Matt Gwinn |
I am working on making a Strix Archer for a campaign and my GM has concerns about whether or not you can shoot a bow while flying. The rules don't really state much about attacking while in flight, so I was hoping to get some insight.
Here are a few questions to start
Can I still take a move action then shoot?
Do I have to hover first?
Can use the Flyby Attack feat with a bow?
,Matt
Treantmonk |
Can I still take a move action then shoot?
Yes. It is just as if you were moving on the ground.
Do I have to hover first?
If you want to make a full attack, you can't be moving, so in that case yes.
Can use the Flyby Attack feat with a bow?
If your GM allows you to take feats from the Bestiary, then yes.
Flyby attack allows a standard action at any point during a move action. Shooting a bow (once) is a standard action.
Blackfoot |
Resurrecting this ancient thread.
I have a Strix in my campaign with the 'Wing Clipped' feature which gives him 'Poor' maneuverability while flying. It seems to me that flying and shooting under these conditions should require some sort of Fly check. Assuming this is a relatively easy check for creatures with 'Average' or better maneuverability it seems like a DC 10 check is in order.
Dispari Scuro |
Moving less than half your speed and remain flying: DC 10
Hover: DC 15
A poor maneuverability is a -4 penalty to fly checks.
As long as the strix can make the DCs, they should be fine. If they can't, they can't pull it off. They also have to make a DC 10 check any time they're attacked while flying or lose some altitude.
Blackfoot |
Right.. but you can fly half your speed and still take a standard action. So move shoot .. move shoot .. move shoot .. works but with poor maneuverability.. it seems reasonable to need to make some sort of check in order to do the shoot part effectively.
I'm inflicting a -4 penalty to the shot if the check is failed.
It seems like the rules for this should work something like shooting from horseback... but I can't really finding any actual rules for the flying bit.
LazarX |
Resurrecting this ancient thread.
I have a Strix in my campaign with the 'Wing Clipped' feature which gives him 'Poor' maneuverability while flying. It seems to me that flying and shooting under these conditions should require some sort of Fly check. Assuming this is a relatively easy check for creatures with 'Average' or better maneuverability it seems like a DC 10 check is in order.
Maneuverability is not what it was in D+D. In Pathfinder it is merely a static modifer to Fly checks which everyone has to make for this kind of maneuver. Having the negative modifer from Poor maneuverability, merely means you're more likely to fail. (and suffer the consequences as appropriate.)
Blackfoot |
You are creating houserules.
There are no Pathfinder restrictions such as these.
Perhaps limit this race in your home games if you are uncomfortable with these tactics. Having dealt with flying archers before in my campaigns, there are certainly situations where they will dominate the field.
Are you certain there are no restrictions on shooting and flying? I haven't been able to find any, which is why we've come up with the solution we have. It 'seems' like it should work similar to, but not quite the same as, riding and shooting...
Maneuverability is not what it was in D+D. In Pathfinder it is merely a static modifer to Fly checks which everyone has to make for this kind of maneuver. Having the negative modifer from Poor maneuverability, merely means you're more likely to fail. (and suffer the consequences as appropriate.)
Which is why a relatively low DC check seems to make sense to avoid a penalty, once your skill is high enough to ignore the roll you are golden.
Blackfoot |
That was my question.
Seems a bit off... but I guess it does simplify flying combatants a bit. I wonder why they didn't do the same thing for riding.. I guess it comes up more often and since the flight issue is a more rare occurrence, specialty rules for the case would involve lookups and so forth.
Blackfoot |
We tried the rules I proposed in our game last night.. (since we couldn't locate any official rules) ..it felt pretty right for the situation. It wasn't a difficult check for him in any way (needed a 5 or better) and the one time he failed it all that happened was he had a tougher time with his shot.
Nefreet |
Picture the clumsy flier firing a bow while flying.. he's just not going to be as accurate.
And that's represented in the Pathfinder rules. This character will be limited to only one attack, since he must continue moving each round to stay aloft. The moment he tries to Rapid Shot, he'd better have found a good place to perch.
Dispari Scuro |
It's also worth noting that the poor maneuverability is not "permanent clumsiness." It's just relative clumsiness. If the person has a +14 in fly, rolling a 1 would still give them enough to hover. Meaning they don't really have to roll anymore.
Someone with a poor maneuverability might find it slightly harder to make checks, but is eventually going to be able to make them without worry, barring wind conditions. You shouldn't continue to penalize them at that point.
Yes, they could move + attack every round and not really have to make checks. But this limits them to one attack per round. Not exactly game-breaking.
wraithstrike |
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The player might just invest in skill focus(fly), or just take the hover feat to sit in one spot and fire arrows at will.
Coincidentally there was an ranger harpy in 3.5 in the D&D that used archery. It was not represented as having a problem with shooting a bow and flying. The same goes for Erinyes(3.5 and Pathfinder monster).
It seems to me like you are applying a penalty for having poor flight which is a penalty already, instead of having a penalty for flight specifically.
Rhatahema |
I'd recommend starting a thread in the House Rules forum rather than derailing a 3 year old rules questions thread.
I don't remember any special rules for firing from a boat. Might not have transferred to Pathfinder, but I think the 3.5 DMG suggested applying a +2 or -2 circumstance modifier as it's general rule to handle these type of situations.
Rogar Stonebow |
Cupid had good maneuverability.
I think the player will invest in Skill Focus: Fly eventually.. in order to get the feat that fixes his wings.
Shooting a bow when not in a stable situation is 'bad', ever tried it?
Are there penalties to firing on a boat? There probably should be.
Only when he is sober. He was usually super drunk while hanging at one of Dionysis' parties. Plus he was obese and slovenly.