Rocs and Elephants -- An inquiry of Lifting and Winged Flight

[Tallor]

For the longest time I've wondered, "What's the weight limit on carrying things while using Winged Flight?".

And I'm still wondering that, so I'm asking you! Could a 5oz bird lift a 1lb coconut? What about rocs and elephants--or simply elephant calves?

[johndallman]

This XKCD What-If reckons the limit for birds of prey is about half their own body weight. The squire/cube problems with Rocs are a different matter.

[Tallor]

Originally Posted by johndallman

This XKCD What-If reckons the limit for birds of prey is about half their own body weight. The squire/cube problems with Rocs are a different matter.

Oh that's simple. Macro-fauna cells are partially magiatrophic, using ambient mana to reinforce bonds between mundane molecules, creating super-strong fibers and also powering muscles... or something.

[chandley]

Originally Posted by Tallor

For the longest time I've wondered, "What's the weight limit on carrying things while using Winged Flight?".

And I'm still wondering that, so I'm asking you! Could a 5oz bird lift a 1lb coconut? What about rocs and elephants--or simply elephant calves?

I should actually submit this article I wrote on that.

Short answer for RAW is: Your extra-heavy Enc, unless you take some kind of limitation (above and beyond Winged, which just gives you wings that can be crippled to prevent you from flying). Reduce your Fly move (and ground move) as normal for the Enc level you are at. A Roc needs lots of ST, but it should have lots of ST due to its size.

For real birds, you get a wide range. There are quite a few birds that can lift well over their body weight, but none of them are even the size of humans. I propose a new limitation that includes your own body weight in the calculation (removing the somewhat clunky "Requires Low-G" limitation from Biotech) and couples with Arm (here, Wing) ST to get things close.

[Anthony]

Originally Posted by Tallor

For the longest time I've wondered, "What's the weight limit on carrying things while using Winged Flight?".

The RAW answer is "equal to your extra-heavy encumbrance unless some limitation says otherwise". 'Cannot Hover' will typically limit you to Heavy because carrying an extra load presumably doesn't reduce your minimum airspeed (if your basic flight move is 12 and you have cannot hover, you have to move at least 3, but X-Heavy encumbrance reduces your Move to 2).

Realistically, it's going to depend a lot on the details of how the critter flies and the amount of surplus metabolic power it has.

[Humabout]

Originally Posted by Tallor

For the longest time I've wondered, "What's the weight limit on carrying things while using Winged Flight?".

And I'm still wondering that, so I'm asking you! Could a 5oz bird lift a 1lb coconut? What about rocs and elephants--or simply elephant calves?

I've always run with Cannot Hover requiring a creature to maintain a minimum speed of 1/4 x Air Move, and encumbrance above Heavy reducing it to 1/5 x Air Move. So basically, up to 6xBL before you stall and plummet (or can't lift off).

As for the air speed of an unladen swallow...which species?

[Purple Haze]

Encumbrance reducing speed is not the way real world flight works. Generally, if you can get off the ground, being overweight makes it impossible to fly slowly.

[GodBeastX]

This question was answered in 3E, not sure why it wasn't in 4E.

I think I'd go with two hand basic lift?

[vicky_molokh]

Originally Posted by GodBeastX

This question was answered in 3E, not sure why it wasn't in 4E.

I think I'd go with two hand basic lift?

In 4e, the principle is to use the general rule unless a specific one that overrides it. That is, use the same weight that you can carry. Add more limitations on Flight if you don't want to be able to carry as much (though there is some ambiguity about which ones to use).

[The_Ryujin]

Originally Posted by vicky_molokh

In 4e, the principle is to use the general rule unless a specific one that overrides it. That is, use the same weight that you can carry. Add more limitations on Flight if you don't want to be able to carry as much (though there is some ambiguity about which ones to use).

Maybe Flight with Temporary Disadvantage, Less Strength X, -XX%?