of the aerial combat
rules above remain in effect except where
specifically contradicted below.
Movement
Movement is measured in inches (1 inch
= 10 feet of movement) and the pieces are
moved on the tabletop or floor. The maneu-
verability classes determine how far a figure
can turn in a single round. A protractor is
handy for figuring this. Turns can be made at
any point in the round, provided the total
number of degrees turned is not exceeded in
the round and there is at least 1 inch of
movement between turns.
Climbing and Diving
Players keep track of the altitude of their
flyers by noting the current altitude on a slip
of paper. Like movement, this can be
recorded as inches of altitude. A creature can
climb 1 inch for every inch of forward move-
ment.
Creatures of class C and worse have a
minimum air speed, and they must spend at
least half their movement rate going forward.
Thus, they cannot fly straight up and can only
climb at a maximum of 1⁄2 their normal move-
ment rate.
Diving creatures gain speed, earning an
additional inch to their movement for every
inch they dive, up to their maximum move-
ment rate. Thus, a creature able to fly 12 could move 24 by
diving for its entire movement, since each inch of diving
adds one inch of movement.
A diving creature must fly the full distance it gains div-
ing, although it need not fly its full normal movement. A
creature with a movement of 12 could not dive 9 and fly
only 6 forward. It must move forward at least 9, the dis-
tance it dove.
Attacking
Since the exact positions of the flying units are marked by
miniatures, several abstractions for aerial combat are not
used. Die roll modifiers for maneuverability are ignored
These simulate the ability of more acrobatic creatures gain-
ing an advantage over clumsier flyers. When playing with
miniatures or counters, this task is left to the players.
Likewise, the number of rounds required to make a pass
are not used, as this becomes evident from the position of
the pieces.
When a diving creature makes an attack, it is considered