Dragonborn Warblade: who needs to walk?

[EpydemykFlaw]

Alright, so I am DMing for an upcoming campaign and one of my players has decided he wanted to be a Dragonborn Warblade. So far, so good.

But upon further reading, he and I came to realize there was an interesting potential for shenanigans given the racial/class combo. But first, let's put the pieces together:

Racial: (RotD) "(Ex)A dragonborn who selects the wings aspect hatches sporting fully formed wings. Dragonborn can use these wings to aid their jumps (granting a +10 racial bonus on Jump checks) and to glide. Those with 6 HD or more can use their wings to fly."

Mechanics: (PB/etc) "Using an extraordinary ability is a free action unless otherwise noted."

Mechanics: (SRD) "Hop Up : You can jump up onto an object as tall as your waist, such as a table or small boulder, with a DC 10 Jump check. Doing so counts as 10 feet of movement, so if your speed is 30 feet, you could move 20 feet, then hop up onto a counter. You do not need to get a running start to hop up, so the DC is not doubled if you do not get a running start."

Class: (ToB) Leaping Dragon Stance : "While you are in this stance, you gain a +10-foot enhancement bonus on Jump checks. In addition, any jumps you make while in this stance are considered running jumps."

Thus could said player take a partial movement, do a 'hop' for lets say 12 feet (Hop for 2, with automatic +10ft, +10 to roll thus auto-pass DC8 unless nat 1), then glide as a free action to then land somewhere and attack in the same turn?

[Sjappo]

Not sure what you're getting at. As I read it gliding isn't a free action. RotD says gliding has a speed of 30 and you can glide 20 ft for each 5 get you descend.

So, taking your example, you hop two feat which costs you 10 feet of movement. You get 10 feet extra hight, arguably for free. So you end up 10 ft in the air, dnd works with 5 ft cubes, and 20 move left. So you can glide for 20 feet dropping down to 5 feet high. Then what?

You could trigger leap attack from it, maybe. But you could just leap that 10 feet with your bonus anyway.

Btw, skills have no automatic failure rules, unlike attacks and saves.

[EpydemykFlaw]

Not sure what you're getting at. As I read it gliding isn't a free action. RotD says gliding has a speed of 30 and you can glide 20 ft for each 5 get you descend.

So, taking your example, you hop two feat which costs you 10 feet of movement. You get 10 feet extra hight, arguably for free. So you end up 10 ft in the air, dnd works with 5 ft cubes, and 20 move left. So you can glide for 20 feet dropping down to 5 feet high. Then what?

You could trigger leap attack from it, maybe. But you could just leap that 10 feet with your bonus anyway.

Btw, skills have no automatic failure rules, unlike attacks and saves.

But as an 'extraordinary' ability (wings/glide/fly), and isn't stated as having any finite time ("unless otherwise noted"), doesn't that imply that said gliding takes up zero amount of time, disregarding practicality of time moving?

[Sjappo]

But as an 'extraordinary' ability (wings/glide/fly), and isn't stated as having any finite time ("unless otherwise noted"), doesn't that imply that said gliding takes up zero amount of time, disregarding practicality of time moving?

Gliding: A dragonborn can use her wings to glide,
negating damage from a fall from any height and allowing
20 feet of forward travel for every 5 feet of descent.
Dragonborn glide at a speed of 30 feet with average
maneuverability. Even if a dragonborn’s maneuverability
improves, she can’t hover while gliding. A dragonborn
can’t glide while carrying a medium or heavy load.

I don't see as how an ex ability implies that it doesn't take an action. The glide section (quoted above) states explicitly that you have a speed of 30 feet. It wouldn't be unreasonable to let you combine movement types like flying and hopping and walking in one action. Giving you free movement from the glide does seem unreasonable and, as I read it, not supported by the rules. YMMV.

Now a +10 ft and a +10 racial modifier to jump are a good start for a jumplomancer. Go for things like Leap of the Heavens, Leap Attack and if your DM allows it, Battle Jump. Recipe for some insane damage. If you are looking for free movement look at falling. Falling takes no time at all. Look for Endarire's Dragoon if you want to go that way.

[Endarire]

To my understanding, movement of different modes (hopping, walking, flying, swimming, burrowing, etc.) are all part of the same move action, assuming you could move the same distance with each.  Thus, if you have a 30' fly speed, a 30' walk speed, and a 30' swim speed, you could fly 10', walk 10', and swim 10' as part of that same move action.

This is a similar consideration to what I did when I made Hood.

[DaCraw]

Your interpretation would also imply that Dragonborn with 6 or more HD would be able to fly up to their move speed as a free action. This is clearly absurd.

The proper interpretation is that you can sprout wings as a free action. You can then use those wings to glide/fly as part of a move action (as normal for someone with those movement types).

For what it's worth, though, Warblades already have plenty of ways to get a psuedo-pounce, such as Pouncing Charge and Quicksilver Motion. Then there's always spending a feat on Travel Devotion or dipping Barbarian.

[EpydemykFlaw]

Thank you one and all for these replies. I shall mull over the good (and the bad) and come to some decisions for the sessions.