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Long-distance aerial travel
can be accomplished by use of either magical device or flying mount.
Certain magic items (such
as a broom or carpet of flying) do not have limited duration of USES,
and thus are the most efficient
forms of such travel (though a broom of flying may not be very comfortable
to use for hours on end).
Your players may want to
know how far they can go in a day on a flying
carpet (or other similar device).
For the purposes of long-distance
aerial travel, assume every 3" of speed equals one mile per hour.
Thus, a broom of flying,
with a speed of 30", can fly long distances at an average speed of 10 m.p.h.,
and can cover about 100
miles in a day (assuming ten hours of semi-continuous travel during daylight).
The above formula does not
necessarily apply to short-distance travel.
If your players are unimpressed
by these kinds of distances,
remind them that in a pre-technological
civilization they are little short of miraculous.
Some of your players may
have walked as far as twenty miles in one day.
Ask them to remember how
far it was.
Most flying mounts will be
either griffons,
hippogriffs
or pegasi.
<note: these sections
were moved to the MM>
All of these should be very
difficult to acquire, and even harder to train.
None of these types will
mix with the others
(griffons will eat pegasi
or hippogriffs if given a chance,
and hippogriffs confined
with pegasi will bully them whenever possible).
All flying mounts must REST
<1> one hour for every <3> three they fly,
and they can never fly more
than <9> nine hours a day.
During their rest periods
they will eat as if famished:
this means meat for griffons
or hippogriffs,
and green living plants,
preferably of a succulent nature, or fine hay and oats, for pegasi.
Use of more exotic types
of flying mounts will generally require some
form of spell control (such
as charm monster),
though the more intelligent
ones may possibly give their permission and cooperation in certain circumstances.
This does not ensure ease
of handling and stability on the part of the rider, however.
Likewise, griffons, hippogriffs
and pegasi can be charmed and ridden.
To be able to fight while
flying any aerial mount requires considerable practice.
To become adept at aerial
archery entails at least two months of continual practice
(cf. AERIAL COMBAT, Aerial
Missile Fire).
Flying mounts, Aerial
Combat: All flying mounts will move at one maneuverability
class worse than normal
when mounted. This applies even if the rider
is as small as a halfling
or gnome. The only exceptions to this are E
class creatures such as
dragons, which are large enough to carry
human-sized riders at no
penalty. Normal spell use while riding a
flying mount is of course
impossible (though certain magic devices
may be used).