Ultralight Wings and Flying

[Captain Cosmodrome]

Page 87 of the Armory, Ultralight Wings.

Quote:

When deployed, the wings provide you with an extraordinary fly speed with clumsy maneuverability according to the model of ultralight wings you have.

The chart only shows that the speed steps up with each level of the wings. Does Maneuverability also step up, or is it always clumsy?

Also, With respect to wind conditions that set the DC for flying, are there height breakouts where wind speeds change? I have a player with a sniper rifle who wants to fly 4000 feet in the air and snipe things.

Also, flying has no rules for staying in the air out of combat. What frequency of flight checks should you have players do to stay in the air out of combat? I was thinking if the player can take a 10 and beat the DC of the wind conditions they are fine to stay in the air without checks until combat starts.

[River of Sticks]

There are rules for hovering. You need perfect maneuverability to hover as a swift (Acrobatics check, or as a move - no check. That makes sniper rifle usage difficult. A creature cannot hover with clumsy maneuverability, and with average must make an acrobatics check to hover as a move action. The CRB section on Flying in Acrobatics and some of the environmental blurbs in the GM section will answer most of the flying questions.

EDIT: I do not believe the maneuverability steps up.

[Captain Cosmodrome]

I know he can't hover, and unless he uses something like a Haste Circuit on his armor, he can't use the snipe action in a round. I'm good on these rules and have explained to him that he cannot hover and must use a move action each round to fly.

However, even if he just takes a standard action to fire, his range with the rifle is still ridiculous with feats and gear combos.

My issue comes more with him saying he wants to be 4000 feet in the air at all times and wanting to make sure there is some kind of check to balance it.

[ParaheliZ]

There isn't any specific rules I can find about attacking while airborne. You could say that, since he can't hover and therefore must be constantly in motion to stay airborne, that he actually needs the Shot On The Run feat to shoot while flying with clumsy maneuverability. Could be a potential check on it, or at least require him to dedicate part of his build towards this if it is going to be a standard approach for him.

Alternatively, you could just say that, to counteract the recoil and whatever else for his ranged attack, that he has to make a generic Acrobatics [Flight] check anytime he fires his weapon while flying, at a Wind Condition of one step higher than he is actually flying in (because of altered aerodynamics by the weapon, etc).

[River of Sticks]

He's also going to be significantly lagging the party should anyone get under cover - think going in a building, forest, or under other cover. "Oh no! The bad guy ran into the ship! We need to pursue before he starts the engines and leaves! Let's just wait 3.5 minutes while Sniper McSnipeface plummets 4000' feet at 120' a round to catch up..."

I also agree with Paraheliz - he'll need some ability to shoot while moving, since he is technically never stopping his movement (or else he falls).

[Xoshak4545]

You need to consider what your trying to accomplish before you start adding all types of ad hoch rules to flying when frankly there are cheaper options that will let him do it better (force soles mk 2 ) .....now he can't aim if he can't hover ..agreed .....However there is nothing stopping him from making his full move then shooting RAW and nothing that says shooting your weapon increase the wind speed ....i would suggest you work the cover option River of Sticks pointed out ...occasional throw some snipers at him (because there's no cover up there and if he takes a few hits he'll realize he's in bad place to drop) and when you really need to ground him just have the wind pick up ...otherwise you'll push him to the soles anyway......also flying with clumsy speed already comes with a -8 which makes even lower wind speeds dangerous ...if he starts to dive he may not pull out of it under relatively normal wind conditions

[Xoshak4545]

also maximum visibility in the air is 5d8 * 100ft and I think there is a -1 per 10 ft on perception checks still ...so he probably can't see anything anyway.....

(note only place i can find perception penalty from range is in gamemastering section, environments, like under forest, where it list the perception penalty as -2 per 10 ft for sound instead of the standard -1 per 10 ft...if anyone can find this rule elsewhere or has reason to believe it's changed ..Please Share)

[Ebony Shroud]

Probably a dumb question, but can you use weapons with ultralight wings? It's in the arm slot, and I'm not seeing it as a speed in Foundry.

[Taja the Barbarian]

Ebony Shroud wrote:

Probably a dumb question, but can you use weapons with ultralight wings? It's in the arm slot, and I'm not seeing it as a speed in Foundry.

Technically speaking, I don't believe there is any rule against using a weapon and the wings simultaneously: Just because an upgrade uses one or both 'Arm' slots doesn't mean you can't use that arm(s) for anything else (it just means you can't install another upgrade in that same arm slot without a specific exception).

That being said, expect some table variation on this: This upgrade using both arm slots does imply that you are physically using both arms to fly, which should make shooting a hand-held weapon basically impossible...

Equipment / Upgrades / Biotech / Ultralight Wings wrote:

A set of wings that can fold up tightly is attached to your shoulder blades. You can deploy or fold up the wings as a move action. When deployed, the wings provide you with an extraordinary fly speed with clumsy maneuverability according to the model of ultralight wings you have. You can’t deploy your ultralight wings unless your shoulders are bare or you are wearing custom clothing, and you can’t use your wings to fly if you are encumbered, overburdened, or wearing more than light armor. Ultralight wings integrate into your natural shoulders and can be installed into prosthetic arms.

Model Level Price Fly Speed
Strix 7 6,400 40 ft.
Angel 11 28,600 60 ft.
Dragon 14 80,300 90 ft.

Ultralight Wings, Angel
Source Starfinder Armory pg. 87
Item Level 11; Price 28,600; System All arms

Ultralight Wings, Strix
Source Starfinder Armory pg. 87
Item Level 7; Price 6,400; System All arms

Ultralight Wings, Dragon
Source Starfinder Armory pg. 87
Item Level 14; Price 80,300; System All arms

[ThermalCat]

Taja the Barbarian wrote:

That being said, expect some table variation on this: This upgrade using both arm slots does imply that you are physically using both arms to fly, which should make shooting a hand-held weapon basically impossible...

Possible advantage for a multi-armed species like Kasatha or Skittermander? Although the rule description does say "All arms", so GM might say "no" to this.