Move silently while flying?

[Daitini Peck]

So, here's a question that just popped into my head.

I have a lvl 7 pixie beguiler, which means she can turn invisible whenever she pleases, and has a speed of 60 when flying.

So, if she turned invisible, that would negate hide checks, but, would I have to roll for move silently if she flies?

I would think that since she flies, it wouldn't be needed, unless, of course, going by the real world you can still hear a fly buzzing, but, I've never heard a bird flap it's wings loud enough for me to hear it.

So does flying negate the need for a move silently check, or would it grant a bonus since there is no sound of her being on the ground itself?

[Yora]

Birds are almost completely silent when they glide, but flapping the wings always makes sound, and depending on the size that can be quite a lot, especially when they also have to maneuver.
As a small sized creature flying indoors, there would be a great amount of noise. I think a pixie probably would be much more silent walking than flying in such situations. Since there are no special rules for that, I would make Move Silently checks when flying just as for walking.

[MesiDoomstalker]

Birds are almost completely silent when they glide, but flapping the wings always makes sound, and depending on the size that can be quite a lot, especially when they also have to maneuver.
As a small sized creature flying indoors, there would be a great amount of noise. I think a pixie probably would be much more silent walking than flying in such situations. Since there are no special rules for that, I would make Move Silently checks when flying just as for walking.

At the same time, if you have your pixie glide (look at Raptoran or Dragonborn with wings for what qualifies as gliding) and you could (and should imho) get a compentence bonus for move silently.

[deuxhero]

As your speed isn't perfect, remember you need to expend half your movement going perfectly straight exactly or take a -5 hit to your roll/crash.

[MesiDoomstalker]

As your speed isn't perfect, remember you need to expend half your movement going perfectly straight exactly or take a -5 hit to your roll/crash.

Maneuverabilty (Good) can hover in place. The only real difference between Good and Perfect is Good takes minor penalties to go backwards and to ascend and perfect doesn't.

[deuxhero]

Oh right. Overlooked that good has no minimum speed.

[Curmudgeon]

Maneuverabilty (Good) can hover in place. The only real difference between Good and Perfect is Good takes minor penalties to go backwards and to ascend and perfect doesn't.
There are other differences that are important. Only going half speed on ascents isn't what I'd call "minor". Needing two spaces to turn more than 90 degrees is fairly significant, too; consecutive 5' aerial adjustments back and forth in the same line (180 degrees opposite) aren't possible unless you've got perfect maneuverability. Even with hovering capability you've still got tactical aerial limitations for full melee attacks.

[ericgrau]

There's an example with owls:
http://www.d20srd.org/srd/monsters/owl.htm

So I'd say rolling normally is the official way to do it. Though house-ruling in a bonus like +2 or +4 wouldn't be unreasonable. OTOH if you rule that pixies' good maneuverability comes from flapping like a hummingbird or bee, then you can't be silent period: no roll, just a flat DC (plus distance modifiers) check to hear you. Maybe DC 0 (normal talking) to 10 (whisper) depending on how loud the humming is.

[Daftendirekt]

Yeah, I think I kind of picture pixies' wings buzzing -- like you said -- like an insect or a hummingbird. Anybody who's seen the movie Merlin with Sam Neill will know what I mean:

At the start, when Mab has pixies come build the cradle in Ambrosia's hut? Yeah. Lots of buzzing.

[Daitini Peck]

Yeah, I think I kind of picture pixies' wings buzzing -- like you said -- like an insect or a hummingbird. Anybody who's seen the movie Merlin with Sam Neill will know what I mean:

At the start, when Mab has pixies come build the cradle in Ambrosia's hut? Yeah. Lots of buzzing.

I think that's my favorite movie with Merlin aside from Excalibur