[RPG] Are there any established rules for flying in combat for D&D 3.x or d20 Modern

d20-moderndnd-3.5eflight

My game is d20 Modern, but the two systems are very similar, so either is fine just to give me some templates to work from. I'm basically looking for anything that isn't me pulling stuff out of thin air.

D&D 3.x has lots of flying creatures, so most my hope lies there. What I am looking for is some rules that control how creatures that have wings and/or can fly via some other means to fly low-level (for the sake of argument, max 15 feet) during combat, or perhaps escape combat by flying away out of range.

Important points that I can think of off the top of my head:

  • How high before melee can't reach them?
  • How does height affect ranged attacks?
  • Would there be provisions for creatures to move more quickly while flying? (a bird can fly a lot faster than it can hop along the ground for instance)
  • If so, how would this affect game balance? ie, could a creature take off, move up 5 feet, fly along with their enhanced speed and then land and cover more ground?

Best Answer

The following two (rather official looking) articles from the old 3.5 archives at Wizards.com provide a quite in-depth look at (the rules for) aerial combat. If you haven't checked them yet, they seem to be an excellent starting point:

Rules of the Game: All About Movement (pt.4)

Rules of the Game: All About Movement (pt.5)

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