Post/Author/DateTime	Post
#1 WolfgangDroven Apr 03, 2015 13:24:07	So how do you deal with arial combat and movement?   Is flight upwards concidered difficult terrain due to gravity? Is divebombing a free dash for the same reason?   Is shooting straight up hindered at all?   How high can they fly before the environment gets them (lack of air, cold ect...)?   As a DM how do you show a fight on a grid map that includes an arial component...or worse yet multiple arial components/combatants?   Is flight possible in a corridor just big enough for wing span but only 5 or 6 feet high?   Can Aarakocra hover?   If knocked prone,incapacitated or other how fast does the creature fall? I know it takes 1d6 damage per 10 feet fallen at the end of the fall, but I cannot find exactly how fast it falls. I was going to guess 10 feet a second so up to 60 feet a round assuming no out side force.   As a DM how do you minimize a Aarakocra Archer from simply going 200 feet and picking everything off unless the ground forces have a ranged attack that can reach those hieghts?   I know they cannot fly in medium armour and heavy armour, do other things stop flight ie: carring capacity, backpacks, quivers ect?   How long can they fly for in the material plane? Same as ground movement?   If strength allows it can they pick someone up carry them into the sky and drop them or is flight hindered somehow for aarakocra?
#2 iserith Apr 03, 2015 13:37:41	Same as any other movement except plus up and down. I don't do difficult terrain for climbing or put a hard number on how high they can fly before encountering challenges related to altitude - it'll happen when it's interesting.   I track movement above the ground on a grid by putting a marker next to the miniature (often a die) to indicate how many squares it is above ground level.   Aarakocra cannot hover.   A creature probably falls around 576 feet in 6 seconds. Call it 500 or 600 feet in a round to keep it simple.   As a DM, I don't try to minimize an aarakocra archer doing his or her thing. My monsters may seek to find cover, return fire with ranged attacks of their own, dodge, or simply focus all their attacks on the other party members.   If their speed is reduced to 0, then they cannot fly. Otherwise they can.
#3 WolfgangDroven Apr 03, 2015 13:49:04	iserith wrote:
#4 iserith Apr 03, 2015 14:28:44	WolfgangDroven wrote:
#5 BRJN Apr 03, 2015 15:55:07	WolfgangDroven wrote:
#6 Rhenny Apr 03, 2015 20:44:35	I'm going to start Princes of the Apocalypse campaign within a few weeks and one of my players wants to play an Aarakocra.  I'm looking forward to it.  I think there will be lots of new options that the race opens up.   I'm going to let the player move freely up, down and vertically as he flies without worrying too much about counting out squares (especially diagonals).   Just tonight I had a discussion with another player and we were musing about how the Aarakocra could fly stealthy.   If it is a class with darkvision 120' (warlock) it would be an awesome night time stealthy glider.  Lol.
#7 BRJN Apr 04, 2015 13:38:12	Rhenny, You can consider using a 4e map grid plus minis, and placing a tape measure under anybody aloft to indicate altitude.  I suspect Theatre of the Mind will be a real eyeball-bender to try to get everybody to 'see' the same thing.   That said, I've seen an all-Minotaur table - even the Wizard ! - at an LFR Battle Interactive, so an all-Aarakocra table could be a fun (and paradigm-shattering) addition to play.
#8 paulstrait Apr 04, 2015 14:41:37	iserith wrote:
#9 paulstrait Apr 04, 2015 14:56:22	In my game, we use a virtual table top so elevation is never ambiguous.  If I were playing with physical miniatures, I'd stick a piece of paper under the mini with its height written in pencil, so it could be changed whenever necessary.  Most of the time, though, the precise elevation isn't going to be important.  It will usually be sufficient to distinguish between a) just above people's heads to b) higher than that to c) so high you can barely see them. WolfgangDroven wrote:
#10 paulstrait Apr 04, 2015 14:59:59	WolfgangDroven wrote:
(Reply to #8) Coredump00	paulstrait wrote:
(Reply to #9) Coredump00	paulstrait wrote:
#13 paulstrait Apr 04, 2015 18:03:17	Coredump00 wrote:
#14 paulstrait Apr 04, 2015 18:16:43	Coredump00 wrote:
#15 iserith Apr 04, 2015 20:32:25	paulstrait wrote:
#16 FrogReaver Apr 04, 2015 22:58:46	576 ft falled per turn.  So if a flying archer was 600 ft above you and was disable a turn he would take two turns to hit the ground.  This means if it was only a single turn disable then he could start flying again or land the turn after.  That's good to know.
#17 Rhenny Apr 05, 2015 6:32:32	Here's something to think about.   Can an Aarakcocra use a bow while flying?   It seems as if its arms are its wings.
#18 paulstrait Apr 05, 2015 11:01:55	Rhenny wrote:
(Reply to #18) Rhenny	paulstrait wrote:
#20 Krusk Apr 05, 2015 14:44:38	WolfgangDroven wrote:
#21 Tempest_Stormwind Apr 05, 2015 15:16:33	Lack of air does have a slight definition already - altitude is discussed on page 110, and it's rather simplified (basically, a 10,000 foot cutoff; lower than that is "fine", higher than that is "overland movement is more taxing unless you're acclimated"). Altitude sickness on Earth can set in somewhat lower than that (around 8000ft, if I remember correctly), but it also has more direct impacts than simple overland movement (some of the symptoms resemble intoxication).   In any case, those numbers won't show up unless you have a mountain game going on, or an aarakocra who attempts to fly to the moon or somesuch. (There are settings where this is possible.)   Regarding stamina, I usually consider it on balance to be equivalent to movement on land. It uses more energy to climb or accelerate, but you can glide at more or less a sustained speed without spending much energy at all; averaging it out it works out to something similar to whatever overland distance your (fly) speed would grant you. There's more details on page 119, under The Sky, but it amounts to the same overall idea.