Keeping Track of Flying Creatures

So I'm running this mock combat with a group of characters versus some vrocks, trying to get an idea of how to run a combat with flying creatures, and I'm finding it next to impossible to keep track of; for example, when a creature is in the same square but above another creature; where exactly to place the counters on the map; all sorts of stuff. It's turned into a major headache. So I'm wondering if anyone has any tips in how to run a battle with flying creatures that is easy and efficient.
Thanks.
 

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Stoat

Adventurer
It's almost always something of a hassle. Possible ways to do it.

1. Eyeball it. The exact height of the flying creature is relatively unimportant. The most important question is whether or not the PC's and the flyer can melee with each other. Unless one side or the other has reach, melee is only possible if the flyer is 5 feet (1 square) off the ground. At 10 feet, the flyer is out of reach. So, just keep track of which flyers are within reach of the ground and which aren't.

2. Keep track of the flyers' height on a scratch pad, post-it note, etc. Put a flying monster on top of a die to indicate that its up in the air.

3. Draw a separate grid to keep track of everybody's relative positions on the Z-axis. I've actually done this once or twice, and it's helpful if you can keep up with it. This method is best used when ground-bound PC's are fighting a single flyer.

ProTip! Don't have the monsters stop moving over the PC's if you can help it. Is that a little cheesy? Probably. Will it keep you from having to remind everybody that the Vrock is actually hovering over the fighter? Yes. Yes it will.
 

Klaus

First Post
I had that same problem, so when I had to create the BattleBox for Fiery Dragon, I made sure to include altitude counters. These round tokens are marked in feet and squares, with intervals of 1, 5 and 10 squares, which you can pile next to a flying creature.
 

Nytmare

David Jose
We're using chits, and I'm guessing that you're using miniatures, but we use upside down craft containers normally sold for beads.
 

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Jhaelen

First Post
We put them on top of a dice box or upturned drinking glass and place a die next to them showing the altitude. It's not pretty but it works reasonably well.
 

RigaMortus2

First Post
So I'm running this mock combat with a group of characters versus some vrocks, trying to get an idea of how to run a combat with flying creatures, and I'm finding it next to impossible to keep track of; for example, when a creature is in the same square but above another creature; where exactly to place the counters on the map; all sorts of stuff. It's turned into a major headache. So I'm wondering if anyone has any tips in how to run a battle with flying creatures that is easy and efficient.
Thanks.

You know when you order pizza, and when you open the pizza box, there is that plastic tri-pod looking table thingy sitting in the middle of the pizza? Its purpose is to prevent the middle of the pizza box from dipping into the pizza?

Well we use that thing to place our flying creatures on :)
 

Infiniti2000

First Post
We use 1-inch cubed blocks of wood. We wrote height values on them using a Sharpie, such as 10, 20, 30, etc. We don't generally bother with increments of 5, though when that's necessary, we just remember it (given enough blocks, you can use a 5, and we accumulate them if necessary). It's not important to us to have relative physical heights, so having one creature at 10ft up on a one block and another 30ft on one block (rather than 3) is okay by us.

As mentioned by Stoat, it's not really necessary to be above the PCs. Unless there's truly a real tactical advantage, just don't move monsters or PCs to locations where it makes things difficult.

Note: you could use the same system (but negative values) for swimming underwater.
 

Robtheman

First Post
transparent box

I use the small boxes that Chesex dice come in. Typically there are 3 or 4 at the table. You can even place a PC inside the upside down box, and the monster on the top. Track elevation with d10 die.
 

the Jester

Legend
Casino dice are big enough to comfortably fit under a medium or large mini, and you can indicate relative altitude with the number that is face up.
 

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