Floating - Advantage, Perk, or 0-point feature?
 

Howdy, y'all.

I have a question for the forum brain trust regarding floating. A wizard PC of mine wants to have a familiar in the form of a housecat sized fire elemental. He wants the creature to float by his side, rather than slither along the ground, but doesn't necessarily want Flight (read: doesn't have the points to buy it).

If the familiar has the ability to float at a constant height above the ground (possibly changing altitude by no more than a foot), but can still be stunned, shoved aside, "knocked down" (essentially losing body orientation and flailing helplessly in space), is this an advantage, a perk, or a 0-point feature?

My initial instincts are telling me 0-point feature, since it doesn't seem to be any more or less advantageous than No Legs (Bounces, Rolls, or Slithers). And my apologies ahead of time if this has been brought up in the past, my search-fu is still pathetic after all these months.

Re: Floating - Advantage, Perk, or 0-point feature?
 

It should be a minor advantage, depending on your campaign. If the familiar might ever encounter a pressure plate or tripwire, floating is an advantage. Ditto if it can float across water.

Now, if those aren't going to happen, or the familiar never leaves the PC's side and suffers equally from any traps the PC sets off...maybe it's a 0-pointer.

Re: Floating - Advantage, Perk, or 0-point feature?
 

I vote Feature for the reasons you mentioned, if this floating is its only means of propulsion.

Re: Floating - Advantage, Perk, or 0-point feature?
 

Floating across water probably does qualify for an advantage, and floating across obstacles that involve ground height changes - e.g. pits - or any resistance to falling damage, would too. But I think the pressure plate issue can be considered sufficiently offset by the inability to get to the ground. For example the unfortunate firecat will never be able to play games with mice, because they are down on the ground out of reach.

If you can envision it as moving on a "floor" that's always a fixed distance above the solid surface below, I think it's a legitimate zero point feature - yes that lets you skate across shallow water, but nothing your master can't wade through. Actually I suspect in play you'll very quickly find it a serious *dis*advantage, since *lots* of stuff in the world will be out of your reach below your personal ground.

Re: Floating - Advantage, Perk, or 0-point feature?
 

The ability to "walk over water", avoid all tripwires, pass without leaving a trace, etc., is a fairly potent one. I'd be very careful about calling it a feature.

If the cat is floating at least a few feet up, cannot land, and thus cannot reach the ground under any circumstances -- it's probably fair to say that balances out and it's a feature.

Re: Floating - Advantage, Perk, or 0-point feature?
 

I'm swayed by the reverend. Perk, then.

And, I read that as a house cat too, but it's a house cat-sized fire elemental. XD

Re: Floating - Advantage, Perk, or 0-point feature?
 

Personally I would add in that it can't move across water (uhh, fire elemental), and that it would be suseptible to knockback from wind, and call it a wash.

.02

Re: Floating - Advantage, Perk, or 0-point feature?
 

If it has vertical movement, it should be a highly limited form of flight, combined with Legless (aerial). All the 'flaws' except the altitude constraint are normal for flight.

Flight (5-foot ceiling -25%) is the core. You could get some extra points back if, say, 3-foot floor is worth a limitation. You could use Lighter than air -10%. You could buy down air speed. Planetary -5% would probably be point crock...

Re: Floating - Advantage, Perk, or 0-point feature?
 

I don't think you need to bend the rules too much here...

Flight (Low ceiling, lighter-than-air, magical, always on, -65%) [14]

Okay, if you want Flight "for free," give the poor critter some disadvantage that isn't already part of the fire elemental template. Assuming you're using the 40-point one from Magic, did you check the ST? If it is cat-sized, and you have not adjusted the ST from the template, you can drop it down to 4, which will give you those 14 points and then some. Or, if you don't mind it being dumb as a molten rock, drop its IQ by one more point (the template gives it an IQ of 8...this drops it to 7, pretty stupid, but still sapient).

Mark

Re: Floating - Advantage, Perk, or 0-point feature?
 

Lighter-than-air means that it can't control its movement, which doesn't seem to be the case. Also, if it's flying all the time, it should take Soaring (+10%) so it could float all the time (like, for instance, when it's asleep), as normally flying's as fatiguing as hiking.

Re: Floating - Advantage, Perk, or 0-point feature?
 

Lighter Than Air means that air currents effect your movement, but you still have full use of your air move. Any remotely realistic flier should be almost 2.5 times more subject to wind than Lighter Than Air requires, since they move relative to the air, and 2 mph ~= 1 yard/s. Of course, this thing isn't a remotely realistic flier, so that may not be a factor.

Re: Floating - Advantage, Perk, or 0-point feature?
 

It may also be worth noting that it has a variation of Body of Fire (it can turn off its burning aura at will). My apologies for not mentioning this before

Since it's got a strength of 0, I'm assuming this also means it's massless, and would normally not leave a trace or activate trip wires.

Also, it's probably worth noting that the elemental isn't very worldly wise and sticks close to the caster at all times - so traps, tripwires, and tidal waves that threaten the wizard also hit the elemental.

Re: Floating - Advantage, Perk, or 0-point feature?
 

That isn't necessarily true. A plank of wood and a gold bar both have ST 0.

Re: Floating - Advantage, Perk, or 0-point feature?
 

But they both buy their HP up instead.

Re: Floating - Advantage, Perk, or 0-point feature?
 

So what exactly does body of fire look like anyway, then? I was always under the impression you were made of wisps of living flame... which would actually leave a trail by searing the ground beneath you, I suppose. But if you have to buy your strength down to zero, you can't meaningfully interact with the environment (with the exception of burning it).

Or maybe I'm reading into it wrong. Would a being with body of fire be more like the Human Torch - made of flame, but still dense enough to exert pressure?

Re: Floating - Advantage, Perk, or 0-point feature?
 

Presumably, so would a ST 0 familiar. Otherwise the first time someone bumps into it too hard or a piece of tree branch falls on it as they walk through a forest, it's going to die. Having permanent HP 0 means you're literally one scratch away from death.

Re: Floating - Advantage, Perk, or 0-point feature?
 

That would be Insubstantial (Always On) a 40 pt advantage, not a feature of a -100 pt disadvantage.

That has nothing to do with the familiar's ability to fly, I would model it as a Delusion: "It's dangerous out there" (remains within 1 yard of the wizard at all times), and price it at -10 to -15.

If the player just wants magical fireball thingies floating around the character, because it would look cool, I'd allow it as feature (if they're just for show) or perk (if they gave off dim light and a little heat). If the wizard couldn't turn it off it would count as an Unnatural Feature at the least

Re: Floating - Advantage, Perk, or 0-point feature?
 

A would assess it as Flight w/multiple limitations (ceiling if it can't float high -25%, lighter than air if it gets blown by winds -10%, permanent if it can't touch the ground -10%, others like nuisance: can't cross water, etc.) and buy flight move down (usually that's worth about -10 points too) for a net advantage cost of about 5-15 points.

Re: Floating - Advantage, Perk, or 0-point feature?
 

If you just want to defray the point cost, perhaps Vulnerability (Contact with ground) ? It might completely clash with the concept, it might not.

Perhaps the cold, static earth is hostile to hot, dynamic fire.

Re: Floating - Advantage, Perk, or 0-point feature?
 

I would model it with Walk on air (Magical, -10%; Lighter than air, -10%;, Maximum Height 5 feet, -25%; Always On -10%) [9] and Legless (Aerial)[0] myself. Well, I already have, in fact. I give it to many elementals in my games.

Re: Floating - Advantage, Perk, or 0-point feature?
 

Ooo, I like this. A lot. Totally stealing this and slapping it on to anything that ever needs to float.

Re: Floating - Advantage, Perk, or 0-point feature?
 

It's also RAW. I allow an extra level of maximum height, 1 foot, for -35%, and it changes the cost to 7