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Sounds like a contradiction to me.
Taking it step by step...
0 height elevation sounds like you are standing on the ground, no space between "body" and ground. (unless you are above a pit, then you are at "ground level"
if previous statement is true (discounting the pit) then you normally move with your "ground speed".
To fly is to have your body of the ground 1/4 inch above ground is I suppose sufficient to be considered flying. But
Without making a check, a flying creature can remain f lying at the end of its turn so long as it moves a distance greater than half its speed.
Hover being a DC 15 Fly skill check.
Flying along the ground at 0 elevation means to me you are scraping your skin/armor/other... along the ground. Not a really prefered method of movement in my book.
But what you are probably looking for is the following?
Action: None. A Fly check doesn’t require an action; it is
made as part of another action or as a reaction to a situation.
A foot or two off the ground would probably qualify as "flying at zero altitude".
Although the rules don't specify any special treatment, if you're going fast, this should be moderately difficult. For NOE (nappe of the earth) flight I would ask for a DC15 fly skill check for any reasonably irregular surface (anything except a flat desert, salt flats or lake surface) where a failure would imply collision with a terrain feature (bush, hillock, tree, stump, etc). This might imply as much as 2d6 "falling" damage if you're flying at top speed.
But of course that would be a house rule.
You can fly just above the ground, 5ft up or just above the ground makes no difference.
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I agree with Legowaffles. Flying at 0 elevation suggests one is scraping on the ground, but that is not relevant for game mechanics purposes. I suggest a character can fly at the same elevation they would be with feet on the ground with the only difference being there may be some fly checks depending on the situation (such as flying toward a wall).
It also occurs to me it may depend upon how the flying is done -
With wings, or the fly spell? The fly spell allows hovering with no special check needed?
Hovering refers to flying in place, not moving from your square. If he is flying forward in a straight line or turning less than 45 degrees he doesn't need to make any check. Even if he stays in place, the check to hover is pretty easy to make.
Is it wings, or is it the fly extract? Because it could make a difference
I can tell you, and I am looking for the source to verify, winged creatures cannot fly in medium armor.
Edit: That restriction is on barding for mounts, not for all creatures. Nevermind.
Still the fly spell specifically list a speed for medium encumbrance.
But if you have wings instead of using the fly extract it might act differently. I'm not sure what ability you are using.
So long as you wouldn't be knocking your head against the ceiling, looks legit to me.
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I guess one example of this would be a character build I have - a small summoner who uses mounted combat on the back of a medium quadruped eidolon. My intention was to eventually take two levels of the flight evolution (granting perfect flight) and use it as part of charges - normally fight on the ground, and end the turn on the ground, but when making a charge and encountering difficult terrain, rather than being slowed by it, the eidolon pretty much just picks its feet up and glides for a few feet. Would this be a legal interpretation as a means to bypass difficult terrain?
Since the discovery specifies the fly spell but it is actual wings...I'm inclinced to just say follow the spell. But there might be room to say that since a normal flying creature with wings would have their flight speed reduced with armor, that it might still reduce your speed. But probably not.
@Hock, for what it's worth assuming you are medium or small (having 5ft reach) you can fly at 5ft off the ground and still attack everyone on the ground as need be. Assuming the ceilings aren't restricted, you can pretty much do this tactic everywhere.
In this way you are never worried about terrain or ground based traps, etc.
The thing is, taking off loses speed, since you can only fly up at a 45 degrees angle at half speed. And if you get hit you risk falling, which does no falling damage at 5ft but will make you fall prone. Unless there's a hazard on the ground, it is mostly a smarter idea to not remain flying
If you always flying, the intial lose of speed to get up 5ft doesn't matter.
Yes, you risk falling. But it's a DC 10 fly check for you not to fall. You can probably make that around level 3 with relative ease. Assuming class skill, 3 skill ranks that gives you +6. Dex of 16 gives you +3 more for a 9. You literally can't fail to not fall. No fall, no prone. No worries.