D&D 5E Flying Tiefling question

[jmartkdr2]

I agree, but that's also probably why I wouldn't allow it. Quite simply, this is a really complex maneuver and I'm not even sure how effective it would be. I mean, yes it's a cool visual but there are just so many things that could go wrong. It's not even getting into how much stress is going to be put on the weapon.

Sounds like something a feat could grant, though. Variation if Charger, maybe?

 

[Oofta]

Sounds like something a feat could grant, though. Variation if Charger, maybe?

Yeah that was part of my question. This is cool ... but is it just getting something for free on a regular basis?

On the other hand a feat is a pretty high cost, especially for a warlock and I'm not sure how often it's going to come into play.

 

[Umbran]

It wouldn’t impart some of your mass as force, then.

Ow, that bad wording hurts!

If you want to impart some of your body's momentum and kinetic energy to the target... well, then Newton's "for every action, there's an equal and opposite reaction" comes into play - trying to stick a guy with a spear like that means the butt end of the spear rams into you, too.

Mind you, if you are using a piercing weapon the primary damage isn't done by momentum and energy transfer anyway - it is done by making a hole in the body. Once that hole goes all the way through... the extra energy is quite irrelevant.

If you want to take advantage of impact... just drop a rock on the guy and be done with it.

 

[TheCosmicKid]

On the other hand a feat is a pretty high cost, especially for a warlock and I'm not sure how often it's going to come into play.

The way feats work in 5E, just call it "Aerobatic Warrior" and give it two or three discrete effects, extra damage on a dive being one of them.

 

[Oofta]

The way feats work in 5E, just call it "Aerobatic Warrior" and give it two or three discrete effects, extra damage on a dive being one of them.

Well, sure. It was kind of my first though. But then I'm writing a rulebook because every PC that has a cool idea will want a custom feat.

If you're into that, fantastic. I'd rather work within the rules with minor tweaks here and there.

 

[Ruin Explorer]

Well, sure. It was kind of my first though. But then I'm writing a rulebook because every PC that has a cool idea will want a custom feat.

If you're into that, fantastic. I'd rather work within the rules with minor tweaks here and there.

I agree. The biggest problem with the way Feats worked in 3E, and to some extent 4E was that rather than enabling stuff, many of them effectively made "cool stuff" impossible or heavily penalized by default, and then you had to buy the Feat to re-enable it.

That's not a good approach for D&D generally, I'd say.

It's a really really bad approach when Feats are competing against ASIs and not something you get many of.

Feats in 5E should be used for stuff that people are going to do over and over, and want an additional bonus doing. Not stuff that's likely to occur very rarely and be exceptional and exciting like this seems likely to be. I'd rather see some sort of house-rule that made it extremely risky, and quite rewarding (but the important thing is to ensure there's a large enough chance to screw it up that you won't just use it on every possible encounter - if you would use it on literally every encounter, then it is good Feat material).

 

[jmartkdr2]

I agree. The biggest problem with the way Feats worked in 3E, and to some extent 4E was that rather than enabling stuff, many of them effectively made "cool stuff" impossible or heavily penalized by default, and then you had to buy the Feat to re-enable it.

That's not a good approach for D&D generally, I'd say.

It's a really really bad approach when Feats are competing against ASIs and not something you get many of.

Feats in 5E should be used for stuff that people are going to do over and over, and want an additional bonus doing. Not stuff that's likely to occur very rarely and be exceptional and exciting like this seems likely to be. I'd rather see some sort of house-rule that made it extremely risky, and quite rewarding (but the important thing is to ensure there's a large enough chance to screw it up that you won't just use it on every possible encounter - if you would use it on literally every encounter, then it is good Feat material).

I guess it depends on how often "diving attack" is going to be possible - presumably any combat with enough air clearance that you can get above the target. Which is campaign dependent, of course, although I'd predict likely to be more often than "can bring your horse into the dungeon."

I double-checked the book, though, and I think the existing Charger feat goes a long way towards covering this. Maybe add an extra bonus for additional drop height.

Although that could just mean that the feat already fails your test for what a feat should do - it allows for charge attacks as opposed to just-walk-up-and-hit-the-guy attacks.

 

[doctorbadwolf]

Ow, that bad wording hurts!

If you want to impart some of your body's momentum and kinetic energy to the target... well, then Newton's "for every action, there's an equal and opposite reaction" comes into play - trying to stick a guy with a spear like that means the butt end of the spear rams into you, too.

Mind you, if you are using a piercing weapon the primary damage isn't done by momentum and energy transfer anyway - it is done by making a hole in the body. Once that hole goes all the way through... the extra energy is quite irrelevant.

If you want to take advantage of impact... just drop a rock on the guy and be done with it.

Well, no. You are holding the spear. You hit with it. Much like extending your body and compressing as you land, the force applied to you is minimized by letting the spear move in relation to you. Like I said before, not all of your mass will be applied in force, because you aren't standing on the spear, but it will increase the velocity of the spear, and decrease velocity loss upon impact, which will increase how hard it hits. If you don't think that this will change how much it damages the target, then I don't know what to tell you. It absolutely will. But much, much, much, more importantly, it's cool and feels right for most people to have it increase the damage.

Also, please don't nitpick at me with technical speech. Everyone knows what imparting mass as force means. It's very clear. This is a conversation, not a technical writing exercise.

 

[Eltab]

After reading this, when I run Dark Sun, Aaracockra encounters are gonna swoop out of the sun and dive-bomb "the intruders" on Round One with javelins, spears, darts, and other such throwing weapons, for extra damage due to powerdive and gravity. Then some will pull out spears and play skirmisher at an altitude of 10 feet, while others fly back up high to do it again. (How high? Maybe however high they are when a Recharge 5-6 power finally recharges?)