D&D 5E Flying in Storms

[LordEntrails]

My players are soon going to be involved in multiple combats in Stormy and Windy situations (Storm Lord's Wrath etc). Several of the players have the ability to fly (Fly Spell, Cloak of the Bat, and Assimar ability).

What types of rulings can I make for various storm situations to make the encounters fun and challenging? And does the source of the fly speed impact this?

Some thoughts;

Strong directional winds (incl tornadoes/whirlwinds): moves flying creatures in direction of wind (5-25 ft).
Stormy gusting winds: (1d4-1)x5ft upto 1d6x5ft moved in random (1d8) direction.

Do checks or saves make sense? And does a strength (Athletics) check make sense for a Fly Spells or would that be arcana?

What about being knocked prone? And then do they fall?

 

[Oofta]

Falling is probably the easiest. From XGTE:

Flying Creatures and Falling​

A flying creature in flight falls if it is knocked prone, if its speed is reduced to 0 feet, or if it otherwise loses the ability to move, unless it can hover or it is being held aloft by magic, such as the fly spell.​

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If you’d like a flying creature to have a better chance of surviving a fall than a non-flying creature does, use this rule: subtract the creature’s current flying speed from the distance it fell before calculating falling damage. This rule is helpful to a flier that is knocked prone but is still conscious and has a current flying speed that is greater than 0 feet. The rule is designed to simulate the creature flapping its wings furiously or taking similar measures to slow the velocity of its fall.​

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If you use the rule for rate of falling in the previous section, a flying creature descends 500 feet on the turn when it falls, just as other creatures do. But if that creature starts any of its later turns still falling and is prone, it can halt the fall on its turn by spending half its flying speed to counter the prone condition (as if it were standing up in midair).​

As far as being blown around, I'd probably make it an athletics or acrobatics check, probably with varied levels of success. That allows you to adjust things both ways - hit the target DC an you aren't pushed at all, miss it by 5 and you're pushed half way and so on.

Storms may have other effects as well. Getting hit by lightning, sleet building up ice and so on. I think the last time I did this I had "storm mephits". Not as a major threat, but just kind of flavor or small elements having fun and playing in the storm.

 

[Lanefan]

One thing often forgotten is that when aloft, winds sometimes move vertically as well as horizontally.

I'd say that anything in flight can't help but be pushed by the wind (just like combatants swimming in a river can't help but be pulled by the flow) though actions can be taken to mitigate or enhance this as desired via streamlining oneself to move upwind or opening a cloak as a sail to move faster downwind. In any case speed through the air will never be the same as speed over the ground.

If the entire combat is airborne then the only thing you have to worry about is combatants' positioning relative to each other, while the whole lot slowly moves downwind relative to the ground; but if only some combatants are flying then relative-to-ground position also becomes an issue.

With storms: rain and cloud can also generate serious visibility headaches, and a flyer who somehow loses sight of the ground can immediately be considered lost and moving in a random horizontal direction, and also randomly changing altitude.

 

[LordEntrails]

@Oofta So I like that rule for if they are knocked prone. I don't think that they will be 500' in the air though, as only 3 of 7 have any ability to fly. (But their is a 800' cliff later on...)

It's just that I know the barbarian assimar is going to fly every chance she gets, and I want to add something to the encounter.

I think I agree with @Lanefan that creatures are just moved by it. I think I will let them use movement to offset it, but if they tell me they are trying to be blown by the wind or streamline themselves the effect will be +/-50% more. Should be simple that way.

And in a gusty/stormy situation I will make sure to consider up and down gusts as well, but probably make them less likely. Maybe time for a table... ?

Which adds the possibility of being thrust into the ground and damage from that... If you are at 20' high and are thrust down 30', do you take 30' of falling damage, or 10', or something else? I'm tending to think that whatever the 'wind speed' is that's how much damage you take, regardless of how much you are forced to move. And just do 1d6 bludgeoning per 10' of wind speed.

For whirlwinds/tornadoes, do I worry about different wind speeds depending upon how close to the center? and how big is the eye? (I'm thinking pretty small for localized magic induced storms, probably a 5' radius (so 15' diameter)

 

[Lanefan]

I think I agree with @Lanefan that creatures are just moved by it. I think I will let them use movement to offset it, but if they tell me they are trying to be blown by the wind or streamline themselves the effect will be +/-50% more. Should be simple that way.

Sounds good; and if they're moving at right angles to the wind they'd be blown downwind x-amount based on windspeed and the character's size.

And in a gusty/stormy situation I will make sure to consider up and down gusts as well, but probably make them less likely. Maybe time for a table... ?

Keep terrain in mind also; a cliff, for example, can produce some nasty updrafts or downdrafts depending which way the wind is blowing (just ask any seagull!).

Which adds the possibility of being thrust into the ground and damage from that... If you are at 20' high and are thrust down 30', do you take 30' of falling damage, or 10', or something else? I'm tending to think that whatever the 'wind speed' is that's how much damage you take, regardless of how much you are forced to move. And just do 1d6 bludgeoning per 10' of wind speed.

Dex checks - one to remain airborne, if failed a second to land halfway gracefully. Fail both and it's faceplant time, maybe just for 1d6 or 2d6 damage but your next round's action is lost as you pick yourself and your gear up.

For whirlwinds/tornadoes, do I worry about different wind speeds depending upon how close to the center?

Very much yes!

The strongest winds in a tornado are very close to the center (exact distance varies, of course, depending how big the tornado is) and drop off very quickly from there.

and how big is the eye? (I'm thinking pretty small for localized magic induced storms, probably a 5' radius (so 15' diameter)

If that's your eye size (and by the way 5' radius is 10' diameter) then the strongest winds will be within maybe 15' or 20' of the outside edge of the eye, dropping off rather dramatically from there so that by the time you're maybe 150' away you're not affected all that much except maybe by debris dropped from above.

Which brings up another point: the 'eye' is in fact a severe updraft. Anyone flying in or through the eye will be thrown upward; someone standing on the ground might be picked up.

Have fun with this!

 

[LordEntrails]

Thanks! Others are welcome to chime in too. I'll try to remember to let you all know how it goes but might be a few weeks