The spell says you move at half speed going up; does this mean you can't charge upwards or can you still do it by just paying the additional movement cost?
Same as TOZ. I always treated going up as difficult terrain.
Same-ish, I always treated moving straight up as impossible (which Air Walk agrees with saying a maximum incline as 45°). If you mean charging upwards at 45° then I still say not possible as it's equivalent to difficult terrain in my opinion.
Charge
Charging is a special full-round action that allows you to move up to twice your speed and attack during the action. Charging, however, carries tight restrictions on how you can move.
Movement During a ChargeYou must move before your attack, not after. You must move at least 10 feet (2 squares) and may move up to double your speed directly toward the designated opponent. If you move a distance equal to your speed or less, you can also draw a weapon during a charge attack if your base attack bonus is at least +1.
You must have a clear path toward the opponent, and nothing can hinder your movement (such as difficult terrain or obstacles). You must move to the closest space from which you can attack the opponent. If this space is occupied or otherwise blocked, you can’t charge. If any line from your starting space to the ending space passes through a square that blocks movement, slows movement, or contains a creature (even an ally), you can’t charge. Helpless creatures don’t stop a charge.
If you don’t have line of sight to the opponent at the start of your turn, you can’t charge that opponent.
You can’t take a 5-foot step in the same round as a charge.
If you are able to take only a standard action on your turn, you can still charge, but you are only allowed to move up to your speed (instead of up to double your speed) and you cannot draw a weapon unless you possess the Quick Draw feat. You can’t use this option unless you are restricted to taking only a standard action on your turn.
Air WalkSchool transmutation [air]; Level alchemist 4, cleric/oracle 4, druid 4; Domain air 4
CASTING
Casting Time 1 standard action
Components V, S, DFEFFECT
Range touch
Target creature (Gargantuan or smaller) touched
Duration 10 min./level
Saving Throw none; Spell Resistance yes (harmless)DESCRIPTION
The subject can tread on air as if walking on solid ground. Moving upward is similar to walking up a hill. The maximum upward or downward angle possible is 45 degrees, at a rate equal to half the air walker’s normal speed.
A strong wind (21+ miles per hour) can push the subject along or hold it back. At the end of a creature’s turn each round, the wind blows the air walker 5 feet for each 5 miles per hour of wind speed. The creature may be subject to additional penalties in exceptionally strong or turbulent winds, such as loss of control over movement or physical damage from being buffeted about.
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 in this way if the air walk spell is dispelled, but not if it is negated by an antimagic field.
You can cast air walk on a specially trained mount so it can be ridden through the air. You can train a mount to move with the aid of air walk (counts as a trick; see Handle Animal skill) with 1 week of work and a DC 25 Handle Animal check.
Moving upwards at a 45deg incline reduces your movement speed by 1/2 your normal move speed, and the Charge rules specifically state that you cannot charge while your movement is hindered or through a square that slows movement.
So the reason you can't charge upwards isn't due to Difficult Terrain, it's due to the slowed movement speed (hindered movement).
Of course, you should be able to charge upwards at 44 degrees or less, though that's complicated as movement is typically measured square to square to square and moving upwards from one square to another would be hard to do without it being a 45 degree incline. The rules were always a bit hazy with regards to 3D movement though. For a charge, I would just expect a clear path from point A to point B, which could be an incline less than 45 degrees
Of course, you should be able to charge upwards at 44% or less, though that's complicated as movement is typically measured square to square to square and moving upwards from one square to another would be hard to do without it being a 45% incline. The rules were always a bit hazy with regards to 3D movement though.
3D Flying Combat rules are definitely much to be yearned for in this game, as everyone level 5 and higher has some kind of access to flight, whether it be via spell/ability, items like magic carpet/broom, or paying your friendly neighborhood wizard's guild 7,500gp+tip for a permanent fly. Rules-wise, this game was definitely meant to be played in 2D. Anywho, I treat 3D movement like Hill Terrain rules unless the maneuverability is perfect, and that has served me well. I also save the plastic dice cases whenever I buy dice, and then put their mini's on top of it out on the battle map.
Of course, you should be able to charge upwards at 44 degrees or less, though that's complicated as movement is typically measured square to square to square and moving upwards from one square to another would be hard to do without it being a 45 degree incline. The rules were always a bit hazy with regards to 3D movement though. For a charge, I would just expect a clear path from point A to point B, which could be an incline less than 45 degrees
Yeah... I was wondering about cases where you only have a 10 or 20 deg angle. Like charging 70 feet down a lane and only going 10 or 25 feet up. Seems simpler to just apply the 1/2 move rule to anything between 0 and 46 deg though...
Keep in mind that this 45* angle thing doesn't mean you can even go 15ft up and 15ft in a direction. Your speed is halved to 15ft and then when you go 10ft in a 2D direction (say to the right) and 10ft up into the air, you have now traveled 15ft. Ironically, if you were to travel 20ft to the right and then 20ft up, with something that doesnt state half speed at 45* angle, you still have moved at a 45* angle and gone 30ft of actual distance, which is that half movement rule that boratio mentioned. So you could just say you moved 20ft to the right and 15ft up and still go further in both directions than the perfect 45* climb. While maybe there's trade off there where you cant climb to something almost directly above you, there also isn't a "circular stairs" rule that stops you from just going virtually straight up anyway.
While honestly, I think that this is simpler if you just rule 45* "halving" to mean that half your vertical height climbed contributes to the overall distance you've traveled, there's reason enough for this as an interpretation to be seen as making airwalk too good over a fly spell, especially since its a spell level earlier.
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I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that for simplicity, it's handled by just halving the the horizontal distance and applying the same to vertical distance.
For example, if your speed is 30 ft., as a move action you can move 15 feet forward and 15 feet up.
Edit: yup, FAQ'ed here