Tripping a hovering creature

[Drommon]

Like the subject line says, can one trip a hovering creature?

Since prone says "lying on the ground" in the glossary, does that mean if I trip a hovering creature at 1000 ft they would fall that far? (since you go prone in 1 round.)

Drommon

 

[Ottergame]

That'd be the most sensible way of ruling it, they fall for one round.

 

[irdeggman]

Like the subject line says, can one trip a hovering creature?

Since prone says "lying on the ground" in the glossary, does that mean if I trip a hovering creature at 1000 ft they would fall that far? (since you go prone in 1 round.)

Drommon

How do you trip a hovering creature? Pretty much by definition, even though it is not spelled out in the rules, tripping involves taking the victim's method of support out from under him (e.g., his legs).

I'd say that you can't trip a hovering, flying or swimming creature.

 

[dark2112]

Hrm. I wouldn't call it the same thing as a trip, but you could indeed disturb a creature's method of support when they were swimming/flying through natural means. I mean, if you've ever horsed around with friends in a pool, it's quite easy to send them paddling around, trying to recover their 'sense of balance', as it were.

 

[Psifon]

I agree, you can't trip flying/swiming/hovering creatures. Trip is overpowered as it is. Adding falling damage, and forcing landings is just over the top.

Another way of looking at it is that the maneuver makes your enemy prone. If the enemy is flying then they are "prone" in the air. This has no combat effect on them, since it is not even an action to "move around inside their square" and adjust their attitude to a non-prone attitude. A magically flying foe can simply attack you upside down if he wants to, so there is definately no effect there.

The target may be renederd prone, but since he has no need to "get up from prone" the trip is rendered moot. At best you can get your free attack on him for regular damage. This means that you risked gettn tripped yourself (and missing again) for nothing.

There are some obscure exceptions to this situation though, that can get sticky. The simplest way of managing the situation is to simply rule that flying foes can't be tripped.

 

[irdeggman]

Now, you can grapple a hovering, swimming or flying creature. The effects of that grapple could cause them to fall - depends on their means of movement. For example a creatures wings could be 'pinned' and hence they would start to fall.

You could also rule that a concentration check is called for. This is probably pretty good seeing as how most methods of hovering or flying require a conscious action to 'move'. A failed concentration check would result in the effect (hovering or flying) being suspended for a round.

No matter how you look at this is will require a DM's circumstantial judgement on the effects. I would just have the effects be no more severe than the 'worst case' of the combat option being used.

 

[RangerWickett]

What does tripping do, actually? It shifts someone's feet so that their center of gravity is no longer over their feet, thus causing them to fall over.

Center of gravity does not affect your ability to float. If you 'trip' a magically flying creature, it's feet will be yanked a foot or so to the side, and it will laugh at you for wasting an action. If you 'trip' a winged flying creature, I'd say that you manage to disrupt its motion for one round, so that it stalls, but doesn't fall. But it will have to spend a move action next round to recover.

 

[Pagan priest]

A creature hovering by magical means would most likely not be affected by trip attack. A creature using wings should be tripped. As mentioed earlier, a stall would be a good way to think of this effect. Stalling causes the creature to lose altitude until they recover (which I would define as a Move Equivalent Action). If they are close enough to the ground to hit it before recovering, I would say half damage from the fall as the wings will slow them down.