D&D 5E Mounted Combat Questions

[FreeTheWeasel]

Greetings,

I have been running Hoard of the Dragon Queen for my daughter and her eighth grade friends and they are about to embark on some overland travel on mounts - not horses mind you. Oh no. They are going to be riding giant weasels, lizards, and winter wolves. These will be be horses in disguise so that I don't have to worry about different movement rates, armor class, or attacks. But you see, we have the minis and they want to ride them

Seems like a beautiful opportunity for some mounted combat, but I want to ensure that I'm interpreting the rules reasonably.

As far as I can tell, the mounted character retains his actions, and the mount provides the movement. At the same time, the mount has the actions Dash, Disengage, or Dodge.

I see three possibilities.

1) The rider and mount dash into battle and the PC attacks as normal. Attacks against the rider and mount are standard and without advantage or disadvantage.

2) The rider and mount ride into battle, the mount dodges, and the PC attacks as normal. Attacks against the rider and mount are at disadvantage.

3) The PC attacks once in battle, the mount disengages, and the two ride away without provoking OA.

Really, I am most curious about option #2 - does a dodging mount apply the same benefit to the rider? It seems to make sense to me from a role playing perspective. It is going to be hard to hit a rider when his 1000 pound horse is pushing you around.

I'm also inclined to rule that if two characters are fighting and both mounts are dodging, then both pc and monster attack with disadvantage. The disadvantages do not cancel each other out.

I will also (probably) rule that a mounted PC has advantage against a non mounted (medium sized) combatant. Again, this seems to make sense from a role playing perspective and should make mounted combat against unmounted foes a great deal of fun.

Thoughts?

Thanks.

FreeTheWeasel

 

[Redthistle]

"FreetheWeasel". For some reason, that strikes me as more terrifying than, "Let Loose the Dogs of War."

To be able to Dash (charge) and Dodge while making a melee attack in the same turn would require a bonus action in order to use a Dash-Attack-Dodge tactic within that turn. The Charger feat (PHB.p165) does allow this (the bonus action is the melee attack), which is available to a human character at 1st level but not available to any other humanoid until 4th level.

It seems to me that this tactic would require a controlled mount, which is what war-horse training is all about.

Re two combatants, each riding a dodging mount: I like your thinking on that.

 

[Redthistle]

Now you've got me thinking about a new Martial Archtype: Cavalier. It ain't gonna happen today, but any ideas you've got on that are welcome.

 

[Minigiant]

Greetings,

I have been running Hoard of the Dragon Queen for my daughter and her eighth grade friends and they are about to embark on some overland travel on mounts - not horses mind you. Oh no. They are going to be riding giant weasels, lizards, and winter wolves. These will be be horses in disguise so that I don't have to worry about different movement rates, armor class, or attacks. But you see, we have the minis and they want to ride them

Seems like a beautiful opportunity for some mounted combat, but I want to ensure that I'm interpreting the rules reasonably.

As far as I can tell, the mounted character retains his actions, and the mount provides the movement. At the same time, the mount has the actions Dash, Disengage, or Dodge.

I see three possibilities.

1) The rider and mount dash into battle and the PC attacks as normal. Attacks against the rider and mount are standard and without advantage or disadvantage.

2) The rider and mount ride into battle, the mount dodges, and the PC attacks as normal. Attacks against the rider and mount are at disadvantage.

3) The PC attacks once in battle, the mount disengages, and the two ride away without provoking OA.

Really, I am most curious about option #2 - does a dodging mount apply the same benefit to the rider? It seems to make sense to me from a role playing perspective. It is going to be hard to hit a rider when his 1000 pound horse is pushing you around.

I'm also inclined to rule that if two characters are fighting and both mounts are dodging, then both pc and monster attack with disadvantage. The disadvantages do not cancel each other out.

I will also (probably) rule that a mounted PC has advantage against a non mounted (medium sized) combatant. Again, this seems to make sense from a role playing perspective and should make mounted combat against unmounted foes a great deal of fun.

Thoughts?

Thanks.

FreeTheWeasel

The way I see it

1: Yes. Only the mount is dashing but it carries the rider for the extra movement.

2: No. The mount is a separate being. Only the mount is performing the action, dodging. Otherwise, a rider could spam mountdodge and be almost impossible to hide.

3: No. Only the mount is performing the action, disengaging. The rider must disengage separately.

The mount is a separate being. It only carries the rider like a giant backpack.

 

[FreeTheWeasel]

"FreetheWeasel". For some reason, that strikes me as more terrifying than, "Let Loose the Dogs of War."

To be able to Dash (charge) and Dodge while making a melee attack in the same turn would require a bonus action in order to use a Dash-Attack-Dodge tactic within that turn. The Charger feat (PHB.p165) does allow this (the bonus action is the melee attack), which is available to a human character at 1st level but not available to any other humanoid until 4th level.

It seems to me that this tactic would require a controlled mount, which is what war-horse training is all about.

Re two combatants, each riding a dodging mount: I like your thinking on that.

Greetings

People often misinterpret my handle "FreeTheWeasel" as something less than wholesome. I like your interpretation better since it is much more menacing in a D&D way. In truth, it comes from an incident during college. I was walking my pet ferret on a leash across an open courtyard when some students on a nearby apartment balcony raised their fists in a power salute and yelled "Free The Weasel!" I thought it was pretty funny and it stuck with me.

Thank you for your advice. I wasn't expecting to execute a dash and dodge on the same action, but now that I look at Goblins on Worgs, it seems that Goblins do indeed have a disengage as a bonus action. I am definitely going to have the Goblins attack as they ride by in a calvary charge. Ha ha ha ha.

If they players try this without specific bonus actions, they will draw opportunity attacks.

The kids are going to love it . . . or absolutely hate it. At least they won't forget it.

FreeTheWeasel

 

[FreeTheWeasel]

The way I see it

1: Yes. Only the mount is dashing but it carries the rider for the extra movement.

2: No. The mount is a separate being. Only the mount is performing the action, dodging. Otherwise, a rider could spam mountdodge and be almost impossible to hide.

3: No. Only the mount is performing the action, disengaging. The rider must disengage separately.

The mount is a separate being. It only carries the rider like a giant backpack.

Thank you for your advice. I believe that you are correct. I was being too liberal with the Mount's dodge action, and I see that it really only applies to the mount and not the rider.

As I mentioned above, the Goblins do have a bonus action Disengage which is going to make calvary tactics really interesting.

I also see that the Mounted Combatant feat allows advantage against unmounted opponents. I think I am going to gift that to the players. It may unbalance the game just a bit to have two feats at fourth level, but they are going to be so excited to wade into a squadron of foot soldiers and wipe them out that I just have to do it. Mounted combat is a rare event anyway.

Frulam from Episode 3 of Hoard of The Dragon Queen escaped the players. I think she is going to be observing the battle from on a hill. It'll make the players crazy when they try to get to her only to be attacked by goblins on foot and Worgs.

Muhahahahaha.

FreeTheWeasel