L1: Simic Hybrid Manta Glide + Flying Monkey Familiar = 1060 ft movement in 1 round

[Windwaert]

Hi everybody,

Here's a fun thing you can do at level 1. The Simic Hybrid from the UA Ravnica Races playtest can start with the Manta Glide racial feature:


Manta Glide - Your ray-like wings can slow your fall and allow you to glide. When you fall and aren’t incapacitated, you can subtract up to 100 feet from the fall when calculating falling damage, and you can move up to 2 feet horizontally for every 1 foot you descend.

With the DM's permission, the Find Familiar spell can summon a Flying Monkey (Tomb of Annihilation). RAW the spell now summons an actual Small beast, not "a spirit that takes an animal form". RAI, you get to choose the Flying Monkey as animal form for your familiar. Anyways, the Flying Monkey can fly 30 ft. and carry 15*8=120 lb with 8 STR!

The Simic Hybrid shares characteristics of its original race, Human, Elf, or Vedalken. An Elf, subspecies Drow Simic Hybrid thus weighs 75 + (2d6 x 1d6) lbs. This means the Flying Monkey can carry the Simic Hybrid (min. 77 lb) and their equipment (max. 43 lb).

At an altitude of 500+ ft, the Monkey carrying the Hybrid uses its Dash action and flies 60 ft, it then deliberately falls/stops flying. Both instantly descend 500 ft (Xanathar's Guide optional rule). The Hybrid glides up to 2*500 feet horizontally for a max. total horizontal movement of 1000+60=1060 ft. That is 1060 ft / 6s = 176.67 ft/s ≈ 193.85 km/h horizontal movement (1172.01 ft diagonal movement)! Make sure the Monkey starts flying again or you'll fall HARD.

Regardless, the combination of at-will flight and some sort of glider+parachute (at least up to 109 ft) at level 1 seems really cool to me :smallcool:. Even on the ground, the monkey perched on your shoulders could carry you up and enable your glide for large movement outside of your own turn (break the action economy!).

Note that the Simic Hybrid is currently UA, but the leaked Guildmasters' Guide to Ravnica table of content confirms that the race will be officially released in some form. The Flying Monkey familiar is official, but DM optional.

[Unoriginal]

Note that starting at ground level you'd need 9 turns to reach that 500ft+ height. So really it's more 1060 ft in 10 rounds. Or 106ft per round.

An interesting idea for a chase scene, but I wouldn't call it practical.

[Wildarm]

TBH any DM that allows this combo might as well just let you play one of the races with wings. If you're going to let players fly at will you might as well avoid extra janky carry/glide rules.

[Windwaert]

Note that starting at ground level you'd need 9 turns to reach that 500ft+ height. So really it's more 1060 ft in 10 rounds. Or 106ft per round.

An interesting idea for a chase scene, but I wouldn't call it practical.

I know, that theoretical extreme was mostly for fun. I think the more practical use is flying 30 ft up and gliding 60 ft horizontally each round outside of your own turn, and walk 30 ft on your own turn (90 ft per round).

Correction: If the monkey dashes, it's actually 60 ft up, 120 ft glide + 30 ft walk = 150 ft per round.

[ThePolarBear]

Manta Glide - Your ray-like wings can slow your fall and allow you[...]

Hopefully you'll think about this before actually telling the monkey to dive, having prepared Slow Fall.

[Windwaert]

Hopefully you'll think about this before actually telling the monkey to dive, having prepared Slow Fall.

The "You" should include everything you carry (like your equipment), so make sure to carry the Monkey in return when you glide (the same way it carried you when it flew). Alternatively, you could use rope or such to to tether the two together.

[ThePolarBear]

The "You" should include everything you carry (like your equipment), so make sure to carry the Monkey in return when you glide (the same way it carried you when it flew). Alternatively, you could use rope or such to to tether the two together.

You are gliding in the monkey's turn, not on yours...

Edit: Yes, you could tether. It is a better or worse situation, in your opinion, for the monkey to be forced into moving?

[Windwaert]

You are gliding in the monkey's turn, not on yours...

Edit: Yes, you could tether. It is a better or worse situation, in your opinion, for the monkey to be forced into moving?

I imagine both are carrying eachother, whoever is moving at that moment carries the other. The Monkey got a firm grip on the Hybrid's shoulders with its feet and the Hybrid carries the Monkey on its shoulders like a mantle/cape or hat (which you can passively do outside of your turn).

I don't know if the tethering would change much in regard to the rules. Ropes/chains have explicit break/destroy rules and require some setup time. Using the carry rules, you could dismiss the familiar for some time, and get back into action as soon as you are reunited. It all depends on DM, the rules are not clear enough IMO.

[ThePolarBear]

It all depends on DM, the rules are not clear enough IMO.

Absolutely. Mind you, i would have no problem ruling it with a reaction spent and a check to see how well the switching manouver happens - no real major accident planned in case of failure, just some minor damage, a angry monkey, dirty clothes, some time to gather things scattered around due to the poor landing and prehaps a loss of orientation if the circumstances call for it (fall into a jungle, for example).

Heck, i can imagine it if we start with a cliff and the Simic carrying the monkey - turns would align better, imho.

[Windwaert]

Absolutely. Mind you, i would have no problem ruling it with a reaction spent and a check to see how well the switching manouver happens - no real major accident planned in case of failure, just some minor damage, a angry monkey, dirty clothes, some time to gather things scattered around due to the poor landing and prehaps a loss of orientation if the circumstances call for it (fall into a jungle, for example).

Heck, i can imagine it if we start with a cliff and the Simic carrying the monkey - turns would align better, imho.

Well mounting rules are THE way to manipulate turn order. Let the Monkey mount the Hybrid (piggyback) as a controlled mount (you must be trained to accept a rider, whatever that means to a PC) --> Hybrid's initiative now changes to match the Monkey's --> the player gets to decide the turn order. This changes the turn order for the rest of the encounter, even after unmounting. Note that JC has expressed concerns regarding turn order manipulation using mounts (I can't find the source).

[ThePolarBear]

as a controlled mount

Ok... pass over the character sheet, the familiar is now in charge :D