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This seems to be a pretty trivial question, yet I have been unable to find an answer.
The rules for Fly (skill) read:
If you are using wings and you fail a Fly check by 5 or more, you plummet to the ground, taking the appropriate falling damage (see Environment).
If I am not using wings to fly, there seems to be no penalty listed.
OTOH the FAQ says, that if you are under the Fly spell and fall unconscious you automatically fail your fly check and thus plummet, which seems to indicate that the quoted paragraph above should not be limited to winged creatures.
On the other hand it is.
And it feels understandable why winged creatures would fall in this case, less clear why a magically flying creature should fall, so my gut tells me to go by the RAW.
Are there any resources I could check to get clarification on this issue?
Given that the condition is failing your fly check and not necessarily falling unconscious I see a strong argument for falling regardless.
Unconscious > Fail Fly Check > Fall
Fail Fly Check > Fall
I suppose using wings is more "secure" than flying magically.
Under the fly skill we have a penalty for failing a check by 5+ for a winged flyer, no other listed penalties. This makes me think that the default penalty for failing a check is the same as most skills: you don't succeed at doing the thing.
Now let's look at the faq, what it says is that while paralyzed you fail the check to hover, and therefore fall. I picture paralyzed flying guy's turn going: I can't move, I auto fail the check to stay stationary and am forced to move, this contradiction only leaves falling as a legal option.
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Under the fly skill we have a penalty for failing a check by 5+ for a winged flyer, no other listed penalties. This makes me think that the default penalty for failing a check is the same as most skills: you don't succeed at doing the thing.
Now let's look at the faq, what it says is that while paralyzed you fail the check to hover, and therefore fall. I picture paralyzed flying guy's turn going: I can't move, I auto fail the check to stay stationary and am forced to move, this contradiction only leaves falling as a legal option.
Thanks.
Your explanation on the skill check is what I supposed, I was just unsure due to the reasoning given in the FAQ. Your interpretation makes sense, and I'll use this as my new default when the question arises.
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This seems to be a pretty trivial question, yet I have been unable to find an answer.
The rules for Fly (skill) read:
If you are using wings and you fail a Fly check by 5 or more, you plummet to the ground, taking the appropriate falling damage (see Environment).If I am not using wings to fly, there seems to be no penalty listed.
OTOH the FAQ says, that if you are under the Fly spell and fall unconscious you automatically fail your fly check and thus plummet, which seems to indicate that the quoted paragraph above should not be limited to winged creatures.
On the other hand it is.And it feels understandable why winged creatures would fall in this case, less clear why a magically flying creature should fall, so my gut tells me to go by the RAW.
Are there any resources I could check to get clarification on this issue?
Did you read the whole FAQ entry for Flight and Magical Flight? Basically says to ignore the bit about wings and just all the flight rules to all creatures with flight.
The irony here, is that unlike real life, birds can't fly in their sleep in the Pathfinder Setting. This is because sleep requires the character to be unconscious, unconscious creatures being helpless have a dex of 0, so as per that FAQ, sleeping birds fall....
There is a difference with magical flight, however. In particular, this paragraph:
Should the spell duration expire while the subject is still aloft, the magic fails slowly. The subject floats downward 60 feet per round for 1d6 rounds. If it reaches the ground in that amount of time, it lands safely. If not, it falls the rest of the distance, taking 1d6 points of damage per 10 feet of fall. Since dispelling a spell effectively ends it, the subject also descends safely in this way if the fly spell is dispelled, but not if it is negated by an antimagic field.
As long as the magic is still there (not unconscious), I can't imagine how it should be interpreted as free-falling instead of descending at 60'/round for 1d6 rounds. This is essentially featherfall. As a GM, I'd play it this way.
Edit: added "free-" to falling. The FAQ clearly says you "fall" if you are paralyzed, etc., but it does not indicate at what rate. My read has always been "why should it be any worse than someone dispelling the spell?"
Unconscious > Fail Fly Check > Fall
Fail Fly Check > Fall
I suppose using wings is more "secure" than flying magically.
Actually using wings is more insecure
The FAQ isn't complete and doesn't explain everything, buit clearly states that if you end up unconscious you automatically attempt to hover, and you automatically fail the check.
What happens then? If you have wings, you plummet as rules state. But if you have magical flight there's no direct ruling about that, so I'd say it would depend on the spell.
For example, Fly has a contingency measure if the spell ends mid flight. instead of plummeting, you get a temporary feather fall for several rounds, and I'd say this measure could also work for an unconscious creature (the spell is still active, it's just that the measure activates). For other spells you might consider they also plummet, although if they recover in time (for very large falls), magical flight would allow them to regain control.
Still, you're entering the Land of Homerulia there, so better as your GM what does she want to do in her table.
If you are unconcious has the spell duration ended? No, so the stated effects on the end of the duration are irrelevant. Does the faq say everyone falls when they become unconcious, regardless of type of flight? Yes. So you fall and go splat, as stated clearly in the rules and faq. Any other interpration is not an interpration, it is a houserule.
Now there are several logical ways to HR this differently than the stated rules, but here in the Rules Forum, let's keep it to the Rules.
any creature that loses all actions can’t take an action to attempt a Fly check to hover in place and thus automatically falls
It's not so clear what happens if you can take an action to attempt a Fly check but fail the check. Presumably you don't automatically fall, because:
If you are using wings and you fail a Fly check by 5 or more, you plummet to the ground
If you are using wings and you fail a Fly check by 1, what happens? My usual answer is that you can't take the action you were trying to take (eg hovering) so you must take an action that doesn't require a Fly check, such as flying in a straight line. I'd say the same thing for missing a wingless magical Fly check.
If you are unconcious has the spell duration ended? No, so the stated effects on the end of the duration are irrelevant. Does the faq say everyone falls when they become unconcious, regardless of type of flight? Yes. So you fall and go splat, as stated clearly in the rules and faq.
The FAQ does not say how fast you fall. It just says you fall.
Any other interpration is not an interpration, it is a houserule.
Since the fly spell (which is not the only type of magical flight) specifically has language that implies you fall, but at a slower rate (aka, featherfall is implied), this statement is not necessarily true. What is left to interpretation is how fast you fall.
The slow fall specified in the fly spell is called out as activating when the spell ends, not when you lose control or become unconcious. It sounds reasonable to extend the featherfall like effect to these other circumstances, but that would be extending, aka changing, the written rules.