A party with one flying member [Archive] - Wizards Community

A party with one flying member [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Halgar
10-14-05, 02:24 PM I just read about the Raptorian race, and wondered what I would say if a player wanted to play one. At 5th level, this character could fly and the rest of the party probably could not. It strikes me that this would encourage this character to separate from the rest of the party a lot, scouting ahead or running errands. When a character does something away from the group, they other players have to just sit back in silence while the DM runs his individual activities. Who here has run D&D groups with one member who can fly? Am I right to think that I should discourage that?
Thynass
10-14-05, 02:32 PM I'll admit that I do not know anything about the race you have mentioned (apart from the fact it can fly), and thus do not know how well balanced that ability is with the rest of it's attributes, but it would be worth checking if it is balanced or not. I have had players ask me whether they could play flying characters, and I have done my upmost to discourage it (with success), not because of scouting and stuff, but because (as I believe it says in the DM guide somewhere), it renders skills like jump and climb useless. If there's a big pit full of lava with a rope bridge over it and the treasure is on the far side, there's no excitement if they just fly over it. Flying can render a lot of challenges challengeless. It depends as well on what sort of campaign you want to run; is it going to be inside or outside more, because obviously inside will mean it is a lot less useful an ability. Personally, I would discourage it, because it can make life as a DM hell. But then, at fifth level, wizards gain access to fly. And there's no justification for disallowing that. So maybe it isn't too bad.
Super Guy
10-14-05, 02:33 PM Depends. I'd say yes, just because I hate non-core races (with the exception of the normal savage races, like Gnolls, Hobs, Orcs, Tieflings, etc...) but if you want to allow extra races like Raptorians, it's up to both you and the player.

By that, I mean, is he going to use it wisely? If he continually hogs up the session by flying around and doing stuff on his own, the rest of the party is going to get bored- and quick! Perhaps if he is interested in using it to scout you can just quickly run down what he will see, and hope that he's not a big enough idiot to try to do things by himself.

Also, don't encourage him to do things by himself, like giving him opportunities when he's scouting. At least, not often. If he sees that someone is about to be killed, or, god forbid, seeping lava is about to melt some precious coins, then he's obviously going to want to stop that from happening and that could have extensive ramifications (like a battle, or conversation with an NPC, etc...)
cvazi
10-14-05, 02:46 PM Running erands is fine, since every charater has thier own special needs. As for scouting ahead, nothing stops far ranging scouts like tanglebags :D I would start with bow packing encounters, and if the player doesn't get the hint, break out the tanglebags. Nothing says PC death like an entangled PC stuck to the ground, surrounded by enemies and far far away from the rest of his party.
Jagyr Ebonwood
10-14-05, 03:05 PM At 5th level, this character could fly and the rest of the party probably could not.

A wizard gets access to fly at 5th level. A sorcerer gets it at 6th.
The EL & CR rules, as well as WotC modules, all take into account the ability to fly at about 5th level.
lohki.the.lich
10-14-05, 03:14 PM I played a half celsteial/drow in the city of the spider queen module(the dm turned everthing epic). And he was the only flying pc it didnt unbalance the game just send soem flying creatures at him if he start abuseing it.
Chobemaster
10-14-05, 05:18 PM Like the DM guide says, just encorporate situations that are best solved by flying...which is the same thing you did by creating situations that required climbing...using the PC abilities.

Just make sure that he contributes his fair share and no more...being the only one flying isn't the be-all/end-all in combat...makes you a target, too...no need to worry about firing into melee.

put part of an enemy force across a chasm or on a balcony, he can go deal with them, from time to time. other times, pitch the battle somewhere that flight doesn't help, like a low-ceilinged room.

When it would make sense for the NPC's to do so, put in flight protectors...if a wizard's base would be susceptible to invasion by flight, hang spiked chains every 2' from the ceiling.
tarkin
10-14-05, 05:26 PM 10ft tall ceilings make most flight useless (anyone can still hit you with their weapons for example).

Also, instead of spiked celings, you could set up traps for flying/tall creatures. In a room with a 15 ft tall ceiling, a nice set of tripwire set at 10 ft up for example that triggers a horizontal attack at 10ft.
pierow37
10-14-05, 05:30 PM the monster was in "races of faerun" and it was an aarak... [wayyy too many "a"'s] and it had a fly speed of 90... that 18 squares... and i made a fighter of that, spent lots of time on it... only to find out that my DM wouldn't let me do it

but now i am a DM myself... and i wouldn't let thath happen
Cathon
10-14-05, 05:33 PM Druids can also wildshape into Eagles at that level. A member of the party who can fly at 5th level in some capacity is the norm for most parties, that's why they put flying off until that level for Raptorians.
talkingbeatles
10-14-05, 05:36 PM As the DM it's your job to give the players hell. I mean, y'know don't make it to hard, but don't make their journey a cake walk. So my point is, let the guy have a flier. Then, just make sure you make sure he doesn't do anything stupid and time consuming that makes the rest of the group bored. If he does go down that path, then stop focusing on him, and just focus on the main group.
For instance, if he's gone off on a little flying mission by himself, have the rest of the group get in a major battle with tons of experince and magic goodies. He'll eventually stop running useless errands that **** everyone else off.
I encourage players to make their character's creative as possible. It brings out my creative side.
Sybill
10-14-05, 11:20 PM I have a very young dragon PC in my campaign right now. (Granted, the party is at level 12, but anyway...) I find it doesn't really unbalance things after all. And if your'e worried about solo adventures while he's off doing stuff, just don't have them. You don't really need to rp out him running errands to pick up supplies from the store and things like that. Or have the rest of the group have stuff that happens to them while the one PC is away doing his thing.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Halgar 10-14-05, 02:24 PM	I just read about the Raptorian race, and wondered what I would say if a player wanted to play one. At 5th level, this character could fly and the rest of the party probably could not. It strikes me that this would encourage this character to separate from the rest of the party a lot, scouting ahead or running errands. When a character does something away from the group, they other players have to just sit back in silence while the DM runs his individual activities. Who here has run D&D groups with one member who can fly? Am I right to think that I should discourage that?
Thynass 10-14-05, 02:32 PM	I'll admit that I do not know anything about the race you have mentioned (apart from the fact it can fly), and thus do not know how well balanced that ability is with the rest of it's attributes, but it would be worth checking if it is balanced or not. I have had players ask me whether they could play flying characters, and I have done my upmost to discourage it (with success), not because of scouting and stuff, but because (as I believe it says in the DM guide somewhere), it renders skills like jump and climb useless. If there's a big pit full of lava with a rope bridge over it and the treasure is on the far side, there's no excitement if they just fly over it. Flying can render a lot of challenges challengeless. It depends as well on what sort of campaign you want to run; is it going to be inside or outside more, because obviously inside will mean it is a lot less useful an ability. Personally, I would discourage it, because it can make life as a DM hell. But then, at fifth level, wizards gain access to fly. And there's no justification for disallowing that. So maybe it isn't too bad.
Super Guy 10-14-05, 02:33 PM	Depends. I'd say yes, just because I hate non-core races (with the exception of the normal savage races, like Gnolls, Hobs, Orcs, Tieflings, etc...) but if you want to allow extra races like Raptorians, it's up to both you and the player. By that, I mean, is he going to use it wisely? If he continually hogs up the session by flying around and doing stuff on his own, the rest of the party is going to get bored- and quick! Perhaps if he is interested in using it to scout you can just quickly run down what he will see, and hope that he's not a big enough idiot to try to do things by himself. Also, don't encourage him to do things by himself, like giving him opportunities when he's scouting. At least, not often. If he sees that someone is about to be killed, or, god forbid, seeping lava is about to melt some precious coins, then he's obviously going to want to stop that from happening and that could have extensive ramifications (like a battle, or conversation with an NPC, etc...)
cvazi 10-14-05, 02:46 PM	Running erands is fine, since every charater has thier own special needs. As for scouting ahead, nothing stops far ranging scouts like tanglebags :D I would start with bow packing encounters, and if the player doesn't get the hint, break out the tanglebags. Nothing says PC death like an entangled PC stuck to the ground, surrounded by enemies and far far away from the rest of his party.
Jagyr Ebonwood 10-14-05, 03:05 PM	At 5th level, this character could fly and the rest of the party probably could not. A wizard gets access to fly at 5th level. A sorcerer gets it at 6th. The EL & CR rules, as well as WotC modules, all take into account the ability to fly at about 5th level.
lohki.the.lich 10-14-05, 03:14 PM	I played a half celsteial/drow in the city of the spider queen module(the dm turned everthing epic). And he was the only flying pc it didnt unbalance the game just send soem flying creatures at him if he start abuseing it.
Chobemaster 10-14-05, 05:18 PM	Like the DM guide says, just encorporate situations that are best solved by flying...which is the same thing you did by creating situations that required climbing...using the PC abilities. Just make sure that he contributes his fair share and no more...being the only one flying isn't the be-all/end-all in combat...makes you a target, too...no need to worry about firing into melee. put part of an enemy force across a chasm or on a balcony, he can go deal with them, from time to time. other times, pitch the battle somewhere that flight doesn't help, like a low-ceilinged room. When it would make sense for the NPC's to do so, put in flight protectors...if a wizard's base would be susceptible to invasion by flight, hang spiked chains every 2' from the ceiling.
tarkin 10-14-05, 05:26 PM	10ft tall ceilings make most flight useless (anyone can still hit you with their weapons for example). Also, instead of spiked celings, you could set up traps for flying/tall creatures. In a room with a 15 ft tall ceiling, a nice set of tripwire set at 10 ft up for example that triggers a horizontal attack at 10ft.
pierow37 10-14-05, 05:30 PM	the monster was in "races of faerun" and it was an aarak... [wayyy too many "a"'s] and it had a fly speed of 90... that 18 squares... and i made a fighter of that, spent lots of time on it... only to find out that my DM wouldn't let me do it but now i am a DM myself... and i wouldn't let thath happen
Cathon 10-14-05, 05:33 PM	Druids can also wildshape into Eagles at that level. A member of the party who can fly at 5th level in some capacity is the norm for most parties, that's why they put flying off until that level for Raptorians.
talkingbeatles 10-14-05, 05:36 PM	As the DM it's your job to give the players hell. I mean, y'know don't make it to hard, but don't make their journey a cake walk. So my point is, let the guy have a flier. Then, just make sure you make sure he doesn't do anything stupid and time consuming that makes the rest of the group bored. If he does go down that path, then stop focusing on him, and just focus on the main group. For instance, if he's gone off on a little flying mission by himself, have the rest of the group get in a major battle with tons of experince and magic goodies. He'll eventually stop running useless errands that **** everyone else off. I encourage players to make their character's creative as possible. It brings out my creative side.
Sybill 10-14-05, 11:20 PM	I have a very young dragon PC in my campaign right now. (Granted, the party is at level 12, but anyway...) I find it doesn't really unbalance things after all. And if your'e worried about solo adventures while he's off doing stuff, just don't have them. You don't really need to rp out him running errands to pick up supplies from the store and things like that. Or have the rest of the group have stuff that happens to them while the one PC is away doing his thing.