Flyby Attack to pick up a object on the ground

[Sidney Kuhn]

I was looking for any discussion that covered:

Flyby Attack to pick up a object on the ground.

This is the situation and my ruling.

A player used "burning disarm" on a harpy to make it drop the mace it was holding.

I had the harpy do a flyby attack to pick up the weapon and fly up.

From my reading on the group, there is a lot of disagreement over how flyby attack should work and the player believed that the harpy would have to land to pick up the weapon. After doing this, the harpy would not be able to move or fly.

Thoughts?

[concerro]

The harpy does not have to land. it only has to be close enough to the ground to pick up the weapon, and it can use a standard action to pick it up.

Your player is incorrect.

[mplindustries]

I'm not really sure how there could be any disagreement here. You can totally pick up something on the ground during a fly-by.

[Troubleshooter]

Fly-By Attack is just the name of the feat. Its effect is that you can interrupt a move action, perform a standard action, then resume the move. Sure, that can be an attack. It could be a Vital Strike or a Cleave. It could be launching tail spikes or casting a spell-like ability. It could also include picking up an item.

Further, you do not need to be within a square to pick up an item. You can generally pick up an item within your reach.

Sounds like you ran things right, just double-check that you're running the Fly rules with all the restrictions that should be in place -- ascending at half speed, performing checks to stay aloft if you haven't moved enough, and so on. The players might be happier if they force it to risk falling, or end its turn closer to the ground. Though really, causing it to waste a full round should be good enough.