D&D General How early is too early for flight?

[S'mon]

DP

 

[S'mon]

So no flying heritages then?

Not in a standard/typical campaign. I allowed a Windrider (Aarakocra) PC in my Wilderlands campaign, as the setting has a bit of a Sword & Planet vibe and is pretty gonzo. I wouldn't allow it in my fairly gritty Grey Box Forgotten Realms Damara campaign. It would have fitted ok in my Odyssey of the Dragonlords campaign.

 

[OptionalRule]

I'm working on some homebrew and I'm trying to decide how early is too early for PCs flying around.

For context, I'm trying to make a Warlock pact that revolves around the Find Steed spell and I'm realizing that the paladin would have to wait until 11th level for a flying mount while a warlock would get that 60 ft. fly speed at level 7. On the other hand, the Fly spell is 60 ft. of movement and accessible by level 5 by full casters but is limited duration. This is really showing my that spells of equal level really aren't equal in power since they're assumed to belong to certain classes.

So, would you be cool with a 7th level character casting Find Steed with a 4th level slot and getting a flying mount or should it be something that waits till 11th level?

Give them a magic item and be done with it. This way you don't have to modify classes or create special spell cases.

 

[Mistwell]

For me, I draw the line at around 5am. Anything earlier is just too early to fly. I'd rather pay the extra fee for a ticket later in the day than have to haul my butt to the airport in the middle of the night.

 

[Kobold Avenger]

Don't want five flying demons either. Make them pay for that flight, and you'll find that not everyone will do it.

I certainly have feats in mind for Tieflings, Aasimar and Dragonborn who want to have a permanent fly speed. General feats are level 4 at least, but I could consider making those feats have a level 8 or higher requirement.

And then there's the consideration of supernatural gifts, or perhaps a return of 3e's graft items. Like you had a Thri-Kreen Xixchil surgeon operate on you, and then was placed in a cocoon were you slept for a month before emerging from the cocoon with wings.

 

[NaturalZero]

I think that regardless of power level, I have to change Find Steed too much to make it fit my vision of the subclass. If I do a custom stat block, ala the Beast Master or Battle Smith artificer, I can put the exact features in, including level-gated fly, without having to modify multiple aspects of an existing spell.

 

[cbwjm]

I'm fine with flight at first level and just don't worry about some situations being easier to solve/avoid. Especially since flight can also cause issues gor the party. Had one game where a player was a pixie (or maybe a sprite, it was a homebrew race I made) whoch meant they could scout easily enough but they're fliying over any traps whoch means the other party members might be caught in them.

 

[Horwath]

I certainly have feats in mind for Tieflings, Aasimar and Dragonborn who want to have a permanent fly speed. General feats are level 4 at least, but I could consider making those feats have a level 8 or higher requirement.

And then there's the consideration of supernatural gifts, or perhaps a return of 3e's graft items. Like you had a Thri-Kreen Xixchil surgeon operate on you, and then was placed in a cocoon were you slept for a month before emerging from the cocoon with wings.

Focused revelation:
requires Aasimar, level 8+

you can sprout spectral wings as a Bonus action or retract them as a free action, at-will
while you have this wings active you can extra radian damage with attack once on your turn equal to your prof bonus.
you can deal this damage 10x per long rest.

you cannot activate Inner radiance or Necrotic shroud.

 

[Kobold Avenger]

Focused revelation:
requires Aasimar, level 8+

you can sprout spectral wings as a Bonus action or retract them as a free action, at-will
while you have this wings active you can extra radian damage with attack once on your turn equal to your prof bonus.
you can deal this damage 10x per long rest.

you cannot activate Inner radiance or Necrotic shroud.

My idea for the Aasimar one was that they got the fly speed of 30 feet always, but when using heavenly wings the fly speed increased by 30 feet.