Segev
2014-07-28, 09:21 AM
We all know that one of the big weaknesses of our poor, disadvantaged Tier 4 and 5 characters tends to be that, even if they can be a serious threat in combat, they're often optimized for melee and many things can just stay away from them. Most notably, anything that can fly can make a melee character rather impotent.
One somewhat silly solution is to make a lot of jump checks, but few builds not geared strictly for maximizing jump can reasonably expect to get in reach of serious flying foes. Worse, such tactics may require heavy investment in feats in order to get Spring Attack, which only grants ONE attack per round. It's questionable whether a Charge can include a jump, but if it can, that might do it. Just have to charge every round (a plus for Ubercharger builds).
Alternatively, one could pursue magical flight, but that often has its own drawbacks (most often in the form of great expense or utter reliance on a friendly spellcaster).
One of the iconic ways, particularly for a fighter or paladin, to obtain unusual movement methods, however, is from one's mount.
Obviously, a paladin gets a mount as a class feature. So, too, can a ranger. These can eventually be flying creatures.
For those without that option, either buying or obtaining a mount as a cohort seems plausible.
Mounts have a few drawbacks, though fortunately, a small rider can use a medium mount, thus avoiding the dreaded problem of getting a horse down into a dungeon. (Of course, any party which includes a Large party member will have similar problems.)
But also, not all mounts can fly. I seem to recall a magic item that was a winged saddle, though I don't remember where it was, nor its price nor uses/day or any other statistics.
Horseshoes of the Zephyr could, with some work, suffice. To pull this off, one would need a way to get arbitrary paths of some material more substantial than smoke. Since they can travel over liquids, it would seem odd if they couldn't, for instance, travel over the tops of tents without crushing the tents beneath them. But still, creating a path out of (say) cloth that holds itself in the air would be tricky.
This brings us to mounts which inherently fly. Again, Medium ones will work well for Small characters, as there are rarely places they could not go that the Medium party members could not.
The lowest-CR flying mount I could find was a Giant Bee. It's Medium, and is CR 1. It's also vermin. I am unsure if Handle Animal will let you train/handle Vermin, nor if there's a way to do it.
Giant Eagles and a few other creatures (griffons, pegasi, hyppogriffs, etc.) have rules for rearing them, including costs, but the specifics tend to gloss over how long it takes them to grow from egg/hatchling/foal to "big enough to carry a rider," and provides next to no rules for buying a fully-trained grown-up one.
Acquiring them as cohorts may just be easier, mechanically.
Similarly, once you get to mid-high levels, youngish dragons become available. Gold are available as wyrmlings at level 15 or so, if you can ride Medium mounts (i.e. you're Small). Level 12, if you pick up Draconic Cohort as a feat.
What other mounts are good, particularly for Small riders, to gain flight? What other magic items or techniques might be used to attain the same? Are there any cool tricks for Medium riders and their Large mounts to make them "dungeon-friendly?"
One somewhat silly solution is to make a lot of jump checks, but few builds not geared strictly for maximizing jump can reasonably expect to get in reach of serious flying foes. Worse, such tactics may require heavy investment in feats in order to get Spring Attack, which only grants ONE attack per round. It's questionable whether a Charge can include a jump, but if it can, that might do it. Just have to charge every round (a plus for Ubercharger builds).
Alternatively, one could pursue magical flight, but that often has its own drawbacks (most often in the form of great expense or utter reliance on a friendly spellcaster).
One of the iconic ways, particularly for a fighter or paladin, to obtain unusual movement methods, however, is from one's mount.
Obviously, a paladin gets a mount as a class feature. So, too, can a ranger. These can eventually be flying creatures.
For those without that option, either buying or obtaining a mount as a cohort seems plausible.
Mounts have a few drawbacks, though fortunately, a small rider can use a medium mount, thus avoiding the dreaded problem of getting a horse down into a dungeon. (Of course, any party which includes a Large party member will have similar problems.)
But also, not all mounts can fly. I seem to recall a magic item that was a winged saddle, though I don't remember where it was, nor its price nor uses/day or any other statistics.
Horseshoes of the Zephyr could, with some work, suffice. To pull this off, one would need a way to get arbitrary paths of some material more substantial than smoke. Since they can travel over liquids, it would seem odd if they couldn't, for instance, travel over the tops of tents without crushing the tents beneath them. But still, creating a path out of (say) cloth that holds itself in the air would be tricky.
This brings us to mounts which inherently fly. Again, Medium ones will work well for Small characters, as there are rarely places they could not go that the Medium party members could not.
The lowest-CR flying mount I could find was a Giant Bee. It's Medium, and is CR 1. It's also vermin. I am unsure if Handle Animal will let you train/handle Vermin, nor if there's a way to do it.
Giant Eagles and a few other creatures (griffons, pegasi, hyppogriffs, etc.) have rules for rearing them, including costs, but the specifics tend to gloss over how long it takes them to grow from egg/hatchling/foal to "big enough to carry a rider," and provides next to no rules for buying a fully-trained grown-up one.
Acquiring them as cohorts may just be easier, mechanically.
Similarly, once you get to mid-high levels, youngish dragons become available. Gold are available as wyrmlings at level 15 or so, if you can ride Medium mounts (i.e. you're Small). Level 12, if you pick up Draconic Cohort as a feat.
What other mounts are good, particularly for Small riders, to gain flight? What other magic items or techniques might be used to attain the same? Are there any cool tricks for Medium riders and their Large mounts to make them "dungeon-friendly?"