D&D 5E Mounted Rider Forced Movement

[beaumontsebos]

It feels strange I can't find a straight answer on this...

If a rider on a mount experiences forced movement, do they fall off the mount? Are they prone?

I know the rules about if the mount is moved or the rider is knocked prone.

But specifically, what happens when the rider experiences forced movement?

The way I ruled it in my game in the heat of battle is that they were dismounted and had to make a Dex DC 10 save or fall prone. But this seems kind of OP. Any forced movement would dismount a rider.

What say you?

 

[FitzTheRuke]

I think your ruling is good and about what I would do. The forced movement happens, and the logical outcome (falling prone) MIGHT happen, depending on a roll. A Dex save is a good choice. Some people might see DC10 as a bit low. I guess it might depend on what kind of thing provided the forced movement. An explosion or a swinging dragon tail might be higher than a guy shoving the rider off.

Fluff-wise I would usually describe it that the rider would hit the ground, and then roll or bound to their feet. Most riders can get up pretty quick if they fall off, or if they feel they are about to fall off, control the fall with a dismount. I like to think that characters in my games (both PCs and monsters alike) are competent when they do things, so I'd go with that.

 

[jasper]

For ease of play, the pc rolls and both them and horsey suffer the result. If the player does not like that, then pc saves and is dismounted and forced back. Or Horsey saves and both are pushed back on fail.

 

[tommybahama]

Also look at the spell. For Thorn whip there is no save on a successful hit but there is no risk of falling prone either. So the character is moved on a successful hit but on their feet would be RAW and probably RAI.

Maybe give a PC the option to save vs being dismounted if they have a relevant skill like animal handling or using a saddle in exchange for using their reaction (maybe give a +2 bonus if it's a military saddle) but fall prone if they fail the save. Let the PC choose whether they risk fighting the dismount.