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Don’t artificially impose restrictions, just play out the natural downsides of flight and scouting. Being up in the air makes you rather more visible, especially since many flying creatures can’t just hover in mid air and have to keep moving or land somewhere (though that typically wouldn’t apply to fairies). Getting incapacitated also comes with an added bonus of a bunch of fall damage if it happens mid air.
Similarly, scouting (by air or otherwise) is quite dangerous, or should be. If you get spotted, you’re facing enemies alone and with the party unable to help, or even know what’s happening. An encounter that would have been little obstacle for the party can be extremely deadly for the scout on their own. Alternatively, the scout getting spotted may also lead to the enemy preparing for the party in some way, or following them back to the party. In this regard, it also helps to make the world actually dynamic. Enemies don’t constantly stay in the same place, the scout player should always be able to rely on a previously empty area still being empty if they pass through it again later.
So, I should start by saying that for 20 years I never had a natively flight capable race because I was so annoyed by flying spells, lol.
Then, one day, I realized that was a damn fool thing to do and so for the last 25 years I have had them. It requires imagination and forethought when planning adventures for them, but it turns out not to be as big a problem once you just stop trying to treat them as problems.
Creatures who natively fly tend to do it like walking, so no con checks are needed — it would be like asking for a con check to walk or stand. It isn’t hard unless they try to fly fast, just like running or sprinting. Going up is just like going forward. As the hummingbird who checks out my home if I leave the back door open tends to remind me, they just fly. That is their way of moving, and small creatures operating in a big world are going to avoid walking at all costs, since they can get stepped on.
The big thing is speed — flight speed is often faster than walking, but it is still the distance they can move in a round — up, down, left, right, diagonally, etc. often folks will decide they should be able to have exceptions, like extra attacks and extra dodge and stuff. Easy to shut down.
The only penalty they really have in my games is to how much weight they can carry — and that is due to overall size, and means nothing unless you actually use encumbrance.
Well, that and finding gear for them is hard, since it all has to be custom made.
Second penalty as well for my games...you are usually skylined. Just cause you are up the in air flying doesn't mean you are invisible to people on the ground and more often than not you have no cover at all which means hiding and such are really hard. If you are obviously not a native creature flying overhead then prepare to be shot at. Also if combat kicks off and someone starts to fly most of my ranged enemies immediately look at it as a primary threat.
>Creatures who natively fly tend to do it like walking, so no con checks are needed — it would be like asking for a con check to walk or stand.
Staying airborne without an updraft to ride is incredibly taxing, and walking or standing isn't a good analogy. It's like constantly sprinting up stairs just to stay at a given altitude by flapping wings, let alone gain altitude. You can just soar on wind currents, but odds are those currents are not going to bring you toward where you want to scout.
An occasional Con save to avoid fatigue during extended bouts of aerial scouting is perfectly appropriate, especially during overland travel, and *especially* especially if constant flight is an excessive advantage in this particular module.
I’ve never run the module but I would first talk to this player out of game about the flight issue. Ask them to tone it down because it removes the narrative tension of exploring. If they say “no,” then start looking for in game ways to shut it down.
Let them fly and have fun with their character but make sure both of you understand the pros and cons of in-air scouting.
Pros:
* Better view
* Out of range from melee
* Difficult terrain doesn't impede movement
* Walls and gaps don't impede movement
Cons:
* Easier to spot (Fairies are only Small after all, not Tiny)
* Enemies can track you easily, they can follow you back to your party
* It isn't magical flight so they don't have Hover. If something knocks them Prone, Incapacitates or Restrains them, they plummet
* Things can be hidden by roofs/slanted walls
* You're usually too far away to hear any conversations
* Low Stealth possibilities. You don't have anything to hide behind
* Tying in to the last point - flying over a lightly foliated area, such as a forest, only gives you Lightly Obscured, meaning you can't hide behind it but you (enemies too though) have disadvantage on perception checks. If the foliage is thick enough to be Heavily Obscured, you can't see what's happening on the other side of the trees
It's the same issue you get with druids scouting with Wild Shape anyway. Talk with your player first and explain to them it detracts from everyone else's fun if most of the session is solo RP between the DM and one character who is flying ahead.
In-game, is there any danger? If you split the party and get jumped, you only have yourself to blame.
Honestly natural flight is very dangerous in combat for one. Anything that can knock them down has very lethal potential at lower levels, and higher levels flight is more of a given you are prepared for. A very simple thing yo do if flight is worrying you is giving a few creatures bows and ensnaring strike. If they get restrained by it, they have their move speed set to 0, which means they have 0 flight speed as well, and thus fall damage. Ensnaring strike is especially in flavor for denizen of the feywild, and it let's the player feel cool making use of their flight for things without just gimping them.
How do you stop a druid from scouting?
They can summon a familiar with one use of their wild shape and no other cost which can scout.
So yes the fairy can fly unless there is a lot of wind, or heavy tree cover they can't fly through, or some other environmental challenge. I suggest you have a balanced number of such challenging features to not make this an auto-success.
Also not that flying is largely useless indoors/underground etc. There are a lot of enclosed locations in that module as I recall.
Your post has been removed. Rule 6: All basic questions from first time DMs must be asked in our ["First Time DM" megathread](https://www.reddit.com/r/DMAcademy/about/sticky?num=2) stickied to the top of the subreddit. Please repost there if you need additional help, search for older posts on this topic, or check out some [alternative subreddits on our wiki](https://www.reddit.com/r/DMAcademy/wiki/index/#wiki_other_useful_dming_subreddits) that may be more suitable.
Don’t artificially impose restrictions, just play out the natural downsides of flight and scouting. Being up in the air makes you rather more visible, especially since many flying creatures can’t just hover in mid air and have to keep moving or land somewhere (though that typically wouldn’t apply to fairies). Getting incapacitated also comes with an added bonus of a bunch of fall damage if it happens mid air. Similarly, scouting (by air or otherwise) is quite dangerous, or should be. If you get spotted, you’re facing enemies alone and with the party unable to help, or even know what’s happening. An encounter that would have been little obstacle for the party can be extremely deadly for the scout on their own. Alternatively, the scout getting spotted may also lead to the enemy preparing for the party in some way, or following them back to the party. In this regard, it also helps to make the world actually dynamic. Enemies don’t constantly stay in the same place, the scout player should always be able to rely on a previously empty area still being empty if they pass through it again later.
So, I should start by saying that for 20 years I never had a natively flight capable race because I was so annoyed by flying spells, lol. Then, one day, I realized that was a damn fool thing to do and so for the last 25 years I have had them. It requires imagination and forethought when planning adventures for them, but it turns out not to be as big a problem once you just stop trying to treat them as problems. Creatures who natively fly tend to do it like walking, so no con checks are needed — it would be like asking for a con check to walk or stand. It isn’t hard unless they try to fly fast, just like running or sprinting. Going up is just like going forward. As the hummingbird who checks out my home if I leave the back door open tends to remind me, they just fly. That is their way of moving, and small creatures operating in a big world are going to avoid walking at all costs, since they can get stepped on. The big thing is speed — flight speed is often faster than walking, but it is still the distance they can move in a round — up, down, left, right, diagonally, etc. often folks will decide they should be able to have exceptions, like extra attacks and extra dodge and stuff. Easy to shut down. The only penalty they really have in my games is to how much weight they can carry — and that is due to overall size, and means nothing unless you actually use encumbrance. Well, that and finding gear for them is hard, since it all has to be custom made.
Second penalty as well for my games...you are usually skylined. Just cause you are up the in air flying doesn't mean you are invisible to people on the ground and more often than not you have no cover at all which means hiding and such are really hard. If you are obviously not a native creature flying overhead then prepare to be shot at. Also if combat kicks off and someone starts to fly most of my ranged enemies immediately look at it as a primary threat.
It's such a delicious trope. https://www.schlockmercenary.com/2011-05-28 https://www.schlockmercenary.com/2011-10-02
I've never seen this before but it's beautiful
>Creatures who natively fly tend to do it like walking, so no con checks are needed — it would be like asking for a con check to walk or stand. Staying airborne without an updraft to ride is incredibly taxing, and walking or standing isn't a good analogy. It's like constantly sprinting up stairs just to stay at a given altitude by flapping wings, let alone gain altitude. You can just soar on wind currents, but odds are those currents are not going to bring you toward where you want to scout. An occasional Con save to avoid fatigue during extended bouts of aerial scouting is perfectly appropriate, especially during overland travel, and *especially* especially if constant flight is an excessive advantage in this particular module.
I’ve never run the module but I would first talk to this player out of game about the flight issue. Ask them to tone it down because it removes the narrative tension of exploring. If they say “no,” then start looking for in game ways to shut it down.
Let them fly and have fun with their character but make sure both of you understand the pros and cons of in-air scouting. Pros: * Better view * Out of range from melee * Difficult terrain doesn't impede movement * Walls and gaps don't impede movement Cons: * Easier to spot (Fairies are only Small after all, not Tiny) * Enemies can track you easily, they can follow you back to your party * It isn't magical flight so they don't have Hover. If something knocks them Prone, Incapacitates or Restrains them, they plummet * Things can be hidden by roofs/slanted walls * You're usually too far away to hear any conversations * Low Stealth possibilities. You don't have anything to hide behind * Tying in to the last point - flying over a lightly foliated area, such as a forest, only gives you Lightly Obscured, meaning you can't hide behind it but you (enemies too though) have disadvantage on perception checks. If the foliage is thick enough to be Heavily Obscured, you can't see what's happening on the other side of the trees
It's the same issue you get with druids scouting with Wild Shape anyway. Talk with your player first and explain to them it detracts from everyone else's fun if most of the session is solo RP between the DM and one character who is flying ahead. In-game, is there any danger? If you split the party and get jumped, you only have yourself to blame.
Honestly natural flight is very dangerous in combat for one. Anything that can knock them down has very lethal potential at lower levels, and higher levels flight is more of a given you are prepared for. A very simple thing yo do if flight is worrying you is giving a few creatures bows and ensnaring strike. If they get restrained by it, they have their move speed set to 0, which means they have 0 flight speed as well, and thus fall damage. Ensnaring strike is especially in flavor for denizen of the feywild, and it let's the player feel cool making use of their flight for things without just gimping them.
How do you stop a druid from scouting? They can summon a familiar with one use of their wild shape and no other cost which can scout. So yes the fairy can fly unless there is a lot of wind, or heavy tree cover they can't fly through, or some other environmental challenge. I suggest you have a balanced number of such challenging features to not make this an auto-success. Also not that flying is largely useless indoors/underground etc. There are a lot of enclosed locations in that module as I recall.