Falling vs. Flying

[Ravingdork]

If a creature with flight has the ground taken out from under them suddenly, such as from a trap door or a create pit spell, do they fall? Or can they remain in place due to their flight ability?

[Grick]

Ravingdork wrote:

If a creature with flight has the ground taken out from under them suddenly, such as from a trap door or a create pit spell, do they fall? Or can they remain in place due to their flight ability?

Fly - "Avoid Falling Damage: If you are falling and have the ability to fly, you can make a DC 10 Fly check to negate the damage. You cannot make this check if you are falling due to a failed Fly check or a collision."

[Ravingdork]

Does that negate the falling itself though, or just the damage? Falling into an acid pit, for example, could still be quite hazardous even without the falling damage.

[mavbor]

They would still fall into the pit if they are not currently flying. Example if they are walking on the ground they would fall into the pit. If they are currently flying and the pit floor opens then they wouldnt fall.

[Adamantine Dragon]

RD, if I were the GM of a trap which consisted of a trap door over an acid pit, I'd give any character a reflex check to avoid falling in. The impact on a flying creature would depend on how far down the acid was. If the acid was ten feet or more down, I'd rule that the creature was able to avoid contact with the acid. If the acid was less than ten feet, there would be some contact if the reflex save was failed. I would probably just allow the damage dice roll determine how much acid damage was taken then.

[Talonhawke]

I would also think maneuverability would play a part in determining what hapoens

[TGMaxMaxer]

Fly-perfect and Fly-clumsy would also come into play. An Eagle dropped over a vat of acid is probably fine, a pteranodon, not so much.

[David Haller]

I'm guessing this is one of two basic scenarios:

(i) it's the flying creature's turn, and during a move it trips a pit trap - in this case, it gets a DC10 fly check per standard to "avoid damage", which seems pretty obviously to be that it "catches" itself before it actually hits ground (in this case, it would also avoid the acid damage).

(ii) it's not the flying creature's turn, and it has been subjected to an acid pit by some means (has had the spell acid pit cast against it, has been bull-rushed into an acid pit, or the like). Because it's not its turn, it can't make the DC10 fly check (it can't take move actions out of turn), but it would, of course, get its reflex save as appropriate (in the case of the spell). If it failed the save, it would indeed plummet into the pit (and acid).

[Big Lemon]

As a GM, I would make the judgment call that that is actually falling with style.