Dealing with PCs that can fly at will

[dreaded_beast]

I posted this on the General RPG forum, but had no responses, so maybe the more "rules-lawyer-ish" types can give their insights.

So you have now reached a point in the campaign where a few of the PCs either have wings or can fly at will.

How do you handle it, create "challenging" encounters, etc., while keeping mind the non-flying PCs in mind?

 

[shilsen]

As I posted on your other thread:

No biggie. Just make sure to sometimes include things which will challenge a flying PC (specific environments, ranged weapon users, tough flying critters) and things which a flying PC will get a chance to feel especially useful against (obstructions, tough but ground-bound opponents, fast but weaker fliers). Most of the time, no big change is necessary.

 

[Ridley's Cohort]

It is not a big deal, you just have to expect some things that were one challenging no longer will be. No bigger a deal than Fireball really.

There is also a silver lining. If the entire party has flying or mobility enhancing items, you now have the freedom to take the gloves off. If the PCs have means of escape it is their responsibility to flee on Round 2 against an overwhelming enemy. Do not do this often because forcing the PCs to use extreme hit & run tactics can be tiresome. But doing this once in a blue moon can really keep the players on their toes. It is best to be obvious. If they meet 30 Orcs and these happen to be all level 5 Barbarians and the last group was all standard 1 HD fare, they may not notice the difference until it is too late.

 

[Squire James]

As a rule, flyers have painted big targets on their chests. They're probably not hiding behind anything, and they have demonstrated that they are a clear threat to anyone they face. For example, dragons might take flying PC's as something of a challenge, perhaps considering them the only true threats until other PC's demonstrate otherwise.

Mostly, you just need to be sure the monsters that can't fly haven't left their missile weapons and ranged spells at home. High-CR monsters normally have some built-in ways to handle flyers.

Be sure to keep asking the PC's how high they are from the ground. I'd have them specify their altitude at the end of any movement. Don't neglect the possibility that a PC flying 60' high is NOT necessarily safe from that rampaging Terrasque (who has a pretty good Jump score and a way to temporarily increase it)!

 

[hong]

Send them into a dungeon. D'oh!

 

[Ogrork the Mighty]

Start hitting them with dispel magic spells.

 

[Liquidsabre]

Earthbind is an effective spell from draconomicon for those enemy spellcasters aware of the group's abilities btw.

edit- those with a natural flight ability that is heh. Dispel for spell stuff, kinda at a loss for spell-abilities though.

 

[was]

Recipe for pc kabobs: take 1 cave, sprinkled with stalagmites and stalactites, mix in an intermittent magical reverse gravity trap. Makes four to six servings.

 

[Majere]

Players why fly lose their shape.
Next time a mage flies 30'up have 5/6 archers hit him with readied actions because he just made himself a big target
Spell casters will stop flying in the air if they think that doing so makes them a better target than if they sit behind a fighter.

Majere

 

[Lord Pendragon]

Spell casters will stop flying in the air if they think that doing so makes them a better target than if they sit behind a fighter.

The smart spellcaster will cast Fly on the fighter. Let him be a big target. That's what fighters are for.

As a DM, I don't really have a problem with flying. It allows me to toss in flying adversaries more easily. As was already pointed out, the key difference is that you have to adjust your thinking on what is an "appropriate challenge" for your party. Before, a steep wall or chasm filled with lava might have been challenging. No longer. Now the PCs can overcome such obstacles easily.

To replace such obstacles, I start forcing the PCs to use their flying in unsafe circumstances. Flying up the unscalable mountain with a driving storm at its peak. Flying over the bottomless pit through a cloud of gargoyles. That sort of thing.

Let the PCs fly. It merely changes the nature of some of the challenges they'll face.