Many good points! D&D should be collaborative, not adversarial. The DM and PC should have a conversation about expectations before the campaign even begins. As a DM, I would let my player know how I would handle flight. And those are below: - I would rule that the PC would not be able to constantly fly. Eventually there are going to be constitution checks for exhaustion. - I'd also probably rule that a PC could only pick up and fly with a creature that is two sizes smaller or more (so a tiny creature if the PC is medium), especially if the PC is flying with gear. Maybe I would do an athletics/constitution check every turn to carry a one size smaller creature. If the PC fails, they have to let go of the creature or fall. If they crit-fail, they also take a point of exhaustion. Also as you pointed out, grappling does not mean the enemy cannot attack each round. If they get out of the grapple, depending on the monster's intelligence, I'd have it attempt to get hold of the PC's wings and ride the plummeting PC back down to the ground. Talk about drama! - I might also rule that a shot while flying is at disadvantage (and the same with somatic spells). You've got to flap those wings while loosing the arrow/bolt/spell or be swooping while doing it. Not exactly ideal conditions for archery/spells. Also, if one PC wants to fly to the top of the tower to bypass things, by all means, let the lone character go. Hopefully it would only take one time of the five Hobgoblin archers at the top of the tower to shoot some sense into the character. Or maybe there's only one enemy up there if you want to give them a moment in the spotlight. But (s)he will have to either go back and rejoin the group or go down into the tower all alone. That's not game-breaking at all. I don't think any of these things or anything you've suggested is being an adversarial DM. I think these tweaks give more plausibility to the world. One could make a case that we're talking about a world infused with magic, so plausibility is different, but I tend to run low-magic settings. But if the player knows that there's plausible and natural consequences to their ancestry choice, then I have no problem with them taking any of the options available.
As someone who played an Aarakocra sun cleric. Any time in a new room I'd ask "How high is the ceiling?". His name was Pontiac Thundercougarfalconbird, of the eastern Thundercougarfalcongirds. And yes I named him Pontiac because he was, a firebird.
I wanted my player to play an arakocra. If they want to lift a creature larger than medium it causes difficult terrain to flying speed and must make a strength check if holding the creature at end of turn. They also have disadvantaged or a -X if in a dungeon/underground. Travel distance is big in my game, it takes place in the sword coast; from icewind dale to candle keep. Because of this I allow my arakocra player to fly ahead. They could fly from icewind dale to baldur's gate without landing as arakocra can fly for weeks according to lore. Along that thought I allow them to see and percept things from a further distance... basically I give them "eagle vision". One session the arakocra got into a sky battle with a manticore. It was epic. Players on the ground were firing arrows. The sorcerer made the manticore land with a spell, it was all over after that.
I had a player get mad at me because I wouldn't let his Aarakocra druid lift a fully grown minotaur. The minotaur thanked me after he had a 5ft tall roast chicken dinner.
I built one of these as my first character ever. Combined it with a monk. Used the grapple and drop technique worked out perfectly fine. Thanks to dropping being a zero action. It did help that I rolled 3 nat20 in a row lol.
this helped quite a bit with an owlin ranged fighter i'm playing soon. how do you feel about the owlin race with the extended darkvision racial alongside natural 30ft flying?
I'm presently playing an Aarakocra in my party's Dragonlance campaign and the DM was cool with it. I personally feel if you're just playing a flying turret playstyle as an Aarakocra...you're kinda both limiting yourself and it's kinda dull. My Aarakocra has so far used her flight to stealth around clouds to spy on enemies, ferry our party around (I'm strong enough to haul around two or three party members), and personal favorite, drop the raging Barbarian from about 30 or 40 feet up on an enemy's head. So far we've had no issues.
I agree Tabaxi are strong but don't think Tabaxi are better at avoiding attacks than an Aarakocra. Tabaxi are fast and can can kite but have to keep moving away from the creature coming after him. Aarakocra just fly up 30 feet and can attack at will without further concern unless the creature has ranged attacks. Then they fly to 120+ ft and use a longbow. Tabaxi can't run over water/lava/off the edge off a cliff/over a mountain. They can be much more easily trapped, cornered or restricted by terrain. Aarakocra just fly over water/lava, off the edge of a cliff/out of land based animals attempts to corner them because they have vertical movement. Tabaxi's can run into trouble more easily, whether that be environmental or other creatures. Aarakocra's vertical movement means they can always escape up and there isn't much up there to stop them unless I want to be an adversarial dm and contrive ways to counter them (I don't). As you point out, even if you send flying monsters after them, many of them move more slowly. An Aarakocra doesn't have to escape in a straight line, it can circle kite above the party allowing the party a shooting gallery versus whatever might be chasing it. All seems like a lot of hassle to counter at level 1. Additionally, players seldom seem to choose Aarakocra because they want to have feathers and a beak, or are in love with the lore (I said seldom not never) but it seems to mostly boil down to them being really powerful. "Why won't you let me play this OP thing I've chosen specifically because it's OP" asks the player answering his own question. I wouldn't give a magic item to a party at level 1 which allowed flight akin to an Aarakocra cos it would be unbalanced so... Also, if it's not in the game I don't have to keep looking up how to spell it :-)
Good points, and I get that it's really powerful, but unless the party is fighting in a lit, open area, the birdman's singular racial feature is severely handicapped. I would hesitate to give a level 1 party a magic item that allowed flight as well, but primarily because the other characters have a lot more racial features that would make them better than stock birdmen. All in all, I just chalk it up to basic min-maxing. Let the player make a character they want and laugh when they meet a challenge they are completely inept at.
I maintain that any issues with something so easily countered as "flying" is the DMs fault. Invent ranged traps. Have enemies with earthbind spells. Introduce turbulent wind.
Just limit the Ara by making sure it's known that they come from really thin oxygen levels thus when in denser oxygen levels they cant breathe as well and make them have a pool of flying movement that they have to manage. If 100 feet in the air then if they run out of oxygen levels they fall. Falling damage to hollow bones is not good.
Like in nearly any case, issues with gameplay are the DMs fault, not the game, not the players. You're complaining because you lack the creativity to conjure up interesting strengths and challenges for a play type you're unfamiliar with. It's your _job_ to understand your player's strengths and weaknesses and build an adventure that will be interesting for them. You are literally god of this world. You can say they have ranged traps, like whipping vines or magically triggered bows. You can give enemies spells that target flying ability. You can make turbulent wind. You can summon flying enemies. And you can also stop being butthurt because a player wants to play a game and have fun doing it. The DMs job is a selfless one. If you don't find joy in making other people happy and making them the star of the show, then it's not for you. You're better off a player.
"You're complaining because you lack the creativity to conjure up interesting strengths and challenges for a play type you're unfamiliar with." Translation: "Do more work DM. Adjust every encounter because of the aarakocra." "You are literally god of this world." Cool. Every single monster now has an anti-air heavy crossbow with an infinite range that can only attack flying creatures. Do you not see how that breaks verisimilitude? "If you don't find joy in making other people happy and making them the star of the show, then it's not for you. You're better off a player." Being a DM should also be fun. It shouldn't be a "job" as you put it. You have never been a DM as your entire post reeks of entitlement.
@@TheNeomaster15 I have, actually. By "job", I obviously meant the role I agreed to fill in cooperative storytelling. And no, I don't see how that breaks anything, because its a bad faith argument and if you thought about it for a few more minutes you could create a better response to your scenario. You might even conjure a valid criticism of my comment. If it's "extra work" to do something as simple as _imagine something that reaches far_ then I can definitely see how the aarakocra causes problems for you. It was real ableist of me to assume everyone who put themselves in a DMing position had an IQ above 50 and was good at improvising.
@@gormauslander A "role" that you keep on adding more work to one person. How is that fair? You said the DM is god. Therefore anything is valid. "imagine something that reaches far" Cool. A DM has a campaign centred on using werewolves as the main enemy, what then? Guess they should suck it up and spend more re-planning because of one player?
@@TheNeomaster15 So you write all of your encounters without thinking at all about who your players are? That doesn't sound like a good time, no matter what race they play
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Many good points! D&D should be collaborative, not adversarial. The DM and PC should have a conversation about expectations before the campaign even begins. As a DM, I would let my player know how I would handle flight. And those are below:
- I would rule that the PC would not be able to constantly fly. Eventually there are going to be constitution checks for exhaustion.
- I'd also probably rule that a PC could only pick up and fly with a creature that is two sizes smaller or more (so a tiny creature if the PC is medium), especially if the PC is flying with gear. Maybe I would do an athletics/constitution check every turn to carry a one size smaller creature. If the PC fails, they have to let go of the creature or fall. If they crit-fail, they also take a point of exhaustion. Also as you pointed out, grappling does not mean the enemy cannot attack each round. If they get out of the grapple, depending on the monster's intelligence, I'd have it attempt to get hold of the PC's wings and ride the plummeting PC back down to the ground. Talk about drama!
- I might also rule that a shot while flying is at disadvantage (and the same with somatic spells). You've got to flap those wings while loosing the arrow/bolt/spell or be swooping while doing it. Not exactly ideal conditions for archery/spells.
Also, if one PC wants to fly to the top of the tower to bypass things, by all means, let the lone character go. Hopefully it would only take one time of the five Hobgoblin archers at the top of the tower to shoot some sense into the character. Or maybe there's only one enemy up there if you want to give them a moment in the spotlight. But (s)he will have to either go back and rejoin the group or go down into the tower all alone. That's not game-breaking at all.
I don't think any of these things or anything you've suggested is being an adversarial DM. I think these tweaks give more plausibility to the world. One could make a case that we're talking about a world infused with magic, so plausibility is different, but I tend to run low-magic settings. But if the player knows that there's plausible and natural consequences to their ancestry choice, then I have no problem with them taking any of the options available.
As someone who played an Aarakocra sun cleric. Any time in a new room I'd ask "How high is the ceiling?". His name was Pontiac Thundercougarfalconbird, of the eastern Thundercougarfalcongirds. And yes I named him Pontiac because he was, a firebird.
I wanted my player to play an arakocra. If they want to lift a creature larger than medium it causes difficult terrain to flying speed and must make a strength check if holding the creature at end of turn. They also have disadvantaged or a -X if in a dungeon/underground.
Travel distance is big in my game, it takes place in the sword coast; from icewind dale to candle keep. Because of this I allow my arakocra player to fly ahead. They could fly from icewind dale to baldur's gate without landing as arakocra can fly for weeks according to lore.
Along that thought I allow them to see and percept things from a further distance... basically I give them "eagle vision".
One session the arakocra got into a sky battle with a manticore. It was epic. Players on the ground were firing arrows. The sorcerer made the manticore land with a spell, it was all over after that.
I had a player get mad at me because I wouldn't let his Aarakocra druid lift a fully grown minotaur. The minotaur thanked me after he had a 5ft tall roast chicken dinner.
You could also have a handicap at the beginning on the aaracokra like get it injured on its wing so they cant fly till a level or 2
Low health (hollow bones) and short life span (30 years)
I built one of these as my first character ever. Combined it with a monk. Used the grapple and drop technique worked out perfectly fine. Thanks to dropping being a zero action. It did help that I rolled 3 nat20 in a row lol.
Yo I should make a aarakocra and make it fly into a window because birds do that- and I do that
this helped quite a bit with an owlin ranged fighter i'm playing soon. how do you feel about the owlin race with the extended darkvision racial alongside natural 30ft flying?
I'm about to play a 5 year old aarakocra in my next game haha
I'm presently playing an Aarakocra in my party's Dragonlance campaign and the DM was cool with it.
I personally feel if you're just playing a flying turret playstyle as an Aarakocra...you're kinda both limiting yourself and it's kinda dull.
My Aarakocra has so far used her flight to stealth around clouds to spy on enemies, ferry our party around (I'm strong enough to haul around two or three party members), and personal favorite, drop the raging Barbarian from about 30 or 40 feet up on an enemy's head.
So far we've had no issues.
Why do these bird men look like the kenku of 2nd edition and the kenku now look like crow people with no wings?
I agree Tabaxi are strong but don't think Tabaxi are better at avoiding attacks than an Aarakocra. Tabaxi are fast and can can kite but have to keep moving away from the creature coming after him. Aarakocra just fly up 30 feet and can attack at will without further concern unless the creature has ranged attacks. Then they fly to 120+ ft and use a longbow.
Tabaxi can't run over water/lava/off the edge off a cliff/over a mountain. They can be much more easily trapped, cornered or restricted by terrain. Aarakocra just fly over water/lava, off the edge of a cliff/out of land based animals attempts to corner them because they have vertical movement.
Tabaxi's can run into trouble more easily, whether that be environmental or other creatures. Aarakocra's vertical movement means they can always escape up and there isn't much up there to stop them unless I want to be an adversarial dm and contrive ways to counter them (I don't). As you point out, even if you send flying monsters after them, many of them move more slowly. An Aarakocra doesn't have to escape in a straight line, it can circle kite above the party allowing the party a shooting gallery versus whatever might be chasing it.
All seems like a lot of hassle to counter at level 1. Additionally, players seldom seem to choose Aarakocra because they want to have feathers and a beak, or are in love with the lore (I said seldom not never) but it seems to mostly boil down to them being really powerful. "Why won't you let me play this OP thing I've chosen specifically because it's OP" asks the player answering his own question.
I wouldn't give a magic item to a party at level 1 which allowed flight akin to an Aarakocra cos it would be unbalanced so... Also, if it's not in the game I don't have to keep looking up how to spell it :-)
Good points, and I get that it's really powerful, but unless the party is fighting in a lit, open area, the birdman's singular racial feature is severely handicapped.
I would hesitate to give a level 1 party a magic item that allowed flight as well, but primarily because the other characters have a lot more racial features that would make them better than stock birdmen.
All in all, I just chalk it up to basic min-maxing. Let the player make a character they want and laugh when they meet a challenge they are completely inept at.
I maintain that any issues with something so easily countered as "flying" is the DMs fault. Invent ranged traps. Have enemies with earthbind spells. Introduce turbulent wind.
thanks this was really helpful!
Ты очень крутой. Интересно снимаешь. Сразу лайк.
Just limit the Ara by making sure it's known that they come from really thin oxygen levels thus when in denser oxygen levels they cant breathe as well and make them have a pool of flying movement that they have to manage. If 100 feet in the air then if they run out of oxygen levels they fall. Falling damage to hollow bones is not good.
Like in nearly any case, issues with gameplay are the DMs fault, not the game, not the players. You're complaining because you lack the creativity to conjure up interesting strengths and challenges for a play type you're unfamiliar with. It's your _job_ to understand your player's strengths and weaknesses and build an adventure that will be interesting for them. You are literally god of this world. You can say they have ranged traps, like whipping vines or magically triggered bows. You can give enemies spells that target flying ability. You can make turbulent wind. You can summon flying enemies. And you can also stop being butthurt because a player wants to play a game and have fun doing it. The DMs job is a selfless one. If you don't find joy in making other people happy and making them the star of the show, then it's not for you. You're better off a player.
DM’s don’t lack creativity they just think it’s annoying having to change encounters to balance for one party member at level one
"You're complaining because you lack the creativity to conjure up interesting strengths and challenges for a play type you're unfamiliar with."
Translation: "Do more work DM. Adjust every encounter because of the aarakocra."
"You are literally god of this world."
Cool. Every single monster now has an anti-air heavy crossbow with an infinite range that can only attack flying creatures. Do you not see how that breaks verisimilitude?
"If you don't find joy in making other people happy and making them the star of the show, then it's not for you. You're better off a player."
Being a DM should also be fun. It shouldn't be a "job" as you put it. You have never been a DM as your entire post reeks of entitlement.
@@TheNeomaster15 I have, actually. By "job", I obviously meant the role I agreed to fill in cooperative storytelling.
And no, I don't see how that breaks anything, because its a bad faith argument and if you thought about it for a few more minutes you could create a better response to your scenario. You might even conjure a valid criticism of my comment.
If it's "extra work" to do something as simple as _imagine something that reaches far_ then I can definitely see how the aarakocra causes problems for you. It was real ableist of me to assume everyone who put themselves in a DMing position had an IQ above 50 and was good at improvising.
@@gormauslander A "role" that you keep on adding more work to one person. How is that fair?
You said the DM is god. Therefore anything is valid.
"imagine something that reaches far"
Cool. A DM has a campaign centred on using werewolves as the main enemy, what then? Guess they should suck it up and spend more re-planning because of one player?
@@TheNeomaster15 So you write all of your encounters without thinking at all about who your players are? That doesn't sound like a good time, no matter what race they play
Hi Pls reply