D&D 5E Aerial Combat

[Leo_ASF]

Where can I find official ruling for aerial combat? I want my party to be attacked when mounting wyvern in the last chapter of hoard of the dragon queen

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[Caliban]

You just have to wing it.

 

[robus]

Where can I find official ruling for aerial combat? I want my party to be attacked when mounting wyvern in the last chapter of hoard of the dragon queen

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Does it need special rules? I would just have the PCs make a dexterity roll occasionally to see if they can keep their saddle during a reckless maneuver or when they might have been knocked prone, otherwise it's a regular combat?

 

[Rya.Reisender]

Yeah, it's like normal combat, but there are a few things to consider:

1. You can't "Dash", if anything, your mount could do it as you are using its movement. Whether you can bring your mount to do it I'd make it depend on how familiar the PC is with the mount (usually not familiar enough). Obviously that also means a rogue can't benefit from Dash as bonus action.

2. Making an enemy immobile or knocked prone makes him fall. (I do allow a single turn in before someone hits the ground. Max falling damage is 20d6.)

3. Don't even try to track positions. It's a nightmare in 3D. Just define the distance instead.

4. As DM you have the power and I think it's quite reasonable to give disadvantage on melee attacks, but that's really up to the DM.

 

[Oofta]

As others have said, there are minimal official rules. There's no movement penalty for gaining altitude, no bonus movement for diving (unless you think it would be fun).

All other normal movement rules apply. I disagree with Rya in that I don't see why you couldn't dash. There's nothing in the flying rules that would prohibit it that I know of.

As for knocking mounts prone and falling, I've decided that people get a saving throw to hold on to their mount (remember that saddles give you advantage on this and exotic mounts require saddles).

In addition, I assume that you can fall 500 ft per round (based on 4E rules, physics, and because it's a nice round number I can remember). So if a flying mount is knocked prone and is 600 ft in the air, it won't fall far enough to hit the ground in a single round.

I'd also give creatures with a fly speed a chance to pull out of the fall if it's a significant distance, but that's a house rule.

I personally still use a grid, but keep track of altitude somehow - either stacks of magnets (for lower altitudes) or just writing down their altitude.

Remember that a creatures takes up space 3-dimensionally. So a huge dragon may have a base altitude of 100 feet, but will go all the way up to 115 feet. Medium sized people can be adjacent at 95 and 120 feet.

So remember that you get advantage to stay mounted if using a saddle, you fall 500 ft per round, keep track of altitude using whatever makes sense to you, and it's probably a really good idea for someone in the party to have feather fall memorized.

Good luck!

 

[pdzoch]

The old D&D rules had glorious amounts of guidance in the DM guide for aerial combat. Monsters had turn radius ratings and really allowed for differences between maneuverability classes between flying creatures. That said, it might be worth adopting the D&D Attack Wing rules for aerial combat. Most flying creatures are accounted for. It would be a nice change of pace in the normal role playing game (might feel like a mini game within the game).

 

[Oofta]

The old D&D rules had glorious amounts of guidance in the DM guide for aerial combat. Monsters had turn radius ratings and really allowed for differences between maneuverability classes between flying creatures. That said, it might be worth adopting the D&D Attack Wing rules for aerial combat. Most flying creatures are accounted for. It would be a nice change of pace in the normal role playing game (might feel like a mini game within the game).

Since I don't have the game can you give a quick overview? What do you like about it?

 

[pdzoch]

Attack Wing uses alot of the same mechanics as any aerial flying game (Wings of War, Star Wars, Star Trek, etc). Game is made by wizkids. Each flying creature has an attack radius, a flight speed, and a set of maneuvers they are capable of making. Each flight stand also comes with elevation markers. Each creature comes with a command dial where the player selects the maneuver they intend to employ. The game come with pre-cut maneuver rulers that make it easy to move the right distance and direction based on the command the player gave it. If the opponent is in range and radius of an available attack, the creature makes the attack against an opposing creatures defense.

I really enjoyed the system with the WWI and WWII aircraft, and I enjoyed it with the Star Wars system also. I have not tried the rules for D&D encounters (aerial combat), but I have bought the figures because they come prepainted, mounted on flying stands and have a nice selection of monsters. I collect the dragons anyway, but I also purchased the aarakocra.

Here is a picture of a game in play.

I recommend checking out the boardgamegeek.com entry for D&D Attack Wing where alot of pictures and discussion on this game is available.

 

[Li Shenron]

Yeah, it's like normal combat, but there are a few things to consider:

1. You can't "Dash", if anything, your mount could do it as you are using its movement. Whether you can bring your mount to do it I'd make it depend on how familiar the PC is with the mount (usually not familiar enough). Obviously that also means a rogue can't benefit from Dash as bonus action.

2. Making an enemy immobile or knocked prone makes him fall. (I do allow a single turn in before someone hits the ground. Max falling damage is 20d6.)

3. Don't even try to track positions. It's a nightmare in 3D. Just define the distance instead.

4. As DM you have the power and I think it's quite reasonable to give disadvantage on melee attacks, but that's really up to the DM.

This is a very good starting point.

One more thing to consider IMHO is the fact that most flying creatures cannot stop moving. Some of them can, especially those which fly by magic means (in 3e such creatures usually had "perfect maneuverability"), but others like normal animals and beast usually cannot.

So I think [MENTION=6666703]Leo_ASF[/MENTION] should consider some house rules for wyvern flight such as these (just examples here to elaborate upon):

- you have to spend your full movement every round

- you can turn only up to a certain maximum per round

- resolve everyone's turn simultaneously instead of sequentially

The last point would be a major difference compared to regular combat, and as such it's certainly difficult, but if you play sequentially as usual, then you end up with two opponents flying next to each other with one of them moving ahead on its turn and the other having to follow up on its own turn...

 

[Rya.Reisender]

All other normal movement rules apply. I disagree with Rya in that I don't see why you couldn't dash. There's nothing in the flying rules that would prohibit it that I know of.

Well, you certainly can dash on your mount, but then you'll fall off!