Fly Speed

Fly Speed: Many creatures have the ability to fly in various forms from gliding through the air to magical flight that allows them to soar through the skies. These different forms of flight provide various different bonuses and can be acquired in different ways. However the ability to fly almost always comes down to the ability to fly with a fly skill check. A creature with a natural fly speed can move up to its listed fly speed in a straight line and end its turn not flying without needing a skill check. However, to do any movement beyond this requires a skill check with the following DCs. In addition, moving straight up with any type of flight requires double the amount of movement if they succeed on a fly check. If they fail the fly check by 5 or more they immediately begin to plummet to the ground, taking fall damage as normal. If they fail by less than 5, they fail the movement and may either end the maneuver, land, or fly in a straight line as appropriate for the situation. Whenever a creature takes damage while flying, they must make a DC 15 fly check or fall 10 feet. If they are hit by, or collide with something larger than them, they must make a DC 25 fly check or begin plummeting from the sky.

Falling Damage: When unable to fly a falling creature will take an amount of falling damage upon hitting the ground depending on the height they fell from, and the size of the creature. Falling damage starts at a d6 crushing damage per 10 feet for a medium creature, and for every size category above medium the amount of dice is increased by 1, for example a large creature would take 2d6 per 10 feet fallen. For every size category below medium, the dice size is reduced by 1 step, for example a small creature would be a d4 per 10 feet. In addition, unless otherwise noted, a creature who has fallen is prone until they have a chance to get up.

Flying Maneuvers and Modifiers
The following is a list of maneuvers that may be performed while flying and various modifiers to fly checks.
Move more than half base fly speed and remain flying: DC 5
Move less than half base fly speed and remain flying: DC 10
Negate Falling Damage (Can not negate if falling due to a failed fly check): DC 10
Hover in place: DC 15
Take a turn greater than 45° by spending 5 feet of movement: DC 15
Turn 180° by spending 10 feet of movement: DC 20
Fly up at a greater than 45° angle: DC 20

Maneuverability and Size: Natural flight is broken into the following categories of how skilled and maneuverable the creature is in flying. The size of the flying creature also impacts how well it is able to fly.

Maneuverability skill modifier
Clumsy –4
Poor –2
Average +0
Good +2
Perfect +4
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Size skill modifier
Fine +4
Diminutive +3
Tiny +2
Small +1
Large –1
Huge –2
Gargantuan –3
Colossal –4

High Wind Speeds: Depending on the speed of the wind in the area and the size of the creature attempting to fly, they may be required to make a higher DC fly check than normal, or with sufficiently strong winds may be caught up in the wind and blown away.

"Checked" means that creatures of that size or smaller must succeed on a DC 20 Fly check to move at all so long as the wind persists.

"Blown away" means that creatures of that size or smaller must succeed on a DC 25 Fly check or be blown back 2d6×10 feet and take 2d6 points of nonlethal damage. This check must be made every round the creature remains airborne. A creature that is blown away must still make a DC 20 Fly check to move due to it also being checked.

Wind Force	Wind Speed	Checked Size	Blown Away Size	Fly Penalty
Light	0-10 MPH	-	-	0
Moderate	11-20 MPH	-	-	0
Strong	21-30 MPH	Tiny	-	-2
Severe	31-50 MPH	Small	Tiny	-4
Windstorm	51-74 MPH	Medium	Small	-8
Hurricane	75-174 MPH	Large	Medium	-12
Tornado	175+ MPH	Huge	Large	-16

Magical and Supernatural Flight: Some creatures or magical abilities may give access to supernatural or magical forms of flight, however only the most powerful of these abilities allow a creature to move freely through the air without needing to make some type of fly check. The following examples are recommended benefits of magical flight.
Magic Flight from spells gives the user some form of enhanced natural flight in most cases as follows.
1st: The user gains a small bonus on fly checks for a flight speed they already possess, or gain basic gliding abilities that allow them to ignore falling damage and move 10 feet horizontally for every 5 feet they fall.
2nd: The user gains a Poor flight speed equal to their base land speed, or increases the maneuverability, or treats wind force as 1 step lower.
3rd: The user gains an Average flight speed equal to their base land speed, or increases the maneuverability of their speed by 1 step, or treats wind force as 2 steps lower.
4th: The user gains a Good flight speed equal to their base land speed, or increases the maneuverability of their speed by 2 steps, or treats wind force as 3 steps lower.
5th: The user gains a Perfect flight speed equal to their base land speed, or increases the maneuverability of their speed by 3 steps, or treats wind force as 4 steps lower.
6th: The user gains true magical flight that allows them to fly perfectly in almost all circumstances, ignoring the normal fly rules, in any base direction equal to their base land speed.


Supernatural Flight: Some rare magical creatures may have access to other supernatural forms of flight that allow them to move in strange ways. These flights are usually unique to the type of creature and may or may not ignore the fly rules based on the creature. For example a ghost would have supernatural flight and could maneuver freely through the air ignoring normal fly rules, however a corporeal creature with supernatural flight might still be limited by the fly rules depending on the power of the supernatural ability.