D&D 4E Flying in 4e

[Kobold Avenger]

Do you think flying rules will be more simplified? There'll be more limitations on flight? Flying will become easier or harder for PCs to access? There'll be more options to deal with flying enemies?

 

[HeavenShallBurn]

The new Design & Development update states a Carpet of Flying is appropriate for 18th level adventurers, which tends to indicate to me that flying will be more restricted and a high-level affair. As to the rest I'm not sure, I don't really trust the designers to know what they're doing anymore.

 

[TwinBahamut]

As long as flying can be functional and useable, and the horridness of that terrible flight maneuverability chart can be avoided, then I will be happy. Flying needs to be more useable, even if it is not as realistic, and thus it needs to be more like ground movement.

The designers seem to be doing a lot to simplify and improve the game, so I think it will probably be cleaned up.

I am just hoping that the characters will rely on pegasi, wyverns, and giant eagles to fly, rather than magic spells.

 

[Aeolius]

4e needs uniform rules to cover three dimensional movement and combat in aerial, underwater, and variable-gravity planar encounters.

 

[TwinBahamut]

4e needs uniform rules to cover three dimensional movement and combat in aerial, underwater, and variable-gravity planar encounters.

I never really thought about it, but you are right. It would be a lot simpler if the same rules could be applied to all of those (and simpler still if it closely resembled ground movement).

 

[Rechan]

4e needs uniform rules to cover three dimensional movement and combat in aerial, underwater, and variable-gravity planar encounters.

One thing that pisses me off is that the only place underwater fighting is tackled is a few paragraphs in the DMG. NO where in Stormwrack does it talk about fighting underwater. That's a BOOK ABOUT WATER.

 

[Scholar & Brutalman]

One small hint may have been in the Spined Devil preview. The 3e version has a Flight 100 ft (Poor), the 4e version just has Fly 7 (=35ft in 3e terms). So perhaps, 4e flight has no maneuverability but is generally slower?

 

[Kobold Avenger]

The new Design & Development update states a Carpet of Flying is appropriate for 18th level adventurers, which tends to indicate to me that flying will be more restricted and a high-level affair. As to the rest I'm not sure, I don't really trust the designers to know what they're doing anymore.

But a Carpet of Flying has this advantage over spells, class abilities, or flying mounts: It doesn't need to rest.

 

[ZombieRoboNinja]

It would be interesting if all forms of flight and teleportation were "paragon" minimum. It'd be an especially big change for wizards, who have to wait another 6 levels to start raining down death from above (paragon = level 11, versus a 3rd-level spell in 3e).

I personally like this aspect of the change. Flying seems like a superpower, something really impressive even in a magic-filled world, and I think wizards could stand to spend their "heroic" levels down in the mucky-muck with everyone else, facing tactical situations whose resolution wasn't always "move 30 feet straight up."

 

[Aeolius]

One thing that pisses me off is that the only place underwater fighting is tackled is a few paragraphs in the DMG. NO where in Stormwrack does it talk about fighting underwater. That's a BOOK ABOUT WATER.

Stormwrack pg. 21: Combat in the Water
Rules Compendium pg. 149: Underwater Combat

Granted, neither covers the use of electricity underwater.