D&D 5E (2014) Flight ability: Does this make the Aarakocra overpowered?

[Elon Tusk]

What would you say the wingspan of an aarakocra is? Maybe 15'?
Does it then become a huge size creature when flying?
Can it fly through 5' doorways?

 

[doctorbadwolf]

Not at all. Flying PCs make great targets.

What would bother me more about them is the fact that they aren't relatable to most NPCs in my campaign. It always annoys me when a player wants to play alien looking characters because I either have to treat them like they are a walking freak show or I have to change my story to make them fit.

I don't understand. Is it a world where 90% of people just look like humans? Bird people don't seem that weird, to me, in a fantasy world.

 

[Mecheon]

My first fantasy thing ever was Shining Force for the Megadrive (Genesis) so I've always be fine with bird people as a race given they were pretty heavily involved in that

Also didn't the sequel basically have a Gamera as one of your party members?

 

[Ganymede81]

The Arakocra's flight ability is clearly better than the abilities granted to other PC races.

Whether or not this makes them "overpowered" is an open question, but it is still problematic that one PC race is unambiguously better than the others. It would be the same if there was a one-handed weapon in the equipment list that did 1d10 points of damage; it is an open question as to whether that's "overpowered," but it is still a problem.

 

[R. Brent Clements]

If you want a limitation on aarakocra hovering that "makes sense" in a realism standpoint, how about this: if the creature uses its movement to remain still, then it is not able to use any dexterity bonus to its AC, because actively not moving is directly in opposition to being able to move quickly in response to attack.

 

[Werebat]

Why on Oerth is it considered "balanced" for a race to have unlimited flight at level 1?

Why is it considered too restrictive to give such a race some basic restrictions on their flight that even make sense given how they fly (big honkin' wings)?

* They can't fly unless they have enough space (say 5 feet to either side free for wing flapping)
* While aloft, they have to move at least half of their base flight speed, and can turn a maximum of 45 degrees (so, straight line to diagonal line, or the opposite, on a typical grid) per round.

Boom. This lets them be masters of the air outside, hobbles them inside, and gives them an actual REASON for not wanting to hang out in dungeons. If YOU could fly with the above restrictions, would YOU be so keen on entering dangerous cramped places where you couldn't fly? Most aarakocra asked to join a party on an excursion into a series of underground passages would react with something akin to, "AWWK! BRAAK! HUMAN! Are ye totally off yer PERCH?!?"

Edit: Given their stated psychological issues with claustrophobia, it might make sense to also put them at Disadvantage to all skill checks while underground or in areas where their flight is impeded.

Edit 2: Making them susceptible to Bludgeoning damage due to their hollow bones might also have some merit, if the above isn't enough.

 

[Greenstone.Walker]

I don't think flight is overpowered, unless the whole party has it.

So, one PC can fly. What about the other five? The Aarraacokrraaraaa (is that enough a's and r's?) can fly over obstacles outside, but the rest of the group still has to slog through the swamp. All that achieved was is to split the party. And what is rule #1?

Sure, the flyer can get to the top of the cliff, but unless they have sufficient carrying capacity, that won't help the rest of the party who still have to climb the rockface. If the flyer has placed ropes at the top, though, the party's climb will be easier.

If a flyer can target a foe with missile weapons then the foe can target the flyer.

Outside, flight is, however, excellent for scouting. However, a wizard's familiar can do that and no-one calls for flying familiars to be nerfed.

Except the invisible ones, dammit, quasits arrgghh ruining my GM plans mutter grumble.

 

[MiraMels]

If you want a limitation on aarakocra hovering that "makes sense" in a realism standpoint, how about this: if the creature uses its movement to remain still, then it is not able to use any dexterity bonus to its AC, because actively not moving is directly in opposition to being able to move quickly in response to attack.

If an unconscious non-bird can still benefit from their dexterity modifier when calculating AC, then a conscious, hovering bird-person ought to be able to do so also.


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[Mecheon]

Why on Oerth is it considered "balanced" for a race to have unlimited flight at level 1?

Because flight just isn't all that powerful

 

[R. Brent Clements]

If an unconscious non-bird can still benefit from their dexterity modifier when calculating AC, then a conscious, hovering bird-person ought to be able to do so also.

Does the condition of unconscious not incapacitate the character, which explicitly states that Dex modifiers to AC do not apply?