Fly (Dexterity; Armor Check Penalty) 

You are skilled at flying, either through the use of wings or magic, and you can perform daring or complex maneuvers while airborne. Note that this skill does not give you the ability to fly.

Requirement

You cannot take this skill without a natural means of flight or gliding. Creatures can also take ranks in Fly if they possess a reliable means of flying every day (either through a spell or other magical manner, such as a druid’s wild shape ability).

Check

You generally need only make a Fly check when you are attempting a complex maneuver. Without making a check, a flying creature can remain flying at the end of its turn so long as it moves a distance greater than half its speed. It can also turn up to 45 degrees by sacrificing 5 feet of movement, can rise at half speed at an angle of 45 degrees 1, and can descend at any angle at normal speed. Note that these restrictions only apply to movement taken during your current turn. At the beginning of the next turn, you can move in a different direction than you did the previous turn without making a check. Taking any action that violates these rules requires a Fly check. The difficulty of these maneuvers varies depending upon the maneuver you are attempting, as noted on the following chart.

Flying Maneuver DCs
Flying Maneuver	Fly DC
Move less than half speed and remain flying	10
Hover	15
Turn greater than  45° by spending 5 feet of movement	15
Turn 180° by spending 10 feet of movement	20
Fly up at a greater than 45° angle 1	20
FAQ/Errata 1 When a character or creature is flying, and that creature decides to ascend at a 45 degree angle, the rules states that it moves at half speed? Do the rules for diagonal square counting still apply when moving up diagonally in this way? No. Since the game is generally assumed to be played in two dimensions, even when representing three dimensional combat, the rules for ascending are handled by the speed reduction instead of asking players and GMs to ascertain the diagonal vertical movement.

Uses

Attacked While Flying

You are not considered flat-footed while flying. If you are flying using wings and you take damage while flying, you must make a DC 10 Fly check to avoid losing 10 feet of altitude. This descent does not provoke an attack of opportunity and does not count against a creature’s movement.

Collision While Flying

If you are using wings to fly and you collide with an object equal to your size or larger, you must immediately make a DC 25 Fly check to avoid plummeting to the ground, taking the appropriate falling damage.

Avoid Falling Damage

If you are falling and have the ability to fly, you can make a DC 10 Fly check to negate the damage. You cannot make this check if you are falling due to a failed Fly check or a collision. See Falling Damage if you fail this check.

High Wind Speeds

Flying in high winds adds penalties on your Fly checks as noted on the Wind Effects table.

‘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 also being checked.

Wind Effects on Flying
Wind Force	Wind Speed	Checked Size	Blown Away Size	Fly Penalty
Light	0-10 mph	–	–	–
Moderate	11-20 mph	–	–	–
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

Action

None. A Fly check doesn’t require an action; it is made as part of another action or as a reaction to a situation.

Try Again

Varies. You can attempt a Fly check to perform the same maneuver on subsequent rounds. If you are using wings and you fail a Fly check by 5 or more, you plummet to the ground, taking the appropriate falling damage.

Special

Familiars

A spellcaster with a bat familiar gains a +3 bonus on Fly checks.

Clumsy	– 8
Poor	– 4
Average	+0
Good	+4
Perfect	+8

Fly Speed

Creatures with a fly speed treat the Fly skill as a class skill. A creature with a natural fly speed receives a bonus (or penalty) on Fly skill checks depending on its maneuverability:

Creatures without a maneuverability rating are assumed to have average maneuverability and take no penalty on Fly checks.

Size

A creature larger or smaller than Medium takes a size bonus or penalty on Fly checks depending on its size category:

Fine	+8
Diminutive	+6
Tiny	+4
Small	+2
Large	-2
Huge	-4
Gargantuan	-6
Colossal	-8

Must Have Natural Flight

You cannot take this skill without a natural means of flight or gliding. Creatures can also take ranks in Fly if they possess a reliable means of flying every day (either through a spell or other magical manner, such as a druid’s wild shape ability).

Feats

If you have the Acrobatic feat, you get a +2 bonus on Fly skill checks. If you have 10 or more ranks in this skill, the bonus from the Acrobatics feat increases to +4.