D&D 5E (2024) Fly and carrying

[pnewman]

Let's not forget that encumbrance was never meant to be taken into account when moving other creatures.

1) The first question clearly says "pushing/dragging" and the answer is therefore not relevant for "carrying". 2) Those rulings were based on the 2014 rules and, therefore, are not relevant to the 2024 rules. 3) Grappling someone requires that you use up your action to do so (unless you have a special ability that says otherwise). Did the flying Wizard use his Action to Grapple the other PC's? Was his 'To Hit" roll to do so successful? If not, then they are not Grappled and the Grappled rules can not apply. The easiest way to do it would be to kill them first, making them objects, not characters, and then you could pick them up with your object interaction, but that would be wrong.

 

[UngeheuerLich]

1) The first question clearly says "pushing/dragging" and the answer is therefore not relevant for "carrying". 2) Those rulings were based on the 2014 rules and, therefore, are not relevant to the 2024 rules. 3) Grappling someone requires that you use up your action to do so (unless you have a special ability that says otherwise). Did the flying Wizard use his Action to Grapple the other PC's? Was his 'To Hit" roll to do so successful? If not, then they are not Grappled and the Grappled rules can not apply. The easiest way to do it would be to kill them first, making them objects, not characters, and then you could pick them up with your object interaction, but that would be wrong.

Some people say, that as long as you grapple, you ignore weight altogether.

I disagree. As soon as You lift someone from the ground, you carry them.

Reasoning: while grappling, you can use force and pain to make people move with you. You can't make people fly in this way.

 

[TheSword]

Some people say, that as long as you grapple, you ignore weight altogether.

I disagree. As soon as You lift someone from the ground, you carry them.

Reasoning: while grappling, you can use force and pain to make people move with you. You can't make people fly in this way.

I think that was what I found interesting about this example, it removes the ‘I use their own momentum argument’ from the discussion.

 

[Pale Violet Light]

I agree, but this thread is making me think that I might want to houserule a set carrying capacity for fly, on the premise that it is the magic doing the lifting, not the character.

Strength-based martials are already pretty overpowered. Probably wise to give those poor wizards a break! /s

 

[UngeheuerLich]

Strength-based martials are already pretty overpowered. Probably wise to give those poor wizards a break! /s

You are trying to be funny?

It is not about nerfing strength based characters. It is about allowing wizards and monks flying and grabbing clerics to double and triple their damage outputs. Strength based characters don't have a problem with grappling.

 

[Li Shenron]

The only difference here is that there's no ground.

The "only" difference? The ground is holding the weight for you.

I think the 2014 are pretty clear, you need to apply the "carry" weight limit to move at your speed whether you're flying, walking or swimming.

"Lifting" in 2014 rules means standing in place, zero speed.

I would allow "dragging/pushing" while flying or swimming only if you have ground (or something equivalent) to keep the weight up for you*, or if the weight you're dragging/pushing is floating**.

*a flying creature wanting to move something heavy that is on the ground while not wanting to touch the ground itself
**a swimming creature pushing/pulling a raft or a flying creature pushing/pulling a zeppelin?

 

[touc]

The "only" difference? The ground is holding the weight for you...

Totally a reasonable interpretation. It's elegant because it resolves the issue simply with no flowcharts: flying = carry (STR x15) only.

My take used "rules as written" only which take little into account of physics and no account of how much weight the ground is actually supporting vs. the character or whether the momentum of flying affects capacity at all. I think the OP wanted to reward the wizard character for burning a spell slot to help resolve an environmental challenge (partially) and found an interpretation that did so.

 

[MNblockhead]

I think fly should have a set weight limit, rather than being variable based on the weight and carrying capacity of the spell's target. Otherwise you get into weird situations, like the strength 20 Goliath with fly can carry an entire party, while the gnome wizard with strength 8 can barely carry himself.

But it isn't the spell doing the carrying. I've not played the 2024 rules and haven't played the 2014 rules for about two years. But I would base what can be carried based on strength as the individual with the fly spell cast on them, still has to have the strength to hold the other PC up. You could base it on carrying capacity rules, though those are based on a pack with straps and things held in place with belts or in pockets and pouches.

I think how I would handle it would be to have the flying PC make a strength check and assign a DC target based on their preparations, the size & weight of the PC they are trying to carry, the ability of the other PC to grab onto the flying PC, etc. The idea is that the spell provides the stability but the flying PC still needs strength to hold/carry something. That raises the interesting question of whether other characters or creatures can use their own strength checks to hold onto the flying PC. Perhaps if the weight is high enough that could lead to injury to the flying PC being held onto.

I like this approach as it doesn't involve remembering some specific formula, just skill checks and DCs. I realize this implies that the character remains flying so long as they are conscious ("willing" implies "conscious" IMO) and this means you can't just drag a character with fly cast on them down out of the air. I am sure my players will find ways to exploit and break this, but I think it would be darn fun when they do!

 

[Azzy]

Why not cast Fly on the fighter (assuming the fighter has a higher Str than the wizard), and just have them carry the other party members?

 

[MNblockhead]

Strength-based martials are already pretty overpowered. Probably wise to give those poor wizards a break! /s

You are trying to be funny?

It is not about nerfing strength based characters. It is about allowing wizards and monks flying and grabbing clerics to double and triple their damage outputs. Strength based characters don't have a problem with grappling.

Yeah, he was being sarcastic. That's what the "/s" means.