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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Janx" data-source="post: 5188320" data-attributes="member: 8835">Saying that if a DM has problems with Flight-capable PCs that he's a bad GM is a bit insulting.Apparently some folks have never been taken by surprise or advantage of by the players.  It happens.Setting things on fire can totally throw an adventure plan out of whack.  Oftentimes, it can be a really good idea for the PCs to light a place on fire.Suddenly, the BBEG and his friends are burnt up.  No fuss, no muss.  And if your PCs are motivated by more than XP and Money, they don't really care that treasure is destroyed, because as "Heroes" the King and Village will reward them for their good works in their own way.The same can be said for flying, regardless of the mechanism.  It's not the combat that matters, its all the "traditional" gaming stuff the PCs can skip and bypass.If your focus is on combat, or XP or loot, then bypassing encounters is something the PCs miss out on.  If the PCs actually studied the Art of War, bypassing encounters is good strategy to the success of the quest.it is the sign of a game problem when the GM has to start including a slew of counters  in every encounter, because the players have found a clever solution to most problems.  It gets old, and smacks of arms-racism, and the DM utilizing meta game information to thwart the PCs (because he uses what he knows about the PCs and makes EVERY encounter somehow aware of the party's capabilities).When the players come upon an ever-clever solution, the GM is going to have a "oh crap" moment.  Because he just realized the PCs can use this trick over and over again, rather than it being situationally useful.One poster's response was to completely remove the Fly spell.  That strikes me as unrealistic, because if a wizard can create spells, he will create spells to solve problems, therefore eventually some wizard will create the Fly spell to solve the problem (even in real life, Man had spent millenia trying to fly).Since Flight is so powerful, its certainly worth reviewing its function and level.  As some folks have devised ways to limit it or make it cost more (or make the spell higher level/shorter duration).I know one thing, as a GM, I would hate to have to constantly use the same nerf-trick for every encounter because the PCs have a new toy. But then, consider that as PCs level, we already counter their new BAB and HD, by using higher CR monsters.I suspect the answer to Flight, as in many other "oh crap" features, is to make sure your sessions feature a variety of encounters.  As noted, Flight is not as useful in indoor settings (at least not expansive ones).  Therefore, some percentage of encounters should be indoors.  Just as some % of structures should be stone, and not wood to prevent arson-solving.  Just as some % of murder mysteries should have disguised the murderer such that Speak With Dead can't give the answer away.</blockquote>

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