Many monsters, and some adventurers can fly. Flyer's have a Tactical Movement Rate (TMR) just as do ground-bound creatures that represents the number of 5 foot squares they can cover in a round. Because fliers operate in three dimensions instead of two however, there are some special rules that apply.
The listed TMR assumes relatively level flying with only incidental up and down movement. Thus, a flying creatures with a TMR of 15, can move 75 feet in a round while still getting normal Defense. Up or down movement should be mostly incidental. The GM should use this base TMR for most flier movement. When compared to ground-bound creatures, their base movement is equal to a Walk. And, just as with ground-bound creatures, fliers can "run", "sprint" and "fast sprint" with the same modifiers to TMR (2x, 3x and 4x) and Defense as with those on the ground (c.f., Running, Chasing and Fleeing).
Additionally, fliers have two other options:
- Gaining Altitude - A flier can use any movement rate for this maneuver but their sole goal is to gain altitude at the expense of horizontal movement. TMR is halved. For example, a flier with a TMR of 12 wants to "run" and gain altitude. Run normally means 2x TMR but, since they are going solely for altitude, so TMR is halved. 12 x 2 = 24; 24 / 2 = 12. At the end of the round, they are in relatively the same place but 60 feet higher.
- Diving - TMR when diving is doubled. There can be some horizontal movement but most movement is vertical. For example, a peryton with a TMR of 16 sees an adventurer 75 feet below him. His TMR of 16 means he can normally move 80 feet per round which means he could reach the target but would have to wait until the following round to attack. However, since he can dive, he can actually move up to 160 feet. Since normal rules allow someone to move up to half of their movement rate and still attack, the peryton can dive and attack on the same round with normal move and attack penalties (c.f., Combat).
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