D&D 5E Aerial combat in 5e

[Nightfly]

I'm setting up to run a midair combat in my Dungeons of Drakkenheim game, and I'm struck at how little there is in the way of rules or even guidance in 5e. I've found some supplements that deal with Spelljammer combat, but that's not what I'm looking for. I need griffons vs. chimeras vs. gargoyles kind of stuff.

Anyone have a bright idea about where I might look? A third party supplement, or maybe an earlier edition? Or possibly even a different game? I'd like to somehow make it different and more interesting than a normal 2D fight.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

I seem to remember a section on air combat in the 1st edition DMG.

But the issue here is not so much the flying bit (just track heights) but the mounted bit, which 5e has always handled poorly.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

Also, I subscribe to Matt Colville's "There is no Pythagoras in D&D

Nah, Pythagoras is easy, even in three dimensions. I always find it easier to use real world geometry in my D&D than silly counting grid squares shenanigans.

 

[Nikosandros]

I seem to remember a section on air combat in the 1st edition DMG.

It is actually fairly detailed with 2 1/2 pages of rules and some optional guidance on using hexes.

But the issue here is not so much the flying bit (just track heights) but the mounted bit, which 5e has always handled poorly.

True. In general, I don't think that it is easy to have decent mounted combat rules in the framework of 5e rules. But I'd love to be proven wrong from some third party supplement!

 

[Stalker0]

If your doing it on a map, I recommend rather than minis use a chit like poker chip like. Then place a little cube on top to represent the height, each cube I’d like 50 feet (something convienient your not doing every 5 foot here). And then yeah don’t bother with diagonals.

 

[AlViking]

I just use a grid. I also use a small whiteboard to track HP and any conditions. I simply make a note of current height on my whiteboard.

I've tried other options as well like gaining elevation is difficult terrain, dives for double speed and so on. After a while I decided those weren't worth the extra effort.

 

[Faxfire683]

I recommend the article “Aces High” from MCDM’s Arcadia magazine, issue 3, by Sam Mannell. It’s a simple system that abstracts enough but also allows your characters to use their abilities in a flighting encounter. It focuses on using flying creatures and even objects, so I think it’s exactly what you’re looking for. I think you can get the whole run of Arcadia for $30 on their website and they might offer smaller batches of issues for less—been awhile since I checked. Good luck! Sounds like a fun session!

Edit: Here’s the link to MCDM’s store and that issue. $3.99 ARCADIA 3 | March 2021

 

[AlViking]

I recommend the article “Aces High” from MCDM’s Arcadia magazine, issue 3, by Sam Mannell. It’s a simple system that abstracts enough but also allows your characters to use their abilities in a flighting encounter. It focuses on using flying creatures and even objects, so I think it’s exactly what you’re looking for. I think you can get the whole run of Arcadia for $30 on their website and they might offer smaller batches of issues for less—been awhile since I checked. Good luck! Sounds like a fun session!

You might want to provide a link.

 

[tetrasodium]

Others have suggested it but 2e &3.x had very solid flight rules. Going beyond that though id suggest using 3.x without perfect maneuverability outside of unusual flight methods that justify it. The 2e rules draw too heavily on some dog fighting wargame fundamentals and include a whole bunch of rather pointless stuff unless you plan to do a lot of dogfighting with WW2 style biplane fighters.∆

∆im not going to go check the book but I seem to recall things like vertical climb/dive speed and so on.

 

[dave2008]

You might want to provide a link.

Here you go: Arcadia issue #3

 

[Xeviat]

As others have said, 3E has some of the easier to access rules on complex flight. Here's the things I'd steal:

• Flight Maneuverability: this determines turning angles and minimum forward speeds.
• Upward angles count as difficult terrain, downward angles double speed.

I also mix in space requirements for winged flight and an AC penalty when you have your wings deployed (partially drawn from her 5.14 monster creation guides that treat flight as +2 AC)

Also, keep a pathagorean theorem calculator handy. I use an excel sheet= a, b, and c for x, y, and z, and cell D is =sqrt((a*a)+(b*b)+(c*c)). But I play digitally on roll 20, so using one of the token markers as a height marker is easy for me.