So, flight... (Let the headaches begin...)

[Burticusb]

So, I was at Gamehole Con this past weekend, and it was a blast. It's a smallish Con located in Madison, WI.

Anyways, I was extremely lucky and my character got awarded some nifty shoes at the end of an adventure...

And then in my next event, I went to use them, and had my character fly straight up to be out of harms way.

Well, after I explained my plan the DM for that event went on to explain to me that my shoes only provided flight equal to my movement and not "hover" and if I didn't land somewhere that turn I would fall...

As a fellow DM I can see where he was coming from and did not challenge the ruling. WotC has been extremely vague in its rulings dealing with flight.

And in many of the monster entries in the MM it does list hover next to some creatures indicating that it is require for some creatures to have to just stay still in mid air.

It seems odd to me that this is not listed in the items description, but what I really wonder is, how does the AL officially handle flight?

 

[Umbran]

I moved this to what I think is the right place, as Meta clearly wasn't where this should be.

 

[Pauper]

The DM is always right, even when the DM isn't going by the rules.

Example: at the same con, I had a DM tell one of my table-mates that he couldn't roll extra dice for his sneak attack on a critical hit, even though the rules specifically note sneak attack as an example of a situation where you do roll extra dice for critical hit damage (see Basic Rules, p.75).

There's no point arguing, since the ALPG notes that the DM is the final arbiter of rules at the table. Your options are to keep playing, or to leave.

--
Pauper

 

[Z. H. Darkstar]

The DM is always right, even when the DM isn't going by the rules.

Example: at the same con, I had a DM tell one of my table-mates that he couldn't roll extra dice for his sneak attack on a critical hit, even though the rules specifically note sneak attack as an example of a situation where you do roll extra dice for critical hit damage (see Basic Rules, p.75).

There's no point arguing, since the ALPG notes that the DM is the final arbiter of rules at the table. Your options are to keep playing, or to leave.

--
Pauper

The DM in your case was flat-out wrong in both their ruling and assumed authority. Arbitration is only needed when there is a lack of definitive proof of a rule. The critical hit rules are laid out in black and white, therefore no arbitration is necessary. I would have sought out the organizer of those tables after the game and reported the DM for failure to do their job properly. The DM may be the final arbiter of the rules, but they don't get to ignore any rule laid out by WotC. That is the compromise laid out by the ALPG. Any DM who doesn't live up to that agreement should leave the table, not the players who want to play by the rules.

As for the rules on flight speeds and the boots in question, I am interested as well. I pride myself on running my tables as rules-accurate as possible, and I've already distributed the item before. Therefore, it would behoove me and my ability to run my tables fairly if we had a Flight 101 discussion.

 

[kalani]

Rules on flight from the PHB, etc;
- Flying characters do not have to land unless an ability says so.
- Flying creatures whose speed is 0 fall without hover. The rules do not require flying creatures to move 1+ squares each round but it does require a movement speed.
- Flying creatures without hover also fall if KOed, paralyzed, etc
- Creatures with hover do not fall if their movement is 0

All hover provides is protection vs falling. I don't recall any rule which requires flying creatures to move each round (they could just stay still while flapping their wings just enough to maintain altitude). If their speed drops to 0 (not the same as having no movement left) they plummet. IIRC someone calculated that you can easily fall 200ft in one round.

I believe the OPs DM was confusing Speed 0 with (no movement remaining)

 

[Pauper]

Rules on flight from the PHB, etc;
- Flying characters do not have to land unless an ability says so.

I don't see this stated explicitly -- the closest I can find is under the description of the Command spell, where the "halt" command doesn't force a flying creature to land, it flies the minimum distance required to remain in the air, then stops.

If you have a reference, please share.

--
Pauper

 

[kalani]

There are features (spells and items usually) which require a flying creature to land at the end of their turn or fall. This would not need to be stated if such was the general rule. Also under fly speed in the MM it does not state anything about minimum flight distance, yet there are features (eg wingwear) which do state a minimum flight distance.

 

[Pauper]

There are features (spells and items usually) which require a flying creature to land at the end of their turn or fall. This would not need to be stated if such was the general rule.

That's a reasonable interpretation, but it's an interpretation -- not an explicit rule.

Where there is no explicit rule, the DM has the final say in how any ruling is interpreted. And even where there is an explicit rule, if nobody knows what it is, the DM has the final say on how things will go down at the table. Few DMs have an encyclopedic knowledge of the rules, and many will simply make an ad-hoc ruling in-play rather than stop the game to look up a rule.

This is why the #1 unwritten rule of Adventurers League is "expect table variation."

--
Pauper

 

[kalani]

Movement speed in general allows a creature to move any distance up to the maximum. If a creature has multiple movement speeds, any movement reduces all of them (for example, Fly 60 and Speed 30 - if said creature walked 15 feet, they would have 45ft of Flight left, or 15ft of walking). Except in the case of a feature which specifically requires a minimum distance moved (eg. wingwear) - there is no rule saying you must move any distance while flying/swimming/burrowing/etc.

Monster Manual [Speed]A monster's speed tells you how far it can move on its turn. For more information on speed, see the Player 's Handbook.All creatures have a walking speed, s imply called the monster's speed. Creatures that have no form of groundbased locomotion have a walking speed of 0 feet.

FLY
A monster that has a flyin g speed can use all or part of its movement to fly. Some monsters have the ability to hover, which makes them hard to knock out of the air (as explained in the rules on flying in the Player's Handbook). Such a monster stops hovering when it dies.

Flying Movement (PHB p191)
Flying creatures enjoy many benefits of mobility, but they must also deal with the danger of falling. If a flying creature is knocked prone, has its speed reduced to 0, or is otherwise deprived of the ability to move, the creature falls, unless it has the ability to hover or it is being held aloft by magic, such as by the fly spell.

Being deprived of the ability to move is different from choosing to remain stationary (but airborne).

The above quotes represent the entirety of flight in 5E (with the exception of specific class features, spells, or items which grant more limited forms of flight specific to that feature).


An owl could for example, remain stationary but continuing to flap their wings. While this is called hovering in the real world - it is not the hover trait in Dnd. The hover trait is a specific trait (that is quite rare) which allows a creature to remain airborne even if the creature is knocked prone or their movement speed is reduced to 0 (such as by being grappled). A dragon can fly 0 squares, remain airborne, and still retain its fly speed. If said dragon was grappled, or knocked prone - the dragon falls.

If a character with Sentinel hit an air elemental with an opportunity attack, the air elemental would remain airborne (despite it's speed being reduced to 0). Hitting a dragon with that same attack would cause it to fall.

 

[Vicaring]

The closest explicit rule I can come up with is from the DMG p119: "Flying characters can move from one place to another in a relatively straight line, ignoring terrain and monsters that can't fly or that lack ranged attacks."

and the PHB p191: "If a flying creature is knocked prone, has its speed reduced to 0, or is otherwise deprived of the ability to move, the creature falls, unless it has the ability to hover or it is being held aloft by magic, such as by the fly spell."

You can argue it's an interpretation, but it seems pretty clear-cut to me that Fly means Fly. The character does not have to land at the end of every turn. If he did, then what's the difference between Fly and Jump?